It's Anonymous

HARRISONBURG — The new football season is quickly approaching, and by the end of this week James Madison will have opened August training camp.

JMU kicks off its season at N.C. State on Sept. 1, and begins pursuit of its third straight outright Colonial Athletic Association on Sept. 22 when the Dukes host William & Mary.

The conference is considered one of the deepest in FCS.

So last week at CAA Media Day at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, the Daily News-Record asked a mix of coaches and players there to answer — with anonymity — the same set of poll questions about the state of the league. Players and coaches were not allowed to vote for anything tied to their own schools.

The anonymous answers were allowed in search of the most honest responses. Listed below is the most frequent answer along with other responses that were heard more than once.

Others Receiving Multiple Votes: Tyler Wilkins (WR, Richmond), Malcolm Summers (RB, Elon)

The New Hampshire quarterback returns for his senior season after a drastic improvement between his sophomore and junior years.

In 2017, Knight threw for 26 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions. The year before he had a 14-to-10 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

“He showed something against us last year that was special,” one opposing offensive player said. “So I have to say Trevor Knight.”

Many who answered Knight cited his ability to escape pressure, extend a play and throw on the run.

As for Wilkins and Summers, an opposing cornerback said the Spiders pass catcher was “the toughest receiver I faced all year,” and that defensive back had matched up with FBS receivers earlier in the fall. Summers got votes because of the gaudy numbers he put up in the short span before his season-ending hamstring injury.

Others Receiving Multiple Votes: Troy Reeder (LB, Delaware), Kani Kane (RB, Delaware)

Even though Rolle is coming off of a season-ending ACL injury, one opposing player said: “I’m not scared of anybody, but someone that’s a problem from another team is Rob Rolle.”

Rolle can tackle near the line of scrimmage as well as he can in the open field, according to one coach. He also had seven interceptions in 2016.

Reeder was tabbed as “the prototypical linebacker” and Kane is the bruising running back no one wants to tackle. Last season, Reeder had 89 tackles and Kane had two 100-yard performances for the Blue Hens.

Most players said that if former Delaware defensive lineman Bilal Nichols, who graduated after last season and was drafted by the Chicago Bears, was still eligible, they would’ve voted for him.

Others Receiving Multiple Votes: Jimmy Moreland (CB, James Madison), Knight

About Robinson, one of the league’s quarterbacks said: “You have to know where he is. Seven interceptions is seven interceptions, and he knows how to play the ball. You can’t miss.”

The JMU senior was an All-American last season and is projected as one of the top cornerbacks for next year’s NFL draft.

Robinson edged out his cornerback teammate Jimmy Moreland by just a few votes to take the top spot.

“It seems like you could be exactly where you need to be, doing exactly what you need to do,” one CAA receiver said, “and it makes no sense, but somehow [Moreland] makes the play.”

Others Receiving Multiple Votes: Mike Houston (James Madison)

Only players were eligible to vote for this one and the results were close between three of the coaches — Rocco, McDonnell and Houston, with the Delaware and UNH coach finishing one vote ahead of the JMU headman.

Many voters cited previous relationships with Rocco and McDonnell through recruiting. Players who voted for Houston just said they know they could win with the Dukes.

Others Receiving Multiple Votes: Knight

Only coaches were eligible to vote for this survey question and not every coach wanted to answer it.

“Shayne Lawless from Stony Brook, I’d love to have that guy,” one coach said.

Lawless at 6-foot-1, 225 pounds sits in the middle of the Seawolves’ defense and roams from sideline to sideline. He had 93 tackles and eight sacks last year.

Others Receiving Multiple Votes: Robins Stadium (Richmond), Wildcat Stadium (New Hampshire)

JMU’s Bridgeforth Stadium captured this title in a landslide. It’s the league’s biggest venue, seating 24,877. The Dukes finished second in FCS for home attendance, with an average of 21,724 per contest last season.

“They always pack it out when we go there,” one player said of the Dukes’ home stadium, “so that’s always fun.”

Others Receiving Multiple Votes: Wildcat Stadium (New Hampshire), Villanova Stadium (Villanova)

“The grass is weird,” one player said about the field at Rhode Island’s Meade Stadium. Another player said the Rams’ venue just isn’t as good as the others in the league because the team hasn’t won and the fan base isn’t excited.

New Hampshire’s Wildcat Stadium is the only school to get multiple votes for the best and worst venue in the league. One coach said plane ride and bus ride to UNH as well as the setting of the stadium is a tremendous scene.

Players didn’t feel the same way.

One even said New Hampshire’s locker room “was crusty” and another said: “UNH prides itself on bad facilities.”

The league got four teams — JMU, New Hampshire, Stony Brook and Elon — into the postseason last year, and four — JMU, Richmond, Villanova and New Hampshire — the year before.

Some said probably about the half the teams in the CAA are capable of getting to the playoffs this year, but five will actually get in after they beat up on each other.

JMU has appeared in the national title game in each of the last two seasons — winning it all in 2016 and finishing as the runner-up last year.

The Dukes have the roster to return to Frisco again, and most players and coaches said two other teams from the league could join them in the national championship hunt.

This was a consensus response. Everyone said JMU has the facilities, coaching staff, players and the administrative support behind the football program to climb to the upper level if it wanted to.