1984 USFL/WFL Preview

Chad Ochocinco, WR, New Jersey

As the USFL/WFL enters its second decade, only three things are sure things—death, taxes, and the New Jersey Generals.

New Jersey has made four World Bowl appearances in the last five seasons, winning two and losing two. The most recent appearance was a 37-22 dismantling of the Denver Gold in World Bowl X. The defending champions haven't changed much, either. CB Kerry Justin retired and LG Everett Bowers, formerly of the Georgia Force, was the biggest name added to the roster.

So, let's go out on a limb and say the Generals and coach raidergreg69 are the favorite to win back-to-back championships, joining the Detroit Wheels and Memphis Showboats as the only teams to do so. But, in a league as competitive as this one, there will certainly be worthy opposition offered.

The Perennial Contenders

The Denver Gold had the league's best regular-season record (14-2) and AlexanDragon was voted Coach of the Year by his peers. Denver is still $68 million under the cap, but turned up its nose at the free agent market and will keep the same dance partners for 1985. The Houston Gamblers (13-3) won World Bowl IX, but now have their third head coach in three seasons (Cjfred68) and star RB Mark Lambert sustained a serious foot injury during the preseason. The Detroit Wheels (12-4) bounced back after missing the 1983 playoffs, claiming their third division title in four seasons. Many of Detroit's star players have retired or been shown the door, but the Wheels just keep on turning. The Jacksonville Bulls (12-4) will be gunning for their fourth consecutive Southeast Division crown. Seven players retired, but Jacksonville brought in veteran WR Michael Sonnenberg to help bolster a team that fell only 2 points shy of knocking off New Jersey in last year's playoffs.

On the Rise

Over the last four seasons, the Birmingham Stallions have improved from 3-13 to 6-10 to 9-7 to 13-3.  This may be the season where Birmingham vaults over that final hurdle and makes its first World Bowl appearance. The Memphis Showboats (10-6) ended the season on a five-game win streak under new head coach Kababmaster, including victories over division champions New Jersey and Los Angeles. The Chicago Blitz (11-5) will be seeking their third playoff spot in four seasons, but lost to Detroit three times in 1983. The Philadelphia Bell (8-7-1) have strung together four winning seasons in a row under coach Jaybo911 and always seem to stay within striking distance of New Jersey in the East Division.

Steady as She Goes

The Cleveland Thunderbolts (11-5) have made the playoffs six times in the last eight seasons despite playing in the brutal Midwest Division. Cleveland was not active during free agency, but left itself plenty of room to maneuver ($44 million) if it appears the window is open for the 'Bolts again. The Los Angeles Express (10-6) won the Pacific Division title and returned to the playoffs after a three-year absence. LAX lured WR-turned-RB Chuck Mayfield away from Oklahoma during free agency to help the climb back into the World Bowl contender bracket. The New Orleans VooDoo (12-4) won the South Division last year, but veteran head coach greyghost1225 left after nine seasons to take on a major rebuilding project with the Georgia Force. Rookie head coach shavar still has plenty of weapons at his disposal, including WR James Sheckler, the league's offensive MVP last season. The Honolulu Hawaiians (9-7) had won three consecutive Pacific Division crowns before sitting out the playoffs last season. Honolulu does have MLB Douglas Oneal, the league's defensive MVP in 1983, but its defense ranked 31st in a 32-team league in yardage allowed.

At the Crossroads

The Portland Storm (8-8) have never had a losing record, but age is finally starting to catch up with them—25 players on the current Portland roster have 10 or more years of pro experience. The Arizona Wranglers were 7-9 last season, but at least coach vcr5150 knows what to do about it—Arizona was No. 8 in the league in total offense, No. 26 in total defense. The Michigan Panthers (7-9) won the Midwest Division two seasons ago, then fell victim to a brutal schedule in 1983. The Panthers do play both Denver and New Jersey this season, but their out-of-division slate is otherwise much more forgiving. The New York Stars (6-10), like Arizona, also know exactly where they need to go—New York was No. 2 in total defense and No. 26 in total offense.

The (Sort Of) Great Atlantic

The Atlantic Division came perilously close to being a four-way tie last season. The Washington Federals and Pittsburgh Maulers were 9-7, the Baltimore Stars and Charlotte Hornets 8-8. Baltimore made the most offseason noise, signing DT Richard Wooden away from Georgia and trading for rookie QB Joseph Jones. Charlotte reached .500 for the first time in franchise history in 1983. The Maulers are the only team from this division to have played in a title game, falling to Oakland in World Bowl II.

