HANOVER – Season previews frequently begin with the number of starters lost and the number of starters returning. It is a silly convention because there’s no universal definition of what constitutes a starter.
If your first play on offense is in a 13-personnel set, are all three tight ends credited as being starters for that particular game? If you usually play a 4-3 defense but change things up and open with a 3-4, is one of your regular starters up front who plays pretty much the rest of the game not credited with a start?
Keeping that in mind, here’s the list of Dartmouth “starters” (per the season-ending depth chart against Brown last fall) who have moved on:
Offense (6): Left tackle Delby Lemieux, center Max Wentz, right guard Kontantin Spörk, right tackle Vasean Washington, tight end Chris Corbo, running back DJ Crowther.
Defense (9): End Jabari Johnson, nose guard Dakota Quiñonez, end Joe Onuwabhagbe, linebackers Teddy Gianaris, Nico Schwikal, and Zyion Freer-Brown, nickel Tyson Grimm, corner Patrick Campbell, and safety Sean Williams.
That out of the way, here’s a look at who is back (and in some cases who is new) and how the Big Green shapes up for the 2026 season, starting where pieces like this usually start.
QUARTERBACK
A former head coach at another school once called the Ivy League’s academic index the “salary cap” of the Ivy. What he meant was, you need to spend your capital – whether it is money or in this case admissions slots – wisely. Which is why quarterback is even more important in the Ancient Eight than it is in leagues without admissions constraints.
And that’s good news for Dartmouth, which returns one of the best in the Ivy League.
Senior Grayson Saunier is the definition of a dual-threat quarterback. Chosen to the second All-Ivy team a year ago, he threw for 2,143 yards and nine touchdowns last fall while running for 413 yards and 11 scores.
Junior Noah Trigueros came on strong last year and looks more than ready to step in if needed. Woods Ray, who shared backup duties with Trigueros last fall, continues to battle a nagging injury and has not been practicing, leaving sophs Charlie Peters (6-2, 206) and Jaden Cummings (6-0, 195) battling for the third slot. Both have impressed.
The Bottom Line: The Big Green is set at quarterback with what might be the best one-two punch in the Ivy League.
RUNNING BACK
Just a sophomore, Myles Craddock (5-10, 200) gave a hint of what the coaches think is to come when he carried 12 times for 46 yards and a touchdown in the finale at Brown as a freshman. Sidelined for much of camp, he’s back practicing and McCorkle expects big things from a player he has termed "special" in his sophomore season.
Senior Chris Roper (5-9, 198) has just two carries for nine yards in his career, but a case can be made that he was the breakout offensive performer in the preseason. He’s been running hard and has demonstrated surprising "shake." Classmate Colin O’Garro (6-0, 205) had just four carries for 11 yards in his career but has impressed in camp as well. Keep an eye out for promising freshman Jacob Henry (5-11, 192).
The Bottom Line: There’s a lot of talent and promise in the running back room, but it is still largely unproven.
WIDE RECEIVER
Throughout camp, it has been a wide receiver-of-the-day, but if there’s just one pass catcher who has been hardest to ignore, it would be speedster Luke Rives (5-11, 173). Maybe it’s because his teammates chant Luuuuuke each time he gets behind the defense, but it seems as if that was happening a lot.
Junior Ky’Dric Fisher (6-0, 176) ran under a 50-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds left last year to help rescue the win over Central Connecticut and returns as the Big Green’s leading receiver with 21 catches and a team-best 16.2-yard average gain last fall. He’ll be looking to pick up where he left off with four catches for 75 yards in the finale at Brown.
Senior Ian Scott (5-11, 176) has shown he can lead the team in catches in any given game when he’s healthy, and Jonathan Nelson (5-9, 174) is another who showed what he could do a year ago when he was on the second line of the depth chart. The true breakout receiver in camp might have been junior James Elliott (6-2, 208), a bigger target.
