Our (Apparent) Stars

Assessing the personnel



When you lose 21 straight games and all but two of them aren't even remotely close, it sure is hard to really assess a team's talent.

That's the challenge that the new Columbia coaching staff is undertaking right now and we'll leave them to it. But I do want to point out the names of a few returning players who seem to have the most potential, or at least seem to have done so from a fan's perspective, despite the brutal numbers on the scoreboard.

One player who is unquestionably at the top of his game is senior DT Niko Padilla. Padilla is the biggest reason why Head Coach Al Bagnoli has been quoted saying that the D-line is Columbia's best strength right now. But don't sleep on senior DE Toba Akinleye, who actually led the Lions in tackles last season He also led the team in sacks and tackles for a loss. And I'm also excited by the expected return of DE Chad Washington, a true force on the outside. The D-line also has help from senior DT JD Hurt and hopefully-returning sophomore DE Charles Melka. The front four under new DL Coach Darin Edwards could really be special this fall. (And I do believe the Lions are going back to a 4-3 defense).

Don't look now, but the linebacker position under Coach Justin Stovall isn't a weakness either. Junior Gianmarco Rea was the second-leading tackler on the team and I like everything I hear about his spirit and leadership skills. Fellow junior Keith Brady had a solid 2014 season as well. But the real potential star in my opinion was sophomore Alexander Holme. At 6-4, Holme cast a huge presence as a freshmen last year and he also recorded 31 tackles with four tackles for a loss in just seven games played. He showed the real ability to be a disrupter into the offensive backfield. Finally, I think the expected return of Mark Cieslak will be a big help to this unit too.

The secondary is much more a mystery for this team and it's good that a super talent like Jon Poppe is going to be in charge of this unit. My favorites on the back line are seniors Travis Reim and Trevor Bell and junior Brock Kenyon. I found the rest of the unit very hard to assess because of all the points Columbia seemed doomed to give up in 2014 and 2013 for that matter. We could see some real changes here.

All in all, I think the defense has more known impact players than the offense. So my "stars" on the other side of the ball are more of a leap of faith to be sure.

Thank goodness Coach Jon McClaughlin is bringing his unique O-line building talents to the Lions. I have a real hard time assessing the best talents on the line, but I still think junior Kendall Pace and sophomore Charlie Flores looked good enough last year to hold out hope. The bottom line is Columbia won't get competitive until the offensive line is at least passable, so finding the talent here and developing it is job 1.

Senior RB Cameron Molina was a real workhorse last year and one can only wonder how effective he could have been had Columbia had some other go-to offensive weapons.

At QB, I was one of the many fans who was encouraged by the play of sophomore Anders Hill at the end of his freshman campaign. He can throw and run and has good size. But the QB position still seems very wide open right now.

A year ago, Columbia seemed deep at the WR position. But injuries and reality set in last season and now a lot of that receiving talent has graduated anyway. If Connor Nelligan can come back healthy and get approved for a 5th year, he could be a big help. After him, the returning receiver I like best is sophomore Marcus Briscoe who has a lot of key tools to have a big impact season in 2015. WR Coach Mark Fabish is the right guy to find the best talent here for Ivy competition, so I like the management here especially.

Coach Joe D'Orazio's tight ends are another challenge. I did like a bit of what I saw from sophomore Zach Dansby in his freshman campaign of 2014. But will senior Nick Durham follow up on the promise he showed in his freshman year?

The best special teams star may have been junior Cameron Nizialek who was forced to punt a massive 69 times last season. But he did a fine job and was a calming figure. I liked the way sophomore Noah Zgrablich performed on PAT's, but he only attempted six FG's and missed four of them.

Spring practice begins in 15 days.