Week 1: Fearless Predictions

Tuesday will be an exciting day as the USFL/WFL kicks off its first season. As I said in my earlier post, preseason results don't offer much clarity and this is a first-year league where a lot of strange things are likely to happen. But in the interest of fun and games, I will look at some trends I observed during the preseason and offer some fearless predictions for the 1974 season.

Division Winners
American:
San Jose SaberCats (Pacific), Portland Storm (West), San Antonio Gunslingers (Southwest), Detroit Wheels (Midwest)
National:
Florida Blazers (Southeast), New Orleans VooDoo (South), Washington Federals (Atlantic), Boston Breakers (East).

Wild Card
Chicago Blitz, Arizona Wranglers (American); Shreveport Steamer, Philadelphia Bell (National)

World Bowl I
Boston Breakers 31, Detroit Wheels 27

Boston made no secret of its strategy during the preseason ... win NOW. The Breakers currently have 18 players on their roster that have between 10 and 15 seasons of pro experience. They have only three players with fewer than five years (three rookies). Injuries, retirements, and salary cap issues will eventually force a rebuild. But, for now, the Breakers are the team to beat.

I have no idea whether the Detroit Wheels or Chicago Blitz will win the Midwest Division. I do think that whoever does will end up in World Bowl I opposite the Breakers. I have no idea if Birmingham or Shreveport will claim the wild card spot in the National Conference.

I forsee a three-way battle in the Pacific and West divisions and any of the four teams could win the Atlantic. I think the teams that will come on strongest at the end of the season and knock off some contenders are the New Jersey Generals, Honolulu Hawaiians, Oklahoma Outlaws, and Cleveland Thunderbolts.

Best of luck to ALL teams. I think this first year promises a lot of unpredictability, which means only a fool would offer predictions.

Preseason Wrapup: Notes and Thoughts

The USFL/WFL's first official games will be played Tuesday. A new league with new owners, new players, and typically misleading preseason results can provoke mass confusion, but there were certainly some noteworthy performances and some clues as to how the road to World Bowl I might look. I want to add a few of my thoughts as well.

First, I want to say how happy I am with this league's owners. We navigated some rough waters during the first few weeks and came out with a full 32 owners when some other user-created leagues are having difficulty filling.

I counted 15 owners today who have been active participants, either through volunteering for the trade approval committee or the Player of the Week committee or by active participation in the forum discussions. Thanks for making my job easier, and our league funner (yes, I know it's not a word).

Preseason Parity: Only three teams finished 4-0 in the preseason and only three teams finished 0-4. Three of the Orlando Renegades' four losses were by three points, one in OT. I certainly hope parity will be one of the distinctives of this league.

The Kid: Baltimore Stars rookie QB Victor Gorman played every minute of every down. In fact, he is currently the only QB on the Stars roster. Gorman threw seven interceptions and one TD during a 34-7 loss to the Los Angeles Express in his first start and finished the preseason with 6 TDs, 12 interceptions, and a QB rating of 44.42.

Victor Gorman, QB, Baltimore Stars

The TD Makers: Quarterbacks Vincent Goode of the New Orleans VooDoo and Daniel McKee of the Chicago Blitz threw 11 TDs and one interception during the preseason. William Hill of the Portland Storm was nearly as good (10/1) and had the highest QB rating (152.92) of any QB with 40 or more pass attempts.

Running Wild: If there was an MVP of the preseason, it was probably Arizona Wrangers RB Curtis Scott. He rushed for 387 yards (8.8 per carry) and two TDs, caught 9 passes for 85 yards, returned five kickoffs for 305 yards and THREE touchdowns and returned five punts for 32 yards. That's 809 all-purpose yards in four games, folks.

Dee-Fense: Three of the top four tacklers in the league during the preseason play for the Baltimore Stars: FS Jacob Mummert, SS Earl Campbell, DT Felix Long.

At the Half: With so many subs playing in the second half of games, only the first half scores would appear to be valid for comparison's sake. The San Antonio Gunslingers led 23-0, 21-3, 14-0, and  23-0 at intermission in their four games.

At the Top: The New Orleans VooDoo scored far and away the most points (174) of any team during the preseason. The Arizona Wranglers were second at 136. The Florida Blazers allowed the fewest (30), with the Detroit Wheels second (42).

