Blocked from Syracuse, former Miami RB Gus Edwards transfers to Rutgers

Dan and I joked about this happening on the podcast a couple weeks ago, but we knew there was a real glimmer of possibility to it just the same.

Former Miami Hurricanes running back Gus Edwards will head to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights for his final year of eligibility, per a report from Scout.com.

Edwards, a Staten Island, N.Y. native, originally expressed interest in transferring closer to home, but Miami’s “institutional policies” blocked him from any 2017 Hurricanes opponent. That would include the Syracuse Orange, as well as the Pittsburgh Panthers.

Given the fact that Edwards was originally an Orange commit in the class of 2013, it seemed like a no-brainer he’d want to head to SU. While New Jersey’s a bit closer to Staten Island than Syracuse is, he had already felt strongly enough about the campus experience up in Central New York to commit once before. He ended up going with Rutgers over Oklahoma State, according to Scout.

In four years at Miami, Edwards amassed 977 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. He was rarely given the opportunity for consistent carries there, but the few times he was, the results seemed to increase accordingly. At 230 pounds, he could’ve really helped the Orange inside run game this year. SU finished with one of the worst rushing attacks in FBS last season.

Syracuse has reinforcements coming at running back this offseason, but obviously Edwards would’ve been a more immediate upgrade. We’ll see if Dino Babers & Co. end up looking for any other grad transfers this offseason (at running back or otherwise).