Football Opens Spring Practice Season

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Bronx, N.Y. – Almost four months after they left the field in Chattanooga, the Fordham football Rams retook the field today for their first practice of the 2016 spring season and the first practice under the direction of rookie head coach Andrew Breiner.
 
Unlike last spring, when Fordham used the spring season to help identify who would fill in for 18 departed starters, this year the Rams return 18 starters which will help with Breiner's transition from offensive coordinator to head coach as the 2016 squad looks to continue Fordham's winning ways over the past three years where the Rams are 32-8 and have spent 42 consecutive weeks ranked in the NCAA FCS Top 25.
 

Leading the way is junior running back Chase Edmonds, a 2015 consensus All-America and the ECAC and Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year. Last year, Edmonds rushed for 1,648 yards and 20 touchdowns while also catching 31 passes for 383 yards and five scores. He led the Patriot League and was third in the NCAA FCS in rushing yards and led the league and was fourth in the NCAA FCS in rushing yards/game (137.3) and rushing touchdowns. Edmonds led the league and was fourth in the NCAA FCS in all-purpose yards/game (184.18) and was second in the nation in scoring (12.5 points/game).

Also back in the offensive backfield is senior quarterback Kevin Anderson, who threw for more than 3,100 yards and 32 touchdowns last year while also rushing for 341 yards and a score. Anderson led the Patriot League and was third in the NCAA FCS in passing touchdowns and passing efficiency (170.2) while also leading the league and ranking fifth in the nation in completion percentage. He also ranked second in the conference and 12^th in the FCS in passing yards/game (265.3).
 
The Rams return all three starting wide receivers along with tight end Phazahn Odom, who led all receivers last year with 37 catches for 492 yards and seven touchdowns, a school mark for a Fordham tight end.
 
The only loss to graduation for the Fordham offense comes on the line with the graduation of All-American Garrick Mayweather, Jr., but the Rams return the other four starters, including junior Anthony Coyle, a second team All-Patriot League pick last fall along with senior Ben Hartman, who started all 12 games at center.
 
On the defensive side of the ball the Rams return all four starters on the line, led by senior Emmanuel Adeyeye, who made 33 tackles, including 6.0 for loss last year, along with senior Marlon Crook, Jr., who recorded 6.5 tackles for loss in 2015.
 
The Rams have one of their biggest losses to graduation at the linebacker position where All-Patriot League selection Stephen Hodge departs but Fordham returns the other two starters in junior Niko Thorpe, the leading returning tackler with 78 tackles last year, including a team-high five sacks, and senior George Dawson, who was fourth on the team with 65 stops last fall.
 
Fordham returns three of the four starters in the defensive backfield, led by senior Jihaad Pretlow, a first team All-Patriot League selection, who led the team with 12 pass breakups to go with 65 tackles.
 
The Rams will open their 117^th season of varsity football on Saturday, September 3, as they travel to Annapolis, Maryland, to face the Navy Midshipmen at 12:00 PM. Fordham is entering its 27^th season as a member of the NCAA FCS Patriot League.