AFL Preseason Coaches' Poll

The AFL announced the 2012 Preseason Coaches' Poll today just days away from the first regular season contest of the league's 25th anniversary season. The league runners-up from last season, the Arizona Rattlers, took the top spot despite having the third most first place votes. Maintaining a roster that helped lead the Rattlers to an AFL best 16-2 mark last season is the main reason for their preseason expectations. They still have last season's MVP in QB Nick Davila, but being that the Soul signed away the Rattlers two best offensive lineman from last year protection may be an issue for a club ranked as one of the best in 2011.

The San Jose SaberCats received the most first place votes with 10 and were placed second on the list due to QB Mark Grieb's record breaking 2011 campaign. He threw for 5,312 yards last season, the most in AFL history, but only produced 7 wins for the SaberCats last season. An improved defense looks to be the ticket to the SaberCats qualifying for postseason play in 2012.

The Philadelphia Soul landed third on the list with 9 first place votes after such an eventful off-season. The additions of QB Dan Raudabaugh, WR Tiger Jones, DB Micheaux Robinson, LB Dusty Bear, OL Devin Clark, OL Brennan Carvalho, WR/KR Jeff Hughley, DB Rayshaun Kizer and countless others have basically insured a vast improvement from last year's 6-12 season. A proven new head coach in Doug Plank along with rejuvenated expectations makes the Soul one of the more interesting teams to watch in 2012.

Here's the entire list:

PRESEASON COACHES’ POLL

RK	Team (1st place votes)	W-L	Pts	Last Season
1	Arizona Rattlers (8)	0-0	142	16-2
2	San Jose SaberCats (10)	0-0	125	7-11
3	Philadelphia Soul (9)	0-0	113	6-12
4	Chicago Rush (6)	0-0	90	13-5
5	Orlando Predators (5)	0-0	66	11-7
6	San Antonio Talons (3)	0-0	66	(8-10)
7	Jacksonville Sharks (7)	0-0	65	14-4
8	Utah Blaze	0-0	51	9-9
9	Spokane Shock	0-0	48	9-9
10	Georgia Force	0-0	45	11-7

Some other notables on the list are 2011's ArenaBowl champion Jacksonville Sharks who landed 7th on the list due to the departure of legendary QB Aaron Garcia to the San Antonio Talons this off-season. Along with other major pieces such as DB Micheaux Robinson and WR/KR Jeff Hughley who both signed with the Soul, the team is missing key components to their championship roster of last year.

The Spokane Shock since debuting in the AF2 in 2006 has never not qualified for postseason play and has won 2 ArenaCups and 1 ArenaBowl in just six seasons of existence. A combined 78-20 record in the regular season, the Shock has also never experienced a losing season after sneaking in the 2011 playoffs with a 9-9 record. That pedigree for winning is something to not overlook as the season gets underway.

The Utah Blaze with MVP candidate QB Toomy Grady is another team that hasn't had much success as an organization such far, but seem to be on the cusp of becoming one of the better teams in the league. The Blaze in their five seasons with the AFL has accumulated three postseason births, but are still searching for the team's first above .500 season in franchise history.

AFL Players Strike?

A report has stated that the players may go on strike just days before the AFL is set to begin on Friday in Orlando. The Orlando Predators are hosting the Pittsburgh Power Friday night, but now the nationally broadcast match-up might be celebrating replacement players rather than the league's 25th anniversary.

Apparently Ivan F. Soto, the Executive Director of the AFL players' union, has been trying for eight months to renegotiate terms with the commissioner of the AFL to no avail. Unless significant progress is made within the next 48 hours, Soto states, he doesn't see the game taking place on Friday night. The players rightfully so want to make more than $400 a game before taxes and Soto puts a 10% chance that the game takes place.

"We've tried to be fair. The players even gave up healthcare in their recent contract. I have personally guaranteed that the owners collectively would not lose money on my proposal. We would not put them in that position. There is no deadline to reach an agreement. We want the league to have enough time to prepare for the game Friday night. We haven't called for a strike, just yet."


