Welcome to the Season Two NSFL in Review series! There will be 8 parts to this, one for each team in record/elimination order. @RainDelay and I will be looking at the good things, the bad things, and the future scope of each team.
So far in this season’s series:
8. S2 Las Vegas Legion: The Good, Bad and Future
7. S2 San Jose SaberCats: The Good, Bad, and Future
Next up is the Philadelphia Liberty, who finished 4th place in the National Simulation Football Conference this season, which did not allow them to qualify for the playoffs, but still left them 6th overall. Pretty sweet when last place in the NSFC is better than two teams in the AFSC.
![[Image: 4TTCIu0.png]](http://i.imgur.com/4TTCIu0.png)
Philadelphia Liberty
5-9
Fourth (Last) in NSFC
The Good
Number One: They aren’t the Legion. Sorry for taking the low-hanging fruit on this one, but there were only two expansion teams this year. Obviously they are going to be compared to each other. And when one of those two teams does really badly, simply having avoided that fate is enough to keep spirits high. It gets even better, though. With a 38 point win in week 15 win against the San Jose SaberCats (a larger margin of victory than their other four wins combined), the Liberty ended their first season as not just the better expansion team, but just another below average to bad team. While that may not sound like high praise, that was one hell of an accomplishment that few expected.
Number Two: Stephen Harris. Yeah, I wouldn’t pick him for my fantasy team either, but I really can’t think of a more important player on this team. I almost went with Lincoln Jefferson, who would be a genuine candidate for Defensive Player of the Year were it not for Jayce Tuck, but I’ll talk about him more in a bit (as part of the good, don’t worry). Another thing we’ll talk about later is the Liberty offense. Spoiler: it’s horrible. Without Harris, this team would not be scoring points. While Harris has not been the top kicker this year (that would be Turk Turkleton), I think it is VERY telling that a kicker with the 6th most field goal attempts has the MOST 50+ yard attempts (which he was 80% on, by the way). I will go out on a limb here and say that Harris will easily be the most improved kicker next year, not from actually needing to get better, but from having a lot more chances to actually put up points. And, given that he was perfect this year on extra points and field goals under 30 yards, I think he’ll make the most of those opportunities. Additionally, Harris is the BEST punter in the league. Now, the Liberty offense gave him plenty of practice, but Harris led all punters in total punting yards, average distance, punts inside the 20, and percentage of punts inside the 20.
Number Three: The secondary. Yes, Lincoln Jefferson is far and away the best member of that secondary, but Tyler Oles, Kristoffer O’Sullivan, and Vikian Marmeladov are all quite capable as well. I’m not ranking those three at the top of the league or anything, but even without Jefferson, this would be an above average corps. With Jefferson, however, they are second only to the Outlaws. This may not have seemed that significant this year, as the Liberty rarely put their opponents in the position of NEEDING to pass, but as they continue improving (and Oles and O’Sullivan most certainly are improving), their secondary will be one of the most feared in the league.
The Bad
Number One: This team is bad. Yeah, I already used this sentence in the Legion review. Go ahead, dock my word payout if you think it’s not true. The Liberty began the season as far and away the least talented team in the league. 15 weeks later, they are now the second-least talented team in the league (Note: I realize that they finished with a better record than the SaberCats, but I still think San Jose is more talented, so Philly is second-least talented). Great job. Well, actually, that was a great job. However, just as the Legion were only the better team in Week Seven against the Liberty, the Liberty were only the better team in Week 10 against the Legion. Not only have the Liberty overachieved this year in terms of talent, they overachieved HARD. Personally, I credit their success more to opponent laziness than anything. I really don’t think teams game planned against them at all because they were another shitty expansion team. I don’t think they’ll have that benefit in Season Three now that they have shown signs of competence.
