Rutgers doesn’t have much room for error on defense.

That made Thursday’s news that much tougher to stomach.

Chris Ash announced that Rutgers starting linebacker Tyreek Maddox-Williams suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament on Tuesday and he’ll miss the entire 2017 season.

The injury was suffered in a non-contact situation.

That’s a brutal loss for a Rutgers defense that finished 116th in FBS in scoring last season. Maddox-Williams started in six games as a true freshman in 2016 and made ESPN.com’s All-B1G Freshman team. In his 11 games, Maddox-Williams racked up 47 tackles.

It remains to be seen who will replace him. Ash said the Knights do have more depth at linebacker than they did last year. Ross Douglas, Deonte Roberts and Trevor Morris could all earn snaps at the strong-side position.

Fortunately for Rutgers, Roberts and Morris were both starters last year.

The Scarlet Knights will open the 2017 season on Friday, Sept. 1 vs. reigning Pac-12 champion Washington.