So Close and Yet So Far

The Southern California Sun had the best record in franchise history last season (6-10) and have a new coach in Offensive Taco to steer the ship. The Oklahoma Outlaws (5-10-1) will be in their first full season under CoachNorm. The Florida Blazers (6-10) could be in for their first .500 record since 1974, the league's first season. The Orlando Renegades (5-11) and Tampa Bay Bandits (4-12) finished just behind Florida in the Southeast Division standings, but Tampa Bay has started the Melvin Driggers area, the No. 1 overall draft pick and future star QB.

Hope Springs Eternal

The Georgia Force (1-15) are ready to start climbing the ladder until new head coach greyghost1225. The San Jose SaberCats (4-12), Oakland Invaders (5-11), San Antonio Gunslingers (3-13), Shreveport Steamer (4-12), and Boston Breakers (2-14) all showed signs of life last season, but are still trying to achieve that degree of consistent performance.

Heckman, Brooks, Murtagh join Hall of Fame

Dusty Heckman

Wide receiver Dusty Heckman, the league's all-time leader in receiving yardage and touchdowns, joins running back Jason Brooks and offensive lineman Earl Murtagh as new members of the USFL/WFL Hall of Fame.

The three additions bring to eight the total number of players enshrined.

Heckman played eight seasons for the Oklahoma Outlaws, one each with the San Jose SaberCats and Portland Storm. He ranks first in receiving yardage (13,471), first in TDs (97) and sixth in catches (742). He averaged 18.2 yards per reception and was named All-Pro twice.

Jason Brooks

Brooks spent eight of his nine seasons with the Oakland Invaders, retiring as the No. 2 rusher in USFL/WFL history (9.116 yards). He accumulated nearly 13,000 total yards and 62 TDs, averaging 5.1 yards per carry.

Murtagh was one of the league's most durable and effective linemen for 10 seasons with Birmingham (5), NY Stars (3), and Shreveport (2). He allowed two sacks or fewer in seven of his 10 seasons and was named All-Pro three times.

Earl Murtagh

Middle linebacker Travis Curcio gained 74 percent of the votes cast, one percent shy of the 75 percent needed for automatic induction. He is among 16 players who will reappear on the 1985 ballot. Seventeen nominees got less than 25 percent of the votes and will be dropped from the ballot.

Those returning include Curcio, San Antonio WR Marshall Gibson, Arizona DB Albert Welsh, Southern California MLB James Kelley, Los Angeles QB Gene Nowlin, Boston OL Charles Bukowski, Honolulu DB Joseph Daughtry, New Jersey DB Kerry Justin, Chicago QB Daniel McKee, Arizona RB/WR Curtis Scott, Honolulu DB Robert Gutierrez, Memphis WR Gerard Hall, Orlando WR Robert Zapata, Georgia DB Richard Glasgow, Portland P Sam Savage, and Shreveport MLB John Cintron.
Vote total above 25 percent (click to enlarge):

1984 Draft: greyghost's Best Picks

Corey Garcia, OL, Georgia Force

I love it when our coaches help provide content for the league blog. It gives everyone a different perspective (other than mine) and demonstrates how our coaches are engaged in our league.

Today, Georgia Force head coach greyghost1225 has filed a story on his best picks from the 1984 draft.

----------

These selections are blue light specials. They are the impact bargains for the positions they were picked post training camp and could make a quick contribution.

These rankings are determined by rankings per position and the spot in which they were taken, based off my weights. They don’t take into account position changes or how the player will be used.

QB
4-12 Sidney Maggard- Southern California Sun
Potential 80/T.C. +4

RB (players listed as FB not included)
6-24, Wilbert Knowles, Chicago Blitz
Potential 76/T.C. +7

6-3, Noel Bray, San Antonio Gunslingers
Potential 74/T.C. +3

WR
3-12, Damien Bierman, New York Stars
Potential 82/T.C. +5

4-20, Kenny Heasley, Georgia Force
Potential 79/T.C +8

TE
None

OL
4-11, Pete Popadopolous, New York Stars
Potential 84/T.C. +4

4-17, Juan Miller, Portland Storm
Potential 82/T.C. +9

5-1, Cory Garcia, Georgia Force
Potential 82/T.C. +10

DL
4-26, William Good, Detroit Wheels
Potential 74/+7

LB
4-31, John Jones, Denver Gold
Potential 72/T.C. +7

DB
4-1, Kenneth Williams, Portland Storm
Potential 73/T.C. +7

3-14, James Peters, Arizona Wranglers
Potential 67/ T.C. +4

The USFL/WFL's Highest-Paid Players

Franklin Thompson, LG, New Orleans (77)

When the New Orleans VooDoo signed LG Franklin Thompson to a four-year contract with an annual value of $15.2 million, it provoked me to begin thinking about the salary structure of USFL teams and which players would be the highest-paid in our league.

