A big thanks to @Bzerkap
At the time of this writing, the Yellowknife Wraiths are sitting at 3rd place in the NSFC with a record of 4-3. They are the only team above .500 with more points scored against than for, however their week 7 loss to Baltimore had a lot to do with this. In this third installment, we sat down with their GM to discuss the draft, the league, their under the radar stars, and more. And as always, more interviews are on the way, so stay tuned!
You’re sitting at 4-2, tied for first in the NSFC with the Baltimore Hawks. What is it going to take for the rest of the season to stay on top?
Hard work. Really, I know we have a talented team, especially on offense, but talent doesn't mean anything without the work put in behind it. We're gonna need 100% commitment from the top of the roster to the bottom. We've got a strong group of guy though, and I have confidence they'll put in the hours.
Has there been a player this year that has unexpectedly had a huge impact?
Yea there has. There's Brice Boggs, our early season waiver pickup. He wasn't around for the draft or our preseason so it was hard to know exactly how well he would fit in with the guys. He's been nothing short of spectacular though. He really shores up our somewhat weak linebacker core. It's always nice when you take a chance on a player and he pays you back.
I know at this point we are little far out, but what do you think the plan for the draft will be?
Well we still have all of our players under team control for another season so we really just need to shore up some weaknesses. Offensive line is always a need, but we also want to get some playmakers in the front seven to complement our world class secondary. We're looking for Wraiths type players; Hard working, easy going, and committed.
What team do you view as your biggest threat this year?
Easily, the defending champions. There's no other defense out there like the Outlaws. The word I would use to describe them is dynamic. They get after you every play and not try to stop you, but try to blow you up. That's pretty hard to contend with.
So far in the season, what would you choose as your team’s defining game?
The game that has defined us most this season was our week 6 matchup with San Jose. We were down pretty big at the half and it was looking pretty bleak. The guys rallied though and came out in the second half playing pure Wraiths football, fast and attacking. That applies to both the offense and the defense. We aired it out and scored big and our D backed up our O by causing two turnovers. That's how we like to play, go big and do it for the whole game.
With only 16 sacks so far, your team has not been getting to the quarterback very much. How have you been game planning around this issue?
Yea so we know we aren't very explosive on defense which is part of the problem with our defense this year. The vast majority of our strength is in the secondary as evidenced by our top ranked pass D. The problem is no one needs to pass when they can just run right through us. The lack of talent in the front seven is really the issue here, we have some guys playing that really have not showed up to practice dating all the way back to last season. However, we are scheming past this talent deficit as much as we can. You can see we try to run a lot of SS blitzes, probably a couple times a game. It's worked but it's just not enough to put us in elite territory.
Your offense has been pretty explosive this year, what do you attribute to its success?
We are explosive, and there's a lot to account for that. We have two top tier tackles to keep Chris Orosz upright, we have a killer trio of WRs that can run with the best of them and we have the best TE in the league that can catch and block. We also have a versatile backfield that can do it all. The key to our success is our multiplicity. You can't key on one guy; there's always going to be a guy open, and with Chris Orosz at the helm, open guy gets the ball.
Where do you see the Wraiths over the next 5 years? Whats the long term strategy?
The long term strategy is to win the ultimus back to back to back to back to back. I know it sounds cocky but if you aren't going for the ultimate prize why are you out here. Our strategy is to fill our team up with guys who want to be here and want to win. We think competition breeds success, so our management strategy is to breed confidence.
How do you feel about the introduction of the DSFL? How do you expect it to impact the league as a whole?
I think it's the natural evolution of our sport, as more guys want to play you're gonna have a variance in talent. Not every guy is going to be a day 1 starter, so you send them down to up their skills and increase their chances of making an NSFL roster. The DSFL is only positive.
I expect it to increase competition. The more guys there are in the sport, the more guys there are that want to start and win a championship. That keeps veterans on their toes and improves everybody's focus. Nobody wants to lose their spot to rookie.
(Word Count: 982 words)
GRADED
At the time of this writing, the Yellowknife Wraiths are sitting at 3rd place in the NSFC with a record of 4-3. They are the only team above .500 with more points scored against than for, however their week 7 loss to Baltimore had a lot to do with this. In this third installment, we sat down with their GM to discuss the draft, the league, their under the radar stars, and more. And as always, more interviews are on the way, so stay tuned!
