Tier 2, #5
I'm going to make my argument here for why Chicago Butchers wide receiver Sean O'Leary should be the Receiver of the Year award winner this season. Here's the argument opening disclaimer: I know that if you just look at O'Leary's numbers and stack them up against some of the other top talent at his position this season, it's not going to appear like it's even close. Yes, I know he only scored two touchdowns and I also know that he played for a team that only won one game. Neither of those facts are lost on me. Here's where it starts to get interesting. Playing on a bottom dwelling team that scored a league low 111 points (83 points less than the next lowest scoring team) of course he wasn't going to have touchdowns. I've never been overly crazy about using touchdowns as a metric to evaluate any offensive player anyways. You can be horrible in almost all aspects of your game but get lucky near the redzone a handful of times and all of a sudden you're a touchdown king. Therefore, I wouldn't even be overly concerned that he has nine less touchdowns than all of Deandre Thomas-Fox, Rod Tidwell, and Nate Swift. They're all on teams that were playoff contenders and therefore played on more capable offenses. As the number one option for each of their respective teams, they should be getting a lot of the scoring opportunities. Where O'Leary does stack up in his stats is in both the number of receptions he made and also in his receiving yards. He's tied for fifth with Swift for his reception total, and is one of only five receivers this season that topped 1000 yards. That is highly significant, and here's why. O'Leary played most of his season with Rose Jenkins at quarterback, who was heavily into regression and indeed retired at the end of the season. However, that's not as bad as it would get for O'Leary's prospects. After trading Jenkins to Sarasota for draft help, the Butchers signed 50 TPE quarterback Franky LeFluer. 50 TPE! He wouldn't even be a decent starter in the DSFL! This ridiculousness happened because Chicago quarterback prospect George O'Donnell requested to stay down and finish out his season with the Portland Pythons. Anyways, with LeFleur at the helm for five games (in which he threw ZERO touchdowns) O'Leary still managed to top 1000 yards, and exploded in the last game of the season for over one hundred yards. I don't have any evidence of this, but I have a feeling he may be the only receiver in NSFL history to have a hundred yard day with a 50 TPE quarterback. If that isn't worth an award, I'm not sure what is. Don't fall into the flashy number trap. Most of that is meaningless. Sean O'Leary is the REAL Wide Receiver of the Year.
Tier 3, #17
I'm going to make the argument that this year's playoff MVP is Colorado Yeti wide receiver James Bishop. Boy that hurts to type. *Cries in Otters* Anyways, James may not have had super flashy numbers, but he may have been the difference in not only the Yeti making it out of the first round of the playoffs, but also in them winning their franchise's first Ultimus trophy. Let's take a look at his stats from the three playoff games the Yeti competed in. In the wildcard game, the Yeti destroyed the Sailfish 36-14. While he didn't contribute to the scoring for the Yeti in a game where four different players (including a safety) had a touchdown, he led the team in both receptions and receiving yards, making big play after big play to move the Yeti downfield. Now, the second game against the Wraiths is kind of an anomaly, it was an incredibly defensive game where no Yeti player had more than 57 yards. It's the Ultimus game against the Otters where Bishop ultimately proved his worth. He once again led his team in receptions and receiving yardage, but his crowning moment came late in the fourth quarter when he caught the game winning touchdown pass from Wolfie McDummy that would end up giving the Yeti a one point victory in one of the most competitive Ultimus games in recent memory.
SHL PT Affiliation
I'm going to make my argument here for why Chicago Butchers wide receiver Sean O'Leary should be the Receiver of the Year award winner this season. Here's the argument opening disclaimer: I know that if you just look at O'Leary's numbers and stack them up against some of the other top talent at his position this season, it's not going to appear like it's even close. Yes, I know he only scored two touchdowns and I also know that he played for a team that only won one game. Neither of those facts are lost on me. Here's where it starts to get interesting. Playing on a bottom dwelling team that scored a league low 111 points (83 points less than the next lowest scoring team) of course he wasn't going to have touchdowns. I've never been overly crazy about using touchdowns as a metric to evaluate any offensive player anyways. You can be horrible in almost all aspects of your game but get lucky near the redzone a handful of times and all of a sudden you're a touchdown king. Therefore, I wouldn't even be overly concerned that he has nine less touchdowns than all of Deandre Thomas-Fox, Rod Tidwell, and Nate Swift. They're all on teams that were playoff contenders and therefore played on more capable offenses. As the number one option for each of their respective teams, they should be getting a lot of the scoring opportunities. Where O'Leary does stack up in his stats is in both the number of receptions he made and also in his receiving yards. He's tied for fifth with Swift for his reception total, and is one of only five receivers this season that topped 1000 yards. That is highly significant, and here's why. O'Leary played most of his season with Rose Jenkins at quarterback, who was heavily into regression and indeed retired at the end of the season. However, that's not as bad as it would get for O'Leary's prospects. After trading Jenkins to Sarasota for draft help, the Butchers signed 50 TPE quarterback Franky LeFluer. 50 TPE! He wouldn't even be a decent starter in the DSFL! This ridiculousness happened because Chicago quarterback prospect George O'Donnell requested to stay down and finish out his season with the Portland Pythons. Anyways, with LeFleur at the helm for five games (in which he threw ZERO touchdowns) O'Leary still managed to top 1000 yards, and exploded in the last game of the season for over one hundred yards. I don't have any evidence of this, but I have a feeling he may be the only receiver in NSFL history to have a hundred yard day with a 50 TPE quarterback. If that isn't worth an award, I'm not sure what is. Don't fall into the flashy number trap. Most of that is meaningless. Sean O'Leary is the REAL Wide Receiver of the Year.
Code:
481 words
Tier 3, #17
I'm going to make the argument that this year's playoff MVP is Colorado Yeti wide receiver James Bishop. Boy that hurts to type. *Cries in Otters* Anyways, James may not have had super flashy numbers, but he may have been the difference in not only the Yeti making it out of the first round of the playoffs, but also in them winning their franchise's first Ultimus trophy. Let's take a look at his stats from the three playoff games the Yeti competed in. In the wildcard game, the Yeti destroyed the Sailfish 36-14. While he didn't contribute to the scoring for the Yeti in a game where four different players (including a safety) had a touchdown, he led the team in both receptions and receiving yards, making big play after big play to move the Yeti downfield. Now, the second game against the Wraiths is kind of an anomaly, it was an incredibly defensive game where no Yeti player had more than 57 yards. It's the Ultimus game against the Otters where Bishop ultimately proved his worth. He once again led his team in receptions and receiving yardage, but his crowning moment came late in the fourth quarter when he caught the game winning touchdown pass from Wolfie McDummy that would end up giving the Yeti a one point victory in one of the most competitive Ultimus games in recent memory.
Code:
228 words
SHL PT Affiliation