What follows is a list of the five highest-paid players at each position, based on the Cap Cost column on the rosters page, entering the 1985 training camp.

There are some caveats, of course.

There are some rookies on this list where the team owner has not yet had time to renegotiate their first contracts, so their numbers will almost certainly go down in the future. There are also big contracts that are not the fault of the current owner, including the highest-paid player in the league, Arizona Wranglers QB Jerry Montalvo ($18.18 million). He was signed by the team's previous owner.

New Orleans has seven players on this list, which means we all need to pitch in and help shavar, the team's rookie owner, figure out how to renegotiate contracts and manage cap space.

The VooDoo also have the highest-paid players at three positions, tied for the most with the Los Angeles Express and San Jose SaberCats. The Oakland Invaders, oddly, have two of the league's three highest-paid punters on their roster.

The only team with no players on this list is the Honolulu Hawaiians. Team owner trslick has certainly getting the most bang for his buck, as the Hawaiians had won three consecutive division titles before falling to 9-7 last season.

Salary figures are in millions of dollars, rounded off two places.

Quarterback
Jerry Montalvo, ARZ, 18.18
Chester Dougherty, CHI, 17.76
Michael Temples, DET, 14.00
Elwood Savage, ORL, 12.96
Les Lacy, OAK, 10.96

Running Back
Chuck Mayfield, LAX, 11.03
Richard Brown, GAF, 6.99
Mark Lambert, HOU, 6.63
Desmond Kirkland, SJS, 6.58
Thomas Earl Petty, STO, 6.34

Fullback
Marcus Jordan, NOV, 5.20
Mark Jackson, BOS, 4.75
Joshua Jones, NYS, 4.57
Joel Salazar, JAX, 3.51
William Beaubien, CHA, 3.40

Left Tackle
Everett Bowers, NJG, 6.58
Jimmy Rice, MEM, 6.39
Brian Woodbury, SJS, 6.38
Shannon Davenport, NYS, 6.31
Kenneth Nelson, ORL, 6.13

Left Guard
Franklin Thompson, NOV, 15.20
Kenneth Kurtz, ARZ, 12.96
Henry Leishman, SHR, 6.25
Patrick Blue, MIC, 6.21
Andrew Manning, CHI, 5.79

Center
Gaston Gross, ARZ, 8.13
Jack Simmonds, GAF, 6.40
Thomas Bellanger, POR, 5.96
Jose Miller, MIC, 5.66
Andre the Giant, DEN, 5.39

Right Guard
Donald Thompson, SJS, 6.60
Rudolph Guerrero, NOV, 6.49
Kevin Lucas, PHI, 5.66
Antonio Preston, HOU, 5.61
Jeffrey Hankins, BIR, 5.25

Right Tackle
Richard Mosley, SJS, 12.21
Jonathan Nash, BLT, 6.50
Rodney Towell, BIR, 6.36
William Dew, MIC, 6.35
Ellis Miller, ORL, 6.06

Tight End
Herbert Schuler, SJS, 6.28
Stephen Hicks, POR, 6.20
William Fey, ARZ, 6.11
Mario Burton, BIR, 6.06
Burt Johnson, TAM, 4.74

Wide Receiver
Quincy White, LAX, 13.08
Joseph Clark, BOS, 10.52
Lee Rice, BIR, 9.49
Michael Sonnenberg, JAX, 8.00
Brian Darden, BLT, 7.99

Kicker
Alan Grossi, SCS, 2.23
Ronald Hensley, ARZ, 2.13
Matthew Eno, CHI, 2.11
Gary Spence, CLE, 2.09
Anthony Schaefer, SJS, 2.07

Punter
Glenn Cannon, OAK, 2.52
Gerald Sherry, GAF, 2.42
Cody Carlin, OAK, 2.08
Julius Horowitz, MIC, 1.87
Dan Carr, CLE, 1.85

Left Defensive End
Ernest Huggins, NJG, 10.08
Joseph Gerald, BIR, 6.74
Shawn Hicks, MEM, 6.64
Miguel Gross, NOV, 6.60
Reid Davis, WAS, 6.58

Defensive Tackle
Richard Wooden, BLT, 10.65
John Biggs, FLA, 9.23
Raphael Alvarez, JAX, 8.70
Arthur Powell, NOV, 7.70
Bryan Johnson, PIT, 7.20

