Rutgers loses key pillar of offense to transfer portal.
Rutgers football has lost one of the key pillars of its offense and one of its top three retention priorities as wide receiver Ian Strong has announced that he will enter the transfer portal. The news was first broken by Hayes Fawcett of On3Sports.
Strong was a standout at wide receiver during his years with the Scarlet Knights. In his last two seasons at Rutgers, Strong totaled 1,438 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns and was named an All-Big Ten honorable mention twice. It was rumored that he would declare for the NFL draft after his Junior season, but he ultimately decided not to. His talent and 6-foot-3, 210-pound frame caught the eye of several bigger programs. In the end, despite encouraging words from Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano at the end of the season, he ultimately decided to use his one year of college eligibility to play somewhere else.
Strong played a key role in the Knights’ offense, which experienced a renaissance this season. For the first time in years, Rutgers had a 3,000-yard passer. Strong’s talent played a huge role in helping Athan Kalikmanis achieve that number. However, despite the much-improved play on offense, Rutgers missed a bowl game largely due to their abysmal defensive play.
With his departure, a few questions linger. Can the Knights hold on to wide receiver KJ Duff and running back Antwan Raymond? Duff and Strong were good friends in high school who roomed together in college. Strong was also a reason why Duff decided to come to Rutgers in the first place.
In addition to that, the Knight will now likely have to go after a wide receiver in the transfer portal, to at the very least provide depth to the room. In addition to Strong, DT Sheffield will be leaving the program as he had declared for the NFL draft. Wide Reciever Ben Black will likely be elevated to the starting role, depending on what Rutgers does in the transfer portal. Either way, this news comes as a gut punch to Rutgers fans.
Category: General Sports
