Quarterbacks
1. Washington Wolfpack - For the sole reason of having Allen Copeland, the Wolfpack are numero uno. Oh and the other end of the Wolfpack QB spectrum (Standridge) isn't too bad, either.
2. Chicago Hedgehogs - Come on, Mat...really? Yes. Darrell Williams is pretty good at throwing the rock to that Devon Wolfe character. Whatever that means in the S12 sim.
3. Nashville Hounds - Maybe a bit arguable placing Logan Peverill and the Hounds this high, but outside of the Spokane playoff game Peverill was pretty clean. Definitely thrives through the Hounds rather conservative passing game, but you can't argue with 3 total interceptions in 16 regular season games.
4. Northwest Nighthawks - Last season, everyone knew when playing Spokane that they had to stop their passing attack. Red Rackham threw on average 50+ pass attempts a game last season and that's who the Nighthawks inherit. Should be interesting to see how Rackham fairs behind an offensive line that was a bit shaky last season (42 sacks allowed in the regular season).
5. Minnesota Marauders - Julian Krist is the Brett Favre of GLB. I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not. The Marauders also added Joe Montana this offseason, so I figure that's not a bad pairing. Favre + Montana seems pretty good to me.
Runningbacks
1. Minnesota Marauders - Outside of the Wolfpack, no one ran the ball as much as the Marauders in S11. That goes right in hand with rushing for 5.3 yards/carry (once again right behind the Wolfpack). Well the Wolfpack will be without George Street who made up the bulk of their rushing attack, so I'm slapping the Marauders as the number one.
2. Washington Wolfpack - Hazy is hiding what's he got with the 'no more George Street' statements. While Street is as close to irreplaceable as you can get, hazy's done a damn good job at finding ample replacements. With 4 RBs currently on the roster there's a bit of a cloud on who will get the bulk of the carries, but I'd put a shilling on Vincent "Bo" Jackson getting the most.
3. Nashville Hounds - wdsp would have my head if I didn't get the Hounds listed here (and in his mind being three is probably too low).
4. D-League Dream Team - Upon first glance, you'd think it's an average group of runningbacks that lack a power option...but they've got this FB that might make some trouble. And yes I'm grouping the FB's ability under the "Runningbacks" section.
5. Wala Wala Drunken Shriners - Definitely a hard choice for the five-spot but I'm dumping these guys down here.
Receivers
1. Minnesota Marauders - Perhaps I should start by saying that humans are biased. Anyways, the Marauders still have everyone's favorite WR to cover, Flash Lightning. He's tortured USAPL corners since like S2, so you can't even argue with that previous sarcastic statement. Oh yeah, they've got Bent Slicer and a couple fun new additions to their receiving group as well.
2. D-League Dream Team - I think these guys are going to have to 'steal' a home playoff game to live up to the hype. If their tactics can match some of the talent they have I imagine that won't be much of a problem.
3. Chicago Hedgehogs - Might be a bit top heavy, but statistically as a group they should fair pretty well.
4. Northwest Nighthawks - Again, another top heavy unit.
5. New Jersey Battalion - Very underrated (and/or ignored?) talent here.
Offensive Line
1. Nashville Hounds - Probably one of the biggest reasons for the Hounds success. While it's often ignored, the Hounds o-line statistically (in both pass and run blocking comparison) are right up there near the top of the league.
2. Minnesota Marauders - The Marauders are a bit younger on the o-line this season but not necessarily worse. While they're going to most likely be almost equal to the Hounds o-line in statistical comparison, I've got them a smidge under.
3. D-League Dream Team - Obviously hard to gauge based on AAA stats and lolbars alone, but I've got them at the tres.
4. Wala Wala Drunken Shriners - Don't let me down and fail in USAPL.
5. Timpanogos Thunder - Ok, bit of a explanation for these guys at five. It's mixed talent, but there definitely are some solid players. An offensive line is a unit, though, and a couple weak links can really hurt.
Defensive Line
1. Minnesota Marauders - Whoa, whoa...You're putting the Marauders D-Line at the top despite losing Mr. Sack (9 sacks), Steve Matusic (8 sacks), and The Wall (20 sacks)? Yup.
