Eric O'Neill named Rutgers' player to watch in 2025 by David Pollack

As David Pollack went through some Big Ten storylines and predictions, he named Eric O’Neill as a guy to watch out for this season. The Rutgers edge rusher who transferred in from James Madison caught the College Football Hall of Famer’s eye.
Rutgers brings a lot of offensive production back from the 2024 season, but it’s the Scarlet Knights’ defense that got a bit of a makeover. O’Neill brings in quality tape and numbers to aid the cause in 2025.
After referencing James Madison transfers that went to Indiana last season to follow coach Curt Cignetti, Pollack wondered how O’Neill would do in New Jersey. Seems like it’ll be a great fit for the Staten Island native.
“If I watched what Kamara did at Indiana, coming from JMU like …. was really, really good with production, and now you say Rutgers, absolutely,” Pollack said on See Ball Get Ball. “l just saw the track record, and I saw what Cignetti did with some of those guys, and then to put out numbers like that. So I’m on board. I love the call. I’m absolutely with you.”
Last year in 13 games, O’Neill logged 52 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, 13 sacks, one interception, one pick six and three pass deflections with James Madison. Head coach Greg Schiano was certainly attracted to that type of production for his defense.
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O’Neill recently earned a spot on the IMPACT Trophy watch list. The award given by the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation awards it to the nation’s top defensive player.
Prior to James Madison, O’Neill played three seasons at Long Island University. He’ll now finish his career in the Big Ten as he continually rose up in levels of college football.
Rutgers and O’Neill open the 2025 campaign on Thursday, August 28th at home against Ohio. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. ET.
O’Neill joins Rutgers at an exciting time. While the athletic director search is ongoing, the school recently hired LSU president William F. Tate to the same role.
“Not just that he comes from the SEC, but if you look at his whole career, he’s a sports enthusiast, he’s led great universities,” Schiano said, via NJ.com. “But again, I think Rutgers is trending in the right direction in a lot of different ways … We’re trying to strive to be a top university in the country, and we’re getting there. I don’t know how much rankings mean, but all I see is Rutgers’ ranking going up and up and up. That’s a great thing. I always talk about it to all the families and all the recruits: The Big Ten to me is the intersection of elite academics and elite football.”