8) Awards season is a big part of the offseason festivities. Take the stand, in 400 words or more, for one or more players that are not your own, and argue why they should receive awards glory. They can be your teammates or anyone in the league. How did their stats and on the field contribution contribute to their case this year?
In a year where my main man Nick Kaepercolin did NOT do so hot (still love ya, coach), there was another quarterback who clearly led the way for the ISFL this year. Dexter Banks II should be a runaway winner for the league MVP this season after leading his team to back to back ISFL Ultimus Championships. Not only did he play great when it mattered, he had a terrific season overall! He led the league with 4799 yards, which only Fujiwara came close to doing this year, and he did so while also throwing 33 touchdowns, 4 more than any other player this season, and with a remarkable QBR of 97.5. Only Wolfie McDummy (he-who-shall-not-throw-a-pick) came even close to this rating, as no other quarterback finished with a rating in the 90’s While Wolfie did certainly have a great season, the combination of Banks’ high volume AND high efficiency and rating puts him a step above any other quarterback this year. “But the MVP shouldn’t just be open to quarterbacks” you might argue. Okay, sure, it pretty much is, but I’ll humor you. Did any other player dominate their position in this way this season? New York’s running back Owens had 1542 yards, almost 300 more than any other player this season, which is impressive until you realize that they also have nearly 100 more carries than any other player and still had half the touchdowns of Jamar Lackson and Zoe Watts (shoutout to Zoe – I hope you win ROTY!). Another favorite of mine, Howlett led the league in both receptions and yards, but was dominated in touchdowns by the likes of Lim, Kingston, and Podolak. On defense, Wilf had an excellent year with 20 sacks along with 20 passes defended, and honestly I see this as the next most impressive accomplishment in the league this season, but even he was dominated when it came to tackles and the power numbers of forced and recovered fumbles (shoutout to Maverick Bowie – I miss you and am just realizing you killed it this season with FIVE forced fumbles!!!) All this to say, while there were certainly other good stories and performances this year, none of them is so incredible or other worldly that they compete with the dominant performance of the Ultimus Champion quarterback, Dexter Banks II. It should be safe to say that he will accomplish his secondary goal this season of becoming the league’s MVP for the first time in his career. Congrats!
9) It’s always important to look forward to the future. Examine your team, and in 400 words or more, talk about how they can improve themselves to get a stab at trophy contention next year. Are you loaded with draft capital for the next draft? Do you have plenty of cap space to sign free agents? Go through the roster and note the different strengths and weaknesses, and how you think those will change over the next few seasons. How should your team adapt?
This was an exciting season for me. Going in, I knew that I was a part of a team that was not going to win the Ultimus. We have the greenest quarterback, lots of first year starting players, and a brand new team, GMs, and locker room to develop. That being said, I was extremely excited to see what was in store for me as a new member of the Berlin Fire Salamanders. Our team is certainly young, but from my perspective is built to be a playoff contender within the next 2-3 seasons. First of all, with only a couple of players starting their careers after S22, we are almost exclusively trending up without fear of regression. Our quarterback, Nick Kaepercolin will be over 1000 TPE to start next season (or very close to it) and is an amazing earner who is putting everything into this team. Fellow season 22 players Claude Miller II and Clark Boyd provide some serious firepower in the trenches, with a strong Tight end and Defensive tackle each over 700 TPE. The defense is full of young budding stars from linebacking duo Hingle McCringleberry and Adam Schell to rising star Swantavius Jones and proven veterans Asher Quinn and Matt Krause making up a formidable cornerback trio. One huge piece to add for this team would be an impactful DE to line up across from Mario VonPebbles and help to make the pass rush on this team a powerful reality. On the other side of the ball, there is a real need for playmaking. While we have a pretty good trio of Cash, Matthews, and Cooper, they all are still a couple seasons away from being potentially elite pass catchers. Same goes for running backs Petrongolo and King. With a couple of seasons for these players to develop, plus the addition of some big blockers up front to help open up some more gaps and give Kaepercolin some more time to make good decisions, this offense has potential to grow into a great unit as well. There are certainly bigger question marks on the offensive side of the ball, but particularly on defense, Berlin is a team that feels like it’s just a couple of years of development away from being an extremely hard matchup for anybody in the league. I know that I’m certainly excited about being a foundational piece of this team for many seasons to come!