2. Nashville Hounds - I'm confused at how these guys are number two as well. They just fit here.
3. Washington Wolfpack - Another big question mark for the Wolfpack. Hazy's certainly got a qualified group to work with, but I doubt they'll be anything close to last season's bunch.
4. Wala Wala Drunken Shriners - They keep on popping up, I swear I could look like a huge idiot if these guys flop and don't make the playoffs. Keep a close eye on B.B. YATES. He may have had AAA and gutjob inflated sack totals, but he did fair allright in tough(er) games.
5. Ketchikan Kamper Adventure Rentals - Ketchikan siting. Rounding out the top 5, they'll need the d-line to carry their weight in order to keep or improve on that 12-4 record from last season.
Linebackers
1. Wala Wala Drunken Shriners - Rankings invalidated.
2. Minnesota Marauders - While LB isn't really a strong position for the Marauders, they're still pretty good.
3. Ketchikan Kamper Adventure Rentals - Two former Bourbon Street Bullies LBs in Igor Rakmanov and Finn McCool. Having players who have won multiple USAPL Western Conference Championships is a good thing. Igor in general is usually all over the field.
4. Nashville Hounds - Good as a unit. They're definitely not a flawless unit, but you don't see much better in GLB.
5. Washington Wolfpack - At number five, it shows there isn't much difference across the board as far as LB corps are concerned.
Secondaries
1. D-League Dream Team - Sure why not.
2. Minnesota Marauders - A strength of last season...is a strength of this season. Despite some CBs being sent to the glue factory, Galk's found ample replacements and made upgrades elsewhere.
3. Washington Wolfpack - Again, hazy's done an excellent job at filling his voids. While the Wolfpack secondary isn't immune, they're still Grade A.
4. Nashville Hounds - The old man secondary of GLB.
5. Ketchikan Kamper Adventure Rentals - Possible Zone Specialist changes could spell trouble.
1. Washington Wolfpack - For the sole reason of having Allen Copeland, the Wolfpack are numero uno. Oh and the other end of the Wolfpack QB spectrum (Standridge) isn't too bad, either.
2. Chicago Hedgehogs - Come on, Mat...really? Yes. Darrell Williams is pretty good at throwing the rock to that Devon Wolfe character. Whatever that means in the S12 sim.
3. Nashville Hounds - Maybe a bit arguable placing Logan Peverill and the Hounds this high, but outside of the Spokane playoff game Peverill was pretty clean. Definitely thrives through the Hounds rather conservative passing game, but you can't argue with 3 total interceptions in 16 regular season games.
4. Northwest Nighthawks - Last season, everyone knew when playing Spokane that they had to stop their passing attack. Red Rackham threw on average 50+ pass attempts a game last season and that's who the Nighthawks inherit. Should be interesting to see how Rackham fairs behind an offensive line that was a bit shaky last season (42 sacks allowed in the regular season).
5. Minnesota Marauders - Julian Krist is the Brett Favre of GLB. I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not. The Marauders also added Joe Montana this offseason, so I figure that's not a bad pairing. Favre + Montana seems pretty good to me.
Runningbacks
1. Minnesota Marauders - Outside of the Wolfpack, no one ran the ball as much as the Marauders in S11. That goes right in hand with rushing for 5.3 yards/carry (once again right behind the Wolfpack). Well the Wolfpack will be without George Street who made up the bulk of their rushing attack, so I'm slapping the Marauders as the number one.
2. Washington Wolfpack - Hazy is hiding what's he got with the 'no more George Street' statements. While Street is as close to irreplaceable as you can get, hazy's done a damn good job at finding ample replacements. With 4 RBs currently on the roster there's a bit of a cloud on who will get the bulk of the carries, but I'd put a shilling on Vincent "Bo" Jackson getting the most.
3. Nashville Hounds - wdsp would have my head if I didn't get the Hounds listed here (and in his mind being three is probably too low).
