Rutgers’ Greg Schiano makes starting QB decision ahead of training camp

Patrick Lanni
INDIANAPOLIS — There will be no quarterback competition at Rutgers’ training camp next month.
Redshirt sophomore Gavin Wimsatt will be the Scarlet Knights’ starting quarterback for his program’s season-opening matchup with Northwestern in September, head coach Greg Schiano told local reporters on Wednesday at Big Ten Media Days. Junior signal-caller Evan Simon will serve as the backup while true freshman Ajani Shepard will be the third-string option.
“I’m excited,” Schiano said. “I think Evan has done a really good job, too, so we have two guys that have experience — not a lot but some — but Gavin has worked really hard. I think (offensive coordinator) Kirk Ciarrocca has formed a really strong bond with all of our quarterbacks, both with relationships and football-wise through spring football and all of our summer stuff we’ve done. Now is the time, we need to get ready to play.”
Wimsatt and Simon split time at quarterback for a majority of an injury-riddled 2022 season in which veteran Noah Vedral dealt with a hand injury sustained in training camp and Wimsatt dealt with a leg injury that kept him out of multiple games. Neither Wimsatt or Simon had a particularly strong season last fall, each struggling with accuracy and proneness to turnovers as Rutgers’ offense sputtered to one of the worst units in college football.
Wimsatt finished his first full college football season with 757 yards, five touchdowns and seven interceptions on 65-of-145 passing — the 44.8% completion rate was the second-lowest among the 146 FBS quarterbacks who threw at least 125 pass attempts this season, per ProFootballFocus — and he ran for 156 yards on 21 non-sack carries. Simon threw for 777 yards, four touchdowns and six interceptions on 79-of-137 passing (57.7%).
The duo then faced off for the starting job in the spring, where Wimsatt began to create some separation in the competition. Schiano hinted at what direction he was leaning in June, when he said Wimsatt was “on a good trajectory,” and he confirmed his decision ahead of a critical training camp.
Schiano said he knew Wimsatt would be his starter “for a while” and while he felt it was “a good time to make the announcement.”
“I could see it in spring practice,” Schiano said of Wimsatt’s improvement. “I think a lot of it has to do with how Kirk has developed the whole room. Gavin is very comfortable with the way he’s being developed. I just saw him getting better and better and better. Until the game’s live, it’s not, but you have to do that first. I’m excited to see his progress when we get into a game. We’ve got a lot of time between now and then, which is great.”
This offseason brought multiple positive changes for the sputtering offense: a revamped coaching staff led by Ciarrocca that will feature former NFL coaches Patrick Flaherty (offensive line) and Dave Brock (wide receiver), as well as a number of strong additions out of the transfer portal.
After losing its top three wide receivers to graduation, the Scarlet Knights added Division II All-American Jaquae Jackson and FCS star Naseim Brantley — two pass-catchers entering their final season of college football with their sights set on the NFL. After struggling mightily to get production at tight end, Rutgers added another FCS star in Maine’s Shawn Bowman this weekend after an official visit.
And now, they have a starting quarterback.
“He’s earned it,” Schiano said. “You earn it at our place. You can unearn it. Those are the facts, people don’t like to hear, but that’s the reality. You build equity. You have a bad day, that’s okay, you have that equity. It’s like having money in the bank. You have it for a rainy day. You don’t want to limit the supply either so you have to compete every day at our place.”