Five (more) local college football players to watch this season
Last month we looked at five local football players poised to break out with their college teams this season.
With so many of our athletes spread throughout the country, we’re back with more.
This week’s High Five highlights five more college football players ready to make their hometowns proud.
5. Mason Reiger, LB, Wisconsin
It’s been a while since we’ve seen Reiger, a Conant graduate who missed last season at Louisville due to a knee injury.
Reiger’s back after entering the transfer portal and committing to the Badgers in December. As a graduate student, he’ll have one more year of eligibility.
At 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds, Reiger offers tremendous versatility as an edge rusher who can defend the run and drop back into coverage. In 2023 he had five sacks including two against Notre Dame.
4. Enrique Cruz, OL, Kansas
An under-the-radar recruit out of Willowbrook, Cruz hit the ground running at Syracuse after a redshirt season.
Cruz started the final five games of his redshirt sophomore season and all 13 games the next year before his playing time trailed off in 2024. Now he’s ready to make his mark with the Jayhawks.
The 6-6, 320-pound redshirt senior arrives at a program with experience on the line, but also with holes at key spots.
3. Jack Olsen, K, Northwestern
A transfer from Michigan State, Olsen has established himself as an experienced member of the Wildcats’ special teams crew.
The record-breaking Wheaton Warrenville South graduate, a redshirt junior, was limited to only five games last season. He made seven of 10 field-goal attempts and all 10 of his extra points.
With a healthy season, he’ll aim to exceed his numbers from two seasons ago when he made 74% of his field goals and all 33 extra points.
2. Jalen Buckley, RB, Western Michigan
With fellow running back Jaden Nixon transferred to the University of Central Florida, Buckley’s numbers should vault this season.
Even with Nixon eating most of the reps, Buckley last season still managed 683 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. The Batavia graduate, a redshirt senior, was the MAC Freshman of the Year and a freshman All-American in 2023.
1. Athan Kaliakmanis, QB, Rutgers
Last year the Antioch graduate quietly put together a solid season for Rutgers, his first with the Scarlet Knights after transferring from Minnesota. He started all 13 games including against Kansas State in the Rate Bowl.
He won’t get the headlines of fellow Big Ten quarterbacks such as Penn State’s Drew Allar or Illinois’ Luke Altmyer, but Kaliakmanis last season threw for 2,696 yards and 18 touchdowns, which were the most for a Rutgers quarterback since 2014.