Leake '21 Participates in NY Giants Rookie Mini-Camp, Empire 8 Pairs Up with Landmark

Hobart SR DB and Co-Captain Jared Leake '21 had an opportunity of a lifetime with an invitation to participate in the recent New York Giants Rookie Mini-Camp. He competed with some of the best in football, and even had a run in with WWE HOFer Ric "The Nature Boy" Flair (woo!).

This is rarified air for Leake, as only about 10 D3FB grads have received opportunities and/or signed as UDFAs by NFL teams. D3football.com has been keeping track of these limited offers and Jared is included on the list, which is being updated as needed. 

In other news, and I had posted this on the Parents and Fans of Hobart Football Facebook page (which has nearly 940 members! Hopefully we can get to 1K by the fall) last week, but the Statesmen's future scheduling got more complicated with the news that the Empire 8 and Landmark Conferences were pairing up. 

Right now, it really looks like LL teams will be the odd men out with this E8-LC pairing, plus the fact that the PAC and MAC are full, and the CC has a OOC scheduling agreement with the NJAC. I suppose this could mean some matchups with New England schools (WNE and Framingham State have shown a willingness to schedule NYS teams), but perhaps it means Hobart will need to explore teams to the west (e.g., Ohio, Michigan) and/or South (maybe ODAC, USAC or SAA types of programs), which would be interesting, but also expensive from a travel perspective.

Scheduling has been a challenge for top D3FB schools for a while, so it's nothing new here. Even opposing coaches have said it's a constant issue. One E8 coach I know didn't have much sympathy for the LL however, basically stating that the LL is "notorious for breaking contracts with scheduling", alleging programs like UofR, Hobart and Ithaca of cutting long standing contracts by half or otherwise. To each their own on that topic.

Regardless, I know HC Kevin DeWall '00 will be working the phones hard. For now, however, the 22 slate is set. While I am a little disappointed the Homecoming game won't be at night, the rest of the schedule is consistent, with most games kicking off at 1 PM.

That's it for now. I'll come back again soon with any updates I may have.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Class of 2026 - Recruiting Roundup

Over the past week (plus) we got to see the newly announced members of the Hobart College Statesmen football Class of 2026. Coming in at 36 students, this is one of the bigger classes HC Kevin DeWall '00 and his staff have brought in.

Not surprisingly, a position breakdown shows areas of need / focus (e.g., OL and DE/DL) were certainly addressed, with the usual skill positions factored in as well. While the majority of the class hails from NYS (not unusual, and in this case 13 of the 36 are staying in-state), this year there was a much higher concentration of players from NJ - 10 - one of the highest numbers we've seen from there in quite some time. The rest of the distribution is pretty modest and even: 4 from PA and CT, 3 from MA (which is pretty low by "historical" standards) and 1 from NC and DE. 

Let's a take a closer look:

By my count, close to half of this class will end up on the OL/DL. I view players like Broggy, Urbina, Suh, Shahdanian, Mejias, Geneus, Goodell and Ruppert as solid adds to the OL. AT DE/DL is see Henry, Muse, McKean, Randle, Tobin, Provenzano and Silver. 

On the offensive side of the ball, two players - Engle and Smalley - will compete to be the future Hobart QB. At RB we have a solid trio in Cotter, Maddox, Jr. and Jackson. At TE we have a potential add in Ruby, who we saw played a fair amount of "h-back" in HS. Tafari Johnson is another potential TE (or OLB) candidate. 

WR/DB is another big and talented group including Peterson, Scott, Sklar and Ruscetta (likely at WR). I can see Caprara, Rodgers, Galella, Candelora and Smith at DB. 

LB/OLB we will probably see McGhee, Johnson (see above), Chachere, Trovato and Figueroa (who could potentially be an RB, but I view him as more a LB recruit). 

Last but not least is a PK - Vicente Lyon - who will likely compete for time with SO PK Tobias Wefering, the only other PK on the roster. 

Of course, all the above is subject to change based on what the coaching staff elects to do going into preseason camp. We are only 16 weeks away from the start of the fall season. 

Thanks as always for checking in. I'll probably lay low barring any updates during the offseason. Mayor Frank and I are planning ahead for another season (our 15th) of "In the (D3FB) Huddle". 

