Fordham Football Report #6

Bronx, N.Y. - The first week of Fordham football fall camp is in the books and we continue our position-by-position look at the 2017 Rams as we check out the running backs.
 
For the past three years there has been one name that comes to mind when you speak of Fordham running backs: Chase Edmonds. The senior, who earned consensus first team All-American honors last year, enters the year at as a preseason All-America as well as the preseason Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year. Last fall, Edmond, who finished fourth in the Walter Payton Award voting, led the NCAA FCS in rushing yards per game last year (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. He carried the ball 257 times for 1,799 yards and 19 scores while also catching 25 passes for 272 yards and one touchdown. His 1,799 yards was just 39 yards shy of his 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.
 
The Fordham offensive backfield is far from a one-man show as Edmonds is joined by senior Jarred Brevard, sophomore D'Angelo Palladino and freshman Zach Davis.
 
Brevard appeared in seven games for the Rams last year, rushing eight times for 39 yards, including 25 in the Ram Crusader Cup win over Holy Cross at Yankee Stadium. He also made four tackles, three solo, on special teams.
 
Palladino saw action in seven games as a freshman, rushing 19 times for 116 yards and one score.
His big game came against Elizabeth City State where he gained 119 rushing yards and scored a touchdown.
 
Davis joins the Rams after a stellar career at Wallingford High School in Wallingford, Connecticut, where he was a 2016 Max Preps All-American and was named the USA Today Connecticut Offensive Player of the Year. He averaged 358.8 yards/game in 2016, gaining 3,588 rushing yards and scoring 52 total touchdowns last fall.
 
Notes
The Rams had Thursday off from practice and celebrated with a trip to the beach at Robert Moses State Park.
 
The Rams were back on Coffey Field for this morning's practice.
 
Fordham will have its first "early" practice tomorrow when they hit the field at 8:45 AM.