Rutgers officially begins the post-Ray Rice, post-Jeremy Ito, post-Jeremy Zuttah and post-Eric Foster era today with the start of spring practice. And while head coach Greg Schiano said that jobs aren't won or lost this time of the year -- that doesn't happen until preseason camp in August -- there are plenty of position battles that bear watching.

The five biggest issues facing Rutgers between today and the April 19 spring game:

RICE'S REPLACEMENT

This won't be a true competition yet, since heir apparent Kordell Young will be limited in spring drills as he continues to recover from knee surgery. Young should be fine by the summer and isn't far away from being ready now. But Schiano will be cautious with the third-year sophomore. Young's absence means Jourdan Brooks, Mason Robinson and Joe Martinek have 15 sessions to make an impression that will last until the summer.

Brooks, a 232-pound redshirt freshman, caused a buzz of anticipation with his impressive scout team work last year. Robinson, a sophomore, became Ray Rice's backup when Young went down. Hopatcong's Martinek, New Jersey's career rushing leader, will be a redshirt freshman in the fall.

The Knights don't need to replace all of Rice's 2,012 rushing yards. But they need to establish a reliable ground game to complement what should be the Big East's best passing show.

OFFENSIVE LINE

Offensive line coach Kyle Flood has worked wonders since arriving at Rutgers -- why hasn't he been nominated for the Frank Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant? -- but this might be his biggest challenge yet. Center Ryan Blaszczyk is the only lineman returning to the same position he played a year ago. Of course, Rutgers expects sophomore standout Anthony Davis to make a seamless transition from right guard, where he earned freshman All-America honors last year, to left tackle, where he will protect Mike Teel's blind side.

After that? The coaching staff is high on redshirt freshman Caleb Ruch, who is penciled in as the starter at right guard to open the spring. Versatile Kevin Haslam, a part-time starter last year, is listed as the left guard, with veteran Mike Gilmartin opening as the starting right tackle.