nsistent outside shooting, discovering the right fit s | Forum

                                      BETHLEHEM, Pa. Reggie Wayne Jersey . (STATS) -- New Fordham football coach Andrew Breiner was admiring what he saw across the room at Patriot League media day on Tuesday.Look at Julien Davenport, he said, noting Bucknells All-America left tackle.Look at (Kyle) Diener, he continued about the Colgate linebacker and the leagues preseason defensive player of the year.Look at our guys.And then Breiner concluded: Were getting different football players.Its not surprising the Patriot League is filled with standout seniors. This is the fourth year that the league has been offering football scholarships, so as theyve reached the senior class, the talent is arguably stronger than ever.The seven-team league could very well top its memorable 2015 season. Colgate won mostly close games en route to claiming the Patriot title and then advanced twice in the FCS playoff to reach the quarterfinals. Fordham joined the Raiders in the postseason, giving the league two qualifiers for only the second time in 10 years.Colgate, with Diener among its 17 returning starters, grabbed the favorites role in the leagues preseason poll. Fordham, which boasts junior running back and preseason offensive player of the year Chase Edmonds as one of 18 returning starters, was picked second while Holy Cross and Lehigh tied for third followed by Bucknell, Lafayette and Georgetown, the only school not to be offering football scholarships.Every team has at least 14 returning starters. All but Georgetown is returning its starting quarterback, with Holy Cross senior Peter Pujals gaining the preseason honor at the position.This is going to be the year that I think can really put the Patriot League on a national map, said Breiner, who served as Fordhams offensive coordinator before succeeding Joe Moorhead as head coach last December.Colgate beat CAA Football powers New Hampshire and James Madison on the road in last years playoffs. The Raiders had lost to New Hampshire during the regular season, but the difference that the building scholarship classes were making was evident in that game as in the playoff victory.The first time we played New Hampshire, second-year coach Dan Hunt said, they beat us, and they beat us pretty soundly. But I remember coming off the field and I felt fairly positive, that they beat us because we didnt play well. It wasnt like physically we couldnt match up with them. In years past, thats what it was.The Patriot League is deep enough that five different schools have won league titles in the last seven years.Fourteen players on this years 29-player preseason team made the all-league first team last season and another 12 were on the second team. Bucknell, though picked fifth, had the most preseason selections with seven.The scholarships have made the leagues recruiting makeup more national, and the coaching staffs are seemingly winning more head-to-head recruiting battles with the rival Ivy League. The scholarships havent decreased the strong academic/athletic mix, either, as over 200 players achieved at least a 3.2 grade-point average last academic year.Weve had talented players pre-scholarship, weve had talented players post-scholarship, Hunt said. To a group, I think these kids are much more focused on what they have to do.I think weve had great players in the league for a long, long time, Holy Cross coach Tom Gilmore said. And we certainly have great players this year.That includes Davenport, the fourth-year starter from Bucknell who is a cousin to NBA player Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. At 6-foot-7, 318 pounds, everybody in the room was looking up to Davenport in amazement Tuesday.Well, almost everyone. Fordhams all-league tight end, Phazahn Odom, is an inch taller.No doubt the scholarships are supplying the Patriot League in a big way.---=PATRIOT LEAGUE FOOTBALL PRESEASON POLL=Head Coaches and Sports Information Directors Poll1. Colgate (10 first-place votes), 70 points2. Fordham (3), 633. (tie) Holy Cross (1), 473. (tie) Lehigh, 475. Bucknell, 316. Lafayette, 197. Georgetown, 17---=PATRIOT LEAGUE FOOTBALL PRESEASON TEAM=Offensive Player of the Year -- Chase Edmonds, RB, FordhamDefensive Player of the Year -- Kyle Diener, LB, ColgateOffenseQB -- 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, GradOL -- Anthony Coyle, Fordham, Jr.OL -- Jordi Dalmau, Colgate, Sr.OL -- Julien Davenport, Bucknell, Sr.OL -- Zach Duffy, Lehigh, Sr.OL -- Tim OHara, Lehigh, Jr.DefenseDL -- 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 TeamsPK -- Henry Darmstadter, Georgetown, Sr.P -- Alex Pechin, Bucknell, So.RS -- Jihaad Pretlow, Fordham, Sr.Non-Specialist Player -- Jethro Francois, Georgetown, So. Malik Hooker Jersey .500 on the season. The Jets are now 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs. The game started the same way the Vancouver game started the night before, with the Jets taking the first two penalties of the game and killing off the first, but the Oilers getting on the board first, scoring on the second man-advantage. Indianapolis Colts Jerseys .com) - The Chicago Blackhawks aim for their third three-game winning streak of the season when they host the struggling Edmonton Oilers in Sundays battle at the United Center. http:///...mcafee-colts-jersey/ . Jordan Lynch, the all-purpose Heisman Trophy finalist from Northern Illinois, failed to make it into that exclusive club. The Chicago Bulls jumped into the race to sign point guard Rajon Rondo after they held a free-agent meeting Friday in Chicago, sources told ESPNs Marc Stein and The Undefeateds Marc J. Spears.Along with the Bulls, Rondo had previous interest from the New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets, but both teams have already landed point guards to their rosters after signing Derrick Rose and Jeremy Lin.Rondo is also open minded about a return to Sacramento after leading the NBA in assists with the Kings last season, a source told ESPN.The petulant point guard averaged 11.7 per game in 2015-16, but at 30, the Kings were not ready to offer him an expensive contract. They were instead willing too let him test the free-agent market. Peyton Manning Jersey. .After spending nine seasons with the Boston Celtics, Rondo has played with two different teams, the Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento, since his departure.Hes still a smart, talented player, but given how things ended in Dallas (Rondo left before the end of a first-round playoff series with what was termed a back injury), his need to command the basketball and his inconsistent outside shooting, discovering the right fit seemed to be difficult.Information from ESPN.coms Calvin Watkins was used in this report. ' ' '