Number Two: This team is going to stay bad. Yeah. I did it again. They aren’t the worst team anymore, but they will likely begin Season Three as the number seven team in overall roster strength, and nowhere near the contenders in terms of talent. Part of the reason they won’t see a huge improvement is that the Liberty have no first round pick in Season Three (the next-closest team in talent, San Jose, has TWO first round picks). Despite knowing they would begin the year with the worst roster in the league, this team traded away their first rounder for the 9th overall pick. Then they traded away that pick for the 8th overall pick. Now, that pick ended up being Micah Hendricks, so it definitely wasn’t a waste of a pick, but this was still a horrible decision. Now, despite this hurdle, the Liberty could still finish Season Three as the number five team in the league if their current rate of improvement stays constant. Here’s the thing, though: it won’t. Already their TPE gains have leveled off with that of the league contenders. Remember that the Liberty started the season with a high percentage of active players, as most were new. Time will erode that advantage, and it has already begun.
Number Three: The Offense. Normally I target a specific position group, but wow. Out of 8 teams, here is their offense and how it compares:
QB: 8th
RB: 6th
OL: 7th
WR: 8th
TE: 3rd
Wow. One part of their offense doesn’t completely suck ass! I find it amazing how everyone made fun of the Legion offense, but this team managed to score even less until the San Jose practice squad came to play! Despite having more points come from their kicker! Isn’t it ironic that a team called “Liberty” is among the least free to move into the end zone? The Liberty offense is going to need a lot of help from the Season Three draft. So far, though, that help isn’t really there. Expect QBs Mark Strike and Clifford Rove to be highlighted, underlined, AND circled on their draft board, as they are both the best QB prospect and actually really good fits for their system, as both can handle pass rush pressure without panicking, but first they will need to add another active blocker for him.
The Future
I’m not expecting that Season Three will really be that different from Season Two in terms of record and would not expect more than a one win improvement (which may not even happen). However, I do expect expectations to change, which will be important. This year, the Liberty came out of the draft with WAY too much optimism, then felt crushed once reality set in, and are now optimistic for the future. Next year will be less emotionally volatile. They’ll be shown more respect, which will matter a LOT come the first big free agency wave after Season Three. Players will actually want to go there, as the team will be perceived as having promise. The best thing Philadelphia has going for it is that the positions they most desperately need are actually some of the easiest to fill. And they will have the money to fill them. I’ll end with one last comparison to the Legion. Neither will be contenders next year, but one of them has the chance to be one within the next three.
So far in this season’s series:
8. S2 Las Vegas Legion: The Good, Bad and Future
7. S2 San Jose SaberCats: The Good, Bad, and Future
Next up is the Philadelphia Liberty, who finished 4th place in the National Simulation Football Conference this season, which did not allow them to qualify for the playoffs, but still left them 6th overall. Pretty sweet when last place in the NSFC is better than two teams in the AFSC.
Philadelphia Liberty 5-9
Fourth (Last) in NSFC
The Good
Number One: They aren’t the Legion. Sorry for taking the low-hanging fruit on this one, but there were only two expansion teams this year. Obviously they are going to be compared to each other. And when one of those two teams does really badly, simply having avoided that fate is enough to keep spirits high. It gets even better, though. With a 38 point win in week 15 win against the San Jose SaberCats (a larger margin of victory than their other four wins combined), the Liberty ended their first season as not just the better expansion team, but just another below average to bad team. While that may not sound like high praise, that was one hell of an accomplishment that few expected.
Number Two: Stephen Harris. Yeah, I wouldn’t pick him for my fantasy team either, but I really can’t think of a more important player on this team. I almost went with Lincoln Jefferson, who would be a genuine candidate for Defensive Player of the Year were it not for Jayce Tuck, but I’ll talk about him more in a bit (as part of the good, don’t worry). Another thing we’ll talk about later is the Liberty offense. Spoiler: it’s horrible. Without Harris, this team would not be scoring points. While Harris has not been the top kicker this year (that would be Turk Turkleton), I think it is VERY telling that a kicker with the 6th most field goal attempts has the MOST 50+ yard attempts (which he was 80% on, by the way). I will go out on a limb here and say that Harris will easily be the most improved kicker next year, not from actually needing to get better, but from having a lot more chances to actually put up points. And, given that he was perfect this year on extra points and field goals under 30 yards, I think he’ll make the most of those opportunities. Additionally, Harris is the BEST punter in the league. Now, the Liberty offense gave him plenty of practice, but Harris led all punters in total punting yards, average distance, punts inside the 20, and percentage of punts inside the 20.
