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Making the case: Why Jamie Nkiah Should Go to the Pro Bowl
Earlier on this season, I wrote an article outlining what I had in mind for Jamie Nkiah to achieve in his rookie season in the NSFL. One of the ideas that I considered to be more unachievable than others was the notion of Jamie achieving a spot in the NSFL Pro Bowl Game for S21, but how quickly things have changed. The season is now at its midway spot and despite a slow start to production in terms of tackles, Jamie's statistical showing in other areas of the game could well be enough to not just earn him some votes, but take him all the way through to the game itself.
It doesn't take any sort of a genius to work out that it hasn't exactly been a great start to the season for the Arizona Outlaws. Coming into the campaign with some fairly lofty ambitions around what they thought they might be able to achieve and buoyed by their level of success last season, the opening results of S21 have certainly brought things back down to earth somewhat. The Outlaws considered themselves to be at least somewhere in the discussion for making the playoffs, with another big season expected for generational QB talent Jay Cue, and with a lot of progression and strong additions to their defense, thought they might have filled in enough of the missing pieces in the puzzle to get them to where they needed to be. As often happens in these situations however, reality soon got in the way and they now find themselves very much on the outside looking in. Some strong results in their last few games have allowed them to limp to a record of 2-5, which sounds bad on paper but is certainly better than the 0-4 they were rocking until a few weeks ago. It's become something of a given that barring any miraculous turns in their form, they won't make it into the postseason again this time around. With the wealth of draft picks and future assets they possess, things are far from all doom and gloom for the team as they look like they have a very solid base on which to build, but it does however look as if the players currently on the team don't have too much to play for beyond personal pride in the second half of the season.
One of the quieter additions to the team this season was safety Jamie Nkiah. Having been sent to the DSFL for another year of conditioning after being drafted, Nkiah has shown something of a honed style of play that translates fairly well to the NSFL based on what we've seen through the first half of the season. It was noted that Jamie is more of a ball hawking type safety than a hard tackling one, preferring to try and get between the quarterback and the wide receiver before the ball can make it to its intended target, and was certainly able to impose his will on the quarterback of the Philadelphia Liberty, Brock Phoenix in their recent meeting. Nkiah was able to get a hold of Brock's passes on not one but two different occasions, and did a lot in that game to propel himself up the league's stats tables and make some of the league outside of the Arizona bubble take notice of what he was capable of. To rub even more salt in the wound, Jamie was able to bring Phoenix down for a sack to cap off a game in which he played at a level far beyond his years. This was his second sack of the year, eluding to his ability as a crafty tool that the Outlaws' defensive coordinator can utilize when running blitzes.
So the reason I come before you today is to not just bloviate about how good I think Jamie may or may not be, but to convince you that through the first half of the season, he has built a case to be considered as a participant in the S21 NSFL Pro Bowl game. What am I basing this on? Well, taking all considerations around him being a rookie totally out of the equation, the fact that he currently sits in second place in the league in terms of interceptions at this stage of the season as a safety, is a huge reason alone. Obviously the Pro Bowl game requires players to be voted for based on the conference in which they play, and the fact that Jamie currently leads the entire ASFC in interceptions is pretty much as big a part of the argument as should really be needed to convince the average voter. I think that sacks are a big bonus for a safety as well, and the fact that Jamie has two of them already should strengthen his case to no end. The kind of highlight reel game Jamie's been playing, being able to make huge plays by getting a hold of the ball and getting to the quarterback is in my mind exactly the kind of electric football you want to see from a player voted to take part in the Pro Bowl game. The only knock I could see being made on his numbers so far is his tackles, but I don't really see that as being enough to hold him back from earning a spot. My thinking is although his tackling numbers are far from exceptional with 29 in the season so far, they're certainly not awful, and aren't miles behind those safeties who are around him in terms of consideration for a spot in the Pro Bowl. As stated above, the play style that Jamie prefers and the Outlaws coaches run most of the time doesn't allow for the safety to push through and record huge tackle numbers, and so I'd consider it to be right in line with expectations that his tackle numbers are just a little behind the very best in the league. And honestly, who's to say that we couldn't see an increase in these numbers as the season rolls on and Jamie continues to grow as a player.
With all that being said, I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll be seeing Jamie representing the ASFC in the Pro Bowl in one of the positions available to him, based off what we've been able to see so far. I truly think his numbers alone should carry him through and any extra slack given to him for putting them up as a rookie should really help get him there. With the level of success he's seen recently, I'd be lying if I said I hadn't given any thought at all to his potential to go on and win Defensive Rookie of the Year. I think this one's a much harder one to come away with, just because it's hard to make like for like comparisons at this stage between players of different positions, and with there being so much football left to be played this year, it's a much more difficult one to be aiming to get at this stage of the season. All I can do from here on out is hope that Jamie's production levels stay consistent and he continues to be a threat on defense for the Outlaws. That huge game against the Liberty really lit a fire under my aspirations for the season, and I hope that he has one or two games like that still to come. While I'd obviously trade any and all successful individual results for a shot at the playoffs, with the way things are looking for the team this season it is nice to be able to have some strong individual results so far to be able to hang my hat on.
