As we approach the doldrums of summer, where football is nothing more than a distant memory and also a far-off oasis, let’s looks at the top 10 returning players to suit up for App State this upcoming season.
The Top 10 Appalachian State Players Returning in 2024
#10 Ethan Johnson, Cornerback
App State has produced some exciting and memorable players in the secondary, and Ethan Johnson is par for the course. Opposing teams tested him last season, and for the most part, he passed those tests.
In his 2023 season, Ethan made 56 tackles (42 solo), including four tackles for loss, 11 pass breakups, and one interception. His 11 pass breakups were the sixth-most in the Sun Belt.
He earned Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week honors for his performance against JMU. In that game, Johnson had an interception, two pass breakups, and allowed a completion percentage of just 35.7% while being targeted with 14 passes.
Johnson also led the Mountaineers and all Sun Belt defenders with 953 defensive snaps. He was among 20 Sun Belt corners targeted with at least 50 passes and ranked sixth with a coverage grade of 76.4 by PFF and ninth with a completion percentage of 58.3.
#9 Caden Sullivan, Inside Linebacker
The defense lost a lot of key players last year and all of App Nation is looking for someone to step up. Enter Caden Sullivan. Caden appeared in all 14 games last season and started in 11 of those games. He ranked third on the team with 64 tackles, in addition to one sack, four tackles for loss, and one forced fumble.
Sullivan was front and center for arguably one of the best and biggest plays of the season. Southern Miss held a 10-point lead and was looking for more in the closing minutes of the third quarter. The ball was snapped and Caden blitzed and jarred the ball loose on a sack that led to an App State recovery at the Golden Eagles’ one-yard line in a 48-38 victory.
Caden’s familiarity with the linebacker positions is a plus, he started four straight games at the “anchor” outside linebacker position before starting the final seven games at an inside position following a switch to the “Star” package.
He showed out for the Cure Bowl, where he amassed a career-high 10 tackles in the win against Miami of Ohio.
#8 Dalton Stroman, Wide Receiver
If Dalton Stroman can put everything together this offseason, App State might be counting gains in miles instead of yards. 6-foot-4 Dalton has already contributed to the Mountaineer offensive, and they feature several powerful and explosive returning receivers, but expectations are high as Stroman enters his redshirt junior year.
He’s appeared in all 14 games last year, finishing up with 20 receptions good for 390 receiving yards and 19.5 yards per catch. He also scored three touchdowns and had six rushing yards. His best touchdown last season came against Georgia State, where on the opening play of the second half he had a 77-yard catch and score.
#7 Jordan Favors, Safety
Jordan Favors suited up in all 14 of App State’s games last season, where he accumulated 37 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, eight pass breakups, four interceptions, a blocked kick, and a forced fumble. All that as a 5-11, 195-pound package. To say he’s a big-time player would be an understatement.
One big reason the Mountaineers ranked 29th in passing yards per game was because of Favors’ ballhawk skills, and App State will be looking to him to continue on picking off quarterbacks in 2024.
Starting in eight games last season, he tied the Sun Belt with his aforementioned four interceptions. His best outing was against the University of Louisiana-Monroe, where in the second half of a 41-40 comeback win, Jordan blocked an extra point before breaking up a two-point pass and also forcing a fumble.
#6 Nate Johnson, Linebacker
Last season, Nate Johnson earned first-team honors as a Freshman All-American from The Athletic and second-team honors by College Football News, as well as a true freshman honoree from On3.com. Despite these accolades, Johnson is a bit underrated.
Johnson put up some very impressive numbers for a freshman, recording 43 tackles, with 8.5 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, and a forced fumble. Those 7.5 sacks ranked No. 2 nationally among freshmen and tied for No. 1 nationally among true freshmen.
Nate also went on a three-game streak of accumulating a sack per game (East Carolina, Wyoming, University of Louisiana-Monroe) and finished the season with half a sack against Georgia Southern. His forced fumble came at the end of a washed-out Cure Bowl game that saw Miami of Ohio in App State’s territory. That forced fumble helped App State emerge victorious in a 13-9 win.
PFF also credited him with 37 quarterback pressures.
Putting up NFL-esque numbers and coming in at 6-5 and 230, one could argue that Nate should be higher up the list than sixth, but as we will see in the next article, App State has a ton of explosive and ballers on their roster.
Be sure to stay tuned for the next article, where we go through the top five players returning to App State!
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