Chase Edmonds Named Patriot League Preseason Offensive Player of the Year

Bronx, N.Y. – For the second straight year, Fordham senior running back Chase Edmonds was named the Patriot League preseason Offensive Player of the Year it was announced today by the league office prior to today's Patriot League Football Media Day Teleconference.
 
In addition, six other Rams, graduate student quarterback Kevin Anderson, senior offensive linemen Anthony Coyle and Ben Hartman, junior wide receiver Austin Longi, graduate student defensive lineman Manny Adeyeye and senior defensive back Caleb Ham were also named to the preseason All-Patriot League team.
 

In team standings, the Rams were picked to place second, behind defending champions Lehigh University in a vote by the Patriot League football head coaches and sports information directors.

The Mountain Hawks notched eleven first-place votes from their opponents to finish with 70 points in the poll with the Rams earning three first place votes and 61 points. Colgate was slated to finish third with 54 points, followed by Holy Cross (39) and Bucknell (36), with Lafayette (17) and Georgetown (17) finishing tied for sixth.
 
Edmonds, a 2016 consensus first team All-American, finished fourth in voting for the 2016 Walter Payton Award. He led the NCAA FCS in rushing yards per game (163.5) and was second in total rushing yards as well as ranking second in all-purpose yards per game (194.6) and third in rushing touchdowns. The 1,799 yards was just 39 yards shy of Edmonds' school single season record set in 2014.
 
Against Lafayette on October 8, Edmonds rushed for a school and Patriot League record 359 yards (the most by an NCAA Division I player last year) on just 17 carries, averaging 21.1 yards per carry, setting an NCAA FCS record for most yards gained per rush in a game. The former mark was 19.07 set by VMI's Gene Brown in 1988. Edmonds surpassed his own school and Patriot League record of 347 yards, set in 2015 against Lehigh.
 
Over his three-year career, Edmonds has rushed for a school record 5,285 yards, just 336 yards shy of Jordan Scott's Patriot League career record of 5,621 yards. He has 62 career rushing touchdowns and 69 overall career touchdowns, both school and Patriot League records.
 
Kevin Anderson, second team All-Patriot League pick last year, completed 201 of 325 passes for 2,724 yards and 27 touchdowns in 2016 year as well as run for 255 net yards and two scores. He led the Patriot League and was tenth in the NCAA FCS in passing touchdowns and led the League and was 12th in the nation in passing yards/game (272.4). Anderson also led the conference and was 21st in the NCAA FCS in total passing yards and led the league and was seventh in the country in points responsible/game (17.6).
 
Over his Fordham career, Anderson, a two-year starter, has completed 430 of 667 passes for 5,907 yards and 59 touchdowns. He ranks fifth on the Fordham career passing yards list and third on the career passing touchdown list while his career completion percentage of 64.5 percent is fourth best. 
 
Coyle, a first team All-Patriot League selection in 2016 who started at left tackle, and Hartman, a two-year starter at center who earned second team All-League accolades last year, anchor a strong Fordham offensive line. As a unit, the Fordham offense led the Patriot League and ranked fourth in the NCAA FCS in total offense, averaging 498.2 yards/game, and led the league and ranked 12th in the NCAA FCS in rushing offense, averaging 229.7 yards/game. The Rams also led the Patriot League and were fourth in the nation in scoring, averaging 40.1 points per game, and set a school single season rushing mark with 2,527 yards in 2016.
 

Longi, a second team All-Patriot League selection in 2016, hauled in 59 passes for 774 yards, both team-highs, and six scores. He was fifth in the Patriot League in receiving yards/game (70.4), receiving touchdowns and receptions/game (5.3).
 
Adeyeye, who was limited to five games in 2016 due to injury, made 16 total tackles, including 3.0 sacks, while Ham, a first team All-Patriot League selection last fall, was second on the team last year with 62 total tackles, and tied for the team lead with three interceptions. He was fourth in the Patriot League in interceptions/game (0.30).
 
The Rams report for camp on Tuesday, August 1 and will have their first practice on Wednesday, August 2. Fordham opens the 2017 season on Friday night, September 1, as the Rams travel to West Point, N.Y. to face the Army West Point Black Knights at 6:00 p.m.