4. D-League Dream Team - Upon first glance, you'd think it's an average group of runningbacks that lack a power option...but they've got this FB that might make some trouble. And yes I'm grouping the FB's ability under the "Runningbacks" section.
5. Wala Wala Drunken Shriners - Definitely a hard choice for the five-spot but I'm dumping these guys down here.
Receivers
1. Minnesota Marauders - Perhaps I should start by saying that humans are biased. Anyways, the Marauders still have everyone's favorite WR to cover, Flash Lightning. He's tortured USAPL corners since like S2, so you can't even argue with that previous sarcastic statement. Oh yeah, they've got Bent Slicer and a couple fun new additions to their receiving group as well.
2. D-League Dream Team - I think these guys are going to have to 'steal' a home playoff game to live up to the hype. If their tactics can match some of the talent they have I imagine that won't be much of a problem.
3. Chicago Hedgehogs - Might be a bit top heavy, but statistically as a group they should fair pretty well.
4. Northwest Nighthawks - Again, another top heavy unit.
5. New Jersey Battalion - Very underrated (and/or ignored?) talent here.
Offensive Line
1. Nashville Hounds - Probably one of the biggest reasons for the Hounds success. While it's often ignored, the Hounds o-line statistically (in both pass and run blocking comparison) are right up there near the top of the league.
2. Minnesota Marauders - The Marauders are a bit younger on the o-line this season but not necessarily worse. While they're going to most likely be almost equal to the Hounds o-line in statistical comparison, I've got them a smidge under.
3. D-League Dream Team - Obviously hard to gauge based on AAA stats and lolbars alone, but I've got them at the tres.
4. Wala Wala Drunken Shriners - Don't let me down and fail in USAPL.
5. Timpanogos Thunder - Ok, bit of a explanation for these guys at five. It's mixed talent, but there definitely are some solid players. An offensive line is a unit, though, and a couple weak links can really hurt.
Defensive Line
1. Minnesota Marauders - Whoa, whoa...You're putting the Marauders D-Line at the top despite losing Mr. Sack (9 sacks), Steve Matusic (8 sacks), and The Wall (20 sacks)? Yup.
2. Nashville Hounds - I'm confused at how these guys are number two as well. They just fit here.
3. Washington Wolfpack - Another big question mark for the Wolfpack. Hazy's certainly got a qualified group to work with, but I doubt they'll be anything close to last season's bunch.
4. Wala Wala Drunken Shriners - They keep on popping up, I swear I could look like a huge idiot if these guys flop and don't make the playoffs. Keep a close eye on B.B. YATES. He may have had AAA and gutjob inflated sack totals, but he did fair allright in tough(er) games.
5. Ketchikan Kamper Adventure Rentals - Ketchikan siting. Rounding out the top 5, they'll need the d-line to carry their weight in order to keep or improve on that 12-4 record from last season.
Linebackers
1. Wala Wala Drunken Shriners - Rankings invalidated.
2. Minnesota Marauders - While LB isn't really a strong position for the Marauders, they're still pretty good.
3. Ketchikan Kamper Adventure Rentals - Two former Bourbon Street Bullies LBs in Igor Rakmanov and Finn McCool. Having players who have won multiple USAPL Western Conference Championships is a good thing. Igor in general is usually all over the field.
4. Nashville Hounds - Good as a unit. They're definitely not a flawless unit, but you don't see much better in GLB.
5. Washington Wolfpack - At number five, it shows there isn't much difference across the board as far as LB corps are concerned.
Secondaries
1. D-League Dream Team - Sure why not.
2. Minnesota Marauders - A strength of last season...is a strength of this season. Despite some CBs being sent to the glue factory, Galk's found ample replacements and made upgrades elsewhere.
3. Washington Wolfpack - Again, hazy's done an excellent job at filling his voids. While the Wolfpack secondary isn't immune, they're still Grade A.
4. Nashville Hounds - The old man secondary of GLB.
5. Ketchikan Kamper Adventure Rentals - Possible Zone Specialist changes could spell trouble.
Edited by Mat McBriar on Oct 4, 2009 00:48:48
