Week one against the Royals saw the Grey Ducks going home 0-1 after a narrow defeat. A fast start for London gave them quite the lead early on forcing Minnesota to try and catch up. The second half fared much better for the Ducks as they came back and fought hard to secure a win. Unfortunately Cortez had himself a day, torching the Grey Ducks secondary for 334 yards 3 TDs. Today im going to talk briefly about what went well for the Minnesota Defense, and what went wrong.
Right off the bat we saw Chainbreaker prove he is the leader of the defense just as he was in the preseason. Recording 10 tackles, a tackle for loss and a sack. His play has been so consistent throughout the preseason and now into week one, that im expecting him to be one of the seasons leaders in tackles.
Strong Safety Sloan won himself defensive player of the game for the Grey Ducks, recording 8 tackles and a sack. The turning point of the game for Minnesota came when Sloan forced a fumble and recovered it, giving the Grey Ducks great field position and providing much needed momentum to bring the game down to the wire, forcing what started as a blowout, to become a very hard fought win for London. Sloan looks to be one of the stars of Minnesotas Secondary if he can continue to play consistently.
Wasrabi Gleel is proving himself to be a feared pass rusher as a rookie. He recorded his first DSFL sack in his rookie debut, and finished the game with 8 tackles and a tackle for loss. A vital piece of the Grey Ducks feared pass rush, he has terrorized QBs throughout the preseason, and if he continues to continuosly apply pressure, there is no doubt he will be one of the leagues Sack leaders.
Another Rookie who played a great game was Blackfyre. His debut game for the Grey Ducks he recorded 9 tackles, finishing as the teams #2 in tackles. He needed a strong performance this week, to prove he was going to be worth the waiver pick up, and he did just that. One area that he needs to work is Pass Defense. He didn't record any pass declections or interceptions, but neither did most of the Minnesota Secondary. If he can provide a greater role in the pass defense, and continue to tackle consistently he will be a feared defender that QBs will undoubtedly avoid.
The Ducks had a number of players who played well defensively, recording a fair amount of tackles, but just didnt make as much of an impact on the game as the other mentioned above.
Lenkins recorded a respectable 7 tackles, a noteworthy number to be sure, but recorded no TFLs or PDs.
The same could be said for Brooks who recorded 6 tackles which is a pretty average number, if he can do this consistently, and add in some tackles for loss or sacks he will make a much greater impact.
Hilliard finished the game with six tackles, another average performance, however he was the only member of the minnesota secondary to break up a pass. If he improves on that he will be a threat to throw to and will definitely record some INTs for his ISFL resume.
Another six tackle performance came from mash, who also recorded a sack. Another Vital cog in the machine that is Minnesotas Vaunted pass rush. If he continues to pressure the quarterback consistently, paired with Gleel and Chainbreaker, no Quarterbacks will be safe.
Perhaps one of the more underrated performances of the game came for Brick Van Sanzo. He only recorded four tackles, but he had two tackles for loss. He was constantly in the backfield terrorizing the London Running Backs. The run game for the Royals was the weak link without a doubt. Average rushing numbers for both running backs saw a high total yards, however with Van Sanzo continuosly getting into the backfield, the Grey Ducks run defense will only get better.
James Gath was one of the weak links in the Grey Ducks secondary. He only recorded two tackles and was carried all over the field by the London Wide Recievers. If the two safeties hadnt played as well as they did to stop the recievers down field, the game may not have been as close as it was. The Minnesota secondary has a lot of work to do to improve, Gath isnt the only hole in a Grey Duck secondary that looked like swiss cheese against the Royals.
Another pretty weak performance came from blackshear who only recorded a single tackle. He has to make a bigger impact in the coming weeks if the Grey Ducks defense wants to prove themselves elite.
Ranger didn't make a great impact overall, his inly tackle in the game was a sack. This isnt a negative thing per se. He caused some disruption and was involved in the other sacks the Ducks had. The pass rush is by far the Grey Ducks strongest defensive attribute and he is a vital part of that. Hopefully he can continue to get into the backfid and make a bigger impact on the game, not just in the pass rush.
