That line about how it can be better to be an undrafted free agent rather than a last-round NFL draft pick? Apparently there's something to it.
Both of Dartmouth's undrafted free agent signees are in the news, and judging by what the stories suggest about former Big Green defensive lineman Josiah Green and former offensive line teammate Delby Lemieux, both made smart decisions on where to sign.
Green finished 2025 with an 84th percentile pressure rate, 70th percentile pass rush win rate, 84th percentile sack rate, 69th percentile conversion rate, 15th percentile stop rate, 7th percentile tackle rate, and 5th percentile missed tackle rate.
Green Alert Take: First it was wRC+ in baseball, and now this? I'm being left behind . . .
The more understandable bottom line from the piece:
The Bucs being high on him is understandable. They don’t have a qualified fill-in who can do the things (Calijah) Kancey can as a pass rusher. But Green might be able to provide that specific skillset in a limited fashion. . . .
Green has the juice. He’s the only player on the depth chart who really profiles as a Kancey-light. And that gives him a unique opportunity to grab the 53rd spot on the depth chart or become a key practice squad elevation throughout the year.
The athleticism is real. The archetype and pass rushing traits are just as real. Josiah Green’s path to playtime might be real as well.
Per Nick Baumgardner of The Athletic, Lemieux is the best UDFA fit for the Vikings’ roster: “A three-time All-Ivy League left tackle, Lemieux (6-5, 309) is a terrific athlete who moved inside to work at center for scouts during the pre-draft process. He has short arms (31 3/8 inches), but he’s a great athlete and a very intelligent lineman.”
Searching for other analysts to praise Lemieux isn’t particularly difficult. True, nobody had him (among) the draft’s big four centers — Logan Jones, Jake Slaughter, Conner Lew, and Sam Hecht — but there’s a lot to like in the former tackle who is moonlighting as a center.
And . . .
Within all of the uncertainty, the Vikings have Delby Lemieux quietly hanging out in the background. Again, he’s not a serious option to start, but he is competing to be the backup. Last year, all of LB Austin Keys, TE Ben Yurosek, G Joe Huber, WR Myles Price, DT Elijah Williams, and other UDFA talents made the final roster. Why not another for the upcoming season?
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EXTRA POINT I have a complaint that many of you in this part of the country will disagree with, as is your right. ;-)
We had miserable weather Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning. Yesterday was gorgeous, and today looks like more of the same.
Here's my controversial opinion: if we had to endure lousy weather, I would have preferred this sunshine on Thursday and Friday and the nasty stuff this weekend.
Why? Because these are the two best days of the PGA Championship, and the weather outside is so perfect that I feel guilty sitting indoors for six hours watching golf instead of cutting the grass or trimming shrubs.
The bottom line: the forecast is interfering with my ability to be unproductive.
Odds and ends about Dartmouth's 2026 football schedule:
• With each Ivy League team playing seven conference games, teams have four conference home games one year, and three the next. Dartmouth is home for three Ivy games this year (Penn Harvard, Brown), and four on the road (Yale, Columbia, Princeton, Cornell).
• As has been the case in every even-numbered year since the Ivy League schedule was adjusted ahead of the 2018 season, the Big Green will play back-to-back road games at Princeton and Cornell before finishing the season at home against Brown.
• This was posted earlier, but here are the round-trip distances for the Big Green this fall: Lehigh 710 miles, Princeton 630, Cornell 594, Columbia 520, and Yale 378. Dartmouth will travel 1,224 miles in weeks eight and nine combined. That's a total of 2,832 miles.
• Dartmouth opens the season with a rare game on the real stuff – grass. Lehigh will be the Big Green's first game not on artificial turf since Oct. 5, 2018 at Yale. The Yale Bowl put in artificial turf before the next season.
• Only two of 10 Dartmouth opponents are on the road before facing the Big Green. All but Monmouth and Columbia are home the week before playing Dartmouth.
• Merrimack has a bye the week before playing at Dartmouth.
Here's the full list of who Big Green opponents play the week before Dartmouth plays them:
Sept. 19 at Lehigh (vs. William & Mary) Sept. 26 Monmouth (at Albany) Oct. 3 Penn (vs. Lehigh) Oct. 10 at Yale (vs. Merrimack) Oct. 17 Merrimack (bye) Oct. 24 at Columbia (at Penn) Oct. 31 Harvard (vs. Princeton) Nov. 7 at Princeton (vs. Cornell) Nov. 14 at Cornell (vs. Penn) Nov. 21 Brown (vs. Columbia)
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Dartmouth has an offer out to a Georgia wide receiver named Folefac Wrightnick Atabonglefac. He also has offers from Princeton, Penn and Brown. (LINK)
Green Alert Take: Thank goodness for copy and paste.