 "The league has tried some scare tactics by threatening to remove players from team housing. You can't do that. I've notified the mayor (of Orlando) and city authorities to let them know those threats have taken place. The commissioner used those words in the past, warning players they would be removed from housing and replaced permanently. We have a formal federal labor complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. We are confident we will prevail on our unfair labor practice complaints."


This would certainly put a damper on a season full of expectations for not just the Philadelphia Soul, but the AFL as well. Surrounding a year supposedly focused on progressing and celebration with a strike won't help the league's image all that much. Too many variables exist for this matter to be solved within days of the regular season. If replacement players are the "quick fix" to this issue, how can a league and its teams fill their rosters before any games are possibly canceled quickly and proficiently enough to deliver the same quality product to its customers? I just don't see it happening and canceling/postponing games would just be traumatic for the league.

More details to come as they come to surface...

Monday, March 5th Roster Moves

Assigned:
OL Kevin Leary
DB Keon Perry

Yesterday the Soul were assigned two players, one being a rookie out of West Chester State and the other is probably familiar to some Soul fans.

Not much is known about Kevin Leary as of yet being that he's just a rookie, but to me the addition just looks like adding another camp body for the home stretch. We'll see if he impresses enough with just four days remaining for the Soul at training camp.

Keon Perry was assigned to the Soul back on October 14th of last year, but didn't stick too long with the team as the Soul reassigned him exactly two months later. Perry latched on with the Cleveland Gladiators after leaving the Soul, but was reassigned yet again this past Saturday. He was released among the others who didn't make the Gladiators final cut after training camp came to a close. The Soul scooped him up two days later to add more depth to an already strong defensive back position.

Perry played under the Soul's new Offensive Coordinator Clint Dolezel in Dallas last season. An injury hampered his production after such a promising first five games. Perry started in the Vigilantes first five games, missed the next six due to injury and then played in the team's last seven games starting just three of them. Overall Perry collected 45 total tackles (36 solo and 18 assisted) along with 15 pass break-ups and 2 interceptions. Coming off a very productive rookie campaign despite the injury, Perry has the talent to make this football team, but he might become a victim of the numbers game. Like Leary, Perry will need to show this coaching staff something quick with so little time remaining.

Soul Back to Work

After taking a day off from training camp, the Soul have just five more days remaining before they have to cut their roster down to just 24 players. Being that the Soul and their Week 1 opponent, the New Orleans VooDoo, were the last two teams to begin camp they still have time to figure their roster out. Other teams have already finished camp and cut their roster down to the mandatory number. So I thought I'd give you the number of players at each position some of the other teams have kept to give you a better idea of the direction the Soul might go regarding their own personnel.

Tampa Bay Storm:
QB: 2
WR: 4
WR/KR: 1
OL: 4
OL/DL: 1
K: 1
FB/LB: 1
FB/DL: 1
DL: 5
DB: 4

Spokane Shock

QB: 2

WR: 5

OL: 4

K: 1

FB: 1

LB: 2

DL: 5

DB: 4

It's difficult to completely track every player by position because each website lists players as having one position or two in some cases. The Utah Blaze and San Jose SaberCats have wrapped up training camp as well, but their websites show 25 active players which is one more than they should have so I didn't think including them was wise. But here you see two teams that share the same basic characteristics disregarding double positions. So I comprised this as the basic layout for an arena football roster considering "true" positions only:

QB: 2

FB: 1

WR: 5

OL: 4

DL: 5

LB: 2

DB: 4

K: 1

Follow this layout if you're trying to figure out what players the Soul will keep around after training camp ends. It's a difficult task, but you'll gain a pretty good idea at least when keeping this layout in mind. This is where having two positions comes in handy because a team can add virtually more depth with fewer players.

March 3rd/4th Roster Moves

Saturday, March 3rd


Transferred from PUP to Injured Reserve:
OL Devin Clark

Reassigned:
DB Jesse Cooper
DB Drew Gardner
QB EJ Nemeth

Placed on League Suspension:
DL Matt Hoffman

Sunday, March 4th


Placed on League Suspension:

DB Jesse Cooper
DB Drew Gardner
QB EJ Nemeth

• In what seems to be a trend for the Soul, they are apparently suspending players the day after reassigning them. The four guys are young with only Garner having any kind of arena football experience after playing for the Soul in 2011. The other three are would be rookies to the game are still technically hanging around the team for depth reasons.  