Tomorrow (Sunday), I plan to post some fearless predictions.

Preseason Week 3: Federals Demonstrate Defense

Preseason Week 3 proved to be the case for the defense for several USFL/WFL teams after two weeks filled with offensive fireworks.

A case in point was the Washington Federals' 15-9 win over the Southern California Sun. Washington's defense did not allow a TD, as the Sun scored on a field goal and Norman Thorne's 96-yard kickoff return.

Robert Pooler, CB, Washington Federals (36)

Federals RDE Steven Peterson recorded his only tackle of the game when he sacked Southern California QB Christian Girard for a safety with 3:44 to play.

Washington allowed only eight first downs and 157 yards total offense. CB Roger Pooler and MLB  Robert Allison recorded five tackles each and Pooler intercepted a pass.

New Jersey Generals 19, Honolulu Hawaiians 6: The New Jersey defense recorded eight sacks, intercepted two passes, and limited the Hawaiians to 143 total net yards. DT Tom Woodland and CB Gregory Johnson had seven tackles each for the Generals.

Arizona Wranglers 35, Georgia Force 25: RB Curtis Scott piled up 238 yards total offense, including a 93-yard kickoff return  for a TD. Georgia QBs Cody Joseph and Phillip Anderson threw for 408 yards but were sacked 10 times.

Oakland Invaders 15, Charlotte Hornets 8: Oakland's defense shut out the Hornets until 1:33 remained, allowing just 175 total yards, intercepting a pass and recovering two fumbles. CB Rudolph Herring had six tackles for the Invaders.

San Antonio Gunslingers 17, Jacksonville Bulls 10: The teams punted a combined 18 times. Jacksonville WR Steve Ros had six catches for 114 yards and a TD.

Detroit Wheels 38, Philadelphia Bell 7: Harry Prieto's four TD passes in the first half gave the Wheels a 28-7 lead at intermission.

Pittsburgh Maulers 29, Michigan Panthers 18: Michigan WR Matthew Morgan caught 10 passes for 201 yards, including TDs of 75, 10, and 50 yards before sustaining a knee injury. Pittsburgh's three QBs averaged 26 yards on their 12 completions.

New Orleans VooDoo 38, Cleveland Thunderbolts 17: Cleveland led, 14-10, before Vincent Goode threw three TD passes.

Birmingham Stallions 41, Oklahoma Outlaws 32: Birmingham led, 27-7, but Oklahoma rallied within 34-32 before falling. The teams combined for 958 yards total offense. Stallions WR Darius Mace caught six passes for 243 yards and a pair of TDs.

Shreveport Steamer 42, Houston Gamblers 17: A 110-yard kickoff return by RB Mark Collins was the highlight for the Steamer.

Denver Gold 26, New York Stars 21: Denver WR William Delatorre caught eight passes for 179 yards and two TDs.

Portland Storm 27, Orlando Renegades 18: The Portland defense forced four turnovers and QBs William Hill and Tyrone Harvell were a combined 26-for-38 passing.

Florida Blazers 21, Los Angeles Express 7: The Florida defense limited the Express to 138 yards total offense and shut out Los Angeles until 3:07 remained.

Baltimore Stars 27, Memphis Showboats 23: The Memphis defense sacked Baltimore QBs nine times, but the Stars scored the last 13 points.

Chicago Blitz 27, Boston Breakers 23: William Fitts threw a 17-yard TD pass to Anthony Tanaka with 54 seconds to play, giving Chicago the victory.

San Jose SaberCats 25, Tampa Bay Bandits 12: The San Jose defense forced four fumbles and intercepted a pass.

Preseason Week 2: Great Scott! Arizona RB runs wild

 Arizona Wranglers RB Curtis Scott accounted for 360 yards total offense during his team's 45-20 victory over the Charlotte Hornets, highlighting Preseason Week 2 in the USFL/WFL.

Scott rushed 11 times for 224 yards, including TDs of 99 and 75 yards and returned a kickoff 87 yards for a third score.

Curtis Scott, RB, Arizona

Scott, a fourth-year pro from Kentucky, was taken by the Wranglers with the first pick in the second round of the allocation draft. He has 95 speed, 100 acceleration, 94 strength and has already improved his default rating 4 points, to 86.

Watch his 99-yard run:https://usflwfl.myfootballnow.com/gamecenter/view/19#3316

CB Robert Mason had 10 tackles for Charlotte.

