So I started doing podcasts because I wrote too much for university to want to bother writing here. It was a time-saving and money-making mechanism. For only an hour of chatting about the DSFL with @The_Hero we would rake in $2 million each. That kind of money production is hard to match with any writing equivalent.
Unfortunately, life gets busy and finding an hour to chat with a bud about the DSFL every week gets harder and harder to do. Yesterday alone we were going to podcast with tbone – but couldn’t get times lined up. Ironically the thing that was my lazy avoidance of writing articles became the time commitment I struggled to match.
Yet I love reading and talking about the DSFL – The Little League That Could ™ - and I have time during the day randomly to jot down thoughts that come to mind. And so, Roly’s Friday Notebook – a compilation of my jumbled thoughts as GM of the San Antonio Marshals – is born.
Pretty simple really: I’m going to jot down DSFL thoughts during the week as I have them. Whether in GM convos, rookies convos, watching games, or doing other random stuff, if I think something is interesting and worth discussing I’ll put it down on paper and transfer that to you fine people.
If you have thoughts on my thoughts, post your thoughts. Our thoughts can have thought-babies. (And that type of sentence is why I’ve avoided writing here as much as possible).
The NFY podcast will be continuing (one to be released shortly after extended editing!). But this is an extra little “gem” for DSFL-related-news-starved-people.
---------------------------------------------------
1. Damn I feel bad for Kansas City. It always sucks to have a win resimmed into a loss, and those guys are active and engaged so it sucks double as much. There’s really not much to say about the situation – and improperly missed sim file necessitated the redo – but I hate resims and everything about them. It was the right call, but a hard call to make. Now instead of having at least 2 wins they only have 1 from the first week.
2. That said, goddamn Kansas City is a difficult team to gameplan. During testing, they either beat us in the air or on the ground and our defense struggled in most sims to keep up. It was surprising to see such a close, relatively low-scoring affair in the Week 3 sim. I’m expecting fireworks in our rematch in Week 4.
3. @`BenLongshaw`’s Howard Miller is dynamite early in this season, catching 20 receptions for 207 yards – enough to lead the DSFL in receiving receptions at this point. However an overlooked value of Miller is he frees up his inactive WR counterpoint in KC, Mason, who’s looked dangerous on 13 receptions for 227 yards.
4. Another KC WR who deserves some attention is @GridironGang’s DeAndre Green. He recently posted a presser, and that’s the kind of activity you like to see from new guys. Plus his average yards per reception is 17.3 over 6 completions. You gotta expect that to come back down to earth, but he’s looking dangerous early.
5. Finally, KC’s @AzhekAhriman’s Robby Rainey has predictably been dominating the backfield. His 4.5 yards per carry would normally be an incredible stat, but in this running-boosted season it’s slightly under average. If I had to guess, KC is leaning a little too heavily on the sophomore. He’s getting slightly over 72% of all their rushing attempts and 34% of all offensive attempts and it could be wearing on him early in the season. That said, RB2 is Robinson so splitting carries risks losing ground. Tough choices for KC management.
6. It’s incredible how you can never count Portland out. I’m not sure what’s in the water over there, but after drafting only one rookie in this draft class – and playing that new rookie in slightly under 15% of plays – the Pythons are 3-0. @PDXBaller mentioned in the hiring of @[PFTN] that it would be his last season as GM, but damn I hope he changes his mind and stays on in the team with PFTN. Together those two have brought a new dimension to their game this season.
7. Yeah you read that correctly. Crowd favourite @TrueTexican’s Cole McCoy has only played in roughly 15% of Portland’s snaps. I’m all for easing rookies in, but I’m excited to see what the big Texan can do when giving more reigns over the Portland offense. He’s already managed both a TD and an interception in only 29 attempts (14 completions), so it’s obvious he’s going to be making the ooh-and-aah plays we Twitch viewers like to see.
8. The slim majority of passing formation snaps are going to Christ, the Portland IA QB. He’s got 57% of them, with only 10 more attempts than McCoy (39 to 29). If McCoy wants an early start on winning this QB battle he’s going to need to narrow the gap between his play and Christ’s. He’s under by over 100 yards and almost 20 percentage points in completion %.
9. Of course, none of that really matters when your RB is @Goretron Borro Gore. Damn this sophomore is trucking through opponents and just killing the competition. Doesn’t hurt that the run game got boosted this season, but he’s already averaging 5.5 yards per carry. That’s 2 whole yards more on average than he managed last year (3.6 YPC S5).
