Fordham scouting report: The Rams are having problems

This Fordham football team is in trouble. And it all starts with a capital C -- as in Chase Edmonds.

Coach Andrew Breiner told us on Tuesday during a media teleconference call that he has a policy not to talk about injuries, but someone who watched the Rams’ game with Yale last week said Edmonds, who missed the previous two games with an injury,  was reinjured in the second half and didn’t return.

If the senior running back is out again this weekend when the Rams come to Fisher Stadium, it’s an immense advantage for the Leopards, who have been unable to shut him down in three previous tries. Edmonds has only 198 yards rushing for the 2017 season and only one touchdown. He probably has not been 100 percent healthy in any game.

A 170-pound freshman has been playing in his place, and while Zach Davis has made no big mistakes, he’s no Edmonds.

My informant also said that wide receiver Jonathan Lumley, a 6-4 junior, also left the Yale game and didn’t return. He and Edmonds are both listed on the first team on this week’s two-deep, but we’ll have to wait until Saturday afternoon to see how the thing shakes out.

Fordham also suffered a loss in the first game of the season when Austin Longi, the top receiver in 2016 with 59 catches and six touchdowns, was injured against Army. He has not played since and is NOT on the depth chart. Does that mean he’s definitely out this week? Because of Breiner’s policy, we don’t know.

All of this, it would seem, will put more pressure on quarterback Kevin Anderson. He is a good one and he has thrown only seven interceptions in his last 490 passes.

The Lafayette defense did an outstanding job of disrupting the flow for Holy Cross QB Peter Pujals last week and will undoubtedly be looking to do the same things to Anderson. One interesting fact is that Anderson has been sacked 19 times this year – 10 by Eastern Washington. That game film will also provide Leopards defensive coordinator Luke Thompson some important keys.

For more on the Rams, here are Breiner’s answers to media questions on Tuesday.

The Fordham Schedule: “We have some real quality opponents on the schedule who have really challenged us and they show us areas we need to improve to play at that level. My philosophy is if we as a league, with everybody being on scholarships, want to be a part of the national conversation at the FCS level, the only way you can do that is to schedule those kind of teams and eventually win some of those games.”

Fordham’s defensive problems: “We are not playing at a high level right now. It’s not necessarily about scheme but it’s about executing fundamentals – using our feet, hands, getting off blocks, making tackles, creating turnovers. That’s something we’ve missed the last couple weeks. Historically, we’ve always done a great job of taking the football away. We haven’t done that the last couple weeks, so we’re on the field longer and give more points. We have to execute at a much, much higher level.”

Freshman linebacker Glenn Cunningham:  “I’m not that surprised (about his play). It was very apparent early in training camp that he was a very good player, plays extremely hard, physical. He’s a freshman, so there will be some growing pains, but he has a lot of ability and he plays football the way it is intended to be played, which is fast and physical. He reminds me of Brandon (Bryant of Lafayette), especially early in Brandon’s career. They are a lot alike.”

QB Kevin Anderson and a bunch of new receivers:  “Yeah, I think it would be tough for any quarterback. We have had kind of a musical chairs of receivers and you miss some of that timing and spacing. We’ve had a couple throws where, if we had a few more reps with Kevin throwing to that guy, we might make that play. But Kevin is a senior quarterback and we need him to play at a high level and he has done that at times. With receivers who are getting experience for the first time, we have to get them cleaned up on the details. I think when that happens we’ll start clicking at a higher percentage.”

Rams’ depth: “The two-deep should be reflective of what we saw on the field last Saturday. I think depth is an issue. As you go around the league, a lot of coaches would tell you the same thing. Having a few less scholarships than what’s allowed for FCS football. And really, the walk-on situation, thankfully that rule got changed in January.but we came into camp with 83-84 players, In the normal course of the season, you have injuries and depth is an issue. It is something we’re battling right now.”

Brandon Bryant: “It’s great to have (him) back out on the field. He’s been one of my favorite players to watch and my heart hurt for him last year when he got hurt. So happy to see him back out. I just love watching him play football.”

An 0-0 league record: “We talked about that on Sunday. I put up the Patriot League standings and said reality is it’s up for grabs. Nobody in the league has started off exactly the way they wanted to this year so we’re zero-zero and the only thing that matters is this one against Lafayette.”