When the Rutgers Scarlet Knights signed their class of 2010, they were immediately the most heralded class the school had ever signed - until the class of 2011 signed their names on the dotted lines.  This class has the type of potential that in 10-15 years down the line, they will be looked back upon as the class that helped RU turn the corner.  In some instances we are already starting to see the impact of the class of 2011, such as the commitments of top 2012 players like Leonte Carroo, as well as being contenders for 5-star DE Darius Hamilton.  Now as camp gets into full swing, we are starting to see the impact the Class of 2011 will have ON the field.  Here's a player-by-player look at each of the recruits in the 2011 class and what kind of impact we think they will have this season.

 

Jonathan Aiken, CB - Aiken was one of the few EE for the Class of 2011.  While he possesses good size and speed, there just seems to be way too much competition for him to jump into the fray right away.

Prediction: Plays on special teams and coverage units

Mike Bimonte, QB - Bimonte has good size and a nice zip on the ball, but there's no chance he unseats Chas Dodd.  What he is really competing for is the backup QB spot.

Prediction: Redshirt

Paul Canevari, RB/FB - Canevari was ultra-productive on the national championship Don Bosco team, but does not have overwhelming measureables.  That being said, after seeing what he did his senior year at Bosco, I wouldn't bet against him.

Predicition: Tough as nails, sees time on specials and eventually gets groomed for fullback role

Charles Davis, CB - N/A

Prediction: JUCO

Anthony DiPaula, K/P - DiPaula appears to be the heir apparent to San San Te next year at Kicker, but this year he should challenge to be the Punter.

Prediction: Holds off the walk-on competition and is the starting Punter Week 1.

Quentin Gause, LB - Gause is a physical freak of nature, having the build of a college linebacker before he ever stepped on campus.  He is also coming in at a position of thin depth.

Prediction: Gause will play on all specials as a true freshman and will crack the 2 deep at LB by season opener.  Don't be surprised if by midseason the combination of starting LBs is Gause, Beauharnais, and Greene.

Kyle George, DE - Another physically developed player who has all the tools to make an impact from Day 1.  DE may be the second thinnest position behind LB, which works in George's favor.

Prediction: It seems very likely that George and Max Issaka will both see a great deal of playing time as true freshman, especially in pass rushing situations.  Because of the lack of depth here, he should be in the rotation early and if he outplays Isaaka, he may even earn a starting spot at one DE.

Dallas Hendrickson, C- Hendrickson is a JUCO transfer who was expected to start at Center from the day he stepped on campus until a knee injury derailed him.

Prediction: Redshirt

Savon Huggins, RB - The most highly touted skill-position recruit to EVER commit to Rutgers, he has Freshman All-American potential and is physically and mentally mature beyond his years.

Prediction: Huggins will be RU's starting tailback sooner rather than later, with a good possibility the sooner being Week 1.

Max Issaka, DE - One of the handful of former Pitt commits to flip to RU when Hafley & Co. came to the Banks, Issaka has the size and speed necessary to be an impact DE from Day 1.

Prediction: He will crack the 2 deep by the end of camp and see extensive playing time this season, especially in passing and nickel situations.

Myles Jackson, DE - Jackson was one of the later offers RU gave out and while he certainly has the frame to work with, he is going to need some time in a strength and conditioning program, as well as an opportunity to truly learn the defensive end position.

Prediction: Redshirt

Kaleb Johnson, OG - Johnson comes to RU as one of the strongest players on the team already and he has been spoken very highly of by Coach Schiano thus far.

Prediction: Should be on the two deep at the guard slot opposite Lowery, with an outside chance to start at some point later this season.

Tejay Johnson, WR - Johnson had to spend a year at Fork Union upon graduation to get his grades in order, but reports out of camp so far is that he looks good and runs fast-very fast.

Prediction: This is a tossup because of the depth at WR, but I'll say he ends up playing on the return teams (KR/PR) and sees some playing time in the slot, allowing RU to redshirt Miles Shuler.

Kenneth Kirksey, DT - A teammate of Johnson's at Fork Union this past season, Kirksey is very well put together for a DT and because of the uncertainty opposite Scott Vallone, the opportunity for PT is there.

Prediction: Kirksey takes advantage of the lack of depth along the DL and sees extended playing time, even earning a few starts.

Tyler Kroft, TE - Kroft looks like he will be the tight end of the future for Rutgers, especially given the emphasis OC Frank Cignetti puts on the position.

Prediction - Redshirt

Keith Lumpkin, OT - An absolute mammoth of a young man, Lumpkin is already the tallest lineman on the Rutgers squad, but needs some time to get stronger and learn the position more and improve his technique.

