With four days left until the Rutgers football season is set to kick off, we will finish our roster breakdown series on special teams. Here are the Scarlet Knights expected to start on the all-important third phase of the game, which is even more important in Piscataway than it may be elsewhere in the country.
Kicker- Jai Patel
At kicker, Jai Patel will return for his fifth and final season while balancing postgraduate education within the business school. He immediately established himself in his sophomore season,
being named Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week after making all three attempts with a career-long of 51 in the win over Temple during his second game. He ended up going 15-18 on field goals for a percentage of 83.3% and set a school record for season accuracy.
Patel followed that up with his 2024 season where he made 15 of 19 field goals and made 15 of 17 attempts from inside 50 yards while missing just one extra point. He converted all seven kicks in the Rate Bowl and led Rutgers with 86 points last season. In his senior season, Patel started the year strong and set the school record for consecutive makes, but went through a period where several kicks were blocked and missed. He recovered and hit the game-winning field goal vs. Purdue and was voted honorable mention All-Big Ten by the coaches.
Patel will look to cap off his Scarlet Knights career with a successful final season, and he is also a three-time member of the Academic All-Big Ten, a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, former Rutgers Athletics Sophomore of the Year, and was selected to the watch list for the 2025 Allstate Wuerffel Trophy (7/31) and a nominee for the Allstate American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team.
Punter- Jakob Anderson
At punter, Jakob Anderson will be playing his third season with the Scarlet Knights. He punted in all 13 games as a freshman and punted 50 times for 2,128 yards, averaging 42.6 yards per attempt. In his sophomore season, he played in 11 games and was voted honorable mention All-Big Ten by the media.
Although his usage went down due to the offense being stellar, Anderson helped the punting unit rank second second in the Big Ten and 17th nationally with a net punt average of 41.85 yards. He allowed only five returns, averaged 44.2 yards per attempt, which was good for the third-highest in a season in program history. Of note, he had a 68 yard punt that was downed at the four-yard line against Iowa, landed a punt at the one against Illinois, and booted a 65-yard punt that was downed at the two against #1 Ohio State.
Long Snapper- Michael O’Connor
At long snapper, the program will return a familiar face in Michael O’Connor. A former kicker at Red Bank Catholic, he converted to long snapping and made his Rutgers debut in 2023 handling snaps for punts against Temple. He was the starting long snapper for all 12 games last season, and helped the team connect on 13 field goals and 35 extra points. He also assisted the punting unit that ranked second in the Big Ten with a net punting average of 41.85 yards and snapped for the game-tying and winning field goal against Purdue.
Kickoff Specialist- Jack Scullion
Rutgers will return Jack Scullion for his junior season to handle kickoff duties for the Knights. As a freshman in 2024, Scullion played in all 13 games and recorded 70 kickoffs for 4,262 yards (60.9 yard average). He recorded 34 touchbacks and kicked six of eight attempts into the end zone in the Rate Bowl.
Last season, Scullion recorded 67 kickoffs for 4,034 yards (60.2 yard average) and booted 33 touchbacks. He posted a season-high of eight of ten attempts against Norfolk State and had no kickoff returns with seven touchbacks and a fair catch against Miami (OH). Rutgers has often forced opponents to start at their own 25-yard line, and Scullion is the reason for that.
Return Specialists- Ben Black, Kaj Sanders
One area of special teams that Rutgers does not particularly focus on is the return game, returning 10 kicks . However, they have a former track star who provides a burst of speed in Ben Black III, who led the team with six kickoff returns for 125 yards for an average of 20.83 yards per return. Ja’Shon Benjamin also had three returns for 64 yards with an average of 21.33 yards per return.
In terms of returning punts, the Knights only returned five, but Kaj Sanders led the unit with two returns for 63 yards (31.5 yard average). DT Sheffield and Jett Elad also had short returns, while Rutgers tied for the national FBS lead in blocked punt touchdowns. One of those helped give Rutgers the win over Ohio, with Sanders blocking a punt that Cam Miller recovered in the end zone for a touchdown.
The Knights also blocked two punts against Norfolk State, one by Sanders and one by Elad, both of which were returned for touchdowns and gave RU a 14-0 lead to jumpstart a 60-10 win. Although the Knights may not be fond of their own returns, expect Schiano’s side to come up with a few momentum-swinging punt blocks, establishing themselves as one of the best special teams units in the country.
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