Dex Kennedy has just finished his 6th season in the big leagues and his 8th season overall. Weighing on Kennedy throughout those six seasons were a playoff appearance in the majors that never seemed to manifest itself. Kennedy made the playoffs in his final DSFL season, but sat on his couch for his first five seasons in the ISFL. With the big bucks being paid to him by the Austin Copperheads, and with (breaking the 4th wall) regression just around the corner, Kennedy knew this had to be the season. What followed was, undoubtedly, Dex Kennedy’s greatest season to date. Kennedy blew all of the doubters, the naysayers, and the “ring-chaser” accusers out of the water with his magnum opus on defense. Let’s talk about Dex Kennedy’s S28 defensive campaign and why I hope he finally receives some well-deserved award recognition.
This won’t be Kennedy’s first season being up for awards. He’s received plenty of award consideration in the past. However, he’s never received the actual commendation. In S22, Kennedy led the DSFL in sacks with 12 and had the 6th most tackles. Unfortunately, he came 3rd in voting for LBOTY, losing the award to someone with less tackles, sacks, and TFLs. This came despite being the only linebacker in the top five for DPOTY and MVP voting. In S24, his 2nd season in the big leagues, Dex Kennedy dominated the league tackling ranks with 158: the all-time single-season record. Kennedy was part of a 3-13 Baltimore Hawks, which immediately hurt his chances of winning the award. But that didn’t seem to come off as a problem for Derred De Ville, his teammate, who ultimately won LBOTY. De Ville did, however, have an excellent campaign and beat out Kennedy in every major stat other than tackles. Unfortunately, the single-season tackles record, that still stands, remains but a footnote as Kennedy barely finished 5th in LBOTY voting that season.
It’s become clear to me that in order to win an award in this league, you have to show your skill beyond just one dimension of your game. Kennedy led the league in both sacks and tackles in separate seasons, but won no awards as a result. Voters like diversity in stats and a clear showing that a certain player is multi-dimensional. So how did Dex Kennedy diversify his stats this season? Did he show out in just one stat, as he had in his previous LBOTY campaigns? Let’s take a look at his season stats:
S28: Dex Kennedy
Tackles: 99
Tackles for loss: 8
FF/FR: 6/3
Sacks: 13
Interceptions: 3
PDs: 13
Safeties: 1
By far, this is Dex Kennedy’s most impressive portfolio across the board. What makes this season different from his previous best years is, for starters, none of those stats lead the league. That was the real crux for Kennedy’s previous high seasons: he was great in one aspect, but struggled in almost all of the rest. But what exactly do those stats mean when compared to the rest of the linebackers in the ISFL? Well, let’s see their rankings amongst LBs:
Tackles: 99 (T-11th)
Tackles for loss: 8 (T-2nd)
FF/FR: 6/3 (T-2nd)
Sacks: 13 (T-4th)
Interceptions: 3 (T-1st)
PDs: 13 (T-5th)
Safeties: 1 (T-1st)
Uh-oh, looks like Dex led the league in not one but two stats! Welp, that’s a wrap folks. Better luck next season, I guess. But in all seriousness, Kennedy went far beyond just the stats he led the league in. In addition to snagging three picks and being one of the two linebackers to record a safety on the season, Kennedy put in work when it came to play behind the line of scrimmage. Kennedy did not lead in sacks nor TFLs, but still excelled at both rushing the pass and preventing the offense from gaining any yards. Mind you (breaking the 4th wall again), Dex is a coverage LB, not a pass rusher. But speaking of coverage, Kennedy played tremendously well against the air attack. 13 PDs might not be the highest mark among LBs, but I like to imagine that was because QBs were cautious to throw it Kennedy’s way. I don’t know that for a fact, of course. Just believing that to be so...please let me have this.
So what about Kennedy’s weakest stat: tackling? Well, Kennedy not winning LBOTY, nor making the Pro Bowl, the season he broke the single-season tackling record, I hope, is evidence enough that tackles don’t matter that much. But, I guess I’ll give you a more truthful response. The Copperheads had, and I will fight you on this, the best linebacker trio in the league this season...and quite possibly all time. Dex Kennedy, with Brach Tomaslacher and Tyler Montain, lit up opposing offenses this season. There were only so many tackles to go around between the three superstar LBs. And with other great defenders on Austin like Lesean Crooks and Maverick Bowie having stellar seasons, Kennedy’s tackles were slightly less than the other LBs who are up for LBOTY. But if tackling is the only stat you look at in regards to defensive awards, then, first off, where’s Kennedy’s LBOTY from S24, and secondly, just know it is not the primary definer of a defensive player. Just as touches aren’t the primary definer of a running back. Or touchdowns, alone, aren’t a primary definer of offensive players.