10. Doesn’t hurt Gore’s stats that PDX and PFTN haven’t been afraid to lower their running back sophomore star’s attempts in favour of a more mixed run game with IA RB Ariel. In fact, Gore is managing just 46% of all rushing attempts for Portland. Compare that to Rainey’s 76% in Kansas City and you can see the effects that being a bell cow back can have on a RB. Check out the chart below to see various RB’s bell cow usage across the DSFL.
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]
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11. Notice how we haven’t touched on any defensive players or stats yet? Yeah that’s because this draft class is so O-heavy it should charge for its time. But Portland does have a guy worth mentioned, and that’s @Shrodawg Joel Schroeder. I love this kid and desperately wished during the draft that we could get him – but he was ranked just under the guys we got and ended up missing out. Then he goes to Tijuana and I hear rumblings this guy might be available. @run_CMC and I check things out, but Tijuana shut us down pretty well. Next thing I know, he’s off to Portland – what a grab by the Pythons. After 3 games, he’s got 2 interceptions and 4 PDs. This guy is going places.
12. That trade was costly for Portland though. They gave up a 5th rounder in S8 and Atasuke – a very good IA. In return, besides Shro, they got Dustin DeMarco – a new draftee who’s seemingly gone IA without applying their 50 TPE. New creates, listen up, please apply your 50 TPE. That way if you fall down the stairs and die, your DSFL team you got drafted by will at least have a somewhat usable player. Basically he was the Bobby Ryan to Shro’s Eric Karlsson in this deal (a little hockey reference, yeah I’m Canadian).
13. Also, last thought on Portland – I wish we played them more than twice a season. There’s some crazy schedule shit within the DSFL this season, compounded by the presence of the bot teams. But San Antonio only plays Palm Beach and Portland twice each, and the other teams four times. Our games against Portland are a back-to-back at the end of the season. Maybe I’m a masochist for wanting to play Portland more often than that, but I like the challenge of facing PDX and PFTN’s gameplanning. That said we play KC four times and Ahriman has shown he’s a genius in the (play)books and Tijuana is no slouch.
14. We do play Norfolk four times and Palm Beach twice. I’m quite happy only playing the bot teams 6 times combined. Although it can be argued those matches are easier this season (the 50 TPE nerf to their bots seems to be bringing this indestructible teams back to earth) I’d still rather the excitement of playing real guys. Of course @PoloPro and @jparks98 are both expert gameplanners who I’d love to butt heads with, but I like seeing the expressions of other players SA dominates.
15. Things are not looking pretty for either bot QBs. The GOAT Steve Fuller in Palm Beach has thrown 1 TD to 5 interceptions in 3 games, while Norfolk’s Palmer has thrown 0 TDs and 6 interceptions. It’s especially atrocious for Norfolk, since they’ve relied on Palmer in 72% of their plays. All plays – pass and rush. If that’s your offense, or ¾ of it, you’ve got to get a TD inside 3 games and 111 attempts and for godsake have less than 6 interceptions. Unless he is going for the Draxel.
16. Things are not going well in Tijuana. Well at least sim-related. I’m sure in terms of activity and having guys engaged, Tijuana is a great place to be. But on the sim-turf it has been a horrible start to the season. They are 0-3 and for the life of me I don’t know how its possible. They have a stud QB with @Pens Sam Penner, awesome RBs including @BARRAGMING Kevin Kendricks, and a whole lot of defensive rookies. The only thing missing is a player rookie WR, and that can’t be such a team need that it breaks their team for three games straight right?
17. Well it kind of makes sense breaking down their offense. They’ve leaned heavily on Penner, giving him 73% of all attempts on offense. Check out the chart below; Penner and Palmer are miles ahead of any other QB’s usage (for all offensive plays):
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]
[/div]
18. Yet Tijuana lacks a clear active #1 receiver. They’ve been relying on GM-created player Ross and Atasuke from the Portland trade, both leading the team in receptions and yards. Imagine the damage that Penner might be able to do with a true WR target.
19. Gotta give credit to Tijuana GMs though, they trust on their active players and want to lean on them. That’s the only way that this emphasis on passing doesn’t look somewhat misguided in hindsight. Of course it’s easy to sit here in my tower and pelt them with what-ifs. Its 0-3 and they know shit has to either change or regress to the norm and get them some wins.
