June 26, 2006

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Their names don't show up on the Walter Payton Award list, and few media members or sports information directors will promote team before the star quarterback or running back.

The players on the offensive line, defense and special teams might not receive as much attention now, but plenty of dominating players and potential NFL prospects play at the less-heralded positions on the field. Appalachian State and Cal Poly lead the way with a crop of talented players on the offensive line and defense, but an array of schools and conferences from around the country can lay claim to some of the best players at the "non-skill" positions.

Overall, a total of 10 players from the Great West Football Conference were listed on the positional rankings compiled by Matt Dougherty of The Sports Network . Cal Poly had six players -- center Stephen Field, defensive tackle Chris White, linebacker Kyle Shotwell, cornerback Courtney Brown, safety Kenny Chicione and punter Tim Chicione. UC Davis with cornerback Nevan Bergan and defensive tackle John Faletoese, and North Dakota State with return specialist Shamen Washington and offensive guard Justin Buckwalter, each had two players named.

Below is a list of the top returning I-AA players at each position, with the exception of quarterback, running back, and wide receiver (as well as tight end and fullback), which have already been evaluated. The number of players listed at each spot differs, with five players ranked at positions with one player (center, kicker, punter, return specialist), 10 at positions with two players on the field (offensive guard, offensive tackle, defensive end, defensive tackle, cornerback and safety) and 20 players ranked at linebacker.

Offensive Line
Centers
1. Ryan Jewell, Youngstown State (Sr., 6-4, 295)
2. Alex Miller, Massachusetts (Sr., 6-2, 300)
3. Will Justice, Southern Illinois (Sr., 6-4, 290)
4. Lance Wayne, Georgia Southern (Sr., 6-2, 285)
5. Stephen Field, Cal Poly (So., 6-1, 280)Field earned All-Great West honors as a freshman and should fit in nicely over the next three years with the young Cal Poly offensive stars.
Mid-Major: Jordan PaoPao, San Diego.

Guards
1. Brennan Carvalho, Portland State (Jr., 6-1, 310)
2. Matt Alfred, Eastern Washington (Jr., 6-3, 290)
3. Jon Reuter, Eastern Illinois (Sr., 6-4, 285)
4. Cody Morris , William & Mary (Sr., 6-4, 285)
5. Kerry Brown, Appalachian State (Jr., 6-6, 285)
6. Tucker Peterson, New Hampshire (Sr., 6-3, 300)
7. Ben Gombossy, Nicholls State (Jr., 6-1, 280)
8. Justin Buckwalter, North Dakota State (Sr., 6-4, 315)Buckwalter has aided the potent Bison running game by starting the last 27 games at right guard.
9. Brant Birkeland, Montana State (Sr., 6-2, 270)
10. Ryne Miller, Texas State (Sr., 6-4, 310)
Mid-Major: Dave Pammer, Drake; Bill Holter, St. Francis (PA).

Tackles
1. Ed McCarthy, Yale (Sr., 6-5, 302)
2. Matt Isenhour, Appalachian State (Sr., 6-1, 275)
3. Chad Rinehart, UNI (Jr., 6-5, 300)
4. Corey Davis, James Madison (Sr., 6-4, 325)
5. Rocky Hanni, Eastern Washington (Jr., 6-5, 290)
6. Jacob Bender, Nicholls State (Sr., 6-6, 305)
7. Sean Dumford, Eastern Kentucky (Jr., 6-5, 295)
8. Mike Saint Germain, Lafayette (Sr., 6-5, 290)
9. Joe Hirst, Montana State (Sr., 6-7, 295)
10. Clyde Reed, South Carolina State (Sr., 6-6, 305)
Mid-Major: Jacob Anderson, Albany; Reis Rosenbledt, San Diego.

Defensive Line
Defensive Tackles
1. Tory Collins, Northwestern State (Sr., 6-3, 280)
2. Chris White, Cal Poly (Sr., 6-3, 275)White was an integral part of a Cal Poly defense that led the nation in sacks by notching 10.5 sacks to go along with 42 tackles and 15 stops for a loss.
3. Kendal Langford, Hampton (Jr., 6-6, 280)
4. Mike DeVito, Maine (Sr., 6-3, 290)
5. Mark Cristiani, Eastern Kentucky (Sr., 5-11, 275)
6. Mike Berg, Harvard (Sr., 6-2, 260)
7. Kevin Lockhart, Alabama A & M (Sr., 6-1, 310)
8. Felipe Foster, Western Carolina (Sr., 6-2, 295)
9. John Faletoese, UC Davis (So., 6-2, 260)Faletoese made the most of his freshman campaign with 30 tackles, 11 tackles for a loss, four sacks and two blocked kicks for a dominating UC Davis defense.
10. Vaaylon Jackson, McNeese State (Jr., 6-0, 300)
Mid-Major: Michael Dungey, Albany; Lou Levine, Duquesne.

Defensive End
1. Marques Murrell, Appalachian State (Sr., 6-2, 230)
2. Martin Jackson, Alcorn State (Sr., 6-4, 250)
3. Mike Murphy, Montana (Sr., 6-3, 240)
4. Tyrone McGriff, Florida A & M (Jr., 6-1, 220)
5. Roy Ravenell, Furman (Sr., 6-2, 270)
6. Royce Morgan, Lehigh (Sr., 6-1, 255)
7. Kevin Winston, James Madison (Sr., 6-3, 230)
8. Sherman Logan, Richmond (Jr., 6-4, 245)
9. Alex Buzbee, Georgetown (Sr., 6-4, 225)
10. Brian Johnston- Gardner-Webb (Jr., 6-6, 275)
Mid-Major: Erik Bakhtiari, San Diego; Devon Douglass, Central Connecticut State.

