02-09-2020, 03:46 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-11-2020, 08:34 AM by Fordhammer.)
:dsfl: S21 Rankings: Week 10 Edition :dsfl:
We’re 10 weeks in and the league has really settled into shape. At this point the ranking in each division is close to being set, and 2 teams have already confirmed their place in the playoffs; Minnesota in the NFC and Myrtle Beach in the SFC. It’s no wonder that eyes are already turning to the post-season. Let’s have a look at the teams, their performances over the season and how our S21 rookies have done in the last 4 weeks.
Team Performances
Stats are taken over the whole season.
NFC
Kansas City Coyotes
Season: 4-6, Last 4: 2-2
The good:
1st Time of possession differential (+5.2 min/G), 2nd 3rd Down efficiency (41.4%), 1st Turnovers Lost (0.6/G), 1st Pass Yds Allowed (117.2/G), 2nd Pass Cmp allowed (48.2%), T-1st Yds/Attempt Allowed (5.1)
The Bad:
5th Rush Yds Allowed (203.6/G), 6th Yards/Carry allowed (5.5), 5th Sacks (2.3/G)
The summary:
Kansas City are an unlucky team, or maybe just the least clutch in the league. They keep their games close but have come up short a bunch of times, being 0-5 in one possession results. Still, they’ll be in the playoffs barring any last-minute disasters, and they won’t mind being on the road (HOME: 2-4, 20 Points/G, 21 Points Allowed/G, AWAY: 2-2, 17.5 Points/G, 12.3 Points allowed/G). Some improvement is needed by the Defensive line to get to opposing QB’s and stop the run, but I’m not sure there’s enough time left in the season to make these changes. They have 2 games still to play against Minnesota, their playoff opponents, which should give them a good opportunity to perfect a game-plan for the post-season. With their good secondary unit, they’ll be looking to slow down Vega whilst allowing their excellent RB, and possible MVP, Rando Cardrissian to run the game.
Minnesota Grey Ducks
Season: 8-2, Last 4: 3-1
The good:
1st Points Scored (27.7/G), 2nd Point allowed (15.7/G), 1st Points differential (12.0/G), 2nd Time of possession differential (+3.9 min/G), 1st First Downs (19.1/G), 1st 3rd Down efficiency (42.3%), 1st Yds (361.6/G), 1st Rush Yds (212.3/G), 1st Pass Cmp (58.5%), 1st Yds/Attempt (6.2), T-2nd Turnovers lost (0.9/G), 2nd Sacks allowed (2.1/G), 1st First Downs allowed (14.8/G), 2nd 3rd down efficiency allowed (31.6%), 2nd Yds Allowed (296.9/G), 1st Rush Yds allowed (145.7/G), T-1st Turnovers (1.4/G), 2nd Sacks (3.5/G)
The bad:
5th Pass Yds Allowed (151.2/G), 5th Yds/Attempt allowed (5.6)
The summary:
Minnesota have brushed off a disappointing week 8 performance against Myrtle Beach to pick up 2 emphatic victories at home, 35-10 against TIJ and 44-10 against POR, securing a playoff berth at the same time. This is no time to take their foot off the gas though, it’s crucial that they do enough to secure home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Their record is tied with Myrtle Beach at 8-2 (I’m unsure of the tiebreaker). They have a game against Kansas at home, which they should win, followed by 3 road games; Portland, Kansas, Norfolk. It’s not the toughest schedule but winning out will be a tall order.
The offence still remains the strength of this team, with Zach Vega having an off-game now and them but still being by far the best QB in the league. The defence has made big improvements in the 2nd part of this season (First 5 games: 19.8 Points/G, last 5 games: 11.6 Points/G), propelling them into the 2nd best defence in the league.
Portland Pythons
Season: 1-9, Last 4: 0-4
The good:
1st Yds/Carry (5.1), T-2nd Turnovers lost (0.9/G)
The bad:
6th Points scored (9.5/G), 6th Points allowed (27.7/G), 6th Points differential (-18.2/G), 6th time of possession differential (-9.0 min/G), 6th First Downs (11.6/G), 6th 3rd down efficiency (22.0%), 6th Yds (239.5/G), 6th Pass Yds (93.6/G), 6th Rush Yds (145.9/G), 6th Pass Cmp (42.2%), 6th Yds/Pass (9.1), 6th Yds/Attempt (3.8/G), 6th Sacks allowed (5.1/G), 6th First downs allowed (20.1/G), 6th 3rd down efficiency allowed (45.1%), 6th Yds allowed (391.8/G), 6th Pass Yds Allowed (172.2/G), 6th Rush Yds allowed (218.6/G), 6th Pass Cmp allowed (56.3%), 5th Yds/Pass allowed (11.0), 6th Yds/Attempt allowed (6.2), 5th Yds/Carry allowed (5.1), 6th Turnovers (0.8/G), 6th Sacks (2.2/G)
The takeaway:
Portland’s season is over. To make the playoffs, they’d need to win out and for Kansas City to go 0-4 in their final games. They should instead turn their focus towards next season in the hopes that they might actually compete. The first steps have already been taken, new management have come in and they’ve set to work fixing the worst O-line in the DSFL (weeks 1-8: 4.8 Yds/Rush, 5.8 Sacks/G, week 9&10: 6.1 Yds/Rush, 2.5 Sacks/G). This still leaves a mountain of issues to deal with on both sides of the ball, but it’s a start. All levels of the defence need work as they trail in pretty much every category here. They’ll really need to knock the next draft out of the park and will probably be hoping for a majority of their better starters to stay down next season.
SFC
Myrtle Beach Buccaneers
Season: 8-2, Last 4: 4-0
The good:
1st Points allowed (10.3/G), 2nd Point differential (9.3/G), 2nd Rush Yds (211.6/G), 2nd Yds/Pass (11.3), 2nd Yds/Carry (5.0/G), 1st Sacks Allowed (2.0/G), 2nd First Downs allowed (14.9/G), 1st 3rd down efficiency allowed (30.2%), 1st Yds allowed (283.6/G), 1st Rush Yds Allowed (145.8/G), 2nd Yds/Pass allowed (10.2), T-1st Yds/Attempt allowed (5.1), 1st Yds/Carry allowed (4.1)
The bad:
5th 3rd down efficiency (32.6%), 5th Pass Yds (130.8/G)
The summary:
Myrtle Beach have been on fire recently, picking up 5 wins in a row including a blowout victory against their division rivals Norfolk, 44-6, and a season signature win against likely title contenders the Minnesota Grey Ducks. The recent trade for HeHateMe PickSix (a move initially questioned by myself) has elevated the defence and during this winning streak they’ve scored 25.2 Points/G and allowed only 7.2 Points/G, making them the team to beat at the moment. They’ll have to keep the momentum as they won’t want to go on the road in the playoffs, with their performances away from home a shadow of their usual selves (HOME: 25.4 Points/G, 5.2 Points allowed/G, ROAD: 13.8 Points/G, 15.4 Points allowed/G).
Whilst on the field they’ve experienced tremendous success recently, the team has been having issues off the field. Reports from the media have seen whispers of tampering pointed in the direction of the Buccaneers (though there has been no substantive proof offered). The uproar caused by this and a growing bitter rivalry with the Norfolk Seawolves saw an ill-tempered confrontation between the 2 teams, with the Myrtle Beach Co-GM being handed a fine for this by the league head office. Not a good look, nor are the accusations of a culture of bullying in the locker room (again, questionable accusations). Myrtle Beach have by far been the team that has been loudest and most boisterous about their chances at the title this year, and these off-field issues lay an even bigger target on their backs for criticism if they come up short.
