Bronx, N.Y. – As we continue to breakdown the 2022 Fordham Rams we complete our breakdown of the defense with a look at the defensive backfield.
 
The 2022 Fordham defensive backfield can be summed up in two words: quality and quantity. The Rams return three of the four defensive backfield starters from 2021, led by grad student Natani Drati, who started all eleven games at strong safety last year, recording 48 total tackles, 28 solo, including 0.5 for loss. He was fifth on the team in total tackles and also had one pass breakup and one forced fumble.
 
Other starters returning for 2022 include seniors Nasir McNair and Stephen Williams II and junior Brandon Spencer. McNair started seven games at cornerback as a junior, recording 16 tackles, 15 solo, including one for loss, and he had an interception and two pass breakups, while Williams appeared in all eleven games, starting three. He recorded 47 total tackles, 23 solo, including 2.0 for loss and also had two pass breakups and one interception. Spencer appeared in all eleven games last year, starting seven at cornerback, recording 31 total tackles, 23 solo, including 2.0 for loss and he had a team-high six pass breakups.
 
Other returning players with experience in the defensive backfield for the Rams include grad student Anthony Tony-Itoyah, seniors Cameron Blair and B.J. Ferguson, juniors Mike Courtney, Nahil Perkins, Deon Montgomery and Jed DeNobile; and sophomores Demarice Rice-Williams, Garrett Williams, and Trey Bradford. Tony-Itoyah appeared in all eleven games, starting four at cornerback last year, recording 36 total tackles, 23 solo, and having five pass breakups, while Blair, who was named Second Team All-Patriot League in 2020-2021, missed last fall with an injury. Ferguson saw action in all eleven games in 2021, making 31 total tackles, 15 solo, including one for loss, and he broke up two passes, while Courtney also appeared in all eleven games as a sophomore, starting nine, and he recorded 51 total tackles, 28 solo, including one for loss, finishing fourth on the team in total tackles. Perkins was limited to three games last fall due to injury while Montgomery saw action in three games as a sophomore, recording three solo tackles on the year. DeNobile appeared in four games as a sophomore, making six total tackles, four solo, while Rice-Williams played in seven games as a freshman, starting two at cornerback, finishing with 25 total tackles, 18 solo. Williams is a transfer from Temple University where he played in 2021 while Bradford appeared in five games as a freshman, making three tackles.
 
Newcomers to the Fordham defensive backfield include junior Sam Heyer, a transfer from Ohio Wesleyan, and freshmen Jack Englert, who played last year at the Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut; Jack Betten, who played at The Lawrenceville School last fall; Jalyn Evans, a product of Malvern Prep in Malvern, Pennsylvania; Alex Kemper, who hails from Cincinnati, Ohio, where he played at St. Xavier High School;  Nicholas Pasquarella, a graduate of Alta Loma Highs School in Rancho Cucamonga, California, and Denholm Feldman, who hails from nearby Fairfield, Connecticut, where he played at Fairfield Ludlowe High School.