Go Bart!

Class of 2026 - Part IX (the last one)

It's been a good run of daily updates on the Class of 2026, but this is the final one.

I will do more of a "deep dive" into this group, potential positional breakdowns and preseason camp competitions that could arise given these additions, next week.

All told, the Class of 2026 has 36 (my favorite Hobart number) new Statesmen players. Here's the final 33-36 players:

We only have to go back about a month to when we first met Syosset HS (NY) OL Quinn Broggy. He's another solid addition to what's been a very strong, if not banner, OL recruiting class this offseason.

Same for Cardinal Hayes HS (NY) OLB/TE Tafari Johnson. I wrote back him back in April also. He's the second of two CHS recruits (the other being Denzel Silver, who we introduced back in Part IV). I find it interesting that Hobart was able to get multiple commits from the same high schools, showing the strength and ability of the Statesmen program to attract great student athletes.

Up next is yet another recruit from the Garden State, a place the coaches clearly made a focused effort to mine talent from this recruiting season. Cranford HS (NJ) Lukas Ruby is an interesting athlete, and apparently, he also stars on the hardwood because you have to scroll all the way down to the bottom of his Hudl account to get to his football highlights. He helped CHS to an undefeated 9-0 season as a H-back, DE/OLB. I could see him being utilized as a blocking TE for Hobart. Time will tell. 

Last but certainly not least, is Noah Chachere an OLB from Salisbury School (CT). Hobart and Salisbury have a long history given both Bobby Wynne '94 and Bill Warder '96 work and coach there. Salisbury Football HC Chris Phelps is no stranger to D3FB, having previously coached at Saint Lawrence. Interestingly enough, Chachere is actually from New Orleans, LA, having attended Brother Martin HS before taking a PG year at Salisbury. You can check out his highlight reel here. At 6' 0" and 210 lbs., Noah looks like a big and fast (4.6 40-yard dash) addition to the Hobart LB corps. 

There you have it! A solid 36 new Hobart College Statesmen as part of the Class of 2026. I hope you've enjoyed "meeting" these incoming players as much as I have. I am looking forward to following their careers as they progress.

I'll have more on this excellent recruiting class next week. 

Thanks as always for reading the blog and go 'Bart!

Class of 2026 - Part VIII

We are nearing the end of what's shaping up to one the biggest and best recruiting classes we've seen in some time. Credit to the coaches who've worked hard and identified some future Statesmen stars in the making.

For 28-32 we have a group that should be relatively familiar to you if you've been following the recruiting trail on this blog over the past couple of months.

Starting us off is OLB/DE Dorian Henry of Nottingham HS (NJ), the second player coming to Hobart from that program (see yesterday's update). We got to meet Dorian back in March.

Up next is another NJ DL prospect, Montclair HS DL Wyatt Tobin. Tobin also starred on the OL for MHS, so it's possible he gets a look there, but based on what we saw of highlights when I posted about him back in March, that his height / length (6' 6") made him a strong DE candidate.

You'd only have to go back a couple of weeks to see my post on Pleasantville HS (NY) RB Kieran Cotter. Kieran looks like a nice add to the Hobart rushing attack, running for over 1,300 yards and scoring 12 rushing TDs in his SR campaign. 

Last, but certainly not least, is a big pickup for the OL in Myers Park HS (NC) Luis Urbina. Standing 6' 4" and weighing in at 320 lbs., Urbina has the prototypical size you don't see often. I wrote about Luis back in March also. 

We will wrap up the Class of 2026 tomorrow with one final group of newly minted Statesmen.

Thanks for following along and go 'Bart!

Class of 2026 - Part VII

We keep on rolling with players 25-28 in the Class of 2026!

Starting us off today is Notre Dame HS (NJ) WR Marcus Peterson. We met Marcus back in March and he looks like a potential game changer for the passing game. 

Up next is a "friend of the family". Kent School (CT) OL Tae Suh was a student of my cousin Bethany (Baker) Booth. Small world. I wrote about Tae (and his great fashion choices) back in February. 

Our first specialist and someone who will likely compete for kicking duties from day one is Yorktown HS PK Vicente Lyon. I wrote about Vicente back in March.

