95 Statesmen Arrive for Preseason Camp

Hobart's QB Coach Jonathan Drach tweeted to D3football.com that 95 players checked into the Statesmen's preseason camp yesterday.  A link to the tweet can be found here.

The first practice of the 2013 season began today, and the updated roster can be found here.

Expectations are high for 7th ranked Hobart and here is what we know:

Although the Statesmen return a vast majority of their 2012 roster, there will still be a great deal of competition at each positional group.  The six returning starters (JR OL Ali Marpet, JR OL Deandre Smith, SR OL Mike Green, JR TE Mike Berkowitz, JR FB Dominique Ellis and SR RB Steven Webb) who, if they remain healthy, will be important aspects of the offense.  The biggest question mark for most Hobart fans will be which of the five QBs in camp will emerge with the starting job?

All-Americans SR OLB Devin Worthington and JR DE Tyre Coleman headline the defense which returns the majority of last year's DB, LB and DL corp.  While the defense returns more starters than the offense, I expect position competition will be tough there as well.

Special teams returns all their key players, but the inclusion of two FY kickers tells me it's a wide open competition for those duties going into camp.

I'll do a more in depth preview as camp draws to a close.