College football may not have another conference as unpredictable as the Coastal Athletic Association. The variety of programs that have league title claims in recent years and the top-to-bottom representation in the FCS Playoffs separates the CAA as an perennially top-to-bottom competitive conference. The 2024 season promises more of the same. 

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Noting the unpredictability inherent with the CAA's wide-open nature, FloFootball.com does its best to forecast the landscape for the upcoming campaign. 

CAA Players Poised to Lead The Nation in Statistical Categories 

Coastal players led the FCS a season ago in all-purpose yards (New Hampshire's Dylan Laube), rushing yards (Monmouth's Jaden Shirden), kickoffs returned for touchdowns (Taymon Cooke, North Carolina A&T), and went No. 1 and 2 in both total passing yards (UAlbany's Reese Poffenbarger, New Hampshire's Max Brosmer) and yards per reception (Villanova's Jaylan Sanchez and Rayjuon Pringle). 

One of these playmakers, Villanova's Sanchez, returns for 2024. He will again be a big-play in the Wildcats offense and leading contender for the nation's most yards per catch, but he'll face competition from Elon's Chandler Brayboy. 

Brayboy ranked eighth nationally averaging 19.6 yards on his 30 grabs for the Phoenix in 2023. That output also helped the preseason 1st Team All-CAA selection finish 41st among all FCS players with 103.3 all-purpose yards per game. With his outstanding kickoff-return ability, Brayboy is a player to watch in pursuit of the top all-purpose output crown vacated with Laube's departure to the NFL. 

Other CAA candidates to set the pace nationally in various statistical categories include: 

Rushing Yardage: Bronson Yoder, William & Mary 

Few players at any level of football have been more multidimensional than Bronson Yoder. He burst onto the scene in 2019, earning Freshman All-American honors at the conclusion of a program record-setting 913-yard season returning kickoffs. 

Yoder transitioned from playing defense and special teams to becoming one of the most electric running backs in the CAA. Opening the 2023 season with 124- and 163-yard games against conference counterparts Campbell and Maine had Yoder on an early pace to challenge Shirden for the national rushing title. However, he missed the final two months with a shoulder injury. 

Back for 2024, Yoder figures to be a centerpiece of the Tribe offense in much the same way he was racking up 1,255 yards on the ground in 2022. 

Sacks: AJ Pena, Rhode Island 

CAA defenses have consistently boasted some of college football's most prolific sack-producing players. Rhode Island's AJ Pena carries the banner in 2024. 

Pena's nine sacks total sacks tied for 12th-most among all FCS players a season ago. What's more, Pena produced consistently from week-to-week with at least an assisted sack in 8-of-11 contests. 

Teaming up with fellow pass-rush standout Westley Neal Jr., Pena's ability to get into the backfield will set the tone for Rhode Island's defense all season long. A few multiple-sack performances supplementing his consistency could put 15 sacks within reach by the end of the regular season. 

Passing Yards Per Game: Derek Robertson, Monmouth 

The ground game commanded the spotlight for Monmouth its first two years in the CAA, thanks to the outstanding performance of All-American running back Jaden Shirden. Before joining the CAA, the Hawks rolled to 11 wins in 2019 with Pete Guerriero carrying for an eyelash less than 2,000 yards. That's all to say that longtime Monmouth coach Kevin Callahan and Jeff Gallo, the Hawks offensive coordinator since 2019, won't turn into a five-wide attack with Shirden off to the NFL. 

However, while Shirden racked up a nation-leading 134.4 yards per game, quarterback Marquez McCray posted 236.5 yards per game — No. 25 nationally. 

The Monmouth offense relies on balance, running 393 times in 2023 and passing 340. The addition of Maine transfer quarterback Derek Robertson, who finished 10th nationally with 266.6 passing yards per game a season ago,  should benefit from the varied look. He's coming from an offense that ranked No. 119 at just 79.7 yards per game on the ground. 

Interceptions: Caleb Curtain, Elon 

Caleb Curtain's All-America honors in 2023 were in part the result of his picking off four passes, tied with Eddie Morales III of Monmouth for most in the CAA. Curtain's nose for the ball makes him a takeaway threat any time a pass is in his neighborhood — and teaming with 2022 All-American and North Caroilna Central transfer Khalil Baker in the secondary, opposing offenses will have to pick their poison. 

National Award Candidates

Remarkably, the CAA has not produced a winner of either the Walter Payton or Buck Buchanan Awards since 2014 and 2011, respectively. Likewise, after claiming the first two Jerry Rice Awards ever presented with Towson's Terrance West and John Robertson of Villanova claiming the nation's top freshman honor in 2011 and 2012, the CAA has not had another recipient.