San Jose Sabercats 26, New Jersey Generals 25: The Generals sacked the QB eight times, but San Jose scored the last nine points of the game.

Georgia Force 38, Honolulu Hawaiians 31: Georgia WR Ralph Vaughn caught just three passes, but accumulated 112 yards on those receptions, including TDs of 65 and 37 yards.

Jacksonville Bulls 36, Oakland Invaders 21: Oakland RB Jason Brooks returned the opening kickoff 101 yards, but it was all Jacksonville after that. The Bulls defense recorded nine sacks and QBs Mario Valencia and Ty Fleming were a combined 19-for-26.

Philadelphia Bell 34, San Antonio Gunslingers 21: Philadelphia QB Robert Tatum threw four TDs in the second half as the Bell overcame a 21-3 deficit at intermission.

Detroit Wheels 16, Pittsburgh Maulers 13: Jose Fouche kicked field goals of 50, 51, and 44 yards for Detroit.

New Orleans VooDoo 42, Michigan Panthers 12: QB Vincent Goode completed 12 of 14 passes for four TDs for New Orleans, which led, 35-6, at halftime.

Birmingham Stallions 32, Cleveland Thunderbolts 25: Birmingham WR Darius Mace caught five passes for 180 yards (36 yards per catch) and two TDs.

Shreveport Steamer 21, Oklahoma Outlaws 14: QB Joseph Munson completed 15 of 17 passes, two for TDs, as Shreveport held off Oklahoma.

New York Stars 17, Houston Gamblers 0: The Stars defense limited Houston to 108 total yards. DT Charles Arbogast recorded six tackles for New York.

Denver Gold 15, Orlando Renegades 12, OT: Denver's Nicholas Morgan kicked a 33-yard field goal with 21 seconds remaining in OT.

Florida Blazers 34, Portland Storm 20: Portland QBs Tyrone Harvell and William Hill combined for 420 yards passing, but Florida scored on a 95-yard kickoff return and a 73-yard fumble return.

Los Angeles Express 25, Washington Federals 23: William Hampton kicked six field goals for Los Angeles, including the game-winner with 3 seconds to play.

Baltimore Stars 31, Southern California Sun 6: TE Scott Ayotte and WR Clayton Vasquez combined for five catches and 198 yards and the Baltimore defense forced the Sun to punt 12 times.

Boston Breakers 34, Memphis Showboats 28: Timothy Riley kicked a 58-yard field goal for Boston , which scored twice in the final 4:17 to edge Memphis.

Chicago Blitz 16, Tampa Bay Bandits 13: Chicago QB Daniel McKee completed 15 of 17 passes for 227 yards and a TD.

Preaseason Week 1: Chicago, Ayala blitz NJ

Saturday was a day of firsts for the USFL/WFL as all 32 teams played their first preseason games. Although the starters seldom see extended action, there was enough playing time for some individual highlights.

Blitz coach CrimsonWolfZ couldn't help but post his team's star from a 62-7 decision over the youthful New Jersey Generals.

"WR John Ayala went off like I've never seen in a preseason game! The very first play in the game he took a kick return to the house for 100 yards, and in only 2 quarters of player he got 4 receptions for 200 yards and 3 touchdowns."

John Ayala, Chicago Blitz

Ayala, a fourth-year pro from UCLA, was Chicago's second-round pick in the allocation draft and has a default rating of 89 with 98 speed, 97 acceleration and 86 pass catching. Now, don't you wish you had drafted more DBs?

Preaseason Week 2 takes place Tuesday.

Some other notes from Preaseason Week 1:

