Fordham Football Report #11

Bronx, N.Y. – As we approach the final scrimmage of the 2017 Fordham football fall camp we continue our position-by-position look at the Rams as we take a look at the defensive backs.
 
Fordham returns three of the four starters in the defensive backfield from 2016, along with a host of players with experience, losing only All-Patriot League cornerback Jihaad Pretlow who led the team in passes defended
 
Last year, the Ram defensive backs helped Fordham rank third in the Patriot League with 13 interceptions as well as lead the league and rank seventh in the nation in turnover margin.
 
Leading the returners are returning starters senior Caleb Ham and juniors Dylan Mabin and Antonio Jackson. Ham, a first team All-Patriot League pick last year, started all eleven games at free safety for the Rams, recording 62 total tackles, 39 solo, including 3.0 for loss. He was second on team in total tackles and also had a team-high three interceptions along with six pass breakups. Ham ranked fourth in the Patriot League in interceptions/game (0.30).
 
 

Mabin started all eleven games at cornerback for the Rams last fall, recording 42 total tackles, 36 solo, including 1.0 for loss. He also had three pass breakups.
 
Jackson, who started all eleven games at strong safety in 2016, made 56 total tackles, 44 solo, including 2.0 for loss. He was third on the squad in total tackles and second in solo stops while also picking off a pair of passes and adding two pass break ups along with one forced fumble.
 
Other returning players with experience in the defensive backfield include juniors Lawrence Menyah, Bryce Petty, and James Biggs-Frazier, sophomore Jesse Bramble and Jarod Vyent, along with seniors Conor Cassidy, Liam Cadman and Marcus Hicks.
 
Menyah appeared in all eleven games last year, starting three, recording 37 total tackles, 24 solo, including 1.0 sacks while also notching two interceptions and four pass breakups. Petty did not see action last year due to injury while Biggs-Frazier appeared in four games in the defensive backfield and on special teams, making three total tackles, two solo.
 
Bramble appeared in ten games in the defensive backfield and on special teams, making 22 total tackles, 16 solo, while also recovering a fumble and returned it 19 yards while Vyent appeared in all eleven games, both at linebacker and on special teams, finishing with seven total tackles, four solo.
 
Cassidy appeared in eight games in 2016, making one solo stop in the Yale win, while Cadman played in three games in the defensive backfield and on special teams for the Rams last fall, making two solo tackles, including 1.0 for loss, in the win over Lafayette. Hicks saw action in one game in an injury-shortened season for the Rams.
 
Newcomers looking to see playing time in the defensive backfield include Marcus Alleyne, Matt Dengler, Dervin Hylton, Jack Mueller, Ben Schutsky, and Cooper Weiss.
 
Allyene is a graduate of Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut, where averaged 9.7 yards/carry and 16.3 yards/reception as a senior as well as leading the team in tackles. Dengler arrives at Rose Hill following a prosperous high school career at Pope John XXIII High School in Sparta, New Jersey, while Hylton is a product of Worcester Academy in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he was a member of the football, basketball and track programs. Mueller comes to Fordham from Eureka High School in Eureka, Missouri, where he enjoyed a successful high school career while Schutsky is a product of Hopewell Valley High Central High School in Pennington, New Jersey, where he played in the 2017 New Jersey Sunshine Classic. Weiss is a graduate of Community School of Naples in Naples, Florida where he was a 2016 First Team All-State selection and named MVP of the 2016 Florida All-Star Game.