Well...it might not be a primary definer for offensive players. But what about when defensive players get touchdowns? It’s an impressive feat: a non-offensive player scoring the ball without their opposing-team’s defense even taking the field. But is someone with a defensive touchdown deserving of praise solely because they scored once? No, not at all. There’s much more that goes into having an award-worthy season. Fortunately, Dex Kennedy’s stats were not defined by a single defensive touchdown he might have had….
Defensive Touchdowns: 4 (1st)
...THAT’S BECAUSE HE HAD FOUR. Dex Kennedy did lead the linebackers, and all defensive players, unanimously in one stat: touchdowns. Let me take back…some of what I just said. Yes, a defensive player having a single touchdown is not very impressive. But what about 4? Dex Kennedy scored FOUR TOUCHDOWNS this season. That’s 28 points, alone (technically 24, I know). If Kennedy didn’t play this season, the Copperheads would go from 5th to 7th in scoring. This isn’t a lucky break that got the defense a touchdown, mind you. This is a man who tackles for a living bringing the ball into the endzone four fucking times. To make that even more crazy, every Kennedy interception this season was returned for 6 points. Kennedy received 6 turnovers total on the year (forced 9, which is also T-1st amongst LBs) and scored with the ball four of those times. That’s a 67% chance of Dex Kennedy scoring when the ball is in his hands. Give me any other player this season, or ever, who could say the same thing.
But, as I said, defensive touchdowns aren’t the definition of a defensive player. I...think they should be...but I’m guessing I’m in the minority. But that wasn’t all Dex Kennedy did. Dex Kennedy was a production machine this season. You could argue he wasn’t the top tackler or pass rusher or pass defender, but the numbers don’t lie. He did everything that a linebacker can do at a much higher than average level. I see all the other LBOTYs who are up for this award and well, it’s a lot of what I previously thought was award-deserving. This person led the league in sacks, or led linebackers in forced fumbles, or tackles, or interceptions, or safeties, or touchdowns (those last three were me, btw). But looking at stats across the board, which history tells me matters more than anything else when determining an award winner, Dex Kennedy should be the most considerable candidate. To recap, with rankings amongst LBs:
Tackles: 99 (T-11th)
Tackles for loss: 8 (T-2nd)
FF/FR: 6/3 (T-2nd)
Sacks: 13 (T-4th)
Interceptions: 3 (T-1st)
PDs: 13 (T-5th)
Safeties: 1 (T-1st)
Defensive Touchdowns: 4 (1st, leads all defenders)
Looking at all of these stats, the fact that Kennedy was on a team over .500, the fact that Kennedy finally made the playoffs with an ISFL team, and everything that I, or Dex, or this line of code within a football sim game have been through, all I have to ask is…IS THIS ENOUGH FOR YOU?!
This won’t be Kennedy’s first season being up for awards. He’s received plenty of award consideration in the past. However, he’s never received the actual commendation. In S22, Kennedy led the DSFL in sacks with 12 and had the 6th most tackles. Unfortunately, he came 3rd in voting for LBOTY, losing the award to someone with less tackles, sacks, and TFLs. This came despite being the only linebacker in the top five for DPOTY and MVP voting. In S24, his 2nd season in the big leagues, Dex Kennedy dominated the league tackling ranks with 158: the all-time single-season record. Kennedy was part of a 3-13 Baltimore Hawks, which immediately hurt his chances of winning the award. But that didn’t seem to come off as a problem for Derred De Ville, his teammate, who ultimately won LBOTY. De Ville did, however, have an excellent campaign and beat out Kennedy in every major stat other than tackles. Unfortunately, the single-season tackles record, that still stands, remains but a footnote as Kennedy barely finished 5th in LBOTY voting that season.
It’s become clear to me that in order to win an award in this league, you have to show your skill beyond just one dimension of your game. Kennedy led the league in both sacks and tackles in separate seasons, but won no awards as a result. Voters like diversity in stats and a clear showing that a certain player is multi-dimensional. So how did Dex Kennedy diversify his stats this season? Did he show out in just one stat, as he had in his previous LBOTY campaigns? Let’s take a look at his season stats:
S28: Dex Kennedy
Tackles: 99
Tackles for loss: 8
FF/FR: 6/3
Sacks: 13
Interceptions: 3
PDs: 13
Safeties: 1
By far, this is Dex Kennedy’s most impressive portfolio across the board. What makes this season different from his previous best years is, for starters, none of those stats lead the league. That was the real crux for Kennedy’s previous high seasons: he was great in one aspect, but struggled in almost all of the rest. But what exactly do those stats mean when compared to the rest of the linebackers in the ISFL? Well, let’s see their rankings amongst LBs:
Tackles: 99 (T-11th)
Tackles for loss: 8 (T-2nd)
FF/FR: 6/3 (T-2nd)
Sacks: 13 (T-4th)
Interceptions: 3 (T-1st)
PDs: 13 (T-5th)
Safeties: 1 (T-1st)
Uh-oh, looks like Dex led the league in not one but two stats! Welp, that’s a wrap folks. Better luck next season, I guess. But in all seriousness, Kennedy went far beyond just the stats he led the league in. In addition to snagging three picks and being one of the two linebackers to record a safety on the season, Kennedy put in work when it came to play behind the line of scrimmage. Kennedy did not lead in sacks nor TFLs, but still excelled at both rushing the pass and preventing the offense from gaining any yards. Mind you (breaking the 4th wall again), Dex is a coverage LB, not a pass rusher. But speaking of coverage, Kennedy played tremendously well against the air attack. 13 PDs might not be the highest mark among LBs, but I like to imagine that was because QBs were cautious to throw it Kennedy’s way. I don’t know that for a fact, of course. Just believing that to be so...please let me have this.
