Photo by: Dakota Moyer
Kaliakmanis Drafted by Commanders
Apr 25 | Football
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers football QB Athan Kaliakmanis was selected in the seventh round, pick No. 223, of the 2026 NFL Draft by the Washington Commanders Saturday. Kaliakmanis becomes the 114th Scarlet Knight to reach the NFL after playing for head coach Greg Schiano.
It marks the fifth straight year RU has had at least one NFL Draft pick, matching a program record also done from 1981-85.
Career: Played in 48 games with 42 starts at quarterback ... completed 658-of-1,168 passes (56.3 percent) for 8,604 yards and 55 touchdowns ... rushed for 459 yards and 10 touchdowns ... compiled 9,063 yards of total offense ... accounted for 65 touchdowns ... saw action in two bowl games ... started all 25 games for Rutgers from 2024-25 ... leaves ranked seventh in program history in career passing yards (5,820), passing completions (442), passing attempts (763), passing touchdowns (38) and total offense (6,045) ... one of 13 players to reach 3,000 passing yards and one of six to reach 5,000 passing yards for Rutgers ... became the first Scarlet Knight to compile 2,500 passing yards in back-to-back seasons since 2007-08 ... one of three quarterbacks in program history to throw for 3,000 yards in a season, one of three with multiple seasons of at least 200 completions and one of three to reach 20 passing touchdowns in a season ... leaves holding two of the top seven passing seasons by yards in the RU record book ... had 20 career games with at least 200 passing yards (17 times for RU) ... reached 300 passing yards seven times in total and ranks fourth in Rutgers history with six 300-yard passing games ... owned 16 career games with multiple touchdown passes (11 for RU) and eight games with three touchdown passes (six for RU) with a high of four done twice ... one of seven players in Rutgers history with at least 400 career completions ... a two-time team captain ... played in 23 games with 17 starts for Minnesota the previous two seasons (2022-23) ... completed 216-of-405 passes for 2,784 yards and 17 touchdowns ... added 234 rushing yards and three scores on the ground.
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It marks the fifth straight year RU has had at least one NFL Draft pick, matching a program record also done from 1981-85.
Career: Played in 48 games with 42 starts at quarterback ... completed 658-of-1,168 passes (56.3 percent) for 8,604 yards and 55 touchdowns ... rushed for 459 yards and 10 touchdowns ... compiled 9,063 yards of total offense ... accounted for 65 touchdowns ... saw action in two bowl games ... started all 25 games for Rutgers from 2024-25 ... leaves ranked seventh in program history in career passing yards (5,820), passing completions (442), passing attempts (763), passing touchdowns (38) and total offense (6,045) ... one of 13 players to reach 3,000 passing yards and one of six to reach 5,000 passing yards for Rutgers ... became the first Scarlet Knight to compile 2,500 passing yards in back-to-back seasons since 2007-08 ... one of three quarterbacks in program history to throw for 3,000 yards in a season, one of three with multiple seasons of at least 200 completions and one of three to reach 20 passing touchdowns in a season ... leaves holding two of the top seven passing seasons by yards in the RU record book ... had 20 career games with at least 200 passing yards (17 times for RU) ... reached 300 passing yards seven times in total and ranks fourth in Rutgers history with six 300-yard passing games ... owned 16 career games with multiple touchdown passes (11 for RU) and eight games with three touchdown passes (six for RU) with a high of four done twice ... one of seven players in Rutgers history with at least 400 career completions ... a two-time team captain ... played in 23 games with 17 starts for Minnesota the previous two seasons (2022-23) ... completed 216-of-405 passes for 2,784 yards and 17 touchdowns ... added 234 rushing yards and three scores on the ground.
2025 Highlights: Started all 12 games at quarterback ... named to the Academic All-Big Ten list (12/10) ... completed 229-of-368 passes (62.2 percent) for 3,124 yards and 20 touchdowns ... became the first Rutgers quarterback to reach 3,000 passing yards in a season since 2008 ... placed second in the Big Ten in passing yards per game (260.3), second in passing yards per completion (13.6), fourth in total offense per game (258.2), fifth in passing yards (3,124), fifth in completions per game (19.1), sixth in yards per pass attempt (8.5), seventh in passing touchdowns (20) and eighth in points responsible for (146) ... tied for second in the school season record book for total offense (3,098), fourth in passing yards (3,124), fourth in passing completions (229), tied for fourth in passing touchdowns (20) and seventh in passing attempts (368) ... had 10 games with at least 200 passing yards ... logged five games with at least 300 passing yards with a high of 386 ... threw multiple touchdown passes six times, at least three three times and reached a career-high four touchdown passes in two games ... added four rushing touchdowns to account for 24 touchdowns overall ... helped the offense average 407.1 yards of total offense overall and 389.1 in Big Ten play, the team's best marks in a season since joining the league ... went 16-of-22 for 338 yards, three touchdown passes and a rushing score versus Penn State (11/29) ... added 10 completions at No. 1 Ohio State (11/22) ... listed among the Manning Award "Stars of the Week" (11/10) ... matched career high with four touchdown passes in win over Maryland (11/8) ... passed for 253 yards on 25 completions with a touchdown at Illinois (11/1) ... completed 19 passes for 359 yards with a career-long 72-yard touchdown pass and rushing score in win at Purdue (10/25) ... threw two touchdown passes and posted career highs in passing yards (386), completions (31) and attempts (50) at Washington (10/10) ... passing yards total and number of completions tied for fifth most in a game in program history ... recorded two touchdowns on 249 passing yards at Minnesota (9/27) ... went 24-for-40 passing for 330 yards and rushed for two scores against Iowa (9/19) ... compiled 309 passing yards on 18 completions versus Norfolk State (9/13) ... threw a career-high four touchdown passes on 26 completions with 259 passing yards against Miami (Ohio) (9/6) ... went 18-for-23 passing for 252 yards and a pair of touchdowns versus Ohio (8/28) ... voted a team captain for the second time (8/25) ... a member of the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award watch list (8/19) ... picked to the Shrine Bowl 1000 (7/28).Athan Kaliakmanis is headed to Washington 😎 @aajk_23 | @Commanders pic.twitter.com/WSXCLKUtln
— Rutgers Football 🪓 (@RFootball) April 25, 2026
Draft History: Kaliakmanis becomes the first RU quarterback drafted since Mike Teel was taken in the sixth round, pick No. 178, in 2009 by the Seattle Seahawks … other previous Scarlet Knight quarterbacks to sign NFL contracts include Mike McMahon (2001), Rob Higgins (1996), Ray Lucas (1996), Mike Yancheff (1972), Bob Yaksick (1963), Sam Mudie (1962) and Frank Burns (1949) ... Jawan Jamison was the last Rutgers player to be drafted by the Commanders (2013, seventh round, pick 228).Another arm in the QB room 💪 pic.twitter.com/jqKSSMZrTb
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) April 25, 2026
Follow Rutgers football on X (@RFootball & @RUboardwalk), Facebook (/RFootballShow) and Instagram (@rfootball & @ruboardwalk) for the latest news and updates. Also subscribe to the YouTube channel.
Players Mentioned
QB
/ FootballHead Coach Greg Schiano Spring Press Conference - 04/25/26
Saturday, April 25
Wide Receivers Coach Dave Brock - 04/23/26
Thursday, April 23
Associate Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs Coach Damiere Shaw - 04/23/26
Thursday, April 23
Cornerbacks Coach Eric Finney - 04/21/26
Tuesday, April 21
