Welcome to the Season Two NSFL in Review series! This is the last of 8 parts, one for each team in record/elimination order. @RainDelay and I are looking at the good things, the bad things, and the future scope of each team.
So far in this season’s series:
8. S2 Las Vegas Legion: The Good, Bad and Future
7. S2 San Jose SaberCats: The Good, Bad, and Future
6. S2 Philadelphia Liberty: The Good, Bad and Future
5. S2 Colorado Yeti: The Good, Bad and Future
4. S2 Orange County Otters: The Good, Bad and Future
3. S2 Yellowknife Wraiths: The Good, Bad and Future
2. S2 Baltimore Hawks: The Good, Bad, and Future
Next up are the Arizona Outlaws, who finished 1st place in the American Simulation Football Conference this season, then were eliminated by…absolutely no one, winning the Ultimus Trophy for the second year in a row.
![[Image: Lqz4U0d.png]](http://imgur.com/Lqz4U0d.png)
Arizona Outlaws
12-2
First in ASFC (and everywhere else)
The Good
Number One: They’re the FUCKING CHAMPS. Yeah, I know, I’m going to have to go through their team stats and roster, but is anyone opening this because they’re wondering if Arizona has anything going for them? They were #1 in the season and #1 in the playoffs. And unlike last year where they barely won home field advantage, this year they had four wins over the next-closest team. This was not a fluke, and everyone knows it, because everyone had to face their #1 defense twice. Hell, their defense was so good that the offense led the league in points scored due to having so many chances to score. Led by the best defensive line and the best linebacker corps in the league, they just seem impossible to plan against. There, I highlighted position groups to pass this off as actual analysis as opposed to just fan-boying it up.
Number Two: Attitude. These guys are assholes. This is a team that gives you every reason to want to beat them, and then uses that to push themselves even harder to win. There were multiple games this year where I saw NSFC members rooting for their rivals to beat Arizona, even though it would mean less chance of THEIR OWN TEAM succeeding. That’s how much people hate the Outlaws. Fuck, even the name makes them the bad guys of the league. When the Outlaws win you know you are gonna hear trash talk, but you also know that you kind of deserve to hear it, because they worked fucking harder and earned it.
Number Three: It’s going to get worse. If I were writing about a bad team that was improving, then I might say it’s going to get better. But this is Arizona, already the best in the league. So, for the rest of the league, it is only going to get worse. From preseason to Week 13, only one team showed more improvement: the Yellowknife Wraiths, who traded away significant draft picks and players to get AC Hackett and Bailey Cook (one of whom isn't coming back). If you only count the development of existing players, Arizona was #1. As I mentioned in the Otters review, Arizona was not the best team at the beginning of the season. They were #2 by a fair margin. I think it’s pretty safe to say that they’ll continue to work hard. Also, because I haven’t bitched enough, they have the #1 pick in Season Three and Season Four, in addition to their own first round picks, so they will also have the best opportunity to improve in the draft. Get used to seeing these guys, because there is a dynasty here.
The Bad
Number One: Eventually they are going to lose SOMEONE, right? If you look at their cap situation, they currently have a ton of room. They made FIVE waiver acquisitions and had the most left over for bonuses, so don’t expect them to struggle to sign their rookies next year. However, like many teams, the Outlaws will have a lot of negotiations to do after Season Six. When I initially wrote this I said Season Three, but then they did some major extensions for minimum deals. Unlike many teams, they may actually have to let people go down the road. Perhaps the ONLY good thing about their draft picks is that they are going to get motivated players that have to play rotationally, and I can see some of their depth wanting to be starters elsewhere, as it is somewhat harder to hit milestones from the bench. Additionally, while they did lock up some great players for the next few years, the Season Seven minimum salary is going to be $6 million or higher for their top players, and that’s the minimum. With their impressive depth, expect one or two studs to go elsewhere out of practicality. Remember how I said Las Vegas would have to wait until Season Five to start rebuilding? Well, Arizona has about four more Ultimus Trophies to contend for before they start fading.
Number Two: Their offense can be held. Their only two losses this year were to teams with above average defensive play and conservative offenses that minimized the chance for the defense to give them great field position. This is extremely interesting, as one would think that running is the worst thing to do against a team with the best front seven in the league, but preventing turnovers really cripples this team’s chances of scoring. Expect teams to learn from that and force Arizona to be the team taking risks.