You’re sitting at 4-2, tied for first in the NSFC with the Baltimore Hawks. What is it going to take for the rest of the season to stay on top?
Hard work. Really, I know we have a talented team, especially on offense, but talent doesn't mean anything without the work put in behind it. We're gonna need 100% commitment from the top of the roster to the bottom. We've got a strong group of guy though, and I have confidence they'll put in the hours.
Has there been a player this year that has unexpectedly had a huge impact?
Yea there has. There's Brice Boggs, our early season waiver pickup. He wasn't around for the draft or our preseason so it was hard to know exactly how well he would fit in with the guys. He's been nothing short of spectacular though. He really shores up our somewhat weak linebacker core. It's always nice when you take a chance on a player and he pays you back.
I know at this point we are little far out, but what do you think the plan for the draft will be?
Well we still have all of our players under team control for another season so we really just need to shore up some weaknesses. Offensive line is always a need, but we also want to get some playmakers in the front seven to complement our world class secondary. We're looking for Wraiths type players; Hard working, easy going, and committed.
What team do you view as your biggest threat this year?
Easily, the defending champions. There's no other defense out there like the Outlaws. The word I would use to describe them is dynamic. They get after you every play and not try to stop you, but try to blow you up. That's pretty hard to contend with.
So far in the season, what would you choose as your team’s defining game?
The game that has defined us most this season was our week 6 matchup with San Jose. We were down pretty big at the half and it was looking pretty bleak. The guys rallied though and came out in the second half playing pure Wraiths football, fast and attacking. That applies to both the offense and the defense. We aired it out and scored big and our D backed up our O by causing two turnovers. That's how we like to play, go big and do it for the whole game.
With only 16 sacks so far, your team has not been getting to the quarterback very much. How have you been game planning around this issue?
Yea so we know we aren't very explosive on defense which is part of the problem with our defense this year. The vast majority of our strength is in the secondary as evidenced by our top ranked pass D. The problem is no one needs to pass when they can just run right through us. The lack of talent in the front seven is really the issue here, we have some guys playing that really have not showed up to practice dating all the way back to last season. However, we are scheming past this talent deficit as much as we can. You can see we try to run a lot of SS blitzes, probably a couple times a game. It's worked but it's just not enough to put us in elite territory.
Your offense has been pretty explosive this year, what do you attribute to its success?
We are explosive, and there's a lot to account for that. We have two top tier tackles to keep Chris Orosz upright, we have a killer trio of WRs that can run with the best of them and we have the best TE in the league that can catch and block. We also have a versatile backfield that can do it all. The key to our success is our multiplicity. You can't key on one guy; there's always going to be a guy open, and with Chris Orosz at the helm, open guy gets the ball.
Where do you see the Wraiths over the next 5 years? Whats the long term strategy?
The long term strategy is to win the ultimus back to back to back to back to back. I know it sounds cocky but if you aren't going for the ultimate prize why are you out here. Our strategy is to fill our team up with guys who want to be here and want to win. We think competition breeds success, so our management strategy is to breed confidence.
How do you feel about the introduction of the DSFL? How do you expect it to impact the league as a whole?
I think it's the natural evolution of our sport, as more guys want to play you're gonna have a variance in talent. Not every guy is going to be a day 1 starter, so you send them down to up their skills and increase their chances of making an NSFL roster. The DSFL is only positive.
I expect it to increase competition. The more guys there are in the sport, the more guys there are that want to start and win a championship. That keeps veterans on their toes and improves everybody's focus. Nobody wants to lose their spot to rookie.
(Word Count: 982 words)
GRADED
![[Image: 2qa4i9i.png]](http://i63.tinypic.com/2qa4i9i.png)
[div style="width: 400px;"][select style="background-color:#285581; color:#f0d5a3; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"]
I would expect more respect from a :scrub: 
team.
:lift: :dbz: 
:dance:
![[Image: tdIRa8F.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/tdIRa8F.jpg)
[/div]![[Image: POeY5vc.png]](https://i.imgur.com/POeY5vc.png)
[/div]
![[Image: KBSOmDX.png]](http://i.imgur.com/KBSOmDX.png)
![[Image: bzerkap.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/bzerkap.gif)
