(S5) - PT 3 - Surprises

[37thchamber]

How do you define surprise? I mean... is it a surprise if the Sabercats do well, or the Liberty suck? Is it still a surprise if the Hawks win the NSFC? What about if the Otters don't win the ASFC but still claim the Ultimus? The word surprise is subjective, and it makes it difficult to really address what is to come this season. However... there is one thing that I think would be almost unanimously agreed upon as a surprise: Avon Blocksdale will dramatically improve this season.

What makes me say this? Well, I'm in the Baltimore locker room so I see shit none of you guys do. But that aside, there's the improved quality of bots on the Hawks roster; literally the best money can buy right now, and optimised after hundred of tests to provide the best protection. This alone should help give Blocksdale the time he needs to pick out the correct pass, something he struggled with at times last season -- understandable, new position and all that. This is if he even needs to take time to pick out the correct pass, given the wealth of weaponry at his disposal. Counting the four primary receivers for each team in the league, the Hawks have an elite receiving corps. If Blocksdale fails when throwing to Willie, LeClair, Wachter and the ever-mercurial Stormblessed... maybe, just maybe, he shouldn't be a quarterback. I mean, even Lucille Delacour at QB would succeed with that spread, surely?

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[HalfEatenOnionBagel]

One player that I think may surprise people that haven't payed attention to him before is wide receiver Budda Browning. A converted quarterback, Browning spent a lot of his time in Philadelphia as the third or fourth option behind North, DiMirio and Kroetch. So, although he was developing well into a stud receiver, a lot of his talent didn't translate to the stat sheet because of his lack of targets in an offense full of talented players. Now that Browning has been traded and should be given all the opportunity in the world to be the number one wide receiver for a team, I think he is going to break out in a big way this season. I'm talking top 7 wide receiver in the league type of potential. The talent and opportunity are both there for him and he's the kind of hard working, team oriented player that will definitely take advantage of it. It's tough to see him go after having him in our locker room for so long but it's that experience with him that makes me confident that for people that don't already know about him, he will be a household name by the end of the season.

[ralams123]

With the first game of the season being played one specific quarterback surprised me and many others with a breakout game. Yes I am talking about Philadelphia's very own Clifford Rove surprising everyone in the live stream and the people who drafted him in their fantasy group. In the Liberties first game against the legion Rove exploded for 358 yards to go along with five passing touchdowns. Those five passing touchdowns came from three different receivers. With a completion percentage of 64% Rove puts himself on top 5 compared to the other quarterbacks and leads the league currently in QBR with a rating of 120.8. This is only the first game of the season so we dont know what to expect from Clifford as the season moves on but we do know that if he keeps up this type of play he could hear his name in the conversation for MVP come week 14. With a great receiving core around him we can expect for him to shock the nonbelievers who are saying that game was a fluke, as for surprises a couple more games like this and we will be more surprised when he has a bad or decent game rather than an excellent one like last nights performance.

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[Robigo_]

Who will surprise the league this season? Good bad or otherwise. I like to focus on the positive and In my opinion, the rookie Linebacker Rob Anderson will be the most surprising player. I think he will be surprising in the sense that he will produce above average numbers in all aspects of his respective linebacker duties. Whether it be sacks, coverage, or stopping the run. Being a balanced linebacker Rob will make his presence known on defense and become a big playmaker for his team. Even if his production starts out slow. I do believe that as the season progresses he will continue to improve and become more of a star player. By the time the season ends I think Rob will be a key part to his teams defensive scheme as he settles into the league.
Why such high aspirations for a rookie? The way I see it, the only place there is for him to go is up. And I don’t see any reason why he won’t continue to go up. Keep your eyes out for this rookie as the season begins. With as much potential as he has, who is to say what he may accomplish. But only time will tell!

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[Bzerkap]

I really think the biggest surprise this offseason will be the Yellowknife Wraiths accurately achieving their common prediction.

A bit of history, in S3 the Wraiths had acquired several pieces and had a seemingly good draft in place. They had the highest or tied for highest TPE, next to the Outlaws for the entire season, and everyone predicted them as champions of the NSFC. Well, in what was the most confusing, up-and-down season the NSFL had seen yet, the Wraiths missed the playoffs. Tragedy struck in S4 as the Wraiths lost several key free agents and did not acquire enough to TPE to combat the losses, as such they traded away several key players for future picks and simply decided to do a short rebuild. The TPE loss was quite extreme and no one predicted the Wraiths to make the playoffs as both the Liberty and Hawks either improved or stayed the same. Well, lo and behold the Wraiths not only made the playoffs, but the Ultimus too. Two years in a row people's season predictions have been blown up by the bipolar Wraiths.

