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Final Recruiting Breakdown

Atticus Snow – DL
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 240 lbs.
Hometown: Longmeadow, MA

Snow profiles as a versatile front-seven defender with the ability to play with his hand down or stand up on the edge. He shows active hands, good length, and the discipline to maintain gap integrity while setting a reliable edge. His motor stands out on backside pursuit, and he flashes the short-area quickness to knife through interior gaps. With continued physical development, he has the tools to become a dependable rotational end who can hold up versus the run and provide pressure off effort and technique.

Cooper Gentile – LB
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 230 lbs.
Hometown: Chattanooga, TN

Gentile brings a throwback linebacker temperament with the compact build, contact strength, and urgency to factor early against the run. He plays downhill with violence, diagnoses blocking schemes quickly, and takes sharp angles to the football. His high school experience along the defensive front shows in his ability to slip blocks, bull rush blockers, and win leverage battles despite shorter measurables. He projects as a tone-setting inside linebacker candidate with the physicality to become the kind of enforcer Yale has lacked in recent years.

Cruz Trujillo – OL
Height: 6’5”
Weight: 285 lbs.
Hometown: San Jose, CA

Trujillo arrives with a strong developmental profile after a post-graduate year at Loomis Chaffee, where he worked primarily at right guard. He is a physical run blocker who can create movement at the point of attack and climb to the second level with purpose. His feet are good enough to pull, seal, and adjust in space, while his hand placement gives him a solid foundation in pass protection. With prototypical Ivy League interior size, he projects as a powerful guard prospect with upside in Yale’s gap and power concepts.

Chris Layman – OL
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 290 lbs.
Hometown: Arlington, VA

Layman is a rugged offensive line prospect with tackle experience and the physical demeanor coaches covet up front. He fires off the ball quickly, generates knockback on down blocks, and plays with a finishing mentality that shows up through the whistle. His upper-body strength and heavy hands allow him to jolt defenders at contact, while his leg drive helps sustain and finish blocks. He may ultimately slide inside, but his tackle background gives Yale a versatile lineman with power, toughness, and positional flexibility.

Elijah Brown – OL
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 285 lbs.
Hometown: San Antonio, TX

Brown played left tackle at the high school level and brings a mauling, physical style to the offensive line room. He wins with size, strength, and a willingness to finish defenders into the ground, but he also shows enough athletic ability to pull from the tackle spot and operate effectively in space. His feel on screen concepts and lateral quickness in pass protection suggest more movement skill than a pure road grader. He projects as a strong interior line candidate with the athletic tools to handle multiple run-game assignments.

Cooke Riney – TE
Height: 6’7”
Weight: 255 lbs.
Hometown: Cornwall, VT

Riney has rare size for the Ivy League tight end position and presents immediate matchup value with his 6’7” frame. He can align in-line or flex out, giving the offense flexibility in personnel groupings. As a receiver, he tracks the ball well, extends naturally, and uses his catch radius to win above defenders. His basketball background shows in his body control and ability to high-point contested throws, while his defensive end experience reflects his physical edge as a blocker. If his route polish continues to develop, he has the ceiling of a true red-zone and seam-stretch weapon.

Jamel Dew – DL
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 245 lbs.
Hometown: Ypsilanti, MI

Dew is a disruptive defensive line prospect with the strength, length, and movement skills to play multiple spots up front. He shows the burst to penetrate gaps, the hand activity to win with swim and rip moves, and the reach to finish plays outside his frame. His tape shows a defender who hunts the football, looks to create turnovers, and brings real pop on contact. Depending on how his body develops, he could grow into an interior disruptor or remain a strong-side end with power and versatility.

Jordon Ohakawa – DL
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 283 lbs.
Hometown: Stafford, TX

Ohakawa is the headliner of the defensive line group and owns one of the more impressive athletic profiles in the class. For an interior defender, his first-step explosiveness is exceptional, allowing him to cross faces, split gaps, and threaten special teams protection units. He combines size, acceleration, and striking power in a way that can overwhelm offensive linemen at this level. His range also stands out on screen pursuit, where he closes like a much lighter player and arrives with force. If he continues to refine his pad level and pass-rush plan, he has the upside to become an impact Ivy League defensive tackle and one of Yale’s most disruptive front-seven pieces for years to come.

28 replies on “Final Recruiting Breakdown”

I see that women’s soccer has started. One month before football is allowed to start. I’ll have to follow the ladies and look for any detrimental effects from starting the season in August. Have classes already begun? Are all the students on campus?

Cooper Gentile looks like he will bring the hammer! Love to see an old school physical inside linebacker type at Yale again. He should help stuff the run.

Heading into camp this is my projected first team starters:

Offense

QB 2 Dante Reno
RB 5 Cutler Adams
WR 18 Jaxson Santiago
WR 1 Lucius Anderson
WR 10 Kyle Maltarich
TE 9 Graham Smith
OL 79 Tru Kendrick
OL 73 Gray McGown
OL 55 Dylan Garrity
OL 54 Jackson St. Aubyn
OL 69 Quinton Lewis

Defense

DL 1 Zairion Jackson Bass
DL 93 Mack Johnson
DL 96 Jaylin Tate
DL 23 Xavier Coleman
LB 8 Phoenix Grant
LB 12 Steve Partin
NB 4 Abu Kamara
DB 15 JP Schmidt
DB 0 Osize Daniyan
DB 7 Brandon Webster
DB 2 Chris White
K/P 36 Noah Piper

Of course everyone will be competing for these jobs and none are guaranteed.

Need some training camp news. What’s happening, how are things shaping up.?
Update on the recruiting class for 2027

Why only 20 newcomers? I’d like to think Kevin Cahill has some pleasant surprises for us, but there I go again.

I did not know that Dylan Yang transferred to URI . He’s starting for the Rams. Looks like he dropped about 30 lbs.

I was admonished when I have questioned that very premise. Apparently there is a higher source. As I recall Tom Beckett was the man that got games with Cal Poly, Richmond, Mercer Army for the 100 year anniversary of the Yale Bowl. Vicky is in my opinion skating and doing the very least in this matter.!!
Look I’ll say what want . Yale is the leader of the Ivy League. So be the Leader . It’s a legacy so be it.

Gentlemen; to state our current athletic Director is asleep at the switch would be the understatement of the year. Every other ancient eight athletic director appears to be light years of ahead in terms of promotion of the their respective pigskin squads. for those of us who remember past productive athletic directors it is hard to swallow the current regime.

The most important job for a Yale Athletic Director is to find and schedule future opponents for football, in my opinion. Especially now with all the changes in the FCS universe including Patriot League expansion and the possibility of starting the season earlier. I’m not confident that this AD even knows who to call.

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