Jamil Pollard Transfers From Penn State to Rutgers

Defensive Tackle Jamil Pollard is transferring from Penn State to Rutgers, according to his high school coach, due to the NCAA sanctions handed down to Penn State. Pollard, who is from West Depford, NJ, was part of the Nittany Lions' 2012 recruiting class, and he will be able to transfer with out any restrictions as part of the NCAA penalties. Pollard was considered a 4 star recruit by all of the recruiting services, but he was a qualifier risk and that scared some schools, including Rutgers, away from recruiting him. He was able to pick up his grades as a senior in high school and did in fact qualify.

Pollard is a really big kid with great strength. He plays with tremendous leverage and is able to hold double teams and move the line of scrimmage backwards. He moves pretty well for his size and is able to change directions very quickly. He bends his knees and is a good tackler, but there are some technique things (like using his hands better) that he will need to work on. He will likely end up on the defensive side of the ball and he fits the classic profile of a nose tackle, but the could play offense as well.

Pollard was a big time talent, so this is a fantastic pick up. He had offers from factory schools like Alabama, Michigan, Notre Dame, Florida, Iowa, etc, before the academic issues came to light. Rutgers has had some small defensive tackles in the past, but they have brought in some really big guys the last 3 recruiting classes. Rutgers is loaded with freshman and sophomore DTs, so this will give them more talent and depth at a position with a fairly high attrition rate.He should be able to join the Knights for the start of training camp next week.

I think Rutgers may try to take a couple more players from Penn State, but according to my unofficial count, Pollard brings Rutgers to 84 players on scholarship, leaving them only 1 available.

Here's some video of Pollard: