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*Ranking The Prospect Teams - GlimsTC - 08-03-2020 Heyo everyone, now that all of the prospect teams have been announced, I thought it would be fun to grade all of them based on brand, trailer, and roster to determine which prospect team rises above as THE BEST...According to me. As a heads-up, all prospect team announcement tweets will be linked within the team names. So, without further ado, here we go: TIBURON LANDSHARKS First up we have the Tiburon Landsharks, which is the team I help make the branding for. It's a bit unfair for me to rate the brand of this one, so instead I'll just put why I chose it. The reason was honestly very simple: Landsharks was the first team name to pop into my head when thinking about it. Thought it sounded kinda cool, and even if people found it silly, that would at least make it still charming. I originally wanted to go with the "Orlando Landsharks", but the user FlashSpider-man suggested that Tiburon would work too. I had completely forgotten about the whole "EA's in Florida and their mascot is a shark" thing, so I jumped on that immediately once they brought it up, so huge props to them for helping with the location! As for the colors, teal and purple are just really great. Charlotte Hornets have THE BEST COLOR IN ANY SPORTS ORG PERIOD! Essentially though, I wanted a team that my fellow rookies would enjoy, so hopefully I pulled that off. And while I didn't come up with #FearTheFish, I think this is an incredible team hashtag, and I'm glad we have it! As for the intro, I think it's pretty damn threatening, don't you? A shark jumping out of the water to eat it's prey while this DOOM style dubstep starts up? I'd run for the hills! Speaking of the music, it is extremely fitting in my opinion for the theme of the team, so that's a great selection. It sounds like impending doom, which is what a landshark should sound like. Now for the roster, we've got quite the list! The Landsharks feature Felix Archstone - OL, Owen Holloway - QB, Jameson Vermillion - RB, Killian Chambers - WR, Noah Akerele - WR, T.J. Evans - TE, Cleg Manclaw - TE, Dave Batista - TE, Ananda Adyan - OL, Ninton Quelson - OL, Brick Van Sanzo - DE, Bobby Hoffman - DE, Hank Sakner - DE, Sheed Thebaw - DT, Gib McGlib - LB, Daniel Bateman - LB, Wasrabi Gleel - LB, Ben Anabender - CB, Naman Fletcher - CB, Lukas Hinsetzen - CB, Xmus Flaxon Jaxon-Waxon - S, Davriel Lavigne - S,  and Vince Hammerson - K. A lot of these players are incredibly good, but prospect teams are using their 50 TPE versions, so that changes things quite a bit. Even with this, we do have a few standouts. Owen Holloway at QB with his simulation breaking 79 speed game manager QB, an insane WR core with T.J. Evans and Killian Chambers being two of the best base stat WR's in the league, and a top 2 base HB prospect in Jameson Vermillion. Even the OL is pretty scary with Felix Archstone (no bias), Ananda Adyan, and Ninton Quelson standing tall against the many arguably fragile defensive lines. Even on defense, many of the players are above average stat-wise when it comes to base TPE, with THE TOP base TPE LB Daniel Bateman, a top 2 base CB prospect in Lukas Hinsetzen, and my man Xmus Flaxon Jaxon-Waxon who not only has one of the best names here, but is a top 2 Safety prospect. The offense of the Landsharks is definitely more promising than the defense, as the D-Line especially is lacking like most of the teams listed here, but what they lack there, they more than make up for in everything else. Overall, this is a pretty stacked team when you break down each position group. The Tiburon Landsharks are a BEAST of a team all the way through and will certaintly be a contender to win it all. Being one of the best rounded teams with a really sick branding makes them rise above in terms of overall ranking. BROOKLYN ATLANTICS Next, we have the Brooklyn Atlantics. Personally, I think the Atlantics are underwhelming when it comes to their logo. Its focus is good, but it feels more like a Basketball logo than a Football team logo. In a way though, I guess that's more representative of Brooklyn sports in general? I also must admit I have no idea who the guy on the logo is, so I could be missing something that would change my opinion of the logo slightly. But I feel like Brooklyn is a city of personality, and this logo seems to be more safe than LOUD. Despite this, it's not a bad logo. Now for the colors, I actually