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EXTRA POINT With clear skies this morning I've put a somewhat-yellowed baseball hat out on our front steps, which receive sunlight all day long. The hope is the sun will help bleach the hat. It may be beyond saving but I have another one that I left in the sun for a few weeks that actually turned out OK. Time will tell.
Harlem Taylor, a 6-foot-3, 240-pound defensive lineman, posted photos last week from his Signing Day ceremony for Dartmouth football. Taylor heads north from Concord's St. Paul's School as the rare New Hampshire product to join the Big Green. He grew up in Manchester, the largest city in the state.
Taylor was included in earlier BGA recruiting lists after choosing Dartmouth over offers from Bentley, Amherst and Colby.
Editor's Note: The official Dartmouth recruiting list has not yet been released but I'm working on getting that information along with background on each incoming player. I'll turn that around as soon as I can. In the meantime, the unofficial BGA recruiting list can be found HERE, with one change: linebacker Parker Maiers flipped to Northwestern.
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Yahoo Sports has a story headlined Aaron Judge is not the only Yankees slugger making noise in the power ranking,s and you can probably guess who that other "slugger" is. That's right, it's Dartmouth graduate Ben Rice. From the story (LINK):
According to the crew over at MLB.com, they have ranked Rice as the No. 5 power hitter in their latest power rankings.
The story notes that, "Rice owned the best wRC+ in the big leagues (193) entering Wednesday night's action."
Uh, wRC+?
In case you are wondering, MLB defines those letters as being "a stat that measures a hitter's overall offensive value compared to league average. It takes all of a hitter's contributions at the plate and translates that to his impact on runs created for his team."
Green Alert Take: I give up.
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EXTRA POINT I'm not a computer nerd but I did take Fortran in college, I've built a few very basic websites, and I like to think I'm pretty good with my Mac. That said, I had an issue with my MacBook Air recently that I was starting to think would make me glad I bought AppleCare for the machine.
Expecting to have to bring laptop all the way down to Manchester for a checkup by one of the "Geniuses" at the Apple Store and then perhaps send it out, I wrote up a detailed explanation of the issue I was having.
On a whim, I copied and pasted that information into an AI site. Within perhaps 15 seconds, the site returned a detailed explanation of what I could try to possibly fix the issue. It took me step-by-step deep into the guts of the computer and voila, it was once again working perfectly.
AI can be pretty scary but it's hard to argue with results like that. If nothing else, it saved me a long drive to Manchester.
— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) May 13, 2026
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A scouting report branded as the "Bucs Wire," or "Vikings Wire" (and probably other "Wires") takes a look at former Dartmouth tight end Chris Corbo, now at Georgia Tech. Here's how it reads (LINK):
Chris Corbo is not going to be a major player in my early rankings, but with Georgia Tech, he has a chance to be one of the biggest risers when we come back to this group. At Dartmouth, he shone against lesser competition and showcased himself as someone who can separate himself from defenders, be a reliable blocker, and someone who can be a major asset to his quarterback. Being in the ACC will be a lot of pressure so we will know soon enough if he is a piece of coal or a diamond.
If you are buying what HERO Sports is selling, Dartmouth will be charged with slowing down three of the top 25 wide receivers in the country this fall. (LINK)
Best Returning FCS Wide Receivers 1. Marquis Buchanan, Rhode Island 2. Taco Dowler, Montana State 3. Samuel Gbatu Jr., UC Davis 4. Sam Milligan, Bucknell 5. Chedon James, Idaho State (transfer from UIW) 6. Samuel Musungu, Cornell 7. Brooks Davis, Montana 8. Nate Rembert, Jackson State 9. Lofton O’Groske, South Dakota State 10. Gavin Lochow, Dayton 11. Brady Blackburn, Harvard 12. Dylan Lord, Illinois State 13. B.J. Fleming, Tarleton State (transfer from North Dakota) 14. AJ Colombo, Western Carolina 15. Jalen Smith, Lindenwood 16. Brayden Smith, Mercer 17. Luke Mailander, Illinois State 18. Stacy Dobbins, UC Davis 19. Gavin Nelson, Monmouth 20. Tre’ Holloway, Tennessee Tech 21. Chance Peterson, North Carolina Central 22. Tyrell Pollard, Central Arkansas 23. Michael Rossin, Western Carolina 24. Jaden Robinson, Austin Peay 25. JC Roque Jr., Northern Iowa
For the record, Cornell's Samuel Musungu missed last year because of injury, but caught 83 passes for 960 yards and 10 touchdowns two years ago. Blackburn caught 38 balls for 732 yards (19.3 yards per) with five touchdowns last year. Nelson caught 30 passes for 514 yards (17.1 per) with six touchdowns last year.
