Rutgers WR KJ Duff, a potential first-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, out for rest of season

The 2026 season is over for Rutgers wide receiver KJ Duff.According tomultiple reports, the potential first-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft will miss the remaining three games of the season after having surgery for a high-ankle sprain. Duff hasn’t played since he briefly appeared in Rutgers’ Oct. 31 home loss to Michigan.Duff has been a bright spot in an otherwise dismal season for the 2-7 Scarlet Knights. Over eight games, he has 45 catches for 774 yards and nine touchdowns. He had nine catches for 196 yards and three scores in Rutgers’ Week 1 loss to UMass. He had three other games over 100 yards, including a nine-catch performance in the Scarlet Knights’ only Big Ten win of the season. Duff had 113 yards and two scores in a 37-30 win at Maryland.As a sophomore in 2025, Duff had 60 catches for 1,084 yards and seven touchdowns. He’s averaged at least 17 yards a catch in each of the last two seasons.Rutgers has Nebraska, Penn State and Michigan State over the final three games of the season. The school announced Tuesday that coach Greg Schiano would return next season. Athletic director Keli Zinn said that keeping Schiano would be in “the best long-term interests” of the school.Schiano is in his second stint at Rutgers. Since returning to the school in 2020, Rutgers’ best seasons have been back-to-back 7-6 campaigns in 2023 and 2024.