FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[nescac1]

Now that the Middlebury drama has been resolved, who do folks think are the pre-season favorites for POY and (much harder) ROY? 

DPOY is absolutely LOADED once again.  I'll go with 1. Taj Gooden, 2. T.J. Rothmann, 3. Greg Holt, 4. Tyler Hudson,  5. Devyn Perkins, 6. Avery Saffold

On offense, a lot of stars graduated.  Let's say 1. Ollie Eberth, 2. Bobby Maimaron, 3. Jonathan Girard, after that, anybody's guess ...

ROY, no idea! 

[amh63]

Nescac1...interesting comment.  First...Amherst's FY orientation starts next Tues.  Other Nescac schools orientations hover around the 26th of August.  Therefore, info on ROY is almost impossible to find .  Very few rosters are posted to date.  Does a returning player that did not play eligible for ROY?
Otherwise, I am not "informed" enough or smart enough to pick a possible POY.  It is a long season and most title contenders all seem to meet in the second half of the season.

[nescac1]

I believe you need to be a true frosh to be ROY.  You certainly can't have a varsity letter! 

In football, it really is very hard (at the D3 level at least) to have enough information to predict rookie of the year.   Although occasionally there is someone who is a major talent and who enters the perfect situation, like Bobby Maimaron, that is very unusual.  Very different from basketball -- more often than not, the NESCAC hoops ROY is a player who was very hyped prior to their arrival on campus (e.g. Duncan Robinson, Johnny McCarthy, Aaron Toomey, Sha Brown, Kena Gilmour ...), or at worst considered a prominent recruit.  I don't recall any pre-season talk at all about last year's frosh Colby or Trinity QBs as potential major impact rookies, but I could be mistaken ... 

[MUC57]

NESCAC fans

Not about football, but maybe you can help me out.

My grandson will be starting at Babson College this fall. I have some info I got from the internet. It sounds like a very prestigious school. Since I know your schools are top academically and very elite, I figure you might know a little about Babson. If you have any info or know where to look for more, please let me know on the OAC board in the North Region.
I have yet to see my grandson since he was born and haven't seen my son in about 20 years. So I need other sources to learn about his school. You could also send me a PM if that's your preference.
I would really appreciate any help you can give me, if you have the time.
I wish the best to all the NESCAC teams. I just wish you would participate in the playoffs. You might get to play Mount Union. Maybe some of your "smarts" would rub off on us. We play pretty good football but you play pretty good academics.
Good Luck to all! 

[amh63]

Yes, the FYs' will be arriving soon around the league.  One group has arrived since a special excursion adventure is part of orientation...nice!  In the dark ages of my freshman year...all male Amherst then...I had to pass a swimming test; similar to the one at Harvard...during orientation!
Back to football.  The players will be arriving this coming weekend.  Their "medical forms " have to be in today, as I read somewhere.  Rosters will finally be posted soon after orientation week.  There has been early posting about the key offensive players returning to the Nescac.  Amherst has, imho, been carried by its stellar defense; one that has to be rebuilt.  I will be looking at the running game, the special teams performance and the defense in the early games.  Amherst's back halve of the season will be brutal...Wes, Trinity, and Williams.  The first half has Tufts and Midd and Hamilton.  If Amherst can survive that gauntlet without key injuries, it's run for the title will be reachable.  The Maine schools will bring no surprises this season.
There...my bold projection for the LJs.  A bit of wistful thinking/hope too. 

[JEFFFAN]

Good for d3boards.com for getting some advertising on here to support the product!!

[Pat Coleman]

It actually always has had advertising on here -- it doesn't bring in very good rates, but it's here to help defray the cost. I did see we had some hugely sized ads hit today, though!

[Mr. Ypsi]

It actually always has had advertising on here -- it doesn't bring in very good rates, but it's here to help defray the cost. I did see we had some hugely sized ads hit today, though!

Those hugely oversized ads are annoying as hell, but if they help pay for the site, more power to 'em!  (Especially since for the first time in 'forever' I didn't buy Kicking Off.  My interest is beginning to wane.  I love my own grandkids, but football players who could be my grandkids (but aren't) are far less interesting.)

[lumbercat]

Now that the Middlebury drama has been resolved, who do folks think are the pre-season favorites for POY and (much harder) ROY? 

