Haynes named to preseason watch list

Yale captain and senior linebacker Jordan Haynes was one of 41 Football Championship Subdivision linebackers named to the preseason watch list by the College Football Performance Awards.

As a junior, Haynes led Yale was 102 and was also the team lead with 10 tackles for losses and three fumble recoveries while he had two interceptions and 1 1/2 sacks.

Classmate Patrick Witt, who had 2,216 passing yards with 12 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions in 2010, was named to the quarterback watch list last month.

Also, I'm about a week late on this but Yale was picked to finish third in the Ivy League by the Sporting News (which is a few months premature in picking the order of finish considering fall drills don't start until August). Penn was picked to finish first followed by Harvard and Yale.

Former Cheshire High star Billy Ragone, a quarterback at Penn, was named the preseason player of the year while Yale incoming freshman Max Fink was predicted to win the rookie of the year award.

If picking the order of finish is a little dicey at this time, picking a freshman of the year is just outlandish. I've never seen Fink play so I can't say what sort of impact he will have. However, considering the amount of returning experienced players in the defensive front seven (where Fink projects to play), I'd be surprised to see any freshmen contribute early on. If I were picking a Yale player as a potential impact player as a freshman I'd lean towards offensive lineman Ben Carbery (not that an offensive lineman is likely to win an award like that) or defensive backs Rob Coury and Ethan DeSilva since Yale lost two starters on both the offensive line and in the defensive secondary.

As for the player of the year, Ragone was a finalist for the Bushnell Cup in 2010 so it's certainly possible that he could win the award in 2011 especially if Penn wins the title. Dartmouth running back Nick Schwieger does return after sharing Ivy player of the year honors as a junior. I said in the days leading up to the announcement of the Bushnell Cup that no other Ivy League player impressed me more than Harvard defensive lineman Josue Ortiz and since he is back for his senior season, he would be my pick for player of the year.