CHICAGO -- Chris Ash said the words Monday that Rutgers football fans have been dying to hear since Janarion Grant suffered a broken ankle on Sept. 24, 2016.

"He's 100 percent," Ash said.

Speaking to a small group of local beat reporters at Big Ten Media Days, the second-year Rutgers coach said that Grant has continued to recover since he was last seen by fans standing on the sidelines with other potential difference-makers during the spring game.

Coaches are allowed under NCAA rule to spend two hours per week on the field with players during the summer.

"He's had a great summer," Ash said. "He was limited through the spring semester, but this summer he's been pretty much full go for the majority of the summer. He looks great, he's in great shape, he's put weight back on. We're obviously excited to have him back."

Rutgers took the smart and cautious path with Grant in spring practice, when he was a limited non-contact participant in spring camp. The injury cost Grant a chance at the 2017 NFL Draft and caused him to limp his way through spring camp route-running drills at times.

A fully healthy Grant changes the narrative for Rutgers, which was 2-1 and tied with Iowa late in the first half of the Big Ten opener last season. At that point, Grant already had accounted for six touchdowns -- three rushing, two on special teams and one throwing an option pass.

When Grant went down at the end of a 76-yard catch-and-run and Rutgers had no suitable replacement, the offense became predictable and stagnate, leading to nine straight losses.

Rutgers recruited freshmen and graduate transfers -- namely, Miami running back Gus Edwards and Arkansas wide receiver Damon Mitchell -- to upgrade the amount of playmakers around Grant.

If the reinforcements lessen Grant's workload, they won't lessen his versatility -- or his chase of Rutgers' career record for all-purpose yardage.

Grant was named to the preseason watch lists for the Hornung Award as college football's most versatile player and the Maxwell Award as the national player of the year year.

"We have to use him," Ash said. "Going into the season, he's what we would consider our best playmaker.

"I do think we have some more playmakers as a supporting cast that hopefully can take some of the workload and expectations off of Janarion. But without a doubt he is a guy that we are going to have find as many ways to get the ball in his hands as possible."

Ryan Dunleavy may be reached at rdunleavy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rydunleavy. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.