Sunday, May 01, 2016

Disappointing Draft

OK, here's how it works. When the NFL draft comes around, add up the number of Ivy League players being labeled potential draft picks, divide the total by that sum and in a good year add one. By that definition this was a good year.

Chosen from the Ancient Eight this year were 6-foot-4, 245-pound Princeton receiver Seth Devalve by the Browns in the fourth round (138th overall) and 6-5, 306 Harvard offensive tackle Cole Toner, chosen in the fifth round by the Cardinals.

That's it.

Devalve wasn't  highly regarded on the pre-draft sites, in part because his 33 receptions for 337 yards and one touchdown last fall left him out of the Ivy League top 10 in each of those categories. (His numbers suffered because of injuries that cost him the better part of four games.)

No word yet on the Dartmouth pro hopefuls, but four other Ivy products have agreed to free agent deals so far according to internet reports:

Harvard
Adam Redmonds, OT, Colts
Anthony Fabiano OG, Ravens
Ben Braunecker TE, Bears

Penn
Ryan O’Malley TE, Raiders

Expect news to break before long about Dartmouth players signing or agreeing to tryouts.

Now, to put things in perspective, here's a partial list of schools not exactly known for football that have already had players agree to free agent deals:

Ferris State
Wingate
Gannon
Cumberlands
Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Shepard
Sioux Falls
Michigan Tech
Nassau
Mars Hill
Campbell
Incarnate Word
Kutztown
Wisconsin-Stevens Point
Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Ruston
Wesley

Go figure.
Dartmouth baseball swept Harvard yesterday in Massachusetts and closes out the regular Ivy League season with a doubleheader against the Crimson in Hanover that has been postponed until Tuesday. With a sweep the Big Green will grab the Red Rolfe (north division) title over Yale. A split would mean a playoff with the Bulldogs and a double-dip would see Yale take the title. Dartmouth has won the Rolfe for eight years running.

Dartmouth softball, meanwhile, dropped two games at Harvard yesterday to fall a game behind the Crimson with two games left between the rivals. They also will play Tuesday in Hanover with Dartmouth needing a sweep to win the north and Harvard needing just one win to clinch.