Why Riverhead's KJ Duff, an NFL Draft prospect, chose to stay at Rutgers after breakout sophomore season
Rutgers' KJ Duff, who grew up in Riverhead and played at St. Anthony's High School, is an emerging wide receiver prospect for the 2027 NFL Draft. Credit: Rutgers Athletics
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — No one would’ve blamed KJ Duff for leaving Rutgers.
Not after the Scarlet Knights’ disappointing 5-7 season in 2025, a year that was incredibly impressive for Duff, who had 60 catches for 1,084 yards and seven touchdowns. And certainly not in the current landscape of college football, in which NIL and the transfer portal give athletes freedom to make money and change schools each season.
“There were definitely opportunities on the table brought to my attention,” Duff told Newsday on Wednesday. “It was enticing . . . I almost left. I told Coach [Greg] Schiano that I wanted to leave.”
For Duff, the Riverhead native and former St. Anthony’s High School standout, could the grass have been greener elsewhere? Perhaps.
But as the 6-6, 225-pound wide receiver enters his junior year at Rutgers — with his name all over NFL radars as a possible first- or second-round pick in next April’s draft — make no mistake: He has no regrets about his choice to stay.
“[Legacy] was a big thing why I wanted to come back,” he said. “Being from the tri-state area, leaving that legacy here, I think it’s an opportunity to be one of the best players to come out of Rutgers. Ultimately, that’s what I’m shooting for.”
Duff said it was a “very stressful” process with “a lot of back and forth” before announcing his decision to return on Jan. 2, the day the portal opened. Rutgers’ 2025 season ended Nov. 29, leaving plenty of time for his agent to field interest from other programs.
“One day, I’m leaving,” he said. “One day, I’ll stay.”
This wasn’t his first experience with bigger programs trying to poach him, either. Former St. Anthony's football star, KJ Duff, signs his letter of intent to play college football for Rutgers University on Dec. 19, 2023. Credit: James Escher
Duff initially committed to Rutgers — which gave him his first Power Five offer — on June 29, 2023, 174 days before he submitted his national letter of intent on Dec. 20. Throughout his senior season — which ended with him as St. Anthony’s all-time leader in receptions, total yards and touchdown catches — and into December, other programs kept trying to snatch him away.
But the concept of loyalty was not lost on Duff. It still isn’t.
“To me, if you weren’t there from the start, why now?” he said. “Then you can kind of apply that to how the transfer portal was. A lot of schools that didn’t offer me or maybe didn’t recruit me as hard are now circling back, and then you have Rutgers here, who believed in me from the start. That was another big thing for me.”
’A first-round talent’
Duff credited Rutgers wide receivers coach Dave Brock, who recruited him to Piscataway, for his constant belief. He also praised others consistently in his corner, including his parents and St. Anthony’s assistant coach Will Platt and head coach Joe Minucci.
But Duff specifically noted the little brother-big brother relationship he has with Mike Vannucci, the founder of the Long Island Wide Receiver Academy and his private coach since his freshman year of high school.
Vannucci, who played for Plainedge High School and currently lives in Hauppauge, played professionally in Italy for three years and has worked with Long Islanders in the NFL, including Dan Villari (Rams) and Tom Kennedy (Lions).
He has no doubt about what the future holds for Duff.
“I think it’s very realistic that he could be a first-round pick,” Vannucci said. “There’s so many variables that it’s really hard to predict that firmly. There’s so many things that could change. But as far as talent and mindset and everything like that, and his work ethic and his maturity, he’s a first-round talent. There’s no doubt about it.
“From a personality standpoint, from what he’s able to do on the field — I’ve been fortunate to be around a lot of NFL receivers, whether me training them directly or observing training . . . He’d have the ability to potentially be a Day One starter if he was in NFL camp now.”
Big receivers often get put in a metaphorical playing-style box. And yes, Duff has proved he can play big; his 22 contested catches in 2025 led the country, according to Pro Football Focus. But his ability to move and bend, Vannucci said, allows him to play as if he’s 5-9 and 190 pounds.
Of course, the NFL is a motivating factor for Duff, who said it’s “everyone’s end goal.” But he’s taking it day by day, with this season being the top priority.
“I would love to win at Rutgers,” he said. “You think back to 2006 [when Rutgers went 11-2 and was ranked as high as No. 7 nationally], they had a lot of success at Rutgers.
“Nothing would mean more [than] to bring that success back and win for Coach Schiano.”
Long Island Strong
Duff isn’t one to forget his roots, either.
Former St. Anthony’s wide receiver KJ Duff catches a pass in practice on Aug. 25, 2022. Credit: Thomas A. Ferrara
In June, he got a Long Island-themed tattoo on his left leg featuring a design that includes Exit 71 of the Long Island Expressway on one side and Riverhead’s Stotzky Memorial Park — where he grew up playing baseball and football — and the 631 area code on the other.
He and Ian Strong, a former St. Anthony’s and Rutgers teammate (who transferred to California this offseason), held a youth camp in Middle Island last month.
“He’s so humble,” Vannucci said. “I think if you don’t know him, it’s hard to get a read on him. He’s pretty soft-spoken. He’s just a really good kid. Every time we’re at the field, kids want to take pictures. He doesn’t bat an eye at it. He stops and has conversations with them. He could easily just take a picture and walk away.
“He asks them about their lives and stuff like that, and I think that speaks volumes to him as a young man.”
Duff recognizes that everyone loves to “read great stuff about them,” but it’s easy for him to stay grounded and not let in outside noise.
Rutgers’ season begins on Sept. 3 against UMass. As far as his draft stock, he knows there’s more work to be done.
“My mindset is just to keep going, keep working, because I’m not there yet,” Duff said. “Everyone sends me and posts all predictions and draft stuff, but none of that is guaranteed. I just want to continue to keep my head down and keep working to put myself, ultimately, in that position at the end of the season.”
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
