|
RFL'01 Midseason Report |
No one can question the hard work rookie GM Brad has put in to mold his
team of Draft leftovers into a ''tough out.'' The Blue Collar Workers'
QB-TE-PK trio (Kitna/Weinke, Becht, Cortez) is solid. And the additions
of Duce and Priest have given Brad somewhat of a running game. Brad's
WRs are very much hit-or-miss. But as opposed to the ''Homecoming
creampuff'' status BCW had at the beginning of the season, Brad now has
this team on the verge of being very competitive against any team in the
League. If 2 solid WRs can emerge from the BCW Gang of 5 (OGadsden,
DTerrell, PPrice, PBurress, JMcKnight), Blue Collar Workers could
possibly win a handful more games this regular season. And who knows
what next year will bring - when Brad should have the opportunity to
field a team of drafted players?!?
Wally is poised to run the table and finish the 1st-ever perfect regular
season (and postseason) in RFL history. Much has been made about the
very public in-house fighting between GM Wally and Interim Head Coach
Joebob of late. Perhaps the only thing that could prevent Mahatma's
Minions from going 17-0 is a self-inflicted meltdown. Even if Wally and
Joebob cannot play nicely together, the talent assembled on this team
could still win the Steamroller and Aglione Bowl playing for
player-coach T Mathis. QB was thought to be the primary weakness, but
Brunell and Brady have really come on of late. R Dayne is now the sole
Minion under the microscope. But if Huntley or Levens can step up,
there'd be no stopping these guys. Foge (3rd) and Cals (1st) were
correct in expecting much from the Minions in their respective preseason
polls.
CNN has projected Richard into the playoffs by a comfortable margin.
Making the playoffs in only their 2nd season of play would be a
tremendous accomplishment for the Having a Hard Time franchise. TET
suffered through a very tough inaugural season last year (4-13). Foge
(5th) and Cals (2nd) foresaw good things from HaHT this year. At this
point of the season, Richard has - without question - the most lethal
backfield in the League. Favre, Edgerrin and LaDainian should put up
huge numbers on numerous teams over the next 10 weeks. Richard also has
quality TEs in Wycheck and Pollard - and a top-notch PK in V-jagt. If
Richard can find a pair of WRs to complement his other starters, HaHT
could be right up there with Wally's Minions. Kevin Johnson has been
pretty productive so far this season. Richard then needs 1 more WR from
MWestbrook, TTaylor, CBradford and DHayes.
Cals is currently on the outside looking in - playoffs-wise. But due to
Boobies!' spectacular O, Boobies! are expected to make a strong 2nd-half
run - securing a playoff spot. QB Culpepper is perhaps the frontrunner
for RFL MVP. But if Daunte fails to lead his team into the playoffs, he
might not qualify for an MVP nomination. TE Booba has been a wonderful
find for a 7th rounder, and G Hearst has not been the 2nd round bust
many were anticipating. Cals will need to find a #2 RB (is Alstott
really the man for the job?) - and a WR to line up opposite THolt
(TPinky can't be the man for this job). But knowing Cals... the job will
get done, and Boobies! will be primed for a serious run at Aglione Bowl
XII. Foge had Cals 13th coming out of the Draft. Cals picked himself at
#5.
The good news for JoePa is that he is projected to move up from 12th to
9th by the end of the regular season. The bad news is that his projected
9th place record of 5-9 is 3 full games behind the 3 teams projected to
nab the final 3 playoff spots. The injuries to Fred Taylor and Michael
Bennett have severely hurt BKotC's running game. These 2 guys appear to
be getting back into playing shape, but their returns would appear to be
too late to get JoePa back into the playoffs. The injury to BSchroeder -
in addition to the subpar season-to-date for Muhsin - has also hurt
JoePa's passing game. ABrooks has been very good at QB, but clearly
JoePa will expect Brooks to crank it up a few notches over the balance
of the season. Why do I have the feeling that JoePa will shy away from
drafting injury-prone guys early in next year's Draft?!?
Clark has done a great job working around injuries to EMcCaffrey,
DStaley, EGeorge and CCleeland to have Dude firmly entrenched on the
path to the postseason. Shaun Alexander has stepped up to fill the holes
caused by Duce and Eddie. MBooker and CConway have done well in
McCaffrey's absence. Dude recently traded Duce to BCW for Darrell
Jackson in an effort to further strengthen his WR corps. Seabass J-kow
is kicking well, but could be deported at any moment. KCollins and
JFiedler are holding their own under center. DSloan should serve Clark
well at TE as long as Cam is out. So... Dude's season currently hinges
on the RBs. If Shaun can keep Watters on the bench for the rest of the
season, and if EGeorge can get fully healthy again... Dude will be in
great shape. If one or both lose significant amounts of playing time
down the stretch, Dude could fizzle out.
