In a recent post, The Athletic talked about who they believe is the most intriguing newcomer for all of the teams in the Power Four. Newcomer can mean any player that they picked up out of high school or the transfer portal, or any coach they nabbed on the carousel. While most Rutgers fans likely would have named new defensive coordinator Travis Johansen as the team’s most intriguing addition, The Athletic chose another direction.
They chose to name former Tulsa EDGE J’Dan Burenett as the Scarlet Knights’ most intriguing newcomer, pointing out his ability to make plays in the backfield as the reason for it.
“This is Burnett’s third stop in as many seasons after he played at Louisiana Tech in 2024 and Tulsa in 2025. He earned second-team All-American Conference honors last year after recording 6.5 sacks and 9.5 TFLs,” said Antonio Morales, writer of the post.
It has been some time since Rutgers has had a truly consistent pass rusher. There is a possibility that Burnett could be the answer to that; however, his stats at the lower level don’t necessarily jump off the page. Rutgers did add several defensive line pieces in the portal overall, so there is a possibility that the overall improvement of the defensive line gives Burnett what he needs to be successful, but that seems to be a reach given what we know now.
It is a surprise that Johansen was not the name called here, given that he is taking over a defense that set records for poor performance last season. On top of that, he has a proven track record of building defenses at the lower level, so seeing what he can do to the Knights’ defense in year one is definitely intriguing, to say the least. It is unreasonable to expect a complete turnaround in one season; however, a good leap forward from where they were is still on the table. How much they improve is one of the most intriguing things about the team next season, and Johansen is the architect behind that.