Photo Gallery (Practice) | Photo Gallery (Defensive Line)

Bronx, N.Y. (August 18, 2014) – As the Fordham football camp heads into its final week we move from the offensive to the defensive side of the ball for our position-by-position breakdown of the Rams, starting with the defensive line.
 
The record-breaking Fordham offense grabbed most of the headlines last year but the defense was as equally impressive, leading the NCAA FCS in turnovers gained with 40 and tying for second in fumbles recovered. Part of that success can be attributed to the play of the defensive line, which returns to All-Patriot League picks in graduate student Brett Biestek and senior DeAndre Slate.
 

Last year Biestek got things done on the field, where he was a First Team All-Patriot League selection, and in the classroom, where he was a First Team Academic All-American® and recipient of a prestigious FCS ADA postgraduate scholarship. He started all 14 games on the Fordham defensive line last fall, recording 58 total tackles, 40 solo, including 14.5 tackles for a loss of 74 yards and five sacks for 36 yards. He also had five quarterback hurries, four pass breakups, three fumble recoveries, a forced fumble and a blocked kick. Biestek tied for second in the Patriot League in tackles for loss per game (1.04) and tied for seventh in sacks per game (0.36).
 
Slate, a Second Team All-League pick last fall, started all 14 games at left tackle, making 49 total tackles, 32 solo, and he led the team with 7.0 sacks and was second with 14.5 tackles for loss, Slate tied for second in the Patriot League in tackles for loss/game (0.5) and third in sacks/game (1.04).
 
The two returning players will be joined by senior Justin Yancey, who sat out last year and missed most of the previous two with injuries. In 2012, he appeared in six games before suffering a season-ending injury, a fate that he also met in the first game of 2011. Yancey burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2010, appearing in all eleven games, making eight starts, leading all freshmen and all defensive linemen with 41 total tackles, 28 solo, including a team-high 10.5 tackles for loss. He tied for third in the Patriot League in tackles for loss/game (0.95) and tied for 13th in sacks/game (0.27).
 
Also back on the defensive line are juniors Nick Merino, David Conroy, and Nick Krejci and sophomores Alex Washington, Manny Adeyeye, Marlon Crook, Jr., Justin Vaughn and Brandon Weir.
 
Last year Merino saw action in all 14 games as a junior, starting six, recording 23 total tackles, eleven solo, including three for loss and 1.5 sacks. Conroy played in eight games, making seven tackles, three solo, on the year, while Krejci appeared in six games as a sophomore, making two solo tackles.
 

Among the sophomores, Washington appeared in all 14 games as a freshman, starting eight, and he registered 18 total tackles, six solo, including one for loss and 0.5 sacks and he also recovered a fumble. Adeyeye saw action in 12 games as a freshman, leading all newcomers with 21 total tackles, 15 solo, while Crook appeared in five games as a freshman, making four total tackles, one solo. Vaughn and Weir did not see action as freshmen.
 
Newcomers to the defensive line include freshmen Ty Green, Tony Fox, John O'Boyle and Nick Angeli.
 
Green, a graduate of Ashland High School in Ashland, Ohio, was a 2013 Associated Press Division I All-Ohio - Second Team selection last fall while Fox, a product of Fairfield College Prep in Fairfield, Connecticut, was named to the 2013 CHFCA All-State team and to the USA Today Connecticut All-State team. O'Boyle attended Scranton Preparatory School in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he was selected to the All-Region Team and the All-Conference Team for the Lackawanna Football Conference while Angeli played high school football at St. Peter's Prep in Jersey City, N.J., where he served as a team captain his senior year and helped lead the team to the 2013 Group 4 Non-Public State Championship game.