Author: Moderator

Here is a list of the early commits to Yale for next season:

Jordan Carey-5-11,190- LB/RB-Florissant, MO (Hazelwood Central)

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/3323154/jordan-carey

 

Christian Sampleton-6-3,230-TE/DE-La Grange Park, IL (Nazareth Academy)

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/3003899/christian-sampleton

 

Blake Hill-6-1,220-MLB-Milford, MA (Milford)

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/3214126/blake-hill

 

Noah Pope-6-2,205-OLB-Collierville, TN (St. George’s)

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2921391/noah-pope

 

John Dean-6-2,225-LB/RB-Wrentham, MA (Choate)

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2516243/john-dean

 

Jacob Hinish-6-3,282-OL-Pittsburgh, PA (Central Catholic)

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/5427458/jake-hinish

 

Donovan Slater-6-3,285-OL-Pittsburgh, PA (Central Catholic)

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/3013738/donovan-slater

 

Jimmy Check-6-4,195-QB-Fairfax, VA (Paul VI)

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/3611870/jimmy-check

 

D. Major Roman-6-5, 202-DE/TE-New London, CT (New London)

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/3120974/d-major-roman

 

Thomas Vissman-6-0, 210-RB/S-Pittsburgh, PA (Upper St. Clair)

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/4231168/thomas-vissman

 

Ethan Campbell-6-4, 214-MLB- Cincinnati, OH (La Salle)

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/3901995/ethan-campbell

 

Micah Awodiran-6-1, 215-LB-Chicago, IL (Marist)

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2681270/micah-awodiran

 

Patrick Conte-6-5, 225-QB-Fairfield, CT (Fairfield Prep)

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/3206262/patrick-conte

 

Walker Lott-6-2, 222-QB-Alabaster, AL (Choate)

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1540261/walker-lott

 

JJ Howland-6-6, 230-TE- Fiskdale, MA (Choate)

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2324491/john-howland

 

Brandon Peterson-6-3, 250-DE- San Antonio, TX (Alamo Heights)

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/3349554/brandon-peterson

 

Let us know who we are missing!

 

The Colts shifted Tyler Varga to the reserve/retired list on Tuesday effectively ending the NFL career of the former Yale RB.  Was the writing on the wall that Varga would not make the cuts or did he simply not want to put his brain through another training camp slugfest?  He suffered a serious concussion last season and then publicly stated in the offseason that he refused the team doctor’s recommendations, so this may have also ruffled some feathers in the front office.

We are under two months to kickoff at the Yale Bowl vs. Colgate (51 days to be exact).  Colgate will have one game under their belt before playing the Bulldogs as they suit up on September 2nd against Syracuse.  Colgate finished 9-5 last season and made it all the way to the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs, so this will be a tough matchup to start the season.  The Penn and Columbia contests are now slated for Friday evenings and we are hopeful that they will be broadcast on NBC Sports once again.

Under Armour unveiled the new Yale football uniforms last week.

.. And the new @Yale football uniforms/cleats unveiled tonight by @UnderArmour pic.twitter.com/pR7cuZjW9S

— Hannah Storm (@HannahStormESPN) July 22, 2016

As you’ll notice, there are only minor modifications to the classic uniform, but it is a welcome refresh.  On a side note, is that Tyler Varga modeling the new look?

Speaking of Varga, he is in a tough battle for the backup running back spot behind Frank Gore in Indy.  Varga will have to compete against rookie Josh Ferguson, Robert Turbin, and Jordan Todman (UCONN) to stay on the roster this season.  Varga will likely have to beat out two of those potential backups just to secure a spot on the 53 man roster.

Some readers were confused if Emil Johnson was still in charge of the strength and conditioning program after Yale’s announcement in April that consultant Tom Newman was brought in to overhaul the program.  We confirmed from a source that Emil is no longer working directly with the football squad.  I know some of the players had to bummed over the change, but let’s see how this season unfolds in terms of player conditioning and injuries before criticizing Reno.

Here are our picks for the upcoming Ivy football season:

Harvard

Penn

Yale

Columbia

Dartmouth

Brown

Princeton

Cornell

Abu Daramy and Walker Lott did not appear on the official recruiting list released by Yale, while Sean Kissel (DE) and Devin Moore (DE) were both added to the roster.  Some supporters have suggested Daramy may not have had the grades to get in, but we can neither confirm nor deny the rumors.  Yale can always utilize talented pass rushers like Kissel and Moore, but at the same time, it is disappointing to see that one of the freak athletes of the recruiting class will not be playing for Yale next fall.

The Yale reunion season has come and passed.  The weather held up nicely for most of the weekend and apparently several attendance records were shattered across various classes.

We are anxiously awaiting the official announcement from Yale regarding the 2020 recruiting class.