The Bottom Line: Fisher and Rives are a potentially explosive one-two punch, and there are two or three others who could lead the team in catches in any given game. Reducing the number of drops from a year ago, however, is hugely important.
TIGHT END
Losing not one, but two tight ends to FBS programs (Chris Corbo to Georgia Tech and Sean Ward to Ball State) could be problematic. But Taysire Williams (6-5, 242), who came to Dartmouth at 220 pounds, has grown into a legitimate target. And speaking of growing into a position, converted quarterback Kyle Meier (6-3, 259) has built himself into a load to deal with after arriving at Dartmouth at 225 pounds. He’s been hard to miss during the preseason.
Sophs Jason Bish (6-5, 234) and John Bancone (6-5, 226) have caught McCorkle’s eyes in the preseason, as has freshman Ayden Sadler (6-5, 215).
The Bottom Line: Williams and Meier look like the clear one and two, but it’s hard to ignore that the tight end room has just one catch for 21 yards (by Williams last year) returning. On the other hand, with Corbo sucking all the oxygen out of the room the past two years, there wasn’t much to go around. Time will tell what that means this year.
OFFENSIVE LINE
The elephant(s?) in the room. With one starter and one player with more than a curtain call worth of experience, the big question for the offense this fall is up front. The returning starter is big Cam Davenport (6-4, 345), who has been unavailable until this week. He’s seen action in 17 games the past two seasons.
Veteran O-line coach Keith Clark found himself down a pseudo-returning starter after senior Cisco Caballero (6-3, 300) was lost for the season because of injury. That left senior tackle Will Prince (6-5, 290) as the only lineman other than Davenport who has made more than a cameo appearance on his résumé. He’s been involved in 19 games over the last two seasons, most on special teams, but Clark considers him this year's bell cow on the line.
Among those having inside tracks on starting the opener are junior Julian Sutton (6-2, 287), senior Max Livingston (6-3, 290), and senior center Ben Reagan (6-2, 287). Soph Paul Binder (6-6, 315), the rare New Hampshire product on the team from Londonderry, is also bidding to start.
Soph Yuseph Mustafa (6-5, 267) and senior Godson Ajoku (6-5, 317) are pushing for time.
The Bottom Line: In Keith Clark We Trust. That wouldn’t be a bad bumper sticker to put on a team bus. It was Clark, after all, who rebuilt a similarly green 2019 line into a unit that helped Dartmouth win a share of the title. Although having a quarterback with escapability like Saunier helps, the Big Green needs more magic from Clark this fall. If a line considered to have outstanding athleticism can successfully make up for its lack of experience, Dartmouth could be in line for a big season and Clark in line for a raise. If the line struggles, Saunier will still be running, but for his life.
DEFENSIVE LINE
Joshua Johnson, Joshua Johnson, and Joshua Johnson. OK, there’s only one of him, but senior Joshua Johnson (6-2, 281) seemed to be everywhere in the preseason. No, that’s not quite right. He seemed to always be in the offensive backfield whenever the Big Green was scrimmaging. The co-captain who had eight stops at Harvard last fall can be a game-breaker.
Senior Keoni Perkins (6-3, 261) did a pretty fair Johnson impression in the second scrimmage. Senior Bruce Williams (6-2, 259) has shown signs of being the player he was expected to be coming out of high school, while junior Jackson Ashford (6-2, 251) and sophomore Chris Chol (6-5, 254) have flashed. Junior Taylor Faalele (6-2, 234) and sophomore Matisse Brosseau (6-3, 247) add depth.
Junior Gergely Hudák (6-6, 264) has had moments in the fall after starting his career as a tight end, and freshman Roman Sosnovyy (6-3, 250) has made a run at earning a seat on the bus.
The Bottom Line: Johnson and Perkins can be a pretty potent pair, and if Williams has the senior year the coaches hope he has, the Big Green D-line can be quite good. Depth is always critical up front, and through camp there were signs that new defensive line coach Q Jones can keep sending in fresh legs, making this room potentially a plus position this year.