Number Three: The secondary. Yes, Lincoln Jefferson is far and away the best member of that secondary, but Tyler Oles, Kristoffer O’Sullivan, and Vikian Marmeladov are all quite capable as well. I’m not ranking those three at the top of the league or anything, but even without Jefferson, this would be an above average corps. With Jefferson, however, they are second only to the Outlaws. This may not have seemed that significant this year, as the Liberty rarely put their opponents in the position of NEEDING to pass, but as they continue improving (and Oles and O’Sullivan most certainly are improving), their secondary will be one of the most feared in the league.
The Bad
Number One: This team is bad. Yeah, I already used this sentence in the Legion review. Go ahead, dock my word payout if you think it’s not true. The Liberty began the season as far and away the least talented team in the league. 15 weeks later, they are now the second-least talented team in the league (Note: I realize that they finished with a better record than the SaberCats, but I still think San Jose is more talented, so Philly is second-least talented). Great job. Well, actually, that was a great job. However, just as the Legion were only the better team in Week Seven against the Liberty, the Liberty were only the better team in Week 10 against the Legion. Not only have the Liberty overachieved this year in terms of talent, they overachieved HARD. Personally, I credit their success more to opponent laziness than anything. I really don’t think teams game planned against them at all because they were another shitty expansion team. I don’t think they’ll have that benefit in Season Three now that they have shown signs of competence.
Number Two: This team is going to stay bad. Yeah. I did it again. They aren’t the worst team anymore, but they will likely begin Season Three as the number seven team in overall roster strength, and nowhere near the contenders in terms of talent. Part of the reason they won’t see a huge improvement is that the Liberty have no first round pick in Season Three (the next-closest team in talent, San Jose, has TWO first round picks). Despite knowing they would begin the year with the worst roster in the league, this team traded away their first rounder for the 9th overall pick. Then they traded away that pick for the 8th overall pick. Now, that pick ended up being Micah Hendricks, so it definitely wasn’t a waste of a pick, but this was still a horrible decision. Now, despite this hurdle, the Liberty could still finish Season Three as the number five team in the league if their current rate of improvement stays constant. Here’s the thing, though: it won’t. Already their TPE gains have leveled off with that of the league contenders. Remember that the Liberty started the season with a high percentage of active players, as most were new. Time will erode that advantage, and it has already begun.
Number Three: The Offense. Normally I target a specific position group, but wow. Out of 8 teams, here is their offense and how it compares:
QB: 8th
RB: 6th
OL: 7th
WR: 8th
TE: 3rd
Wow. One part of their offense doesn’t completely suck ass! I find it amazing how everyone made fun of the Legion offense, but this team managed to score even less until the San Jose practice squad came to play! Despite having more points come from their kicker! Isn’t it ironic that a team called “Liberty” is among the least free to move into the end zone? The Liberty offense is going to need a lot of help from the Season Three draft. So far, though, that help isn’t really there. Expect QBs Mark Strike and Clifford Rove to be highlighted, underlined, AND circled on their draft board, as they are both the best QB prospect and actually really good fits for their system, as both can handle pass rush pressure without panicking, but first they will need to add another active blocker for him.
The Future
I’m not expecting that Season Three will really be that different from Season Two in terms of record and would not expect more than a one win improvement (which may not even happen). However, I do expect expectations to change, which will be important. This year, the Liberty came out of the draft with WAY too much optimism, then felt crushed once reality set in, and are now optimistic for the future. Next year will be less emotionally volatile. They’ll be shown more respect, which will matter a LOT come the first big free agency wave after Season Three. Players will actually want to go there, as the team will be perceived as having promise. The best thing Philadelphia has going for it is that the positions they most desperately need are actually some of the easiest to fill. And they will have the money to fill them. I’ll end with one last comparison to the Legion. Neither will be contenders next year, but one of them has the chance to be one within the next three.
Code:
Graded
$1 968 000![[Image: BVsashy.png]](https://i.imgur.com/BVsashy.png)
![[Image: TBFYuND.png]](https://i.imgur.com/TBFYuND.png)
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![[Image: BC5HKor.png]](https://i.imgur.com/BC5HKor.png)
![[Image: brooks.png]](https://i.ibb.co/JW13P77m/brooks.png)
