Rutgers Football: Monday Practice Report

Greg Schiano addressed the state of the position competitions on both sides of the ball after Monday's practice. In addition, he discussed his reasoning behind the changes made on the offensive line.

DEFENSIVE POSITION COMPETITIONS
Who will play alongside Courtney Greene is a battle that's still up for grabs. Schiano said Joe Lefeged and Zaire Kitchen are about 50-50 for the starting job.

The team had two practice sessions today and Kitchen didn't take part in the morning session because those who are coming off knee surgery (Kordell Young, Charlie Noonan) only go once a day. Edmond Lareya isn't on the same schedule as the others because he had his surgery completed three months prior.

Even though Kitchen sat out the morning practice, he didn't get more snaps than Lefeged in the afternoon.

The defensive front four isn't really competing for starting time because Schiano said everyone is going to see action.

"Defensive line, I don't worry about as much because everyone is going to play," he said. "So who starts is going to be a week to week thing."

NO. 2 TIGHT END AND NO. 3 WIDE RECEIVER NOTES
There are some questions that need to be answered on offense depending on what package the Knights decide to open the game with. They will need to figure out who will play on the other side of Kevin Brock if they go with two tight ends or who will be the slot man if you start three wide receivers.

"It depends if you're starting two tight ends and one back personnel, who's going to be the second tight end," Schiano said. "If you're starting out three wide, one tight end and one back, who's going to be that third wide? Is it going to be Dennis [Campbell], Julian [Hayes], or does Timmy [Brown] make a comeback here? Those are the questions."

Shamar Graves has made some strides and performed well the head coach said, but Craig McGovern hasn't been able to compete at 100 percent because of a hurt shoulder.

"I think Shamar is doing better," Schiano said. "Shamar has done some good things.

"Craig has been a little banged up with the shoulder so he hasn't been at full force."

Campbell was looking good coming out of camp, but tweaked his hamstring last week. Good news is, he was on the field yesterday and he feels he will be able to play in Wednesday's scrimmage. Schiano liked what he saw from the junior receiver, but wants to look over the practices before he makes his decision.

"I think he looked pretty good," he said about Campbell's performance in Monday's practice. "I probably have to watch the tape to see if he can scrimmage."

CHANGES ON THE O-LINE
Schiano has shuffled a few positions on the offensive line. Matthew Hardison has moved from guard to center and Marlon Romulus has moved over to guard. Schiano said Romulus can improve on the line without having to hike the ball every play.

"I think he's a better player as a guard than a center," he said about Romulus. "So we'll see if that's true."

Howard Barbieri will "probably" be looked upon to play either guard position when needed, Schiano said. Who else will back up hasn't been decided at this point.