Arizona Wranglers 44, Jacksonville Bulls 30: Arizona QBs Ralph Trowbridge and James Fraser threw a combined five TD passes as the Wranglers scored twice in the fourth quarter to break a 30-30 tie.
Boston Breakers 36, Southern California Sun 9: Boston scored all four of its touchdowns on the ground.
Cleveland Thunderbolts 49, Shreveport Steamer 37: The teams combined for seven TDs of 50 yards or longer.
Detroit Wheels 23, New Orleans VooDoo 22: Detroit's Thomas Pham threw a 47-yard strike to Bobby Logan with 2:43 to play.
Florida Blazers 47, Denver Gold 0: The Florida defense recorded eight sacks.
Honolulu Hawaiians 33, Charlotte Hornets 0: WR Randall Stern caught two TDs and the Hawaiians scored all of their points in the first half.
Houston Gamblers 19, Orlando Renegades 16: Houston won despite being outgained, 430-141.
Los Angeles Express 34, Baltimore Stars 7: The Los Angeles defense picked off seven of Baltimore QB Victor Gorman's passes.
Michigan Panthers 34, Birmingham Stallions 31: Michigan QB Brandon Robertson threw TD passes of 80 and 20 yards in the final 5:44 as the Panthers rallied from a 31-21 deficit.
Oklahoma Outlaws 9, New York Stars 6: Oklahoma QB Dale Brown was 15-for-20 and threw for the game's only TD.
Philadelphia Bell 33, Oakland Invaders 24: The Philadelphia defense recorded six sacks, two by WLB James Negron.'
Portland Storm 20, Washington Federals 14: WR Damon Rosato caught seven passes for 119 yards for the Storm.
San Antonio Gunslingers 25, Pittsburgh Maulers 17:  San Antonio's Jose Marrero sacked Pittsburgh QB Arthur Rogers for a safety with 1:48 remaining to seal the Gunslingers' victory.
San Jose SaberCats 24, Georgia Force 10: San Jose WLB David Cooper recorded eight tackles.
Tampa Bay Bandits 20, Memphis Showboats 17: Tampa Bay's Thomas Hummel kicked a 34-yard field goal with 1:12 to play.

Late Free Agency: Drunken Sailors Take the L

Several USFL/WFL owners were not shy about spending money during late free agency as the league draws closer to the opening of its first season.

When Cleveland owner Scarface132 said "Say hello to my little friend," he meant dollar bills. The Thunderbolts doled out nearly $46 million to 12 free agents, most on two-year contracts. Nine of those contracts were for $4 million or more; yet Cleveland managed to stay nearly $8 million under the salary cap.

Scarface132, Cleveland

Arizona and Smirt211 were not far behind, spending more than $30 million on seven free agents. LG Ronald Bocanegra hit the jackpot, getting $5,584,800 for one year. The Wranglers also gave a one-year deal for $5.1 million to WR James Dennis.

Ronald Bocanegra, Arizona (67)

The largest total money was to a punter (!), Jeff Castle signing with the Baltimore Stars for four years, $6.5 million. Other $6 million men were Hawaiians RT Joseph Villagomez (3 years, $6.22 million) and San Antonio kicker Ronald Hensley (5 years, $6.03 million).

The training camp sim runs Thursday, with midweek prep followed by Saturday's preseason opener.

Allocation Draft: Crunching the Numbers

The USFL/WFL allocation draft is (mercifully) over. Who set themselves up for immediate success and who set themselves up for future reward?
The table below is meant to be a conversation starter, not an indicator of anything. It contains only the average current scores (my weights) and the average maximum scores of each team. Fortunately for us, nobody had the top score in their division in both categories. In many cases, as you might expect, a low current average was coupled with a high maximum average ... and vice versa.
The highest average current scores were by Boston, Florida, Tampa Bay, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Birmingham.
The highest average maximum scores were by New Orleans, Portland, Honolulu, Cleveland and Arizona.
The New Orleans VooDoo was second in the NFC South in current and first in maximum. The Arizona Wranglers were second in the AFC West in both.

Big Guido, New Orleans VooDoo

"It was a combination of great planning by our player personnel department and luck in having good players fall to us," VooDoo coach Big Guido said.
Good luck to all in free agency and in preparing for Saturday's exhibition opener.

	AvgCur	AvgMax
American Conference
Pacific
Los Angeles	51.28	70.22
San Jose	49.35	68.91
Southern Calif.	45.67	67.61
Honolulu	42.07	71.54
West
Denver	48.24	66.41
Arizona	48	71.1
Oakland	42.46	69.2
Portland	41.61	72.09
Southwest
Memphis	46.85	68.33
San Antonio	43.37	67.33
Houston	39.76	66.5
Oklahoma	37.09	70.76
Midwest
Chicago	45.41	70.26
Michigan	45.15	68.09
Cleveland	42.78	71.54
Detroit	42.54	69.83
National Conference
Southeast
Florida	59.43	69.59
Tampa Bay	52.74	69.04
Jacksonville	51.57	70.39
Orlando	49.35	69.93
South
Birmingham	50.15	69.7
New Orleans	49.13	73.04
Georgia	47.02	69.46
Shreveport	43.48	69.57
Atlantic
Charlotte	46.22	66.52
Baltimore	46.07	70.59
Pittsburgh	40.85	71.07
Washington	39.04	67.7
East
Boston	66.28	69.72
New York	51.67	66.89
Philadelphia	51.26	67.43
New Jersey	35.5	70.13

