11-11-2020, 12:39 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-11-2020, 12:40 PM by TropicaliaCC.)
3) The Sarasota Sailfish are a young franchise having only been a professional team for four seasons now. That being said they have a relatively rich history making the playoffs the three out of their four seasons and having a cumulative record of 37-24 (.607). However, this article is about individuals, so without further ado, here is the Mount Rushmore of Sarasota Sailfish players.
Dexter Banks II: Any Mount Rushmore for Sarasota has to start with Dexter Banks II. He was the first overall pick in the expansion draft that sent him from perennial power house Orange County to Sarasota. At that point in time, Banks II was just hitting his stride as one of the better Wide Receivers in the league, and the change in scenery allowed him to flourish with career high numbers in yards and receptions. His 60 catches were good for 11th best in the league that year and the 939 resulting yards were the 8th best mark. Banks was named to the Pro Bowl after a season in which the Sailfish overperformed considerably given they made the playoffs as a wildcard team in their inaugural season. Banks helped the young offense put up respectable numbers as the 5th best passing attack in the league that year. Despite getting boat raced in the first round by the eventual Ultimus champion Colorado Yeti, Sarasota caught the attention of the league that year. Banks truly became the face of the franchise in the offseason prior to Season 23 when it was announced that he would be the starting Quarterback. The position switch came as a shock but would lead to an exciting offense down the road. In his first season, Banks was a solid Quarterback with middle of the road numbers across the board. Sarasota was a well balanced run-pass team and slightly improved their record from a year ago to finish as a .500 team. However, it was not good enough to make the playoffs. The wild volatile play that Banks is known for truly emerged the year in Season 24. The Sailfish were widely regarded as the most fun team to watch that year because of their philosophy change to an air raid system. Any given play could be a long touchdown pass or a pick six for Banks that year. The Sailfish offense was the best in terms of yardage that year and second best in terms of points scored. Banks finished with a historical 9th best all time 5033 yards passing. His league best 32 touchdowns and league worst 19 interceptions were a good summary of how that season went: high highs and low lows. Their 12-4 record that year was second best in the league, but unfortunately the best record belonged to the Yeti who belong to the same conference. Regardless, Sarasota took care of the Butchers and earned their franchises first playoff win. The Sailfish then had to take on the Yeti in the conference championship game and Colorado was believed to be head and shoulders above the rest of the league after winning 14 games and having the league MVP at Quarterback. A great performance by Banks almost led the Sailfish to an Ultimus birth, but a dropped pass on 4th down with a minute and a half left in the game crushed their dreams. Fast forward to week 7 of Season 25 and the Sailfish are 2-5 and Banks is off to a horrific start to the season. However, the team found something deep down and went on a tear through the league to win their final nine game of the regular season and find themselves in the exact same post season situation as the year before. This time the Sailfish let the Butchers get up to a 27-3 lead in the first half and couldn’t manage to climb back despite a 17-0 run in the second half. So in summary Banks played for the Sailfish in their first four seasons of existence and went Pro Bowl at two separate positions, won an Offensive Player of the Year award, is the front runner for an MVP award, and led the league in yards and touchdowns twice. Despite a couple of playoff runs falling just short, Banks had a great run as a building block and corner stone of the franchise.
Haha Mango-Panda: A player that is just reaching his prime, HMP is already a legend for the franchise. HMP looks like a Sarasota lifer as his rookie year and the team’s inaugural season line up. His lowest tackle numbers in a season are 105, but run stopping is only a part of his game and not even the best part. He has developed into a sack artist, notching 10 and 14 the past two years respectively. Additionally, he is a menace in pass defense with 20 plus pass deflections in consecutive years, including 27 this year which was tied for the second best in the league. HMP is vitally important to an improving Sarasota defense as he is all over the field. Look for his numbers to keep improving over the next couple of years and he will be hard to knock off this Mount Rushmore.
James Angler: Another young player. He was still in the DSFL during the Sailfish inaugural season, but he has set the league on fire in his first three seasons. He has led the team in receptions every single year with marks of: 74, 93, and 85. He and Banks had a great connection. 3,500 yards through three seasons is incredible. What more can be said besides this dude is the best TE in the league.