With top Dartmouth pass catchers Grayson O'Bara (44 for 590 yards) and Chris Corbo (45 for 516) graduating, the leading Big Green returning receiver is Ky'Dric Fisher, who had 21 catches for 341 yards and two touchdowns last fall.
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EXTRA POINT Bars of Ivory Soap no longer float. Sad, but true.
While Ivory is still promoted as 99.44/100 percent pure, as a result of a change in the formula in 2023 it will now sink to the bottom of your tub. Or, as I learned this morning, the bottom of your sink. Here's the explanation for the change, courtesy of Procter & Gamble (LINK):
(I)n the late 19th century, when people were still bathing in the murky waters of local rivers and streams, a soap that floated was revolutionary. Since we are now bathing in tubs/showers, a floating bar is no longer necessary.
The funny thing about that is I'm guessing I'm not the only one who stopped bathing in the "murky waters of local rivers and streams" in the 20th century, and they didn't change the formula until the 21st. ;-)
The Steelers Depot website (LINK) picks up on a mailbag question that appeared in The Athletic regarding the future of Pitttsburgh's NFL franchise. The writer suggests Dan Rooney '12, a former backup Dartmouth quarterback, will eventually sit atop the Steelers' organizational chart. The Depot posting includes this thought from beat writer Mike DeFabo that first appeared in The Athletic:
"Dan Rooney, the son of Art II, is seemingly the heir apparent. The 36-year-old took a leading role in two recent initiatives: the Dublin game and the draft. Both were slam-dunk successes, proving he has the right business acumen to lead. I'm more intrigued by his football background. While Art II has joked that he's not a defensive coordinator when asked detailed football questions, Dan is a former QB who played at Dartmouth. His football IQ will be an interesting wrinkle once he's the new boss. I have a lot of faith he'll do a great job."
After a period of time working within the Steelers organization, Dan Rooney detoured to the private sector. But he returned to the family business in recent years, becoming the Vice President of Business Development & Strategy. As mentioned, he has already spearheaded two major projects in that role, both smash successes. He is their point man on all international business, and he led the campaign to bring the draft to Pittsburgh. Beyond that, Dan Rooney was also involved, in some capacity, in the Steelers' surprise head coach search this offseason. While we have no idea of the extent of his involvement, we know that he participated.
As an aside, Dan Rooney isn't the only former Dartmouth quarterback on the Steelers' organizational chart. Cole Marcoux '14, who transitioned from QB to All-Ivy League tight end, is the program's Director of Football Administration.
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My in box has delivered a reminder that the Dartmouth Football Golf Classic at beautiful Montcalm Golf Club – just a 15-minute ride from campus – is one month and one week away. To sign up for the June 20 event or to participate as a sponsor, click HERE.
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Harvard has officially thrown down the gauntlet when it comes to Ivy League football scheduling. The Crimson announced these games in coming seasons:
2027 vs. UC Davis
2028 at Montana State vs. Wofford
2031 at UC Davis vs. Richmond
2032 at Richmond
The lede in a Harvard release about the new opponents:
Harvard Football is set to play four first-time opponents in future seasons, with reigning national champion Montana State, 2025 NCAA quarterfinalist UC Davis, 10-time FCS Playoff participant Wofford, and perennial postseason qualifier Richmond all lined up to face the Crimson.
Impressive. Find the full story on Harvard's website HERE.
Green Alert Take: Dartmouth coach Sammy McCorkle pointed out correctly in a recent BGA Overtime story that the addition of Richmond, Villanova and William & Mary has clearly raised the Patriot League's profile. But for the Ivies to improve the conference seeding come playoff time the rest of the league needs to continue to follow Harvard's lead and build up schedule strength beyond playing just the Patriot League, Northeast Conference teams and the occasional CAA member.
