UW S30
#10: (422 words via Google Docs)
Xavier Walls had one of the best debut seasons by a linebacker in recent years. He was at the top or near the top all year long for tackles and was no stranger to making key stops and bigs plays. The Liberty front office has been extremely satisfied with their #4 pick from the S28 class and in year 2 he looks to do nothing but go up. As a pure blitzing linebacker, Walls has surprised people in his DSFL seasons and in his rookie ISFL season as being very adept at getting into the pass lanes and breaking up passes and picking some balls off. These traits have really created the sense that Walls is going to be a universal linebacker that is able to scream at the quarterback off the edge or drop into coverage and not be a weakness there. Incredibly, his addition has created a very well balanced linebacking corp for the Liberty and in the coming years they could very well be the team feared by opposing running backs. Even through this year, the Liberty have been very good at halting some of the top running games and as Lucid Dreams is brought up and develops along with the rest of the young Philly core teams will definitely feel the effects. Walls is also coming into the last year of his rookie contract and word has not been heard whether he is resigning for sure or not. The Liberty Front Office will likely do whatever they can to keep him on, but most believe Walls will be staying with the team due to his loyalty to the community and some of the players within the organization. The Liberty will definitely be in a balancing act as key rookie contracts come to an end this next season, but they have all the tools and pieces to have a dynasty in the coming years as other high caliber teams regress and have players retire. CJ Sonjack, Romulus Roman, Lucid Dreams, Lonnie Jackson, and Rudy Gray make up an incredible young lineup on both sides of the ball and Lonnie, CJ, and Romulus have already shown starting caliber play throughout the season. Tsuyu Asui is also another piece that will be taking on more of a prominent role as well with Flash Panda likely to retire either this off-season or next. The Cardiac Bells are coming and being led by young players looking to bully their way into the league. Watch out ya’ll, the bells are ringin’.
#14: (463 words via Google Docs)
The Philadelphia season was a culmination of promise, disappointment, and growth. The Liberty are young and everyone knows that they are coming to the end of their rebuild. This season I think really proved that as Philly hung close with the top teams in all but one game out of the season. The losses that Philly did suffer were not blow outs, but games they fought hard through and even held some of the top offenses to very little through the majority of the quarters. With such a young core, Philly really showed a lot of growth from last year even if having a worse record.
The highlight of the Philadelphia season came against the New York Silverbacks. The Silverbacks struggled to put points up until the late game and Philly also struggled, but the defenses were really hardnosing it. New York did end up pulling out ahead 27 -16 late in the 4th, but the Cardiac Bells weren’t done. In patented Flash Panda style, the aging receiver took one to the house to bring the game close with 3 minutes or so left. Then Jake Fencik managed to kick a beautiful onside kick the Liberty recovered which then led to a San Lorenzo, 52 yard touchdown from Ryan Negs to seal the game in Philly’s favor. As we know, New York was an Ultimus team this year and for a young team like the Liberty to come away with a game like that is truly impressive.
The lowlight of the season came against the Yeti early on and it was the one game that was a true blowout loss for the Liberty. The offense struggled against a terrifying blitzing team like the Yeti and they just couldn’t manage anything down the stretch of the game. Likewise, the defense was not able to keep the Caliban-Lim connection under wraps and they sliced and diced them like a holiday ham. A great learning experience for a young team, but still disappointing. It’s hard to judge them on that game too harshly though as many other top notch games came down to the wire and Philly lost or won in the last seconds in equally impressive fashions.
I foresee the Liberty to open up the game a bit more next season as Ryan Negs has shown he’s capable when the games matter. Tsuyu Asui and Killian Chambers are going to combine as a fearsome duo in the receiving game, while Lonnie Jackson and Anders Christiansen will continue to one-two punch teams with their flash and burn methods of running the ball. An improvement to the offensive line is a key part of the off-season for the Liberty and once that’s taken care of this team’s offense will be one of the best in the league.