20. On the bright side, new waiver grab @DestaDanger tore it up in his first two games of the season. He managed not only 1 sack, but 4 PDs, continuing on the legacy of a dominant Tijuana defense. In a draft class weak on defensive backs, Danger is looming as a force to be reckoned with – if I was him I’d be looking forward to feasting on these low-TPE QBs right now. @Dannyxv17’s Danny Vranos also managed 3 PDs in his first three weeks, and @bennyboy_456 and @Byden each managed 2 sacks. If nothing else, Tijuana has been dominating opponent’s offensive lines.
21. Finally, on San Antonio: this is a team I’m very excited to be GMing with @run_CMC. We’ve got an active locker room, lots of guys who are active and engaged with their builds and development, and lots of excitement for our team.
22. That week 1 win against Palm Beach was a squeaker, where I did not know how things would look when the dust settled. Fortunately, our defense came up big with three interceptions. In fact, in each game we’ve forced at least one interception, while Applehort and Vick are yet to give one up. I think that pigskin luck has been a major difference in our games.
23. It was a great first three weeks for our QBs @Daybe and @MVick. Applehort threw 3 TDs, 0 interceptions, 263 yards and 57%. Vick has come back to life and breathed some variance into our pocket. He put up a respectable 1 TD, 0 interceptions, 264 yards and 44%.
24. Mike Vick was the go-to-QB against Kansas City, as we looked to take advantage of the new mobile QB buffs inside spread playbooks. It was a risk, since it also means we have to turn to Vick’s arm occasionally, but it turned out decent. KC is an tough opponent and I was pleased we managed to get the W – especially for Vick.
25. Big shout out to @majesiu Vladimir Fyodorovich (aka the Siberian Swatter). This rook we grabbed off the wire has already made a big impact in the game, putting up 7 tackles, 1 sack and 2 PDs in 2 games. Not only that, he’s an awesome guy in the LR. Considering we only drafted offensive rookies in the S6 DSFL Entry Draft, damn I’m happy we nabbed this guy.
Unfortunately, life gets busy and finding an hour to chat with a bud about the DSFL every week gets harder and harder to do. Yesterday alone we were going to podcast with tbone – but couldn’t get times lined up. Ironically the thing that was my lazy avoidance of writing articles became the time commitment I struggled to match.
Yet I love reading and talking about the DSFL – The Little League That Could ™ - and I have time during the day randomly to jot down thoughts that come to mind. And so, Roly’s Friday Notebook – a compilation of my jumbled thoughts as GM of the San Antonio Marshals – is born.
Pretty simple really: I’m going to jot down DSFL thoughts during the week as I have them. Whether in GM convos, rookies convos, watching games, or doing other random stuff, if I think something is interesting and worth discussing I’ll put it down on paper and transfer that to you fine people.
If you have thoughts on my thoughts, post your thoughts. Our thoughts can have thought-babies. (And that type of sentence is why I’ve avoided writing here as much as possible).
The NFY podcast will be continuing (one to be released shortly after extended editing!). But this is an extra little “gem” for DSFL-related-news-starved-people.
---------------------------------------------------
1. Damn I feel bad for Kansas City. It always sucks to have a win resimmed into a loss, and those guys are active and engaged so it sucks double as much. There’s really not much to say about the situation – and improperly missed sim file necessitated the redo – but I hate resims and everything about them. It was the right call, but a hard call to make. Now instead of having at least 2 wins they only have 1 from the first week.
2. That said, goddamn Kansas City is a difficult team to gameplan. During testing, they either beat us in the air or on the ground and our defense struggled in most sims to keep up. It was surprising to see such a close, relatively low-scoring affair in the Week 3 sim. I’m expecting fireworks in our rematch in Week 4.
3. @`BenLongshaw`’s Howard Miller is dynamite early in this season, catching 20 receptions for 207 yards – enough to lead the DSFL in receiving receptions at this point. However an overlooked value of Miller is he frees up his inactive WR counterpoint in KC, Mason, who’s looked dangerous on 13 receptions for 227 yards.
4. Another KC WR who deserves some attention is @GridironGang’s DeAndre Green. He recently posted a presser, and that’s the kind of activity you like to see from new guys. Plus his average yards per reception is 17.3 over 6 completions. You gotta expect that to come back down to earth, but he’s looking dangerous early.
