Many knaves to become knights in 2009

Fantasy aficionados will not be faulted if they notice a three-year starting QB gone along with the leading wideout who was drafted in the first round and think that this offense has nowhere to go but down. Oh yes, and another talented wide receiver got a phone call late on draft weekend too. Blood surely will run scarlet on the ground at the birthplace of college football.

It is a common thought process that with so much skill position talent drained from any college program that it will take some time to rebuild, but it fails to consider three very important factors which should keep Rutgers near the top of the Big East stat production. A great coach in Greg Schiano, the easiest schedule in all of FBS / Division 1 and one of the best offensive lines in the country.

All those factors set a solid foundation for the new players (which come through all the time in universities) to be nice fantasy college football values on Draft Day 2009.

Below is my SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) and expected depth chart of our 25th rated offense (see my Offensive Dynasty Study) since 2006.

STRENGTH

Offensive Line – Four starters return but highly touted sophomore Art Forst steps in after playing big parts of the season in his freshman year. Anthony Davis looks like a future first-day draft pick. If you find that a weak offensive line can drag down the effectiveness of good skill players, you have to believe the converse of that theory. So don’t downgrade the Knights so quickly.

Head Coach Greg Schiano – while his staff has a lot of turnover since he grooms them well for the NFL, Schiano leads the squad for the ninth year. A former defensive coordinator during the heights of the UMiami Empire, Schiano has declined numerous riches to keep his throne in his homeland of New Jersey. Schiano is one of the few coaches who I have faith in developing a passing game with all new principals.

WEAKNESS

Returning skill positions – WR Tim Brown led the team with a monster 20ypc last season and will likely team up with some freshmen. Leading rusher RB Kordell Young returns but he missed a few games last season. The QB job is up for grabs but spring suggests Sparty transfer Dom Natale will lead the offense. Yes it is unsettling, but there should be some underappreciated fantasy value here.

OPPORTUNITY

Big East in turmoil – this is on every Big East preview and reflects all the new skill position talent around the conference.

Ludicrous schedule – see below for the long form. Two FCS teams and road games at Maryland and Army mark the out-of-conference slate, and the tougher Big East games are in Piscataway. Plus they host USF on a Thursday night – always tough for college kids to perform on the road mid-week. This is the core of why the Rutgers players, and the defense in particular, should be great spot starts or even late-round values.

THREAT

Too many cooks in the kitchen – this is based on my visions of what make successful leadership and management structures, and Rutgers may have too many people in charge. I have never seen so many “Co-” coaches on one staff, as both sides of the ball have co-coordinators. It smells to me as if there will be a lot of finger pointing if things go poorly. To be clear this is no commentary on any one man’s character as I have never met nor talked nor heard from any of them except Schiano on TV. I just worry about too many Knights.

DEPTH CHART (proj.)

QB – Natale, Sr. – Jabu Lovelace, Sr – DC Jefferson, Fr

RB – Young, Jr. – Jourdan Brooks, So. – Mason Robinson (FLEX), Jr. – Joe Martinek, So

WR – Brown, Sr. – Aaron Heyward, Fr – Tim Wright, rFr – Marcus Cooper, rFr

TE – Shamar Graves, Jr.

K – San San Te, So.

SCHEDULE

Sep 07 CINCINNATI (Mon) Labor Day at 4pm
Sep 12 HOWARD
Sep 19 FIU
Sep 26 Maryland College Park, Md. TBA
Oct 07 IDLE
Oct 10 TEXAS SOUTHERN HC
Oct 16 PITTSBURGH (Fri)
Oct 23 at Army (Fri)
Oct 31 Connecticut
Nov 07 IDLE
Nov 12 USF (Thu)
Nov 21 at Syracuse
Nov 27 at Louisville (Fri)
Dec 5 WEST VIRGINIA

Related posts:

1. Big East Preview: Rutgers Scarlet Knights
2. 2009 Cincinnati Bearcats Fantasy Preview
3. 2009 USF Bulls Fantasy Preview
4. West Virginia Mountaineers Team Preview 2009
5. 2009 Syracuse Orange Fantasy Preview

Tags: 2009 Draft Kit, 2009 Preview