— Sam Hellman
The “Freshman 15” is a series on TargumBlog where we count down the top 15 freshmen from this class with an article or video each day from the guys. The freshmen’s rankings are based primarily on their chances of seeing the field immediately and what type of impact they can make as true freshmen.
Background info:
J.T. Tartacoff was one of the first in the draft class to commit and has been all Rutgers ever since. Tartacoff came to the majority of the Scarlet Knights’ spring practices and began working as a slot receiver upon his arrival this summer.
In his senior year at Montgomery High School, the 5-foot-11, 190-pound athlete saw time at wide receiver, running back, quarterback, safety, cornerback, kick returner and punt returner. He recorded a total of 10 touchdowns as a senior and had 838 total yards.
Adjusting to college:
Tartacoff made one of the quicker adjustments of all the players that did not enroll early, being the first to crack the two-deep in terms of practice reps. He made some plays in both team scrimmages and got a bump-up in playing time after injuries to Quron Pratt and Tim Wright, but appears to have been leap-frogged by Jeremy Deering in terms of true freshmen at wide receiver.
Outlook for this season:
No, the No. 2 isn’t a typo. I had Tartacoff as the top guy, expecting him to play a lot in the slot, but after what Deering did in today’s scrimmage, scratch that.
Tartacoff will probably see some playing time in the slot and in four-wide sets for the Scarlet Knights, but not as much as can be expected from Deering between the slot and Wild Knight.
Freshman 15:
15 – Jawaun Wynn
14 – Sam Bergen
13 – Chris Fonti
12 – Jordan Thomas
11 – Marcus Thompson
10 – Lorenzo Waters
9 – Gareef Glashen
8 – Jawan Jamison
7 – Rashad Knight
6 – Brandon Coleman
5 – Betim Bujari
4 – Chas Dodd
3 – Casey Turner
1 – Jeremy Deering
