4 Questions Surrounding Rutgers Ahead Of 2026 Big Ten Media Days

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Greg Schiano and Rutgers will take part in 2026 Big Ten Media Days on Tuesday.

The three-day event will kick off from Chicago on Tuesday with multiple coaches taking the stand. Schiano will be present to discuss the upcoming season, along with KJ Duff, Antwan Raymond, and Kobe Asamoah.

Schiano is entering his seventh year in his second tenure in Piscataway. After a five-win campaign in 2025, it is time to see some growth from this program.

There will be many topics surrounding Schiano and the player representatives on Tuesday and these are five questions to keep an eye on:

4. The QB Battle — who wins?

This is a question once again surrounding the Scarlet Knights. After two years of Athan Kaliakmanis, Rutgers is back to having multiple options to choose from. Yes, this is the most important position on the field, but Rutgers fans know not to expect an answer from Schiano until late in August. This is why this comes in at No. 5.

Rutgers brought in Boston College transfer Dylan Lonergan to compete with AJ Surace, who came into the program as a recruit out of high school. Rutgers has used multiple quarterbacks in the past. That is not the way to go. So it will eventually come down to one and there is likely some time before we get an answer.

3. How does increased budget help?

In today’s era of college football, there are just as many questions being asked about issues off the field than there is on the field. In this case, it is the fact that athletic director Keli Zinn has made fundraising a priority within the university. This is to increase the NIL budget — and likely had a hand in keeping KJ Duff in Piscataway. It is very likely that Schiano is asked about having more than ever before and it will be interesting to hear what he has to say.

2. KJ Duff, Antwan Raymond. What’s next?

The forward pass returned to Rutgers over the last two years with Kaliakmanis under center. Last year, the emergence of Duff on the outside helped the offense as a whole. He totaled 1,084 yards and seven touchdowns on 60 catches. He is now one of the top receivers in the Big Ten. Antwan Raymond followed in line of Isiah Pacheco and Kyle Monangai as the next great back at Rutgers. He rushed for 1,241 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2025.

The question for the offense is — can this continue?

The dynamic duo will not sneak up on anyone this year. To make it a bit more difficult, Duff lost his running mate Ian Strong to Cal this offseason. The Scarlet Knights will feature one of the best duos in the conference, which is a sentence that feels strange to write out. Now, it is about putting it all together around them and putting points on the board.

1. How can the defense improve?

Does this question sound broad? Well, it should. When a team puts out one of the worst defenses in the nation, any answer at all is welcomed. The experiement of co-defensive coordinators did not work. Rutgers let go of Robb Smith and Zach Sparber in favor of Travis Johansen as new DC. He inherits a group that allowed a Big Ten worst 432.8 yards per game and 209.9 on the ground. The defense needs to improve in many ways but we have to assume that anything is better than the product last season.

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