Washington Township OL John Stone ready to shine at Rutgers
SEWELL, N.J. (BVM) – As one of the top-rated Class of 2023 football prospects in the state of New Jersey, Washington Township High School senior John Stone has proven he has special talent. The 2022 season will be Stone’s third as a starter on the Washington Township offensive line, playing both the guard and tackle positions. Stone also earned playing time on the Minutemen defense last season.
The 6-foot-3, 285-pound offensive lineman will look to help Washington Township improve on what was a solid season last fall where the Minutemen went 6-3 – their first winning campaign since 2015 – but suffered a 24-21 overtime playoff loss to Lenape. The lineman didn’t allow a sack in 2021, and was part of an offense that produced over 3,000 rushing yards.
Following the 2022 season, Stone will begin looking towards his college football career. The next chapter of Stone’s football journey will take place just an hour-and-a-half or so away at Rutgers University. Currently rated as the 604th-best prospect nationally, the 44th-best interior lineman and the 11th-best player in New Jersey in the 2023 class by 247Sports’ composite rankings, Stone committed to Rutgers last February, becoming the first pledge for the program’s 2023 class.
Committed🪓🪓🔴⚪️@GregSchiano @RUCoachFran @jgsusanjr @Coach_Aurich @WTHSMinutemen @coachspitRU @Joe_Schiano38 @WTHS_Athletics @WTHS__Wrestling @SchatzmanMike pic.twitter.com/nwOTqItCTO
— John stone (@John_Stone71) February 1, 2022
Stone is the first Rutgers commit from Washington Township since fullback Ryan D’Imperio – who later became an NFL draft pick of the Minnesota Vikings – joined the program well over a decade ago. With the Scarlet Knights, Stone joins a 2023 class that is ranked in the top 50 nationally and has 16 commits. The lineman is Rutgers’ second-best commit in the class behind fellow in-state interior lineman JaSire Peterson of Union City.
At Rutgers, Stone is expected to play center, a position he hasn’t been at since his youth football days. However, the 6-foot-3 lineman is a versatile player with plenty of athleticism as evidenced by also playing basketball and wrestling during his time at Washington Township.
Had a great time competing at @RivalsCamp in PA. @RivalsFriedman @CoachHoffmannRU @CoachValloneRU @CoachGuard_ @WTHSMinutemen @ryanwpatti @RivalsRichie @TodderickHunt @RivalsRichie @bigjohnstone1 @j_edelman pic.twitter.com/4DwvyMSmvF
— John stone (@John_Stone71) May 18, 2022
Stone is planning to enroll early at Rutgers as the Scarlet Knights continue to try and rebuild the program under head coach Greg Schiano, who is again placing an emphasis on keeping the best prospects from New Jersey in state. Stone is certainly one of those prospects, and should continue making his home state proud once he’s playing in the Big Ten.
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