Right Defensive End
Daryl Barney, LAX, 11.34
Matthew McGinley, SHR, 11.18
Richard Kirkwood, BOS, 10.75
Charlie Lee, ARZ, 10.08
Albert Cruz, OKL, 8.79

Weak Side Linebacker
Gordon Shive, BOS, 8.39
Indiana Jones, NJG, 7.92
Troy Irwin, LAX, 6.87
James Barger, FLA, 6.43
Thomas Allums, CHA, 6.15

Middle Linebacker
Michael McIntire, MIC, 7.47
William Bennett, ORL, 7.31
Fernando Stone, CHA, 7.16
Stephen Ray Vaughan, STO, 6.69
Thodore Blanco, SHR, 6.55

Strong Side Linebacker
Bruce Farias, NOV, 10.20
Gary Nelson, OAK, 6.50
Jose Laliberta, ORL, 6.45
John Hernandez, PHI, 5.78
Mark Stetler, JAX, 5.48

Cornerback
John Borkowski, POR, 16.66
David Peralta, HOU, 15.48
Carlos Turner, BIR, 8.77
Charles Bowles, BOS, 8.03
Larry Ackman, NOV, 7.29

Free Safety
James Bolden, ORL, 7.79
Ryan Tennison, FLA, 6.26
Jaco Pastorius, STO, 6.20
Christopher McGee, NYS, 5.53
Richmond Flowers, SHR, 5.35

Strong Safety
Jeff Melton, POR, 11.82
Etienne Boulay, DEN, 6.29
Paul Johnson, CHA, 6.12
James Wright, CLE, 6.07
Prince Stone, OKL, 5.98

1984 Offseason Roundup

Melvin Driggers, QB, Tampa Bay Bandits

 A look at the activities between the end of the 1983 season and the beginning of the 1984 season as the USFL/WFL enters it second decade. We remain the second-longest continuously active user-created league in MFN.

Draft

A high-ceiling, low-volatility QB in the drat happens, well, almost never. So it came as no shock when the Tampa Bay Bandits took Arizona State QB Melvin Driggers with the first pick in the 1984 draft.

Driggers has 42 vol and, barring a training camp disaster, can look forward to 100 ratings in accuracy, field of vision, and looking off defenses. He already has 96 intelligence. Fourth-year QB Joe Martin has a career 37.65 QBR in two seasons as Tampa Bay's backup, so Driggers has a clear path to a starting role.

The Bandits acquired the first pick from the Georgia Force, sending them the No. 4 pick (LDE Shawn Hicks) as well as future second- and third-round selections.

Boston nabbed Notre Dame CB Willie Lawhorn with the second pick. Lawhorn's ratings are potentially great, but his 80 volatility scared off everyone but the Breakers.

San Antonio went with a much more sure thing at No. 3, picking Penn State MLB Stephen Ray Vaughan. With only a 20 vol and many potential ratings in the 100 range, Vaughan is likely to anchor the Gunslingers defense for many seasons to come.

The draft concludes Monday. The first preseason games take place a week later.

Free Agency

Michael Sonnenberg, WR, DEN/JAX

• WR Michael Sonnenberg, previously a star for nine seasons with Denver, signed with Jacksonville. The 10th-year pro accounted for more than 9,300 yards and 76 TDs with the Gold, including a memorable 1976 season (2,111 yards, 18 TDs). The Bulls offered him a one-year deal for $8 million.
• DT Nathan Branch, a mainstay of the Memphis Showboats defense for eight seasons, signed with Shreveport. Branch spent the last two seasons in Denver.
• WR Randy Christmas signed with Memphis. He caught 45 TD passes during his first three pro seasons with the Baltimore Stars and is entering his 11th season.
• Jacksonville coach hectorg93 nominated running back William Guerro for All-Pro honors last season, but allowed him to walk away via free agency after the season ended. Guerro signed with the Memphis Showboats, with whom he had spent three seasons before going to the Bulls.
• WR Chuck Mayfield fielded offers from 13 teams before settling on a six-year, $68.4-million pact with the Los Angeles Express, who immediately switched him to RB. Mayfield averaged 15 yards per reception during his four seasons with the Oklahoma Outlaws.
• Twelve teams made offers to former Boston LG Franklin Thompson before he went to New Orleans for four years and $62 million. The eighth-year pro has solid ratings (86 strength, 91 run block, 82 pass block), but the $15.5-million per season average annual value may be the highest for an offensive lineman in league history.