Raphitalia Chan (formerly Dax Frost): This player kinda sucks lmap and will be the first one eclipsed as the franchise ages a bit, but as the starting running back for all four seasons they did put up consistent decent numbers even though their production in the run game declined as the Sailfish transitioned to a more pass heavy offense.
Dexter Banks II: Any Mount Rushmore for Sarasota has to start with Dexter Banks II. He was the first overall pick in the expansion draft that sent him from perennial power house Orange County to Sarasota. At that point in time, Banks II was just hitting his stride as one of the better Wide Receivers in the league, and the change in scenery allowed him to flourish with career high numbers in yards and receptions. His 60 catches were good for 11th best in the league that year and the 939 resulting yards were the 8th best mark. Banks was named to the Pro Bowl after a season in which the Sailfish overperformed considerably given they made the playoffs as a wildcard team in their inaugural season. Banks helped the young offense put up respectable numbers as the 5th best passing attack in the league that year. Despite getting boat raced in the first round by the eventual Ultimus champion Colorado Yeti, Sarasota caught the attention of the league that year. Banks truly became the face of the franchise in the offseason prior to Season 23 when it was announced that he would be the starting Quarterback. The position switch came as a shock but would lead to an exciting offense down the road. In his first season, Banks was a solid Quarterback with middle of the road numbers across the board. Sarasota was a well balanced run-pass team and slightly improved their record from a year ago to finish as a .500 team. However, it was not good enough to make the playoffs. The wild volatile play that Banks is known for truly emerged the year in Season 24. The Sailfish were widely regarded as the most fun team to watch that year because of their philosophy change to an air raid system. Any given play could be a long touchdown pass or a pick six for Banks that year. The Sailfish offense was the best in terms of yardage that year and second best in terms of points scored. Banks finished with a historical 9th best all time 5033 yards passing. His league best 32 touchdowns and league worst 19 interceptions were a good summary of how that season went: high highs and low lows. Their 12-4 record that year was second best in the league, but unfortunately the best record belonged to the Yeti who belong to the same conference. Regardless, Sarasota took care of the Butchers and earned their franchises first playoff win. The Sailfish then had to take on the Yeti in the conference championship game and Colorado was believed to be head and shoulders above the rest of the league after winning 14 games and having the league MVP at Quarterback. A great performance by Banks almost led the Sailfish to an Ultimus birth, but a dropped pass on 4th down with a minute and a half left in the game crushed their dreams. Fast forward to week 7 of Season 25 and the Sailfish are 2-5 and Banks is off to a horrific start to the season. However, the team found something deep down and went on a tear through the league to win their final nine game of the regular season and find themselves in the exact same post season situation as the year before. This time the Sailfish let the Butchers get up to a 27-3 lead in the first half and couldn’t manage to climb back despite a 17-0 run in the second half. So in summary Banks played for the Sailfish in their first four seasons of existence and went Pro Bowl at two separate positions, won an Offensive Player of the Year award, is the front runner for an MVP award, and led the league in yards and touchdowns twice. Despite a couple of playoff runs falling just short, Banks had a great run as a building block and corner stone of the franchise.
Haha Mango-Panda: A player that is just reaching his prime, HMP is already a legend for the franchise. HMP looks like a Sarasota lifer as his rookie year and the team’s inaugural season line up. His lowest tackle numbers in a season are 105, but run stopping is only a part of his game and not even the best part. He has developed into a sack artist, notching 10 and 14 the past two years respectively. Additionally, he is a menace in pass defense with 20 plus pass deflections in consecutive years, including 27 this year which was tied for the second best in the league. HMP is vitally important to an improving Sarasota defense as he is all over the field. Look for his numbers to keep improving over the next couple of years and he will be hard to knock off this Mount Rushmore.
James Angler: Another young player. He was still in the DSFL during the Sailfish inaugural season, but he has set the league on fire in his first three seasons. He has led the team in receptions every single year with marks of: 74, 93, and 85. He and Banks had a great connection. 3,500 yards through three seasons is incredible. What more can be said besides this dude is the best TE in the league.
Raphitalia Chan (formerly Dax Frost): This player kinda sucks lmap and will be the first one eclipsed as the franchise ages a bit, but as the starting running back for all four seasons they did put up consistent decent numbers even though their production in the run game declined as the Sailfish transitioned to a more pass heavy offense.
![[Image: myOfPuJ.png]](https://i.imgur.com/myOfPuJ.png)
