Strong safety Joe Lefeged was the only Rutgers player who received Big East honors this year.

Lefeged was named to the all-Big East second team on Wednesday.  This marks the first time since 2001 that no Rutgers player received first-team honors.

Furthermore, every other team in the Big East had at least one player receive first-team honors this season.

The fact that Lefeged was the only Knight selected cannot be surprising, given the results RU got on the field in 2010. 

RU was an appalling 1-6 in Big East play this season and finished a horribly disappointing 4-8 overall.  Keep in mind one of these wins came from an independent opponent (Army) that managed to take the game into overtime.

Still, let’s not penalize Lefeged for being one of the few bright spots out of the entire Rutgers line up this year.

He had a career high in tackles (84), more than doubling his output from last season (35).  Lefeged also notched up two sacks, four forced fumbles, one interception and averaged a very respectable 24.9 yards per kickoff return.

This added up to 948 return yards, nearly triple what he ran for on special teams last year (356). 

Lefeged, who blocked two punts on top of his great return work, was thought to have a legitimate shot at winning the Big East Special Teams Player Of The Year, but that honor went to South Florida wide receiver Lindsey Lamar. 

While Lefeged may have hoped for a little better news around this time of year, this is probably the best news Rutgers football as a whole could have received. 

Although Lefeged was recognized for making huge strides between his junior year to his senior year, he is not yet an elite talent that has a real chance of getting drafted in the NFL in April. Therefore all signs point to Lefeged returning for a fifth season, when he can yield even bigger results for a Rutgers defense that can clearly use all the help it can get. 

Of course, it is a little early for speculation on next season, but this writer certainly offers his sincere congratulations to Joe Lefeged on his accomplishment.  

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