Grabbing the Ball UPDATED

 NOTE: I've made some additions to the original post, thanks to some reminders from readers about a few names I omitted

Mike Roussos

Throughout the Bagnoli era, Columbia's wide receiving and tight end corps have usually been an area of strength for the Lions. This year promises to feature a number of players who can definitely put a charge in a game, but the question of depth is potentially troubling. 

The pass-catchers are led by the dynamic Mike Roussos, who went from a return game phenom in his 2018 freshman season to the team's #1 WR in 2019 (in addition to remaining a very dangerous returner). Roussos has become starting QB Ty Lenhart's favorite receiver for all the right reasons. With his brother Anthony Roussos joining the team this year at LB, perhaps Mike will have an even bigger incentive to pick up his game.

But after Roussos, the question marks abound. The great combo of Josh Wainwright and Ronald Smith are gone. along with some of the great supporting actors from 2019 like Mozes Mooney. 

I'd peg the best prospects to start and contribute after Roussos on the following four names:

5th year senior Emerson Kabus is back, and he provides good experience to go along with major speed. It's hard to believe he'd be sticking around if he didn't feel confident he'd be getting significant touches this fall. 

Senior Ernest Robertson from the Bronx seemed to be breaking into the WR rotation a bit in 2019. He could be a factor this season if that trajectory continues. 

Freshman Marcus Libman is so reminiscent of Wainwright it's uncanny. He was a major "get" in this latest recruiting class and he should see the field early. *UPDATE: Many others believe Bryson Canty, who hails from the same HS as promising newcomer QB Gabriel Hollingsworth, is the best incoming freshman WR. I hope the competition is intense. 

Officially a sophomore, Chase Harleston also looks like a very strong contender to get on the field regularly. 

Obviously there are some good potential prospects elsewhere on the roster at WR, including Mason Tomlin, son of Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin. But at 5-8, I'm not sure if Tomlin will be lining up wide very often. 

At Tight End, things look a bit more dire after the graduation of Rory Schlageter. 

Returning senior Casey Mariucci is back, and he's made some big catches in his career so far. 

After him, it's all question marks. 

Senior Brandon Radice is the only other returning TE other than Mariucci with significant playing time. But he still only has one career catch. 

Senior Jackson Heath was very promising when he joined the program in 2018, but injuries kept him off the field most of the time before COVID-19 hit. If he's healthy now, he could make a nice impact.

Junior Like Painton is a naturally interesting prospect because of his 6-6 height, but he didn't get to play in 2019 and that raises questions. 

Freshman Patrick Wade is also an interesting possibility, also because of his 6-6 stature, and sophomore Dominic Busby has to be an intriguing prospect considering how heavily he was recruited with offers from Rutgers and Maryland. 

While there are some great potential game-changers in this crew, the WR/TE corps really cannot be called an area of strength for Columbia right now... but I really wouldn't be surprised if it becomes more than a strength very soon. 

Up Front Questions

Zach Minch

The first two areas of my unit-by-unit analysis of the Columbia Lions were basically upbeat. I like where our QB and RB talent and depth are right now. 

But the catch is that neither of those above two units stands much of a chance to succeed without an effective offensive line. 

And the CU OL is going out on some thin ice this season to say the least. 

The good news is that the three players with at least some starting experience are coming back: Zach Minch, Stew Newblatt, and Will Hamilton. 

The bad news is that only Minch and Hamilton can really be thought of as full season starters. while Newblatt only has one game start in his career. The only other returning senior is Tyler Worrell, who has had some game action but mostly on special teams. 

It goes without saying that a number of juniors and sophomores will have to step things up to avoid an OL disaster for Columbia this season. 

Who looks like a good prospect at OL on paper? Well, we could start with freshman Greer Rush from Frisco, Texas who had some impressive preferred walk-on offers at Texas A&M and Mississippi State. I also like sophomore Noah Layton, whose highlight tape and frame made him look very attractive when he committed last year. Freshman John Iannuzzi comes from a good HS program and clearly crushed his opposing linemen a lot during his career. Freshman Gus Rice had some impressive offers and a lot of HS accolades from his district in Texas. Late addition to the freshman class, Patrick Passalacqua seems like he could be a contender as well.  

Also, don't forget about junior transfer Matt Klenk from the University of Buffalo. He could still be a dark horse impact player on the OL.  