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Making the case: Why Jamie Nkiah Should Go to the Pro Bowl
Earlier on this season, I wrote an article outlining what I had in mind for Jamie Nkiah to achieve in his rookie season in the NSFL. One of the ideas that I considered to be more unachievable than others was the notion of Jamie achieving a spot in the NSFL Pro Bowl Game for S21, but how quickly things have changed. The season is now at its midway spot and despite a slow start to production in terms of tackles, Jamie's statistical showing in other areas of the game could well be enough to not just earn him some votes, but take him all the way through to the game itself.
It doesn't take any sort of a genius to work out that it hasn't exactly been a great start to the season for the Arizona Outlaws. Coming into the campaign with some fairly lofty ambitions around what they thought they might be able to achieve and buoyed by their level of success last season, the opening results of S21 have certainly brought things back down to earth somewhat. The Outlaws considered themselves to be at least somewhere in the discussion for making the playoffs, with another big season expected for generational QB talent Jay Cue, and with a lot of progression and strong additions to their defense, thought they might have filled in enough of the missing pieces in the puzzle to get them to where they needed to be. As often happens in these situations however, reality soon got in the way and they now find themselves very much on the outside looking in. Some strong results in their last few games have allowed them to limp to a record of 2-5, which sounds bad on paper but is certainly better than the 0-4 they were rocking until a few weeks ago. It's become something of a given that barring any miraculous turns in their form, they won't make it into the postseason again this time around. With the wealth of draft picks and future assets they possess, things are far from all doom and gloom for the team as they look like they have a very solid base on which to build, but it does however look as if the players currently on the team don't have too much to play for beyond personal pride in the second half of the season.
One of the quieter additions to the team this season was safety Jamie Nkiah. Having been sent to the DSFL for another year of conditioning after being drafted, Nkiah has shown something of a honed style of play that translates fairly well to the NSFL based on what we've seen through the first half of the season. It was noted that Jamie is more of a ball hawking type safety than a hard tackling one, preferring to try and get between the quarterback and the wide receiver before the ball can make it to its intended target, and was certainly able to impose his will on the quarterback of the Philadelphia Liberty, Brock Phoenix in their recent meeting. Nkiah was able to get a hold of Brock's passes on not one but two different occasions, and did a lot in that game to propel himself up the league's stats tables and make some of the league outside of the Arizona bubble take notice of what he was capable of. To rub even more salt in the wound, Jamie was able to bring Phoenix down for a sack to cap off a game in which he played at a level far beyond his years. This was his second sack of the year, eluding to his ability as a crafty tool that the Outlaws' defensive coordinator can utilize when running blitzes.
So the reason I come before you today is to not just bloviate about how good I think Jamie may or may not be, but to convince you that through the first half of the season, he has built a case to be considered as a participant in the S21 NSFL Pro Bowl game. What am I basing this on? Well, taking all considerations around him being a rookie totally out of the equation, the fact that he currently sits in second place in the league in terms of interceptions at this stage of the season as a safety, is a huge reason alone. Obviously the Pro Bowl game requires players to be voted for based on the conference in which they play, and the fact that Jamie currently leads the entire ASFC in interceptions is pretty much as big a part of the argument as should really be needed to convince the average voter. I think that sacks are a big bonus for a safety as well, and the fact that Jamie has two of them already should strengthen his case to no end. The kind of highlight reel game Jamie's been playing, being able to make huge plays by getting a hold of the ball and getting to the quarterback is in my mind exactly the kind of electric football you want to see from a player voted to take part in the Pro Bowl game. The only knock I could see being made on his numbers so far is his tackles, but I don't really see that as being enough to hold him back from earning a spot. My thinking is although his tackling numbers are far from exceptional with 29 in the season so far, they're certainly not awful, and aren't miles behind those safeties who are around him in terms of consideration for a spot in the Pro Bowl. As stated above, the play style that Jamie prefers and the Outlaws coaches run most of the time doesn't allow for the safety to push through and record huge tackle numbers, and so I'd consider it to be right in line with expectations that his tackle numbers are just a little behind the very best in the league. And honestly, who's to say that we couldn't see an increase in these numbers as the season rolls on and Jamie continues to grow as a player.
With all that being said, I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll be seeing Jamie representing the ASFC in the Pro Bowl in one of the positions available to him, based off what we've been able to see so far. I truly think his numbers alone should carry him through and any extra slack given to him for putting them up as a rookie should really help get him there. With the level of success he's seen recently, I'd be lying if I said I hadn't given any thought at all to his potential to go on and win Defensive Rookie of the Year. I think this one's a much harder one to come away with, just because it's hard to make like for like comparisons at this stage between players of different positions, and with there being so much football left to be played this year, it's a much more difficult one to be aiming to get at this stage of the season. All I can do from here on out is hope that Jamie's production levels stay consistent and he continues to be a threat on defense for the Outlaws. That huge game against the Liberty really lit a fire under my aspirations for the season, and I hope that he has one or two games like that still to come. While I'd obviously trade any and all successful individual results for a shot at the playoffs, with the way things are looking for the team this season it is nice to be able to have some strong individual results so far to be able to hang my hat on.
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