Day Off

With the Soul taking their only day off from training camp today, it would be an injustice for me to do the same. The Soul's first regular season contest in 2012 is only two weeks away from battling the VooDoo in New Orleans on March, 18th. Despite the VooDoo only collecting three wins last season (the Soul had six remember), they seem to be getting off to a pretty good start in 2012.

Yesterday the VooDoo defeated the ArenaBowl champion Jacksonville Sharks 49-28 away from Bourbon Street in a scrimmage. Yes it's only a scrimmage and the Sharks are no where near the level of talent that they had last season thanks in large part to the departures of legendary signal caller Aaron Garcia (to San Antonio Talons), leading receiver Jomo Wilson (to San Antonio Talons), top return man Jeff Hughley (to Philadelphia Soul) and First Team All-Arena DB Micheaux Robinson (to Philadelphia Soul).

The Sharks now have former Florida Gator national championship quarterback Chris Leak battling with Omar Jacobs who backed up Garcia last season for the starting QB gig. The VooDoo showed their improvement in yesterday's game as their defense allowed only one second half touchdown and scored the final 28 points in the game to win it. The VooDoo didn't commit any turnovers and scored two special teams touchdowns (a 58-yard kick-off return and a net recovery) on route to victory.

The Soul need to keep focus because of the VooDoo's impressive scrimmage performance and shouldn't sleep on the VooDoo especially on the road to start the season. With the amount of championship hype this Soul team has garnered, it would be easy to look past New Orleans, but given that the VooDoo didn't commit any turnovers and the Sharks committed three, the Soul need to be just as polished as the VooDoo in order to prove their "top dog" mentality.

LB Battle

The Soul have six linebackers currently in camp, three of them were on the Soul's roster last season. It's a lively group that looks to cement the defense with high motors. Current reports are saying that the line-backing group has been great so far in camp; I don't doubt it either.

Brandon Perkins, Melik Brown and Jerome Hayes all played for the Soul last season with Perkins performing the best by leading all linebackers on the team with 51.5 total tackles (42 solo and 19 assisted) and 5.5 sacks. The four-year veteran was also second on the team in sacks and tackles-for-loss (8.5) after playing and starting in 17 games last season for the Soul. Perkins looks to lead the corps again in 2012, but he'll be accompanied by some other great talents.

Hayes appeared in 15 games last season starting in 9 of those contests to prove his worth on the squad. He had 21 total tackles (16 solo and 10 assisted) along with 3 tackles-for-loss, 1 sack and 1 interception. Hayes caught on later in the season starting in 8 of the Soul's last 10 games; his best game came against the Cleveland Gladiators in the Soul's first 2011 match-up with the division rival as he racked up 5 total tackles (4 solo and 2 assisted) while recording a sack. He has proven his worth after just one season in the AFL and could very much help this team.

Brown only appeared in one game last season, but he made his presence felt by notching 3.5 total tackles (3 solo and 1 assisted) while recording a sack against the Gladiators in the second to last game of 2011. Given the opportunity to play more minutes Brown could very well surprise some people after being scarcely utilized in year one.

One of the bigger names to join the Soul this off-season was Joe Goosby of the Dallas Vigilantes. Goosby played and started in the Vigilantes first nine games last season and didn't appear again until the team's playoff game against the Chicago Rush due to injury. Despite playing just half a season, Goosby recorded 51 total tackles (43 solo and 16 assisted), 1 interception and 3 pass break-ups. He trailed Perkins by half a tackle last season after playing in eight fewer contests. Goosby has the potential to become the face of the line-backing core and it should be fun to watch those two battle for the top spot.

Fellow Vigilante teammate Dusty Bear also joined the Soul this off-season and brings that same kind of big play-making along with him. In 2010 he split time with the Tampa Bay Storm and the Alabama Vipers where he notched 20.5 total tackles (15 solo and 11 assisted) along with 2.5 sacks. He broke out in 2011 while in Dallas playing in 16 and starting 12 of those games for the Vigilantes. He instantly became one of the best pass rushers in the league after collecting 11 sacks and 43.5 total tackles (34 solo and 19 assisted). His 11 sacks was good enough to tie for second in the AFL and put him just 1.5 sacks behind 2011's leaders. Bear's intensity and fiery play brings more pass rushing abilities to a defensive unit that has more than plenty talent to go around.

