The Aporia · Top playmakers KJ Duff, Antwan Raymond return for Rutgers amid QB race

Top playmakers KJ Duff, Antwan Raymond return for Rutgers amid QB race

Read the original at Toronto Star ↗

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APA MLA Chicago

Merrill, E. (2026, August 18). Top playmakers KJ Duff, Antwan Raymond return for Rutgers amid QB race. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/sports/football/top-playmakers-kj-duff-antwan-raymond-return-for-rutgers-amid-qb-race/article_26934341-698f-5cab-96ef-b90b3d2e453a.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Quick Summary

Rutgers is preparing for its first quarterback battle in three years, with AJ Surace and Dylan Lonergan competing to lead the team. The winner will benefit from the return of leading rusher Antwan Raymond and top wide receiver KJ Duff. Rutgers' defense must improve after allowing 35 or more points in six conference games last season, and the team is counting on new defensive coordinator Travis Johansen to make a difference. With a tough schedule ahead that includes USC, Michigan, and Indiana, Rutgers needs to show improvement on both sides of the ball to return to a bowl game.

Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-08-18, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

The University of Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team is looking to improve their chances of returning to a bowl game after missing out last season, with the key being the performance of their quarterback. Coach Greg Schiano has a quarterback battle on his hands between AJ Surace and Dylan Lonergan, with Surace knowing the system but lacking experience, having thrown only 9 passes last season as a backup, while Lonergan is a transfer from Boston College who threw for over 2,000 yards. The return of KJ Duff and Antwan Raymond, Rutgers' leading rusher and wide receiver respectively, will be crucial in the team's success. However, the defense must also improve after allowing 35 or more points in six of nine conference games last season. The Scarlet Knights face a challenging schedule, including games against USC, Michigan, and Indiana, making starting 2-0 against UMass and Boston College essential for their chances of improvement.

Written for “Rutgers Football News” on 2026-10-16, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

Illinois turns to new QB to keep unprecedented run going different event · 90%

Toronto Star

⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 12 📰 publisher trust 63

“The articles cover different teams (Illinois vs Rutgers) and describe their respective quarterback situations for the upcoming season.”

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

0 of 21 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

not political

takes no side on a contested political question

Publisher signals

63/100

Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Sports

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-08-18 · how these are computed

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Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Running correction rate · 22 correction(s)

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Who wrote this

Everett Merrill

8 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

🔮 Richard, who Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said is expected to play Saturday after getting injured during last week’s closer-than-expected 29-23 victory over Northwestern, has run for 383 yards and four touchdowns.

2026-10-01 · assertive framing · Old teammates, new roles: Turbo Richard and No. 6 Indiana visit Dylan Lonergan and Rutgers

🔮 “If I didn’t believe in the people downstairs, I wouldn’t say that.

2026-09-04 · assertive framing · Schiano says Rutgers will 'be a good football team' after stunning opening loss to underdog UMass

🔮 When it came to deciding if he would stay at Rutgers after another disappointing season, he was up in the air.

2026-08-25 · assertive framing · KJ Duff turns down big-money suitors, stays at Rutgers as potential 1st-round NFL prospect

🔮 Whoever gets the nod will benefit from the return of the Scarlet Knights’ leading rusher and wide receiver, Antwan Raymond and KJ Duff, respectively.

2026-08-18 · assertive framing · Top playmakers KJ Duff, Antwan Raymond return for Rutgers amid QB race

Also by Everett Merrill

Nico Hischier has 2 goals and an assist to help the Devils roll to a 4-1 win over the Canucks

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2026-10-04 · Toronto Star

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2026-10-02 · Toronto Star

Old teammates, new roles: Turbo Richard and No. 6 Indiana visit Dylan Lonergan and Rutgers

2026-10-01 · Toronto Star

Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 8 articles by Everett Merrill →

Topics

Boston College N.J. PISCATAWAY Rutgers the Scarlet Knights

Subjects

Rutgers ORG · 5× Boston College ORG · 4× Schiano PERSON · 4× UFA ORG · 3× the Scarlet Knights ORG · 3× Dylan Lonergan PERSON · 2× Michigan GPE · 2× PISCATAWAY GPE · 2× Raymond PERSON · 2× USC ORG · 2×

Narrative

Travis Johansen is the new defensive coordinator after serving as the head coach at South Dakota, former Drake head coach Joe Woodley is the new rush ends coach and Dennis Dottin-Carter takes over the defensive line after three years at Minnesota.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-08-18

🔮 Whoever gets the nod will benefit from the return of the Scarlet Knights’ leading rusher and wide receiver, Antwan Raymond and KJ Duff, respectively.

2026-08-18 · Toronto Star

Top playmakers KJ Duff, Antwan Raymond return for Rutgers amid QB race · assertive framing

Claims (21 extracted, 0 hedged)

AJ Surace or Dylan Lonergan are trying to win the job to run coach Greg Schiano’s ball-control offense. asserted

Surace → try → offense

Surace knows the system but lacks game experience; he threw just nine passes last season as a backup. asserted

he → know → backup

Lonergan is a transfer from Boston College who threw for over 2,000 yards. asserted

who → throw → yards

Whoever gets the nod will benefit from the return of the Scarlet Knights’ leading rusher and wide receiver, Antwan Raymond and KJ Duff, respectively. asserted

gets → get → rusher

The defense, which allowed 35 or more points in six of nine conference games, must improve if the Scarlet Knights want to return to a bowl game after missing out last season. asserted

Knights → allow → game

This is the second straight season Schiano has addressed the defense via the portal. asserted

Schiano → address → portal

Starting 2-0 against UMass and Boston College is imperative because the schedule after that includes USC, Michigan and Indiana paying a visit to SHI Stadium. asserted

USC → start → Stadium

Rutgers will also need to improve on the road where it went 1-4 last fall. asserted

it → need → road

Strengths start with two skill players Raymond and Duff are coming off breakout seasons as sophomores. asserted

Raymond → start → sophomores

Raymond ran for 1,241 yards and 13 touchdowns in his first season as a starter. asserted

Raymond → run → starter

The 6-foot-6 Duff caught 60 passes for 1,084 yards and seven touchdowns last season. asserted

Duff → catch → yards

The offensive line has experience and depth, starting with left tackle Tyler Needham and right guard Kwabena Asamoah. asserted

line → have → Needham

They anchor a line that produced a 3,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard rusher and a 1,000-yard receiver in 2025 for the second time in program history. asserted

that → anchor → history

Punter Jakob Anderson and place kicker Jai Patel return. asserted

Anderson → return → ?

Anderson averaged 44.2 yards on 33 punts and Patel, a four-year starter, is reliable from inside of 50 yards. asserted

Patel → average → yards

Weaknesses include inexperience on defense, NIL budget asserted

Weaknesses → include → defense

After a season that ranked 125th in total defense, Schiano decided to overhaul the coaching staff and turn to the portal for help. asserted

Schiano → rank → help

Carter → serve → Minnesota

Schiano brought in Toledo defensive end Malachi Davis, Tulsa defensive end J’Dan Burnett and Temple DL Sekou Kromah to bolster a line that recorded 11 sacks, second lowest in the nation. asserted

that → bring → nation

Rutgers program operates well below the Big Ten’s bigger spenders when it comes to NIL compensation. asserted

it → operate → compensation

Rutgers president William F. Tate IV and athletic director Keli Zinn, who both came over from LSU, must continue to prioritize fundraising if the Scarlet Knights want to be a factor in the conference. asserted

Knights → come → conference