Buck Buchanan Award 

• Brendan Bell and Shane Hartzell, Villanova 
• Caleb Curtain, Elon 
• Jeremiah Grant, Richmond 
• AJ Pena, Rhode Island
• Dylan Ruiz and Josiah Silver, New Hampshire

Walter Payton 

• Matthew Downing, Elon 
• Derek Robertson, Monmouth 
• Connor Watkins, Villanova  
• Griffin Woodell, UAlbany 
• Bronson Yoder, William & Mary

The CAA Will Send Its Most Teams to the Playoffs Since 2018 

Six teams carried the flag for the CAA into the 2018 FCS Playoffs: 

• Maine
• Delaware
• Elon 
• James Madison
• Stony Brook 
• Towson 

The Coastal has continued to send multiple teams to the postseason in the years since, but never as many as that campaign. In 2024, the upper half of the conference is brimming with playoff-caliber teams — and that's without Delaware, which cannot make the field as it readies to transition to FBS. 

While the Blue Hens cannot hop onto the road to Frisco, their last-ever appearance in the FCS Playoffs help pave the way for 2024. CAA teams fared well in the 2023 tournament, with each of UAlbany, Delaware, Richmond and Villanova winning in at least one round. 

If the underwhelming showing of the conference in 2018 limited its at-large representation in the years since, last season should help CAA teams' cases in 2024 — especially if the conference has a strong showing in high-profile non-conference games. 

A few early-season matchups that could carry over into the conversation come November include Elon's Week 3 home-opener against Western Carolina; UAlbany visiting Idaho in a Week 2 rematch of the incredible FCS quarterfinal meeting from December; another playoff rematch pitting Villanova against Youngstown State on opening night; William & Mary's Week 4 clash at Zable Stadium against Furman; and both Rhode Island and New Hampshire drawing Holy Cross in the season's first two weeks. 

Towson also wraps up an especially demanding opening month before its bye visiting North Dakota State. If the Tigers can endure a stretch in which it visits Cincinnati, Villanova and the perennial national championship-contending Bison, they'll be in the playoff mix by season's end. 

Likewise, Monmouth's opening stretch that sends the Hawks on the road in 3-of-4 could set them on course for their first playoff run since joining the CAA. Monmouth opens across the country on the Inferno at Eastern Washington, hosts reigning Patriot League champion Lafayette, then travels to Maine and FBS opponent FIU — a team that Maine, coincidentally, nearly beat in Week 1 a season ago. 

Rhode Island Ends Its Playoff Drought 

Each CAA season seems to produce at least one breakout team that moves onto the Playoffs. Should Rhode Island make the field in 2024, it won't necessarily be a surprise — coach Jim Fleming's Rams have been at the door step of the postseason consistently the last few years. 

But Rhode Island kicking down the door to make the field for the first time since 1985 would be one of the best stories in the FCS. Expect it to happen. 

The veteran Rams defense is built for CAA championship contention. Offensively, longtime starting quarterback Kasim Hill's departure leaves a considerable void, but his replacement is passing to an excellent rotation of receivers that includes Marquis Buchanan and former Stony Brook and UMass playmaker Shawn Harris. The addition of talented Sacred Heart transfer running back Malik Grant promises Rhode Island an explosive ground game to complement its passing attack. 

The CAA Ends Its National Championship Game Drought 

James Madison's runner-up finish at the conclusion of a title tilt for the ages in January 2020 marked the last time a CAA representative played in the National Championship Game. 

UAlbany became the Coastal's first program other than current Sun Belt Conference member JMU to reach the semifinals since Maine's run in 2018. While the Great Danes ran into a buzzsaw against two-time reigning national champion South Dakota State, their historic run sets an important standard for a new era of CAA football. 

Earning home-field advantage plays an important role. UAlbany made two lengthy road trips in consecutive and short weeks, concluding its quarterfinal matchup at Idaho in the wee hours of Sunday morning then kicking off at South Dakota State on Friday night. Seeding being extended to the top 16 teams in the field beginning this year could help to that end. 

A clear front-runner stepping up and standing out among the crowded CAA championship race helps even more. After years of shared league championships, 2024 could produce the league's first outright champion since James Madison in the aforementioned 2019 season.  

2024 CAA Football Predicted Order of Finish 

• 1. Villanova 
• 2. William & Mary 
• 3t. Elon 
• 3t. New Hampshire
• 3t. Rhode Island 
• 3t. Delaware (ineligible for the FCS Playoffs and CAA championship) 
• 7t. UAlbany
• 7t. Richmond 
• 7t. Towson 
• 10t. Campbell
• 10t. Monmouth 
• 12. Maine 
• 13t. Hampton 
• 13t. Stony Brook 
• 15t. Bryant
• 15t. North Carolina A&T

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