Between the two former Vigilantes players, Goosby right now seems to be the more complete linebacker, but his lack of pass-rushing ability gives Bear an entirely different kind of value demonstrating the contrasting style of play between the two.

Currently on the Refused to Report list, Clifton Smith was on the Soul's championship team back in 2008. Playing both the FB and LB position, Smith brings more championship experience to roster that's expected to return to the ArenaBowl this season. He didn't play last season, but his familiarity with the team makes him valuable in that regard. In 2010 with the Chicago Rush, Smith recorded 24 total tackles (18 solo and 12 assisted), 4.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. Although he only carried the ball 7 times for the Rush, with the Soul in 2008, Smith had 50 carries for 131 yards and 10 touchdowns. The biggest question will be how he responds to the game if he decides to show up to camp, but based on his 2010 production after not playing in 2009, I'm sure he has the ability to produce without skipping a beat.

March 2nd, Roster Moves

Activated from Refused to Report:
OL/DL Darrell Campbell

Reassigned:
DL Matt Hoffman

Thankfully Campbell is back to action after not seeing any training camp snaps as of yet; he looks to maintain his prominence on the defensive line in 2012 which was one of the few bright spots for the Soul last season.

As for Hoffman, he wasn't so lucky being cut just a day after being assigned to the Soul. A long shot to begin with, Hoffman may prove to be worthy of a roster spot elsewhere.  

Thursday, March 1st Roster Moves

Assigned:
OL Matthew Timmerman

Reassigned:
OL Jeremy Schonbrunner

Suspended:
WR Robert Darby-McNair

With Jeremy Schonbrunner being released, he's replaced with another rookie looking to make an impact in order to stick around.

OL Battle

Two weeks ago I would've said that all the starting spots on the offensive line were up for grabs, but after the two recent signings of former All-Arena Arizona Rattlers, I'd say that the race is pretty much determined.

Christian Johnson helped protect the Soul's new starting quarterback Dan Raudabaugh last season with the now defunct Dallas Vigilantes, so that familiarity will certainly help his cause.

Brennan Carvalho and Devin Clark were signed within days of each other which basically cemented the starting lineup in my eyes. Both received Second Team All-Arena honors for their play in 2011 with the Rattlers and are welcomed additions to an offensive line unit that needed an upgrade.

Though Johnson does not possess any accolades, he's performance last season should earn him the starting nod over the rest remaining starting offensive lineman candidates. Johnson appeared and started in 15 of the team's 18 games last season for the Vigilantes while allowing only one sack in the process. The three combined started a total of 58 games last season including the playoffs. That's 16 for Johnson and 21 for Carvalho and Clark apiece; that's a good deal of experience to have on a team at such a position.

Zipp Duncan also played with Johnson last season with the Vigilantes, but he only appeared in one game. His size is probably his biggest upside being listed as 6'5", 320 pounds. Fellow teammate Nyere Aumaitre is also listed exactly as Duncan, but he started and appeared in 14 games for the Soul last season giving him the edge in experience. In all honesty though, with how the Soul's offensive line performed last season, I wouldn't consider that a huge upside for Aumaitre.

Then you have the former Temple Owl, Jeremy Schonbrunner, who brings the hometown draw with him. Considering that Carvalho is listed as 6'1", 300 pounds I would say that Schonbrunner can still impress this coaching staff even though he's a bit shorter than his competition at 6'3" and 305 pounds.

Three other players; Jeffery Fitzgerald, Reggie Paramoure and Kiano Prater can all play either OL/DL which brings intrigue just because of their dual capabilities. Prater's a rookie, but Fitzgerald and Paramoure both play significant time in the AFL last season. Fitzgerald appeared in 15 games while starting 10 of those for the Soul and Paramoure appeared in 14 games while starting 13 of those for the Tulsa Talons. Both have shown productivity when called upon to play, so it'll be interesting to see how much draw their double positions brings to this coaching staff.