So what about Kennedy’s weakest stat: tackling? Well, Kennedy not winning LBOTY, nor making the Pro Bowl, the season he broke the single-season tackling record, I hope, is evidence enough that tackles don’t matter that much. But, I guess I’ll give you a more truthful response. The Copperheads had, and I will fight you on this, the best linebacker trio in the league this season...and quite possibly all time. Dex Kennedy, with Brach Tomaslacher and Tyler Montain, lit up opposing offenses this season. There were only so many tackles to go around between the three superstar LBs. And with other great defenders on Austin like Lesean Crooks and Maverick Bowie having stellar seasons, Kennedy’s tackles were slightly less than the other LBs who are up for LBOTY. But if tackling is the only stat you look at in regards to defensive awards, then, first off, where’s Kennedy’s LBOTY from S24, and secondly, just know it is not the primary definer of a defensive player. Just as touches aren’t the primary definer of a running back. Or touchdowns, alone, aren’t a primary definer of offensive players.
Well...it might not be a primary definer for offensive players. But what about when defensive players get touchdowns? It’s an impressive feat: a non-offensive player scoring the ball without their opposing-team’s defense even taking the field. But is someone with a defensive touchdown deserving of praise solely because they scored once? No, not at all. There’s much more that goes into having an award-worthy season. Fortunately, Dex Kennedy’s stats were not defined by a single defensive touchdown he might have had….
Defensive Touchdowns: 4 (1st)
...THAT’S BECAUSE HE HAD FOUR. Dex Kennedy did lead the linebackers, and all defensive players, unanimously in one stat: touchdowns. Let me take back…some of what I just said. Yes, a defensive player having a single touchdown is not very impressive. But what about 4? Dex Kennedy scored FOUR TOUCHDOWNS this season. That’s 28 points, alone (technically 24, I know). If Kennedy didn’t play this season, the Copperheads would go from 5th to 7th in scoring. This isn’t a lucky break that got the defense a touchdown, mind you. This is a man who tackles for a living bringing the ball into the endzone four fucking times. To make that even more crazy, every Kennedy interception this season was returned for 6 points. Kennedy received 6 turnovers total on the year (forced 9, which is also T-1st amongst LBs) and scored with the ball four of those times. That’s a 67% chance of Dex Kennedy scoring when the ball is in his hands. Give me any other player this season, or ever, who could say the same thing.
But, as I said, defensive touchdowns aren’t the definition of a defensive player. I...think they should be...but I’m guessing I’m in the minority. But that wasn’t all Dex Kennedy did. Dex Kennedy was a production machine this season. You could argue he wasn’t the top tackler or pass rusher or pass defender, but the numbers don’t lie. He did everything that a linebacker can do at a much higher than average level. I see all the other LBOTYs who are up for this award and well, it’s a lot of what I previously thought was award-deserving. This person led the league in sacks, or led linebackers in forced fumbles, or tackles, or interceptions, or safeties, or touchdowns (those last three were me, btw). But looking at stats across the board, which history tells me matters more than anything else when determining an award winner, Dex Kennedy should be the most considerable candidate. To recap, with rankings amongst LBs:
Tackles: 99 (T-11th)
Tackles for loss: 8 (T-2nd)
FF/FR: 6/3 (T-2nd)
Sacks: 13 (T-4th)
Interceptions: 3 (T-1st)
PDs: 13 (T-5th)
Safeties: 1 (T-1st)
Defensive Touchdowns: 4 (1st, leads all defenders)
Looking at all of these stats, the fact that Kennedy was on a team over .500, the fact that Kennedy finally made the playoffs with an ISFL team, and everything that I, or Dex, or this line of code within a football sim game have been through, all I have to ask is…IS THIS ENOUGH FOR YOU?!
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