Patriot League 2018 - way way way to early

[Roll 'gate]

No better time to start the way way way too early talk and predictions about next year right now.

I'm curious what peoples thoughts on next years conference will look like and how they think it will shake out. I know personally the Raider's are excited for what's possibly to come in the sunny tundra ... Curious how everyone else thinks the league will shake out next year.

Colgate - Returns a vast majority on both sides of the ball. Love the quarterback, offensive line, and backfield situation.
lehigh - Loses two key weapons at wide receiver. Return the best running back in PL though which should take pressure off of a QB who makes questionable decisions as is. If defense tightens up they should at least be in the talk around the top of the league.
Lafayette - That defense loses a bunch of contributors on the d-line but should still be a relatively stingy group. Can the offense figure it out? Should be able to feast on lower end of PL if they can figure out how to put a couple points on the board.
Fordham - Losing the experience they will at QB and RB hurts a ton. Their defense was suspect this year and I'm not sure what they lose to graduation. Supposedly they had a very tough year injury wise. I also think rest of league is catching up with the scholarship situation. Not sure Fordham will be able to "feast" as it used to in coming years.
Bucknell - A team that didn't show much fight towards the end of the year. Could be the biggest ? next year as to what type of team comes out of Lewisburg on Saturdays.
Holy Cross - New coach, no PP. A team that had lofty expectations at beginning of year after a couple games that quickly were extinguished. A bottom half of the league type team that might surprise one of two teams if they don't come ready to play, but doubt they will be contenders.
Georgetown - I don't think much needs to be said here.

[van]

Lehigh losses two stud receivers as noted and 3 starting OL as well on O, several underclass OL got starts this year and held their own so I think the OL will reload OK, hard to say on the receivers as they did not get a lot of playing time but Christiano should be back from injury and Kelsey is eligible for a 5th year if he chooses, Coaches were high on Bibbens and Porto returns from a great FR year, all in all expect the O to be very strong again next year

on D we lose Cavenas who is a beast on the DL and will be sorely missed, Jones is a stand out senior DB but could get a medical 5th also, other than those 2 and some DL that rotated the D was pretty young this year and playing in a new scheme, so there is some reason to be optimistic about next years D being improved, at least improved from the first half of this year

[ColgateTD]

No better time to start the way way way too early talk and predictions about next year right now.

I'm curious what peoples thoughts on next years conference will look like and how they think it will shake out. I know personally the Raider's are excited for what's possibly to come in the sunny tundra ... Curious how everyone else thinks the league will shake out next year.

Colgate - Returns a vast majority on both sides of the ball. Love the quarterback, offensive line, and backfield situation.
lehigh - Loses two key weapons at wide receiver. Return the best running back in PL though which should take pressure off of a QB who makes questionable decisions as is. If defense tightens up they should at least be in the talk around the top of the league.
Lafayette - That defense loses a bunch of contributors on the d-line but should still be a relatively stingy group. Can the offense figure it out? Should be able to feast on lower end of PL if they can figure out how to put a couple points on the board.
Fordham - Losing the experience they will at QB and RB hurts a ton. Their defense was suspect this year and I'm not sure what they lose to graduation. Supposedly they had a very tough year injury wise. I also think rest of league is catching up with the scholarship situation. Not sure Fordham will be able to "feast" as it used to in coming years.
Bucknell - A team that didn't show much fight towards the end of the year. Could be the biggest ? next year as to what type of team comes out of Lewisburg on Saturdays.
Holy Cross - New coach, no PP. A team that had lofty expectations at beginning of year after a couple games that quickly were extinguished. A bottom half of the league type team that might surprise one of two teams if they don't come ready to play, but doubt they will be contenders.
Georgetown - I don't think much needs to be said here.

Once again Colgate and Lehigh will dominate, but I see Bucknell making a big jump to 3rd place. The rest of the teams you can shake up in a bag; don't know what order they will come out...

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

Once again Colgate and Lehigh will dominate, but I see Bucknell making a big jump to 3rd place. The rest of the teams you can shake up in a bag; don't know what order they will come out...

Bucknell loses Abdullah on D and DeFloria at RB. They still don't have a quarterback or the look of a program that's ready to take the next step.

On paper it's hard not to see the league being pretty bad again. Holy Cross will be going through a transition phase. Fordham loses Edmonds and Anderson and Breiner's status still seems a bit uncertain. Lafayette has to be better on offense but the defense takes quite a few hits. It will be 9 years since their last winning season when next year kicks off! So Lafayette still has to get over the hump. Georgetown seems hopeless. Colgate will be good but until they win some meaningful OOC games their margin for error is extremely small. Like Lehigh, the Raiders graduate several key players (Holland, Afriyie, Paulish). Until there's major changes on defense Lehigh's ceiling will only be so high. Good PL program, irrelevant nationally....

No preseason Top 25 team and no real threat on the national stage once again in 2018.

[FUGameBreaker]

See you down in Greenville in 2018 Colgate, Cheers!

[LehighU11]

See you down in Greenville in 2018 Colgate, Cheers!

I wish Lehigh could get Furman or Wofford on our schedule. Instead, our OOC slate will continue to stick to north of the Mason-Dixon line and east of the Appalachians. JMU and Liberty were nice home and home series somewhat recently.

[FUGameBreaker]

I wish Lehigh could get Furman or Wofford on our schedule. Instead, our OOC slate will continue to stick to north of the Mason-Dixon line and east of the Appalachians. JMU and Liberty were nice home and home series somewhat recently.

I agree, would love a home and home with Lehigh for sure!

[Roll 'gate]

I wish Lehigh could get Furman or Wofford on our schedule. Instead, our OOC slate will continue to stick to north of the Mason-Dixon line and east of the Appalachians. JMU and Liberty were nice home and home series somewhat recently.

What holds you guys back?

[RichH2]

PL should be marginally better with the last 2 yrs classes moving up with experience.
Colgate should be the favorite returning skills and a solid core.
Lehigh in the mix for sure. WRs take a huge hit losing Pelletier and Casey. Christiano and Portoreal a solid starting point tho. OL loses 3 but with a lot of experienced lettermen. It will be fine. RBs with Brags, Micco and Chadbourn ( not to mention 3* verbal) will be fine.
D will at the very least be very experienced at 2ndary and LB. Caveness a big hit but as with OL a lot of underclassmen got experience and system will no longer be new.
Bucknell a puzzle . Could push into contention but dont sed a QB yet. There may be little competitipn for the 3rd spot from the rest.
Fordham loses their w best O weapons from a bad team.OL and D need work.
Lafayette in 2nd year of Garrett likely will be better. They lose a lot from a stellar D. O is under construction in need of an OL
Holy Cross will be in year 1 of a new coach. Cupboard is mot bare but a new QB is only 1 spot that needs filling or improvement.
Georgetown will remain as is with an excellent starting D and a few good players on O.

[Gater]

For Colgate, Holland will be back next year as will everyone who ran the ball. Everyone who threw the ball will be back. The top six receivers will be back. 23 of the top 26 tacklers will be back (the 5th, 11th, and 19th leading tacklers graduate). TJ Holl (who was leading the country in tackles when he went out in the fourth game) comes back. All of the specialists are back. Max Hartzman (starting center) comes back from injury as do two other offensive line starters and a probable OL starter who was hurt in camp.

On paper, Colgate should be better. Having four home games with New Hampshire, Furman, William and Mary, Army (and half of the PL) on the road will certainly reveal how much better.