Firebirds Position by Position, Thanks to Aunt Ruth
Matthew Pickut
Thursday April 18, 2002
Quarterbacks : Last year’s starter for the Firebirds returns in the person of Raymond Philyaw. Philyaw’s second year saw his emergence as a star quarterback in the AFL as he led the league in QB rating. This year a league that knows his arm strength and running ability will test Philyaw. At times last year Philyaw’s passes sailed high when under pressure, a dangerous habit that actually only led to a few interceptions. Still, Philyaw will need to show that a year of starting under his belt slows down the game enough to overcome his mistakes.
At back up, Chris Boden returns after he was signed off the practice squad last year. The Firebirds also signed QB John Fitzgerald off waivers. Neither back up figures to play much this year unless Philyaw gets hurt during the season. Their lack of experience may cause trouble for the team if Philyaw goes down.
Grade: A (Philyaw’s season last year made a big impression, but can he overcome the sophomore jinx to continue to improve?)
Offensive Specialists/Wide Receivers: This year the Firebirds will feature experience in the receiving ranks. Between OS Eddie “Touchdown” Brown (7) and WR/DB Gary “needs a nickname” Compton (10), seventeen AFL campaigns have come and gone. The addition of Compton from Milwaukee will help take pressure of Brown who considers last year’s performance to have been beneath his standards. WR/DBs Van Johnson, Jay Jones, and Terrence Davis bring another 11 years to the team.
The Firebirds lost WR/DB Greg Hopkins and Kevin Ingram in the offseason. Both players contributed to last season’s effort and the team will miss their skills. If newcomers Shawn Foreman and Greg Williams can see meaningful playing time this year it will go a long way to offsetting the offseason loss.
Grade: 1001 out of 1010 (base 10 systems are for punks, binary rules!)
Fullbacks: Coach Dailey likes his fullbacks full. Even though the trend around the league it towards smaller, quicker fullbacks, Dailey wants a back that can lay the smack down. Between FB/LBs Leroy Thomson, Umar Muhhamed, and Sunungura Rusununguko Dailey’s backs average a little over 258 lbs and 6’1”.
As blockers Thomson and Muhhamed helped protect Philyaw in his inaugural starting term and have looked good this preseason. Both run extremely well in traffic and will give the Firebirds short-yardage situation confidence. Last year’s playbook included very few screen passes, but look for that to change as Philyaw’s knowledge of the playbook increases under a new Offensive Coordinator.
Grade: 3.85 on a 4.0 scale (hey, they made the dean’s list!)
Offensive Line: The “Big Uglies” return for another year with all the usual suspects. With the addition of OL/DL Hugh Hunter (remember they’re not booing, they’re saying Huuuuuuuugh) to OL/DL Chris Snyder, Kyle Moore-Brown and Mark Valvo, the Firebirds will have over 23 years of AFL experience protecting Philyaw as he drops back to pass. Last year the protection they provided helped Philyaw mature without facing constant pressure. This year their continued effort will go a long way towards helping the Firebirds advance past Grand Rapids.
Last year’s lack of screen passing just makes me even more hungry to see one of these guys run the ball. I know they run the play in the preseason – if anyone in the coaching staff if reading, come on thrown me a bone here, just picture it: “Philyaw drops back to pass, he’s under pressure, he throws to Valvo at the 10, at the 15, the 20, … the 25, …, um, the… the 20, …, …, the 15, he laterals to Moore-Brown at the 10, the 5, touchdown Firebird’s. And the crowd goes wild!”
Grade: 6 out of 7 ¾ (ain’t nothing normal about these guys)
Kicking/Special Teams: K Nelson Garner ranked first in accuracy last year and performed well on kick offs, but the team’s coverage left a lot to be desired. Garner’s sore leg kept him out of the last preseason game, and the team signed an emergency kicker just to be sure. This year Garner looked good in the preseason and the coverage and return teams seem improved, but only time will tell if what was last year’s weakness becomes a strength for the Firebirds.
Grade: Good to Fine (some bent corners and discoloration on edges).
Defensive Backs/Defensive Specialists: DS Cornelius Coe and Co. look to improve on a season that saw a great performance (only giving up six points to Milwaukee) and several shaky efforts (against Grand Rapids). The addition of DS Greg Hlavacek, who was placed on injured reserve, and Gary Compton will help. What we do know is they can all hit, but the defensive backfield will need to play as a unit for this season to be a success.
Grade: 77% (but 85% with the curve – no one in the AFL plays great defense – the league isn’t built for it).
Defensive Line/Line Backers: Hugh Hunter’s addition will give the pass rush a boost and Thomson and Muhhamed showed last year that they can make a difference. Sikora and Snyder will, together with Hunter give the Firebirds a much-improved defensive attack. If these guys don’t pass last year’s sack total by the end of the season look for the Firebirds to struggle on defense.
Grade: Sweet Heavy Crude (its not just for oil anymore).
Final Grade: Under investigation… allegations of vote trading between the French judge and the Russians have arisen. The Arenafan board of directors, Kevin Sheller Pres., are conducting a full and impartial investigation, but my sources are revealing that the board will award the final grade to Toronto in a compromise decision. I guess that’s why they actually play all the games.
And I don’t care what Larry says about the beard, Ruth, its looks more like a mustache to me.
Matthew Pickut is a pastor in northern Indiana and a long time AFL fan. He also writes for his own website: The Brown Paper Blog. He graduated from Taylor University in Upland Indiana (class of `96) with degrees in Biblical Literature and Sociology as well as a healthy respect for the medicinal properties of coffee.