Norfolk Seawolves
Season: 6-4, Last 4: 2-2
The good:
2nd First Downs (17.4/G), 2nd Yds (358.8/G), 1st Pass Yds (181.5/G), 2nd Pass Cmp (56.7%), 2nd Yds/Attempt (6.0), 1st Pass Cmp allowed (47.4%), T-1st Turnovers (1.4/G)
The bad:
5th Yds/Carry (4.7), 5th Turnovers Lost (1.7/G), 5th Yds allowed (336.8/G), 6th Yds/Pass allowed (11.2/G)
The summary:
The Seawolves bounced back from a bad week against the Buccaneers with a dominant performance on the road in Tijuana. While they’re not 100% safe yet, this puts them in good control of 2nd place in the SFC. The bad news; the road to the Ultimini goes through Myrtle Beach, which is where they just had their asses handed to them 44-6. Tempers have been flaring up recently between the rejuvenated Seawolves and the boisterous Buccaneers, we could be getting an ill-tempered Conference championship. I think Norfolk will ultimately fall short this year, but they’ll be able to keep a bunch of pieces around for next year and could be real contenders.
Tijuana Luchadores
Season: 3-7, Last 4: 1-3
The good:
1st Yds/Pass (11.4), 2nd Pass Yds allowed (137.4), 1st Yds/Pass allowed (9.4), T-1st Yds/Attempt allowed (5.1), 2nd Yds/Carry allowed (4.6), 1st Sacks (3.8)
The bad:
5th Points scored (15.5/G), 5th Points allowed (22.1/G), 5th Points differential (-6.6/G), 5th Time of possession differential (-1.7 min/G), 5th Yds (308.6/G), 5th Rush Yds (158.1/G), 5th Pass Cmp (48.4%), 6th Yds/carry (4.5), 6th Turnovers lost (1.7/G), 5th Sacks allowed (3.5/G), 5th 3rd down efficiency allowed (37.1%), 5th Pass Cmp allowed (54.7%), 5th Turnovers (0.9/G)
The summary:
With 2 more games against the Buccaneers on their schedule, Tijuana are another team that might be looking to next year rather than focusing on the playoffs. They’ve been a dominant team in the DSFL for a long time, but it’s unravelled fast for them (though not as fast as it has for Portland). The blame for this should fall mostly on the offence, the defence has been at least OK in most efficiency stats whereas the offence languishes close to the bottom of the league. Last in yards/carry isn’t a good look for a team that took a RB in the 1st round of the draft (Ed Barker, 5 OA). Potentially they need to look at fundamental issues with their scheme and then retooling the offence with some new skill players. Just to show how bad it’s been, 2 of their wins have come against Portland (the only other win was week 2 at home vs Norfolk).
The Rankings
Stats are taken from weeks 6-10.
FD = First Down, MT = Missed Tackle, YPA = Yds/Attempt, YPC = Yds/Catch or Yds/Carry, tkl = Tackle, TFL = Tackle For loss, INT = Interception, PD = Pass defended, FR = Fumble Recovery
1. Rando Cardrissian, RB +5
Rushing – 19.8 Att/G, 99.5 Yds/G, 5.0 YPC, 5 TD’s, 4.5 FD/G
Receiving – 0.5 Catches/G, 4.8 Yds/G, 9.6 YPC, 0.2 FD/G
Other – 0.8 Pancakes/G, 0 Sacks allowed
Cardrissian has slowly been moving up these rankings and finally he’s where he deserves to be. #1. This guy is the heart of the Kansas City offence and a potential MVP. On the season, he’s #2 in rushing yards (934) but #1 in TD’s (13, +1 receiving TD) and has just been absolutely beastly. #2 in rushing TD’s is way down with 8. His 43-yard touchdown run against Norfolk was a statement in which he said, ‘I am the #1 RB in the league’. And you know what, that just might be true.
2. Holden Summers, LB +2
28 tkl, 1 MT, 1 Sack, 2 PD, 1 FF
Summers currently sits T-6th for sacks in the league with 6 sacks, and good enough for T-2nd amongst rookies, all from an OLB position that sees him drop into coverage on a significant number of snaps. He’s just as good at defending the pass as he is blitzing the QB, with 7 passes defended (3rd amongst all linebackers, 1st amongst rookie linebackers), making him a great chess piece to move around and a pain for any QB to deal with.
3. Immanuel Blackstone, DE/DT +8
21 tkl, 5 TFL, 1 MT, 2 Sacks, 1 FF, 1 FR
Tijuana aren’t having a great season, but none of that is down to Blackstone. He’s played all across the line for Tijuana and has been the most consistent performer for them. From the beginning of this series, I’ve compared him and another EDGE prospect, Daniel Winkler. Now though, it’s not fair to compare then, Blackstone has sped away and turned into a real force; 15 TFL, 5 Sacks and 2 FF on the season – he might not win the Ultimini with Tijuana but I’m pretty sure he’s secured a high draft pick for himself, probably as the first defensive line player off the board.
4. HeHateMe PickSix, CB New
11 tkl, 1 MT, 11 PD, 2 INT
After being traded to Myrtle Beach, PickSix has exploded into life, defending a pass for every tackle he’s had to make, and grabbing a pair of INTs to boot. This is a huge turnaround from his frankly poor form in Portland (6 games 3 PD 0 INT vs 4 games 11 PD 2 INT) and propels him to be my #1 CB. A warning though, CB has been a fickle position, no CB who takes #1 in my rankings has lasted long. First Dax Frost, who’s been outshined, then Minnesota’s Speedo Meter, not even a first team player anymore, and then most recently Jeremy Quellers of Kansas City, who’s form has dropped a little over the last 4 weeks. Clearly, it’s difficult to be the best cornerback in the league for a long time, when one bad play can ruin your game.
5. Tequila Sunrise, WR -3
4.2 Catches/G, 49.2 Yds/G, 11.7 YPC, 1 TD, 3.0 FD/G, 0.8 Drops/G
The former RB remains the favourite weapon in Norfolk. No-one has seen more receptions than Sunrise and this has helped put T-2nd in receiving yards and T-6th in receiving TD’s. He sees more work in the short and intermediate passing game than deep down field highlighted by a fairly low YPC, but he’s a reliable pair of hands who’s shown he can move the chains, and so he rounds out the top 5.
6. Jeffrey LaVert, S +1
26 tkl, 1 TFL, 2 PD, 2 INT
Now a consistent sight in the top 10, LaVert has also continued his trend of being one of the leading tacklers in the league, 6th with 90 tackles. A pair of INTs as well is nice to see. LaVert is on a defence full of good players; PickSix & Frost in the secondary, Stephens & Mouseman just in front of him, Boucher, Eagle & Longshot on the defensive line, and LaVert really helps to tie all the units together, cleaning up a lot of run plays but also covering running backs and tight ends. He’ll be one of the top picks in the upcoming draft.
7. Baby Yoda, RB -4
Rushing – 19.0 Att/G, 98.8 Yds/G, 4.9 YPC, 1 TD, 5.8 FD/G, 2 FUM (0 Lost)
Receiving – 2.2 Catches/G, 21.5 Yds/G, 9.8 YPC, 1.2 FD/G
Other – 0.5 Pancakes/G, 0 Sacks allowed
Another consistent top-10er. Come the end of the year, Yoda will lead all rookies in yards from scrimmage thanks to a small part in the passing game. He leads all running backs in receptions (17 for 149 yds) and is 3rd in rushing (920 yds). He cedes #1 RB though to Cardrissian due to a relatively low number of touchdowns, explained by a sharing a crowded backfield with Brehio (8 TD’s), McMaster (0 TD’s) and Skuff (2 TD’s).
8. Douglas Quail, OL +12
4.8 Pancakes/G, 0 Sacks allowed
Still no sacks allowed this year, and he’s increased his rate of pancakes. With him on one side of the line, Myrtle Beach now have the best O-line in the league, with fellow rookies Dylan Green (T, 0 Sacks allowed) and Simon Tremblay (G, 2 Sacks allowed) also contributing to a line that allows only 2 sacks a game.
9. Rapid Eagle, DT +19
16 tkl, 1 TFL, 1 MT, 5 Sacks
Qual has been a force on the O-line, and Eagle is his compliment on the D-line. Myrtle Beach haven’t struggled with sacks, but they’re definitely not league leaders either. Eagle is doing his best to change it, and his 5 sacks over the last 4 games takes him to 7 for the season, good enough for T-4th overall, 1st amongst rookies and 1st amongst DT’s. 3 of those sacks came against a still-weak Portland O-line, but they were critical in a close game. He’s unlikely to have a game like that again, but he’s still easily the #1 DT on the board right now.
