05-28-2023, 11:53 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-31-2023, 02:14 PM by Rusfan. Edited 1 time in total.)
Just before the official halfway point of Season 41, the PT prompt for the 3rd task of the season was as follows:
“React, or overreact, to the first weeks of the season. Is your player’s slow start a sign of abject failure, or are they a 100% MVP lock? Have the Hahalua sold their souls to the sim gods and already locked up an Ultimus? Is your team going to compete for a playoff spot or are they doomed for failure? Give your hot takes here.”
And at that point I had 7 games of stats under my belt with which to project to see how Mandrews McHollywood’s 5th season was shaping up under new New York Silverbacks quarterback Blaine Falco. Those numbers looked like this:
7 Games
29 Receptions
440 Yards
15.2 YPC
60 Long
6 TDs
0 Drops
11 First Downs
7 20+ catches
3 40+ catches
And projected outwards, the expected end-of-season statistical totals for Mandrews as of game 7 of the season were thus:
16 games
66 receptions
1,006 Yards
15.2 YPC
60 Long
15 TDs
0 Drops
25 First Downs
16 20+ catches
7 40+ catches
And finally, the actual numbers at the end of the season were this:
16 Games
71 Receptions
1,232 Yards
16.2 YPC
65 Long
9 TDs
3 Drops
40 First Downs
17 20+ catches
9 40+ catches
As you can see, for almost every positive statistic, Mandrews McHollywood outperformed his averages from the first half of the season. More yards, more receptions, a higher average yards per reception, and he beat his longest reception of 60 yards in week 11 against Austin with a 65 yard touchdown to win the game in overtime. Now it was not all positive, his drops for example, all 3 happened in the back half of the season. And although it was perhaps an unrealistic expectation set up for him to find the endzone 15 times, as that would have led the league just ahead of Johnny Blaze Jr’s 14 with Sarasota, it is more disappointing that after week 7 Mandrews only managed to score 3 more times. It seemed like he had a real shot at double-digit scores for the first time in his career but his scoring slowed way down.
Apart from the drops and TDs, the 2nd half boost is a great sign for things to come for the connection between Blaine Falco and Mandrews McHollywood. Blaine Falco got called up perhaps a year earlier than most teams would like for their young quarterbacks and so he had less TPE as a starter than most other QBs in the league. Every year from now he’s just going to get better and better and Mandrews still has another 3 or so seasons guaranteed to play the full season at max level TPE for the squad. Put them together and you have a top-flight connection in the ISFL for the next few seasons. Mandrews currently ranks 6th in team career receptions, 5th in team career yards, 3rd in team career average yards per reception, and tied for 3rd in team career receiving touchdowns. Now Tugg Speedman holds the record for receptions, yards, and touchdowns pretty solidly for the squad at 897, 11,501, and 75 respectively, but if this connection between Falco and McHollywood keeps up over the next few seasons he has a real shot at catching the former Sabercat and Silverback.
This next season is shaping up to be perhaps the most important of the wide receivers career. It’s Mandrews’s final season without regression starting to sink its claws into his TPE totals, and Falco will just have begun to get into his best years. If they can keep the offense buzzing, there’s a very real chance that you could see this NYS squad competing with the Outlaws for the ASFC crown.
(639 Words)
“React, or overreact, to the first weeks of the season. Is your player’s slow start a sign of abject failure, or are they a 100% MVP lock? Have the Hahalua sold their souls to the sim gods and already locked up an Ultimus? Is your team going to compete for a playoff spot or are they doomed for failure? Give your hot takes here.”
And at that point I had 7 games of stats under my belt with which to project to see how Mandrews McHollywood’s 5th season was shaping up under new New York Silverbacks quarterback Blaine Falco. Those numbers looked like this:
7 Games
29 Receptions
440 Yards
15.2 YPC
60 Long
6 TDs
0 Drops
11 First Downs
7 20+ catches
3 40+ catches
And projected outwards, the expected end-of-season statistical totals for Mandrews as of game 7 of the season were thus:
16 games
66 receptions
1,006 Yards
15.2 YPC
60 Long
15 TDs
0 Drops
25 First Downs
16 20+ catches
7 40+ catches
And finally, the actual numbers at the end of the season were this:
16 Games
71 Receptions
1,232 Yards
16.2 YPC
65 Long
9 TDs
3 Drops
40 First Downs
17 20+ catches
9 40+ catches
As you can see, for almost every positive statistic, Mandrews McHollywood outperformed his averages from the first half of the season. More yards, more receptions, a higher average yards per reception, and he beat his longest reception of 60 yards in week 11 against Austin with a 65 yard touchdown to win the game in overtime. Now it was not all positive, his drops for example, all 3 happened in the back half of the season. And although it was perhaps an unrealistic expectation set up for him to find the endzone 15 times, as that would have led the league just ahead of Johnny Blaze Jr’s 14 with Sarasota, it is more disappointing that after week 7 Mandrews only managed to score 3 more times. It seemed like he had a real shot at double-digit scores for the first time in his career but his scoring slowed way down.
Apart from the drops and TDs, the 2nd half boost is a great sign for things to come for the connection between Blaine Falco and Mandrews McHollywood. Blaine Falco got called up perhaps a year earlier than most teams would like for their young quarterbacks and so he had less TPE as a starter than most other QBs in the league. Every year from now he’s just going to get better and better and Mandrews still has another 3 or so seasons guaranteed to play the full season at max level TPE for the squad. Put them together and you have a top-flight connection in the ISFL for the next few seasons. Mandrews currently ranks 6th in team career receptions, 5th in team career yards, 3rd in team career average yards per reception, and tied for 3rd in team career receiving touchdowns. Now Tugg Speedman holds the record for receptions, yards, and touchdowns pretty solidly for the squad at 897, 11,501, and 75 respectively, but if this connection between Falco and McHollywood keeps up over the next few seasons he has a real shot at catching the former Sabercat and Silverback.
This next season is shaping up to be perhaps the most important of the wide receivers career. It’s Mandrews’s final season without regression starting to sink its claws into his TPE totals, and Falco will just have begun to get into his best years. If they can keep the offense buzzing, there’s a very real chance that you could see this NYS squad competing with the Outlaws for the ASFC crown.
(639 Words)