Rutgers has two players on the Comeback Player of the Year Award Watchlist, with Dantae Chin and Moses Walker both earning recognition after injuries wiped out much of last season.
The award is a joint effort by College Sports Communicators, The Associated Press and the Fiesta Bowl Organization, and it is designed to honor college football student-athletes who have worked back from injury, illness or other circumstances.
Chin’s path back is tied to a lower body injury he suffered against Miami (Ohio), an injury that ended his 2025 campaign after he had started two games. He brings 19 games of experience and six career starts on the offensive line. Two of those starts came at left tackle in 2025, and both were wins to open the season.
His 2024 season was a busy one, too. The Weston, Florida, native played in all 13 games and made four starts at left guard, where Pro Football Focus ranked him as the No. 19 offensive guard in the Big Ten.
Walker’s case is similar. He started four games last season before going down in Rutgers’ loss against Iowa. He enters 2026 with 29 games of experience and seven starts at linebacker.
One of his best performances came in last year’s season-opening win over Ohio, when he led the team with a career-high 13 tackles, including two for loss. The Staten Island, New York, native had also played in 25 games over the previous two seasons, with appearances in both the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl and Rate Bowl.
In Other News...
Rutgers Extends A Scheduling Pattern Fans Know All Too Well
Rutgers has already lined up another familiar non-conference date, adding Akron to the 2031 home schedule for Sept. 13. The matchup fits a pattern Scarlet Knights fans have seen before, with the program continuing to bring in at least one Mid-American Conference opponent every year since 2024.
Akron will come to Piscataway under a $1.5 million guarantee, another sign of how Rutgers has used these early scheduling windows to keep its home slate filled. It is the kind of booking that may not move the needle nationally, but it has become a steady part of how the Scarlet Knights have built out their future calendars. [Read more 🡒]
Rutgers Keeps Following A Familiar Scheduling Trend Into The Future
Rutgers has added another familiar nonconference date to its future calendar, lining up Akron for Sept. 13, 2031. The matchup, first reported by FBSchedules.com and confirmed by NJ.com, fits the way Rutgers has been building out its schedule in recent years, with the Scarlet Knights continuing to lean on Mid-American Conference opponents as part of their out-of-conference plan.
That pattern is already well established, and it reaches well beyond Akron. Rutgers has several future games lined up against MAC teams through 2031, a steady stream of opponents that gives the program a consistent scheduling lane as it looks ahead. For a team trying to manage long-term planning, it is another sign that Rutgers is sticking with a formula it knows well. [Read more 🡒]
Rutgers Faces A Rivalry Debate Fans Still Havent Settled
Rutgers place in the Big Ten still comes with one lingering question that other league members rarely have to ask: who, exactly, is the real rival? A look at the Scarlet Knights 2026 schedule brings the issue back into focus, since the usual suspects all seem plausible on paper but none carries the kind of built-in edge that turns a conference matchup into an annual event fans circle immediately.
Maryland, Indiana, Michigan State and Penn State all come up in the conversation, and each has at least some reason to be considered. Still, the debate is part of the point, because Rutgers supporters are left weighing history, geography and recent familiarity without finding a game that clearly rises above the rest. The answer may depend on who you ask, which makes the question itself the most interesting thing left on the board. [Read more 🡒]