Linebacker
1. Chad Nkang, Elon (Sr., 6-1, 215)
2. Justin Durant, Hampton (Sr., 6-2, 225)
3. Clint Sellers, Eastern Illinois (Sr., 6-1, 220)
4. Tyler Knight, Mississippi Valley State (Sr., 6-0, 210)
5. Kyle Shotwell, Cal Poly (Sr., 6-1, 235) Shotwell took over the linebacking position of 2004 Buck Buchanan Award winner Jordan Beck, and nearly matched Beck's production by totaling 158 tackles, 13.5 TFL and five sacks.
6. Cameron Siskowic, Illinois State (Sr., 6-2, 225)
7. Gian Villante, Hofstra (Jr., 6-2, 220)
8. Zak DeOssie, Brown (Sr., 6-4, 240)
9. John Mohring, Georgia Southern (Sr., 6-1, 215)
10. Colin Disch, Albany (Jr., 6-1, 210)
11. Jamar Leath Coastal Carolina (Sr., 6-2, 230)
12. Pago Togafau, Idaho State (Sr.,5-10, 210)
13. Cory Vavala, Nicholls State (Sr., 6-2, 225)
14. Adam Goloboski, Richmond (Sr., 6-0, 220)
15. Andrew Jones, Furman (Jr., 5-11, 235)
16. Dan Adams, Holy Cross (Sr., 5-10, 215)
17. Trey Bennett, McNeese State (Jr., 6-1, 230)
18. Jada Ross, Charleston Southern (Jr., 5-11, 220)
19. Jeremy Castillo, Texas State (Sr., 5-11, 220)
20. Marcus Taylor, Fordham (Sr., 6-1, 220)
Mid-Major: Disch; Jimmy Adams, Drake; John Hoppe, Dayton; Kyson Hawkins, San Diego.

Defensive Backs
Cornerback
1. Codera Jackson, Youngstown State (Sr., 5-10, 180)
2. Courtney Brown, Cal Poly (Sr., 6-2, 205)After suffering a season-ending injury in the season opener two years ago, Brown came back in style with seven interceptions and 12 pass breakups for a Cal Poly defense that picked off 17 passes.
3. Dominic Dixon, Portland State (Sr., 5-10, 195)
4. Corey Graham, New Hampshire (Sr., 6-0, 190)
5. Dre Dokes, UNI (Sr., 5-9, 160)
6. Walter Musgrove, Texas State (Sr., 5-9, 190)
7. Travarous Bain, Hampton (Sr., 6-0, 190)
8. Nevan Bergan, UC Davis (Sr., 5-11, 170)Bergan had limited playing time in his first two campaigns, but compiled a breakout season with seven interceptions and 10 pass breakups in 2005.
9. Ben Brown, Eastern Illinois (Sr., 6-0, 170)
10. Daren Stone, Maine (Sr., 6-3, 215)
Mid-Major: Casey Klaus, Dayton; Al Phillips, Wagner.

Safeties
1. Tony LeZotte, James Madison (Jr., 6-0, 200)
2. Corey Lynch, Appalachian State (Jr., 6-0, 200)
3. Tristan Burge, Eastern Illinois (Sr., 6-0, 200)
4. Keldrick Holman, Stephen F. Austin (Sr., 6-0, 195)
5. Russ Washington, Northwestern State (Sr., 5-9, 185)
6. Kenny Chicione, Cal Poly (Sr., 6-1, 205)Chicione notched five interceptions and 70 tackles a year ago, and leads all returning players with 15 career interceptions.
7. Jeremy Wiggins, Appalachian State (Sr., 5-9, 190)
8. Geoff Bean, Colgate (Sr., 6-0, 200)
9. Bobbie Williams, Bethune-Cookman (Jr.,6-0, 190)
10. Tad Crawford, Columbia (Sr., 6-3, 195)
Mid-Major: Nigel Monge, Central Connecticut State, Michael Hill, Duquesne.

Kickers
1. Chris James, Western Kentucky (Jr., 6-1, 185)
2. Rob Zarilli, Hofstra (Jr., 6-0, 190)
3. Brian Wingert, Northern Iowa (Sr., 6-1, 185)
4. Andrew Paterini, Hampton (Sr., 6-0, 195)
5. Jeff Hastings, Montana State (Sr., 5-9, 180)

Return Specialists
1. Craig Turner, Southern Illinois (Jr., 5-10, 190)
2. Shamen Washington, North Dakota State (Jr., 5-6, 150)Washington notched nearly 22.5 yards per kick return, and scored twice while tallying nearly 14 yards per punt return.
3. Nick Feldman, Morehead State (So., 5-9, 175)
4. Charlie Spiller, Alcorn State (Sr., 6-0, 185)
5. Mike Malone, Western Carolina (Jr., 5-10, 175)
Mid-Major: Feldman

Punters
1. David Simonhoff, Southeast Missouri State (Sr., 6-2, 200)
2. Christian Koegel, Massachusetts (Sr., 6-0, 185)
3. Wesley Taylor, Florida A & M (Jr., 5-7, 170)
4. Tim Mayse, Western Carolina (Sr., 5-11, 225)
5. Tim Chicione, Cal Poly (Jr., 6-0, 185)Chicione averaged 42.3 yards on his 64 punts, and placed 16 kicks inside the 20 while garnering 10 touchbacks.
Mid-Major: Piotr Czech, Wagner.