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I know I've raved about it before, but the New Orleans Second Line defense is going to be monstrous this year. The team placed three players on the Pro Bowl defensive roster last season: William H. Harrison, Jordan Andrews, and Johnny Slothface; all three players are returning to the team this season. In addition, NOLA added perhaps the most highly touted prospect of all time in Bjorn Ironside, who will start on the defensive line. That wasn't the only highlight of the draft, as the team also acquired cornerback David Rector and linebacker Thudd Kassel, who will almost certainly have an on-field impact this season. Deon Taylor and Quenton Bode are both entering their prime, and veterans like Lo Rax and Tyler Swift(!) are eager to prove that they still have some gas in the tank.
New Orleans' biggest storyline coming into this season this team involves the offseason trade for Blake Faux. New Orleans gave up a promising but controversial player in Brayden Ennis to acquire Faux, a move which is still being hotly debated. While it was not an easy decision for the New Orleans front office to make, they managed to flip Ennis, a S17 player with 421 TPE (at the time of this writing) for Faux, who is only one season older and has more TPE (510). Only time will tell if New Orleans truly won this trade; fortunately, Austin and New Orleans play each other Week 1, so we might get an answer sooner rather than later. For now, Faux is yet another piece in an already formidable defense. If New Orleans can keep this young roster together for the next few seasons, they'll have a realistic shot at several Ultimus titles.