03-08-2021, 04:04 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-18-2021, 01:08 PM by CLG Rampage.)
5) In 800 words or more, describe any significant moment in ISFL or DSFL history, whether you were around for it or not.
If anyone knows my history with Hanyadi, you'll know exactly what I'm going to talk about. It's one of the biggest trend breakers in the recent history of the league, a trend that has recently re-established itself and doesn't look to be going away any time soon. I'm talking about when Mathias Hanyadi winning MVP all the way back in Season 23. With Tatsu Nakamura and Raphtalia Chan unable to break the stranglehold of quarterbacks winning MVP, Hanyadi still remains as only the second player in the modern era of the ISFL to not only win MVP as a non-QB (Grithead being the 1st), but to win it all by themselves without splitting the vote (Brown won in S13, but he split the vote with Christ and O'Sullivan). With the continued nerfs to running backs to bring down the top dogs while bringing up some of the lower TPE guys, the days of 300 TPE running backs taking the league by storm is over. Across the board, in fact, it seems like TPE requirements to be truly effective are rising.
Beyond everything else I've mentioned so far, this is only the third time in league history a running back was able to win MVP by themselves, with Bubba Nuck being the first to do so all the way back in Season 1, back when the league was truly brand new. Darren Smallwood was the second to do it, taking home the trophy back in Season 8, a full 16 seasons before Hanyadi was able to secure it for himself. The only other player to successfully break the trend of quarterbacks winning MVP over and over was when Grithead managed to secure the award all the way back in Season 16. Even that required a little bit of shenanigans to secure, as Grithead snapped the league over his knee by playing some snaps at linebacker, which forced the league to introduce the rule banning safeties at linebacker. While the sim change has effectively neutered players playing out of position, back in the day, stuff like putting safeties at linebacker or cornerbacks at wideout were hilariously broken, and Grithead proved that. Seriously, look at his statline from the season, it was beyond absurd.
So, what did it take for Hanyadi to win MVP? Let's start with his own statline, then look at some of the candidates around him looking at the award as well, as just having a great season at running back isn't enough, as shown by Chan and Nakamura. First thing that stands out, Hanyadi wasn't actually the league's rush leader that season. Nakamura took that crown with an incredible 1437 yards compared to Hanyadi's 1317, though we have to keep in mind that Tatsu had the inactive Ludicolo Bigby behind him on the depth chart while Hanyadi had to fend off Skyline, who at the time was still active. What really gave Hanyadi the edge that season were his receiving stats. On top of being one of the best rushers in the league, Hanyadi also put up WR2/3 type numbers. With 539 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns, Hanyadi ranked third on the Wraiths in terms of receiving, passing veteran Nate Swift and being only 200 yards behind new addition Action Jackson. On top of all of that, in his second season on special teams for the Wraiths, Hanyadi was the best punt returner all season long, as well as having great kick return numbers. On punts, he averaged 11.5 yards per return, had 440 yards on the year and was one of four players to return a punt for a touchdown. On all accounts, he was the best of the best.
But, even with all of that, Hanyadi needed a little bit of help to get over the hump. Quarterbacks in general that season played pretty poorly, with only one quarterback being under the double digit mark in interceptions (Franklin Armstrong). Hanyadi's big offensive rival that season, Arizona's Jay Cue, was actually pretty poor if we look at some other MVP-caliber QB seasons. He wasn't able to break 4000 passing yards, he had a 56.9 completion percentage, 27 touchdowns, 13 picks and a passer rating of 83.6. Comparing him to the S22 MVP Cooter Bigsby, Bigsby had a similar completion percentage, more touchdowns and less picks with a passer rating of 93.6. While he had 700 less yards than Cue, he was way more efficient with his passing and had 130 less pass attempts on the season.
So, what would it take for a different position to win MVP these days? Well, I doubt a running back will win it any time soon, with passing undergoing a revolution with the introduction of DDSPF21. Just this season, Ben Slothlisberger chucked the ball for over 5000 passing yards, a new record. It'll take someone finding out a way to have running backs be effective runners and pass catchers, which seems unlikely with the new sim, or maybe a defensive player can snag it away, linebackers have been super strong with the new sim.
If anyone knows my history with Hanyadi, you'll know exactly what I'm going to talk about. It's one of the biggest trend breakers in the recent history of the league, a trend that has recently re-established itself and doesn't look to be going away any time soon. I'm talking about when Mathias Hanyadi winning MVP all the way back in Season 23. With Tatsu Nakamura and Raphtalia Chan unable to break the stranglehold of quarterbacks winning MVP, Hanyadi still remains as only the second player in the modern era of the ISFL to not only win MVP as a non-QB (Grithead being the 1st), but to win it all by themselves without splitting the vote (Brown won in S13, but he split the vote with Christ and O'Sullivan). With the continued nerfs to running backs to bring down the top dogs while bringing up some of the lower TPE guys, the days of 300 TPE running backs taking the league by storm is over. Across the board, in fact, it seems like TPE requirements to be truly effective are rising.
Beyond everything else I've mentioned so far, this is only the third time in league history a running back was able to win MVP by themselves, with Bubba Nuck being the first to do so all the way back in Season 1, back when the league was truly brand new. Darren Smallwood was the second to do it, taking home the trophy back in Season 8, a full 16 seasons before Hanyadi was able to secure it for himself. The only other player to successfully break the trend of quarterbacks winning MVP over and over was when Grithead managed to secure the award all the way back in Season 16. Even that required a little bit of shenanigans to secure, as Grithead snapped the league over his knee by playing some snaps at linebacker, which forced the league to introduce the rule banning safeties at linebacker. While the sim change has effectively neutered players playing out of position, back in the day, stuff like putting safeties at linebacker or cornerbacks at wideout were hilariously broken, and Grithead proved that. Seriously, look at his statline from the season, it was beyond absurd.
So, what did it take for Hanyadi to win MVP? Let's start with his own statline, then look at some of the candidates around him looking at the award as well, as just having a great season at running back isn't enough, as shown by Chan and Nakamura. First thing that stands out, Hanyadi wasn't actually the league's rush leader that season. Nakamura took that crown with an incredible 1437 yards compared to Hanyadi's 1317, though we have to keep in mind that Tatsu had the inactive Ludicolo Bigby behind him on the depth chart while Hanyadi had to fend off Skyline, who at the time was still active. What really gave Hanyadi the edge that season were his receiving stats. On top of being one of the best rushers in the league, Hanyadi also put up WR2/3 type numbers. With 539 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns, Hanyadi ranked third on the Wraiths in terms of receiving, passing veteran Nate Swift and being only 200 yards behind new addition Action Jackson. On top of all of that, in his second season on special teams for the Wraiths, Hanyadi was the best punt returner all season long, as well as having great kick return numbers. On punts, he averaged 11.5 yards per return, had 440 yards on the year and was one of four players to return a punt for a touchdown. On all accounts, he was the best of the best.
But, even with all of that, Hanyadi needed a little bit of help to get over the hump. Quarterbacks in general that season played pretty poorly, with only one quarterback being under the double digit mark in interceptions (Franklin Armstrong). Hanyadi's big offensive rival that season, Arizona's Jay Cue, was actually pretty poor if we look at some other MVP-caliber QB seasons. He wasn't able to break 4000 passing yards, he had a 56.9 completion percentage, 27 touchdowns, 13 picks and a passer rating of 83.6. Comparing him to the S22 MVP Cooter Bigsby, Bigsby had a similar completion percentage, more touchdowns and less picks with a passer rating of 93.6. While he had 700 less yards than Cue, he was way more efficient with his passing and had 130 less pass attempts on the season.
So, what would it take for a different position to win MVP these days? Well, I doubt a running back will win it any time soon, with passing undergoing a revolution with the introduction of DDSPF21. Just this season, Ben Slothlisberger chucked the ball for over 5000 passing yards, a new record. It'll take someone finding out a way to have running backs be effective runners and pass catchers, which seems unlikely with the new sim, or maybe a defensive player can snag it away, linebackers have been super strong with the new sim.
![[Image: 1bi2HO9.gif]](https://imgur.com/1bi2HO9.gif)
![[Image: AgmhQ8Z.png]](https://i.imgur.com/AgmhQ8Z.png)
