HERO Sports welcomes you to "Two-a-Days", where we will preview every single one of the 125 FCS programs, with two being released each day from June 18 to August 18 (with the final day having three in one day). Today we give you … Drake.
[divider]MORE: Compare Any Two FCS Players or Any Two FCS Teams[divider]
FCS TEAM BY TEAM PREVIEW: The countdown
FCS PRESEASON TOP 25: The poll
FCS PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA: The teams
DRAKE (7-4 IN 2017)
Pioneer Football League (Drake was in 2nd Pioneer League in 2017)
COACH: Rick Fox – 5th year (26-18 record)
2017 OFFENSE: 26.8 ppg. (51st in FCS)
2017 DEFENSE: 25.4 ppg. (T56th in FCS)
SUM IT UP: San Diego has dominated the PFL the last few seasons, winning the title outright the last two and sharing the championship with Dayton in 2015. If there is going to be a challenger to the Toreros, it's going to be Drake. The Bulldogs return seven starters on offense and six on defense after going 6-2 in conference play last season and 7-4 overall. They lost 45-15 to San Diego, but play the Toreros at home this year. The Bulldogs had 19 all-PFL players a year ago with 12 of them slated to return. With most of the weapons in the passing game back and solid height at the wide receiver position, Drake should be one of the better offenses in the conference.
BEST-CASE SCENARIO: Coach Fox believes this is the deepest team he's had at Drake. With the talent coming back, Drake is in contention to win a conference title and make the playoffs.
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BEST FCS PLAYER BY NUMBER: We count down, No. 99 through No. 1[divider]
TOP RETURNEE: WR Steven Doran (Pioneer League Second Team)
THE NEXT BEST: WR Devin Cates (All-PFL at 6-foot-4); K Danny Donley (team leader with 75 points); OL Jordan Lewinsky (All-PFL Second Team), QB Grant Kraemer (returning starting QB); TE Connor Ostrander , (All-PFL Honorable Mention)
DID YOU KNOW?: Drake football played against a Chinese All-Star team as part of the Drake-China Ambassadors Bowl in May of this year, winning 77-0.
THE QUOTE: "We are excited that we have a lot of returning starters, but we need those returning starts to step up. The other thing we are excited about is that we have a lot of guys that are behind our starters that will be pushing them. This is the deepest team I've been around here at Drake." — Head Coach Rick Fox said during spring football
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SOCIAL MEDIA SPOTLIGHT
FOOTBALL TWITTER: @DrakeBulldogsFB
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NEXT: What Each FCS Preseason Top 10 Team Needs to Win a 2018 National Title
