03-13-2024, 05:31 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-13-2024, 05:31 PM by GrimmCrackers. Edited 1 time in total.)
16.
This season was a season of growing pains to an extent for Trent Thigpen. Only in his second season, he was slotted into CB1 and tasked with the role of following the most talented receivers in the ISFL. That’s a tall order for a young player who is still developing into his prime, but he started out pretty strong all things considered. In just the first 8 games or first half of the season, he managed to grab 2 interceptions, doubling his number from his rookie season last year. While he didn’t get another interception in the second half of the season, he did continue to make big impacts with high tackle counts and pass defenses. He managed to nearly triple his passes defended count of 9 from the rookie season, racking up a solid 26 PDs in this sophomore season. Only ten defenders in the ISFL managed more this past season. His tackle counts were even more impressive, as Thigpen ranked 7th among all corners in tackles increasing his measly 36 tackles from his rookie season to a notable 94 tackles this season. Good for three more tackles per game across the 16 game season. He didn’t play much in the safety role, so we didn’t see him get many opportunities to blitz and rack up sacks like he did his rookie season, it was clear he was still making a bigger impact in helping with run defense. Ultimately cornerback was the biggest change on the roster for the reigning Ultimus Champions, so there was a lot of pressure on Thigpen to help lead the defense and the team to a back-to back. While the team as a whole did perform well this past season, earning a playoff spot and then beating the Otters in their home stadium in Orange County, they fell short to the Arizona Outlaws in the conference championship before Arizona went on to lift their own Ultimus trophy. Thigpen still feels like he could have and should have made a bigger impact on the field to help his team return to the ultimate glory, but his focus is now on the future. Headed into his third season, he wants to prove he belongs as an ISFL star, not just a solid player. He has heard that a lot of ISFL stars finally have enough experience playing amongst the other best players in the world and a little more knowledge of both the game and their opponents to the point that they fully start to breakout in their third season and begin to enter their prime. He has had time to develop and he has gained playing experience, so S47 will be his chance to prove he can be one of the best shutdown cover corners in the entire ISFL. While only time can tell whether that will be the case, he’s aiming his sights high, with goals of hitting 32 PDs (at least 2 per game) and a goal of doubling his interception count once again, this time from two to four.
30.
As a Tijuana alumni and someone who continues to follow and support their DSFL domination, it was no surprise to me that the OPOY once again should be a Tijuana star. What is difficult is determining who deserves it. Reviewing receiving stats, Andre Benn and Pitter Patter absolutely destroyed the rest of the league despite being on the same team. Benn fell short of 1600 yards by just 11 yards and Patter fell short of 1500 yards by only 2 yards, both averaging over 100 yards receiving per game. Only one other receiver in the entire DSFL managed that high of an average, but even he was aa good 64 yards short of Patter’s mark. Beyond that, they had 18 and 17 touchdowns respectively again beating the rest of the league by a decent margin (18 is also the league season record). That seems unheard of, and is one of those situations where both WRs and the QB deserve credit for the success and it feels difficult to mark one player as the sole reason or as being a step above the others. So ultimately I don’t think a wrong decision can be made, all players deserve recognition and I will simply give the nod to Benn for setting the DSFL single season receiving TD record and coming within 40 yards of the single season receiving yard record.
34.
The answer to this question was sort of by default for us. With only one new player on the Austin Copperheads this season, Gajeel Redfox automatically was going to make the biggest impact of any new player. Still, that shouldn’t diminish the impact Redfox had as a rookie corner slotted in as CB2 for the Copperheads as Thigpen stepped into the CB1 role after his rookie season last season. In his 16 starts, Redfox racked up 17 PD, 2 interceptions and a forced fumble. Cornerback is no easy task for a young player, often being tasked to cover a much more experienced WR on an island, so it was impressive to see how quickly Redfox adjusted to the ISFL speed of play. While there were some growing pains, Austin has to feel great as a franchise having their top two corners locked down for a longtime in the young Thigpen and Redfox.