Prediction - Redshirt

Ben Martin, RB - Martin certainly has the speed to be an asset at the RB position, recording a sub 4.4 last summer, but in a crowded backfield that features Savon Huggins and some talented veterans, carries will be hard to come by.

Prediction - Redshirt

Djwany Mera, DE/DT - Whether Mera plays DE or DT, one thing is for certain, he IS going to play.

Prediction - Mera will be a starter at some point this season on the DL.

Gary Nova, QB - Nova doesn't possess the size that Bimonte does, but as far as intangibles go, he falls into that Mike Teel-type category.

Prediction - Nova beats out Bimonte and is Chas Dodd's primary backup, getting some PT sporadically.

Al Page, DT - One of 4 true DTs that RU signed in the Class of 2011, Page is a wildcard at the DT position.

Prediction - I think between Kirksey, Mera, and the veterans, it allows Page to redshirt unless he blows up during camp.

Miles Shuler, WR - Shuler is one of the fastest football players in the entire country and while it's hard to keep that kind of speed on the sidelines, this will be his first season as a true wide receiver.

Prediction - Unfortunately for fans, Shuler redshirts and they have to wait a year to see that blazing speed spread the field.

Kevin Snyder, LB - Snyder has some great size for a linebacker and also moves well sideline-to-sideline.  There has also been some talk of moving him to tight end.

Prediction: Snyder stays at LB, becoming part of the rotation and also plays on specials.

Daryl Stephenson, DT - Similar to Page, Stephenson will be a force at DT down the line, but unless he explodes during camp, it looks like he'll redshirt this season.

Prediction: Redshirt

Marquise Wright, DT - Wright has the tools and talent to make an impact right away, but it remains to be seen whether he will stay at DT or move to Guard.

Prediction: Redshirt, as they decide where to keep him permanently.

• In the first Monday Night Football game of the 2011 season, the Houston Texans defeated the New York Jets 20-16.  While the Texans chose to hold out some of their stars like Arian Foster, Andre Johnson (dislocated finger), and Steve Slaton, the Jets were mostly at full strength, albeit for only the first quarter.  Mark Sanchez went 6/7 for 43 yards while Chris Ogbonnaya powered the Texans with two touchdowns.
• Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora finally ended his holdout and returned to Monday's afternoon practice at the the team's indoor facility.  While this certainly doesn't mark the end of this feud, it does appear to be a step in the right direction.
• The Buffalo Bills finally cut ties with 2009 first-round draft pick Aaron Maybin, releasing him Monday.  Maybin was selected with the #11 overall pick in '09 out of Penn State, but failed to register a sack or even a start in his two year stint with the team.
• Daunte Culpepper continues to take steps towards a comeback as he worked out for the San Francisco 49ers Monday.  The 49ers are considering adding him as a backup to Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick.

MLB

• New York Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett finally registered a win in August as the Yanks defeated the Royals 7-4.  Derek Jeter had 3 RBIs and Brett Gardner had 2 to lead the Yankees.
• Minnesota Twins designated hitter Jim Thome entered the elite 600 Home Run Club last night as he hit a 3 run shot off the Detroit Tigers' Daniel Schlereth.
• The Detroit Tigers made a move to bolster their outfield yesterday as they acquired Delmon Young from the Minnesota Twins for a minor league pitcher and a player to be named later.
• The Mets continue to get hit by the injury bug as they now have Jose Reyes, Daniel Murphy, Ike Davis, Johan Santana, Chris Young, and Taylor Buchholz on the disabled list.

NCAA Football

• Texas A&M is contemplating whether to join the Southeastern Conference (SEC) or remain in the Big 12.  The Big 12 is down to 10 teams after Nebraska left for the Big Ten and Colorado left for the PAC-12, so Texas A&M is weighing its' options.
• Missouri Tiger senior offensive tackle Elvis Fisher collapsed to the ground on Monday at practice while clutching his left knee.  Fisher has made 40 consecutive starts for Missouri and has been name All-Big 12 the past two seasons.
• The NCAA continued its mass probe into potential college football violations when they showed up on the University of Miami campus Monday, looking into claims that more than a dozen current and former players received gifts and benefits from convicted Ponzi Scheme henchman Nevin Shapiro.  Shapiro claims that he allowed the players to use his yacht to have parties.

Take a second and think about this scenario.  As a senior in high school, just off an ultra-successful senior football campaign, you have scholarship offers from virtually every major program in the country being that your a Top 5 national running back.  Schools like University of Southern California, University of Florida, and University of North Carolina, just to name a few, are vying for your services, enticing you with promises of playing as a true freshman and being part of a program that annually challenges for a national championship.  Not only that, you can put yourself in a position to be the next in a line of countless first round NFL draft picks.  Instead, you choose to stay home and play for your home state school, where they have never reached a BCS bowl, never mind even sniffed a national championship, and you can count the number of 1st round NFL Draft picks on one hand.  Oh, and because your the highest ranked skill position player IN HISTORY to sign with the school, your expected to start from day 1, attract other high profile recruits, and essentially be the savior to turn the program around. 

