Take Two: Can Greg Schiano land Jalen Berger for Rutgers?
Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling an issue in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and an expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites or a regional analyst.
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THE STORYLINE
Jalen Berger is a top-50 prospect nationally and he’s ranked as the third-best all-purpose back in the 2020 class.
The Ramsey (N.J.) Don Bosco Prep standout has more than 30 offers. Penn State, Rutgers and Wisconsin have emerged as the major contenders and his decision is coming up at the All-American Bowl.
About an hour from his house is Rutgers and the Scarlet Knights just rehired Greg Schiano as the coach. That could be playing a huge role in Berger’s thinking as he decided to hold off on an early commitment and is now weeks away from finalizing things.
During his first tenure at Rutgers, Schiano recruited the state well, but New Jersey has become a place where elite programs are coming in and taking players all the time.
Still, there is now a vision to sell for the Scarlet Knights: The coach who last had Rutgers relevant on the national stage is back and - have you seen Rutgers play this year? - early playing time is almost a guarantee, especially for someone with Berger’s ability.
Can Schiano pull it off and land Berger’s commitment or will he end up at a bigger program out-of-state like so much New Jersey talent?
FIRST TAKE: ADAM FRIEDMAN, MID-ATLANTIC RECRUITING ANALYST
“The short answer is Rutgers is the favorite for Berger at this point. The relationships Berger and his camp have with Schiano and the people around Schiano make Rutgers the top school.
“Unless something drastic changes between now and when he announces at the All-American Bowl, that’s where he’ll end up. There is even a good chance Berger signs early and keeps it quiet until the All-American Bowl. That’s what I expect to happen, although there is nobody who will confirm that at this point.”
SECOND TAKE: MIKE FARRELL, NATIONAL RECRUITING DIRECTOR
“There are other schools like Penn State and others are in the mix, but Schiano can get him. He seems like the type of kid who didn’t want to make an early decision, wanted to take his time and he might have waited too long for certain programs. As a Bosco kid and an in-state priority, he’s a kid they land.
“It would be big. When he was at Rutgers, Schiano got his share, but he’s never going to keep them all. It’s a state that gets raided. It’s a state that’s going to continue to get raided until they can show they can win. He was on the cusp of having a really good chance of turning the corner during the Darius Hamilton class before he left for Tampa Bay, but now they have to start all over. He will get his, but it’s going to be tough to keep most of the talent in-state.”