really like the colors. Very great blue hues with a contrasting white is something that's always hard to beat I feel. The primary baby blue color used in the trailer is especially super pleasing to look at and so I give major kudos to whoever picked that out. Lastly for brand, we've got the team name. Atlantics once again is a pretty safe name, but research shows that it's historically been a name used in Baseball in Brooklyn before, so it definitely works. I'm also biased, because I've always adored the Brooklyn Beats name from Madden, since I feel like the Beats encompass what Brooklyn is all about, and that definitely doesn't help how I view something like this. I will say however, #ToTheSea sounds like a fun hashtag that I'd definitely expect from a Brooklyn team. Just say this out loud: "BRING EM #TOTHESEA!" It's fun, and it's something the fans can chant with glee. All in all though, it's definitely not an awful branding, but it definitely isn't the best either. The trailer, however, is pretty good! I think the intro footage at the beginning is once again very safe, and it also happens to be the shortest intro footage out of all the teams. But, not all is lost, because the music that goes with the trailer is absolute perfection. This is the kind of personality I was talking about, and it is absolutely what I'd expect a team from Brooklyn to be rocking out to as they run out the tunnel. Makes me kinda jealous in a way, because I found myself just bopping to the trailer as I watched it. Easily the best track choice out of all the teams. But then we get to the roster, and this is ultimately what's going to decide this team's future. So what do they have? Well, they have Matt Peterson - QB,  Frankie Lantz - RB, Lebby Newton - WR, Mark Callous - WR, Alex Reed - WR, Darren Pama - TE, Marlon Alexander - OL, Adam Mellot - OL, Macho Weber - OL, Jake Sackson - DE, Jeffery Jefferson - DE, Raylan Crowder - DE, Bonifacius van den Huevel - DT, Guy Fields - LB, Jeff Haraldson - LB, Richard Leaking - LB, Charlie Woody - CB, Rich Triplet - CB, Lugolor Gulogor - CB, Tony Yeboah - S, D'Brickashaw Minshew Sr. - S, Lucky Dickerson - K, and GOAT TANK - DT. Already, I can tell you a few players stand out here as being top dogs with their base TPE. Players like Macho Weber who stands to be the best base OL prospect you can find, Matt Peterson who is the best mobile QB in the group, and Lebby Newton who is the second overall best base WR. Besides these guys and a few other select prospects though, this team is lacking. If you remove Weber, the rest of the OL is concerning, to say the least. It's an incredibly good thing that Peterson is as mobile as he is though, because this can at least be mitigated more than any other team could probably handle it. Then we get to the defense, where many of their defensive players are 3rd or or lower in positional grading. Players such as Jeffery Jefferson who is the 3rd best base DE prospect, Richard Leaking and Guy Fields taking up top 5 base LB prospect spots, and D'brickashaw Minshew Sr., who is a top 5 Safety prospect. It'll be a bit of an uphill battle for the team, but I can definitely see them pulling a win or two out under the right conditions. It's really going to depend on factors like home-field advantage to see if they can get it done though. In conclusion, none of this matter because they're the only team with GOAT TANK. Goat Tank solo carries the entirety of Brooklyn on his shoulders, giving every single factor of this team a boost. Without the GOAT TANK though, the Brooklyn Atlantics left me feeling kind of underwhelmed, but I respect the brand and think the team is fine enough to do solid work. AMARILLO TUMBLEWEEDS Now the Amarillo Tumbleweeds, are a great brand. It's a completely unique brand with an honestly amusing name and logo. Not many "desert" based teams play around with the idea of using things from the desert. As much as I like teams like the Arizona Cardinals, it's missed potential to use something that's literally just a bird that isn't even unique to the area. Tumbleweeds however, are an iconic desert item that you don't commonly see. Not to mention, it can lead to all sorts of fun chants and sayings for the fans and players. GoonerBear really did a fantastic job coming up with this one, so props to them on it! But despite all of this, the hashtag is #MountUp, which to me makes absolutely no sense in the context of tumbleweeds. Coulda gone with #JustKeepTumbling, #KeepItRolling, or any other thing that plays with the concept of FORWARD MOMENTUM. But the logo does have a cowboy hat, so the hashtag is at least still on brand, which is definitely nice. As for the colors, I love brown and yellow color schemes, even if that may be a hot take of sorts. These colors go really well together and represent the environment you'd expect to find a tumbleweed in really well. Easily, this is one of the best themes in amongst the prospects. The trailer is obviously nothing crazy, since it's just tumbleweed rolling in the desert, but you've got to admit the music CARRIES this trailer. It's a great remix that completely captures the soul of the team. Really not much more to say than that: It's good. Now for the roster. We've got Bill Brasky - QB, Mike Rotchburns - RB, Dakota Grossman - WR, Zach Crossley - WR, Brandon Kirwin - WR, Flap N'Chick - TE, Dart Ragusa - TE, Clay Stallworth - OL, Joe Show - OL, Connor Quigley - OL, Owen Isaac - DE, Hengry Grant - DE, Troy Watson - DE, Vance Slattery - DT, L'Gazzy Burfict - LB, Gary Goodman - LB, Terry Tate - LB, Hank Winchester - LB, Peter Patterson - CB, Curtis Blackshear - CB, Gavin Leclerc - CB, Milk Mann - S, NationalSimulation FootballLeague - S, and Jake Fencik - K. Now immediately, one thing stands out: NationalSimulation FootballLeague. A player so good, he is allowed to violate the rule on how many characters a name can contain. Not even the GOAT TANK has that kind of power! FootballLeague is absolutely the star of the team while also actually being a really solid player, so it'll be important for the rest of the team to pick up any slack. Speaking of which, one of the biggest slack picker-ups here would be Bill Brasky, who is a top 2 base QB prospect that'll ensure the offense stays moving in the air. Additionally, their offense contains amazing weapons such as Zach Crossley and Flap N'Chick, who provide very powerful offensive weapons to Brasky. Just hope that Brasky can throw that ball quick, because the O-Line is one of the worst in the entire prospect league here. Joe Show is one of the best base OL's you can find, while Clay Stallworth and Connor Quigley are close to being bottom of the barrel base prospects. So, if the offense can't get it going, surely the defense makes up for it, right? Kind of! Featuring one of the best DE base prospects in Henry Grant,  arguably the best CB with Curtis Blackshear, and a bunch of decent to low ranking base prospects, the Tumbleweeds might find games tumbling away if their defensive stars can't carry. Overall, this is definitely a fun team brand to be a part of! The roster is very stacked and under stacked, so it'll be interesting to see if the stars can ball out enough to really claim glory. I'd say this is definitely a good team overall though. CALGARY CAVALRY Ah yes, the men on horses. The Calgary Cavalry aren't the most unique of teams by any means, but they don't really need to be! Cavalry based teams are always cool, it's just one of those facts of life. And then you throw in that red, blue, and yellow color scheme, and it's just an absolute classic. Even the logo fits the theme perfectly, even if it is more of a soccer club kind of logo. Now I will say, #SwordsUp shoulda been something like #HoldTheLine, but #SwordsUp works. I can already imagine the crowd waving a bunch of foam swords around as they chant "SWORDS UP *CLAP CLAP CLAP*" on repeat. The Cavalry aren't packing the most original branding, but you just can't diss on it, it's good. Now what's REALLY GOOD, is that trailer. Clocking in at the longest intro run time of 33 seconds, this intro DESERVES your attention. The group of cavalry soldiers lined up while the music begins, and then the song matching the march of the horses as they begin to charge into battle is an actual sight to behold. It's epic, and it deserves to be when you've got a cool theme like this. The music is kind of cheating if I'm being honest, since this is by far one of the most recognizable songs used and already amazing even without the good remix, but it absolutely sets the tone better than probably any other song could have for this team. By far, this is THE BEST TRAILER out of any team. But, of course, how does the team hold up? Do they live up the expectations set by the rest of the brand? Well, their roster is composed of Uncle Rico - QB, Buster Bawlls - RB, Alexander Johnson - WR, Adam C. Spencer - WR, Harley Fank - WR, Dan Foster - TE, Jake