GM Ali was riding high after Week 4 ...sitting at 4-0 (and with an RFL
all-time record of 13 straight wins for a franchise). But then the smoke
cleared and the mirrors were shattered. Under the white, hot spotlight
of Week 5's GOTW, the Short-Changed Bastards of Persia were spanked to
the tune of a 42-15 drubbing at the hands of Wally's Minions. Losses to
Adam and John (again on GOTW) have since followed - transforming the
look of Ali's club into that of a playoff pretender. Talent definitely
still fills Ali's cupboards - as long as TDavis and TWheatley steer
clear of MAnderson's and CGarner's playing time. DMcNabb is a fine QB,
but can't seem to connect with RMoss. Ali's other 4 WRs are all good.
Will Ali do the unthinkable and bench Moss with a ''DNP-Coach's
Decision''?!? Ali's got a lot of work to do in the 2nd half. Will the
reigning GM-of-the-Year be up to the challenge?
Breaking in an heir to the GM throne has proven to be more difficult
than Brodz expected. 5 of Baby Brodz' draft picks have already been let
go - none due to injury. The top 4 picks have all underperformed
(SDavis, TGonzalez, JHorn, EGrbac). Free agent pickups CBuckhalter and
JPathon provided some short-term relief, but Baby Brodz has failed to
show any ability to grasp the big picture. Things do not look good for
the Fighting Poopy Diapers in the 2nd half of the season either. Baby
Brodz will face a Ram-less Wally in Week 8 and BCW's band of free agents
in Week 11, but practically every other contest will be against tough
teams jockeying for their playoff positions. Baby Brodz needs to figure
out a way to light fires under the asses of the top 4 picks noted above,
and BB needs a 2nd RB and a 2nd WR to assert themselves. Even then... it
might be too late for BB to make a postseason appearance.
''The curse of the Fazio...'' has repeatedly been uttered by the lips of
Shiv this season. There is no other explanation for a lineup of KWarner,
TDavis, TWheatley, CCarter, WChrebet, CLewis and RLongwell to go
0-for-the 1st half of the season - a season where Foge predicted
Steamroller glory for Shiv! The curse struck down Terrell in Week 1.
Chrebet has 6 pts in 6 starts. Wheatley is hurt (again). CLewis had 12
pts in 1 start (61-59 scrub loss to Cals), but 0s in his other 5 starts.
Warner, Carter and Longwell have been OK, but you can't win in RFL
playing 3-on-7. Pimps de la Nast's ppg average is #9 in the League, so
they are actually expected to go 4-3 over the 2nd half of the season.
But if Shiv's RBs don't come back strong, it's hard to envision the
Store 24s winning any games with Troy Hambrick, Damon Washington, Greg
Comella and Patrick Hape as their starting RBs.
Sitting right behind Shiv in Foge's preseason poll was Gary at #2. Foge
really liked how Gary was able to get JStewart and RWatters in rounds 2
and 3 - after getting PManning with the 9th overall pick. But injuries
to Stewart and Watters have decimated Everyone Go Deep's running game (a
common theme for many RFL teams this season). TJones was not able to
capitalize on MPittman's suspension. Newly acquired Dominic Rhodes
cannot be expected to carry this club. There have also been production
line problems at the WR factories - with spotty output coming from
AFreeman, KMcCardell and IHilliard. Quality performances from QB and PK
have been tempered by a grand total of 3 TE pts - only Ali and John have
no TE pts. After improving from 2-12 to 6-8 in his first 2 seasons, Gary
was fully expected to reach 10-4 this year. If Gary can win 2 of 3
against Wang-Cals-Kevin, a spot in the playoffs still might be
attainable.
Kevin got little respect coming out of the Draft (10th in Foge's poll,
14th in Cals'). Although Foge saw potential in Kevin's lineup, he
doubted whether those guys would actually produce. Hasselbeck has yet to
score for Uffdalators, but there's still a whole 2nd half of the season
to make up ground. RWilliams and CDillon have made a fine pair of RBs -
and backups THenry and JBrookins provide quality depth. One wonders when
Kevin might trade a RB to upgrade QB. Tim Brown and AToomer have done
well when called upon. PWarrick is a decent #3, but Kevin might have
given up on DTerrell a little too early. Kevin's 2nd half schedule is
Minion-less - so if Uffdalators can beat Wang and Cals (and have Minions
lose 2), Kevin could nab the Steamroller trophy this year. At the very
worst, Kevin should finish no lower than 3rd - and prove that his team
is more than just a name that had Cals chuckling throughout the entire
Draft.
