Sophomore Links

Gabriel Hollingsworth

Count me in as one of the early members of the club of pundits who consider this coming Ivy football season to be the biggest wildcard in league history. With just about every team sporting rosters with well over 50% newcomers, it seems like a fool's errand to try to predict the final standings with other than a very broad guess.

But I do feel confident in making one sort of prediction based on simple history: A key deciding factor this season for all eight Ivy teams will be how well each program has used this added year off to train and condition the now-sophomore players who still haven't played a game for their new schools. 

That's because what every coach tells you about incoming freshmen football classes in the Ivies is that the biggest job is getting them physically big and strong enough, and getting them ready for the transition to college life. 

The college life part is still going to be tricky, with most Ivy schools shunning on-campus living last year, (with Cornell being a notable, successful exception). But the weight room work, playbook study, and general culture-learning part of the job was something all the Ivy coaching staffs surely strove to get done with last year's freshmen. 

Does that mean we could see a bevvy of breakout stars among the sophomore class across the league? I think we could, and that could also be the case at a number of positions where freshmen don't usually break through so soon. Because after all... these guys aren't really freshmen. 

For Columbia, there are a number of sophomores who could make a major impact if in fact they've been able to use this extra transition year to get more physically and mentally ready. 

At QB, there are actually four of these sophomores and at least three of them come with high expectations. Gabriel Hollingsworth can pass and run and may even line up at other skill positions at times. Joe Green is a transfer from San Diego State with good size and arm strength. Kris Jenner also has great size and passing ability. And then there's the curious case of CU Baseball team convert E.J. Kreutzman, who at 5-11 and serious speed may play some kind of role in the CU offense as a wildcat QB. 

At RB, Joey Giorgi seems like the cream of the sophomore crop, but that's a position with a lot of depth and some exciting talent in the freshman class. 

At WR, Marcus Libman could end being the top newcomer of the entire year. Nico Valencia comes in much more under the radar than the lauded Libman, but he could be a real diamond in the rough. 

Both of the sophomore TE's look really promising in Dominic Busby and James Miller. They were both heavily recruited and are both from New Jersey, which may also have made their transition year a bit easier. Columbia desperately needs an impact player at TE this and every year.

At OL, Noah Layton had the most impressive highlight reel and Braedon Bellmer had the most impressive array of offers. If either one of them is good enough to start even one game this year, that would be very good news. 

On the DL, the most intriguing sophomore is the very large-sized David Bartholomew at 6-6 and with hands that look like they can crush a QB's head. If the CU coaches can't teach him to be effective at least at batting down passes, they should try another line of work. Savon Rawlins is from Brooklyn by way of the Lawrenceville School and he looks very athletic. How great would it be to have a Brooklyn kid starring in CU Football again? Getting back to size, Ben Corniello seemed too undersized when he committed last year, but he could be the prime example of my theory about using this extra time to beef up. The D-line is absolutely the position group where Columbia needs the most help right now, so if these guys are ready to play they will play. 

Columbia's talented LB corps will be tough to break into for playing time, but all three of the sophomores at this position look very good. First, you have to believe Anthony Roussos will make a strong go of getting on the field. CJ Brown has such blistering speed it would be a shame not to use him at least as a gunner on special teams. And some Lion-watchers continue to gush to me about Scott Rosati. 

In the secondary, breaking into the two-deep will be difficult as well. Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin's son Mason Tomlin has now been switched back on the roster from WR to DB, but the best sophomore may be Mahari Miller from Springfield, MA. 

Only an injury would push junior K Alex Felkins and 5th year senior P Drew Schmid off the field, so the only place I can see sophomores making a big impact on the special teams is at the punt or kick returner slots. There's enough speed in the sophomore class to make that a possibility. 

But this is a large crop of newcomers who the Lion coaches have had the time to prepare well beyond the usual allotted period for guys who have never seen the field in any college games. Let's see what they make of it.