LINEBACKER
The Big Green took a big hit at this position, losing not just its three starters but also linebacker coach and defensive coordinator extraordinaire Don Dobes. Zyion Freer-Brown and his team-high 83 tackles are lighting it up at The Citadel defense this fall. Teddy Gianaris and his 55 stops are on the field at Wyoming, and Nico Schwikal and his 66 tackles are probably off somewhere shooting something for dinner.
Stepping in for Dobes in both of his roles is Jordan Belfiori, pretty much his hand-picked successor. The best guesses on replacing the top linebackers, edge rushers, and nickels from a year ago include senior Steve Simpkins (6-2, 230), sophomore Matthew Boydell (6-2, 221), and juniors Sean Chester (6-3, 225) and Johnny Riley (6-2, 212), along with sophomore Uche Odimegwu (6-2, 220). Cameron Lee, who would have been a factor this fall, will miss his senior season.
Freshmen Gavin King (6-3, 236) and JJ Bolz (6-1, 220) have had promising moments during the preseason.
The Bottom Line: Dartmouth’s push to build and maintain depth meant Riley (21 tackles) and Chester (13) both saw significant action a year ago. Simpkins had 10 stops and has enjoyed a solid preseason. That said, graduation claimed Dartmouth's four leading tacklers from a year ago, and three were starting linebackers. There’s talent at the position, but that talent has to prove itself.
SECONDARY
The Big Green secondary is led by All-America free safety Harrison Keith (6-0, 205). All he did was tie for the Ivy League lead with four interceptions last year while finishing fifth on the Big Green with 46 tackles, the most for any returning player. He's the reason why a handful of NFL scouts have turned up at Dartmouth practices this fall and the senior co-captain has responded to the attention with an outstanding camp. Fellow safety No’Koi Maddox (6-1, 205) posted 16 tackles and a breakup as a sophomore last year.
Junior Niquis Ratcliff (6-2, 195) had 22 tackles, an interception, and a forced fumble and recovery a year ago on the corner. Jorden Barnes (6-0, 207) is a senior corner who had 18 tackles appearing in all 10 games last fall.
Senior Cameron Best-Alston (6-3, 215) is a chess piece who can be used all over the secondary after making 40 tackles a year ago. Junior Lou Lamar (6-2, 211) and senior Samuel Washington (6-3, 212) have both been on the depth chart at points over the past couple of years.
Among the younger players who have been in the push to get on the field in some capacity are sophomore Colt Vela (5-10, 184) and freshman James Rush (5-10, 180).
The Bottom Line: Led by Keith, this has the feel of a talented, ball-hawking secondary. Sean Williams, who managed to land at Arkansas with a little help from the courts, will absolutely be missed, but there are a lot of pieces that can be capably mixed and matched.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Dartmouth will have no issues at kicker or punter if senior placement specialist Owen Zalc returns to form. A freshman All-America, he struggled last fall but nevertheless showed what he can do with a 51-yard walk-off field goal in the win over Yale last year. Fully recovered from the surgery that threw him off his game in 2025, he’s been sharp in camp. He’s hit from 54 yards in his career and is confident he has more than that in him.
Junior Luke Armistead narrowly missed setting the Dartmouth single-season record when he averaged 42.7 yards last fall and it would be no surprise if he gets the record this time around. The rugby-style kicker had just one touchback last fall and has an unusual ability that could surprise teams.
Longsnapper Andrew Belles is back for his senior season as well, but with Woods Ray out, there will be a new holder this year.
Also returning is senior kickoff specialist Matisse Weaver who regularly sends the ball into the end zone and, as a hard-hitting athlete, can be a problem for a returner who gets in his way.
In the return game, the speedy Rives is the name to know.
The Bottom Line: If Zalc is back in form, there may not be a better kick/punt tandem in the Ivy League.
Editor's Note: This look at the Big Green was made without a current two-deep and is drawn from personal observations, comments from the coaches and a study of last year's two-deep and stats.
Tomorrow: A capsule look at the Ivy League.