Controversy is storming through the DSFL as an error during the San Antonio/Kansas City game forced all of the games in Weeks 9 and 10 to be resimmed. That seems excessive and kinda bull, even though my team didn't improve from the resimming at all (although I scored my first touchdown, so I'm not complaining too hard). As a result, the stats I'm bringing to you are from the resim. I only have some tidbits of what happened in the original games, and it would be way too time consuming to find the stats from the original sim, and plus these stats are what are going into the final tally, so I'm using the resim numbers, but I'll let you know of any original sim numbers I know about.
San Antonio Marshals
QB Cooter Bigsby (@timeconsumer)
Yes, Morgan Marshall and Max Vaz slayed this week, especially against Kansas City (Vaz scored three times and Marshall had almost 200 total yards), but this week we saw something else from this Marshals offense: a strong passing game. The Marshals don't really need a great passing game when Marshall and Vaz are tearing it up as usual, but in these two most recent games, Bigsby played very well. Across both games, he completed more than two-thirds of his passes for about 400 yards, four TDs, and a single interception. Maybe it was just because the Marshals played the two worst teams in the D-League, but maybe the Marshals have added another dimension to their already brutal offense. Absolutely terrifying.
CB Vander Jones (@`Vander Jones`)
Ladies and gentlemen, your new all-time DSFL interception in a season leader (tie). Opposing offenses are trying to throw it literally anywhere besides where Vander Jones and Walt Green are, resulting in four different Marshals picking off a pass in the last two games, two of whom got six points for their efforts. But Vander did get one of those picks, giving him eight on the season, a tie for the D-League record with four games to go. He also deflected three passes in both games, giving him 15 on the season. There's no deflection record in the book, but I'm gonna guess he's close to that record too.
Portland Pythons
WR Bona'beri Jones (@toivo)
The Portland passing attack has been a touch sketchy as of late. Franklin Armstrong is struggling to complete even 50% of his passes over his last two games, but the one person he can hit with some regularity is Bona'beri Jones. Jones has scored three times in his last two games and has been catching everything that's gotten in his range. He didn't record a single drop in Week 9, and even though had two early in the first quarter of Week 10, he cleaned it up and went dropless the rest of the way. He's basically lapping the field in the best receiver category and is nearly a lock for the Pro Bowl (spoiler).
LB Leighton Lee (@youngcricket)
Leighton Lee is one of the players crying foul over the mix up, as he had put up some terrific stats with several pass deflections and a pick six, which would've been his first of the season. Alas, they've been wiped from his record, and in the resim, his numbers were substantially less gaudy. However, he did have his third 15 tackle game in the last four weeks. He's obscenely good at the whole "tackling the guy with the ball" thing, which is kind of the entire point of the game. He's still leading the league in tackles, and while the rest of his numbers don't leap off the screen besides perhaps forced fumbles, I'd say he's still got a strong shot at Defensive Player of the Year.
Tijuana Luchadores
WR Carlomagno Rey (@Crey23)
Despite boasting the highest TPE of all D-League quarterbacks, Corvo Havran hasn't been producing like you'd think he'd be. Maybe it's because Forrest Gump is snarfing up all the offensive workload, but even still Havran's numbers have been less than inspiring. However, the work that he's been doing with Carlomagno Rey has been pretty darn good. Rey accounted for more than 40 percent of Havran's yardage over the last two games, finding the end zone on both occasions. With Rod Tidwell struggling as of late (which may be playing a factor in Havran's drop off as of late), Rey is picking up the slack admirably, and may help the Luchadores on their path to a title defense.
DT Bill Inohi (@Sunshine)
We're hitting all kinds of players I don't normally look at today, fantastic. Bill Inohi really made his presence felt against Palm Beach in Week 10, registering five tackles, four tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. Throw in a sack the previous week versus Portland, and Inohi has been really made an impact on a Tijuana defense in desperate need of someone who can get into the backfield with regularity. With a bit of improvement, he could really make life difficult for opposing offensive linemen.
Norfolk Seawolves
WR Brock Landers (@gucci)
The Seawolves have only won two of their last seven games, and both of them were against the 1-9 Kansas City Coyotes. But Brock Landers has been doing a good job of giving Jay Longshaw a reliable target, even if, like most DSFL teams, they'd rather run the ball than throw it. Landers has been Norfolk's leading receiving option for a few weeks now, particularly in Week 10 where Landers racked up 93 receiving yards. All other Seawolf receivers had 70 that week. Ahri Espeeyeeseetee has had a down couple of weeks, and now he and Landers are neck and neck for the Seawolves leading receiver.
LB Marquees Acho (@Huskies311)
The Seawolves defense has showed up to play recently, especially in Week 9 against Kansas City, when they sacked Rose Jenkins six times. One of those came from Marquees Acho, who also contributed seven tackles and one TFL. And in Week 10, Acho brought down the ball carrier 14 times, one time in the backfield, and he even swatted a pass. Norfolk's Week 10 loss to Portland was way closer than the scoreboard indicates, and Acho was a huge reason why they had a shot to win at all.