10. Hunter Young, EDGE +4
18 tkl, 2 TFL, 2 MT, 2 Sacks
Young is still a major part of a fairly productive Grey Duck defence and has been probably the most consistent lineman they have across the whole season, with his sack total now standing at 6. He sits a bit further back than most of the other DE players in this class and so doesn’t have to many TFL’s, something he may hope to work on in the last few games.
11. Chris Kross, WR +23
3.0 Catches/G, 61.5 Yds/G, 20.5 YPC, 0.8 Drops/G, 2.8 FD/G
Chris Kross leads the league in receiving yards and has been fantastic for Kansas in getting big chunk players to move the ball down the field. Pretty much every catch Kross gets is turned into a first down, and he’s become the go-to guy for moving the chains. He doesn’t quite break into the top 10 here because he only has the 1 TD on the season, with the run game being relied upon when Kansas reach the redzone.
12. Juniped Catfish, RB +25
Rushing – 15.2 Att/G, 86.5 Yds/G, 5.7 YPC, 5 TD’s, 3.0 FD/G
Receiving – 0.2 Catches/G, 0.0 Yds/G, 0.0 YPC, 0.5 Drops/G
Other – 0.2 Pancakes/G, 0 Sacks allowed
Catfish has been pushing Cardrissian close for the best rookie RB in this split of games, matching him with TD’s losing on yardage but beating him in efficiency. He’s been the slightly favoured back on scoring opportunities for Norfolk, with their other RB (Robin Reynolds) not getting any TD’s during this period, and if he continues this surge he stands an outside shot of being RBotY.
13. Matt Murphy, CB/S +17
19 tkl, 1MT, 7 PD, 3 INT
Murphy has played all across the backfield for Minnesota this year, starting as safety, then nickel CB, and now seeing work as a boundary CB. He’s excelled here, grabbing 3 INTs that put him T-1st in the league with 2 of them coming against Tijuana. The secondary has been one of the weaker aspects of Minnesota’s team, so it will be interesting to see where Murphy plays in the next set of games as they look to cover their weaknesses.
14. Jerome Davis, WR +7
3.2 Catches/G, 36.5 Yds/G, 11.2 YPC, 2 TD’s, 0.8 Drops/G, 1.8 FD/G
Minnesota have gone through a bit of an offensive re-shuffle recently. 2nd year TE Blake Gragg has moved to take more snaps on the outside to allow 1st year TE Wolfcastle to come in and get more play-time next to the line. This has worked well for the team and really cemented Gragg and Davis as a 1a/1b option, with Davis being the more traditional speedy WR. With this many threats on the field, it’s been very difficult for opposing teams to cover all of them in the redzone, allowing Davis & Gragg to both get multiple TD’s and leading to 79 points in the last 2 games. Davis currently sits with 4 TD’s, good enough for T-3rd in the league and T-1st amongst rookies, and I think he can be confident of improving that, especially with Woodward (also 4 TD’s and also a Grey Duck) seeing a slightly diminished role in this new-look offence.
15. Herb Altee, S +3
16 tkl, 2 PD, 1 INT, 1 DefTD
This guy knows how to make an impact. He has 2 defensive touchdowns this year, more than any other player. He also has more sacks than any other rookie safety so he’s shown he’s great both in the blitz and in coverage. Norfolk’s secondary has been pretty great, and Altee is probably a big reason for it. He’ll need a good finish to the season, but if he can make more plays he’ll be a contender for either DRotY or DBotY.
16. Douglas Quaid, LB +15
31 tkl, 1 MT, 3 Sacks
He’s making tackles at roughly the same rate as he is last split, but by consistently being a menace to QB’s he’s added another dimension to his game than just the traditional run-stopping LB he’s shown so far, and so he jumps back up the rankings. He’s a little bit behind the other leading tacklers (4th with 95).
17. Jackmerius Tachthetritrix, DE -12
9 tkl, 5 TFL, 1 MT, 1 Sack
A little bit of a fall back down-to-earth after picking up great numbers between weeks 3-6 (19 tkl, 14 TFL, 3 Sacks), but he still leads the league in tackles for loss. On a Portland defence that has been abysmal, he is the only true standout player.
18. Jeremy Quellers, CB -17
14 tkl, 3 PD, 1 FF, 1 FR
Another player who’s form has dropped. Perhaps unsurprising, he was previously on track to beat the season record for INTs. He’s still one of the top CB”s in the league, T-1st for INTs, 3rd for PDs, and now a FF/FR to boot. He was my early favourite to win DBotY but now a few other players have closed the gap, he’ll need to rediscover his top form to stake his claim.
19. Zero Two, QB +7
27.8 Att/G, 14.8 Cmp/G, 53.2% Cmp, 2 TD, 0 INT, 162.5 Yds/G, 5.9 YPA, 11.0 YPC, 76.5 QBR
1.5 RushAtt/G, 3.5 RushYds/G, 2.3 RushYPC, 2.5 Sacks/G
Not spectacular numbers but not terrible either. Two hasn’t turned over the ball once in the last 4 weeks, and the lack of touchdowns isn’t concerning given Kansas City’s preference for running the ball in the endzone. Her QBR, YPA & YPC are all 2nd best for QB’s in this period (behind Chris Ramos) but we’ve yet to see her really take over a game. Abilities as a game manager will need to improve in order to take some wins from their one-possession games (currently 0-5).
20. Logan Noble Jr, RB New
Rushing – 15.2 Att/G, 98.8 Yds/G, 6.5 YPC, 1 TD, 4.2 FD/G, 1 FUM (Lost)
Receiving – 1.0 Catches/G, 8.2 Yds/G, 8.2 YPC, 0.8 Drops/G, 0.2 FD/G
Other – 0.2 Pancakes/G, 0 Sacks allowed
Noble Jr. cracked the top 5 of this list when he was a Grey Duck backing up Darrel Williams during their Ultimini win. Being drafted by Portland, their poor form hurt him but he’s risen above and become a shining light on the offence. He’s a guy who needs to get more touches because his efficiency is just so good. 6.5 YPC the last 4 weeks is highest amongst all rookies, and his 5.5 YPC on the season is 2nd for players with more than 50 carries (behind only Sarvepally). He’s not a had a lot of opportunities to punch the ball in and his lack of touchdowns, plus fumbling the ball, hurts his ranking here.
21. Richard Gardner, OL +4
3.5 Pancakes/G, 0 Sacks allowed
Another immovable O-line guy, he’s done a good job protecting his QB, The Xekutioner, though this is made a little easier given that Xekutioner is a mobile QB. He’s knocking down guys at a decent rate, but he can only do so much to help one of the worst rushing offences in the league.
22. Ryan Scott, LB New
45 tkl, 1 MT, 3 Sacks, 1 PD
Another rookie LB in and around that top group of linebackers. The 3 sacks here are the first he’s had all season, and it’s nice to complement being #2 in the league in tackles. Very little chance of being LBotY given Inspectah Deck has had an absurd season, but a dark horse for best rookie LB maybe.
23. Chip Otle, DE New
16 tkl, 4 TFL, 3 MT, 3 Sacks
A good stretch for Otle, he now leads all Kansas players in sacks. They rank 5th as a team in sacks with 2.3/G, so they’ve been in desperate need of a sack artist like Otle to come forth and make a play.
24. Chris Ramos, QB New
20.8 Att/G, 11.5 Cmp/G, 55.4% Cmp, 5 TD’s, 3 INT’s, 142.5 Yds/G, 6.9 YPA, 12.4 YPC, 86.6 QBR
1.0 RushAtt/G, 12.2 RushYds/G, 12.2 RushYPC, 1 RushTD, 1.2 Sacks/G
This has been Ramos best stretch of play all season, and he now leads all rookie QB’s in touchdowns. He also finally has a QB:INT ratio above 1. This all comes on the back of great offensive line play. He’s standing on the shoulders of giants and rewarding them by shepherding them to 5 wins in a row.