Wrapping up today's slate is the first of two recruits from Nottingham HS (NJ). I found / reported on one of them, but DE Ameer Muse is student athlete I haven't seen until today. You can check out his highlight reel here. Based on the tape, he's a strong pass rusher who has a nose for finding the QB.

Another strong group and we'll add to it with four more tomorrow.

Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!

Class of 2026 - Part VI

We continue on with four more recruits,

Starting off is a commit we learned about back in February, Seton Hall Prep (NJ) RB Byron Maddox, Jr. With Maddox, Jr. and a handful of other talented RBs in the Class of 2026 it looks like Hobart's dual threat RB offense will remain locked in for the foreseeable future.

A newer name (to me anyway) is Cold Spring Harbor HS (NY) LB/DE Aidan McKean (great Irish name btw). McKean is a big guy, standing 6' 3" 225 lbs. who started three years and earned All-County honors at CSHHS. You can check out his highlight reel here.

From the Capitol Region we have Shenendehowa HS (NY) OLB/DB Anthony Caprara. A rangy, quick and physical player, Caprara (5' 10" 190 lbs.) had 80+ tackles and 2 FFs in his SR season. You can check out his highlight reel here.

The final player from this group is probably my favorite of the entire recruiting class, albeit not for any objective reasons. Avon High School QB Tabor Engle is from my hometown and the first player from AHS to come to Hobart in 30 years. I wrote about him back in March. 

With 24 down and a few more to go, we should have updates for the next couple of days before I recap the entire Class of 2026, likely next week.

Thanks as always for checking out the blog and go 'Bart!

Class of 2026 - Part V

We continue to roll into May with another group for four new Hobart College Statesmen football players, as tweeted out earlier this morning by HC Kevin DeWall '00. This group should be a relatively familiar one, as I believe I blogged about the majority of them over the past couple of months. 

Starting us off is Lindenhurst HS (NY) RB/LB Jake Trovato. I felt like I had reported on him earlier, as his name seemed familiar, but apparently not. Jake is a solid two-way player - a straight-at-you I formation back and MLB that scrapes and tackles well. You can check out his highlight reel here. The Statesmen have had a lot of recent success with players out of LHS, former QB and now assistant coach Ryan Hoffmann '20 being one. 

Up next is Episcopal Academy (PA) WR/DB Mekhi Rodgers, who we originally "met" back in February.

That brings us to "Recruit #1", St. Joseph Regional HS OL Alex Shahdanian, who was the first commit to the Class of 2026 and a guy I reported on back on February 2nd. Additions like Shahdanian and others really points to the big commitment given the OL in this class. Great job by the coaches here. 

For the next recruit we have Fairport HS (NY) DL Nick Provenzano. I posted about Nick's commitment just over two months ago. Just outside of Rochester, Nick is staying close to home by going to Hobart.

Another day, another strong group of newly minted Statesmen. We are up to 20 players with roughly 15 more to go, give or take.

I'll have another update tomorrow and throughout the week. 

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Class of 2026 - Part IV

 And just like that, it's May.

HC Kevin DeWall '00 tweeted out another group of new recruits this morning. It's another relatively new group, so let's get to know them. 

Starting off is Westfield HS (MA) WR/DB Andrew Scott. He has good size (6' 1" and 180 lbs.) and speed (4.6 40-yard dash). You can check out his highlights here. 

Up next is another recruit from the Garden State, OL Ashton Mejias from Red Bank Catholic HS (NJ). Ashton projects to be an interior OL, either at guard or center. He has good size (6' 2" and 278 lbs.). You can check out his highlights here. 

Next is speedster WR/DB Sam Sklar from Red Land HS (PA). I posted about him back in February. 

Last, but not least is the first of at least two recruits from Cardinal Hayes HS (NY). Denzel Silver is an interesting prospect, having played TE, DE/DT and OL. At 6' 3" 265 lbs. he has the size to plug in to wherever the coaching staff thinks he'll be best utilized. On tape he projects as an OL/DL however, able to pass protect and/or rush. You can see his highlight reel here. 

That's it for today. Will have another update tomorrow and through this week. With 16 new players introduced we are close to halfway through the next class of Statesmen student athletes. More to come!

Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!