Ad Disclosure
Report: Rutgers linebacker leaving early for NFL
Published:
Rutgers is going to have to find a new tackling machine.
Redshirt junior Steve Longa is reportedly declaring for the NFL draft, according to NJ.com.
“I feel like it’s time,” Longa told NJ.com. “I’m prepared. I had a very good season and I looked back after the season and I saw what I’ve accomplished throughout my career at Rutgers and I asked myself the question: Am I ready for the NFL? Is this the right time? I had to answer that question myself, not anybody else.
“And I felt like I was ready so that’s why I made the decision to leave.”
RELATED: Former top Rutgers recruit to transfer
His motor certainly won’t be questioned come draft time.
Longa recorded three straight seasons of 100-plus tackles, which made him the second player in program history to do so. His 342 career tackles put him at eighth on the school’s all-time list.
The 6-1, 225-pound linebacker told NJ.com that he had received a draft evaluation, but that it didn’t have any impact on his decision to leave. The third-team All-B1G selection also said that the move wasn’t made because of the team hiring Chris Ash to replace Kyle Flood, who Longa played for his entire Rutgers career.
Replacing a guy that finished fifth in the country in solo tackles won’t be easy. Ash already dealt with the news over the weekend that former four-star defensive end Marques Ford was transferring.
The deadline for underclassmen to declare for the NFL draft is Jan. 18.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Tradition. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.