*Preseason NSFL Secondary Assessment

mithrandir · (This post was last modified: 04-27-2020, 02:12 PM by mithrandir.)

This article will examine each secondary and which stats they lead or trail in relative to the other teams. It will show the overall ability of each team's defensive backs and will also point towards a particular strategy each team might plan on using on defense. For each team, I will only assess up to five defensive backs per team since Nickel is the most common defensive package in the league. The number of safeties and cornerbacks employed by the teams will often influence the stats which each squad places most highly in.

12. Chicago Butchers CHI

: The Butchers are in a public rebuild and their secondary attests to that fact. They only have two safeties and two corners, one of whom is a converted tight end (Osiris Firestorm-Fjord). They are dead last in average TPE and bottom three in every category except for strength. They are 8th in strength thanks in part to safety Martavius Mack, an anomalous 179 TPE safety who is at 70 strength. Expect to see a lot of 4-3 base defense since they only have four DBs on the roster.
Identity: Rebuild

11. San Jose Sabercats SJS

: The Sabercats are another rebuilding team. They have fewer holes than Chicago and Honolulu, but fewer young pieces than Arizona. Sitting at 11th in average TPE, they have few bright spots right now. However, their CB trio of HeHateMe PickSix, Cadillac Harris, and Chester Sweets are all very young and full of talent and potential. They are very bad at safety and do not have a long term answer at this position. They drafted several this year but none appear to be difference makers. If one or two become good players, this could be a very good secondary in a few seasons as the CB trio develops.
Identity: Promising young CBs

10. Arizona Outlaws ARI

: The Outlaws are building a fantastic young core of players. Like the rest of the roster, Arizona’s secondary is leaning heavily on rookies to make a difference and will need to wait a season or two to move up these rankings (10th). S20 CB Desmond Scarlett is the veteran of the bunch at 610 TPE and is joined by four NSFL rookies. The Outlaws are relying on four CBs with only one safety on the roster. They have good ball skills with a ranking of 7th in hands and 8th in intelligence but are dead last in both strength and agility. Tyler Oles Jr.’s unique build plays a big role in shaping these placements as the weakest starting defensive back in the NSFL (30) and higher hands and intelligence than other players around his total TPE level. According to iStegosauruz’s CB sim studies this is a great build for individual stats, but his low strength and speed totals relative to his peers is not so good for team win percentage.
Identity: Loaded with young superstars

9. Honolulu Hahalua HON

: Honolulu did not do enough to address their secondary in the expansion and rookie drafts. With the bare minimum of players on their roster, Honolulu is compelled to play all their players for every snap. With only three defensive backs, four linebackers, and four defensive linemen, the Hahalua will be running a 4-4 scheme that is better suited for a DSFL defense. With eight players in the box on every play, offenses will find it difficult to run against Honolulu, but the two corners Emoji and Moreno will have to play a lot of man coverage with no help with only one safety behind them. Emoji is a veteran star and should be alright, but teams will pick on Moreno all year, preferring to test him in single coverage rather than run against stacked boxes.
Identity: Undermanned

8. Philadelphia Liberty PHI

: The Liberty have an unusually high number of defensive backs on their roster, with four safeties and three cornerbacks. Four of their five highest rated DBs are safeties, so expect one safety to play nickelback and another to play corner across from rookie Brandon Booker. Philadelphia has two strong vets in D’Attoria and McKinney but will be starting three rookies. Their youth causes them to come in eighth in average TPE. Due to their reliance on safeties they tackle very well (4th in both strength and tackling) but have poor hands (10th).
Identity: Sure tacklers

7. Sarasota Sailfish SAR

: The Sailfish managed to build a decent secondary with the expansion draft and S22 draft. They nabbed two good veteran corners in Knight and Andrews, and added three solid safeties to the group, one of which will play nickelback. Sarasota focused on finding intelligent ballhawks, and will likely have plenty of interceptions, ranking 4th in intelligence and 3rd in hands. They are one of the slower groups, however, with the 8th highest speed average.
Identity: Ballhawks

6. Baltimore Hawks BAL

: The Hawks have a pedestrian secondary, ranked 6th in average TPE. The two highest rated players on their team, Green and Uchicha both play safety, and raise the average of the group relative to the weak cornerback group. They grabbed CBs Eldrick Avery and Ben Stackinpaper, so they should continue to improve as the season proceeds. They have a classic nickel secondary with three corners and two safeties. As such, they place slightly higher than average in speed (4th) and endurance (5th). They are slightly below average in agility (9th), tackling (9th), and hands (8th). They do not seem to really have much of an identity in their secondary yet but are middle of the road in every category.
Indentity: Middle of the road

5. Colorado Yeti COL

: The Yeti have a very solid defense. Led by CB Louisiana Purchase, they have no weak links as nickelback Rotticus Scott has 382 TPE. Sitting at fifth in average TPE, Colorado runs a typical nickel defense with three corners and two safeties. This group can run! They sit in second in speed and third in endurance. Their speed comes at the cost of strength, which they have the ninth highest average in.
Identity: Fast

4. Austin Copperheads AUS

: This is a unique secondary, supplementing the best player in the league (1377 TPE CB Dermot Lavelle Jr.) with four middling safeties, including recently converted rookie linebacker Gregor MacGregor. Lavelle’s greatness elevates the group as a whole to fourth in overall TPE. They have a unique combination of incredible big play potential with the best hands in the league and third in both strength and intelligence. They are hurt greatly by their lack of speed, however, as the slowest secondary in the whole league. I expect Rambo will play CB as a safety because of his 95 speed, and they will try to hide the slow MacGregor (86 spd) at SS as a run stuffer.
Identity: One man show

3. Yellowknife Wraiths YKW

: The Wraiths have a very good secondary (3rd overall) but have three players regressing. CB1 Mervin Leonard and rookie safety Hellzapoppin will be around awhile though. Running backs and wide receivers should fear this group. One of the hardest hitting teams in the league featuring a safety at nickelback, the Wraiths are second in average tackling and tied for first in strength. All those big hits have killed a few brain cells, and this group is the 8th most intelligent as a result.
Identity: Hard-hitting

2. New Orleans Second Line NOLA

: Like Arizona, NOLA will be playing four cornerbacks and one safety this season. Unlike Arizona, this team is loaded with very good veteran players, featuring two S18 players, one S19, one S15, and one S22 rookie. With so many veterans in the prime of their careers, NOLA’s secondary is 2nd in average TPE. NOLA is solid in most stats, but their best attribute is speed and they hold the distinction of fastest secondary in the league. Their five DBs average 98.6 speed, with four players at 100 speed and rookie Andrew Witten at only 93. Because of their cornerback heavy formation, they have a big weakness at tackling, tying for eleventh place average.
Identity: Really fast

1. Orange County Otters OCO

: The Otters have the best secondary in the league and it is not even close. Despite only having one season more experience than second place NOLA (S21 Vegeta instead of S22 Witten), OCO has over 150 more points in average TPE. They have three elite cornerbacks in Abernathy, Lattimer, and Dream, and have Tyrone Biggums at safety closing in on 1000 TPE (996) to join last year’s first overall pick Prince Vegeta. They have no weaknesses and are first in every stat except for speed. They are the third fastest secondary behind NOLA and Colorado but are maxed out because of three players with 95 speed caps. With only player in regression, this secondary is only going to get better. With three corners and two safeties, the Otters will be dominant in the nickel defense.
Identity: The best

Resources:
Spreadsheet with players and team rankings for each secondary can be found here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GLS6KH0QYu...iew?usp=sharing