This season was a season of growing pains to an extent for Trent Thigpen. Only in his second season, he was slotted into CB1 and tasked with the role of following the most talented receivers in the ISFL. That’s a tall order for a young player who is still developing into his prime, but he started out pretty strong all things considered. In just the first 8 games or first half of the season, he managed to grab 2 interceptions, doubling his number from his rookie season last year. While he didn’t get another interception in the second half of the season, he did continue to make big impacts with high tackle counts and pass defenses. He managed to nearly triple his passes defended count of 9 from the rookie season, racking up a solid 26 PDs in this sophomore season. Only ten defenders in the ISFL managed more this past season. His tackle counts were even more impressive, as Thigpen ranked 7th among all corners in tackles increasing his measly 36 tackles from his rookie season to a notable 94 tackles this season. Good for three more tackles per game across the 16 game season. He didn’t play much in the safety role, so we didn’t see him get many opportunities to blitz and rack up sacks like he did his rookie season, it was clear he was still making a bigger impact in helping with run defense. Ultimately cornerback was the biggest change on the roster for the reigning Ultimus Champions, so there was a lot of pressure on Thigpen to help lead the defense and the team to a back-to back. While the team as a whole did perform well this past season, earning a playoff spot and then beating the Otters in their home stadium in Orange County, they fell short to the Arizona Outlaws in the conference championship before Arizona went on to lift their own Ultimus trophy. Thigpen still feels like he could have and should have made a bigger impact on the field to help his team return to the ultimate glory, but his focus is now on the future. Headed into his third season, he wants to prove he belongs as an ISFL star, not just a solid player. He has heard that a lot of ISFL stars finally have enough experience playing amongst the other best players in the world and a little more knowledge of both the game and their opponents to the point that they fully start to breakout in their third season and begin to enter their prime. He has had time to develop and he has gained playing experience, so S47 will be his chance to prove he can be one of the best shutdown cover corners in the entire ISFL. While only time can tell whether that will be the case, he’s aiming his sights high, with goals of hitting 32 PDs (at least 2 per game) and a goal of doubling his interception count once again, this time from two to four.
30.
As a Tijuana alumni and someone who continues to follow and support their DSFL domination, it was no surprise to me that the OPOY once again should be a Tijuana star. What is difficult is determining who deserves it. Reviewing receiving stats, Andre Benn and Pitter Patter absolutely destroyed the rest of the league despite being on the same team. Benn fell short of 1600 yards by just 11 yards and Patter fell short of 1500 yards by only 2 yards, both averaging over 100 yards receiving per game. Only one other receiver in the entire DSFL managed that high of an average, but even he was aa good 64 yards short of Patter’s mark. Beyond that, they had 18 and 17 touchdowns respectively again beating the rest of the league by a decent margin (18 is also the league season record). That seems unheard of, and is one of those situations where both WRs and the QB deserve credit for the success and it feels difficult to mark one player as the sole reason or as being a step above the others. So ultimately I don’t think a wrong decision can be made, all players deserve recognition and I will simply give the nod to Benn for setting the DSFL single season receiving TD record and coming within 40 yards of the single season receiving yard record.
34.
The answer to this question was sort of by default for us. With only one new player on the Austin Copperheads this season, Gajeel Redfox automatically was going to make the biggest impact of any new player. Still, that shouldn’t diminish the impact Redfox had as a rookie corner slotted in as CB2 for the Copperheads as Thigpen stepped into the CB1 role after his rookie season last season. In his 16 starts, Redfox racked up 17 PD, 2 interceptions and a forced fumble. Cornerback is no easy task for a young player, often being tasked to cover a much more experienced WR on an island, so it was impressive to see how quickly Redfox adjusted to the ISFL speed of play. While there were some growing pains, Austin has to feel great as a franchise having their top two corners locked down for a longtime in the young Thigpen and Redfox.