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EXTRA POINT A friend who was cleaning out his house before a move to the Southwest came for lunch last week bearing gifts. He brought autographed copies of "Doggie Julian's" book, Bread and Butter Basketball, and YA Tittle's book Nothing Comes Easy: My Life in Football. I was sure Doggie, the legendary Dartmouth coach, had actually signed his book because, frankly, there would be no reason for anyone to fake his signature.
I wasn't completely sure about the Tittle autograph, which people are actually selling on eBay. Through the wonders of the internet, I was able to find a note card for sale, and sure enough, the autograph in the book matched perfectly.
But then it occurred to me, if I could find what the late quarterback's autograph looked like, so could someone who wanted to forge his signature.
Not that it matters. I'll flip through the book and eventually do what my old friend did and just pass it on to someone else at some point when I'm clearing out the house.
If you've been following along on BGA Overtime you've read two posts regarding former offensive lineman Jeff Immelt '78 returning to campus for speaking engagement. (LINK, LINK)
Now the college has posted a story about that appearance under the headline Leading Through Change With Jeff Immelt ’78; The Teevens Center presented a Top of the Hop chat with the former CEO of General Electric (LINK).
Immelt spoke for more than an hour on many aspects of leadership with the college posting a video of his talk (see below). Here are gently edited excerpts of remarks he offered that are germane to Dartmouth football:
"If I look back on my life, one of the three best decisions I ever made was come to Dartmouth. And the person that led me to Dartmouth was my football coach. So I love coaches. Coaches helped me so much in my life (including) my high school football coach.
"I was a grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. I was a good enough high school football player to play at a lousy (football) school. So I got football scholarship (offers) at places like Vanderbilt, Northwestern, stuff like that.
"My football coach says, 'You might want to think about the Ivy League. I know some guys. I can get you a trip and things like that.'
"I came to Hanover in February of my senior year in high school. I fell in love with the place and I've been associated with it since that period of time.
"I spent a lot of time with football players. I spent a lot of time on the football team. So I love the place."
On Buddy Teevens:
"What a great teammate he was. Because he was not flashy. Not arrogant. He was a humble, dedicated, awesome athlete. Hockey player, football player, a friend to everybody in the locker room, whether you were a third teamer or starter.
"He was an awesome dude as a 20-year-old. All of you have had teammates like that who have the combination of being the best, the most talented, and also the best person. And when the most talented player on a team is also the best human being, you get culture. That was Buddy as a player.
"As a coach, I would see friends, I would run into alumni. … They would say, 'My son played at Dartmouth. Buddy Teevens has changed his life. Buddy Teevens has changed his life.' So both as a 20-year-old, and then as he progressed here, this was just a guy that made a difference in so many lives. So I'm sad that he's not here, but I celebrate with all of you the opportunity to know Buddy Teevens."
Immelt's response when asked what he thinks Teevens would challenge us to do to be better leaders today:
"I would give two elements of the Buddy that I knew that I think all of us can live with today. Or maybe three.
"One is remarkable integrity. Remarkable integrity. You guys have no idea how respected Buddy was in the football ecosystem, from NFL coaches to NFL owners to Roger Goodell. He worked at Archie Manning's camp in Louisiana ... He throws Johnny Manziel out of camp the year after Johnny Manziel won the Heisman Trophy. Manziel's parents went bat shit, came up and complained. Archie Manning threw them out and said, 'Johnny's never welcome to this camp again.' Nobody told Buddy what to do. He knew what to do.
"He always leaned forward into change. I saw him at the Houston Super Bowl with the tackling robot he was introducing at kind of an entrepreneurial effort. I'm sitting next to Buddy and I'm not sure. ...
"My high school football coach was insane. So we were literally the team that would play a game on a Friday night, and if he was unhappy with our performance, we would keep practicing after the game. I mean these days you'd throw this guy in jail. That was my (experience). And I was saying to Buddy, 'Are you sure this thing's going to work?'
"He said, 'Yeah, yeah, we're going to be better football players.'
"And the last thing, which I think is true for all my friends here today, is he believed in the process. In other words, he wasn't in it for the glory. He wasn't in it for recognition. He was in it to develop young men. And whether he was coaching a seventh-grade football team or Dartmouth College, or anywhere in between, Buddy had a passion for the process.
