I will be previewing all of the NE-10 football teams over the next 10 days. I will roll out each team in my preseason poll from # 10 to # 1. The NE-10 will release the coaches' preseason poll on August 25th.

The season starts on September 4th when defending champ American International travels to Assumption to open the 2014 season.

Here is the my pick for #5 in the league in 2014:

Merrimack College Warriors (7-4, 5-4 NE-10)

Coach: Dan Curran, 2nd year (7-4)

Opening Game: September 6th @ Bryant

2014 Schedule

2013 Stats

2014 Roster

Merrimack has always had one of the top offenses in the country. They have a huge hole to fill from last year but they have been down this road before. They have several candidates to be quarterback and have plenty of weapons to make the new signal caller successful.

The offense is loaded at the wide receiver position. Junior Jere Brown is the top receiver back and should see the most targets this year. Senior Zach Ingalls, sophomore Justin Mount and junior Frankie Dunn will also see a lot of passes thrown their way and help to spread the field for the Warriors. But the biggest question is who is going to get them the ball? Senior Luke Bakanowsky is the only quarterback on the roster to see game action with Merrimack. Senior Buddy Leathley is a transfer from Albany and sophomore Nick Laspada is a transfer from Bates. Armond McRae should see time out of the backfield for Merrimack.

The key to success for Merrimack is their defense. The defensive line has plenty of experience with seniors Ben Polci and Justin Hood in the trenches. Senior Chris Unis will be the anchor of the linebackers and fellow classmate Ervin Johnson is back on the field after seeing no action in 2013. Sophomore Jared Mincey is the top tacklers back in the secondary. The Warriors will need to keep teams off the field and let their offense do their work.

Head coach Dan Curran has been part of the offensive success for Merrimack over the years as the offensive coordinator before becoming head coach last year. He has groomed new quarterbacks and this year will be no different. If Merrimack is going to win the league, they are going to have the defense step up and play well. If they can keep their opponents in check, they will score enough points to win games.