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Bridgewater, NJ — Another exciting season of NEC football is on the docket, and with that comes the annual unveiling of the league’s All-NEC Preseason Team. 
 
The 27-member list of NEC footballers that are projected to have big-time seasons in 2026 consists of a pair of preseason All-Americans, three Stats Perform FCS Legacy Awards Watch List selections and nine former All-NEC all-stars. 
 
Also highlighting the 2026 All-NEC Preseason Team are a trio of unanimous selections in Duquesne redshirt junior running back Ness Davis (Athens, GA/Athens Christian (Arkansas-Pine Bluff)), Central Connecticut junior kicker Jack Hennessey (Endwell, NY/Maine-Endwell) and his teammate, graduate return specialist Donovan Wadley (Newark, NJ/Weequahic (Merrimack)).
  

 
More than one-third of the spots on the All-NEC Preseason Team were occupied by players from two-time defending NEC regular season champion and NCAA FCS Playoff participant CCSU. The Blue Devils landed a whopping 10 preseason all-stars, doubling the number of picks from the next closest league competitor in LIU and Wagner, which landed five honorees apiece.
 
CCSU’s offense, which lit up the scoreboard for 29.3 points per night in seven league games, had five returners garner All-NEC Preseason recognition. 
 
The Blue Devils’ passing game will be flanked by a pair of All-NEC Second Team wideouts who enter the new season as All-NEC Preseason Team members. Junior Michael Trovarelli (Stratford, CT/Bunnell) caught a trio of scores in 2025 while Wadley, who doubled up on his preseason honors from the league, averaged 53.1 yards per game with three touchdowns in conference play.  
 
Senior Karl Khuns (Hilton, NY/Hilton) and sophomore La-Quann Gaddy (Newark, NJ/Westside), a pair of offensive linemen that helped pave the way for the reigning NEC Offensive Player of the Year and 2026 grad Elijah Howard, nabbed preseason distinction as well. The duo also helped provide exceptional pass protection, with the Blue Devils surrendering a league-low six sacks during the 2025 campaign.
 
Gaddy caught the attention of opposing NEC coaches in his debut season in New Britain and as a result, he was the only sophomore to be voted to this year’s All-NEC Preseason Team.
 
Redshirt junior Chris Jean (Rochester, NY/Rochester) has been a force to be reckoned with on defense for CCSU since his arrival in New Britain for the 2024 campaign. Following NEC Defensive Rookie of the Year honors with his second-straight All-NEC First Team nod in 2025, the All-NEC Preseason Team pick enters the 2026 campaign as the FCS’s active leader in passes defended with 31 behind eight career picks and 23 career pass breakups. 
 
Senior defensive lineman Wayne Coleman (Staten Island, NY/Curtis (Monmouth)) and junior linebacker Daren Omoregie (Lynn, MA/Lynn Classical (Wagner)) also earned All-NEC Preseason distinction from a Blue Devils’ team that limited league foes to 17.0 points per game after leading the NEC in sacks (18) while ranking second in forced fumbles (1.14 per game) and fumbles recovered (0.57 per game). 
 
CCSU’s special teams also dominated the All-NEC Preseason Team ballot by taking up two of the three spots with unanimous selections in Hennessey (kicker) and Wadley (return specialist). 
 
Rounding out the league’s special teams was Stonehill senior Logan Chenette (Hull, MA/Hull). He took the punter position after he proved to have one of the strongest legs in the league with 10 punts of 50-or-more yards last year, a mark that led the NEC. 
 
LIU’s defense was smothering during the 2025 NEC slate. With opponents entering the Sharks’ end zone just nine times in that seven-game stretch — a league-leading mark that is five scores fewer than the next closest competitor — the squad topped the NEC rankings in scoring defense after allowing just 11.4 points per night. 
 
Redshirt senior Trey Watkins (Rahway, NJ/St. Joseph Regional (Lafayette)), who has already added 2026 Buck Buchanan Preseason Watch List and Stats Perform Preseason Third Team All-America distinction to his résumé, will look to keep the Sharks back line swarming again in 2026. The defensive lineman finished first in the conference with five interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown, to conclude his first season in Brookville with All-NEC First Team plaudits. 
 
LIU also landed redshirt junior defensive lineman Kezni Brown (Vero Beach, FL/Vero Beach) and graduate linebacker Rafael Fasolino (Montrose, NY/Archbishop Stepniac) on the All-NEC Preseason Team.
 
On offense, the Sharks will reap the benefits of the return of redshirt senior and now two-time Preseason All-NEC quarterback Ethan Greenwood (Baldwin, NY/Kellenberg (The Citadel)). Despite a 2025 campaign that was hampered by injuries that limited him to seven appearances, the dynamic two-way signal caller put together some explosive outings, including a two rushing touchdown performance in LIU’s signature win over FBS opponent Eastern Michigan and a 103-yard passing game that was accompanied by a 73.3 completion percentage in the Sharks’ season finale, a 24-17 win over Wagner. 
 
Three of Wagner’s five projected all-stars came from a defense that ranked eighth among all FCS squads in fumble recoveries (11) a year ago while also checking in at 17th in the nation in turnovers gained (21). Spearheading the Seahawks’ efforts was junior defensive lineman and Preseason All-NEC pick Ethan Appolon (Greenlawn, NY/Harborfields), who closed out the 2025 season ranked sixth in the country with 0.33 forced fumbles per contest. 
 
A pair of 2025 All-NEC Second Team members from Duquesne will hit the gridiron in 2026 as All-NEC Preseason Team selections. 
 
Davis’ unanimous vote to the squad comes one month after he made the cut for the 2026 Walter Payton Award Preseason Watch List. The redshirt junior ran his way to the ninth spot in the end-of-year FCS stats rankings after he averaged 6.4 rushing yards per carry behind five 100-yard rushing games for a Dukes’ squad that topped the conference charts with 27 touchdowns and 29.3 points per game during the NEC slate last season.
 
Redshirt junior defensive back DJ Cerisier (Cheltenham, PA/Upper Dublin), who made it back-to-back All-NEC Second Team nods in 2025, closed out his third year on The Bluff with a team-best nine passes defended.
  
About The NEC
Now in its 46th season, the NEC is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of nine institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to a number of the largest markets in the United States including New York (#1), Chicago (#3), Boston (#9). Hartford/New Haven (#32) and Syracuse (#88). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 25 sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 17 different NCAA Championships. NEC full member institutions include Central Connecticut, Chicago State, FDU, Le Moyne, LIU, Mercyhurst, New Haven, Stonehill and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website (www.necsports.com) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, all @NECsports.