Number Three: Their secondary isn’t actually that great. This team kind of reminds me of the Carolina Panthers. They have an amazing front seven that gives QBs very little time to make reads and receivers very little time to get open. QBs force bad passes, often while getting hit, and the secondary gets the interception, looking like they are dominant. The game film, though, shows that receivers are getting open a lot. Arizona succeeds by running a 4-3 (being one of few teams that has the luxury of doing so), and then blitzing their asses off on top of it. Currently, no team has near enough blocking to give their passer a moment to look down the field, but if a team could scheme better protection, I think some coverage would be exposed. Unfortunately, this means employing almost the opposite strategy of the only two teams to beat them last year, so…there’s a bit of a risk.
The Future
These guys are going to be just fine for a long time. While careful planning and a bit of Any Given SimDay could result in them finishing a season number two in the conference, I don’t think it is likely (especially with the huge losses Orange County has endured since their write-up). To maintain that dominance, though, Arizona will have to make tough decisions. First off, the consensus number one pick is a linebacker, and Arizona has the number one pick. For a team that loves defense, this has to be tempting, but a 4th linebacker does mean a scheme change, and I don’t think that’s for the best for them. Their best bet would be to trade down and continue to secure their future. Instead, target one offensive line (which accounted for two of their waiver claims), a running back to spell Mackworthy, and a tight end who can actually produce. For defense, grab a single defensive lineman, a cornerback, and disregard the rest. Four of those picks could be made in the top 12 if they are willing to trade down, and San Jose, with two first round picks, seems the most likely trade partner. Or…draft Brice Boggs and just bask in the knowledge of having likely picked up the best linebacker in the draft three seasons running. It really doesn’t matter.
((Just want to end by saying thank you to RainDelay for letting me be a part of this. He wrote three wonderful articles last year that had everyone wanting to see a full series, and it means a lot to me that this year we were able to make it happen. Also, want to shout out @HalfEatenOnionBagel, @iamslm22, and @TheMemeMaestro for joining me in an NSFC team outlook after the draft. These kinds of series-style articles really make the league feel more real to me, and all of you are helping make that happen))
GRADED
So far in this season’s series:
8. S2 Las Vegas Legion: The Good, Bad and Future
7. S2 San Jose SaberCats: The Good, Bad, and Future
6. S2 Philadelphia Liberty: The Good, Bad and Future
5. S2 Colorado Yeti: The Good, Bad and Future
4. S2 Orange County Otters: The Good, Bad and Future
3. S2 Yellowknife Wraiths: The Good, Bad and Future
2. S2 Baltimore Hawks: The Good, Bad, and Future
Next up are the Arizona Outlaws, who finished 1st place in the American Simulation Football Conference this season, then were eliminated by…absolutely no one, winning the Ultimus Trophy for the second year in a row.
Arizona Outlaws 12-2
First in ASFC (and everywhere else)
The Good
Number One: They’re the FUCKING CHAMPS. Yeah, I know, I’m going to have to go through their team stats and roster, but is anyone opening this because they’re wondering if Arizona has anything going for them? They were #1 in the season and #1 in the playoffs. And unlike last year where they barely won home field advantage, this year they had four wins over the next-closest team. This was not a fluke, and everyone knows it, because everyone had to face their #1 defense twice. Hell, their defense was so good that the offense led the league in points scored due to having so many chances to score. Led by the best defensive line and the best linebacker corps in the league, they just seem impossible to plan against. There, I highlighted position groups to pass this off as actual analysis as opposed to just fan-boying it up.
Number Two: Attitude. These guys are assholes. This is a team that gives you every reason to want to beat them, and then uses that to push themselves even harder to win. There were multiple games this year where I saw NSFC members rooting for their rivals to beat Arizona, even though it would mean less chance of THEIR OWN TEAM succeeding. That’s how much people hate the Outlaws. Fuck, even the name makes them the bad guys of the league. When the Outlaws win you know you are gonna hear trash talk, but you also know that you kind of deserve to hear it, because they worked fucking harder and earned it.
Number Three: It’s going to get worse. If I were writing about a bad team that was improving, then I might say it’s going to get better. But this is Arizona, already the best in the league. So, for the rest of the league, it is only going to get worse. From preseason to Week 13, only one team showed more improvement: the Yellowknife Wraiths, who traded away significant draft picks and players to get AC Hackett and Bailey Cook (one of whom isn't coming back). If you only count the development of existing players, Arizona was #1. As I mentioned in the Otters review, Arizona was not the best team at the beginning of the season. They were #2 by a fair margin. I think it’s pretty safe to say that they’ll continue to work hard. Also, because I haven’t bitched enough, they have the #1 pick in Season Three and Season Four, in addition to their own first round picks, so they will also have the best opportunity to improve in the draft. Get used to seeing these guys, because there is a dynasty here.
