The Rutgers football season is about a week away from kicking off, meaning that we have a good idea of who is going to be starting this season. This article will provide a bio for every projected Rutgers offensive starter by Ourlads.com. Note: this list may not be entirely accurate, as we cannot be completely sure who Rutgers’ starters will be at every position until the season kicks off.
QB: Dylan Lonergan
One where we can confirm the starter is quarterback, because Rutgers officially names Boston College transfer
Dylan Lonergan as QB1 after he defeated AJ Surace in this off-season’s quarterback battle. Last season, Lonergan completed 190 out of 284 passes for 2,025, throwing 12 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. However, 8 of his touchdowns last year came in the first two games, as he posted a ratio of 4 touchdowns to five interceptions the rest of the year. His overall completion percentage was 66.9%, which isn’t terrible compared to what Rutgers has seen in the past. Still, his game last year left much to be desired, something that has hopefully been remedied in training camp and by being put on a better team.
RB: Antwan Raymond
Running back is another position that is under a starter lock for next season as Antwan Raymond is considered one of the best returning running backs in the country. Last season, he totaled 1,241 yards and 13 touchdowns on 244 carries, averaging 5.1 yards per carry. His best performance last season came against Maryland, where he carried the ball 41 times for 240 yards and one touchdown. He also showed good ball security, fumbling only twice.
WR-X: KJ Duff
Continuing down the line of players that are starting locks for the season, we have wide receiver KJ Duff. Last season, Duff proved himself to be one of the top wide receivers in the country by hauling in 60 passes for 1,084 yards and seven touchdowns. His size and wingspan will be a tremendous asset to Lonergan, who will be playing in a Rutgers backfield for the first time in his career. If he continues to put up numbers like he did last season, he could be one of the highest draft picks Rutgers has seen in a long time.
WR-Z: Ben Black III
Expected to start opposite KJ Duff this year, Ben Black will look to see a big jump in production from his 119 yards and eight catches while playing behind the starting trio of Duff, Ian Strong, and DT Sheffield last season. Black has played in every game for the past two seasons and has also been prominent on special teams. He will likely feature once again as the kickoff returner, as his track-level speed has been his biggest advantage.
WR-SL: Jourdin Houston
Slot receiver is a position where Rutgers does not have too much depth or experience. The expected starter will be redshirt freshman Jourdin Houston, who earned the Mark Mills Second Effort Award as the most improved offensive player during spring practice. He played in two games as a true freshman, making his debut against Oregon, and was a consensus top-10 signee in New York out of high school. Behind him, four-star wide receiver Dyzier Carter will look to make some noise after committing to the program way back in 2024.
TE: Logan Blake
Tight end has been a position not often used at Rutgers, and this year may continue that trend. The projected starter is Logan Blake, a senior (redshirt junior) who has not seen much production in his two years of game action. He brings solid size at six-foot-six, and played high school football at the Hun School, being rated as the top tight end in New Jersey by both 247Sports and Rivals. Blake is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten member and earned the Frank R. Burns Award as the player who displays extraordinary mental and physical toughness during spring practice.
LT: Moshood Giwa
The projected starter at left tackle is a familiar face in Moshood Giwa, who transferred up from Long Island last season. Prior to that, he was named NEC Freshman of the Year and Second Team Freshman All-America by Phil Steele while helping the Sharks lead their conference in rushing. Last season, Giwa stepped up in a time of injuries, making his first start against Illinois at left tackle, and played in 10 games for the Scarlet Knights.
LG: Dantae Chin
Projecting to start at left guard is Dantae Chin, who suffered a lower-body injury in Rutgers’ second game against Miami (OH) last season. In 2024, he played in all 13 games with four starts at left guard and was part of an offensive line helped the Scarlet Knights to 28.9 points per game, 4,975 yards of total offense, and blocked for a rushing attack that averaged 175.3 yards per game to place third in the Big Ten. He started two games at left tackle last season and was selected to the Comeback Player of the Year preseason watch list ahead of 2026.
