CAA Football All-Conference Teams and Major Award Winners
CAA Football All-Conference Video Announcement

RICHMOND, Va.--Senior defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon (Ambler, Pa.) was named the CAA Football Defensive Player of the Year and was also one of nine selections from Villanova to the league's All-Conference teams which were announced on Tuesday morning. This is the ninth time in the last eight seasons that the Wildcats have been presented with one of the CAA Football major postseason awards. Kpassagnon is just the second player in program history to earn the league's top defensive honor.

Kpassagnon, senior linebacker Austin Calitro (Danbury, Conn.) and junior safety Rob Rolle (Newfield, N.J.) were named to the CAA Football All-Conference first team. Senior left tackle Brad Seaton (Bronx, N.Y.) was a second team selection, while five Villanova players were named to the third team. The five included junior tight end Ryan Bell (Basking Ridge, N.J.), sophomore running back Aaron Forbes (Newburgh, N.Y.), senior punter John Hinchen (Saddle River, N.J.), senior defensive end Bryan Osei (Abington, Pa.) and junior linebacker Ed Shockley (Millville, N.J.).

The nine players who earned all-conference recognition are each significant contributors to a Wildcats squad which opens postseason play this coming weekend. Villanova is headed to the playoffs for the 12th time in the Andy Talley era and has reached eight wins in a season for the 14th time under Talley's watch. In addition, the Wildcats are guaranteed of posting a winning record for the 14th time in the last 16 years and the 25th time overall in the 32 years that Talley has guided the program. The selection of Kpassagnon as the Defensive Player of the Year is the 15th major conference award for Villanova during Talley's coaching tenure.

Kpassagnon has been one of the top defensive players in the nation this season and recently earned an invite to the Reese's Senior Bowl which takes place in January in Mobile, Ala. At the end of the regular season, Kpassagnon leads CAA Football with 19.0 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks. He has made 40 tackles in all (24 solo, 16 assisted) through 11 games, while adding two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble, one blocked kick, two quarterback hurries and one pass breakup. Kpassagnon scored his first career touchdown on the first play from scrimmage against Lafayette earlier this season when he recovered a fumble and returned it 25 yards for a score. He finished that game with a career-high seven tackles and tied a career best with two sacks.

As a prospect for the NFL Draft, Kpassagnon has made good on the hype surrounding him prior to the start of the season. He was chosen as a STATS FCS Preseason All-American and was named to the CAA Football Preseason All-Conference Team over the summer. Midway through the regular season, Kpassagnon was added to the Watch List for the STATS FCS Defensive Player of the Year Award. In 39 career games for the Wildcats, he has tallied 100 total tackles while amassing 35.0 tackles for loss and 19.5 sacks. His career totals also include four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, three blocked kicks and an interception.

Below, in alphabetical order, are profiles of each of the nine Villanova players who earned CAA Football All-Conference honors.

Ryan Bell (Junior, Tight End, Basking Ridge, N.J.)
CAA Third Team (Tight End)
First Career All-Conference Honor

Bell is the first Villanova tight end to earn CAA Football All-Conference recognition in nine years. After appearing in just four career games and not recording a catch prior to this season, he has emerged as one of the Wildcats top scoring threats during the 2016 campaign. Bell has played in all 11 games this season with 10 starts, and he leads the team with five touchdown receptions. He also ranks second on the team in receiving yards, is tied for second in receptions and is tied for third in total touchdowns scored. In all, Bell has registered 24 catches for 269 yards and five touchdowns. His five receiving touchdowns rank third in CAA Football.

It has been a strong season for Bell from the start, as he led the Wildcats with six receptions for 52 yards in the season opener at Pittsburgh. He scored his first career touchdown on a 36-yard grab against Rhode Island, then had a career-high 58 receiving yards and scored a pair of touchdowns in a 26-7 win at Maine. Bell added his second career game with two touchdowns when he scored on both of his catches in the regular season finale against Delaware.

