Jett Elad had a whirlwind of a Tuesday.
Rutgers Football and its senior starting safety won another battle against the NCAA in court this week, as the fight for Elad’s final year of eligibility continued to rage on, coming to a head three days before his final regular-season game.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed Elad’s preliminary injunction – originally granted in April – on Tuesday morning, which had allowed the senior to remain eligible for the 2025 season. This would have made him ineligible for Saturday’s regular-season finale.
Kevin Marino, Elad’s attorney, quickly filed for a temporary restraining order in response to the latest development. Later on Tuesday afternoon, United States District Judge Zahid Quraishi approved the newest order. Quraishi also ruled on Elad’s case in the spring.
Elad will be eligible to play on Saturday against the Nittany Lions, in a game that sees the winner qualify for a bowl game, and the loser ends their 2025 campaign.
Elad’s Saturday status
With the latest ruling, the Scarlet Knights’ starting safety will be allowed to suit up, confirmed by head coach Greg Schiano during the week.
“I know what you know, and as far as I’ve been told, he’s good to go,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “What you read is what I read.”
Sam C. Ehrlich, a professor at Boise State and a former lawyer himself, first posted the Appeals Court’s initial ruling on X Tuesday, writing, “The Third Circuit just issued a mandate overturning the lower court’s preliminary injunction for Rutgers safety Jett Elad. But in doing so, the court overturned their prior ruling (Smith) that NCAA eligibility rules must be noncommercial and not subject to antitrust.”
Following Quraishi’s approval of the temporary restraining order, Ehrlich wrote, “Update: Judge Quraishi just issued an order that includes a new temporary restraining order enjoining the NCAA from enforcing their eligibility rules against Rutgers DB Jett Elad. To translate: Elad WILL be eligible to play this weekend.”
Elad’s extra year of eligibility was granted after he sued for it in the first place, under the precedent of Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia‘s 2024 case, giving a blanket waiver to student-athletes who were set to run out of eligibility after one JUCO year in the 2025-26 season.
It had first appeared that the Scarlet Knights would be without Elad, who has played a team-high 613 defensive snaps according to Pro Football Focus, in the pivotal home matchup against Penn State, but that worry has been avoided.
Elad on the field
Elad’s case stems from before his time at Rutgers, as he committed to the Scarlet Knights this February after spending time at Ohio, junior college, and UNLV before committing to Rutgers.
Out of high school, Elad was ranked as a 5.4, two-star prospect per Rivals, and committed to Ohio before spending three seasons with the Bobcats. He appeared in 12 total games and finished with 46 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and 2 interceptions before heading to Garden City CC, a JUCO program in Kansas.
After one season in the JUCO ranks, Elad bounced back to the Group of Five level with UNLV in 2023 and 2024, where he appeared in 27 total games. As a redshirt senior in 2024, Elad finished with 84 total tackles (54 solo), five tackles for loss, a sack, an interception, seven passes defended, and a fumble recovery.
As a Scarlet Knight this season, Elad leads the team with 69 total tackles, to go along with 2.5 tackles for loss, a team-high two interceptions, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery on the year.
“I think we’re getting better each week,” he said following Rutgers’ November 8th win over Maryland. “We still haven’t seen our peak, we still haven’t been our best yet. We just got to keep working, keep practicing, keep fighting to get better and better each day.”
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