25. Reynaud Haugland, TE New
3.2 Catches/G, 36.8 Yds/G, 11.5 YPC, 1.0 Drops/G, 2.2 FD/G, 1.2 Pancakes/G, 0 Sacks allowed
Fairly good numbers for a TE, matching a lot of the WR’s in this class whilst still providing a decent service blocking for his QB, Cal Lidious. Would like to see him used a bit more in the redzone to see if he can grab a couple of scores.
26. Alyx Sabor, WR New
3.2 Catches/G, 37.8 Yds/G, 11.8 YPC, 1 TD, 0.8 Drops/G, 1.8 FD/G
Coming into this season, I thought Sabor would be one of the top receivers in the league. That hasn’t quite materialised, he’s been the 1B option to Kemorian Moore’s 1A on a Myrtle Beach team that runs through Sarvepally. Ramos’ decent run of form gives room for optimism for Sabor’s production, but I think it’s now unlikely this late in the season that he’ll mount a serious challenge for WRotY.
27. Jack Marnette, CB +2
15 tkl, 1 MT, 5 PD
I’ve already mentioned the trade between Portland and Myrtle Beach and Marnette got the rough end of this deal. Portland will be happy though.
6 games with PickSix: 8 TD’s allowed, 60.37% Pass Cmp, 10.67 YPP, 6.44 YPA
4 games with Marnette: 4 TD’s allowed, 50.44% Pass Cmp, 11.68 YPP, 5.89 YPA
Interesting to note is that those 4 TD’s with Marnette all came against Minnesota, in the other 3 games they didn’t allow a single passing touchdown, something Portland didn’t accomplish even once with PickSix on the team. So this seems to be a trade that has worked for all sides; Myrtle Beach have got a playmaker who clearly wasn’t doing his best work in Portland, and the Pythons have someone who’s improved the whole defence, even if he’s not made a huge number of flashy plays yet.
28. James Lewandoswki, TE +4
3.8 Catches/G, 34.2 Yds/G, 9.0 YPC, 1 TD, 0.8 Drops/G, 1.2 FD/G, 1 FUM (0 Lost), 0.8 Pancakes/G, 0 Sacks allowed
The top 2 rookie TE’s both belong to Norfolk. They have remarkably similar numbers in terms of catches, but Lewnadoswki is used slightly less as a blocker and slightly more on redzone attempts.
29. Sardine Beaner, DT -21
11 tkl, 1 FF
A slightly underwhelming series of games from Beaner. Despite forcing a fumble, Beaner had no sacks and loses the #1 DT ranking to Rapid Eagle. The whole Minnesota D-line has cooled down a little, going from 4.2 sacks/G in the first 5 games of the season to 2.8 sacks/G in weeks 6-10. They could do with generating more pressure to help out their secondary in the last few games.
30. Remon Kurisito, WR -21
2.5 Catches/G, 28.8 Yds/G, 11.5 YPC, 1.0 Drops/G, 1.5 FD/G
Another WR, like Sabor, who I foresaw great things from. This has been his worst section of the season, and he’s still 4th in total yardage of all WR’s, but it’s clear that Sunrise has become the favoured option. Still, this means Kurisito will probably see more CB2 coverage that might give him a chance to shine.
31. Jeff Personsacker, DE -15
14 tkl, 2 TFL, 2 MT, 1 Sack
Starting to form a good EDGE combo with Dorfus Jimbo Jr in Norfolk. His numbers aren’t crazy but they’re decent; 12 TFL and 5 Sacks across the season, probably puts him at around DE #4 for rookies.
32. Trevor Mouseman, LB +7
42 tkl, 1 MT
LaVert was Myrtle Beach’s main tackler at the start of the season, but Mouseman has slowly taken over the role, allowing LaVert to be more involved in the passing game. Mouseman sits #3 in the tackle rankings behind only Scott and MacGregor. He’s not really registered many big plays (only 1 sack) but he doesn’t need to with Warren Stephens sitting beside him.
33. Gregor MacGregor, LB -20
42 tkl, 1 TFL, 8 MT
MacGregor may be the leading tackler in the league (119 tkl, 1 TFL) but they’ve had a recent problem with missing tackles, 8 tackles missed in a 4 game-period drops him a little way down the rankings. Fix that problem and he’ll be back in contention for best rookie LB.
34. Dorfus Jimbo Jr, DE New
11 tkl, 6 TFL, 2 MT, 2 Sacks
I mentioned Jimbo Jr above, but this is the first time he’s made these rankings. He’s finally starting to make a number of plays, something he hasn’t really done this season (only 3 sacks total). He’s good at making sure his tackles are for loss, which is nice to see. Hopefully he can maintain his form in pressuring the QB.
35. Andrew Nova, RB -12
Rushing – 16.8 Att/G, 78.0 Yds/G, 4.7 YPC, 2 TD’s, 4.8 FD/G
Receiving – 1.0 Catches/G, 6.5 Yds/G, 6.5 YPC, 0.0 Drops/G, 0.0 FD/G,
Other – 0.2 Pancakes/G, 0 Sacks allowed
Earlier this season, it was Cardrissian as 1a and Nova as 1b. Now with Cardrissian’s form, it’s closer to just a 1 & 2 situation. Nova has still been a productive back, 7th in the league in rushing yards, but just the 2 touchdowns. It’s always good to have a committee, but it’s clear who’s in charge of the backfield.
36. Cal Lidious, QB -16
30.8 Att/G, 16.8 Cmp/G, 54.5% Cmp, 2 TD’s, 4 INTs, 173.2 Yds/G, 5.6 YPA, 10.3 YPC, 64.4 QBR
Rushing – 0.8 RushAtt/G, 3.5 RushYds/G, 2.3 RushYPC, 2.5 Sacks/G
Bit of a dropoff recently from our #1 overall pick. Despite the not-great form, Norfolk continue to put the ball in Cal’s hands, and he’s at least doing a good job of picking up volume, being able to feed WR’s Sunrise and Kurisitto and TE’s Haugland and Lewandoswki. His current form isn’t good enough for the playoffs though, he needs to cut out the turnovers otherwise he’ll put his team in a precarious position.
37. Pete Miller, DT New
13 tkl, 2 TFL, 2 MT, 2 Sacks
Miller makes his way back onto the list with his first sacks of the season. Another one from the Norfolk defensive line, they’re heating up at the right time.
38. Bobby Portis, CB New
11 tkl, 1 MT, 2 PD, 1 INT, 1 DefTD
He had a nice 29-yard INT return in the week 7 Minnesota game which puts him on this list. One of 3 players from Norfolk in the last 4 weeks to return an INT for a TD (Herb Altee, Rub Chikin against Tijuana). Some more consistent defence wuld be nice to see as well.
39. Dax Frost, CB -27
11 tkl, 2 PD
Not the best personal stats, but he’s part of a strong Myrtle Beach secondary that’s been performing well. It’d be interesting to see him switch assignments with PickSix, who would be the more productive player? How much is down to scheme?
40. The Xekutioner, QB -7
26.5 Att/G, 11.0 Cmp/G, 41.5% Cmp, 1 TD, 5 INTs, 120.2 Yds/G, 4.5 YPA, 10.9 YPC, 43.7 QBR
6.0 RushAtt/G, 41.0 RushYds/G, 6.8 RushYPC, 1 TD, 1 FUM (1 Lost), 4.5 Sacks/G
He’s certainly not here because of his passing – one of the worst stretches I’ve seen from a QB this season. Instead, Tijuana seem to be transitioning into a new offensive scheme which utilizes one of his strengths – his legs. They’re finally asking him to run a little and while they’re not mind boggling numbers, he’s getting good YPC. This is still baby-steps for a new game-plan, but I think it’s wise to get some practice in at the end of this season, so that Tijuana can come back strong next year with a mobile QB.
Honorable mentions:
Otis Allen, DT
Robin Reynolds, RB
Everett Woodward, WR
Tree Gelbman, TE
Matt Hole, DE
#1 Kicker:
Dougie Smalls, K
That’s it for this edition. The next, and final edition, won’t come until the post-season is done, but hopefully before the draft and majority of the off-season. As always, comments & criticisms are welcome. Good luck in the post-season everyone.
