Offseason News: Free Agency

There were a lot of players changing teams, more so than years past. Starting things off is Montreal grabbing the top safety in Chester George who will be taking over the starting spot on the back end. The other top safety was Victor Webb who was looking for a possible starting spot, but there were not many spots available. Webb ultimately ends up in Boston to back up Michael O’Brien. DB Guy Logan headed just down the road to Montreal and joined the Rouge, while Ottawa replaced him with former Hawk DB Micheal Conner. 

The Quarterbacks all ended up in a new city as well. Evan Morrow decided to join the Royals and backup Jean Matieau, while his former Tigers teammate Micheal Kramer ended up in Hartford and will be in a battle for the starting job with QB Andrew Sexton. Andrew Glover surprised many in joining the Rouge, but it could give him a future opportunity with Oliver Callahan’s age becoming a factor. Losing Andrew Glover, the Blue Wings ended up signing the former Rouge QB Maurice Norris to backup Angelo Medina.  

While Buffalo lost Glover, they were able to maintain LB Jaden Phelps and keep the middle of the defense intact. The other surprise was RB Ellis Love joining the Royals considering the team had just drafted Alexei Volkov, but the Royals are willing to try a 2-man system to help develop Volkov.  

Last edited by Wallflower (4/19/2020 10:41 pm)

Rugrat wrote:

I'm new to this site so i'm a little late to the party but so far my favorite team is either Ottawa or Buffalo

Welcome aboard!  Never too late, both teams are looking like they will have pretty good seasons.

Dan O'Mac wrote:

2 - Ottawa Royals (via Toronto) - RB Alexei Volkov - New York City, NY

Was that name inspired by Timothy Dalton's character on the show Chuck?

Nope, just thought it'd be fun to make a Russian running back who was a bit of a lone wolf, so might as well go full on with Volkov which literally means Wolf

Darknes wrote:

Dan O'Mac wrote:

2 - Ottawa Royals (via Toronto) - RB Alexei Volkov - New York City, NY

Was that name inspired by Timothy Dalton's character on the show Chuck?

Nope, just thought it'd be fun to make a Russian running back who was a bit of a lone wolf, so might as well go full on with Volkov which literally means Wolf

Definitely one of my favourite names that were submitted and knowing this makes it even better. 

Last edited by Wallflower (4/20/2020 4:29 pm)

1952 Season Preview - Power Rankings

1 - Montreal Rouge 
Won McCallister Cup in 1951
Record: 9-0-1
The Rouge are still the top team heading into the 1952 season. You can’t really knock an unbeaten team of the top just through the offseason, but there is some reason to be skeptical of the Rouge. The team didn’t change a whole lot but some of the team’s depth left for other teams like LB Silas Haynes and OL Woodrow Bridges. Alongside the losses the team is getting older and players like LB Quinton Brewer, DL Napoléon Chevalier, QB Oliver Callahan, and many of their OL. However, it may not affect them much this year as they still hold the league's best defense and have their best receiving core since joining the NAAF led by returning WR John Rivera. Their success will be all but guaranteed if RB Élisée Marchal maintains his MVP caliber of play and leads the Rouge back to the top.  

Biggest Question: Can they maintain the high level of play from last season? 
Additions:
S Chester George (BOS)
QB Andrew Glover (BUF)
DB Guy Logan (OTT) 

2 - Boston Independents
Lost in McCallister Cup
Record: 8-2
The fact that Boston maintained their top-notch play throughout the 1951 season despite missing star RB Joel Bonner, shows their true ability. The Independents maintained a lot of their core players and will be a threat to reclaim the Cup. The 1952 season may also be the last for long-time head coach Peter McDuffin who is 67 this year. With that Boston is focusing on trying to keep together a winning team. With keeping most of their veterans they added to the depth with several signings. DB Trevor Morrow and S Victor Webb will help keep the defense in top shape while WR Ray Landry and Ol Woodrow Bridges will help the offense. They also have rookie TE Richard Stewart who will hopefully boost a fairly weak TE position. 

Biggest Question: Is the age going to start to show more or will they return to the top of the NAAF? 
Additions:
DB Trevor Morrow (HAR)
WR Ray Landry (BUF)
TE Richard Stewart (Draft) 

3 - Buffalo Blue Wings
Lost in Semi-Finals
Record: 6-4
The Blue Wings took a major stride last season making the playoffs for the first time. They are expected to do the same this season, especially with the added bonus of being the host for the championship game. QB Angelo Medina will hopefully start to truly take over games alongside RB Arthur Conner. Consistency will also be the key for Buffalo in a very tough division. They had started 5-1 last season but fell to 1-3 over the last 4 games. If they want to maintain their playoff spot they will have to be better with the two teams behind them. Their defense will get a boost this season with the acquisition of LB Ben McCray from Hartford, and rookie S Fraizer Brooks on the back end. Those two combined with the solid secondary should only make the Blue Wings a tougher team to play.  

