The countdown to the 2018 college football season is on. Four FCS teams are in action Aug. 25 as Duquesne takes on UMass, Prairie View faces Rice and North Carolina A&T and Jacksonville State square off in ESPN’s FCS Kickoff.
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HERO Sports is going to count down each day by highlighting the best player in FCS football who wears the jersey number of the number of days to kickoff. You can find the running list of top players here.
*Note: Jersey numbers are from the 2017 season.
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51: Jack Traynor, senior linebacker — Dartmouth
Traynor had a ton of expectations surrounding him before he played a snap for the Big Green. The linebacker racked up an incredible 378 tackles in high school, which broke the Illinois state record of 24 years. After getting some decent playing time in 2016 as a sophomore, Traynor really took off last season.
Starting all 10 games, he finished second in the Ivy League with 98 tackles. Traynor recorded double-digit tackles in five games, including 17 against Harvard. He was voted unanimously on the All-Conference First Team.
Traynor is going to be looked at to lead Dartmouth in 2018 and was voted a team captain. At 6-foot and 230 pounds, he's proven his reliability on the field with consistent play. As stated in our season preview, the best-case scenario for Dartmouth is winning the conference title after handing Yale its only loss last year.
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FCS Kickoff Countdown: The Best Player in FCS Who Wears Each Number, 1-99
CFB Countdown: The Best Player in FBS Football, 1-99
