Aug. 2, 2016
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Fordham junior running back Chase Edmonds and Colgate senior linebacker Kyle Diener earned the top individual honors and headlined the Patriot League Football Preseason All-League squad announced on Tuesday at the League’s Media Day at Green Pond Country Club.
Edmonds, who earned last year’s Patriot League Football Offensive Player of the Year award, received the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year honor for the second consecutive season. Diener was named Patriot League Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
Bucknell led all schools with seven selections to the Preseason All-Patriot League squad. Fordham followed with six selections, while Colgate had five, Holy Cross and Lehigh each notched four and Georgetown totaled three.
Edmonds was joined in the Preseason All-Patriot League backfield by Holy Cross senior quarterback Peter Pujals, Colgate junior running back James Holland and Georgetown senior fullback/H-back Matt Buckman. The wide receivers were Bucknell senior Will Carter, Holy Cross senior Brendan Flaherty and Lehigh junior Troy Pelletier, with Fordham graduate student Phazahn Odom at tight end. The offensive line consisted of Fordham junior Anthony Coyle, Colgate senior Jordi Dalmau, Bucknell senior Juli’en Davenport and Lehigh senior Zach Duffy and junior Tim O’Hara.
On defense, the line featured Colgate junior Pat Afriyie, Holy Cross senior Dewayne Cameron and Bucknell senior Ben Schumacher and junior Abdullah Anderson. Diener was one of five linebackers along with Lehigh senior Colton Caslow, Fordham junior Niko Thorpe and Bucknell juniors Mark Pyles and Ben Richard. Colgate senior Chris Morgan, Fordham senior Jihaad Pretlow and Holy Cross senior Luke Ford and junior Alim Muhammad made up the defensive backfield on the Preseason All-Patriot League squad.
The special teams consisted of Georgetown senior Henry Darmstadter as the placekicker, Bucknell sophomore Alex Pechin at punter, Pretlow as the return specialist and Georgetown sophomore Jethro Francois as the Non-Specialist Player on the list.
Voting for the individual awards and preseason All-League Team was conducted by the Patriot League’s head coaches and football sports information directors, who could not vote for their own players.
Edmonds is coming off an outstanding sophomore season that saw him selected as a first-team All-American by STATS and second-team honoree by the Associated Press while also placing fourth in the voting for the STATS FCS Offensive Player of the Year award. Edmonds was also selected as the ECAC FCS Offensive Player of the Year.
As a sophomore, Edmonds finished the season among the national leaders in rushing yardage (1,648), rushing touchdowns (20) and all-purpose yardage (2,031). Edmonds has totaled 3,486 rushing yards, 4,504 all-purpose yards and 43 rushing touchdowns in his two seasons, and is the active FCS leader in career per game rushing (134.1).
Diener led the Patriot League with 129 tackles last season, playing a key role for a Colgate defense that helped the Raiders advance to the FCS quarterfinals. He totaled 6.5 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery while also pacing the Patriot League with 78 tackles.
Pujals was the first-team All-Patriot League quarterback in 2015, posting a huge season with 3,195 passing yards and 28 touchdowns with just 11 interceptions. Holland ran for 732 yards adn 16 touchdowns for Colgate, including a four-touchdown effort in the Raiders’ first-round FCS playoff win at New Hampshire on Nov. 28. Buckman (32 rec., 251 yards, 4 TD), Carter (60 rec., 655 yards, 5 TD), Flaherty (106 rec., 1,082 yards, 12 TD), Pelletier (78 rec., 831 yards, 8 TD) and Odom (37 rec., 492 yards, 7 TD) each enjoyed outstanding seasons that resulted in All-Patriot League status last year. All five of the offensive linemen were All-League picks last season, with Davenport and Dalmau on the first team.
Afriyie (49 TT, 17.5 TFL, 9.5 sacks), Cameron (47 TT, 11 TFL, 7 sacks), Schumacher (43 TT, 13.5 TFL, 6.5 sacks) and Anderson (46 TT, 8 TFL, 4.5 sacks) all return on the line after earning first-team All-Patriot League status a year ago. At linebacker, Diener was a first-team selection along with Caslow (95 TT, 8 TFL) while Thorpe (79 TT, 10.5 TFL, 6 sacks), Pyles (95 TT, 7.5 TFL) and Richard (79 TT, 8.5 TFL) each made the second team. Pretlow (63 TT, 2 INT) made the first-team All-League squad, while Morgan (93 TT, 2 INT), Ford (43 TT, 3 INT) and Muhammad (14 TT, 1 INT) also enter the year with high expectations.
On special teams, Darmstadter (9-13 FG) and Pechin (42.1 punting avg.) each had All-League seasons along with Pretlow (26.2 KR avg.), while Francois was named to the new All-League position of non-specialist player.
2016 Patriot League Football Preseason All-League Team
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Chase Edmonds, RB, Fordham (Jr.)
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Kyle Diener, LB, Colgate (Sr.)
Offense#
QB Peter Pujals, Holy Cross (Sr.)
RB Chase Edmonds, Fordham (Jr.)
RB James Holland, Colgate (Jr.)
FB/HB Matt Buckman, Georgetown (Sr.)
WR Will Carter, Bucknell (Sr.)
WR Brendan Flaherty, Holy Cross (Sr.)
WR Troy Pelletier, Lehigh (Jr.)
TE Phazahn Odom, Fordham (Gr.)
OL Anthony Coyle, Fordham (Jr.)
OL Jordi Dalmau, Colgate (Sr.)
OL Julie’n Davenport, Bucknell (Sr.)
OL Zach Duffy, Lehigh (Sr.)
OL Tim O’Hara, Lehigh (Jr.)
Defense
DL Pat Afriyie, Colgate (Jr.)
DL Abdullah Anderson, Bucknell (Jr.)
DL Dewayne Cameron, Holy Cross (Sr.)
DL Ben Schumacher, Bucknell (Sr.)
LB Colton Caslow, Lehigh (Sr.)
LB Kyle Diener, Colgate (Sr.)
LB Mark Pyles, Bucknell (Jr.)
LB Ben Richard, Bucknell (Jr.)
LB Niko Thorpe, Fordham (Jr.)
DB Luke Ford, Holy Cross (Sr.)
DB Chris Morgan, Colgate (Sr.)
DB Alim Muhammad, Holy Cross (Jr.)
DB Jihaad Pretlow, Fordham (Sr.)
Special Teams
PK Henry Darmstadter, Georgetown (Sr.)
P Alex Pechin, Bucknell (So.)
RS Jihaad Pretlow, Fordham (Sr.)
Non-Specialist Player Jethro Francois, Georgetown (So.)
#One extra linebacker due to tie in voting