The Bad
Number One: Eventually they are going to lose SOMEONE, right? If you look at their cap situation, they currently have a ton of room. They made FIVE waiver acquisitions and had the most left over for bonuses, so don’t expect them to struggle to sign their rookies next year. However, like many teams, the Outlaws will have a lot of negotiations to do after Season Six. When I initially wrote this I said Season Three, but then they did some major extensions for minimum deals. Unlike many teams, they may actually have to let people go down the road. Perhaps the ONLY good thing about their draft picks is that they are going to get motivated players that have to play rotationally, and I can see some of their depth wanting to be starters elsewhere, as it is somewhat harder to hit milestones from the bench. Additionally, while they did lock up some great players for the next few years, the Season Seven minimum salary is going to be $6 million or higher for their top players, and that’s the minimum. With their impressive depth, expect one or two studs to go elsewhere out of practicality. Remember how I said Las Vegas would have to wait until Season Five to start rebuilding? Well, Arizona has about four more Ultimus Trophies to contend for before they start fading.
Number Two: Their offense can be held. Their only two losses this year were to teams with above average defensive play and conservative offenses that minimized the chance for the defense to give them great field position. This is extremely interesting, as one would think that running is the worst thing to do against a team with the best front seven in the league, but preventing turnovers really cripples this team’s chances of scoring. Expect teams to learn from that and force Arizona to be the team taking risks.
Number Three: Their secondary isn’t actually that great. This team kind of reminds me of the Carolina Panthers. They have an amazing front seven that gives QBs very little time to make reads and receivers very little time to get open. QBs force bad passes, often while getting hit, and the secondary gets the interception, looking like they are dominant. The game film, though, shows that receivers are getting open a lot. Arizona succeeds by running a 4-3 (being one of few teams that has the luxury of doing so), and then blitzing their asses off on top of it. Currently, no team has near enough blocking to give their passer a moment to look down the field, but if a team could scheme better protection, I think some coverage would be exposed. Unfortunately, this means employing almost the opposite strategy of the only two teams to beat them last year, so…there’s a bit of a risk.
The Future
These guys are going to be just fine for a long time. While careful planning and a bit of Any Given SimDay could result in them finishing a season number two in the conference, I don’t think it is likely (especially with the huge losses Orange County has endured since their write-up). To maintain that dominance, though, Arizona will have to make tough decisions. First off, the consensus number one pick is a linebacker, and Arizona has the number one pick. For a team that loves defense, this has to be tempting, but a 4th linebacker does mean a scheme change, and I don’t think that’s for the best for them. Their best bet would be to trade down and continue to secure their future. Instead, target one offensive line (which accounted for two of their waiver claims), a running back to spell Mackworthy, and a tight end who can actually produce. For defense, grab a single defensive lineman, a cornerback, and disregard the rest. Four of those picks could be made in the top 12 if they are willing to trade down, and San Jose, with two first round picks, seems the most likely trade partner. Or…draft Brice Boggs and just bask in the knowledge of having likely picked up the best linebacker in the draft three seasons running. It really doesn’t matter.
((Just want to end by saying thank you to RainDelay for letting me be a part of this. He wrote three wonderful articles last year that had everyone wanting to see a full series, and it means a lot to me that this year we were able to make it happen. Also, want to shout out @HalfEatenOnionBagel, @iamslm22, and @TheMemeMaestro for joining me in an NSFC team outlook after the draft. These kinds of series-style articles really make the league feel more real to me, and all of you are helping make that happen))
GRADED
![[Image: BVsashy.png]](https://i.imgur.com/BVsashy.png)
![[Image: brooks.png]](https://i.ibb.co/JW13P77m/brooks.png)
![[Image: 018p.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/WbJGDCCK/018p.png)
![[Image: bxKqp91.png]](https://i.imgur.com/bxKqp91.png)
![[Image: 52008_s.gif]](http://signavatar.com/52008_s.gif)
![[Image: unknown-1.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/350042516843921413/703128249638584320/unknown-1.png)
