Rutgers football: Blessuan Austin's return could be boon for secondary

PISCATAWAY - Blessuan Austin's junior season came to a close Sept. 23 at Nebraska when he tore his ACL.

There was surgery, there was rehabilitation, and yes, there might have been a delay in beginning his NFL career, too. When asked what the low point of the last six-plus months has been, it wasn't the surgery. It wasn't all the rehab, nor was it not turning pro just yet.

"The low point of the process was when I started feeling healthy, because as I started feeling even more healthy, my urge to get back on the field got even bigger," Austin said Tuesday at the Hale Center after Rutgers completed its 11th of 15 spring practices. "Spring ball started, and I think I can go. I'm running around, cutting, feeling good, but they had to slow me down a little.

"He's doing good, getting back to his original form," said Isaiah Wharton, who has started all 36 games of his career at cornerback. "The kid, he wants to be great. You can see it. He's out there, he's looking explosive, he's looking good, and I'm happy to have him out there."

Austin has been limited this spring, but expects to be ready for training camp this summer, with an eye on starting at one cornerback spot when the Scarlet Knights open on Sept. 1 against Texas State. Of course, Austin's presence at High Point Solutions Stadium that day may never have happened had the ACL injury not occurred.

Had Austin stayed healthy and played the entire 2017 season, he would have had a legitimate case to leave school a year early for the NFL Draft later this month. Once there, he could have projected as a mid-round pick.

Even with the injury, the NFL Draft was a viable option. Austin would have left Piscataway, someone would have chosen him, and he could have focused solely on football and rehab.

"It's hard not to think about that, but I made the decision to come back," Austin said. "I was 100 percent about that, I have to regrets about it at all."

"Physically, he really can do everything we ask him to do," first-year cornerbacks coach Cory Robinson said. "He can go out there and play right now, but again, it's about being smart about it, making sure that we attack his rehab and get him back full-throttle so he's ready to go come this summer."

Austin's decision to return for his senior season should be a boon for the Rutgers secondary. Barring a setback, Austin will start at one cornerback on Sept. 1, having started 25 of the 26 games he has played. Aside from Wharton's vast experience, sophomore Damon Hayes started eight of the 12 games he played in last season after Austin went down.

"I feel like last year, we made more strides," Wharton said. "Bless going out, it hurt us, but Damon, he played great football. This year, I think this is the year where as corners, this is the year we actually change games, impact games.

"I feel like last year, we did our job, we did good. We tackled the ball every time it leaked out, we limited big plays, but this is the year we actually go make plays and change games as a cornerback unit."

Staff Writer Josh Newman: jnewman@app.com; @Joshua_Newman