By Tiffany Williams –
The Coastal Athletic Association is entering the 2026 FCS season with a loud message to the rest of the subdivision: overlook this conference at your own risk.
The Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-America Team released Monday featured 11 players from the CAA, a powerful showing that reinforces the league’s reputation as one of the deepest and most talent-rich conferences in the Football Championship Subdivision.
Rhode Island led the way with four selections, including the conference’s lone first-team honoree, while Elon placed three players on the prestigious preseason squad. Monmouth, Maine, Stony Brook, Bryant and North Carolina A&T each added one player, giving the conference representation across every level of the All-America team.
The headline belongs to Rhode Island senior wide receiver Marquis Buchanan.
After a spectacular 2025 season, Buchanan enters the new campaign carrying enormous expectations after earning first-team preseason All-America recognition. Few players in the nation were more explosive a season ago. Buchanan finished with 78 receptions for an FCS-leading 1,337 receiving yards and eight touchdowns, numbers that made defensive coordinators across the country lose sleep.
His consistency was every bit as impressive as his production.
Marquis Buchanan surpassed the 100-yard receiving mark seven different times during the 2025 season and found the end zone in seven games, proving he wasn’t simply producing against weaker opponents or piling up empty statistics. Week after week, he was Rhode Island’s most dangerous offensive weapon.
His first-team selection is hardly surprising considering he was already a consensus first-team All-American following last season.
If Marquis Buchanan delivers another year anywhere near those numbers, opposing defenses will once again be forced into impossible decisions. Double-cover him and open opportunities elsewhere. Leave him isolated, and he has already shown he can punish virtually anyone lined up across from him.
Rhode Island’s presence on the preseason team extends well beyond its star receiver.
Junior linebacker Rohan Davy earned second-team honors after producing one of the conference’s most productive defensive seasons in 2025. Davy finished with 101 tackles, 13.0 tackles for loss and 7.0 sacks while earning second-team All-CAA recognition.
Those numbers reveal far more than a linebacker who simply cleaned up plays after the fact.
The combination of triple-digit tackles with double-digit tackles for loss and seven sacks shows a defender who consistently disrupted offenses behind the line of scrimmage while still maintaining the ability to finish plays all over the field.
Senior offensive lineman Tre Alexander also secured third-team preseason All-America recognition after helping power one of the CAA’s most productive offenses.
Rhode Island averaged 31.3 points and 429.9 total yards per game during the 2025 campaign, production that simply doesn’t happen without dominant offensive line play.
While offensive linemen rarely generate headlines, their importance becomes obvious when examining an offense capable of producing more than 30 points every Saturday.
Senior defensive lineman Case Mankins rounds out Rhode Island’s impressive quartet of preseason All-Americans.
Mankins recorded 55 tackles, 4.0 sacks, five pass breakups and two forced fumbles last season while earning third-team All-CAA recognition.
Those statistics illustrate a defensive lineman capable of affecting games in multiple ways. Beyond generating pressure, Mankins disrupted passing lanes and created turnovers, making him one of the conference’s more versatile defensive front players.
If Rhode Island hopes to build on last season’s success, much of that responsibility will fall on these four veterans.
Elon also arrives with significant expectations after placing three players on the preseason All-America squad.
Junior linebacker Brodie Carroll headlines the Phoenix selections after earning second-team recognition.
Carroll produced a team-high 104 tackles during the 2025 season while adding 9.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and two forced fumbles.
Those numbers reflect a linebacker constantly involved in the action.
Whether stopping the run, pressuring quarterbacks or forcing turnovers, Brodie Carroll established himself as one of the conference’s most complete defensive performers.
Special teams also became a strength for Elon.
Junior kicker Luke Barnes earned second-team preseason All-America honors after connecting on 15 of his 18 field-goal attempts while converting all 40 extra-point attempts last season.
Reliability often separates elite kickers from average ones, and Barnes demonstrated precisely that.
Missing only three field goals while remaining perfect on extra points provided Elon with valuable consistency every time drives reached scoring position.
