Ajay Culhane is a 6 foot, 185 lb. kicker and punter from Oaks Christian in Westlake Village, California. Ajay has a big leg and the huge upside of being talented at both kicking and punting. He routinely kicks the ball out of the endzone on kickoffs. Extra points and short field goals seem to be automatic with his fluid kicking motion. Culhane has the talent to be a top kicker or punter in the Ivy League.
Trenton Charles is a 5’8″, 165 lb. running back from Scotlandville Magnet High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Charles was nicknamed “The Blur” in high school and his previous coaches timed him at 4.39 seconds in the 40 yard dash and 7.2 seconds in the 60 meter dash. When Charles hits an open hole at full speed, defenders stand little chance to catch him. He has soft hands out of the backfield and could see immediate action as a third down back, slot receiver or returner. The stable of running backs that Coach Reno and Coach Lett recruited over the last few years is truly impressive.
Sebastian Bruno is a 6’4″, 240 lb. defensive lineman from Olympic Heights High School in Boca Raton, Florida. Bruno was born and raised in Haiti before heading over to the States and had never played organized football until high school. Bruno has elite size and athleticism for an Ivy League defensive lineman and can play inside at tackle or outside at end. Bruno quickly disengages from blockers and uses his long arms to reel in ball carriers. With the right coaching, he can develop into a dominant force. I have a feeling Brown fans will hate hearing Bruno’s name in the coming years.
Jack Biestek is a 6’3″, 205 lb. wide receiver from Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh, North Carolina. Biestek is a solid all-around athlete who had success at quarterback, running back and wideout at the high school level. Football runs in his blood as his father and uncle played at Boston College, another uncle played for the Chicago Bears and his grandfather played for the New England Patriots. He has sticky hands and good concentration to snag highly contested passes. With the ball in his hands, Biestek is electric in the open field displaying an array of cutbacks, spins, and jump cuts. He is surprisingly strong and effortlessly runs through arm tackles as he turns a short gain into a track meet.
Alston is a 5’10”, 185 lb. running back/ wide receiver from South Lakes High School in Reston, Virginia. Yale lists him as a RB, but in most of his footage he is lined up in the slot. He is a dynamic athlete with the ball in his hands displaying great vision, cutback ability and the toughness to grind out additional yards after contact. Alston has the speed to beat defenders to the edge and the balance to tiptoe along the sidelines for huge gains. His size, speed and agility are reminiscent of Melvin Rouse and he has the potential to see time at RB, WR, PR or KR in his Freshman campaign.
Brian Abraham is a 6’4″, 205 lb. defensive back from Xaverian Brothers (Westwood, MA) and was named Defensive MVP of the Catholic Conference. Abraham’s height and jumping ability make him very effective at disrupting passing lanes. He has quick route recognition skills and the catch-up speed to rob receivers of a touchdown. At the line of scrimmage, he displays the physicality to jam receivers and can lay the wood on ball carriers. Yale needed size in the defensive backfield and Abraham certainly fits the bill.
In our first analysis of the Class of 2022, we will start with the 6 foot, 180 lb. receiver from The Groton School, Noah Aaron. Aaron is a long strider with deceptive speed and the quickness to be effective on offense or special teams. He has the toughness to make plays over the middle of the field and is not afraid to throw a block to spring his teammates. With the ball in his hands, Aaron displays the patience and vision needed to gain extra yards after the catch. Aaron’s immediate contribution could come at the punt returner position as Alessi’s graduation leaves a void at that spot.
Jason Alessi finishes Yale career as Ivy League football champion and National Champion in lacrosse. Congrats to Coach Shay and the entire squad on a record breaking season!
Sixth round draft selection Foye Oluokun agreed to terms with the Atlanta Falcons this week. Oluokun is expected to be a solid contributor on special teams and could provide relief at linebacker as well.
Matt Oplinger survived the Arizona Cardinals rookie mini camp and remains on the active roster. Several NFL analysts believed that the Cardinals had found a gem in undrafted linebacker Mike Needham, however, the Cardinals cut Needham after mini camp and in doing so, improved Oplinger’s odds of making the 53 man roster.
It does not appear that Jaedan Graham or Copache Tyler were signed after their tryouts with the Raiders and Titans respectively.
#3 Yale Men’s Lacrosse beat UMass over the weekend and will face off against Loyola (MD) on Saturday at Hofstra in the second round of the NCAA Lacrosse Tournament.
We previously had 34 recruits featured on the “Recruiting Roundup” post and the new list shows 30 incoming freshmen next fall. Nicholas Sligh, Kennedy Kosmalski, Matthew Tynes, and Henry Large were the four players not included in Yale’s official press release. Sligh is headed to Stanford as a preferred walk-on and the others will likely attend Choate for a year as their Twitter pages still list them as Yale commits. In the coming weeks we will post our observations of the highlight reels of each player.
Cornell beat Yale Men’s Lacrosse in the Ivy League Tournament 14-8, but Yale still managed to earn a #3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs will face off against UMass on Saturday at noon in the first round.