~~~MSombrero~~~
We’re 10 weeks in and the league has really settled into shape. At this point the ranking in each division is close to being set, and 2 teams have already confirmed their place in the playoffs; Minnesota in the NFC and Myrtle Beach in the SFC. It’s no wonder that eyes are already turning to the post-season. Let’s have a look at the teams, their performances over the season and how our S21 rookies have done in the last 4 weeks.
Team Performances
Stats are taken over the whole season.
NFC
Kansas City Coyotes
Season: 4-6, Last 4: 2-2
The good:
1st Time of possession differential (+5.2 min/G), 2nd 3rd Down efficiency (41.4%), 1st Turnovers Lost (0.6/G), 1st Pass Yds Allowed (117.2/G), 2nd Pass Cmp allowed (48.2%), T-1st Yds/Attempt Allowed (5.1)
The Bad:
5th Rush Yds Allowed (203.6/G), 6th Yards/Carry allowed (5.5), 5th Sacks (2.3/G)
The summary:
Kansas City are an unlucky team, or maybe just the least clutch in the league. They keep their games close but have come up short a bunch of times, being 0-5 in one possession results. Still, they’ll be in the playoffs barring any last-minute disasters, and they won’t mind being on the road (HOME: 2-4, 20 Points/G, 21 Points Allowed/G, AWAY: 2-2, 17.5 Points/G, 12.3 Points allowed/G). Some improvement is needed by the Defensive line to get to opposing QB’s and stop the run, but I’m not sure there’s enough time left in the season to make these changes. They have 2 games still to play against Minnesota, their playoff opponents, which should give them a good opportunity to perfect a game-plan for the post-season. With their good secondary unit, they’ll be looking to slow down Vega whilst allowing their excellent RB, and possible MVP, Rando Cardrissian to run the game.
Minnesota Grey Ducks
Season: 8-2, Last 4: 3-1
The good:
1st Points Scored (27.7/G), 2nd Point allowed (15.7/G), 1st Points differential (12.0/G), 2nd Time of possession differential (+3.9 min/G), 1st First Downs (19.1/G), 1st 3rd Down efficiency (42.3%), 1st Yds (361.6/G), 1st Rush Yds (212.3/G), 1st Pass Cmp (58.5%), 1st Yds/Attempt (6.2), T-2nd Turnovers lost (0.9/G), 2nd Sacks allowed (2.1/G), 1st First Downs allowed (14.8/G), 2nd 3rd down efficiency allowed (31.6%), 2nd Yds Allowed (296.9/G), 1st Rush Yds allowed (145.7/G), T-1st Turnovers (1.4/G), 2nd Sacks (3.5/G)
The bad:
5th Pass Yds Allowed (151.2/G), 5th Yds/Attempt allowed (5.6)
The summary:
Minnesota have brushed off a disappointing week 8 performance against Myrtle Beach to pick up 2 emphatic victories at home, 35-10 against TIJ and 44-10 against POR, securing a playoff berth at the same time. This is no time to take their foot off the gas though, it’s crucial that they do enough to secure home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Their record is tied with Myrtle Beach at 8-2 (I’m unsure of the tiebreaker). They have a game against Kansas at home, which they should win, followed by 3 road games; Portland, Kansas, Norfolk. It’s not the toughest schedule but winning out will be a tall order.
The offence still remains the strength of this team, with Zach Vega having an off-game now and them but still being by far the best QB in the league. The defence has made big improvements in the 2nd part of this season (First 5 games: 19.8 Points/G, last 5 games: 11.6 Points/G), propelling them into the 2nd best defence in the league.
Portland Pythons
Season: 1-9, Last 4: 0-4
The good:
1st Yds/Carry (5.1), T-2nd Turnovers lost (0.9/G)
The bad:
6th Points scored (9.5/G), 6th Points allowed (27.7/G), 6th Points differential (-18.2/G), 6th time of possession differential (-9.0 min/G), 6th First Downs (11.6/G), 6th 3rd down efficiency (22.0%), 6th Yds (239.5/G), 6th Pass Yds (93.6/G), 6th Rush Yds (145.9/G), 6th Pass Cmp (42.2%), 6th Yds/Pass (9.1), 6th Yds/Attempt (3.8/G), 6th Sacks allowed (5.1/G), 6th First downs allowed (20.1/G), 6th 3rd down efficiency allowed (45.1%), 6th Yds allowed (391.8/G), 6th Pass Yds Allowed (172.2/G), 6th Rush Yds allowed (218.6/G), 6th Pass Cmp allowed (56.3%), 5th Yds/Pass allowed (11.0), 6th Yds/Attempt allowed (6.2), 5th Yds/Carry allowed (5.1), 6th Turnovers (0.8/G), 6th Sacks (2.2/G)
The takeaway:
Portland’s season is over. To make the playoffs, they’d need to win out and for Kansas City to go 0-4 in their final games. They should instead turn their focus towards next season in the hopes that they might actually compete. The first steps have already been taken, new management have come in and they’ve set to work fixing the worst O-line in the DSFL (weeks 1-8: 4.8 Yds/Rush, 5.8 Sacks/G, week 9&10: 6.1 Yds/Rush, 2.5 Sacks/G). This still leaves a mountain of issues to deal with on both sides of the ball, but it’s a start. All levels of the defence need work as they trail in pretty much every category here. They’ll really need to knock the next draft out of the park and will probably be hoping for a majority of their better starters to stay down next season.
SFC
Myrtle Beach Buccaneers
Season: 8-2, Last 4: 4-0
The good:
1st Points allowed (10.3/G), 2nd Point differential (9.3/G), 2nd Rush Yds (211.6/G), 2nd Yds/Pass (11.3), 2nd Yds/Carry (5.0/G), 1st Sacks Allowed (2.0/G), 2nd First Downs allowed (14.9/G), 1st 3rd down efficiency allowed (30.2%), 1st Yds allowed (283.6/G), 1st Rush Yds Allowed (145.8/G), 2nd Yds/Pass allowed (10.2), T-1st Yds/Attempt allowed (5.1), 1st Yds/Carry allowed (4.1)
The bad:
5th 3rd down efficiency (32.6%), 5th Pass Yds (130.8/G)
The summary:
Myrtle Beach have been on fire recently, picking up 5 wins in a row including a blowout victory against their division rivals Norfolk, 44-6, and a season signature win against likely title contenders the Minnesota Grey Ducks. The recent trade for HeHateMe PickSix (a move initially questioned by myself) has elevated the defence and during this winning streak they’ve scored 25.2 Points/G and allowed only 7.2 Points/G, making them the team to beat at the moment. They’ll have to keep the momentum as they won’t want to go on the road in the playoffs, with their performances away from home a shadow of their usual selves (HOME: 25.4 Points/G, 5.2 Points allowed/G, ROAD: 13.8 Points/G, 15.4 Points allowed/G).
Whilst on the field they’ve experienced tremendous success recently, the team has been having issues off the field. Reports from the media have seen whispers of tampering pointed in the direction of the Buccaneers (though there has been no substantive proof offered). The uproar caused by this and a growing bitter rivalry with the Norfolk Seawolves saw an ill-tempered confrontation between the 2 teams, with the Myrtle Beach Co-GM being handed a fine for this by the league head office. Not a good look, nor are the accusations of a culture of bullying in the locker room (again, questionable accusations). Myrtle Beach have by far been the team that has been loudest and most boisterous about their chances at the title this year, and these off-field issues lay an even bigger target on their backs for criticism if they come up short.
Norfolk Seawolves
Season: 6-4, Last 4: 2-2
The good:
2nd First Downs (17.4/G), 2nd Yds (358.8/G), 1st Pass Yds (181.5/G), 2nd Pass Cmp (56.7%), 2nd Yds/Attempt (6.0), 1st Pass Cmp allowed (47.4%), T-1st Turnovers (1.4/G)
The bad:
5th Yds/Carry (4.7), 5th Turnovers Lost (1.7/G), 5th Yds allowed (336.8/G), 6th Yds/Pass allowed (11.2/G)
The summary:
The Seawolves bounced back from a bad week against the Buccaneers with a dominant performance on the road in Tijuana. While they’re not 100% safe yet, this puts them in good control of 2nd place in the SFC. The bad news; the road to the Ultimini goes through Myrtle Beach, which is where they just had their asses handed to them 44-6. Tempers have been flaring up recently between the rejuvenated Seawolves and the boisterous Buccaneers, we could be getting an ill-tempered Conference championship. I think Norfolk will ultimately fall short this year, but they’ll be able to keep a bunch of pieces around for next year and could be real contenders.
