New Jersey may not compare with states like Texas, Florida and California when it comes to producing elite football recruits, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the Garden State lacks talent.
Every year, New Jersey sends more than its share of coveted recruits off to the college ranks.
The problem for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights was that, just a few years ago, many of the top upper-echelon recruits in New Jersey never even considered their home-state school.
Eugene Monroe, Brian Cushing, Greg Olson, Knowshon Moreno, Dwayne Jarrett and Myron Rolle are just a few of the former highly touted New Jersey recruits who coach Greg Schiano failed to land.
Schiano’s only major recruiting claim to fame was reeling in 5-star tackle prospect Anthony Davis, who hailed from Piscataway, which is right next to New Brunswick.
When he inked with the Scarlet Knights in 2007, Davis finally broke the trend of Schiano’s many in-state recruiting failures.
Davis went from 5-star recruit to first-round tackle prospect in just three years' time and he ended up leaving for the NFL after his junior season in 2010.
Schiano may have found himself another prized New Jersey recruit who could be on a similar path as Davis.
RB Savon Huggins out of St. Peters Prep High School in Jersey City is the biggest recruit that Rutgers has landed since Davis, and he appears to be the type of young player who can immediately make an impact as just a freshman.
Huggins, the undisputed top recruit in the state, was rated as one of the nation’s top running back recruits by both Rivals and Scout.
He had offers from the likes of Auburn, USC and Notre Dame but the New Jersey native decided that sticking in his home state was the best way to go.
The 2010 New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year scored 35 TDs for St. Peters this past season.
Huggins arrived in New Brunswick a few days ago, just in time for summer workouts.
He was greeted with competition for the starting running back position in the form of Jeremy Deering, De’Antwan Williams and the fast-rising Jawan Jamison.
Schiano has said that all four will have an equal chance to win the job in August.
Although he lacks the experience of his counterparts, if I were handicapping that four-horse race, I’d have to put Huggins as the favorite.
If the 6’0", 200-pound freshman demonstrates that he’s capable of handling the physical adjustment to college ball, there’s no reason that Schiano shouldn’t install him as the No. 1 option in the backfield.
Savon Huggins’ name is already big amongst the Rutgers fanbase, and people are going to be interested to see what he has to offer.
It might be in Schiano’s best interest to show everyone what Huggins has to offer this season.
Rutgers has lacked an offensive star since Ray Rice left town (No, Mohamed Sanu doesn’t count yet) and they could certainly use a "face of the franchise" so to speak.
Savon Huggins can be that player.
Kylie Bax Diora Baird Laura Prepon Ashley Scott Michelle Behennah
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