Special Teams Photo Gallery
 
Bronx, N.Y. – With the season opener just days away we conclude our position-by-position breakdown of the 2016 Fordham University football Rams with a look at the special teams.
 
Of course, when one thinks special teams the first thing that comes to mind is kicking and the Rams have plenty of capable feet on the roster.
 
Leading the Fordham kicking game is senior punter Joe Pavlik, who has started all 40 games for the Rams since his freshman season. Last year, Pavlik punted 49 times for 2,007 yards (41.0 yards/punt) with a long of 67 yards. He ranked second in the Patriot League in punting average and placed 20 of his 49 punts inside the opponent's 20 with only four touchbacks. Pavlik also had four punts of better than 50 yards.
 

As for placekicking the Rams have four candidates, led by senior Makay Redd, who handled most of the chores last year when he earned First Team All-Patriot League honors. He connected on eight of his 12 field goal attempts with a long of 54 yards (one yard shy of the school mark) and also made good on 40 of his 44 PATs. Redd led the Patriot League in kick scoring (7.1) and was fifth in the Patriot League in scoring (5.4 points/game) and third in the league in field goal percentage. He nailed a 31-yard field goal with eight seconds left to boost Rams to the win at Penn.
 
Also back at placekicker is junior Alejandro Cardenas who appeared in four games as a sophomore, connecting on three of his five field goals with a long of 44 yards. He was a perfect 11-for-11 on PATs and kicked off nine times for 504 yards (56.0 average).
 
Junior Spencer Ferrigan and sophomore Kyle Facibene also return in 2016. Ferrigan appeared in two games as a sophomore, kicking off 12 times for 696 yards (58.0 average) with two touchbacks, while Facibene appeared in three games as a freshman, kicking off 18 times for 964 yards (53.6 average).
 
The kickers wouldn't be able to do their job without the long snappers and the Rams have two on the roster in senior Robert Carlyle, who saw action in ten games last fall, and senior James Orfini, a newcomer at long snapper.
 
Of course special teams also includes kick returners and the Rams have two of the best in the league. Senior Jihaad Pretlow returns to handle kickoff returns after earning Second Team All-Patriot League honors as a kick returner in 2015. Pretlow led the Patriot League and was 18th in the NCAA FCS in kickoff return average (26.2) and his 864 kickoff return yards last year is the second best single season in Fordham history. He also returned a kickoff for a score in the win over Holy Cross.
 
At punt return, the Rams bring back sophomore Corey Caddle, who brought back 22 punts for 155 yards last year.