The Phoenix now enter the season possessing one of the nation’s most respected linebackers and one of the country’s most dependable kickers.
Monmouth safety Jaeden Jones enters the new season carrying second-team preseason All-America honors after a dominant defensive campaign.
Jones ranked third in the CAA with an eye-opening 118 tackles while adding 5.0 tackles for loss, one interception and three pass breakups.
Safeties who consistently approach 120 tackles become the backbone of defenses.
Jaeden Jones showed the ability to support against the run while remaining productive in pass coverage, making him one of the conference’s premier defensive backs.
North Carolina A&T’s Elijah Kennedy once again reminds everyone that special teams can change games in an instant.
The senior punt returner earned second-team preseason All-America recognition after previously receiving second-team All-America honors in 2025.
Kennedy averaged 16.3 yards per punt return, ranking second nationally, while returning two punts for touchdowns. He also averaged 19.6 yards on kickoff returns.
Every opponent punting to North Carolina A&T this season knows exactly what is waiting.
One missed tackle.
One missed lane assignment.
One brief lapse in coverage.
That’s often all it takes for an elite return specialist to completely change the momentum of a football game.
Maine’s Anthony Iliano earned third-team preseason recognition after another impressive season protecting the Black Bears offense.
The junior offensive lineman helped Maine average 355 total yards per game while allowing only 18 sacks throughout the 2025 season.
Offensive line success is frequently measured by what doesn’t happen.
Quarterbacks staying upright.
Running backs reaching the second level.
Drives staying alive.
Anthony Iliano played a significant role in all three.
Stony Brook linebacker Anthony Ferrelli also enters 2026 among the nation’s preseason All-Americans after another productive defensive season.
Ferrelli recorded a team-leading 109 tackles while adding 6.5 tackles for loss, one interception and one forced fumble.
Triple-digit tackles continue to define the conference’s linebacker talent.
The CAA produced multiple linebackers eclipsing the century mark last season, demonstrating just how physical and demanding football remains throughout the league.
Bryant’s Keylijah Williams rounds out the conference’s 11-player preseason class after earning third-team All-America honors as a kick returner.
Williams averaged 24.9 yards per kickoff return last season, ranking 21st nationally while returning one kickoff for a touchdown.
Field position often becomes an overlooked statistic until a dangerous return specialist repeatedly shortens the field.
Keylijah Williams has already shown the ability to provide exactly that kind of spark.
The overall picture emerging from the preseason honors is impossible to ignore.
Rhode Island placed four players on the team.
Elon added three.
Multiple schools produced nationally recognized linebackers.
The conference features elite receivers, dominant offensive linemen, disruptive defensive linemen, productive safeties and dangerous special teams play.
That balance matters.
Championship-caliber conferences rarely rely on one superstar or one dominant program.
Instead, they produce impact players at nearly every position across multiple schools.
The CAA’s preseason All-America representation reflects precisely that depth.
Of the 11 selections, defense supplied much of the conference’s national recognition.
Linebackers Brodie Carroll, Rohan Davy and Anthony Ferrelli all earned All-America honors after surpassing or approaching 100 tackles.
Jaeden Jones delivered another standout year in the secondary.
Case Mankins anchored the defensive line.
Those names suggest the CAA will again feature some of the FCS’s toughest defensive football.
Offensively, Marquis Buchanan stands as the conference’s biggest headline entering the season.
Leading the nation in receiving yards is one thing.
Repeating that success while carrying preseason All-America expectations is another challenge entirely.
Every defense he faces will spend countless hours building game plans around slowing him down.
The pressure only increases from here.
But so does the opportunity.
If Marquis Buchanan duplicates anything close to last year’s production, his name will remain firmly in the conversation among the most accomplished players in all of FCS football.
The preseason accolades guarantee nothing once the season begins.
They don’t produce touchdowns.
They don’t make tackles.
They don’t win conference championships.
What they do provide is a clear snapshot of where national expectations currently stand.
And entering 2026, the message from Stats Perform is unmistakable.
The Coastal Athletic Association isn’t short on elite talent.
It’s overflowing with it.