Sound stressful?  To Savon Huggins, that pressure doesn't even make him flinch.  This was evidenced by his performance in the Scarlet Knights first scrimmage when all he did was rush for 169 yards on 26 carries with 1 touchdown.  He also had the perhaps the play of the day, when he broke off a 52-yard touchdown run against the first team defense.  Huggins showed an ability to hit it up in between the tackles as well as bounce it to the outside in a manner that hasn't been seen on the banks since the days of Ray Rice.  While he is technically listed as the backup to Jeremy Deering on the depth chart, make no mistake about it, this is Huggin's team, true freshman or not.  And if his performance in the scrimmage is any indication, I don't think anyone will have a problem with that.

1. Philadelphia Eagles
2. Dallas Cowboys
3. New York Giants
4. Washington Redskins

NFC East Offensive Player of the Year:

Michael Vick, QB, Philadelphia Eagles

NFC East Defensive Player of the Year:

DeMarcus Ware, OLB, Dallas Cowboys

NFC East Offensive Rookie of the Year:

Tyron Smith, RT, Dallas Cowboys

NFC East Defensive Rookie of the Year:

Marvin Austin, DT, New York Giants

NFC East Comeback Player of the Year:

Tony Romo, QB, Dallas Cowboys

Statistical Leaders

Leading rusher: LeSean McCoy, Philadelphia Eagles

Leading passer: Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys

Leading receiver: Miles Austin, Dallas Cowboys

Leading tackler: Bradie James, Dallas Cowboys

Leader in Sacks: DeMarcus Ware, Dallas Cowboys / Brian Orakpo, Washington Redskins

Best defense: Philadelphia Eagles

Free Agency: Aside from the Philadelphia Eagles, the Washington Redskins may have been the second most active team in free agency; The only problem is they were far less successful, didn't feel some of their most pressing needs, and overspent on a lot of players.  Their first priority should have been finding a free agent QB, like Kevin Kolb, or drafting a QB, once they traded Donovan McNabb to the Minnesota Vikings.  Anytime a team heads into the season with John Beck as your starting QB, chances are you'll be drafting very highly next season.  Once they committed to Beck, their first objective was to surround him with weapons.  They re-signed Santana Moss to a 3-year deal, they traded for Jabar Gaffney, and also signed free agent WR Donte' Stallworth.  The 'Skins had over 10 of their own players who either started or contributed headed to free agency, so they made it a priority to lock up their own guys first.  They locked up OT Jamaal Brown, Rocky McIntosh, Phillip Buchanon, HB Blades, and Reed Doughty.  They turned their attention to the remaining free agent market and were able to lure Barry Cofield, perhaps their best signing, away from the Giants with a huge 6-year deal.  They were able to land Cofield because they traded Albert Haynesworth and his enormous contract to the New England Patriots for a 5th Round pick.  They also added up to 7 potential starters with the signings of former Rams safety O.J. Atogwe, K Shayne Graham, CB Josh Wilson (who will replace the departed Carlos Rogers, a 49ers signee), DE/DT Stephen Bowen, OT Sean Locklear, P Sav Rocca, and G Chris Chester.  Perhaps one of their best moves other than the Cofield signing was trading for Tim Hightower, from the Arizona Cardinals, for Vonnie Holliday.

Draft: Many expected the Redskins to draft Blaine Gabbert with the #10 overall pick, but they shocked everyone when they traded the pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars and moved down to #16, especially due to the lack of NFL ready QBs in the lower end of the 1st round.  With their first pick they took Ryan Kerrigan, a DE/OLB from Purdue, who they hope can man the OLB post opposite Brian Orakpo; overall I wasn't impressed with this pick.  With the extra selection they picked up in the trade with Jacksonville, they took Clemson's Jarvis Jenkins, a DE/DT.  He should compete for playing time or be part of the rotation at the very least.  Their next pick may have been their best of the draft when they selected Miami WR Leonard Hankerson who should start as a rookie.  After Hankerson they had 9 selections remaining, many of which were headscratchers including selecting Nebraska RB Roy Helu with better running backs on the board and greater needs to fill.  Of the final 8 selections, the highlights were Nebraska WR Niles Paul, Penn State RB Evan Royster, who holds most of the school's rushing records, and DE/OLB Markus White from Florida State who was a highly touted recruit who never quite lived up to the hype.  Don't be surprised if he makes a name for himself as he could develop into a fine pass rusher.

