Scouting My Position
As I head into the DSFL Entry Draft for S29, I’m trying to get a handle on this league and understanding some things about it. The best way to get to know a league, to me, is to work from your own position out. So I’ve decided to take a deeper look at my own position – as a safety – and understand what safeties in the DSFL have done in the last season and what that might mean for me.
Right out of the gate, the first issue I have in this is that there are two different safety positions. You can move around, you can play however you want. This means it’s a bit different to understand the position, of course. So first is understanding the differences in the two safety positions.
There is the Free Safety position, more of the centerfielder if you will, in baseball terms at least. It’s a player that is more of a pass defense player, hovering over everybody and keeping a watchful eye. There are some key difficulties in this position, as it’s pretty easy to be drawn away from the place you need to be by the quarterback’s eyes. Realistically, one small step in the wrong direction can completely throw you out of the play in this role. This is a role that runs backward first, just like an outfielder in baseball, and only attacks in selective moments.
That makes for a difference from the Strong Safety. The players that have to be always ready to attack, really. While they can be adjusting to a more pass defending situation, they’re the kind of player that is moving around more. This is a player that can rush the line, who is always ready to pounce. This does mean that a ball can go over your head at any time, and that you’re in a vulnerable position to be taken advantage of at times. But if you get the beat on someone, it really doesn’t take much to find an opening to make a massive play. You could get just about every opportunity to add to your counting stats in this position.
So now that I’ve defined the roles for my personal understanding, I’m taking a look at them in two different sections as well. When I was picked up by the Bondi Beach Buccaneers, I was put into a strong safety role. So I’ll start with that.
Strong Safety
(S28) ROMULUS ROMAN – TIJUANA LUCHADORES
88 TACKLES, 1 FORCED FUMBLE, 1 FUMBLE RECOVERY, 2 INTERCEPTIONS, 5 PASSES DEFENDED
Nearly 400 TPE, and an absolute animal. This is the kind of player I expect to see when I hear about a Strong Safety. He’ll be two seasons older than my player, so I don’t expect to be all too similar to him. However, those 88 tackles is remarkable. It ranked him first among Safeties, and non-linebackers in general, and 13th overall in the league. Meanwhile, it shows the exact type of player I highlighted earlier. With forced fumbles, interceptions, passes defended – this is a player that makes a major impact all over the field in every kind of play. He’s involved everywhere. I don’t expect to be competitive with him for a while, but it’s amazing to see the kind of level a strong safety can reach.
(S28) TIM SOULJA – MINNESOTA GREY DUCKS
64 TACKLES, 2 FORCED FUMBLES, 4 SACKS, 1 INTERCEPTION, 5 PASSES DEFENDED
Another high end player, this one over the 400 TPE mark already. Soulja is another great example of a high end strong safety who has their hand in every single pot available. The four sacks is an absolutely incredible statistic to me. I do wonder about play design in the sim, and what kind of power we have over it. This gives me a good idea that the sim is going to call plays to get people into position to make plays. A strong safety being able to join a blitz on one play and even defend passes or get interceptions on another is a massive win to me. This is the way I want to see a strong safety play, and it is remarkable to see.
(S27) TRE WASHINGTON – KANSAS CITY COYOTES
73 TACKLES, 4 FORCED FUMBLES, 1 FUMBLE RECOVERY, 1 INTERCEPTION, 8 PASSES DEFENDED
A bit of an older player, compared to the others. At least, one season older. As somebody over from the SHL, my experience would be that isn’t that much of a difference. However, if I’m looking at the careers in the ISFL and how they’re shorter comparatively, one season can be a major difference sometimes. This is a guy at just over 200 TPE, but still making a big impact on his team. Over 70 tackles, forcing 4 fumbles. That’s a big stat line for a safety. To still defend 8 passes while being able to have such a big impact physically is proof of the big impact a safety can have on this game, making quick decisions.
(S28) LUX OPAL – TIJUANA LUCHADORES
67 TACKLES, 1 FORCED FUMBLE, 2 SACKS, 2 PASSES DEFENDED
This fascinates me the most, realistically. I don’t know a lot about defensive systems. I know the general, basic information. I know about things like a 3-4, 4-3, 3-3-5. I know Cover 2. I am not aware of a system that runs two strong safeties on one defense. In an 11-man system, having two players that are step forward first like that would be interesting. I wonder if it’s a system that uses an extra safety over a linebacker, if there’s maybe a 3-2-6 or something like that. I’ve heard of 4-2-5, maybe this is substituting a safety in that spot instead. That is remarkable, and can be a big impact on how a team runs. Seeing that Tijuana had two strong safeties and was first in the South makes me wonder the effect of this system. It may not be the best system, but it is really interesting to look at and something I’d like to explore deeper.
FREE SAFETY
(S28) KELVIN HARRIS – NORFOLK SEAWOLVES
70 TACKLES, 2 FORCED FUMBLES, 1 FUMBLE RECOVERY, 5 INTERCEPTIONS, 9 PASSES DEFENDED, 1 TOUCHDOWN
What a stat line for a free safety. I have to wonder the number of tackles and how that ultimately comes to be. Do Free Safeties in this league act more like a rover, kind of how you’d imagine strong safeties to be? Or is it that so many catches were given up that this was just the last line of defense that ultimately succeeded? I can’t really answer that, but the forced fumbles, the interceptions, the passes defended is amazing. This is one of very few defensive touchdowns scored. It’s a very difficult thing to do, and the ability to do it is amazing. This is a very interesting stat line with a lot of different counting stats, and it makes me very curious to see how these systems work.
