Yale was one of four Football Championship Subdivision teams with players listed as preseason candidates for the Walter Payton and Buck Buchanan awards.

McLeod, a senior running back from New Britain, is one of 16 candidates for the Payton Award, the Football Championship Subdivision version of the Heisman Trophy.

McLeod ran for 1,619 yards and 23 touchdowns as a junior and enters his senior season with a Yale career record 3,672 rushing yards. McLeod finished ninth in the voting for the 2007 Payton Award.

Bobby Abare, a senior linebacker from Acton, Mass., had 86 tackles as a junior and was Yale's leading tackler in eight of 10 games in 2007. He was one of 16 players named to the watch list for the Buchanan Award for the top defensive player in FCS.

The Bulldogs, 9-1 in 2007, open the season at home against Georgetown on Sept. 20.

Appalachian State with quarterback Armanti Edwards and linebacker Pierre Banks, Eastern Washington with running back Matt Nichols and defensive end Greg Peach and Western Illinois (running back Herb Nicholson and linebacker Jason Williams) are the only other schools with players nominated for both awards.