DPOY is absolutely LOADED once again.  I'll go with 1. Taj Gooden, 2. T.J. Rothmann, 3. Greg Holt, 4. Tyler Hudson,  5. Devyn Perkins, 6. Avery Saffold

On offense, a lot of stars graduated.  Let's say 1. Ollie Eberth, 2. Bobby Maimaron, 3. Jonathan Girard, after that, anybody's guess ...

ROY, no idea!

For DPOY I continue with the opinion that Tyler Hudson is the best defensive player in the league. Holt at Tufts is a fine LB but Tufts has padded his stats since his Freshmen year in the subjective area of tackle stats which is totally at the behest of the home team. I've tracked 3 games over the past couple of years and couldn't believe the numbers of tackles and assist the Tufts media arsenal posted.

As for OPOY don't underestimate Nate Richam at Bowdoin- lets see if the Hammer can structure the offense to maximize his talent. He's better than most realize.
I say again that Alonzo Highsmith at Wesleyan has great talent but has underachieved with the Cards. If they can get some footballs going in his direction the kid will excel.
Costa at Bates is a playmaker but will need some help from a questionable supporting cast.
Shofer at Trinity could catch a ton of balls if Trinity should elect to break their recent trend and throw more. Interesting QB situation in Hartford, the Golden Boy from URI with the D! physical package proved to be a woefully inaccurate passer. Will Devanney have a D! transfer holding a clipboard in the Coop?

[NBC93]

Lumbercat,
I appreciate Richam, but I dont know about OPOY. As I recall, he only played 4 games last year and the only real test he had against a stout defense came against Amherst when they held him to 30 yards. And that was in a 24-14 game. Bowdoin hadn't abandoned the run game. His monster total of 288 was against a struggling Middlebury squad which I actually watched that day. Last year, they gave up the more rush yards per game than any team not in Maine. That particular day, Bowdoin was opening huge holes that Richam ran straight through. There was no need to cut or force missed tackles. His lateral quickness and cutting ability still seems suspect or unanswered in my book, from my observation. And the O line will have to prove that they can help him out against better defensive lines. Perhaps there is more than meets my eye or my sample of his play is to small, but I will have to see more production before I jump on the Richam bandwagon.

[lumbercat]

Lets see how he does this year- disagree on his lateral and cutting abilities. In an injury riddled career with one of the poorest offenses on the league he has shown some brilliance. If the Bowdoin O Line can perform with big Palmer coming off an injury I think he will be one of the top backs in the NESCAC.

[NBC93]

Lumber,
Like I said, maybe I haven't seen enough film. I hope he has a strong and healthy season.
I was looking at the rushing stats for the conference today and was surprised by the low individual numbers even though teams had decent per game averages. Did almost every team suffer from injuries at RB last year? I know Hickey was sidelined for at least one Amherst game. In his absence, Okoronkwo performed well and put up similar numbers. It seems like this league has it's fair share of workable ball carriers, but an outright playmaking threat is a rarity.

[lumbercat]

With the passing of the class of 2019 the league seemed to lose a lot of top skill position guys and playmakers- a bit unusual.
When I look at the rosters league wide it's a pretty wide open landscape in terms of MVP type game breakers.  Thats why my picks, like Richam, are a little speculative. Wide open this year especially at QB and RB. It will be interesting to see who steps up.

[PBPOP20]

Richam is absolutely the real deal... I've watched every game he's played.   He has made some brilliant runs with an O-Line that has most often been over matched (and injury riddled).  Richam is healthy as is the O-line.  Speculative, yes.  Optimisitic, yes.  Homer....yes.   But, Richam will raise some eyebrows this season.  and the O-line returns all starters with the exception of Mansolillo and a handful of underclassmen that got substantial snaps last season.   Talent is relative, but the PB's look as good as they have in the last 5years.

[nescac1]

Speaking of TBs to watch who were injured last year, the Ephs' T.J. Dozier was a monster through four games (125 ypg on 7 ypg, 4 tds) before suffering a season ending injury early in game 5.  He looked really explosive before getting hurt. 

The Ephs more generally were absolutely decimated by injuries late in the season, so hopefully they have better luck this season, starting with Dozier, Maimaron, and Rothmann, all of whom the Ephs need to return healthy and stay that way ...