The Need for Speed (And Size)
Jeff Sims
Saturday February 5, 2005
"We were not very fast last year," said Rush head coach Hohensee. "We did not make many mistakes and we were tough. But we were not faster than anybody. We just played good, methodical, sound football. This year hopefully, we can still play sound football, but we will play it faster and just as physical."
"Jeroid Johnson was our number one guy," said Hohensee. "We feel that he is one of the top four safeties in the league. He may not be big, but he is extremely tough."
Johnson appears happy to be with the Rush stating, "I am comfortable and confident in my new role and know what is expected of me. I’m going to go out and do the things that I have to do for the team to win."
Some of the returning players spent their off-season working to increase their own speed to not only fit in with the Rush system for this year, but also for their futures.
"That was the main thing that held me out of an NFL camp this year," said second-year Rush star Etu Molden. "The guys at Green Bay said we need you to be faster. So that is what I was going to do. I have dedicated myself to doing it if that is what I need to get to that next level. Anything that can make me a better player, as I am always looking for another edge."
Even rookie Tony Lukins, who comes in with some NFL experience, feels that speed is necessary in the arena game.
"As far as the game is concerned, it is a little bit faster," said Lukins. "Everybody thinks that because it is not the NFL, there are not going to be good athletes here or that the talent level isn’t good. Well hey; you’ve got a smaller field and a lot of great athletes. It’s fast!"
While speed is certainly an important part of the game, sometimes a team needs a little size to go along with that speed. The size portion of this puzzle may be missing for the Rush if last Sunday’s game against Dallas was any indication.
While Johnson, 5’9" and Lukins, 5’11" certainly possess that speed needed to play in the secondary; it was size that appeared to prevent them from making plays on larger receivers. It wasn’t until the second half, when the Rush defense began to pressure the receivers coming off the line of scrimmage, that they had any success.
Dallas’s trio of receivers, Bobby Sippio, 6’3", Will Pettis, 6’00", and Jason Shelly, 6’2", each had over 100 yards receiving and made rookie QB Clint Stoerner look like an all-star. Stoerner finished the week with a 135.2 QB rating.
Clint Stoerner!!!!! As a Dallas Cowboys fan myself, that makes me cry.
On his third play and his first passing play in the Arena league, Stoerner threw a 35-yard touchdown to Sippio. He would throw for five more during the game and most of them over 20 yards.
Granted, while not all teams will have a big trio of talented receivers like Dallas does, most teams do have a receiver that is not only fast, but is also bigger and can make plays against smaller defensive players. Without bringing the physical part of their game from last season, the Chicago Rush my find themselves giving up an awful lot of points this season.
On the Other Hand
The Rush will need that speed to keep up with the number of points its defense will surrender. Key additions to the roster should certainly help the Rush maintain its 52.9 points per game average from last season.
"We’ve got guys like Russell Shaw, Charles Pauley…some guys with some speed that can stretch the field for us," said Rush QB Raymond Philyaw. "Especially against teams like San Jose, that also have physical guys as well, we need someone to stretch the field from a stationary receiver."
And for Philyaw, that makes his job a little bit easier.
"I might have to release the ball a lot quicker," stated Philyaw. "But, with the quickness, it makes my reads a lot easier and a lot faster than last season."
The one guy that brings both the speed and the size (6’00") to the mix for this offense is new OS Henry Douglas. Douglas led the league in receiving last week with 139 yards. Douglas has come to the Rush after backing up All-Arena OS Chris Jackson (now with Grand Rapids) in Los Angeles.
The Next Test
The Chicago Rush will go for its first win of the season at home against the Philadelphia Soul on Sunday.
On offense, the Rush should look to use its newfound speed to continue to post high scoring numbers.
Soul QB Tony Graziani and his potent offense that posted 66 points against Austin last week will certainly look to test the Rush secondary early.
The Rush did not go 11-5 last season without being physical. It is that size and strength that made up a big part of their success. While the speed is good to have, the Rush need to remember what got them to that point last season in order to remain effective this season.
We should find out on Sunday what this team is made of.
Jeff has been writing for ArenaFan.com since 2004. Originally from New York, Jeff has been living in the Chicago area for the past ten years and is an avid football fanatic. He holds a BA in communications from Hofstra University in New York and a sports management certificate from Loyola University in Chicago.