Palm Beach Solar Bears
TE Dan Wright (@nickyvmlp)
Just kidding, I'm not that kind of guy, but I did finally score a touchdown, so yay.
TE Chase Jensen (@dizzyDC)
No, the real standout was the guy lining up on my opposite, Chase Jensen. After I gushed about how Solar Bear offense was clicking from Weeks 5-8, they seemed to hit a brick wall (although things were better in the sim for us from what I've heard). But that hasn't stopped Chase from putting in overtime on this Solar Bear offense. Once again, Jensen led the team in receiving yards and receptions in both games, and also once again, he had a ridiculous percentage of the workload in Week 10 against Tijuana, where he caught five balls for 101 yards. Apollo Lange threw for 139 in that game. He might be the best tight end in the D-League, and he'll be playing in the majors very soon (leaving me with the starting job, mwahahahahaha, excuse me).
DT Thelonius Palmer
Guy Nikko isn't the only Solar Bear who excels at getting to the quarterback. While Guy Nikko still leads the D-League in sacks with ten, Thelonius Palmer has seven, tied for second in the league. He doesn't get to the ball carrier too often, but when he does that ball carrier tends to be the quarterback in the process of trying to throw the ball. He got two sacks against Tijuana in Week 10 and another one the previous week against San Antonio. Is he a bot? Yes. But he's a good bot, and we're happy to have him.
Kansas City Coyotes
WR Cedric Parker (@rohanm)
Trading Ryan Leaf Jr. has sadly not been the cure-all to the Kansas City offense that many were hoping for. And nowhere was that clearer than in the Week 10 dismantling the Coyotes suffered at the hands of the Marshals. 49-3. Word is the original game was much closer, but that's how it goes sometimes. Ignoring that travesty, Cedric Parker is starting to show his worth to a Yotes offense in need of some playmakers. J.N. Nova has been shut down as of late, so Parker's getting some extra looks, and it's working for the most part. In Week 9, Cedric went for six catches, 83 yards, and the Yotes only score. And he led them again in receiving in Week 10, for what that's worth (not worth much, three catches, 37 yards). If they want to get back to winning games for once, they should start focusing on Parker more.
DE Stayve Jerome Thomas (@slimthugga)
The Kansas City defense was on the field for a really long time against San Antonio (round two), causing a few players on the Coyotes defense to get some extra numbers. One of those raised numbers was in Stayve Jerome Thomas's tackle for loss column, as he had three in that one game. He also had two more the week prior, in case you thought he couldn't get good numbers without an obscene workload. Thomas excels at stopping the ball carrier before he gets to the line of scrimmage, and it's part of the reason why New Orleans has already claimed him.
1621 words
San Antonio Marshals
QB Cooter Bigsby (@timeconsumer)
Yes, Morgan Marshall and Max Vaz slayed this week, especially against Kansas City (Vaz scored three times and Marshall had almost 200 total yards), but this week we saw something else from this Marshals offense: a strong passing game. The Marshals don't really need a great passing game when Marshall and Vaz are tearing it up as usual, but in these two most recent games, Bigsby played very well. Across both games, he completed more than two-thirds of his passes for about 400 yards, four TDs, and a single interception. Maybe it was just because the Marshals played the two worst teams in the D-League, but maybe the Marshals have added another dimension to their already brutal offense. Absolutely terrifying.
CB Vander Jones (@`Vander Jones`)
Ladies and gentlemen, your new all-time DSFL interception in a season leader (tie). Opposing offenses are trying to throw it literally anywhere besides where Vander Jones and Walt Green are, resulting in four different Marshals picking off a pass in the last two games, two of whom got six points for their efforts. But Vander did get one of those picks, giving him eight on the season, a tie for the D-League record with four games to go. He also deflected three passes in both games, giving him 15 on the season. There's no deflection record in the book, but I'm gonna guess he's close to that record too.
Portland Pythons
WR Bona'beri Jones (@toivo)
The Portland passing attack has been a touch sketchy as of late. Franklin Armstrong is struggling to complete even 50% of his passes over his last two games, but the one person he can hit with some regularity is Bona'beri Jones. Jones has scored three times in his last two games and has been catching everything that's gotten in his range. He didn't record a single drop in Week 9, and even though had two early in the first quarter of Week 10, he cleaned it up and went dropless the rest of the way. He's basically lapping the field in the best receiver category and is nearly a lock for the Pro Bowl (spoiler).
LB Leighton Lee (@youngcricket)
Leighton Lee is one of the players crying foul over the mix up, as he had put up some terrific stats with several pass deflections and a pick six, which would've been his first of the season. Alas, they've been wiped from his record, and in the resim, his numbers were substantially less gaudy. However, he did have his third 15 tackle game in the last four weeks. He's obscenely good at the whole "tackling the guy with the ball" thing, which is kind of the entire point of the game. He's still leading the league in tackles, and while the rest of his numbers don't leap off the screen besides perhaps forced fumbles, I'd say he's still got a strong shot at Defensive Player of the Year.