Offense

Quarterback will be the reason this team likely has the #1 overall pick next year, which isn't all that bad considering Andrew Luck will the grand prize.  John Beck has been named the starter, but with a minor injury, Rex Grossman will challenge him for playing time.  Newly acquired Tim Hightower will be the man at running back and will be joined by returning starters Ryan Torain and Keiland Williams, while Mike Sellers returns at FB.  The team returns Santana Moss at one WR spot while Anthony Armstrong, Jabar Gaffney, and Donte' Stallworth will try and hold off Leonard Hankerson at the other slot.  The tight end position is in good hands with Chris Cooley and Fred Davis.  The offensive line has the potential to be strong with LT Trent Williams, LG Kory Lichtensteiger, C Will Montgomery, RG Chris Chester, and RT Jamaal Brown.  The line will need to play exceptional because of the deficiencies at QB and the skill positions.

Defense

This will be year 2 of the Redskins' transition to the 3-4 defense, and while they were far from dominant last year, they definitely showed signs of improvement.  OLB Brian Orakpo is one of the best in the league at his position as is ILB Rocky McIntosh.  The 3 down lineman will be LE Adam Carriker, last year's first round pick who has made huge strides, NT Barry Cofield, their big offseason signing, and RE Stephen Bowen, their other big offseason pick up.  The 4 linebackers will be rookie Ryan Kerrigan at LOLB, London Fletcher and McIntosh at MLB, and Orakpo at ROLB.  The secondary should be improved with capable corners DeAngelo Hall, who has boom or bust potential, Josh Wilson, and Phillip Buchanon.  The safety position is clearly upgraded with the addition of O.J. Atogwe, who will be flanked by LaRon Landry.

Special Teams

Graham Gano was spectacular as a rookie, but the team brought in Shayne Graham for competition.  Free agent signing Sav Rocca will handle the punting duties.  The electrifying 5'7'' Brandon Banks will handle be the KR/PR, while DeAngelo Hall could also be a factor at KR.

• Miami Dolphins 28 Atlanta Falcons 23: The score from this game is a bit deceiving as by the time the Falcon's first team offense left the field in the first quarter, the game was already over.  The Falcons first team exploded in the first quarter with a touchdown run by Michael Turner, a TD pass from Matt Ryan to Harry Douglas, and a 27-yard field goal by Matt Bryant.  Matt Ryan looked sharp in the few series he played as he was 6/10 for 90 yards and 1 TD.  Rookie Julio Jones also made his much anticipated debut and hauled in 2 receptions for 43 yards.  As for the Miami Dolphins, it looks like this will be another LONG season for them.  They chose to not properly address the quarterback position yet again, and head into the season with Chad Henne, Matt Moore, and Pat Devlin as their options, although Moore did have his moments going 11/18 for 123 yards 2 TDs and 1 INT.
• Detroit Lions 24 Cincinnati Bengals 3: This game was a painful preview of what the Bengals' season is going to look like without Carson Palmer.  While management wouldn't budge on Palmer's request to either be traded or he would retire, it looks like the winner of this game of chicken is Carson Palmer.  Knowing they would likely be heading into the season without Palmer, the Bengals drafted Andy Dalton out of TCU in the second round of the draft and Saturday night's game showed he simply isn't ready now (or maybe ever) to be an NFL quarterback.  The Lions first team laid 14 points on the Bengals defense in a matter of minute in the first quarter with Matthew Stafford looking superb by going 6/7 for 71 yards and 2 TDs, one to Calvin Johnson and one to Nate Burelson.  After the starters were removed, there was just about next to nothing worth reporting.
• Carolina Panthers 20 New York Giants 10: This was perhaps the most anticipated week 1 preseason game.  While Cam Newton did not start, he relieved Jimmy Clauson in the second quarter and played the rest of the game.  He looked every bit worth the Panthers' #1 pick as he showed a seamless transition to taking snaps from under center and used his arm and feet to keep the Giants defense off balance.  Newton's numbers were pedestrian as he was only 8/19 for 134 yards, but the flashes were certainly there.  Other noteworthy action was Panthers' recently acquired tight end Greg Olsen catching his first TD.  It looks as if Olsen will give the Panthers the playmaking tight end they have sorely lacked for years, as well as a safety valve for Newton.  On the flipside, the Giants have some major holes to fill if they play on being competitive this season, especially after losing Kevin Boss and Steve Smith, further depleting an already weakened receiving corp.
• In other action: Redskins 16 Steelers 7, Buccaneers 25 Chiefs 0, Saints 24 49ers 3, Browns 27 Packers 17, Bears 10 Bills 3, Rams 33 Colts 10, Titans 14 Vikings 3