By Jimmy Sullivan
Fordham football quarterback Kevin Anderson, offensive lineman Anthony Coyle and running back Chase Edmonds took part in Fordham’s annual pro day at Columbia University on Thursday, March 8. The event was originally scheduled to take place at Fordham but was moved to Columbia due to last week’s inclement weather. There were 17 teams in attendance, including the Giants and Jets.
Out of the three Fordham players who participated, Edmonds was the only one invited to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. At that event, Edmonds led all running backs with a time of 6.79 seconds in the three-cone drill and tied Northwestern’s Justin Jackson with the top time in the 20-yard shuttle. Anderson, Coyle and Edmonds all hope to be drafted in next month’s NFL Draft in Dallas.
At the pro day last Thursday, the players tried to show teams why they should be taken in the draft. Edmonds had at least a slight advantage because of his performance at the Combine. At his pro day, he spent most of the time displaying his skills as a receiver in an attempt to show NFL teams what he could do in the receiving game. Edmonds posted three straight 1,000-yard seasons before an injury-plagued senior season; he had 86 catches and 905 receiving yards over the course of his four collegiate seasons. Edmonds rushed for a Patriot League record 5,862 career yards, which is fifth-best in FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) history.
Anderson, who started at quarterback the last three seasons for the Rams, is also trying to make it to the NFL. Anderson was granted a fifth season in college football after sitting out the 2013 season at Marshall while he recovered from an injury. His final year was also injury-shortened, but he put up nearly 8,000 yards in three years as the team’s starting quarterback under head coaches Joe Moorhead and Andrew Breiner, both of whom are now at Mississippi State. Anderson won the team’s Offensive Player of the Year award at the end of the season.
Finally, senior offensive lineman and Staten Island native Anthony Coyle, who earned first-team all-Patriot League honors in 2017, perhaps had the most to prove out of the three players. He was able to do just that, as he put down 30 bench press reps of 225 pounds, which would have tied him for fifth among all offensive linemen had he been invited to the NFL Combine. Coyle started all 11 games at left tackle this past season and received Fordham’s Lansing Trophy, given to the team’s top offensive lineman, for the second straight season.
Edmonds, Coyle and Anderson performed admirably on the field for the Fordham Rams in their careers. Edmonds already has gotten his chance: he visited the Saints on Monday after interviewing with the Patriots at the NFL Combine. Now, they’re out to prove that their performances can carry over to football’s biggest stage: the NFL.