(S28) CHATHACK'RIUS SMITH IV – BONDI BEACH BUCCANEERS
74 TACKLES, 1 FORCED FUMBLE, 1 FUMBLE RECOVERY, 3 SACKS, 7 PASSES DEFENDED
The team I called home for a few games at the end of the season has one of the more interesting stat lines for a Free Safety. Smith had a ton of tackles, forced a fumble and … oh wait, got THREE SACKS?! This is wild for a free safety. As a player usually tasked to play the deep ball, it’s highly unusual to see them blitz on a play or get any opportunities at a quarterback even on a scramble considering they have to be keeping an eye on the receivers trying to find open space. It doesn’t take much for the ball to go over your head, and when you’re the overhead watchmen, you’d think you don’t really get the chance to push forward. I’d love to see how these sacks came to be, honestly. Meanwhile, the 7 passes defended is a fantastic measure to show this is a player that was able to still defend that deep ball well. Free Safeties are wild, man.
(S26) JOHN PRICE – MINNESOTA GREY DUCKS
51 TACKLES, 2 FORCED FUMBLES, 1 FUMBLE RECOVERY, 2 SACKS, 5 INTERCEPTIONS, 15 PASSES DEFENDED
An elder statesman if I’ve ever seen one. This makes me curious to see how the league operates in terms of how long someone can stay in the developmental league. Considering the majority of this list has been S28, and the career length being shorter in football, I feel like S26 is kind of ancient to be in this role anymore. However, Price did well. With 51 tackles, the last line of defense either wasn’t used often or wasn’t really the best, but with 2 forced fumbles and 5 interceptions, he was able to get play going the other direction a TON. Add in his league leading (for safeties) 15 passes defended, and this was a ball hawk if I’ve ever seen one. It makes you think, he likely didn’t see many opportunities to make a tackle on a play because he just wouldn’t let the ball get there. Then comes the 2 sacks, which are again fascinating. Price was all over the field for Minnesota, and makes me question if free safety is a more open position than a strong safety.
(S28) COLE MAXWELL - DALLAS BIRDDOGS
58 TACKLES, 1 FORCED FUMBLE, 3 SACKS, 3 INTERCEPTIONS, 8 PASSES DEFENDED, 2 TOUCHDOWNS
Yet again, tackles in the 50s. However in this case, I think it’s a case of a player just being too great that other teams really avoided him. With a forced fumble and 3 interceptions, Maxwell was great for getting the offense on the field. He even had 3 sacks to go with it, playing all over and making a huge impact. The most fascinating part though is his touchdowns. He led the league with 2 defensive touchdowns, and for a player that would usually be further downfield when making an interception, that’s incredible. He would’ve had to run through basically the entire other team to make it into the endzone, and he did it twice. That’s a major game impact, and legitimately remarkable to see.
(S30) MILES WEPEROM – LONDON ROYALS
20 TACKLES, 1 FORCED FUMBLE, 1 FUMBLE RECOVERY, 1 SACK, 3 INTERCEPTIONS, 3 PASSES DEFENDED
This is the true competition for me. Another S30 Safety, and this one was something else. Weperom is easily the top safety in the class based on the counting stats. While you may look at it and go, well 20 tackles isn’t much and only 3 passes defended. The fact he’s in the conversation with some of these other players who are two-plus seasons older than him with his forced fumble, sack and 3 interceptions is incredible. Then you look deeper and realize – he did all of that in just FOUR GAMES. Weperom is a murderer of sorts, who will be absolutely terrifying for opposing quarterbacks in the long term. It’s no doubt Weperom is going to be a superstar if he can keep this pace up, which is to be seen as 4 games sometimes doesn’t translate to 14 as players get tired and need to adjust their play style to be able to stay on the field longer. What isn’t in doubt here is that Weperom is going to be a force to be reckoned with, and opposing quarterbacks should watch out throwing his direction.
That was my look through the league’s top Strong Safeties and Free Safeties. It gives me an idea of what I’m going to be up against once I hit the league, and now gives me some questions to ask in terms of systems being run and how the play calls ultimately work. I found it fascinating to see so many free safeties getting into the pocket for sacks, while managing to be dangerous in pass coverage still. I also find it really interesting seeing the impact of some of these players, as It's clear S28 is kind of at the peak for the DSFL right now, but a player like Weperom is going to be making an immediate impact.
When I first looked at my stats, with 18 tackles, 1 for loss and 2 passes defended, I felt pretty good about it. Now I’m seeing that it’s just scratching the surface a bit, and I have a long way to go. I’m excited to get started, however, and this gave me a great look to see just how much further I can go.
Quote:Word Count: 2085.
Found it fun to get to know a position in the DSFL, I may just start going through different positions to get to know players at them a bit more as I try to learn the league and understand what's going on here sometimes.