Category: New

SEASON 5 TEAM DRAFT RANKINGS DAY 3/10

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

Owner: Fear Painkiller

8th Ranked Team (Picked 9th)

Positional Ranks

Quarterback 4th

Running Back 7th

Receiving Core 4th

Offensive Line 2nd

Front Seven 3rd

Back End 1st

The Patriots being ranked this low may come as a surprise because looking at the positional ranks you might think that this team was a steal in the draft! But then I dug deeper… The offensive line is one of the best in the league. Aside from that they have our second noodle armed quarterback this season in Mac Jones (85 Throw Power). Their running back is below average, but their receiving core looks like it must be really great……..if they run a dual tight end set? There is no speed to be found on this offense.

On defense I’m thinking they will be subbing in Matthew Judon (edge threat) and possibly Dont’a Hightower on the opposite side of him to rush the passer. The other superstar players to look out for are free safety Devin McCourty and cornerback JC Jackson. I’m not sure if they can sub in Jonathan Jones in or not but if they can this will be a LOCKDOWN secondary. I don’t know WHO is going to be the linebacker on the field. We will have to wait and see.

This team reminds me a lot of Season 4’s Los Angeles Rams team. I think it will be a struggle to win with this team if you don’t play perfect on offense. Games will need to be won on defense with this team. When it comes to the draft I think they will need to find some running backs that don’t need ball carrier moves to be successful and to take advantage of that offensive line. On defense they need good defensive line users. If they can make some quarterbacks get rid of the ball before they want to they have the secondary to make them pay.

SEASON 5 TEAM DRAFT RANKINGS DAY 2/10

ATLANTA FALCONS

Owner: Game Green

9th Ranked Team (Picked 7th, but technically 10th because they missed their pick?)

Positional Ranks

Quarterback 3rd

Running Back 5th

Receiving Core 10th

Offensive Line 6th

Front Seven 9th

Back End 10th

The Atlanta Falcons are barely edging out yesterdays Dolphins for the 9th spot in these rankings. The two things I like most about this team on offense are running back Cordarrelle Patterson and tight end Kyle Pitts. I think the two weak spots on offense are the wide receivers and Matt Ryans noodle arm (although he does have OK throwing stats it’s hard to get behind 85 throw power). The offensive line is just average.

Defensively, there are many holes on this team. No position group stands out BUT they do have a few playmakers in: defensive end Grady Jarrett, two 90 speed linebackers in Deion Jones and Foyesade Oluokun, and the highest rated player on their team, cornerback AJ Terrell Jr (87 Overall). Even though their secondary is weak they do have three defensive backs above 92 speed for what that is worth. Like the Dolphins, they also have an awesome kick returner in Cordarrelle Patterson. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some return touchdowns from them as well.

This team has some playmakers on it with the right users. The quarterback won’t wow with deep shots but will be accurate. Aside from Alvin Kamara I think Patterson is the best receiving back in the league. Game Green will have to draft a good receiving back to elevate this offense. Sure, a great user receiver is nice to have, but I’m not sure how much that will help this team. On defense they can get by with some good users in the draft. There’s a good player on each level for users to maximize the defenses potential. It’s too bad that he missed his pick in the team draft but I don’t think it could have worked out much better for him.

SEASON 5 TEAM DRAFT RANKINGS DAY 1/10

Miami Dolphins

Owner: eBoK

10th Ranked Team (Picked 4th)

Positional Ranks:

Quarterback 10th

Running Back 10th

Receiving Core 1st

Offensive Line 10th

Front Seven 10th

Back End 3rd

To kick things off, the Miami Dolphins come in as my 10th ranked team. They have some real bright spots on the team, but a lot of deficiencies. One of the things I really liked about this team is the receiving core featuring Jaylen Waddle (97 Speed), Will Fuller (95 Speed), Devante Parker, and tight end Mike Gesicki. The issues I have with the team starts with the offensive line with a cumulative rating of 68 a crossed the board. They also have worst starting quarterback in Tua with only 86 throw power, and the worst running back in the league in Philip Lindsay. Luckily he is 92 speed with 99 carrying, so maybe he isn’t as bad as his 74 overall suggests.

Defensively there’s only one position group that stands out being the secondary featuring superstar cornerback Xavien Howard. He’s the only superstar on the team. Other notable players in the secondary are Byron Jones and the rookie safety Jevon Holland. What I was struggling to find were playmakers along their below average front seven. Another thing to watch for is Jaylen Waddle on kick returns. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some touchdowns on special teams from him this season.

This team has potential but it is going to need the right pieces. Ebok is going to have his hands full come draft time with perhaps his biggest need being excellent users on defensive line and linebacker to make up for the lack of talent on their front seven. Offensively he’s going to need some users to get sticky at running back and wide receiver….. as well as someone who will be good with Tua….. or Jacoby Brissett? I think this team may have fallen later in the draft and he possibly could have traded back to get a higher pick(s) in the player draft and still have landed them.

The Quarterback Position – is it Improving?

As season 4 quickly approaches, I want to take some time to reflect on the most important position in the league; The Quarterback. During seasons 1 & 2, there were talks about the league having too few skilled QBs in the league. In Season 3, staff took out Gunslinger QBs to make offenses less effective (70% comp rate in season 2). This received mixed reviews since a lot of opinions around the league thought the QB position was already difficult as is. Despite the 70% comp rate, the league’s QB was throwing more INTs to TDs (246 to 296). 

As Season 3 concludes, let us take a look at the data between both seasons and determine if the QBs in the league are improving. 

 

Season 2

Season 3

Result

Pass %

70.35%

69.20%

Decline

Pass YD per COMP

16.12

17.55

Improved

TD to INT Ratio

0.83

1.17

Improved

Pass Yards

38870

42229

Improved

Passing TDs

246

330

Improved

Passing INTs

296

283

Improved

Pass Yards per game

269.93

234.61

Decline

Pass TDs per game

1.71

1.83

Improved

Pass INTs per game

2.06

1.57

Improved

QBR

95.91

108.08

Improved

This may be a shocker to some, but in Season 3, almost every category improved compared to Season 2. 

The Pass % declined by less than 1% which isn’t too dramatic. 

An increase of Passing yards per completion. 

the TD to INT ratio increased greatly. 

The passing yards per game did decline but keep in mind the gentlemen’s code was enforced this season to prevent stat padding. 

Passing TDs per game increased while the Pass INTs per game decreased. 

Lastly, the QBR made a huge improvement. 

It’s safe to say that the QBs in this league are becoming more efficient at running their offenses. From my own experience, I figured there was an improvement since my contributions on defense became less effective (or I just suck lol). 

 

Season 4 Predictions

I’ll keep it short; Offenses will continue to improve compared to Season 3. Why? Well, Gunslinger is back boys!!! Gunslinger was out in Season 3 and look how improved offenses became when Gunslinger was a thing in Season 2.