Overall the Minnesota Grey Ducks defense has the potential to be the best unit in the league. They have the pass rush, run defense did well, they just need to work on the pass defense in the coming weeks. Lucky for them its only week one so they have plenty of time to improve. I expect great things from them overall, and wholeheartedly believe they will be the best defense in the league by seasons end.
Right off the bat we saw Chainbreaker prove he is the leader of the defense just as he was in the preseason. Recording 10 tackles, a tackle for loss and a sack. His play has been so consistent throughout the preseason and now into week one, that im expecting him to be one of the seasons leaders in tackles.
Strong Safety Sloan won himself defensive player of the game for the Grey Ducks, recording 8 tackles and a sack. The turning point of the game for Minnesota came when Sloan forced a fumble and recovered it, giving the Grey Ducks great field position and providing much needed momentum to bring the game down to the wire, forcing what started as a blowout, to become a very hard fought win for London. Sloan looks to be one of the stars of Minnesotas Secondary if he can continue to play consistently.
Wasrabi Gleel is proving himself to be a feared pass rusher as a rookie. He recorded his first DSFL sack in his rookie debut, and finished the game with 8 tackles and a tackle for loss. A vital piece of the Grey Ducks feared pass rush, he has terrorized QBs throughout the preseason, and if he continues to continuosly apply pressure, there is no doubt he will be one of the leagues Sack leaders.
Another Rookie who played a great game was Blackfyre. His debut game for the Grey Ducks he recorded 9 tackles, finishing as the teams #2 in tackles. He needed a strong performance this week, to prove he was going to be worth the waiver pick up, and he did just that. One area that he needs to work is Pass Defense. He didn't record any pass declections or interceptions, but neither did most of the Minnesota Secondary. If he can provide a greater role in the pass defense, and continue to tackle consistently he will be a feared defender that QBs will undoubtedly avoid.
The Ducks had a number of players who played well defensively, recording a fair amount of tackles, but just didnt make as much of an impact on the game as the other mentioned above.
Lenkins recorded a respectable 7 tackles, a noteworthy number to be sure, but recorded no TFLs or PDs.
The same could be said for Brooks who recorded 6 tackles which is a pretty average number, if he can do this consistently, and add in some tackles for loss or sacks he will make a much greater impact.
Hilliard finished the game with six tackles, another average performance, however he was the only member of the minnesota secondary to break up a pass. If he improves on that he will be a threat to throw to and will definitely record some INTs for his ISFL resume.
Another six tackle performance came from mash, who also recorded a sack. Another Vital cog in the machine that is Minnesotas Vaunted pass rush. If he continues to pressure the quarterback consistently, paired with Gleel and Chainbreaker, no Quarterbacks will be safe.
Perhaps one of the more underrated performances of the game came for Brick Van Sanzo. He only recorded four tackles, but he had two tackles for loss. He was constantly in the backfield terrorizing the London Running Backs. The run game for the Royals was the weak link without a doubt. Average rushing numbers for both running backs saw a high total yards, however with Van Sanzo continuosly getting into the backfield, the Grey Ducks run defense will only get better.
James Gath was one of the weak links in the Grey Ducks secondary. He only recorded two tackles and was carried all over the field by the London Wide Recievers. If the two safeties hadnt played as well as they did to stop the recievers down field, the game may not have been as close as it was. The Minnesota secondary has a lot of work to do to improve, Gath isnt the only hole in a Grey Duck secondary that looked like swiss cheese against the Royals.
Another pretty weak performance came from blackshear who only recorded a single tackle. He has to make a bigger impact in the coming weeks if the Grey Ducks defense wants to prove themselves elite.
Ranger didn't make a great impact overall, his inly tackle in the game was a sack. This isnt a negative thing per se. He caused some disruption and was involved in the other sacks the Ducks had. The pass rush is by far the Grey Ducks strongest defensive attribute and he is a vital part of that. Hopefully he can continue to get into the backfid and make a bigger impact on the game, not just in the pass rush.
Overall the Minnesota Grey Ducks defense has the potential to be the best unit in the league. They have the pass rush, run defense did well, they just need to work on the pass defense in the coming weeks. Lucky for them its only week one so they have plenty of time to improve. I expect great things from them overall, and wholeheartedly believe they will be the best defense in the league by seasons end.