But of all the positions on this team where the COVID-19 layoff has forced us to take some shots in the dark, the OL unit may be the biggest mystery, (with the possible just-as-troubling exception of the D-Line). 

Having the Horses UPDATED

 NOTE: I've made some additions to the original post, thanks to some reminders from readers about a few names I omitted

Ryan Young

Assessing depth will be hard, along with just about everything else after this long COVID-19 shutdown. But you'd have to be a pretty big pessimist not to feel pretty good at what Columbia has returning in its running back corps for this season. 

Atop that list is senior Ryan Young. Young came into 2018 and 2019 as the fullback-like, banging runner expected to get hard yards in the middle of the line. But despite his lack of Olympic-level speed, it's been Young who's had a number of breakaway touchdown runs over the last two seasons as he proves how lethal he can be once he bounces off the first guy trying to tackle him. The big, bruising RB used to be a staple in the Ivies from the days of Marinaro to Elias to DeOssie. But those days seem long passed until you see the way Young runs. 

The outside running speedster with experience is fellow senior Dante Miller. Miller's abilities have been showcased in a few spectacular runs over his first two seasons on the field. But speedsters need better initial holes to get free and either Miller hasn't found them as much or the Columbia OL simply hasn't provided enough of them. But Miller is a potential game-breaker and he's proved this to be true enough times to keep defenses honest. It will be great to see what extra rest to learn and heal, (Miller had a non-knee leg injury his freshman year), will do for his game. 

Flashes of brilliance also came last year for senior Broderick Taylor, who overcame a total of *two ACL tears in his freshman and sophomore years to get on the field in 2019. His breakout game was the Homecoming rout of a win against Penn, when he did most of the work on a game-icing drive that included a spectacular TD run. Taylor is clearly the player who could benefit the most from the added rest and recovery 2020 provided. 

Three new-comers also have to fill Lion fans with some optimism. UPDATED: Nicholas Nesbitt was heavily recruited in the Ivies and runs in the style of Dante Miller. Officially classified as a sophomore for now, Joey Giorgi simply looked very impressive on tape and had massive stats to back it up in HS. I would not be surprised if he gets into the mix soon. I'm not as sure about freshman Jake Langdon, but he seems to have a lot of the ingredients we see in successful Ivy runners. 

Considering what Columbia has in QB's who can run and RB's who can run, one could make an argument for CU to ditch the spread offense and go with a "ground and pound" attack that just about every Ivy defense is simply not equipped to stop. Of course, to do that you need a great offensive line and the OL will be the subject of the next installment of this unit-by-unit analysis. 

QB Weapons & Questions

 

Ty Lenhart

As more time passes since the end of Columbia's remarkable 2017 season, it becomes more and more obvious that the biggest key to that season was the historically strong play of QB Anders Hill.

 

I could go into a game-by-game proof of this, but let's just say no Lion fan should ever underestimate the importance of the QB position ever again.

 

So not only is this year a season where its crucial to get great play from Columbia's QB, but this is true every year.

 

Okay, the above statements aren't exactly rocket science. What is hard is trying to figure out where CU is at QB after this long COVID hiatus.

 

When we last left our intrepid Lions, then-Sophomore Ty Lenhart was the starter. On the positive side, Lenhart showed better arm strength, was a dangerous runner, and had created a great connection with fellow then-sophomore WR Mike Roussos.

 

The bad news is that Lenhart was committing way too many turnovers, via interceptions and fumbles when he ran. But the Columbia coaches ended the season still very much invested in Lenhart, leaving the optimists among us daydreaming about how good he could be if he cut down on those turnovers.

 

That's still pretty much where we are today, but we've been robbed of, (or gifted with, it all depends on your perspective), an additional year of games where Lenhart could have worked on protecting the ball. Unless he comes back for a 5^th year season, he'll have to make those improvements on the field faster.

 

I don't think there's any strong reason to believe Lenhart won't be the presumed starter coming into training camp or any other kinds of practices the league will eventually allow this summer. But Columbia has some new weapons at the position that could either challenge him for the starting job or just diversify the CU attack.

