(S1) - Ultimus Week

[Silver Fox]

Offensive Comparison:
For the offensive comparison, I went with Yellowknife’s primary RB, Bubba Nuck, and the 3-headed monster that makes up the Yeti RB crew, O’Connell, Tweed, and Tiernan.
Nuck – 1217 yards on 277 carries, 4.4 avg, 6 TDs. 14 receptions for 56 yards and a TD.
O’Connell – 599 yards on 167 carries, 3.6 avg, 6 TDs. 9 receptions for 71 yards.
Tweed – 547 yards on 147 carries, 3.7 avg, 1 TD. 7 receptions for 52 yards.
Tiernan – 391 yards on 107 carries, 3.7 avg, 3 TDs. 13 receptions for 89 yards and a TD.

You can see right off the bat that the 3-headed monster has significantly worse yards per carry across the board, by far the biggest margin of success an RB has over time. On the touchdown side, Nuck has 6 rushing TDs and a receiving TD, while the 3-headed monster has 10 rushing TDs and 1 receiving TD. It’s worth noting that the other Wraith RB has 2 rushing and 2 receiving TDs. Thus, on a team basis, Wraith and Yeti RBs total 11 touchdowns each. It’s also apparent that the Yeti run the ball more often than the Wraiths by a significant margin – 421 carries vs 277 from Nuck, though other Wraith RBs ran 74 times. That’s still a 70 carry difference in 14 games. In conclusion, we can expect Nuck to put up the better stats between the two teams in the playoffs, but the Yeti’s three-headed monster might make up the difference in volume alone.

Defensive Comparison:
For the defensive comparison, I put the focus on the two MLBs for the Yeti and Wraiths.
Johnathon Saint – 101 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, 14 sacks, 1 interception, 4 passes defended.
Lindarius Shelton – 118 tackles, 3 forced fumbles with 1 recovery, 1 sack.

The first thing that comes to mind when putting these guys against each other is the passing game. It’s clear that Saint is more active defending against the pass than Shelton is, which is to say, at all. That said, Saint’s true advantage is in sacks, with a whopping 13 more sacks in the 14 games this season over Shelton. It’s not all one-sided though. Shelton has one more forced fumble than Saint, and he managed to recover 1 of the 3 fumbles he did force. Shelton also has 17 more tackles over the 14 game season.

Though I’m a Wraith myself and it pains me to do so, I have to give the advantage here to Johnathon Saint. When you put 13 more sacks against 17 more tackles, I think it’s clear who has the added value advantage. A slight edge in the passing game tilts the win further in Saint’s favor. That being said, both men play a critical role in keeping opposing offenses honest and each could provide game-winning value in the playoff game.

Bottom Third:
Gotta write about the Baltimore Hawks here. The biggest knock against them has got to be that abysmal offensive line. Of the primary 5 linemen, only the two tackles are actually people; Vincent Sharpei and Jordan Weal. Of those two, only Sharpei is active – and he’s a season 2 rookie! He goes back into the draft pool at the end of the season! The Hawks will have NO ONE for the primary OL. This is a significant disadvantage – there’s a reason the Hawks have the worst yards per carry in the league, despite Robinson and Novel’s best efforts. Can’t run very far when there’s never a hole open for you, and if you’re waiting for a block to develop so you can run, good luck. How Scrub Kyubee even gets the ball off half the time before being sacked I’ll never know. Defensively, the Hawks are slightly better off, but again many of their players have gone inactive. No defense can stop the opposing team every time, and the Hawks just can’t get the ball going often enough to come out ahead. If they want to contend, they need to start selling off assets for picks, or even the expansion teams will come out ahead. Long term, only a fresh crop of active players can turn this team around.

Future Talent:
I really wanted to write about Vincent Sharpei, otherwise known as “The Hawks OL”, but they didn’t make the playoffs for reasons noted in “Bottom Third” above. I’d also love to write about myself, but given the number of targets I’ve seen over the last couple games on the Wraiths, odds aren’t great that my 1 or 2 catches turn the tide. Thus, I had to narrow it down further. My list included:
Rich Gucci, Yeti TE
Dermot Lavelle, Wraith CB
Blaster Blade, Outlaw DE
Greg Clegane, Otters OL

In the end though, I had to go with Dermot Lavelle. Rich is 3rd, maybe 4th on the Yeti target list – there’s a chance, sure, but in the end the WRs on the team will probably have more of an impact. Blaster Blade and Greg Clegane have made it clear they won’t play unless it’s for their chosen team for a variety of reasons. While I can respect that, Lavelle has been nothing but positive throughout his career. So, the meat of the writeup. Why Dermot Lavelle? Well, for one, he’s barely a season 2 rookie at all. Having joined up early, he’s played the full 14 game season for the Wraiths. One of four corners to have forced a fumble and recovered it, and tied for 2nd with 6 other corners with 4 interceptions. He’s also defensed 18 passes, tied for 1st, and put up 57 tackles, tied for 5th among corners. This man has speed to spare, decent hands, and good agility. What’s not to like?

In the playoff game, Lavelle is going to have plenty of opportunities to make a difference. An interception at a critical time could change the course of the game, resulting in a division win…or an Ultimus Cup in our hands. Here’s to you, Dermot Lavelle…keep those opposing receivers honest and help lead us to a cup and some rings.

Playoff Series MVP:
Narrowing this down was an interesting process. I looked at each team for a potential MVP – starting with the Wraiths. Man, I hate to say it, but what a shitshow that was. The only guy I could even consider was Offensive Lineman D’Brickashaw Ferguson, with 6 pancakes, but frankly his name is a pain to say and he had THREE penalties. No wonder the Wraiths traded him immediately after the game. Looking at the Otters, it’s tough to name an MVP when your team gets stomped into the dirt. I’d choose a receiver, but Mike Boss was busy throwing interceptions the whole game, so that’s right out. That leaves the Outlaws and Yeti – the Outlaws won by a significant margin, but no one player really stood out aside from maybe Jaylon Lee, with a pick six and 9 tackles, but the whole team contributed admirably. Thus, I knew my MVP had to come from the Yeti. Beating the Wraiths 13-6, the defense performed well as a whole but with no interceptions or fumbles I was left choosing from the offense. Initially, I wanted to give it to D.J. Law, who caught the only touchdown of the game, but looking at the receiving stats really a lot of pass catchers did well. Thus, you can only give it to the man who made sure they had the opportunity to succeed, QB Logan @Noble.

Noble threw 37 times for 25 completions. Of the 12 incomplete passes, only 2 were defended and 5 fell short of the mark. No interceptions, and a QB rating of 93.2, the best rating in the playoffs by any QB. He also threw for 229 yards, the highest of all QBs in the playoffs. 10 of those 25 completions resulted in 1st downs, and of course the 1 touchdown was a pass. 4 different Yeti pass catchers had 4 receptions or more, while sadly even Josh Garden only had 3 receptions on the Wraiths side. Thus, my vote for playoff MVP goes to Logan Noble – he did an exceptional job and deserved that Glacies Trophy.