5. Finally, KC’s @AzhekAhriman’s Robby Rainey has predictably been dominating the backfield. His 4.5 yards per carry would normally be an incredible stat, but in this running-boosted season it’s slightly under average. If I had to guess, KC is leaning a little too heavily on the sophomore. He’s getting slightly over 72% of all their rushing attempts and 34% of all offensive attempts and it could be wearing on him early in the season. That said, RB2 is Robinson so splitting carries risks losing ground. Tough choices for KC management.
6. It’s incredible how you can never count Portland out. I’m not sure what’s in the water over there, but after drafting only one rookie in this draft class – and playing that new rookie in slightly under 15% of plays – the Pythons are 3-0. @PDXBaller mentioned in the hiring of @[PFTN] that it would be his last season as GM, but damn I hope he changes his mind and stays on in the team with PFTN. Together those two have brought a new dimension to their game this season.
7. Yeah you read that correctly. Crowd favourite @TrueTexican’s Cole McCoy has only played in roughly 15% of Portland’s snaps. I’m all for easing rookies in, but I’m excited to see what the big Texan can do when giving more reigns over the Portland offense. He’s already managed both a TD and an interception in only 29 attempts (14 completions), so it’s obvious he’s going to be making the ooh-and-aah plays we Twitch viewers like to see.
8. The slim majority of passing formation snaps are going to Christ, the Portland IA QB. He’s got 57% of them, with only 10 more attempts than McCoy (39 to 29). If McCoy wants an early start on winning this QB battle he’s going to need to narrow the gap between his play and Christ’s. He’s under by over 100 yards and almost 20 percentage points in completion %.
9. Of course, none of that really matters when your RB is @Goretron Borro Gore. Damn this sophomore is trucking through opponents and just killing the competition. Doesn’t hurt that the run game got boosted this season, but he’s already averaging 5.5 yards per carry. That’s 2 whole yards more on average than he managed last year (3.6 YPC S5).
10. Doesn’t hurt Gore’s stats that PDX and PFTN haven’t been afraid to lower their running back sophomore star’s attempts in favour of a more mixed run game with IA RB Ariel. In fact, Gore is managing just 46% of all rushing attempts for Portland. Compare that to Rainey’s 76% in Kansas City and you can see the effects that being a bell cow back can have on a RB. Check out the chart below to see various RB’s bell cow usage across the DSFL.
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]
![[Image: XndcC7R.png]](https://i.imgur.com/XndcC7R.png)
11. Notice how we haven’t touched on any defensive players or stats yet? Yeah that’s because this draft class is so O-heavy it should charge for its time. But Portland does have a guy worth mentioned, and that’s @Shrodawg Joel Schroeder. I love this kid and desperately wished during the draft that we could get him – but he was ranked just under the guys we got and ended up missing out. Then he goes to Tijuana and I hear rumblings this guy might be available. @run_CMC and I check things out, but Tijuana shut us down pretty well. Next thing I know, he’s off to Portland – what a grab by the Pythons. After 3 games, he’s got 2 interceptions and 4 PDs. This guy is going places.
12. That trade was costly for Portland though. They gave up a 5th rounder in S8 and Atasuke – a very good IA. In return, besides Shro, they got Dustin DeMarco – a new draftee who’s seemingly gone IA without applying their 50 TPE. New creates, listen up, please apply your 50 TPE. That way if you fall down the stairs and die, your DSFL team you got drafted by will at least have a somewhat usable player. Basically he was the Bobby Ryan to Shro’s Eric Karlsson in this deal (a little hockey reference, yeah I’m Canadian).
13. Also, last thought on Portland – I wish we played them more than twice a season. There’s some crazy schedule shit within the DSFL this season, compounded by the presence of the bot teams. But San Antonio only plays Palm Beach and Portland twice each, and the other teams four times. Our games against Portland are a back-to-back at the end of the season. Maybe I’m a masochist for wanting to play Portland more often than that, but I like the challenge of facing PDX and PFTN’s gameplanning. That said we play KC four times and Ahriman has shown he’s a genius in the (play)books and Tijuana is no slouch.
14. We do play Norfolk four times and Palm Beach twice. I’m quite happy only playing the bot teams 6 times combined. Although it can be argued those matches are easier this season (the 50 TPE nerf to their bots seems to be bringing this indestructible teams back to earth) I’d still rather the excitement of playing real guys. Of course @PoloPro and @jparks98 are both expert gameplanners who I’d love to butt heads with, but I like seeing the expressions of other players SA dominates.