Biggest Question: Can the Blue Wings take the next step and dethrone the Rouge? 
Additions:
LB Ben McCray (HAR)
S Fraizer Brooks (Draft)
OL Claude Montgomery (MTL) 

4 - Ottawa Royals
Missed the Playoffs
Record: 4-4-2
The Royals are in a small transition as they move to a new QB and RB. Jean Matieau has been with the Royals in every season since the team joined the NAAF but it will be his time to shine finally with Duane Logan being moved at the draft. In his small number of appearances, Matieau has shown a great ability to move the ball with smart decisions and accuracy. The transition should be pretty simple considering the time Matieau has spent with the Royals. However, the backfield may be a different story with two brand new backs. The 2nd overall draft pick RB Alexei Volkov will likely take the most snaps and use his speed to help the Royals while veteran RB Ellis Love will hopefully add some stability if Volkov struggles early on. They were also able to add on the defense with DL Edgar Olsen and DB Michael Conner and re-signed LB Leo Davenport who they picked up via trade last season. The Royals still could be a major bust if all the new pieces don’t mesh well. 

Biggest Question: Did they pick the right guy at QB? 
Additions:
RB Alexei Volkov (Draft)
DB Michael Conner (HAR)
RB Ellis Love (HAR) 

5 - Toronto Tigers
Missed the Playoffs
Record: 2-8
The Tigers enter the 1952 season as the dark horse. They were able to make major improvements during the offseason to move their development process faster along. The big move at the draft will be the key to the Tigers season. QB Duane Logan will be starting for a new team for the first time in his career. He will have RB Laurent Brazeau to lead the way on the ground and a young budding star in WR Wilbert Benjamin. The other component in the trade was the fact that they were able to trade down and still grab LB Aengus Lynch. Lynch should be the center block of a defense that has already got a strong secondary led by DBs Louie White and Paul Gregory. They were also able to add veteran and former All-Star DL Timothy Wiley to help solidify that front line. Brazeau is excited to finally have the help on offense with Logan and will be ready to give Toronto a shot at the playoffs. The only issue is the three teams in their way all are just as good or better and it may be a tough road ahead. 

Biggest Question: Can they keep up with the big three in the North? 
Additions:
QB Duane Logan (OTT)
LB Aengus Lynch (Draft)
DL Timothy Wiley (OTT) 

6 - Providence Gold Stars
Lost in Semi-Finals
Record: 5-4-1
It is a bit of a surprise to see the Gold Stars so far down the list to start the season but they are coming off of one of the most disappointing playoff games in the history of the sport. The team made some adjustments with the firing of head coach Gilbert Dale. They hope the new leadership from new head coach Perry Powell will lead the team to more stability throughout the season. Powell was the OC for the Gold Stars last season and hopes his offensive adjustments will bring Providence to a more powerful offensive attack. The only thing was Providence didn’t add too much this offseason. This is concerning based on the last two season performances. The good news is the Gold Stars have one of the best-balanced rosters in the league and they have lots of young talent still reaching their potential on the defensive side of the ball. Plus they were able to add some depth as well with DL Harvey Franklin from Worcester and S Matin Bass from Montreal. On offense, WR Peter Brooks will hopefully continue his excellent play from last season in combination with RB Gene Fischer returning to top form, and bring the Gold Star back to a competitive team and finally top the Independents. 

Biggest Question: Can they finally beat Boston?  
Additions:
DL Harvey Franklin (WOR)
S Martin Bass (MTL)
RB Clayton Owen (BOS) 

7 - Worcester Athletics
Missed the Playoffs
Record: 1-9
The Athletics are far from being a competitive team but the plethora of rookies will make them an exciting team to watch this season. QB Riley Keirnan will be taking over the starting QB spot. His arm will hopefully bring some explosiveness to the offense and spring some of the top youngsters on in the receiving position downfield. RB Jacque Montier will enter his second season as a starter in the backfield and will hopefully take another step forward. The player to watch will be first overall pick LB Scotty Williams, who is now the centerpiece of the defense. Williams could be a game-changing player and the Athletics are hopeful that he will be an immediate impact on the defense. They also will have S Shawn Jensen who had fallen to the 3rd round and has the potential to be as good as the rest of the guys from the first round. 

Biggest Question: How will the rookies fare in primary roles early on? 
Additions:
LB Scotty Williams (Draft)
QB Riley Kiernan (Draft)
S Shawn Jensen (Draft) 

8 - Hartford Hawks
Missed the Playoffs
Record: 3-7
The Hawks didn’t have as bad of a season as many would’ve thought last season, having given up many of their top players in trades. Unfortunately, this season may prove to be worse after the team lost many of their veterans to free agency. RB Ellis Love, DBs Trevor Morrow and Michael Conner, and QB Maurice Norris is only the start of the list. They will be relying heavily on DL Sean Bowen to bring the defense, especially with a completely new DB core. 3rd overall pick DB Slay Mitchel will headline that group alongside Eugene Christensen who came from Montreal in the Rivera trade and 2nd round pick Will Atkinson. The Hawks did miss out on Alexei Volkov and grabbed RB Johnnie Stafford instead who will take over the starting role for the first season. The quarterback position will be the one to watch with Andrew Sexton being the likely starter entering his second season. Sexton wasn’t able to win a game in any of the starts he made last season, but there are hopes that he will show some improvement. If not, QB Michael Kramer will be the other option. The former Tiger has had some experience back in 1949 but was never able to get comfortable, he hopes for an opportunity in Hartford.  

Biggest Question: Can the youth make up for the lost veterans? 
Additions:
DB Slay Mitchell (Draft)
RB Johnnie Stafford (Draft) 
QB Michael Kramer (TOR) 

Week 1 Games
BUF @ MTL
BOS @ OTT
TOR @ WOR
​HAR @ PRO

Last edited by Wallflower (4/20/2020 8:27 pm)