Rookie GM John has been battling investigations of point-shaving for
much of the first 7 weeks of the season. After inexplicably tanking one
against Wang in Week 5 (and then there was the loss to Brad in Week 3),
John has made major deposits into his Swiss bank account following
strong wins against Cals and Ali the last 2 weeks. Neither Foge (9th)
nor Cals (11th) saw much to like in John's Draft. Starting Tony
Richardson's backup (some cat named Jermaine Williams) twice was most
unsightly, as well. However... with Bettis and Marvin Harrison on the
roster, Jersey Juggernauts have proven to be capable of winning a game
here and there - especially when John starts the right QB (TGreen or
vINTy) or gets 21 pts from Thrash. A look at John's schedule over the
2nd half of the season indicates that he'll be lucky to win more than
once. Looks like Foge and Cals will be right on this one. The bookies
won't be fooled again, either.
Adam's troubles began when he picked Jamal Lewis (2nd round) and
Sylvester Morris (9th) in the Draft. Both of these guys were known to be
out for the season by all 15 other GMs. And the only way a healthy
Sylvester would've been drafted was if Joebob felt sentimental in the
12th round. But... Lewis and Morris weren't the only 2 banged up guys
Adam would draft. Tiki, Marvcus, Freddie and Olindo all possessed one
sort of malady or another. Olindo seems to be OK for now, Marvcus
appears to be out for the season, and Tiki and Freddie will apparently
spend the whole season nagged by their injuries. If the drafted roster
were injury-free, Rabbis Rappin' on 'Roids would have to be considered a
contender - with JGarcia establishing himself as an All-RFL-type QB and
with an EMoulds producing up to expectations. But with the injuries (and
Adam's difficulty in trying to run his club from Israel), this season
has been a step in the wrong direction for the team formerly known as
curly black hair.
Cleveland Steamers were picked 11th by Foge and 4th by Cals. Current
projections have Vesh finishing right around 7th. Neither Emmitt nor
JJackson has been able to assert himself as Ahman Green's right-hand
man. And Brian Griese's inability to stay healthy has also hurt Vesh
thus far. But no one could have expected Troy Brown and David Patten to
come up so huge as Vesh's WRs. Jimmy Smith was even a ''DNP-Coach's
Decision'' in Week 7! If Griese can hang on and if Emmitt or JJackson
can emerge as a #2 RB, the Steamers should find themselves in the
playoffs - and quite possibly make a run at the Aglione Bowl. If Plummer
has to take over for Griese and no #2 RB ever steps forward, Vesh could
be looking at a 5-9 finish - obviously out of the playoffs. Vesh's last
5 games are key (Cals, John, Brodz, Wang, Stan). The Steamers need to
take at least 3 of those 5.
After starting out 0-3, Stan has bounced back quite nicely. Foge (14th)
and Cals (15th) had absolutely no love for Stan coming out of the Draft.
Invasive Species are now projected to finish 8th (3 full games ahead of
the 9th place team), but with a running game in tatters... grabbing a
playoff spot will not be easy for Stan. Jamal Anderson (injury) and
James Allen (trade) are no longer lining up behind Flutie in Stan's
backfield. Maurice Smith and Lamont Warren are the current starting RBs.
I guess that means more touches for TOwens, DAlexander and DClark.
TOwens has been rather inconsistent this year, but when he's "on," TO
can single-handidly carry Invasive Species to victory. DAlexander was
10th in WR pts last year. He's tied for 28th right now. RGardner and
TGlenn are very talented backups. Stan's GM skills will undoubtedly
ensure a spot in the playoffs - but without better RBs, it's hard to
imagine Invasive Species winning their quarterfinal game.
Wang was picked 12th (Foge) and 7th (Cals) in the preseason polls, but
got pretty damn lucky with 6th rounder LTomlinson and 11th rounder A
Train. Having these 2 as backups to CMartin and LSmith was too
extravagant, so Wang dealt LT for Gannon. Picking ''Gound-chuck'' McNair
in the 5th was an unmitigated disaster - as was wasting a 9th round pick
on JGeorge. So... having Gannon and Batch at the halfway point has to
make Wang a little happier. 3rd and 4th rounders Keyshawn and DBoston
have put up huge yardage numbers (2nd and 4th overall in the NFL), but
have combined for 1 measly TD. The failure so far of Brad Johnson to get
the Bucs' O moving has left MGramatica with precious few FG attempts.
If the averages play out over the 2nd half of the season, Wang should
finish the regular season at 12-2. But Adam is perhaps the only team
remaining on the schedule without a legitimate shot at making the
playoffs.
©1999-2001 RFL Inc.
All rights reserved.
Revised: November 1, 2001