As Rutgers heads into scrimmage No. 2 this morning, we've got news on two fronts regarding offensive lineman: 

First, the Piscataway front: 

1. The news on Kevin Haslam's right ankle is relatively easy for Rutgers to digest: Greg Schiano said yesterday that the injury isn't serious and that although he cautioned "you never know," signs point to Haslam being ready to go for Fresno State on Sept. 1. 

2. Walk-on Howard Barbieri will start the scrimmage at left guard in Haslam's absence. The Rutgers coaching staff has been extremely pleased this summer with the play of Barbieri, a redshirt sophomore whose only scholarship offer out of Middletown South High School was from Division I-AA Wagner.  Barbieri had already established himself as the Knights' "sixth man," putting himself in position to fill in in the event of an injury. Today will be his first experience in a game-like situation working with the first-team line. 

3. Schiano said he'll be closely watching redshirt freshman Caleb Ruch, who, to borrow a term from the world of politics (sorry, I fully admit to watching MSNBC and even C-SPAN on occasion), is the presumptive starter at right guard. Other than Barbieri, who likely has an outside chance to wrestle the job away, Ruch doesn't have much competition, but Schiano still hasn't endorsed him as the starter. A good showing today could earn an endorsement or something close to one, at least as it pertains to Week One against Fresno State. 

Now, on the NFL front: 

If you're a diehard Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan (which is the case with Trentonian sports editor Matthew Osborne), yesterday was a rough day for you because your team lost starting right guard Davin Joseph for at least a month with a broken foot he suffered in Sunday's exhibition win over the Patriots. 

But if you're a Rutgers fan who's sole interest in the Bucs is former Knight Jeremy Zuttah, this whole broken foot stuff is good news, since Zuttah, who had been getting reps at guard and center, moved to the top of the depth chart at right guard in Joseph's absence. That means depending on Willis McGahee's health status, both Zuttah and Ray Rice could be in NFL starting lineups on Week One. 

Pretty cool. 

As for the scrimmage, it'll be interesting to watch a few position battles play out. It looks like no matter what happens today, Mason Robinson and Kordell Young are going to split the carries in some fashion at tailback when the regular season starts, with Jourdan Brooks likely getting the call in short yardage situations. So there's not too much of a battle going on there anymore. But  aside from Ruch's attempt to solidify the aforementioned right guard spot, there are a few other battles to watch: 

• Zaire Kitchen and Joe Lefeged at strong safety. The reps in practice have still been 50-50, and Schiano has had plenty of praise -- more of it than he's had for players at some other positions -- for both players. One thing both players should feel good about is that since the Knights like to frequently throw out nickel and dime packages, both are likely to be on the field a lot, with Lefeged the top nickel/dime guy when that's what Schiano opts to do. 
• The No. 3 wide receiver spot is still up in the air between Dennis Campbell, Julian Hayes and Tim Brown. There are pros and cons to all three, and the competition probably won't be over when the regular season starts. But Brown is the most talented of the three, and by midseason, assuming Schiano feels he's fully straightened himself out after having academic difficulties last spring, I bet he'll get the most time of those three. 
• Pardon me if this sounds dramatic, but today will be the most important day to date in three years of in the program for Chris Paul-Etienne. Schiano acknowledged last week that he had played his way into the competition for the No. 2 QB job, and if he wants to wrestle the job away from Jabu Lovelace, he'll have to out-perform him today, then follow it up with further improvement in the next couple of weeks. 

Lastly, before I get a little bit of sleep, a couple of links to pass along: 

• A Big East QB with a famous New York QB dad was suspended last night by his coach. 
• If you haven't checked this out already, SI's Stewart Mandell is promoting a cool debate for a good cause.