Woodhead - TE, Smitty McGhee - OL, Sterling Moss - OL, Hank Antilles - OL, Crozier McCoy - DE, Sack Daddy - DE, Hunter Mantis - DT, Angelo Cerilli - DT, Regius Goliathus - LB, Chad Thunder - LB, Jimi DeSoto - LB, Mason Gillion - CB, Jeeeeroy Lenkins - CB, Dukburg QuakStak - CB, Teddy Utterstruzen - S, Bob Roberts - S, and Cashrinski Blödenheimer K. So, already I can tell you that there is a problem. Uncle Rico is the QB for this team, but he's also already announced his retirement. Not only that, but he's one of the weaker prospects amongst the QB group, meaning the team is led by a guy who lost all passion for the game and is washed up before the very first snap. Someone else is going to need to lead this team on offense, and I believe that person is Dan Foster. He's one of the best, if not the best base TE amongst the group. While the other aspects of the offense are somewhat weak, he can definitely play a big role in getting the team rolling. Thankfully, he won't be alone in this endeavor, as the Cavalry present a formidable O-Line with players like Hank Antilles and Sterling Moss being very solid walls that'll provide Rico and the boys with plenty of time to make a play. The Cavalry needs to build as much momentum as possible if they're going to want to keep up with the rest of the prospect teams though. There's just no way around that. The defense is in a much better state at least, with players like Hunter Mantis, Chad Thunder, and Mason Gillion standing strong against opposing offenses. The backfield is definitely better than the front line, but most of the players here are solid enough to stop a flood from happening. Assuming the defense can do its job, this team might have a chance to get some wins in. All in all, I'd easily say this is a really good team as far as branding goes, but a very middle of the pack roster. It's solid all around, which I suppose is quite fitting for a team called Cavalry. TOKYO DRIFTERS The Tokyo Drifters have what is probably the best name out of all the prospect teams, despite being the least creative name out of all the prospect teams. Just being able to say "Yeah, I'm a Drifters fan" holds immense power that no other team can claim. The logo is pretty good too, if not a bit bland, but I suppose that's what happens when you go with a name like the Drifters. There just isn't a better logo that can be found, which is why this one ends up being perfect for the team. And of course, you can't beat those colors. The iconic white and red of Japan has always stood the test of time, and it'll continue to do so here. As for #DriftDriftDrift, I feel like this one is very weak, while also being very strong. Sorta like the Jets whole thing, I can totally see fans chanting "DRIFT DRIFT DRIFT" whenever a player runs the ball deep or jukes the ever-living heck out a team. It's got a lot of fun potential, so I'd say that alone makes it good. And then we hit the intro video, which to be completely honest, feels extremely underwhelming for a team with such a action packed name. Not sure if another video would have worked better or not, but it was just very underwhelming. The music is a little too slow at the beginning as well for a team whose name would imply the opposite. That being said, the music choice overall is very good and I enjoy it a lot. It's extremely on brand for the type of culture a team like this would have, so it definitely gets the job done. But of course, all of this only matters if the team behind the brand can perform. And god damn, this might be the actual best roster out of all the prospect teams. We've got Jackie Daytona - QB, Terry Yaki - RB, Mark Walker - WR, Crayne Whebet - WR, Dijibutee McJimmerson - TE, Julian Joseph - TE, Cmon Skiuuup - TE, Swantavius Jones - OL, Chuck Roth - OL, Medicinal Toblerone - OL, Vick Vinegar - DE, Albert Ruschmann - DE, Tex Wrecks - DE, LeDavious "Dave" Davis - DT, J.J.J. Shabadoo - DT, Matty Martinsson - LB, Dean McBean - LB, Dexter Jackson - LB, James Hoffman - CB, James Gath - CB, Elijah Torres - CB, Chris Callahan - S, Steven Wadham - S, and Leo Bloomfield - K. First, we'll look at the fact that the RNG gods somehow managed to put Terry Yaki on the only Japanese team here. This is an actual sign that this team is blessed from the get-go. Yaki is not only a very fitting player too, but he's a really solid base RB prospect. Additionally, the offense has weapons like Crayne Whebet, Dijibutee McJimmerson, and a extremely solid front