Five FCS football players with North Carolina ties have been recognized with preseason honors by Lindy’s Sports heading into 2026, including two who play for South Carolina teams:
- Running back Carson Gresock (Gardner-Webb): named Lindy’s pick for Ohio Valley Conference preseason offensive player of the year and a second-team All-FCS selection.
- Return specialist Elijah Kennedy (North Carolina A&T): named to Lindy’s All-FCS first team
- Kicker Kaleb Robison (Campbell): also named to Lindy’s All-FCS first team.
- Defensive edge Joshua Stoneking (Furman): tabbed the overall FCS Defensive Player of the Year as well as the Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year. Stoneking is from Raleigh and played at Cardinal Gibbons.
- Linebacker Steve Zayachkowsky (Charleston Southern): named the preseason Defensive Player of the Year for the Ohio Valley Conference. He is from Indian Trail and played at Porter Ridge High.
The “All-FCS” designation is Lindy’s version of preseason All-America for the FCS level. The entire All-FCS team was released in Lindy’s College Football National 2026 Preview, published in early June.
Gresock led the Runnin’ Bulldogs with 14 rushing touchdowns in 2025. The 5-11, 215-pound redshirt senior from Columbus, OH, finished with 798 yards on the ground, teaming with Quasean Holmes (969 yards, 5 TDs) to comprise one of the most formidable rushing duos in the state last season.
Kennedy, also a redshirt senior, earned All-CAA and All-America honors as a return specialist in 2025. The former High Point Central standout returned a punt (96 yards) and a kickoff (85 yards) for touchdowns in the fourth quarter of a comeback win against Campbell.
Robison transferred from North Carolina Central to Campbell for the 2026 season. The rising junior placekicker from Middleburg, FL, finished with 99 total points a year ago – including 18-for-24 field goal makes and a perfect 45-for-45 on PATs.
Robison landed on the All-MEAC first team and was recently named academic all-conference.
Stoneking was a consensus first-team FCS All-American in 2025, the first-time ever for the Paladins to have a player recognized by seven different national outlets. The redshirt junior led Furman in tackles (79), sacks (14.5), tackles-for-loss (23.0) and tackle yards-for-loss (132).
Zayachkowsky, a senior, racked up 109 tackles last season for Charleston Southern, with 4.5 tackles-for-loss and an interception. He was first-team OVC/Big South in a vote by league coaches.
Lindy’s picks FCS conference finishes
Of all the preseason college football preview publications, Lindy’s Sports devotes the most space to non-FBS programs. The magazine compiled a top-25 for the FCS as well as predictions for each FCS conference race and preseason MVPs.
Highlights:
- Gardner-Webb was picked third in the Ohio Valley Conference (formerly the OVC/Big South) behind UT Martin and Southeast Missouri State.
- North Carolina Central was tabbed third in the MEAC behind defending champ South Carolina State and Delaware State.
- Western Carolina was tabbed fourth in the Southern Conference behind newcomer Tennessee Tech, defending champ Mercer and ETSU.
- Elon was picked fourth in the new-look CAA, which lost members Villanova and William & Mary to the Patriot. Rhode Island is the favorite to defend its 2025 crown, with New Hampshire and Monmouth rounding out the top three
- Campbell and North Carolina A&T are still looking for their first breakthrough in the CAA and are ranked 10th and 12th respectively.
Related content
- FCS Football Schedules: View full 2026 schedules for all seven North Carolina teams
- FCS Football Headlines: Read the latest news involving teams from our state
- Small-College Saturdays: Check out our Substack/newsletter devoted to North Carolina FCS, D2 and D3 football.