Well, this is the year it all changes. Mat Akselsen is playing well, he has some good pieces on O to work with and some deft trades have left the Wraiths with a great OL. They have also secured some strong defensive pieces through trades, FA, and the draft. This is the year people are predicting Wraiths to the Ultimus and this is the year it will all work out.

[Yurt6]

I think Clifford Rove will be a big surprise to people this season. While his first two seasons in the league have been mediocre at best (atrocious at worst), he seems to be on the right track. I think his first game was a huge indication of where he could be going this season, throwing 5 touchdowns and only one pick in Las Vegas against the Legion. This is a huge change from his usual modus operandi, which is throwing a lot of picks and not very many touchdowns. Because of his (hopefully) ability to lead the Liberty offense, we could be seeing a new Liberty team this season. With an improved air attack thanks to Josh Garden, and the steadfast defense we’ve come to expect from the Liberty. I wouldn’t be surprised to finally see the Liberty take the top spot in their conference, and possibly even get themselves a birth in the fifth ever Ultimus game. Some doubters probably don’t expect it, but honestly at this point I think the Liberty may be the top team in the conference. While at this point only time will tell, I think many will be surprised by their performance this season.

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[7hawk77]

Darren Smallwood is going to be the biggest surprise of this year.

The San Jose Sabercats have had a very strong receiving core since day 1. We started off with Shane Weston and Bailey Cook. Shortly after that they ended up trading Bailey Cook for Darren Smallwood.
During this time, Smallwood put up solid numbers. Unfortunately for him, The sabercat's organization picked up another power house wide receiver in Mayran Jackson.
Because of this acquisition, it really limited his usage to more of an ancillary role and slot receiver. He made the most of this position and still put up solid WR3 numbers. You can also see him make some insane blocks for his teamates after they catch the ball.

The sabercats didn't have much of a run game until Jordan Yates trasnitioned to that position from the offensive line. Yates did a solid job but has since gone to orange county.
Because of this, Smallwood decided that being a running back isn't that difficult of a transition from a wide receiver and that he could step up to fill that role.
It's not really surprising that he became a speed running back. Currently he is top 5 in rushing yards and is top 4 in rushing touchdows. He will continue to thrive knowing the sabercats offense and the rest of the league better be ready.
He's already faced off against Yates and came up on top, which puts a big target on the sabercats. Luckily, they are ready to dominate.


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@tlk742

[SwagSloth]

Weekly PT #3 - Surprises

While I usually love to tout the Wraiths when it comes to this type of thing, for once, we find ourselves in a situation where we’re not the underdog. We’re arguably the strongest team in the NSFC and walked out of last season with the Division Championship. Many people expect us to return to the playoffs this year and I’m not keen on arguing with them on that.

So, instead, I’m going to shine the spotlight on a fellow NSFC team that I think many people are overlooking, the Philadelphia Liberty. Many people were surprised to see them knock the Hawks out of the playoffs last year and are reflexively expecting the Hawks to end up back in the playoffs simply because they’ve made it there in 2 of the last 3 seasons. And maybe they will, but I think the Liberty have just as good of a shot and that people have written them off too quickly. The Liberty have quietly accumulated one of the best defenses in the entire league. While defensive parity is a lot closer now than the Outlaws’ defense of old has evened out, I personally was very pleased to end up with the Liberty Defense on my fantasy team. Between trades and free agent signings over the last few seasons, Philly has developed a defense that has the potential to excel on every front. They own two of the best Cornerbacks in the league and have a trio of linebackers that make most teams jealous. Their D-line has the most potential for improvement, but with most of their starters in the 400-500 TPE range, they’re going to be a difficult team to face. Of course, it takes more than a good defense to win games and the Liberty are going to need to be effective on Offense to outperform the Hawks, but their defense certainly deserves some high praise.

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[PDXBaller]

Everyone loves a good surprise and I think the Liberty will definitely surprise everyone this season. They sure did surprise everyone last season by knocking out the Baltimore Hawks in the NSFC to make the playoffs. First, Clifford Rove has developed into a really unique quarterback that has an archetype no other quarterback has. He’s spent the first few seasons being mediocre, but has now blossomed into a credible passing threat. The Liberty also improved their offense greatly with the addition of Josh Garden and the development of Kroetch into a great speedy runningback. The first regular season game was great indication of things to come. Garden, DiMirio, and North all had 7 receptions and Garden had 102 yards for 3 touchdowns. The defense has improved greatly too with the addition of King to the front line with Kamaka. The pair are a defensive force to be reckoned with and the addition of Big Bot and Jaylon Lee greatly improves the defense as a whole. Almost the entire team is consistent with training as well and the locker room morale is very high going into this season. Given the trades done in the off season, I think the Liberty are primed to become the best team in the NSFL this season.

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[Evok]