with Swantavious Jones and Chuck Roth. Then, you head over to the defense, and it's the same there too. You've got an absolute star with Albert Ruschmann, who even with just base TPE is decidedly the best DE prospect you can find. In addition to Ruschmann, you've got Mr. J.J.J. Shabadoo himself being the top base DT prospect, Dean McBean who is a top 2 base LB prospect, and Chris Callahan at the Safety position being a super solid prospect as well. There are virtually no low tier prospects on this team. It's an actual beast that every team here should be afraid of. If this isn't the team to win it all, or at least make it to the final game of playoffs, then it'll be an actual shock. All in all, while the branding is pretty heavily average, the roster is by far the best one you'll find, with only the Landsharks and Llamas coming close in complete raw talent. I'm looking forward to seeing how the games for this team go, because I can almost assure you that they'll be putting on a show. LIVERPOOL LLAMAS Llamas. The Liverpool Llamas. I'm so heavily conflicted on this team it isn't even funny. I'll come right out the gate and say it: If your logo includes a big L, that's NO BUENO. Now even if you're winning, you're literally holding that L no matter what you do. Symbolically, it's just a tragedy. The theme of Llamas is really good though. People love animals like this, especially as mascots, and I am no different! Now, I have no idea why the team is from Liverpool, but Liverpool Llamas does have a nice ring to it, so I'll let it pass for that one. The colors are also really nice, featuring this incredible combo of maroon and orange. Or well, I think it's maroon. But regardless, they're incredibly great colors to use, so the Llamas get an A+ from me on this one. #NoTouchy is pretty amazing. It's something I can see the fans chanting very often, and if the team is successful, then this hashtag certainly secures itself as the best in the league with its spam gloating potential. But then we get to the intro, and once again it's a conflict. I love The Emperors New Groove, but the scene being used is like "YIKES OH NO WE'RE LLAMAS WHAT THE HECK THIS IS BAD!" and that sets a very negative tone to a team already holding the biggest L in the prospect league. But then we get the music, which is always a jammer. Dance Till You're Dead will always be a good song no matter what, and I feel like despite everything, this sets the tone most. The Llamas are a fun team. They want fans to find them fun. They've got charm that no other team but the Tumbleweeds have, which is a huge positive. So what kind of stars do we find on this roster? Well, we've got Trent Blackburn - QB, King Tutankhamun - RB, Willy Weasel - WR, Scott Mastro - WR, Stephon Trummer - TE, Gabr Spladle - TE, Colt Reinhorn - TE, Kentdavion "Davie" Davis - OL, Hugh McGree - OL, Duncan Donuts - OL, Abdul-Jabbar Abid - DE, Sam Roes - DE, Etrigan T. Slayer - DE, Booker Bookchin - DT, Honky-Tonk Haywood - DT, Rusty Rucker - LB, Caleb Judge - LB, Donald McBobby - LB, Breezy Wallace - CB, Clay Clark - CB, Corran West - CB, Lionel Rumper - S, Tayshawn Crunk - S, and Jack Burton - K. If you thought the Drifters had a beast of a roster, then you're in for a treat here, because the RNG gods saved the best for last. At least offensively. This team has the best base QB prospect of Trent Blackburn, the best base HB prospect of King Tutankhamun, and the fourth best WR prospect with Scott Mastro. That's just three of the offensive players. It almost doesn't matter who else they have, because as long as these players can put in work on the plethora of weak defensive lines, this team is going to roll. Despite the amazing offense, the Llamas actually have a pretty average defense. The stars of this show are Booker Bookchin who is one of the top three base DT prospects, a top three base LB prospect with Caleb Judge, and the best overall Safety prospect with Tayshawn Crunk. These are all really solid defensive players, and the majority of the unnamed players are okay enough as well. But, the Llamas have Lionel Rumper, Clay Clark, and Breezy Wallace who are all bottom two prospects in their respective positions, with Rumper being the lowest rated Safety. Now obviously this is no insult to them as all players can easily be fixed, but as far as their base player goes, they went for stats that are way less important for a player early on instead of focusing on speed and so on. To conclude