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+---- Thread: *S44 Mexico City Aztecs Early Season Review: Winners & Losers (/showthread.php?tid=46632)
*S44 Mexico City Aztecs Early Season Review: Winners & Losers - Tmoney6996 - 07-27-2023
On this week’s column of Aztec Weekly, we'll break down the Winners and Losers on the Aztecs for the first third of the Prospect Season, as well as breakdown what we hope to see from these bright young rookies as they look to solidify their draft stock and get those recruiters knocking down their doors.
We'll start off with the winners for the first 3 weeks. Not only did these players show that they belong in the league, but brought out the best in their teammates as well. Showing not only themselves, but the world, why the Aztecs were so keen on bringing them into the fold for this upcoming season.
Winners:
A. Waffle, TE - the clear winner of the receiving core in the first third of the season. They hauled in a tremendous 14 catches, 142 yards, and 2 TDs through-out these first 3 games. They set the tone very early on in game 1 against Davos with 5 receptions, 81 yards, and a TD on a whopping 15 targets. They cooled off ever so slightly in game 2 against San Diego, only catching 4 passes for 25 yards. Game 3 is where Waffle really put it all together, snagging 5 catches for 36 yards and another TD with the 3rd highest target rate of the team. Coming in as one of the lone blocking TEs on the team, Waffle was fighting an uphill battle against their counterparts Passarelli and Blake, but made the most of their opportunity in this balanced, pro-style offense.
B. Birtha, CB - After a sluggish start in Game 1 against Davos, where Birtha only posted 4 tackles and 2 PBU (and was also picked on by the outstanding receiving core of Davos), Birtha turned it around with a brilliant display of raw athletic ability in Game 2 with a team high 8 tackles and another 2 PBU, to go along with a forced fumble. In Game 3, Birtha showed out, showing what the rising star could truly become. They again led the team in tackles with 8, but had 4 PBUs and another Forced Fumble to go along with a shutdown performance against some of this year’s brightest stars.
J. Parano, WR - It was evident as soon as camp started this year that Parano was destined to be a household name at the conclusion of this Prospect season, but no one could have predicted how well this rookie would adjust to the league in only 3 short games. In game 1, Parano was targeted a team high 16 times, hauling in 10 of those for 104 yards and solo TD. Despite his stellar performance, the Aztecs couldn't keep up. Was it perhaps the need to play catch-up that caused Parano to overperform in game 1? Well, Parano shut that down very quickly with another early score in Game 2, where they posted another 6 reception 100-yard game. In game 3, the Redcoats clearly had a gameplan to shut Parano down, and try as they might, Parano still managed to haul in 6 receptions, on a team high 13 targets, for 107 yards. However, the biggest thing Parano did in this game though, was pulling enough attention away from his counterpart, Lopez de Castilla, and allowed the other rookie to make their own statement on the game.
Aztecs Offensive Line - There were plenty of questions coming into the start of this season surrounding this offensive line, but through 3 games, this unit looks rock solid. Not only did they only allow 4 sacks in these first 3 games, which is a league low, some could argue that they were the entire driving force behind the offensive showcase that was put on in games 2 and 3. We'll watch closely as this unit continues to grow and work together.
Now we come to the tough part of these early season check-ins with Teams. Players that have had sluggish starts, and need to get the train righted in order for their draft stock to not plummet too far. These players have the talent, no doubt, otherwise they'd have never made it this far. But this first third of the season really left a lot on the table for these players.
Losers:
T. TurnDaBallOva, QB - What a rough first 3 games for this kid. While coming on in relief for all 3 games for the current starter, A. Gausman, TT posted some truly terrifying stat lines.
Game 1: 9/16, 104 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs
Game 2: 8/12, 72 yards, 0 TDs, 1 sack for -6 yards
Game 3: 9/15, 156 yards, 1 TD
While game 3 is clearly the best the rookie has looked in the early stages of this season, the Aztecs were up big when they made the switch to bring in TT, so we don't really know if these stats truly show the growth needed at this level, or if it was simply an outcome of circumstance. With the team mulling some changes to the lineup to provide more opportunities for this team of rookies, we'll be keeping our eye on TT to see if they can continue to grow after this sluggish start and build on the momentum from an otherwise solid Game 3.
T. Passarelli, TE - After coming out of the gates hot in Game 1, where they posted a respectable 5 catches for 40 yards on 8 targets, Passarelli really struggled to find their footing in both Games 2 and 3, where they posted an abysmal 1 catch for 7 yards (on 4 targets) and 1 catch for 11 yards (on 5 targets), respectively. Being one of the top Vertical Threat TEs in this year’s class, the sky was limit heading into these games. But after 3 games, many pundits, myself included, are left scratching their heads wondering what went wrong. There is still time for Passarelli to find their footing in this slower paced, pro-style offense, but it's hard to see how this highly touted prospect can recover. They'll need to make some changes to their game if they want to find themselves getting the call on draft night.
There are several players that showed why they were invited to the Prospect games in the first place, and while some have found their footing, there are others that only showed glimpses. We take a look at a few honorable mentions that we feel didn't fall into either of our two previous categories, but wanted to highlight anyways.
Honorable Mentions
M. Crane, RB - Crane had a solid, but up and down first 3 games of the season. After posting a measly 52 yards on 11 carries (where the Aztecs were trailing for most the game) Crane turned in a POTG performance in Game 2 with 116 yards on 20 carries and an emphatic TD to put the team up late. But, even with the Aztecs leading the way for most of game 3, Crane couldn't find their footing and only garnered 53 yards on 17 carries. All in all, RB performance these days can swing drastically from game to game, but there's still hope that they can solidify themselves as a top back in this year’s draft as long as they can remain a consistent part of the Aztecs gameplan moving forward.
J. Battle, LB - Battle is another case of needing to see more consistency before we can get a read on them before the draft. After Game 1, everyone was raving about Battle's playmaking ability and nose for the ball. They posted a solid 5 tackles, 1 TFL, and 2 sacks in the loss. However, they were completely invisible in Game 2, not even registering an assisted tackle. Battle returned to form in Game 3 highlighting their ability to rush the passer with another sack, 4 tackles and 1 TFL. Again, as stated above with Crane, Battle has the tools to be an elite player for the Aztecs this year, but we'll need to see a more consistent version of them as the season continues before we can commit to him being a high pick in this year’s draft.
*Note from the Editor* it has come to our attention that our statisticians incorrectly listed J. Battle's stats from Game two of the Prospect games. They posted 4 tackles, with 1 sack, and 2 pass defends. This was incorrectly stated in our recent write-up of J. Battle, and the Aztec Weekly apologizes to Mr. Battle and their agent for the mistake.
Looking ahead, we'll have more analysis on the Aztecs as the season rolls along. Who will be the draft stock winners and losers in the next third of the season? Will the Aztecs continue their own hot streak and ride their 2-game win streak all the way to the championship? We'll have all that and more here in next week’s Aztec Weekly column.
RE: S44 Mexico City Aztecs Early Season Review: Winners & Losers - wizard_literal - 07-27-2023
I live for the prospect bowl recaps.
RE: S44 Mexico City Aztecs Early Season Review: Winners & Losers - Weaves - 07-27-2023
ah yes the prospect bowl game recaps, i remember writing these