Tijuana Luchadores
Season: 3-7, Last 4: 1-3
The good:
1st Yds/Pass (11.4), 2nd Pass Yds allowed (137.4), 1st Yds/Pass allowed (9.4), T-1st Yds/Attempt allowed (5.1), 2nd Yds/Carry allowed (4.6), 1st Sacks (3.8)
The bad:
5th Points scored (15.5/G), 5th Points allowed (22.1/G), 5th Points differential (-6.6/G), 5th Time of possession differential (-1.7 min/G), 5th Yds (308.6/G), 5th Rush Yds (158.1/G), 5th Pass Cmp (48.4%), 6th Yds/carry (4.5), 6th Turnovers lost (1.7/G), 5th Sacks allowed (3.5/G), 5th 3rd down efficiency allowed (37.1%), 5th Pass Cmp allowed (54.7%), 5th Turnovers (0.9/G)
The summary:
With 2 more games against the Buccaneers on their schedule, Tijuana are another team that might be looking to next year rather than focusing on the playoffs. They’ve been a dominant team in the DSFL for a long time, but it’s unravelled fast for them (though not as fast as it has for Portland). The blame for this should fall mostly on the offence, the defence has been at least OK in most efficiency stats whereas the offence languishes close to the bottom of the league. Last in yards/carry isn’t a good look for a team that took a RB in the 1st round of the draft (Ed Barker, 5 OA). Potentially they need to look at fundamental issues with their scheme and then retooling the offence with some new skill players. Just to show how bad it’s been, 2 of their wins have come against Portland (the only other win was week 2 at home vs Norfolk).
The Rankings
Stats are taken from weeks 6-10.
FD = First Down, MT = Missed Tackle, YPA = Yds/Attempt, YPC = Yds/Catch or Yds/Carry, tkl = Tackle, TFL = Tackle For loss, INT = Interception, PD = Pass defended, FR = Fumble Recovery
1. Rando Cardrissian, RB +5
Rushing – 19.8 Att/G, 99.5 Yds/G, 5.0 YPC, 5 TD’s, 4.5 FD/G
Receiving – 0.5 Catches/G, 4.8 Yds/G, 9.6 YPC, 0.2 FD/G
Other – 0.8 Pancakes/G, 0 Sacks allowed
Cardrissian has slowly been moving up these rankings and finally he’s where he deserves to be. #1. This guy is the heart of the Kansas City offence and a potential MVP. On the season, he’s #2 in rushing yards (934) but #1 in TD’s (13, +1 receiving TD) and has just been absolutely beastly. #2 in rushing TD’s is way down with 8. His 43-yard touchdown run against Norfolk was a statement in which he said, ‘I am the #1 RB in the league’. And you know what, that just might be true.
2. Holden Summers, LB +2
28 tkl, 1 MT, 1 Sack, 2 PD, 1 FF
Summers currently sits T-6th for sacks in the league with 6 sacks, and good enough for T-2nd amongst rookies, all from an OLB position that sees him drop into coverage on a significant number of snaps. He’s just as good at defending the pass as he is blitzing the QB, with 7 passes defended (3rd amongst all linebackers, 1st amongst rookie linebackers), making him a great chess piece to move around and a pain for any QB to deal with.
3. Immanuel Blackstone, DE/DT +8
21 tkl, 5 TFL, 1 MT, 2 Sacks, 1 FF, 1 FR
Tijuana aren’t having a great season, but none of that is down to Blackstone. He’s played all across the line for Tijuana and has been the most consistent performer for them. From the beginning of this series, I’ve compared him and another EDGE prospect, Daniel Winkler. Now though, it’s not fair to compare then, Blackstone has sped away and turned into a real force; 15 TFL, 5 Sacks and 2 FF on the season – he might not win the Ultimini with Tijuana but I’m pretty sure he’s secured a high draft pick for himself, probably as the first defensive line player off the board.
4. HeHateMe PickSix, CB New
11 tkl, 1 MT, 11 PD, 2 INT
After being traded to Myrtle Beach, PickSix has exploded into life, defending a pass for every tackle he’s had to make, and grabbing a pair of INTs to boot. This is a huge turnaround from his frankly poor form in Portland (6 games 3 PD 0 INT vs 4 games 11 PD 2 INT) and propels him to be my #1 CB. A warning though, CB has been a fickle position, no CB who takes #1 in my rankings has lasted long. First Dax Frost, who’s been outshined, then Minnesota’s Speedo Meter, not even a first team player anymore, and then most recently Jeremy Quellers of Kansas City, who’s form has dropped a little over the last 4 weeks. Clearly, it’s difficult to be the best cornerback in the league for a long time, when one bad play can ruin your game.
5. Tequila Sunrise, WR -3
4.2 Catches/G, 49.2 Yds/G, 11.7 YPC, 1 TD, 3.0 FD/G, 0.8 Drops/G
The former RB remains the favourite weapon in Norfolk. No-one has seen more receptions than Sunrise and this has helped put T-2nd in receiving yards and T-6th in receiving TD’s. He sees more work in the short and intermediate passing game than deep down field highlighted by a fairly low YPC, but he’s a reliable pair of hands who’s shown he can move the chains, and so he rounds out the top 5.
6. Jeffrey LaVert, S +1
26 tkl, 1 TFL, 2 PD, 2 INT
Now a consistent sight in the top 10, LaVert has also continued his trend of being one of the leading tacklers in the league, 6th with 90 tackles. A pair of INTs as well is nice to see. LaVert is on a defence full of good players; PickSix & Frost in the secondary, Stephens & Mouseman just in front of him, Boucher, Eagle & Longshot on the defensive line, and LaVert really helps to tie all the units together, cleaning up a lot of run plays but also covering running backs and tight ends. He’ll be one of the top picks in the upcoming draft.
7. Baby Yoda, RB -4
Rushing – 19.0 Att/G, 98.8 Yds/G, 4.9 YPC, 1 TD, 5.8 FD/G, 2 FUM (0 Lost)
Receiving – 2.2 Catches/G, 21.5 Yds/G, 9.8 YPC, 1.2 FD/G
Other – 0.5 Pancakes/G, 0 Sacks allowed
Another consistent top-10er. Come the end of the year, Yoda will lead all rookies in yards from scrimmage thanks to a small part in the passing game. He leads all running backs in receptions (17 for 149 yds) and is 3rd in rushing (920 yds). He cedes #1 RB though to Cardrissian due to a relatively low number of touchdowns, explained by a sharing a crowded backfield with Brehio (8 TD’s), McMaster (0 TD’s) and Skuff (2 TD’s).
8. Douglas Quail, OL +12
4.8 Pancakes/G, 0 Sacks allowed
Still no sacks allowed this year, and he’s increased his rate of pancakes. With him on one side of the line, Myrtle Beach now have the best O-line in the league, with fellow rookies Dylan Green (T, 0 Sacks allowed) and Simon Tremblay (G, 2 Sacks allowed) also contributing to a line that allows only 2 sacks a game.
9. Rapid Eagle, DT +19
16 tkl, 1 TFL, 1 MT, 5 Sacks
Qual has been a force on the O-line, and Eagle is his compliment on the D-line. Myrtle Beach haven’t struggled with sacks, but they’re definitely not league leaders either. Eagle is doing his best to change it, and his 5 sacks over the last 4 games takes him to 7 for the season, good enough for T-4th overall, 1st amongst rookies and 1st amongst DT’s. 3 of those sacks came against a still-weak Portland O-line, but they were critical in a close game. He’s unlikely to have a game like that again, but he’s still easily the #1 DT on the board right now.
