BALTIMORE, Md.—During its annual Media Day in Baltimore on Tuesday morning CAA Football announced the results of its preseason poll of league head coaches and sports information directors. Villanova was predicted to finish sixth in the league standings in the upcoming season, while senior offensive lineman
Ethan Greenidge (Flanders, N.Y.) and senior safety
Rob Rolle (Newfield, N.J.) were each selected to the CAA Football Preseason All-Conference Team. Media Day returned to M&T Bank Stadium, where the head coaches and selected student-athletes from all 12 conference teams met with the media and took part in other promotional activities.
Greenidge and Rolle have each been standout performers for the Wildcats during their careers, and each has previously merited CAA recognition. This is the first time that Greenidge, the team's starting left tackle, has garnered preseason accolades. He was a second team All-CAA pick as a junior last year, when he anchored a Villanova offensive line which helped the team score 28 or more points four times during the 2017 campaign. The offense also had 11 rushing touchdowns on the year and surpassed 200 yards on the ground three times. Greenidge is the Wildcats only active player who has started every game in each of the past two seasons.
The upcoming 2018 season will mark a return to action for Rolle, a fifth-year senior who was injured at Albany last year in the fourth game of the season. He is a veteran of 40 collegiate games and has been one of the top safeties in FCS football when healthy. Rolle was a first team CAA Football All-Conference selection as a junior in 2016 and was named the 2017 Preseason Defensive Player of the Year in addition to earning
Athlon Sports Preseason All-America honors. His career stats include 107 total tackles to go along with 15 passes defended (seven interceptions, eight pass breakups) and two fumble recoveries. Rolle has 160 career interception return yards, including a school-record 100-yard touchdown return two years ago. He recorded scores on both an interception return and a fumble return during the 2016 season. Rolle had 14 tackles, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery in four games last year before being injured.
Villanova will be hungry for redemption after an injury-plagued 2017 campaign. In addition to getting several key players back healthy as the 2018 season dawns, the Wildcats will also draw on the depth that was created by having numerous players thrust into significant roles due to last year's injuries. Among the 70 returning players from 2017 are 16 starters, including nine on the offensive side of the ball and seven on defense. Senior quarterback
Zach Bednarczyk (Wallington, N.J.) threw for 1,068 yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions a year ago before his season ended with an injury in the fifth game. His career totals in 29 games played include 4,622 passing yards with 35 touchdowns, as well as 1,141 rushing yards and nine scores.
Senior running back
Aaron Forbes (Newburgh, N.Y.) is a former All-CAA selection who led the team with 568 yards on the ground last season. He has rushed for 1,476 yards with nine touchdowns in 31 career games and also has 29 career receptions with three additional scores. Villanova saw its receiving corps decimated by the injury bug in 2017 but will see senior tight end
Ryan Bell (Basking Ridge, N.J.) and junior wide receiver
Changa Hodge (East Stroudsburg, Pa.) return to the field this season. Bell was the team's second-leading receiver last year despite being limited to only four games played. He made 18 catches for 302 yards and three scores, while Hodge had 103 yards on five receptions in just two contests.
On the defensive side of the ball, key linebackers
Jeff Steeb (Sweetwater, N.J.),
Drew Wiley (Pennington, N.J.) and
Keeling Hunter (Franklin, Tenn.) all return. Steeb ranked second on the team with 91 total tackles last season while leading the squad with both eight tackles for loss and five sacks. He also had an interception and a forced fumble. Steeb and Hunter both returned interceptions for touchdowns during the 2017 season. Hunter picked off four passes to lead the team and tallied 57 interception return yards on the year while accumulating 51 total tackles. Wiley added 50 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks.
Villanova reports for the start of preseason camp next week and will open the season at FBS member Temple on September 1 at 12 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field. Season tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online. Single-game tickets for both home and away games will go on sale August 1.
Three-time defending CAA Football champion James Madison was picked to finish atop the league standings for a fourth consecutive year in the preseason poll. The Dukes earned 21 of a possible 24 first-place votes and had 241 total points in the poll. New Hampshire tallied 206 points and two first-place votes to finish second, followed by Delaware (182), Stony Brook (169) and Elon (168) in the top five ahead of the Wildcats. Elon secured the final first-place vote and was four points ahead of Villanova, which finished with 164 points in the poll. The bottom half of the predicted order of finish featured Richmond (127), Maine (81), Albany (78), Towson (74), William & Mary (55) and Rhode Island (39).
New Hampshire quarterback Trevor Knight was named the CAA Football Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, while James Madison cornerback Rashad Robinson was voted the CAA Football Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
