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+---- Thread: *Merv's Corner #4 (/showthread.php?tid=15621)
*Merv's Corner #4 - hihihi_62 - 09-23-2019
Well, it's been another wild season of NSFL/DSFL football and unfortunately it has also been a wild couple of weeks in my real life so I haven't been able to produce as much Media content as I would've liked over the past couple weeks - Thankfully the S18 class has done more than their fair share which has been awesome to see!!
In today's episode of Merv's Corner I'm going to break down several candidates for DSFL Defensive Player of the year.
Let's take a walk down memory lane to last season to see what it took to win Defensive Player of the Year last season during the Season 16 Campaign.
S16 Nominees:
Mervin Leonard CB - Leonard had a strong rookie season with the Portland Pythons last year helping captain the Defence to become number one in every major defensive category. Leonard finished the season with 56 Tackles, 4 Interceptions, 15 Pass Deflections and 1 TD. None of those numbers really jump off the page at you although it was a very strong season for the rookie overall.
Ronald Watkins LB - Watkins had himself an impressive season for San Antonio racking up 147 tackles, which was 20 more than the next closest player, 3 forced fumbles, 1 Interception, and 5 pass deflections. Overall I would say this was an All Star calibre season from this Marshal and one much deserving of a Defensive Player of the Year nomination.
In the end Leonard came away with the Defensive Player of the Year Award, much to the surprise of NSFL experts and analysts around the league.
This year we saw a huge influx of talent injected into the league thanks to a successful r/NFL recruitment and the competition for Defensive Player of the Year has been fierce.
Without further ado let me introduce you to a couple of names that have caught my eye this season that deserve serious consideration for the award this season:
Marlo Smart (LB) Norfolk - Where do I even start with this stud. This rookie speed rushing LB has been giving opposing running backs headaches all season long racking up an incredible stat line of 173 tackles, 1 Forced fumble, 2 sacks, and 1 pass deflection. The number that really jumps off the page at me when looking at that stat line is of course the total tackles which is 26 more than last years top LB Watkins. This was an incredible season for the rookie and luckily for opposing DSFL offences I expect his name to be called early in the upcoming NSFL Draft.
Maurice Virtanen (LB) Kansas City - This young LB came to Kansas City all the way from Finland and has been single handedly shutting down offences left right and centre this season. This coverage LB did his best to keep up to Smart all season tallying 156 tackles, 3 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. Although he trails Smart in total tackles by 17 he did have one more sack and two more forced fumbles which should help him garner serious consideration for the award come award season.
Louisiana Purchase (CB) San Antonio - What in the hell are they putting in this kids gatorade down in San Antonio? This rookie CB had an absolutely disgusting statistical season for the Marshals helping lead the Marshals to the #2 pass defence in the DSFL (second only to the Pythons defence of course). Let's take a look at his incredible stat line for the season - 58 Tackles, 2 forced fumbles, 7 Interceptions, 15 pass deflections and 2 Touchdowns. Lol WUT. For comparison, Mervin Leonard won the award last year and Purchase went ahead and put up 2 more tackles, 2 more forced fumbles, 3 more interceptions, the same number of pass deflections AND one more TD than Leonard's impressive season last year.
A couple other rapid fire considerations:
Shawn Oakman Jr (DE) Kansas City - Oakman Jr. tallied an incredible 25 tackles for a loss, and 4 sacks from the defensive end position this season for the Coyotes. Unfortunately he was arrested and retired on September 8th.
Allen Josh (LB) San Antonio - Allen Josh had a very impressive season for the Marshals leading the league in sacks with 7 while also compiling 115 tackles, 1 Interception, 5 pass deflections and a safety. Those are eye popping numbers from a LB that definitely deserves some consideration.
Mervin Leonard (CB) Portland Pythons - This wouldn't really be a "Merv's Corner" if I didn't nominate myself and plead my case for a second straight Defensive Player of the Year, would it? Coming off a successful rookie season Leonard stayed down in the DSFL for a second season where he helped lead the Pythons to once again have the #1 Defence in the league in every category. Leonard put together a season consisting of 66 tackles, 4 Interceptions, 13 pass deflections and 1 Touchdown. Sure, all those other guys had a better statistical season but here is one highly underrated stat that isn't tracked on the index that voters should consider : Mervin Leonard contracted more STIs than any other DSFL player this season. If that isn't worthy of a nomination, then I don't know what is.
Merv
