Sunday Morning Quarterback – Weeks 1 & 2


QUICK HITS FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE:

- When Tucson made the trade with San Antonio for WR Jim Brost, there were more than a few defensive coordinators who knew their job just got a lot harder. And after two games, they were right. Toros quarterback Eugene Paulk has thrown for 703 yards with a TD/INT ratio of 9/0. Brost has 7 catches for 179 but is not the leading receiver for Tuscon. That distinction goes to Josh Kennedy, who is actually the team’s third receiver. Kennedy has 7 catches for 185 yards and 2 touchdown receptions. Add in Kennedy Welch (7 catches for 137 yards and 2 touchdowns) and you can see how potent this passing game is. Opponents have tried to double team Brost which has led to openings for Welch and Kennedy.

- Proving that he is still one of the top running backs in the league, Cleveland running back Phillip McGough ran for 280 yards vs Tulsa in week 2. This tied his own single game record that he first set in 2024 when he played for Boston. McGough had his best year in 2024 when he ran for 1,695 yards. Is this a sign that he may threaten the 1,700+ yard mark?


GRIDIRON GRETA LIST OF THE WEEK (This week – top man to man defenders)

5- Damon Blassingame – ALB
64/64 with 80 man to man. High honors for the 11th pick in the 2029 draft.

4- Joey “The Assassin” Hopkins – LBE
85/85 with 89 man to man. Seven year veteran who just signed a new 3 year deal with Long Beach.

3- Stan Casillas – LVS
82/82 with 81 man to man. Three time 1st team all-league cornerback who is still young in his 5th year.

2- Jay Kirk – HBE
58/58 with 93 man to man. One of the most feared safeties in the league has two championship rings.

1- Rod Burton – SAO
79/79 with 92 man to man defense. Word on the street is that he is available for the right price.


FINE FIVE:
1- Omaha (2-0)
o Allowed 13 points in the first two weeks. Third best rushing offense and top rated rushing defense.

2- Las Vegas (2-0)
o Shut out Arizona in week 1 and have been helped by a league best +6 in turnovers.

3- Tucson (2-0)
o The best passing game in the league means they you can never count them out of any game.

4- Hartford (2-0)
o Week 12 and a date with Tucson is already circled on the calendar for many fans of the CFL. Hartford looks like they have the best passing defense in the league.

5- New Orleans (2-0)
o Second rating running game and only 20 points allowed has the Raging Horde on an early season roll.


MVP WATCH:
Coming soon



TEN THINGS I THINK I THINK:
1- Ray Bradley, the future star receiver for Anchorage set a record in week 1 that he would rather not remember. Bradley was targeted 12 times and caught 3 passes. However, he also had 5 drops to set a single game record.

2- Durham looks like they may have a long season ahead. They have started 0-2 and have allowed a league high 76 points. Injuries to FS J.R. Chandler and SS Amos Gillespie have not helped.

3- There has been a lot of debate around the league about the value of Texas QB Harry Reese. His ratings are out of this world and there is not a team in the league that wouldn’t love to have him as the starter. The problem is how do you value him? Look for Reese to remain in Texas for the remainder of the season and let’s see what team makes a run for him in the off-season.

4- New Orleans defensive tackle Desmond Macri is finally living up to the billing of a top 15 pick in 2027. He has 5 sacks so far this year which is already twice as much as his career high.

5- Atlantic is 1-1 with a defensive shutout? How did THAT happen?

6- Santa Cruz QB Blaine Barrett has come out firing on all cylinders. He threw for 296 yards in week 1 and 363 yards in week 2 in leading the Privateers to a 2-0 start.

7- Slow start for RB Junior Wolfe in Long Beach with 112 rushing yards. Don’t worry, Calibiri fans. Once Wolfe and 2nd year QB Michael Vanderjadt get some experience this team will be a perennial playoff contender.

8- Hey Rodney Lynn, what are you doing? Sign your rookie contract and get on the field in Albany. You aren’t that good!

9- If you want to see a tackle-guard tandem that is blowing defensive players up check out Tennessee. RT Cornell Cranga and RG Herb Galloway have combined for 5 pancake blocks.

10- Injury thoughts for this week:

a. Someone check the turf in Boston. They have lost two players for the season due to high ankle sprains.
b. Luckily the video of Huntington Beach WR Hugh Allen’s compound leg fracture has been removed from the internet. That was a gruesome injury. Good luck to Allen, who is facing a 31 week recovery.

Disclosure - Opinions in this article are strictly those of the author and are for recreational purposes only.

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This is great, good job..

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Nice write-up RBEYER....

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Awesome, awesome stuff!
For me this was the real tough part - how do you value Reese? He's got crazy-good ratings, but his numbers to date have been quite pedestrian. I gave serious thought to going after him before deciding that I just didn't know how good he really was. I went for Brost instead, a player I thought I had a better handle on.

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I figured it had to do with the gurus determining that in the current FOF engine a stud WR > stud QB. Is that not the case?

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That was part of the equation, sure. But I still love an awesome QB and would pay a lot for one. But what I'd have to pay for Reese, within the context of what he'd give me in return, made him a much lesser value than Brost.

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A simple yes would have sufficed.

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