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Rutgers Football: The Need to Recruit New Jersey
TL;DR
Rutgers football has focused on out-of-state recruits, landing only two from New Jersey in the 2026 class. For future success, they need to prioritize local talent, especially with strong prospects available in the 2027 and 2028 classes.
Oct 7, 2023; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Rutgers Scarlet Knights football helmets sit on the field during warmups prior to the game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
Over the past couple of years, Rutgers football has been recruiting on a nationwide scale, grabbing a lot of their recruits from places out of state such as Georgia, the Carolinas, Florida, and many more. In 2026, they mainly landed prospects from these areas rather than grabbing a decent number of their recruits from their home state. The 2026 class only featured two total commits from New Jersey.
While this recruiting strategy makes sense, go and get the players who are most interested in your program, no matter where they are, their recruiting focus needs to shift back over to New Jersey for the 2027 class and especially the 2028 class.
In 2027, New Jersey has five four stars according to both 247sports and Rivals, with around 12-15 more players falling just outside that ranking, while New Jersey has 8 four stars in 2028 and 7 more who fall just outside that ranking according to Rivals. On top of that, despite these rankings being very early, NJ has the second-best corner in the nation in Amiir Woodward, the third-best corner in the nation, Nasir Richardson, and the best linebacker in the nation, Tahj Gray, in the 2028 class, according to rivals.
The 2027 NJ class is no slouch when it comes to top-end talent either, as it has Xavier Sabb, who is designated as the second-best ATH in the nation according to 247sports, while OT Oluwasemilore Olubobola from Saint Peter’s prep is listed as the No.2 OT in the nation according to 247sports. Sabb does seem to be a slight Rutgers lean right now, while Olubobola is leaning heavily towards Texas A&M.
The Scarlet Knights have struggled to land the top-of-the-line prospects in New Jersey, but these next two recruiting classes provide them with an opportunity they cannot whiff on. Even if they don’t land all or most of the state’s top players in the next classes, which they probably won’t, landing just a few of them will provide the program with a decent talent infusion that they can hopefully develop and retain for years after that. On top of that, if they can land some homegrown talent and turn them into superstars, the hope is that more of those talents will want to stay home in the future.
This is not to say that Rutgers should abandon its pipelines elsewhere; those will still be needed to help fill out each recruiting class, but it would be good to secure some major recruiting wins at home on top of those out-of-state commits, especially with the high-end talent that is coming up in New Jersey.
Q&A
How many recruits did Rutgers football sign from New Jersey in 2026?
Rutgers football signed only two recruits from New Jersey in the 2026 class.
What are the rankings of New Jersey football prospects for 2027 and 2028?
New Jersey has five four-star prospects in 2027 and eight four-star prospects in 2028, according to Rivals.
Who are the top-ranked football players from New Jersey in the 2028 class?
The top-ranked players include Amiir Woodward and Nasir Richardson, both ranked as the second and third-best corners in the nation, respectively, and Tahj Gray, the best linebacker in the nation.