10. Hunter Young, EDGE +4
18 tkl, 2 TFL, 2 MT, 2 Sacks
Young is still a major part of a fairly productive Grey Duck defence and has been probably the most consistent lineman they have across the whole season, with his sack total now standing at 6. He sits a bit further back than most of the other DE players in this class and so doesn’t have to many TFL’s, something he may hope to work on in the last few games.
11. Chris Kross, WR +23
3.0 Catches/G, 61.5 Yds/G, 20.5 YPC, 0.8 Drops/G, 2.8 FD/G
Chris Kross leads the league in receiving yards and has been fantastic for Kansas in getting big chunk players to move the ball down the field. Pretty much every catch Kross gets is turned into a first down, and he’s become the go-to guy for moving the chains. He doesn’t quite break into the top 10 here because he only has the 1 TD on the season, with the run game being relied upon when Kansas reach the redzone.
12. Juniped Catfish, RB +25
Rushing – 15.2 Att/G, 86.5 Yds/G, 5.7 YPC, 5 TD’s, 3.0 FD/G
Receiving – 0.2 Catches/G, 0.0 Yds/G, 0.0 YPC, 0.5 Drops/G
Other – 0.2 Pancakes/G, 0 Sacks allowed
Catfish has been pushing Cardrissian close for the best rookie RB in this split of games, matching him with TD’s losing on yardage but beating him in efficiency. He’s been the slightly favoured back on scoring opportunities for Norfolk, with their other RB (Robin Reynolds) not getting any TD’s during this period, and if he continues this surge he stands an outside shot of being RBotY.
13. Matt Murphy, CB/S +17
19 tkl, 1MT, 7 PD, 3 INT
Murphy has played all across the backfield for Minnesota this year, starting as safety, then nickel CB, and now seeing work as a boundary CB. He’s excelled here, grabbing 3 INTs that put him T-1st in the league with 2 of them coming against Tijuana. The secondary has been one of the weaker aspects of Minnesota’s team, so it will be interesting to see where Murphy plays in the next set of games as they look to cover their weaknesses.
14. Jerome Davis, WR +7
3.2 Catches/G, 36.5 Yds/G, 11.2 YPC, 2 TD’s, 0.8 Drops/G, 1.8 FD/G
Minnesota have gone through a bit of an offensive re-shuffle recently. 2nd year TE Blake Gragg has moved to take more snaps on the outside to allow 1st year TE Wolfcastle to come in and get more play-time next to the line. This has worked well for the team and really cemented Gragg and Davis as a 1a/1b option, with Davis being the more traditional speedy WR. With this many threats on the field, it’s been very difficult for opposing teams to cover all of them in the redzone, allowing Davis & Gragg to both get multiple TD’s and leading to 79 points in the last 2 games. Davis currently sits with 4 TD’s, good enough for T-3rd in the league and T-1st amongst rookies, and I think he can be confident of improving that, especially with Woodward (also 4 TD’s and also a Grey Duck) seeing a slightly diminished role in this new-look offence.
15. Herb Altee, S +3
16 tkl, 2 PD, 1 INT, 1 DefTD
This guy knows how to make an impact. He has 2 defensive touchdowns this year, more than any other player. He also has more sacks than any other rookie safety so he’s shown he’s great both in the blitz and in coverage. Norfolk’s secondary has been pretty great, and Altee is probably a big reason for it. He’ll need a good finish to the season, but if he can make more plays he’ll be a contender for either DRotY or DBotY.
16. Douglas Quaid, LB +15
31 tkl, 1 MT, 3 Sacks
He’s making tackles at roughly the same rate as he is last split, but by consistently being a menace to QB’s he’s added another dimension to his game than just the traditional run-stopping LB he’s shown so far, and so he jumps back up the rankings. He’s a little bit behind the other leading tacklers (4th with 95).
17. Jackmerius Tachthetritrix, DE -12
9 tkl, 5 TFL, 1 MT, 1 Sack
A little bit of a fall back down-to-earth after picking up great numbers between weeks 3-6 (19 tkl, 14 TFL, 3 Sacks), but he still leads the league in tackles for loss. On a Portland defence that has been abysmal, he is the only true standout player.
18. Jeremy Quellers, CB -17
14 tkl, 3 PD, 1 FF, 1 FR
Another player who’s form has dropped. Perhaps unsurprising, he was previously on track to beat the season record for INTs. He’s still one of the top CB”s in the league, T-1st for INTs, 3rd for PDs, and now a FF/FR to boot. He was my early favourite to win DBotY but now a few other players have closed the gap, he’ll need to rediscover his top form to stake his claim.
19. Zero Two, QB +7
27.8 Att/G, 14.8 Cmp/G, 53.2% Cmp, 2 TD, 0 INT, 162.5 Yds/G, 5.9 YPA, 11.0 YPC, 76.5 QBR
1.5 RushAtt/G, 3.5 RushYds/G, 2.3 RushYPC, 2.5 Sacks/G
Not spectacular numbers but not terrible either. Two hasn’t turned over the ball once in the last 4 weeks, and the lack of touchdowns isn’t concerning given Kansas City’s preference for running the ball in the endzone. Her QBR, YPA & YPC are all 2nd best for QB’s in this period (behind Chris Ramos) but we’ve yet to see her really take over a game. Abilities as a game manager will need to improve in order to take some wins from their one-possession games (currently 0-5).
20. Logan Noble Jr, RB New
Rushing – 15.2 Att/G, 98.8 Yds/G, 6.5 YPC, 1 TD, 4.2 FD/G, 1 FUM (Lost)
Receiving – 1.0 Catches/G, 8.2 Yds/G, 8.2 YPC, 0.8 Drops/G, 0.2 FD/G
Other – 0.2 Pancakes/G, 0 Sacks allowed
Noble Jr. cracked the top 5 of this list when he was a Grey Duck backing up Darrel Williams during their Ultimini win. Being drafted by Portland, their poor form hurt him but he’s risen above and become a shining light on the offence. He’s a guy who needs to get more touches because his efficiency is just so good. 6.5 YPC the last 4 weeks is highest amongst all rookies, and his 5.5 YPC on the season is 2nd for players with more than 50 carries (behind only Sarvepally). He’s not a had a lot of opportunities to punch the ball in and his lack of touchdowns, plus fumbling the ball, hurts his ranking here.
21. Richard Gardner, OL +4
3.5 Pancakes/G, 0 Sacks allowed
Another immovable O-line guy, he’s done a good job protecting his QB, The Xekutioner, though this is made a little easier given that Xekutioner is a mobile QB. He’s knocking down guys at a decent rate, but he can only do so much to help one of the worst rushing offences in the league.
22. Ryan Scott, LB New
45 tkl, 1 MT, 3 Sacks, 1 PD
Another rookie LB in and around that top group of linebackers. The 3 sacks here are the first he’s had all season, and it’s nice to complement being #2 in the league in tackles. Very little chance of being LBotY given Inspectah Deck has had an absurd season, but a dark horse for best rookie LB maybe.
23. Chip Otle, DE New
16 tkl, 4 TFL, 3 MT, 3 Sacks
A good stretch for Otle, he now leads all Kansas players in sacks. They rank 5th as a team in sacks with 2.3/G, so they’ve been in desperate need of a sack artist like Otle to come forth and make a play.
24. Chris Ramos, QB New
20.8 Att/G, 11.5 Cmp/G, 55.4% Cmp, 5 TD’s, 3 INT’s, 142.5 Yds/G, 6.9 YPA, 12.4 YPC, 86.6 QBR
1.0 RushAtt/G, 12.2 RushYds/G, 12.2 RushYPC, 1 RushTD, 1.2 Sacks/G
This has been Ramos best stretch of play all season, and he now leads all rookie QB’s in touchdowns. He also finally has a QB:INT ratio above 1. This all comes on the back of great offensive line play. He’s standing on the shoulders of giants and rewarding them by shepherding them to 5 wins in a row.