#10: (422 words via Google Docs)
Xavier Walls had one of the best debut seasons by a linebacker in recent years. He was at the top or near the top all year long for tackles and was no stranger to making key stops and bigs plays. The Liberty front office has been extremely satisfied with their #4 pick from the S28 class and in year 2 he looks to do nothing but go up. As a pure blitzing linebacker, Walls has surprised people in his DSFL seasons and in his rookie ISFL season as being very adept at getting into the pass lanes and breaking up passes and picking some balls off. These traits have really created the sense that Walls is going to be a universal linebacker that is able to scream at the quarterback off the edge or drop into coverage and not be a weakness there. Incredibly, his addition has created a very well balanced linebacking corp for the Liberty and in the coming years they could very well be the team feared by opposing running backs. Even through this year, the Liberty have been very good at halting some of the top running games and as Lucid Dreams is brought up and develops along with the rest of the young Philly core teams will definitely feel the effects. Walls is also coming into the last year of his rookie contract and word has not been heard whether he is resigning for sure or not. The Liberty Front Office will likely do whatever they can to keep him on, but most believe Walls will be staying with the team due to his loyalty to the community and some of the players within the organization. The Liberty will definitely be in a balancing act as key rookie contracts come to an end this next season, but they have all the tools and pieces to have a dynasty in the coming years as other high caliber teams regress and have players retire. CJ Sonjack, Romulus Roman, Lucid Dreams, Lonnie Jackson, and Rudy Gray make up an incredible young lineup on both sides of the ball and Lonnie, CJ, and Romulus have already shown starting caliber play throughout the season. Tsuyu Asui is also another piece that will be taking on more of a prominent role as well with Flash Panda likely to retire either this off-season or next. The Cardiac Bells are coming and being led by young players looking to bully their way into the league. Watch out ya’ll, the bells are ringin’.
#14: (463 words via Google Docs)
The Philadelphia season was a culmination of promise, disappointment, and growth. The Liberty are young and everyone knows that they are coming to the end of their rebuild. This season I think really proved that as Philly hung close with the top teams in all but one game out of the season. The losses that Philly did suffer were not blow outs, but games they fought hard through and even held some of the top offenses to very little through the majority of the quarters. With such a young core, Philly really showed a lot of growth from last year even if having a worse record.
The highlight of the Philadelphia season came against the New York Silverbacks. The Silverbacks struggled to put points up until the late game and Philly also struggled, but the defenses were really hardnosing it. New York did end up pulling out ahead 27 -16 late in the 4th, but the Cardiac Bells weren’t done. In patented Flash Panda style, the aging receiver took one to the house to bring the game close with 3 minutes or so left. Then Jake Fencik managed to kick a beautiful onside kick the Liberty recovered which then led to a San Lorenzo, 52 yard touchdown from Ryan Negs to seal the game in Philly’s favor. As we know, New York was an Ultimus team this year and for a young team like the Liberty to come away with a game like that is truly impressive.
The lowlight of the season came against the Yeti early on and it was the one game that was a true blowout loss for the Liberty. The offense struggled against a terrifying blitzing team like the Yeti and they just couldn’t manage anything down the stretch of the game. Likewise, the defense was not able to keep the Caliban-Lim connection under wraps and they sliced and diced them like a holiday ham. A great learning experience for a young team, but still disappointing. It’s hard to judge them on that game too harshly though as many other top notch games came down to the wire and Philly lost or won in the last seconds in equally impressive fashions.
I foresee the Liberty to open up the game a bit more next season as Ryan Negs has shown he’s capable when the games matter. Tsuyu Asui and Killian Chambers are going to combine as a fearsome duo in the receiving game, while Lonnie Jackson and Anders Christiansen will continue to one-two punch teams with their flash and burn methods of running the ball. An improvement to the offensive line is a key part of the off-season for the Liberty and once that’s taken care of this team’s offense will be one of the best in the league.