 

Gabriel Hollingsworth

Officially designated as sophomores now, transfer QB Joe Green and 2020 freshman Gabriel Hollingsworth both present some exciting possibilities. The coaches are very high on Hollingsworth, a strong speedster in the mold of Princeton's amazing John Lovett. In addition to being the same height as Lovett, (6-3), Hollingsworth is faster. He is 20 pounds lighter than Lovett was by the time he was a senior for the Tigers. I've seen some of Hollingsworth's training videos, and he looks exciting. He may be one of the rare beneficiaries of the extra wait time to get on the field that everyone's had to endure because of COVID.

 

I wrote more about Green when he first transferred to Columbia 13 months ago. He's waited a very long time to get on the collegiate field in real game action, so if he's not motivated to earn some playing time now he never will be.

 

I expect some combination of two or all three of these guys to be at QB this season and that makes this position an asset for Columbia right now. Whether it will be an asset strong enough to make Columbia contender is a bigger question.

New Class Officially Announced!

Al Bagnoli

Don Shula

The Athletic Department has now made the official announcement listing the incoming freshman class for the 2021 season. 

No, we don't yet know what the 2021 season will look like. But as of June 3, it sure seems like we will have a full 10-game season. I think the biggest variables are going to be exact dates and locations, (the allowed level of crowd size no longer seems like it will be an issue).

We do know that this class is just about 100% what I reported it would be over the course of the last year. The only name missing on the official list from my list is Anthony D'Angelo, who in retrospect may have been a result of me mistakenly putting him on the list in the first place. Another change is that OL Patrick Passalacqua, originally slated to be a part of the 2020 freshman class, is now a 2021 class member.

My LionFeeders all-time recruitment database will be updated to include this new class sometime over the next few days.

I've written a few words about each of these incoming players over the past year, so I won't rehash that now, but I would like to launch the restart of the Roar Lions Blog after this long hiatus with a look at how Columbia looks position by position. 

I'll start in the coming days with a look at the QB position, but before I do that let's not ignore the elephant in the room and discuss what may be the effects of this unprecedented canceled year due to the COVID-19-related lockdowns. 

"Unprecedented" is a word that gets overused and abused in news and sports reporting, but I don't think this is one of those cases. They kept playing football at all the current Ivy schools even during World Wars I and II, and other hard times in our history. This is truly the greatest disruption Ivy sports have ever seen.

There's a school of thought out there right now that the teams that return the most players with previous experience *playing with each other* will have a big advantage this season. The trouble with that theory is that a full year off from games and practices represents more than 5% of the entire lifespan of these players. The experience of a year, or even two years, of playing with others in a program is likely to fade after all this time. I'm not saying this experience is nothing, but the adjustment of getting back to official practices and games is going to be so massive this fall that it is really likely to erase any muscle memory these players may have established way back in 2019. So, I'd say this is a secondary factor to overall talent and one more variable that should be very obvious: coaching. 

The way things have been thrown into disarray in Ivy Football right now reminds me most of the situation the NFL faced during and immediately after the 1982 players strike. It's no coincidence that after that tumult the two teams that made it into the Super Bowl were Miami, coached by the AFC's most experienced leader in Don Shula, and Washington, coached by the best young coach in football at the time, Joe Gibbs. 

Would the Redskins had made Super Bowl XVII without the strike accentuating the coaching prowess of Gibbs? There's a very good chance the answer to that question is "yes," especially since the 'Skins posted a 14-2 record the following year and an NFC championship to go with it. 

But I'm a strong believer that there is NO WAY the Dolphins would have won the AFC title without the strike acting as a magnifier for Shula's talents. Given a full season, surely the Raiders or the Jets that year would have won the AFC crown. 

So which coaches in the Ivies are the best suited to weather this very unusual and disorienting storm? 

Columbia has to feel good that the Ivies' best coach over the last 30 years is on their sideline in Al Bagnoli. No, Bagnoli's talents couldn't overcome the issues the Lions had in 2019 with injuries and inexperience at QB. But given this blank slate of a season to come, his abilities serve as one certainty to build on. As high as the hurdles are for every team this year, they are nothing like the adversity Bagnoli faced when he came to Columbia in 2015. As accomplished as people like Bob Surace at Princeton and Tim Murphy at Harvard may be, I'd argue that only Buddy Teevens at Dartmouth has been through anything like that kind of adversity and been able to overcome it. 

This doesn't mean Columbia should be favored to win the Ivy title. But Bagnoli's name on the office door is one of the most valuable commodities in this league right now.