25. Reynaud Haugland, TE New
3.2 Catches/G, 36.8 Yds/G, 11.5 YPC, 1.0 Drops/G, 2.2 FD/G, 1.2 Pancakes/G, 0 Sacks allowed
Fairly good numbers for a TE, matching a lot of the WR’s in this class whilst still providing a decent service blocking for his QB, Cal Lidious. Would like to see him used a bit more in the redzone to see if he can grab a couple of scores.
26. Alyx Sabor, WR New
3.2 Catches/G, 37.8 Yds/G, 11.8 YPC, 1 TD, 0.8 Drops/G, 1.8 FD/G
Coming into this season, I thought Sabor would be one of the top receivers in the league. That hasn’t quite materialised, he’s been the 1B option to Kemorian Moore’s 1A on a Myrtle Beach team that runs through Sarvepally. Ramos’ decent run of form gives room for optimism for Sabor’s production, but I think it’s now unlikely this late in the season that he’ll mount a serious challenge for WRotY.
27. Jack Marnette, CB +2
15 tkl, 1 MT, 5 PD
I’ve already mentioned the trade between Portland and Myrtle Beach and Marnette got the rough end of this deal. Portland will be happy though.
6 games with PickSix: 8 TD’s allowed, 60.37% Pass Cmp, 10.67 YPP, 6.44 YPA
4 games with Marnette: 4 TD’s allowed, 50.44% Pass Cmp, 11.68 YPP, 5.89 YPA
Interesting to note is that those 4 TD’s with Marnette all came against Minnesota, in the other 3 games they didn’t allow a single passing touchdown, something Portland didn’t accomplish even once with PickSix on the team. So this seems to be a trade that has worked for all sides; Myrtle Beach have got a playmaker who clearly wasn’t doing his best work in Portland, and the Pythons have someone who’s improved the whole defence, even if he’s not made a huge number of flashy plays yet.
28. James Lewandoswki, TE +4
3.8 Catches/G, 34.2 Yds/G, 9.0 YPC, 1 TD, 0.8 Drops/G, 1.2 FD/G, 1 FUM (0 Lost), 0.8 Pancakes/G, 0 Sacks allowed
The top 2 rookie TE’s both belong to Norfolk. They have remarkably similar numbers in terms of catches, but Lewnadoswki is used slightly less as a blocker and slightly more on redzone attempts.
29. Sardine Beaner, DT -21
11 tkl, 1 FF
A slightly underwhelming series of games from Beaner. Despite forcing a fumble, Beaner had no sacks and loses the #1 DT ranking to Rapid Eagle. The whole Minnesota D-line has cooled down a little, going from 4.2 sacks/G in the first 5 games of the season to 2.8 sacks/G in weeks 6-10. They could do with generating more pressure to help out their secondary in the last few games.
30. Remon Kurisito, WR -21
2.5 Catches/G, 28.8 Yds/G, 11.5 YPC, 1.0 Drops/G, 1.5 FD/G
Another WR, like Sabor, who I foresaw great things from. This has been his worst section of the season, and he’s still 4th in total yardage of all WR’s, but it’s clear that Sunrise has become the favoured option. Still, this means Kurisito will probably see more CB2 coverage that might give him a chance to shine.
31. Jeff Personsacker, DE -15
14 tkl, 2 TFL, 2 MT, 1 Sack
Starting to form a good EDGE combo with Dorfus Jimbo Jr in Norfolk. His numbers aren’t crazy but they’re decent; 12 TFL and 5 Sacks across the season, probably puts him at around DE #4 for rookies.
32. Trevor Mouseman, LB +7
42 tkl, 1 MT
LaVert was Myrtle Beach’s main tackler at the start of the season, but Mouseman has slowly taken over the role, allowing LaVert to be more involved in the passing game. Mouseman sits #3 in the tackle rankings behind only Scott and MacGregor. He’s not really registered many big plays (only 1 sack) but he doesn’t need to with Warren Stephens sitting beside him.
33. Gregor MacGregor, LB -20
42 tkl, 1 TFL, 8 MT
MacGregor may be the leading tackler in the league (119 tkl, 1 TFL) but they’ve had a recent problem with missing tackles, 8 tackles missed in a 4 game-period drops him a little way down the rankings. Fix that problem and he’ll be back in contention for best rookie LB.
34. Dorfus Jimbo Jr, DE New
11 tkl, 6 TFL, 2 MT, 2 Sacks
I mentioned Jimbo Jr above, but this is the first time he’s made these rankings. He’s finally starting to make a number of plays, something he hasn’t really done this season (only 3 sacks total). He’s good at making sure his tackles are for loss, which is nice to see. Hopefully he can maintain his form in pressuring the QB.
35. Andrew Nova, RB -12
Rushing – 16.8 Att/G, 78.0 Yds/G, 4.7 YPC, 2 TD’s, 4.8 FD/G
Receiving – 1.0 Catches/G, 6.5 Yds/G, 6.5 YPC, 0.0 Drops/G, 0.0 FD/G,
Other – 0.2 Pancakes/G, 0 Sacks allowed
Earlier this season, it was Cardrissian as 1a and Nova as 1b. Now with Cardrissian’s form, it’s closer to just a 1 & 2 situation. Nova has still been a productive back, 7th in the league in rushing yards, but just the 2 touchdowns. It’s always good to have a committee, but it’s clear who’s in charge of the backfield.
36. Cal Lidious, QB -16
30.8 Att/G, 16.8 Cmp/G, 54.5% Cmp, 2 TD’s, 4 INTs, 173.2 Yds/G, 5.6 YPA, 10.3 YPC, 64.4 QBR
Rushing – 0.8 RushAtt/G, 3.5 RushYds/G, 2.3 RushYPC, 2.5 Sacks/G
Bit of a dropoff recently from our #1 overall pick. Despite the not-great form, Norfolk continue to put the ball in Cal’s hands, and he’s at least doing a good job of picking up volume, being able to feed WR’s Sunrise and Kurisitto and TE’s Haugland and Lewandoswki. His current form isn’t good enough for the playoffs though, he needs to cut out the turnovers otherwise he’ll put his team in a precarious position.
37. Pete Miller, DT New
13 tkl, 2 TFL, 2 MT, 2 Sacks
Miller makes his way back onto the list with his first sacks of the season. Another one from the Norfolk defensive line, they’re heating up at the right time.
38. Bobby Portis, CB New
11 tkl, 1 MT, 2 PD, 1 INT, 1 DefTD
He had a nice 29-yard INT return in the week 7 Minnesota game which puts him on this list. One of 3 players from Norfolk in the last 4 weeks to return an INT for a TD (Herb Altee, Rub Chikin against Tijuana). Some more consistent defence wuld be nice to see as well.
39. Dax Frost, CB -27
11 tkl, 2 PD
Not the best personal stats, but he’s part of a strong Myrtle Beach secondary that’s been performing well. It’d be interesting to see him switch assignments with PickSix, who would be the more productive player? How much is down to scheme?
40. The Xekutioner, QB -7
26.5 Att/G, 11.0 Cmp/G, 41.5% Cmp, 1 TD, 5 INTs, 120.2 Yds/G, 4.5 YPA, 10.9 YPC, 43.7 QBR
6.0 RushAtt/G, 41.0 RushYds/G, 6.8 RushYPC, 1 TD, 1 FUM (1 Lost), 4.5 Sacks/G
He’s certainly not here because of his passing – one of the worst stretches I’ve seen from a QB this season. Instead, Tijuana seem to be transitioning into a new offensive scheme which utilizes one of his strengths – his legs. They’re finally asking him to run a little and while they’re not mind boggling numbers, he’s getting good YPC. This is still baby-steps for a new game-plan, but I think it’s wise to get some practice in at the end of this season, so that Tijuana can come back strong next year with a mobile QB.
Honorable mentions:
Otis Allen, DT
Robin Reynolds, RB
Everett Woodward, WR
Tree Gelbman, TE
Matt Hole, DE
#1 Kicker:
Dougie Smalls, K
That’s it for this edition. The next, and final edition, won’t come until the post-season is done, but hopefully before the draft and majority of the off-season. As always, comments & criticisms are welcome. Good luck in the post-season everyone.
~~~MSombrero~~~
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