More news has come out of Rutgers football in their recruiting bonanza. The Scarlet Knights have gotten themselves two four-star recruits in the last two days. This comes in addition to what they did just one week ago, landing 10 recruits over three days.
The 4 Stars
Starting with the recruit from yesterday, Rutgers landed themselves a talented safety by the name of Tariq Hayer. He is ranked as the 202 best recruit out of the 2025 class and the 18th best safety in the class. Rutgers was in competition with Big Ten rivals such as Maryland, Michigan State, Penn State, Indiana, and Wisconsin for Hayer and beat out all of them. Hayer is tied for the best player in Rutgers recruiting class with three others according to 247sports’ rankings.
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Hayer is a Swiss army knife of a player. Not only is he excellent in coverage and can lock down any receiver that was thrown at him in high school, but he also fits very well with what Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano looks for in a safety. The first reason why he is a good fit for Schiano’s system is his ability to rush the quarterback. Schiano likes to dial up tons of wacky blitzes bringing guys from all over the field to attack the quarterback. Hayer’s ability to rush the quarterback from his position in the secondary will be a major plus for him in Schiano’s system.
The second reason why he is a good fit for Schiano’s team is his ability to contribute on special teams. He blocked several punts during his Junior season at Saint John’s and Rutgers fans know how much Schiano stresses special teams when assembling his teams. He fits all the requirements of a Schiano player.
The second four-star, the one who committed today June 10th, is the 6 foot 4, 285-pound offensive lineman Joshua Blackston out of Dunbar High School in Baltimore, Maryland. Blackston is the third recruit out of the Baltimore- D.C. area, a place where Rutgers has struggled to recruit in years past and he is the second 4 Star from the area after Hayer. Dunbar had offers from schools such as Penn State, Ohio State, Tennessee, and Maryland.
Blackston is the first four-star offensive lineman for the Knights in this recruitment class. Although others might get bumped up to four stars later down the line, he is the only one who currently holds the position. The best part of his game is his ability to get low and drive his opponents off the ball. With Rutgers leaning on the running game as much as they do, they will definitely need an offensive lineman who can clear holes for the running backs.
What Does This Say About Rutgers’ Future?
There are three very important things to note about these two commitments. Number one they are 4 stars which Rutgers has struggled to get many of in years past. The second is the fact that they come from an area in which Rutgers has not gotten many recruits in years past, signaling a possible change in favor of the Knights in the greater DC land area.
The third and final statement that these recruits give in favor of the Knights is the fact that their commitment proves that Rutgers can compete with the bigger dogs in the conference on the recruiting trail. Since these guys were recruited by schools such as Penn State, Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Ohio State the fact that they chose Rutgers over these schools makes the statement that Rutgers can compete with these schools for recruits.
The commitment of these 4 stars only stands to work in the Knights’ favor, in regards to their talent level and what their commitment tells the country about the progress of the program since Schiano took over.