Captains Named For Rutgers 2012 Football Season

Added by Gregg Snyder on August 21, 2012.

Rutgers opens the season September 1, on the road against Tulane.

Training camp is winding down for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team. They will have one final scrimmage on Thursday and preseason camp comes to an end on Friday. After that, the team will begin preparations for their season opener against Tulane.

First year head coach Kyle Flood used the final week of camp to make some important announcements regarding his football team. First, Flood announced his decision to start sophomore Gary Nova at quarterback over junior Chas Dodd. Then, yesterday, Flood announced his team captains before practice.

Weak-side linebacker Khaseem Greene has been an out-going leader of the Scarlet Knights for a couple years, so him being one of the four captains comes as no surprise. Greene, a SI.com Pre-Season All-American, is one of the top linebackers in the country.

Fellow linebacker Steve Beauharnais was also named a team captain. Beauharnais has quietly been one of the most active and productive defenders for the Scarlet Knights the past few seasons. He anchors the middle of the defense.

Sixth-year senior Mason Robinson joins Greene and Beauharnais as captains from the defensive side of the ball. The Somerville, NJ native will also represent special teams as he is expected to see action at punt returner and cornerback this season. Flood has consistently said Robinson is just like another coach out on the field and on the sidelines.

The lone offensive representative to be named captain this season is wide receiver Tim Wright. In a loaded position group, Wright sometimes does not get the notariety he deserves. He has been a consistent performer despite the others at his position and all the quarterback shuffling he has seen during his time here.

Greene, Beauharnais, Robinson, and Wright are all well deserving of the captain title. These are four talented athletes who have proven to be team players and great leaders both on and off the field.

To me, the lone surprise would be that defensive tackle Scott Vallone was not named a captain. I would have given him the honor over Beauharnais, but you can’t go wrong with either.

Flood said there may be additional captains named on a game-by-game basis. “I may have a game captain to add to the captains we have now as we go forward in the season,” he said. “I do think there are other people deserving of it.”

Expect Vallone to be one of the first game captains added. I would not be surprised to see guys like Duron Harmon, Marcus Cooper, Mark Harrison, Robert Jones, and Ka’Lial Glaud become game captains at some point this season.