15. Things are not looking pretty for either bot QBs. The GOAT Steve Fuller in Palm Beach has thrown 1 TD to 5 interceptions in 3 games, while Norfolk’s Palmer has thrown 0 TDs and 6 interceptions. It’s especially atrocious for Norfolk, since they’ve relied on Palmer in 72% of their plays. All plays – pass and rush. If that’s your offense, or ¾ of it, you’ve got to get a TD inside 3 games and 111 attempts and for godsake have less than 6 interceptions. Unless he is going for the Draxel.
16. Things are not going well in Tijuana. Well at least sim-related. I’m sure in terms of activity and having guys engaged, Tijuana is a great place to be. But on the sim-turf it has been a horrible start to the season. They are 0-3 and for the life of me I don’t know how its possible. They have a stud QB with @Pens Sam Penner, awesome RBs including @BARRAGMING Kevin Kendricks, and a whole lot of defensive rookies. The only thing missing is a player rookie WR, and that can’t be such a team need that it breaks their team for three games straight right?
17. Well it kind of makes sense breaking down their offense. They’ve leaned heavily on Penner, giving him 73% of all attempts on offense. Check out the chart below; Penner and Palmer are miles ahead of any other QB’s usage (for all offensive plays):
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]
![[Image: lYY9fE9.png]](https://i.imgur.com/lYY9fE9.png)
18. Yet Tijuana lacks a clear active #1 receiver. They’ve been relying on GM-created player Ross and Atasuke from the Portland trade, both leading the team in receptions and yards. Imagine the damage that Penner might be able to do with a true WR target.
19. Gotta give credit to Tijuana GMs though, they trust on their active players and want to lean on them. That’s the only way that this emphasis on passing doesn’t look somewhat misguided in hindsight. Of course it’s easy to sit here in my tower and pelt them with what-ifs. Its 0-3 and they know shit has to either change or regress to the norm and get them some wins.
20. On the bright side, new waiver grab @DestaDanger tore it up in his first two games of the season. He managed not only 1 sack, but 4 PDs, continuing on the legacy of a dominant Tijuana defense. In a draft class weak on defensive backs, Danger is looming as a force to be reckoned with – if I was him I’d be looking forward to feasting on these low-TPE QBs right now. @Dannyxv17’s Danny Vranos also managed 3 PDs in his first three weeks, and @bennyboy_456 and @Byden each managed 2 sacks. If nothing else, Tijuana has been dominating opponent’s offensive lines.
21. Finally, on San Antonio: this is a team I’m very excited to be GMing with @run_CMC. We’ve got an active locker room, lots of guys who are active and engaged with their builds and development, and lots of excitement for our team.
22. That week 1 win against Palm Beach was a squeaker, where I did not know how things would look when the dust settled. Fortunately, our defense came up big with three interceptions. In fact, in each game we’ve forced at least one interception, while Applehort and Vick are yet to give one up. I think that pigskin luck has been a major difference in our games.
23. It was a great first three weeks for our QBs @Daybe and @MVick. Applehort threw 3 TDs, 0 interceptions, 263 yards and 57%. Vick has come back to life and breathed some variance into our pocket. He put up a respectable 1 TD, 0 interceptions, 264 yards and 44%.
24. Mike Vick was the go-to-QB against Kansas City, as we looked to take advantage of the new mobile QB buffs inside spread playbooks. It was a risk, since it also means we have to turn to Vick’s arm occasionally, but it turned out decent. KC is an tough opponent and I was pleased we managed to get the W – especially for Vick.
25. Big shout out to @majesiu Vladimir Fyodorovich (aka the Siberian Swatter). This rook we grabbed off the wire has already made a big impact in the game, putting up 7 tackles, 1 sack and 2 PDs in 2 games. Not only that, he’s an awesome guy in the LR. Considering we only drafted offensive rookies in the S6 DSFL Entry Draft, damn I’m happy we nabbed this guy.
Quote:2164 words
READY FOR GRADING
RICARDO MORRIS
Arizona Outlaws | Defensive Tackle | S15 - Present
Career: 554 TPE | 82 TCK | 4 TFL | 2/1 FR/FF | 10 SCK | 1 TD
Arizona Outlaws | Defensive Tackle | S15 - Present
Career: 554 TPE | 82 TCK | 4 TFL | 2/1 FR/FF | 10 SCK | 1 TD