The 2027 recruiting class is in full swing, with a few players already setting official visit dates for the early summer. So far, Rutgers only has one commitment from the 2027 class, Tight End Sydney Padilla from West Orange High School. and are working towards adding to that list as they hope to round out the class with high-end talent that fills areas of need.
Most players in the class of 2027 aren’t close to picking which school they would want to go to. While a lot of them have gone on unofficial visits to schools, Rutgers first official visit weekend for the class won’t be until the last weekend of May, as it has been in years past. Six players have already signed up to participate in those visits. According to Rivals/On3, Lance Henderson, a three-star safety from Durham, North Carolina, has the first official visit, as he planned to make the trip up on Thursday, May 28th.
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He will be joined the next day by four-star wide receiver Javien Robinson and high three-star running back Aiden Gibson, who have already set their official visits for May 29th. Robinson hails from McKeesport, PA, while Gibson is from Woodruff, SC. Two other wide receivers have their official visits set for that date, as three-star wide receiver Jamar Taylor from Salesianum High School in Wilmington, Delaware, plans to make his visit to campus then, along with Isaiah Alvarez, a 6-foot, 175-pound wide receiver from Don Bosco Prep.
Padilla plans to make his official campus visit the week after, as he is set to arrive on campus June 5th.
Aside from Padilla, Taylor is the only player who currently has a visit scheduled that Rutgers is the favorite to land.
So far, Rutgers has extended 104 scholarship offers, according to 247sports, up from 77, as we previously reported in early February. A few of the athletes they have offered have already committed elsewhere, but a large majority remain uncommitted. On top of that, even if a player is committed elsewhere, they can still flip their commitment at any time until they sign.
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247sports ranks athletes’ supposed interest in Rutgers and their chances of committing on a cool-to-warm scale. Since it is very early in the recruitment cycle, many athletes are still cool on Rutgers, as they are unlikely to commit for awhile, especially before their official visits. However, four players are listed as warm on the Knights according to 247.
In addition to Robinson and Taylor, who are both listed as warm on Rutgers, two other players are listed as warm on the Knights.
Four-star interior offensive lineman Terrance Smith from Lansdale Catholic in Lansdale, PA, has shown interest in Rutgers and is listed as warm by 247 as well. However, Rutgers has steep competition for Smith as powerhouse programs such as Ohio State, LSU, and Georgia are also listed as warm by 247sports. Smith is listed at 6-foot-6, 260 pounds.
Unranked EDGE Esa Wittingburg is the only player on defense listed as warm on Rutgers. Wittingburg is a New Jersey prospect, hailing from East Orange, and is listed at 6-foot-3, 230 pounds. The Knights seem to be in early competition with Syracuse to earn his commitment. Neither have an official visit set in stone yet.
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Since Rutgers just hired their defensive coordinator of the future earlier this month, Travis Johansen, the former head coach at South Dakota, it is reasonable to believe that they are behind in terms of defensive recruiting. If there is one area Rutgers desperately needs some solid prospects, it’s on the interior defensive line as they have not recruited this position very well in the last few years. According to rivals/On3 Rutgers isn’t in the lead for any of the interior defensive lineman they have offered so far. Hopefully the recent hires of Johansen and former Minnesota defensive line coach Dennis Dottin-Carter can help out with that.