Tijuana Luchadores
WR Carlomagno Rey (@Crey23)
Despite boasting the highest TPE of all D-League quarterbacks, Corvo Havran hasn't been producing like you'd think he'd be. Maybe it's because Forrest Gump is snarfing up all the offensive workload, but even still Havran's numbers have been less than inspiring. However, the work that he's been doing with Carlomagno Rey has been pretty darn good. Rey accounted for more than 40 percent of Havran's yardage over the last two games, finding the end zone on both occasions. With Rod Tidwell struggling as of late (which may be playing a factor in Havran's drop off as of late), Rey is picking up the slack admirably, and may help the Luchadores on their path to a title defense.
DT Bill Inohi (@Sunshine)
We're hitting all kinds of players I don't normally look at today, fantastic. Bill Inohi really made his presence felt against Palm Beach in Week 10, registering five tackles, four tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. Throw in a sack the previous week versus Portland, and Inohi has been really made an impact on a Tijuana defense in desperate need of someone who can get into the backfield with regularity. With a bit of improvement, he could really make life difficult for opposing offensive linemen.
Norfolk Seawolves
WR Brock Landers (@gucci)
The Seawolves have only won two of their last seven games, and both of them were against the 1-9 Kansas City Coyotes. But Brock Landers has been doing a good job of giving Jay Longshaw a reliable target, even if, like most DSFL teams, they'd rather run the ball than throw it. Landers has been Norfolk's leading receiving option for a few weeks now, particularly in Week 10 where Landers racked up 93 receiving yards. All other Seawolf receivers had 70 that week. Ahri Espeeyeeseetee has had a down couple of weeks, and now he and Landers are neck and neck for the Seawolves leading receiver.
LB Marquees Acho (@Huskies311)
The Seawolves defense has showed up to play recently, especially in Week 9 against Kansas City, when they sacked Rose Jenkins six times. One of those came from Marquees Acho, who also contributed seven tackles and one TFL. And in Week 10, Acho brought down the ball carrier 14 times, one time in the backfield, and he even swatted a pass. Norfolk's Week 10 loss to Portland was way closer than the scoreboard indicates, and Acho was a huge reason why they had a shot to win at all.
Palm Beach Solar Bears
TE Dan Wright (@nickyvmlp)
Just kidding, I'm not that kind of guy, but I did finally score a touchdown, so yay.
TE Chase Jensen (@dizzyDC)
No, the real standout was the guy lining up on my opposite, Chase Jensen. After I gushed about how Solar Bear offense was clicking from Weeks 5-8, they seemed to hit a brick wall (although things were better in the sim for us from what I've heard). But that hasn't stopped Chase from putting in overtime on this Solar Bear offense. Once again, Jensen led the team in receiving yards and receptions in both games, and also once again, he had a ridiculous percentage of the workload in Week 10 against Tijuana, where he caught five balls for 101 yards. Apollo Lange threw for 139 in that game. He might be the best tight end in the D-League, and he'll be playing in the majors very soon (leaving me with the starting job, mwahahahahaha, excuse me).
DT Thelonius Palmer
Guy Nikko isn't the only Solar Bear who excels at getting to the quarterback. While Guy Nikko still leads the D-League in sacks with ten, Thelonius Palmer has seven, tied for second in the league. He doesn't get to the ball carrier too often, but when he does that ball carrier tends to be the quarterback in the process of trying to throw the ball. He got two sacks against Tijuana in Week 10 and another one the previous week against San Antonio. Is he a bot? Yes. But he's a good bot, and we're happy to have him.
Kansas City Coyotes
WR Cedric Parker (@rohanm)
Trading Ryan Leaf Jr. has sadly not been the cure-all to the Kansas City offense that many were hoping for. And nowhere was that clearer than in the Week 10 dismantling the Coyotes suffered at the hands of the Marshals. 49-3. Word is the original game was much closer, but that's how it goes sometimes. Ignoring that travesty, Cedric Parker is starting to show his worth to a Yotes offense in need of some playmakers. J.N. Nova has been shut down as of late, so Parker's getting some extra looks, and it's working for the most part. In Week 9, Cedric went for six catches, 83 yards, and the Yotes only score. And he led them again in receiving in Week 10, for what that's worth (not worth much, three catches, 37 yards). If they want to get back to winning games for once, they should start focusing on Parker more.
DE Stayve Jerome Thomas (@slimthugga)
The Kansas City defense was on the field for a really long time against San Antonio (round two), causing a few players on the Coyotes defense to get some extra numbers. One of those raised numbers was in Stayve Jerome Thomas's tackle for loss column, as he had three in that one game. He also had two more the week prior, in case you thought he couldn't get good numbers without an obscene workload. Thomas excels at stopping the ball carrier before he gets to the line of scrimmage, and it's part of the reason why New Orleans has already claimed him.
1621 words