about this roster though, this team needs to rely on its offense to carry them, and for their defense to hopefully not completely collapse in the backfield. But even if they do, as long as they can give their offense enough time to catch their breath, they're going to be heavy contenders. CONCLUSION So, we've made it to the end. Where do the teams stand once all we combine the overall ranking of everything? Well, in my opinion the rankings would be like so: 1. Tiburon Landsharks 2. Tokyo Drifters 3. Liverpool Llamas 4. Amarillo Tumbleweeds 5. Calgary Cavalry 6. Brooklyn Atlantics (ft. Goat Tank) Now I know what you're already thinking, "How could he actually put his own team as the best team? It's clear bias!" And while that could be the case, I did my best to remove all bias and just feel that in general, they have the best balance of brand and roster. There's nothing overly weak or questionable about the Tiburon Landsharks. Now the Tokyo Drifters definitely come close to being number 1 and could even win this whole thing, but I felt like the branding was just too common to beat out something we don't really see in sports like landsharks. And while the Drifters definitely have the better roster, it's not overwhelmingly busted when compared to the Landsharks. Even the Liverpool Llamas, at least offensively, compare pretty well to the Drifters. Now the Llamas defense might not be able to stop the Drifters or Landsharks, but as long as they can use that offense properly, they can easily keep up in score. Not to mention, the Llamas have easily one of the funnest brandings remaining besides the Tumbleweeds. The Tumbleweeds have some holes, as tumbleweeds do, but once again just like a tumbleweed, they should be able to keep on rolling with their offense just enough to compete and beat the teams below them. I really wanted to rate the Calgary Cavalry higher, but their roster just doesn't have enough juice to push forward. They're relying on their defense more than anything, which is a super risky situation to be in when everyone else is packing a loaded offense. But, the brand is great and definitely one of the best, so it saves them from being the Brooklyn Atlantics. Atlantics can at least say they had the best song and are the only team in possession of the GOAT TANK. Their roster is highly lacking besides two key offensive players, meaning that realistically they can probably only really beat the Llamas if they're lucky, assuming they can even get a chance to play them. Compared to the Landsharks and Tumbleweeds who are in the division with the Atlantics, the Atlantics are in a very scary position when matched against them. This all culminates with a very safe branding for a location full of personality leaving the entire team to feel just "OK." Truly though, as far as results go all of this is at the mercy of the simulation, and as many of us have seen before, anything can happen. However, I am absolutely looking forward to a Landsharks vs Drifters championship game, so I'm hoping we'll have the chance to be treated to that. All in all, no disrespect meant to anyone with the rankings. I love all of these teams truly. The league did a fantastic job making them! I'm looking forward to seeing how these games go and how all of the players progress as we move closer to the draft. This is a fun group of guys we have and I'm glad to be part of it. (Word Count: 4,770) RE: Ranking The Prospect Teams - ConnorM123 - 08-03-2020 Great work man #Fearthefish RE: Ranking The Prospect Teams - SchwarzNarr - 08-03-2020 I mean, I love this analysis, but my Llamas are clearly superior. Have you even been spit on by a llama? #NoTouchy #LlamasForever RE: Ranking The Prospect Teams - LancedJack - 08-03-2020 #NoTouchy RE: Ranking The Prospect Teams - FlashSpider-man - 08-03-2020 Thanks for the shout out on your city name. As for the Llamas, you are sleeping on us. We have more talent than you think and if you dislike our team idea, you should see Coach Murdermoose's gifs. Also, where am I ranked bottom 2 in my position? Talent wise most ratings I see put me in the top half. So unless you are taking the other concerns into account, I'm above that. RE: Ranking The Prospect Teams - GlimsTC - 08-03-2020 @FlashSpider-man That was my bad there man. I meant to put Breezy Wallace but ended up putting your name down because of how I was reading my list. You're definitely the best CB on the Llamas by a long shot, so I'll go ahead and fix that.