Austin Calitro (Senior, Linebacker, Danbury, Conn.)
CAA First Team (Linebacker)
Second Career All-Conference Honor

Calitro was a third team all-conference selection as a junior last season, and moved up to the first team this year as one of the top tacklers in the league. He leads Villanova with 83 total tackles (53 solo, 30 assisted), ranks second on the team with 11.0 tackles for loss and is third with 3.5 sacks. Calitro also has two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry on the year. After the regular season, he ranks eighth in CAA Football in total tackles and sixth in tackles for loss. Calitro has registered three of his six career games with double figures in tackles this season. He had a season-high 12 total stops at Richmond, in addition to recording 11 tackles versus James Madison and 10 against Lehigh. He had three tackles for loss and a sack in the Richmond game, followed by a season-best 3.5 tackles for loss versus JMU.

Over the course of his collegiate career, Calitro has gone from a player on special teams to a starter on defense to being one of the team's leaders both on and off the field. In 46 career games, he has made 217 total tackles (136 solo, 81 assisted) while tallying 25.0 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks. He has also forced three fumbles and made two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. Calitro will make his 25th consecutive start when the Wildcats open up postseason play against Saint Francis this weekend.

Aaron Forbes (Sophomore, Running Back, Newburgh, N.Y.)
CAA Third Team (Running Back)
First Career All-Conference Honor

Forbes emerged this season as one of Villanova's top offensive performers. He leads the team in scoring with eight touchdowns on the year and is also the team's top rusher with 757 yards. Forbes averages 6.2 yards per carry and 67.7 rushing yards per game, and is tied for the team lead with seven rushing touchdowns. He also has nine receptions for 74 yards and another score, and has returned seven kickoffs for an average of 20.0 yards per return. Forbes has run for over 100 yards in a game twice this season. He ran 11 times for 111 yards and a touchdown in a win over Lafayette, and had career highs of 24 carries and 151 yards while scoring two touchdowns in a win over Albany. His performance in that game was the 42nd time in school history that a player has run for over 150 yards in a contest.

After showing promise in his first taste of collegiate competition last season, Forbes has been one of the Wildcats breakout players in his sophomore campaign. He leads the team with 959 all-purpose yards, and is seventh in CAA Football in total rushing yards. His 6.2 yards per carry (fourth) and seven rushing touchdowns (eighth) also rank in the top 10 in the league.

John Hinchen (Senior, Punter, Saddle River, N.J.)
CAA Third Team (Punter)
First Career All-Conference Honor

It was apparent from the very first game of the year that Hinchen was going to have a strong season. He punted a career-high nine times for 354 yards and placed six punts inside the 20-yard line in the season opener at Pittsburgh, and has continued to excel since then. Hinchen is averaging 42.3 yards per punt on 46 total attempts this season, with 17 of his punts downed inside the 20-yard line and 10 traveling more than 50 yards. He has punted five or more times in a game on four occasions this season, and has surpassed 200 punting yards in each of those four contests. Hinchen ranks third among CAA Football punters and 18th in the nation with his 42.3-yard average.

During a five-game stretch from September 24 through October 22, Hinchen registered at least one 50-yard punt and at least one punt downed inside the 20-yard line in every game. He punted a total of 22 times in those five games, averaged 43.6 yards per attempt and had seven punts each be either 50 yards or longer or land inside the 20-yard line. Within that stretch, he blasted a career-long 71-yard punt at Richmond.

Tanoh Kpassagnon (Senior, Defensive End, Ambler, Pa.)
CAA Defensive Player of the Year
CAA First Team (Defensive Line)
Second Career All-Conference Honor

This is the second straight year that Kpassagnon has been a first team selection. He has had seven games this season with at least one sack, and six with multiple tackles for loss. He reached his season high of three tackles for loss against both Lafayette and James Madison, in addition to having two sacks and a fumble recovery for a touchdown in the Lafayette game. He has 40 total tackles for the season, including a CAA best 19.0 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks.

Kpassagnon is only the second Villanova player to be the conference Defensive Player of the Year. He joins Wildcats Hall of Famer Curtis Eller, who was a two-time winner of the award in 1991 and 1992. During his senior season, Kpassagnon has scored his first collegiate touchdown on a 25-yard fumble return and has consistently gained attention as one of the top defensive players in the nation. He recently accepted an invitation to participate in the Reese's Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. on January 28, 2017.