Allocation Draft: Rounds 1-10 analysis

A quick analysis of the first 10 rounds of the USFL/WFL allocation draft shows a definite decision by most coaches to build for the future.

Eleven teams spent seven or more of their first 10 picks on younger, high-potential players. New Jersey and Oklahoma took youngsters in every round. Also deciding to go young were Washington, Portland, Oakland, New Orleans, Houston, Detroit, Cleveland, and Baltimore. The Southern California Sun, with the AI doing the picking, took seven youngsters in the first 10 rounds.

Only four teams took almost exclusively veterans with their selections: Boston, Florida, Tampa Bay, and Denver.

Boston (pdoug20) had a very interesting early draft. The Breakers decided on veterans from the start, taking eighth-year RB Nicholas Wingfield in the first round. Boston also was the first team to grab a kicker, taking Timothy Riley with the 20th pick in the ninth round.

RB Nicholas Wingfield, Boston

Portland went for special teams help early as well, taking punter Sam Savage with the seventh pick of the 10th round.

QB Madness Highlights Rounds 1-4

A shocking run on quarterbacks was the highlight of the first four rounds of the USFL/WFL Allocation Draft on Monday.

Ten QBs went among the first 42 picks, seven in the first round alone. The San Antonio Gunslingers took Pitt graduate Tony Smith with the No. 3 overall pick. Doug Fluty (Fluty, not Flutie) was snapped up by New Jersey with pick No. 5, and Washington followed with Joe Richardson at No. 6.

Doug Fluty (center) went to New Jersey with the No. 5 pick

QBs also were taken at Nos. 16, 25, 26, 27, 36, 38, and 42. This will provoke a discussion about whether the relative worth of QBs has increased in version 0.4.1. In the previous version, many owners did not view quarterbacks as significantly high-impact players, often going to battle with QBs with middle-of-the-road ratings. Perhaps this is a sign of change.

To no one's surprise, Tampa Bay made former Clemson strong safety Shawn Arzola the No. 1 overall pick. Arzola was a 100 rating and has only seven years experience and less than one percent inclination to retire any time soon. Eleven of his 12 ratings were 100, with only 90 strip ball preventing him from a perfect score.

Shawn Arzola, Tampa Bay

The Florida Blazers took former USC cornerback Barry Litchford with the No. 2 overall selection. Nine DBs were taken in the first round.

Rounds 4 through 8 of the 46-round draft took place Tuesday.

USFL/WFL: In The Beginning

Welcome to the USFL/WFL! This theme league for My Football Now is for those who love the game, but perhaps a bit more special to those of us old enough to reminisce about What Might Have Been, especially where the USFL is concerned.

Pernbronze, Portland

I started formulating the possibilities as soon as it was announced that user-created leagues would be allowed. I had loved the WFL as a kid and the USFL as a young man. I went to a couple games while in college and received many media guides by typing a letter (on a typewriter!) to the media offices of the member teams.

When the user-created leagues for MFN became official, I floated the idea in the league matchmaking forum to gain interest. The first coach to respond was Pernbronze (pictured here) (who bears a striking resemblance to former WFL and USFL coach Dick Coury). Because he was the first to volunteer, Pernbronze will be long remembered as one of this league's pioneers.

I hope to post regular content on this blog, but I wanted to get this first post up and get the ball rolling and then see where we go from here. Thanks for following the USFL/WFL.

Tampa Bay gets first pick

Tampa Bay gets the first pick in the USFL/WFL allocation draft, which begins at 8 a.m. ET Monday. Bandits head coach Steve Campton (pictured) said "We will take the best athlete available," during Sunday's pre-draft press conference.

Steve Campton (Tampa Bay)

The second pick goes to Florida (tribewriter), the third to San Antonio (ToroTex).

The draft continues through Saturday, followed by three rounds of late free agency.