3.
I think you'll see a general changing of the guard. AZ, AUS, SJS are all primed for a regression due to their age. I think you're going to see Honolulu taking a BIG jump in the standings this season. Honolulu hasn't cracked more than 6 wins since S45, but this season that will change. After the recent offseason update, they trail only NOLA in total TPE. They are 4th in average TPE. They have the 2nd highest TPE QB. Albeit he is a scrambler archetype, so who knows if they can maximize his potential with this archetype. That is something to watch out for. HON has the pieces now. But it's scary since their window is just opening. They're a young team but their biggest rival will be NOLA. NOLA has created a juggernaut, and they have a strong young core. Their core will be good for a long time and I expect to see a lot of conference championships between NOLA and HON. SJS will still be a juggernaut with their RB duo but their core is getting older. They have a relatively weak S45-S47 class. Honolulu has NO S45 players on the roster. They're well ahead of the rebuild timeline. HON's peak will be in S52-S54 in all honesty. HON is set up to be good for a very long time. The s47 class is huge though. They have 3 of the top 6 earners of the class on the same team! Essentially 3 first round picks. Higbee and PizzaMan aren't that far back either. It's looking to be an amazing class. The s48 class for HON is really strong as well, with 4 max earners. The defense will look extremely strong in a couple seasons. I think the biggest thing holding HON down is the cornerbacks right now. We don't have a CB over 1000 TPE yet. The LB core will look really nice this year with the FA addition of Federico. The s41 class was a very large class and we're seeing a lot of those players really regress now so the teams whose core heavily relies on S41 or has a component of that is going to get worse. Arizona is one of those teams that comes to mind. Puddle O'Duck played really well and it's never smart to doubt Arizona, but I don't think they're going to be a worldbeater this year. I can see HON taking them to the brink in the playoffs and even upsetting them potentially on the road if it comes down to it. I think OCO will be in the conversations for worst team of all time with this roster. I've never seen a team unable to even crack 5 digits in total TPE. This feels unheard of. Their defensive line is worse than some DSFL teams. Austin, NYS and Arizona were all middling last season. AZ made some noise with a playoff upset, but I expect some of those teams to drop into the 5-6 win range given regressions. HON was at 6 wins 2 seasons ago and last season, and they're only getting better. I'm predicting a 10-6, 2nd seed season for Honolulu. I see the Yeti beating Berlin in wins, but that's not much of an achievement. I think YKW regresses this season and Osaka takes the leap to playoffs / hosting a playoff game this year. I still think the ASFC is the dominant conference. The ASFC has won every ultimus in the last 5 seasons and I think NOLA is poised for the elusive threepeat due to how terrible the competition is around them. Given how poor their S40s were early on, this feels like a great redemption story and one worthy of a deeper dive later on.
I think you'll see a general changing of the guard. AZ, AUS, SJS are all primed for a regression due to their age. I think you're going to see Honolulu taking a BIG jump in the standings this season. Honolulu hasn't cracked more than 6 wins since S45, but this season that will change. After the recent offseason update, they trail only NOLA in total TPE. They are 4th in average TPE. They have the 2nd highest TPE QB. Albeit he is a scrambler archetype, so who knows if they can maximize his potential with this archetype. That is something to watch out for. HON has the pieces now. But it's scary since their window is just opening. They're a young team but their biggest rival will be NOLA. NOLA has created a juggernaut, and they have a strong young core. Their core will be good for a long time and I expect to see a lot of conference championships between NOLA and HON. SJS will still be a juggernaut with their RB duo but their core is getting older. They have a relatively weak S45-S47 class. Honolulu has NO S45 players on the roster. They're well ahead of the rebuild timeline. HON's peak will be in S52-S54 in all honesty. HON is set up to be good for a very long time. The s47 class is huge though. They have 3 of the top 6 earners of the class on the same team! Essentially 3 first round picks. Higbee and PizzaMan aren't that far back either. It's looking to be an amazing class. The s48 class for HON is really strong as well, with 4 max earners. The defense will look extremely strong in a couple seasons. I think the biggest thing holding HON down is the cornerbacks right now. We don't have a CB over 1000 TPE yet. The LB core will look really nice this year with the FA addition of Federico. The s41 class was a very large class and we're seeing a lot of those players really regress now so the teams whose core heavily relies on S41 or has a component of that is going to get worse. Arizona is one of those teams that comes to mind. Puddle O'Duck played really well and it's never smart to doubt Arizona, but I don't think they're going to be a worldbeater this year. I can see HON taking them to the brink in the playoffs and even upsetting them potentially on the road if it comes down to it. I think OCO will be in the conversations for worst team of all time with this roster. I've never seen a team unable to even crack 5 digits in total TPE. This feels unheard of. Their defensive line is worse than some DSFL teams. Austin, NYS and Arizona were all middling last season. AZ made some noise with a playoff upset, but I expect some of those teams to drop into the 5-6 win range given regressions. HON was at 6 wins 2 seasons ago and last season, and they're only getting better. I'm predicting a 10-6, 2nd seed season for Honolulu. I see the Yeti beating Berlin in wins, but that's not much of an achievement. I think YKW regresses this season and Osaka takes the leap to playoffs / hosting a playoff game this year. I still think the ASFC is the dominant conference. The ASFC has won every ultimus in the last 5 seasons and I think NOLA is poised for the elusive threepeat due to how terrible the competition is around them. Given how poor their S40s were early on, this feels like a great redemption story and one worthy of a deeper dive later on.