by Thaddeus Reed

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As the classes for each school are still being finalized and there will still be a few additions, I must say that this has been another excellent year for CAA Coaches. There are tons of new talent filtering into the league.

As I began to put these rankings together I initially thought that this would be easy. However, quite a few guys popped out to me on film and impressed me.

Then there were a few guys that had a few impressive offers that I just wasn't that impressed with. I know that everyone will not agree with these rankings but these are what I have put together.

Quarterbacks

 Pat Devlin: 6'4", 221-Downington East (Exton, PA) Delaware Blue Hens (Penn State Transfer)

 Kelton Hill Jr.: 6'0", 180-Lithia Springs, GA Georgia State Panthers

*Note-I found Tom Chroniger, Drew Little and Brent Caprio to be excellent gets and in any other year they could be sitting at the top. I actually liked all three quarterbacks that GSU brought in.

Halfbacks

 Dae'Quan Scott: 5'10", 180-Robert E. Lee (Staunton, VA) James Madison Dukes

 Tron Martinez: 5'8", 185-Hampton, VA Old Dominion Monarchs

 Ronnie Akins: 5'11", 188-North Penn (Lansdale, PA) Villanova Wildcats

*Note-It was so hard to leave Parris Lee of Georgia State out of this group. All three guys that I have listed are studs. However, in the long run Lee may be the best out of this group. He is that talented. You also would need to keep an eye on the two headed monster at Hofstra in the near future in Billy Morgan and Carlton Koonce. That will be exciting to see.

Wide Receivers

 Leavander Jones: 5'10", 161-Atlantic City, NJ James Madison Dukes

 Marquel Thomas: 6'2", 165-Bayside (Virginia Beach, VA) Old Dominion Monarchs

 Zamel Johnson: 5'11", 165-Port Richmond (Staten Island, NY) Hofstra Pride

*There are questions on whether Zamel will play WR or CB but he is definitely a top 3 WR in this class.

Tight Ends

 Cody Magill: 6'4", 250-Quince Orchard (Gaithersburg, MD) Delaware Blue Hens

 Jonathan Sharpe: 6'4", 230-Fork Union Military Academy (Pittsburgh, PA) James Madison Dukes

*Note-This may have been the easiest pick at any position. There were some quality guys that came in at the TE Position but these guys just stood out.

Center

 Dan Shirey: 6'3", 275-Neshaminy (Langhorne, PA) Villanova Wildcats

*Note-I only had room for one Center but I really liked Hensley from ODU a lot.

Offensive Guards

 Matt Crisafi: 6'5", 302-Blessed Trinity (Roswell, GA) William & Mary Tribe

 Nicholas Cattolico: 6'3", 321-Delran, NJ Delaware Blue Hens

*Note-This was not a real guard heavy class but these are two very good ones. Crisafi will surprise some people. He can actually play anywhere on the line if needed. The Tribe got a steal.

Offensive Tackles

 Brandon Heath: 6'5", 305-Henderson (West Chester, PA) Delaware Blue Hens

 Adam Citko: 6'5", 321-Archbishop Wood (Warminister, PA) Delaware Blue Hens

*Note-This one was tough. I did not want to put two Blue Hens here but I did want to be fair. Both of these guys are studs and Delaware did a great job of ripping Citko from his Temple commitment. It was also very tough because I really like Alex Bell from Old Dominion but he is just not strong enough yet. He is easily one of the most athletic OTs that I have had the priviledge of watching this year. He is a real student of the game and could easily slide over to tight end. He is definitely one to watch develop.

Defensive Ends

 Sean O'Neill: 6'4", 225-River Dell Regional (Oradell, NJ) James Madison Dukes

 Jay Colbert: 6'1", 223-Neshaminy (Langhorne, PA) New Hampshire Wildcats

 Eddie McClam: 6'5", 265-Louisburg (NC) J.C. (Coward, SC) Old Dominion Monarchs

*Note-This was pretty tough. I like Nick Schmalhofer from New Hampshire a lot as well as Mike Cole from Maine. These are two guys that I expect big things from in the future as well. Thomas Huff from Delaware came up huge this year as well as he willed his Sherwood team to a championship.

Defensive Tackles

 Randall Harris: 6'4", 280-DuVal (Lanham, MD) Towson Tigers

 Navarus Thompson: 6'2", 260-Palm Beach Lakes (West Palm Beach, FL) Hofstra Pride

*Note-It was very hard to leave Lance Miller of Delaware off of this list but he will be a very good addition to the Blue Hen defense. Randall is a stud and he is as good as advertised. I can see him rising on the Towson depth chart pretty early.

Outside Linebackers

 Sean Unterkoefler: 6'1", 210-Exeter Township (Reading, PA) UMass Minutemen

 Ryan Bonheyo: 6'2", 202-Maryland School for the Deaf (Frederick, MD) Towson Tigers

 J.J. Williams: 6'2", 220-Garden City (KS) C.C. (Derby, KS) Old Dominion Monarchs

*Note-Some guys will be switched inside and outside but I went with what I had them listed as. Bonheyo will surprise some people. He is at an hearing disadvantage but he is a great athlete and competitor. His father is the football coach and they have built a powerful program that no one wants to get embarrassed by. Ryan is also the go-to-guy on the basketball team.

Inside Linebackers

 Mychael McJunkins: 6'0", 240-Independence (KS) C.C. (Kansas City, KS) Old Dominion Monarchs

 Adrian Cavanaugh: 5'11", 210-Patrick Henry (Ashland, VA) James Madison Dukes

*Note-Cavanaugh is very impressive and really fits that JMU linebacker mode. He will be a player. Richmond really lost two good ones in him and Dae'Quan Scott.

Cornerbacks

 Ricky Tunstall: 5'11", 185-Glassboro, NJ Delaware Blue Hens

 Eric Loper: 6'1", 190-Timber Creek (Sicklerville, NJ) Villanova Wildcats

*Note-There were a lot of good corners. Tunstall will have the priviledge of learning from one of the best corners in the CAA in Anthony Walters. Ryan Smith of JMU would be my third corner. He is very exciting.  Darrian Carmichael of Richmond will man will also man the corner instead of the Safety position that was previously reported.

Safeties

 T.K. Hester: 5'11", 178-Varina (Richmond, VA) William & Mary Tribe

 Carvin Powell: 6'2", 200-Great Bridge (Chesapeake, VA) Old Dominion Monarchs

*Note-This was by far the toughest one to rank. There were about six safeties that deserved to be mentioned including Jordan Dalton of Rhode Island, Timmy Breaker of Delaware, and Jordan Dangerfield of Hofstra.

Athlete

 Timmy Breaker: 6'0", 185-Glassboro, NJ Delaware Blue Hens

*Note-There were so many good athletes but Tim did it all for Glassboro.

Return Man

 Tavon Gatlin: 5'10", 160-Green Run (Virginia Beach, VA) Old Dominion Monarchs

*Note-Once again, this was not the easiest one to choose but you cannot lose with Gatlin's hands on the ball. Mr. Excitement makes you stand up everytime he touches the ball. Kasseim Everett and Rob Jones from Delaware are very exciting as well and could be used very early. Jamal Clay of Maine is also one to watch. Jamal may be one of the best kept secrets of this year's class.

Stay tuned to CaaInsider.com as we will rank the actual classes from 1-14. The rankings should be finished by Monday February 9th.