"You look at all the coaches here today; you guys are the same way. All of you are the same way, in that you really are about the student-athlete. … I watch Nick Saban on Saturday mornings on the college football Game Day. He talks process. You sit there and say Nick Saban's an awesome coach, but if he were coaching seventh grade kids, he'd be the same. I'd feel sorry for him, but he'd be the same guy. That's what great coaches do.
"So I'd say (regarding) Buddy, his integrity, his willing to lean forward, his respect for the process and really everybody that's played for you (coaches) feel like they're better people having played Dartmouth football. And I think that's awesome."
And on the most important things football taught him:
"I was a football player and I could talk about ... teamwork and stuff like that. But what I really learned in football was perseverance, that sometimes things don't work. It's the ultimate meritocracy. And so, when things are great, when it's a good play, that's cool. Everybody likes good, right?
"But it's when you miss the block and Buddy gets tackled, you go back to the huddle and he's staring at you. That's when you have got to persevere. And I've had times in my career on top and on the bottom.
'I have to say that the spirit of football taught me perseverance. There's always a next play. Accountability. And all three of those things I got when I was at Dartmouth."
On how to deal with public failure:
"People maybe get attracted by glamour, but they learn from grit. So if you want to be a teacher, you've got to be willing to share the good stuff, but also the bad stuff. Right? So that's what I'd say. Look, everybody skins their knees. You just can't let that matter.
"And again, where did I learn that? Playing Dartmouth football. Not every play works."
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EXTRA POINT I really like my inexpensive little EV, and believe it or not, one of the big reasons has absolutely nothing to do with gas prices.
Here's one reason why I like the EV so much: Not one time have I ever hustled out to the garage running late, plopped myself behind the wheel, looked at the gauge and thought, "Shoot, I've got to stop and fill up."
It's really quite simple. When I pull into the garage I plug the car in. When I get up in the morning it's all juiced up and ready from the get-go. Every. Single. Day.
Dartmouth athletic communications has several sentences from coach Sammy McCorkle about the Green-White Game HERE.
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With the Green-White Game behind us, it will be 132 days until we see Dartmouth on the field for its opener at Lehigh on Sept. 19. With very little happening in the Big Greeniverse before then, here's a look back at highlights from last year's seven wins, in order:
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EXTRA POINT Big day on the video bird feeder front. We set a record with 439 bird visits yesterday with Jacob and Esther, the northern cardinal husband and wife, the stars of the show.
By now I hope you've read the posts I tossed up last night with game coverage, notes, statistics from the 12th and final day of spring football and the announcement of new captains and most improved by position group. If not, find that coverage HERE.
Because it's pretty much impossible to compile statistics on defensive players as a one-person stat crew working a game where there's no tackling, the players on that side of the ball were a little shortchanged on BGA last night. That being the case, here is a random selection of notes in the margins of my stat sheets yesterday:
Fumble batted around by several players on both offense and defense before Chris Chol falls on it in what would be the end zone ... Did Christian Harris toe tap and hold onto the ball for a nifty interception on the sideline? ... Uche Odimegwu has QB running for his life ... Johnny Riley with a tackle for loss ... Riley with another tackle at the line or behind it ... Bruce Williams with a sack for a loss of seven ... Matisse Brosseau (?) tips pass at the QB's hand ... Williams should have been awarded a sack but the officials swallowed their whistles ... Joshua Johnson with another would-be sack that goes down as a five-yard run ... Johnny Stephens with a pass breakup ... Odimegwu with a tackle for loss or at the line of scrimmage ... Johnson with another sack. They can't block him ... Matthew Boydell coming up big in the middle of the defense for a fourth-down stop ... Odimegwu again with a tackle for no gain.
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Just discovered a Block Destruction: Donut Tackle videofrom new defensive line coach Quentin Jones:
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EXTRA POINT Mrs. BGA and I went to the West Newbury talent/variety show last night. No, we didn't participate but it was a reminder about the beating heart of our rural northern New England village. From a well-known musical dad providing backup for his talented young daughter, to a church choir, to our town's young postal clerk breaking out his guitar and playing a song he wrote, to an old sailor reading a poem, to an intermission featuring legendary rhubarb punch and more goodies than it should, it was a thoroughly delightful evening spent with neighbors in a very special place.
To get a feel for how our little town revolves around this old building, click on the photo to bring up the story. As one of our neighbors says in the story, "“If you say you’re from West Newbury, then you are. Maybe not geographically, but if you’re part of the spirit of West Newbury, you’re considered part of the community.”