C: Terrence Salami
At center, the Scarlet Knights are projecting to have Terrence Salami in the starting spot. In addition to being first-team on the hypothetical All-Big Ten names team, Salami played in nine games in 2024 and was part of the offensive line that earned a spot on the Joe Moore Award Midseason Honor Roll. He saw action in the Rate Bowl versus Kansas State and helped the offense rush for 329 yards with no sacks allowed versus Howard. He played in all 12 games last season and has been selected to three Academic All-Big Tens, in addition to being a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and member of the Hampshire Honor Society.
RG: Kwabena Asamoah
The anchor of the offensive line and a lock to start at right guard will be Kwabena “Kobe” Asamoah, who has improved every year as a Scarlet Knight after starting the last three games of the 2022 season. He was a regular starter in 2023, before starting every game at right guard for the past two seasons. After being ranked as the sixteenth-best guard in the Big Ten in 2024, he was named Second Team All-America by ESPN as he blocked for an offense that averaged 407.1 yards of total offense overall and 389.1 in Big Ten play last season. Asamoah was named to the “Freaks List” published by The Athletic and was selected Preseason First Team All-America by Pro Football Network, showing his expectations for another big season, this time pass-blocking for Lonergan.
RT: Tyler Needham
Rounding off the offensive line at right tackle will be Tyler Needham, one of the other lynchpins of this offensive line. Since making his first starts in 2023, Needham was a huge part of the 2024 and 2025 seasons where the offense soared to new heights. After Chin got injured last season, Needham switched from right to left tackle, showcasing his versatility, and now will return to his preferred spot on the line. He was picked to the Shriners Children’s 1000 watch list and named Preseason All-Big Ten by Athlon Sports ahead of this season.
Notable Reserves
WRs: Michael Thomas III, Vernon Allen III
Rutgers’ young and talented wide receivers, whom we have heard about over the past few seasons, are starting to grow up. Last season, Thomas appeared in two games, hauling in one catch for 25 yards and a touchdown against Norfolk State. He also made an appearance on the field when Rutgers played Oregon but did not record a stat.
Allen also appeared in only one game last season, Rutgers’ blowout win over Norfolk State, where he recorded one catch for 18 yards. He also had a great performance in last year’s spring game, despite only being a true freshman. As they continued to develop this off-season, it is not surprising that they would be considered near the top of the rotation.
RBs: Clay Thevenin, Ja’Shon Benjamin
Former Louisiana Tech running back Clay Thevenin, who came to Rutgers via the transfer portal this off-season, will likely be Raymond’s main backup, but Raymond is expected to be a traditional bell-cow running back, as Schiano has been known to utilize in the past. Thevenin measures on the shorter side at five-foot-eight, but led Louisiana Tech with 131 carries for 634 yards in his one FBS season after he totaled 1,066 rushing yards on 240 carries with 10 touchdowns in two seasons of junior college at Navarro (TX).
Behind him, Ja’Shon Benjamin has been a reliable face in the backfield for the Scarlet Knights going back to 2023. He scored a 31-yard touchdown on his first career catch, and has been a change of pace back behind Rutgers’ more physical backs ahead of him including Kyle Monangai and Antwan Raymond. Benjamin totaled 68 carries for 328 yards and two touchdowns in 2025, and notably scored both a rushing and receiving touchdown against Kansas State in the Rate Bowl in 2024.
TE: Kam Anthony
As mentioned above, tight end is a position that hasn’t been a focal point on a Rutgers offense in quite some time. Kameron Anthony comes to Rutgers from Ball State, where he saw limited playing time due to sustaining an injury at the end of last season. Last year, he recorded seven catches for 117 yards and two touchdowns. These stats don’t jump off the page at you, but his bigger frame at 6-foot-5, 255 pounds can be a tool to give the Knights some short completions. After all, they had to have gone after him in the portal for a reason, right?
OL: Ryder Langsdale, Hank Zilinskas
Ryder Langsdale was projected to start for Rutgers last season after transferring in from Lafayette, but never played due to a season-ending injury he sustained in the off-season. Hank Zilinskas is very much in the conversation for the starting center role after transferring in from Colorado. These two provide quality depth to an offensive line unit that seems to quietly be one of the best units on the team. It would not be surprising to see either of them get significant snaps so the offensive line can stay fresh. These two are a part of some positional competitions that we likely won’t know the winner of until game day when they roll out the first O-Line unit of the season.
