June arrives this weekend, but still dreaming about the fall months. With that in mind, we're looking at the most indispensable players on each Big Ten team.
By indispensable, we don't necessarily mean best.
We mean the players who would be hardest to replace between now and the start of the season if they got hurt/suspended/interrogated by Jack Bauer, etc. That could be because of their value to the team or because of a lack of depth at their position.
We'll pick two players from each team, usually offense and defense, but not always. On the clock today: Big Ten newbie Rutgers.
Darius Hamilton, DT, Jr.
Rutgers has pretty good depth on its defensive line, but Hamilton could be the main difference-maker on that side of the ball. He began to live up to his recruiting promise in the second half of last season when he became a wrecking ball up front for the Scarlet Knights, and Hamilton continued that this spring. He also emerged as a vocal team leader, and it's always nice to have one of your most talented guys also take charge of the locker room. Hamilton, at 6-foot-4 and 260 pounds, is not large by Big Ten defensive tackle standards, but he brings a mammoth presence to Rutgers on and off the field.
Leonte Carroo, WR, Jr.
The Scarlet Knights have multiple options at quarterback and running back and bring back a lot of experience on the offensive line. The receiver group, however, will have some new looks this year after the departures of Brandon Coleman and Quron Pratt. Carroo played in only 10 games last season, but his nine touchdown catches were more than twice as many as any other player on the team. He has All-Big Ten potential and should be the go-to guy in the passing game for this offense.