BRIAN OSEI (Senior, Defensive End, Abington, Pa.)
CAA Third Team (Defensive Line)
First Career All-Conference Honor

Osei came to Villanova last year after playing his first two collegiate seasons across town for Temple. He played in seven games for the Wildcats last season and has appeared in all 11 games this year while becoming one of the team's top performers on the defensive line. Osei has been credited with 40 tackles on the year, including 12 solo stops and 28 assisted tackles. He has also totaled five tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Osei had a career-high seven tackles, including a tackle for loss, at Maine. He has had four or more tackles in six games this season, and tallied sacks in wins over Lafayette and Albany.

Osei is part of a Villanova defensive line which has consistently limited opposing offenses this season. Through the end of the regular season, the Wildcats ranked third in the nation in both scoring defense (14.9) and total defense (265.1), in addition to being 11th in rushing defense (100.5). Villanova leads CAA Football in all three of those categories, as well as in red zone scoring percentage (64.7%), sacks (24) and third down conversion percentage (30.5%).

Rob Rolle (Junior, Safety, Newfield, N.J.)
CAA First Team (Safety)
First Career All-Conference Honor

Rolle is one of the Wildcats top playmakers and he earned his first career all-conference accolade after a breakthrough 2016 regular season. Rolle has scored two of Villanova's four defensive touchdowns on the year. He also leads CAA Football and ranks sixth in the nation with six interceptions for the season. He set a school record in the game against Towson on September 17 when he intercepted a pass in the end zone and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown. It was the sixth play of at least 100 yards in school history. Rolle is fourth on the team this season with 59 tackles, while his stats for the year also included a fumble recovery for a touchdown, three pass breakups and half a tackle for loss.

In the season opener at ACC member Pittsburgh, Rolle scored the only Villanova points of the game with a three-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. He had nine tackles and the 100-yard interception return in the win over Towson, then followed that game up with two more interceptions at Lafayette. One of his interceptions versus the Leopards initially appeared to be returned for 100 yards before a penalty called the play back. Rolle also had two picks versus Maine, and tallied a career-high 11 tackles at Richmond. His two touchdowns on the year have helped the Wildcats score four defensive touchdowns in a season for the first time in 16 years.

Brad Seaton (Senior, Left Tackle, Bronx, N.Y.)
CAA Second Team (Offensive Line)
First Career All-Conference Honor

Seaton has started all 11 games this season and has now made 28 consecutive starts dating back to the start of the 2014 season. He has started all but three of the 31 career games he has played in, and is one of the key players for a strong Villanova offensive line. Through the end of the regular season, the Wildcats were averaging 212.7 rushing yards per contest and 373.5 total offensive yards per game. Villanova ranks third in CAA Football and 19th in the nation in rushing offense, and is fourth in the league in scoring with 25.4 points per game. The running game has been as consistent as it has been good; in 11 games, the Wildcats have surpassed 200 yards on the ground six times and have tallied seven games with multiple rushing touchdowns.

Ed Shockley (Junior, Linebacker, Millville, N.J.)
CAA Third Team (Linebacker)
First Career All-Conference Honor

The strength of the Villanova defense is the number of top playmakers the Wildcats have, and Shockley is one of five defensive players to earn all-conference honors. He ranks third on the team with 71 total tackles (47 solo, 24 assisted) and has recorded 10.0 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks on the season. Shockley also has a fumble recovery and two quarterback hurries for the year. During the season, Shockley notched his first two career games with double figures in tackles with 10 apiece against both Lehigh and Albany. His game versus Albany was a particularly notable one, as his 10 tackles included four tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. He also had his first career fumble recovery in the contest.

Shockley had had seven or more tackles in a game six times this season, including in four straight games. He has totaled 34 tackles in the last four contests, with six tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. Shockley has played in 35 career games for the Wildcats, and has career totals of 140 tackles (89 solo, 51 assisted), 20.0 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks.