(S24) - PT 3 - Midseason Mania

[Sutj]

After two straight seasons of being snubbed for the WROTY award in the DSFL, Tijuana receiver Freidrich Vequain's time is starting to run out. However, the star opposite him has somehow improved from last year's league-leading receiving yard performance. Despite leading the league in receptions and receiving yards, Tijuana wide receiver Doug Howlett failed to secure the WROTY award last season due to a lack of touchdowns. With any luck, this year will come with more touchdowns, and if so, Howlett will be undoubtedly the front-runner for the WROTY award this season. Last year, Howlett finished the year with a league-leading 86 receptions and 1046 receiving yards, though only having two touchdowns, likely due to Vequain robbing 8, second in the league. Following week 4, Howlett is sitting at 21 receptions, 320 receiving yards, and 2 touchdowns. If Howlett keeps up the pace and doesn't improve at all, Howlett is looking to finish at 73 receptions, 1120 receiving yards, and 7 touchdowns. This would be a performance that would almost guarantee a WROTY award, bringing home an award that has no place going anywhere but Tijuana this year. Though it seems Vequain's performance is slightly declining on the stat sheet, the only possible reasoning could be Howlett's emergence as the clear-cut best receiver in the DSFL.

[Jimi64]

I believe Suleiman Ramza should be considered for DSFL MVP. A cursory glance may not have his stats popping up at you, but they should be viewed in context. Ramza has been remarkably efficient this year. There are 3 quarterbacks that have a fair bit more yards than Ramza, but while Ramza has only attempted 88 passes, the next closest has passed for 136. Ramza’s average yards per pass are higher than any of the quarterbacks above him, meaning if Norfolk’s offense wasn’t so successful in the run game and Ramza was needed to pass as much as the other quarterbacks, his yards total would eclipse theirs. Not only that, his 5th lowest attempts in the league (and that’s counting Peterson with 8 attempts) have still been enough for him to tie for the most touchdowns thrown in the league. Simply looking at the large discrepancy in QB rating, with the closest competitor being about 30 points behind, will tell you how well Ramza has played. There are still many games to play, and although myself and everyone over at Norfolk has been thrilled at our duel threat run game, I truly hope that Ramza gets more of an opportunity to shine. I believe he makes a strong case for the award now, but I know all he needs is to throw more passes in order to prove it to everybody else.

[Nictox]

SHL PT

[enigmatic]

SHL PT

[Pat]

Adam Schell of the Tijuana Luchadores needs to be considered one of the front runners for DSFL Season 24 Defensive MVP.

The second year Linebacker's stat line is extremely impressive for only playing in four games.

36 Tackles (2nd in league) - 3 TFL (10th) - 3 Sacks (3rd)

Now, you might say, "Schell doesn't deserve that award. Alejandro Chainbreaker has better stats in every category!" That is true. Chainbreaker, the defending DSFL Defensive Player of the Year, does have slightly better individual stats. However, when you compare the teams as a whole, you see that Schell has been performing at a much higher level than his competitors.

Through four games, the Tijuana defense has only played 195 snaps - third least in the league - while the Grey Ducks have played 232 - most in the league and 24 more than second-most. Schell's 36 tackles account for over 18.5% of all of the tackles recorded by the Luchadores, while Chainbreaker's 42 account for only 18.1% of Minnesota's tackles. You can't ignore 0.4%!

The Luchadores' defense has also held opposing offenses to under 39% third-down conversion rate. 

You might think that if the Luchadores' defense has been so good, and, since they employ a 3-4 defense, that one of Schell's fellow linebackers would be high in the rankings for individual stats. After all, Minnesota, Portland, and Kansas City all have multiple linebackers in the top 10 in the league in tackles. Well, to demonstrate how much of a boon Schell has been to Tijuana's defense, the highest a fellow linebacker for the Luchadores' ranks in tackles is Nat Wright, who sits currently 18th with 24 total tackles on the season.

Tijuana's defense is also either first or second in sacks, interceptions, and passes defended, which I think is a great reflection on the impact that Schell has on the field. Opposing offenses always have to account for him and pay him so much attention that they lose track of other important players.

With this blurb, I am officially launching Schell's campaign for DSFL Season 24 Defensive Player of the Year!

[IHateBobNutting]

PBE PT Affiliate

[sakrosankt]

Looking at the current standings, it would be a bit weird to not find a player from Sarasota in the mix for awards. In fact, the 7-1 team has more than just one contender in terms of awards. One of the front runners at the moment for defensive player of the year for sure is Haha Mango-Panda. The LB recorded 60 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovered, 7 sacks, 2 interceptions and 9 passes defensed. And this all at the halftime mark of the season. If he continues racking up numbers like that, others will have a hard time to challenge him for that award. Doubling this numbers would maybe even bring him into MVP talks. HahaMVP, sounds good. Another award for Haha Mango-Panda is the one for defensive performance of the year. In game 1, he recorded 9 tackles, 3 sacks, a forced fumble and an interception. That‘s hard to beat I‘d say.

On of the frontrunners for QB of the year may be Dexter Banks II, who already recorded 300 more yards than the second QB on that list. One problem for him is maybe the number of interceptions he already has thrown. But if he keeps his yardage numbers and shortens on throwing picks, he might be the one to beat in this category. And a QBotY most of the times battles for MVP also. This are not the only players on Sarasota who might end up winning an award, but only half of the season is played so far, so we‘ll see what happens down the line. They for sure are motivated to continue their successful season.

[jzajenius36]

At this point in the season there is one player on the Portland Pythons that has positioned himself to be a finalist for an end of season award. Being a new player I’m not exactly sure how awards are rewarded, what all the rewards are, or what they’re called, but one thing’s for sure – assuming there is an award for ‘best punter,’ and or ‘best kicker,’ then Pythons special teamers Pseudo QB and Blago Kokot are making a strong case for an all Portland kicking award show.

Kokot leads the DSFL in average yards per punt at an impressive 48.9. A whole 3.5 yards longer than the 3rd place punter. He also leads punters in longest boot at 72 yards and is second with 6 punts inside the 20. Kokot’s combination of consistency, leg power, and pinpoint accuracy has been one of the main reasons the Python special teams unit is considered arguably the best in the league and has positioned Kokot as the DSFL’s best punter.

Not to be outdone is Psuedo QB. We saw some big struggles from QB in the preseason, as he shanked his share of kicks, but since games started to matter, QB has been perfect. We’re talking 10 for 10 on field goals and 9 for 9 on extra points. He is the only perfect kicker despite being tied for the most FGA in the DSFL. But what makes his season extra special thus far is that all of QB’s field goals have come from deeper than 30 yards. He’s 5 for 5 from 30-39 and 5 for 5 from 40-49, and is tied for the season long at 47 yards. QB may have set his expectations a bit high with his incredible performance thus far, but it’s clear that the Pythons can rely on him when it matters. QB will be a finalist for best kicker assuming he kicks at even a halfway decent level, going-forward.

[Birdman]

SHL PT - LordBirdman

[gbfn]

To be very honest, it is tough for me to pick a player on the Honolulu Hahalua. Despite sitting at 4-4 halfway into the year, I really have troubles in finding a player who stood out of the team. We are pretty much average in most measurable categories as a team and as well individually.
On offense Skywalker is throwing for the least amount of yards thus far, but has only 4 interceptions so far. Our running backs are splitting carries for the most part, so neither of them is really showing great numbers compared to the leagues best ball carriers. To be fair Ayers has shown his potential in a few games but he needs to get more consistent.
The only thing where i see a real chance is on our defense. Collectivly we have the second best passing defense in the league right now. Waters and Dawkins both have 4 interceptions so far, racked up a good amount of tackles and are a true force in defending against the pass. Dawkins even has gotten to the endzone after a pick one time. If they can keep their pace in  the second half of the season one of them might be able to get himself in the conversation for an award. From the rest of the team i infortunately don't see any award candidates.