Fourth-ranked Yale Lacrosse hosts Navy this Sunday in the 1st Round of the D1 Men’s College Lacrosse Championship tournament.  A Yale win could set the stage for a huge rematch against #5 Brown.

The Yale Baseball team will be traveling to Princeton this weekend for the best-of-three Ivy League Championship Series.  Despite being heavily criticized in the past, Tom Beckett has truly elevated Yale sports over the course of his career.  Basketball earned a spot in the tournament and knocked off Baylor.  Men’s Crew is currently ranked #1 in the country.  Lacrosse won the Ivy League Tournament over Harvard (Alessi had two goals) and Baseball is in contention for an Ivy title this weekend.  Beckett’s made mistakes in the past, but no one can question his dedication to building Yale’s athletic department.

Harvard announced that members of unrecognized single-sex social groups (AKA fraternities, sororities, and finals clubs) will not be eligible to hold positions of leadership on athletic teams or in student government organizations.  The administration seems to think that by discouraging involvement in these social organizations, incidents of discrimination and rape will decrease.  The true consequences of this action will be decreased student happiness and lackluster alumni giving campaigns (both of which are great for Yale).  I can’t imagine how DKE and Zeta members on the Yale football team would react if Salovey were to announce such a bizarre rule!

Princeton TE Seth DeValve was selected in the fourth round of the NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns, while Harvard OL Cole Toner was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the fifth round.  Both of these picks were surprising as DeValve was projected to go undrafted and Toner was projected to go in the sixth or seventh round.  DeValve actually played WR last year at Princeton and will need to develop his blocking skills to earn a roster spot as a tight end at the next level.  Browns scouts are hoping they found the next Eric Johnson in DeValve.  Toner is a solid right tackle that should be more NFL-ready than DeValve, yet his lackluster Pro Day numbers suggest that he must improve in the weight room to compete against NFL defensive ends.

We still haven’t heard any news on Morgan Roberts yet.  FCS players are clearly gaining respect in NFL circles and it’s only a matter of time before another Ivy Leaguer sneaks into the first round of the draft.

Yale’s annual Blue-White Spring Game was held on Saturday, but resembled a typical practice in both form and spirit.  This was the result of both a scheduling issue and a number of injuries across the board.  Surely Yale’s athletic department could have arranged a scenario in which the game was played at the end of spring practice and not with three additional practices remaining without encroaching on Reading Period.  It’s disheartening to see that the injury bug has struck yet again after the misfortunes of the past two seasons and it may be an early sign that more key injuries are to come in the fall.

The QB competition remains a two-horse battle with Rafe Chapple and Tre Moore competing for the top spot.  The two QB’s split reps with the first team offense on Saturday and Reno has stated that the competition will last through preseason practices.  We would have preferred to see Reno select a QB this spring in order for the starter to develop chemistry with the receiving corps in summer workouts, but one thing we know about Reno is that he will keep the competition going until the very last second.  It seems logical that Tre Moore will earn the spot given that he is splitting reps with Chapple currently, is a year younger than Chapple, and has the athleticism to be a dual threat weapon.

The physicality at the line of scrimmage seemed to be lacking at this year’s spring game and the offensive line in particular was the biggest disappointment of the day.

 

 

We decided to select an all-star lineup from the past ten classes of Yale football players (those graduating from 2006-2016).   Who did we leave off?  Was the best RB McLeod or Varga?

QB: Jeff Mroz

RB: Tyler Varga

FB: Joe Fuccillo

OL: Ed McCarthy

OL: Jeff Monaco

OL: Wes Gavin

OL: Darius Dale

OL: Luke Longinotti

TE: Langston Johnson

WR: Chandler Henley

WR: Deon Randall

KR: Chris Smith

PR: Gio Christodoulou

K: Kyle Cazzeta

P: Tom Mante

DL: Brandt Hollander

DL: Tommy McCarthy

DL: Kyle Hawari

DL: Jared Hamilton

LB: Bobby Abare

LB: Paul Rice

LB: Jordan Haynes

SS: Larry Abare

FS: Cole Champion

CB: Casey Gerald

CB: Drew Baldwin

Morgan Roberts worked out in front of scouts from three teams (Patriots, Jets and Colts) at his April 5th Pro Day.  We wish Roberts nothing but the best of luck, but it will be very difficult for him to crack a 90 man roster heading into preseason camp at the NFL level.  The Colts seem to be the most likely team to give him a shot considering that Tyler Varga is still on their roster after an impressive rookie season cut short due to injury.

Yale is in the midst of revamping its strength and conditioning program with a focus on improving the diets of the players.  Whether an improved ratio of macronutrients can balance out the ill effects of Toad’s beverage offerings remains to be seen.  The most painful memories of the 2015 campaign were observing linemen get pushed around by Harvard and Dartmouth players, so it’s great to see that there is a renewed effort from the coaching staff down to the players that they must get bigger, stronger and faster to win an Ivy title in 2016.