In a year where my main man Nick Kaepercolin did NOT do so hot (still love ya, coach), there was another quarterback who clearly led the way for the ISFL this year. Dexter Banks II should be a runaway winner for the league MVP this season after leading his team to back to back ISFL Ultimus Championships. Not only did he play great when it mattered, he had a terrific season overall! He led the league with 4799 yards, which only Fujiwara came close to doing this year, and he did so while also throwing 33 touchdowns, 4 more than any other player this season, and with a remarkable QBR of 97.5. Only Wolfie McDummy (he-who-shall-not-throw-a-pick) came even close to this rating, as no other quarterback finished with a rating in the 90’s While Wolfie did certainly have a great season, the combination of Banks’ high volume AND high efficiency and rating puts him a step above any other quarterback this year. “But the MVP shouldn’t just be open to quarterbacks” you might argue. Okay, sure, it pretty much is, but I’ll humor you. Did any other player dominate their position in this way this season? New York’s running back Owens had 1542 yards, almost 300 more than any other player this season, which is impressive until you realize that they also have nearly 100 more carries than any other player and still had half the touchdowns of Jamar Lackson and Zoe Watts (shoutout to Zoe – I hope you win ROTY!). Another favorite of mine, Howlett led the league in both receptions and yards, but was dominated in touchdowns by the likes of Lim, Kingston, and Podolak. On defense, Wilf had an excellent year with 20 sacks along with 20 passes defended, and honestly I see this as the next most impressive accomplishment in the league this season, but even he was dominated when it came to tackles and the power numbers of forced and recovered fumbles (shoutout to Maverick Bowie – I miss you and am just realizing you killed it this season with FIVE forced fumbles!!!) All this to say, while there were certainly other good stories and performances this year, none of them is so incredible or other worldly that they compete with the dominant performance of the Ultimus Champion quarterback, Dexter Banks II. It should be safe to say that he will accomplish his secondary goal this season of becoming the league’s MVP for the first time in his career. Congrats!
9) It’s always important to look forward to the future. Examine your team, and in 400 words or more, talk about how they can improve themselves to get a stab at trophy contention next year. Are you loaded with draft capital for the next draft? Do you have plenty of cap space to sign free agents? Go through the roster and note the different strengths and weaknesses, and how you think those will change over the next few seasons. How should your team adapt?
This was an exciting season for me. Going in, I knew that I was a part of a team that was not going to win the Ultimus. We have the greenest quarterback, lots of first year starting players, and a brand new team, GMs, and locker room to develop. That being said, I was extremely excited to see what was in store for me as a new member of the Berlin Fire Salamanders. Our team is certainly young, but from my perspective is built to be a playoff contender within the next 2-3 seasons. First of all, with only a couple of players starting their careers after S22, we are almost exclusively trending up without fear of regression. Our quarterback, Nick Kaepercolin will be over 1000 TPE to start next season (or very close to it) and is an amazing earner who is putting everything into this team. Fellow season 22 players Claude Miller II and Clark Boyd provide some serious firepower in the trenches, with a strong Tight end and Defensive tackle each over 700 TPE. The defense is full of young budding stars from linebacking duo Hingle McCringleberry and Adam Schell to rising star Swantavius Jones and proven veterans Asher Quinn and Matt Krause making up a formidable cornerback trio. One huge piece to add for this team would be an impactful DE to line up across from Mario VonPebbles and help to make the pass rush on this team a powerful reality. On the other side of the ball, there is a real need for playmaking. While we have a pretty good trio of Cash, Matthews, and Cooper, they all are still a couple seasons away from being potentially elite pass catchers. Same goes for running backs Petrongolo and King. With a couple of seasons for these players to develop, plus the addition of some big blockers up front to help open up some more gaps and give Kaepercolin some more time to make good decisions, this offense has potential to grow into a great unit as well. There are certainly bigger question marks on the offensive side of the ball, but particularly on defense, Berlin is a team that feels like it’s just a couple of years of development away from being an extremely hard matchup for anybody in the league. I know that I’m certainly excited about being a foundational piece of this team for many seasons to come!
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