Post by Pittsburgh Steelers (Malachi) on Aug 31, 2020 21:12:54 GMT -5
Mel Blount Division Preview:
The Mel Blount division has some interesting players in it, 2 former DFL champions in Dave and I, a dynasty rookie in Luke, and Nate who I am in Canton with, but outside of his 2 years in that league I do not have any experience with (that I know of). Dave is taking after his time in DFL and has built a strong team that is likely a contender this year, the 3 other teams will be chasing him as it stands.
Baltimore Ravens (Dave):
Dave is one of 4? (Someone correct me if I am wrong) guys from DFL that have won the league that will now search for glory here in LHL. With that being said, he is a guy I am definitely watching out for as a contender (don’t like he is my division here too) to win the league year one. The roster he has assembled definitely backs up my thinking of him being a contender. He snagged the RB I personally wanted in round 1 of the draft in Dalvin Cook, then backed him up with David Montgomery (might miss the start of the season now), Latavius Murray, and Justice Hill to give him a very solid RB room, possibly the best in the league. This division focused more on other areas other than QB as all 4 in the division will likely be middle of the league in production, but have Goff as your QB will lend your team to pretty consistent weeks for points especially with McVay as his head coach. The WR unit is one to be envied, probably the best WR unit in the division. Young studs, with no WR over the age of 25, means this unit will be together for a long time, Sutton, Kirk, Preston Williams, rookie Bryan Edwards, DaeSean Hamilton, and Dante Pettis make for a very scary unit. TJ Hockenson is a very capable starter at TE, but with Josh Oliver living in a crowded TE room in Jacksonville means Baltimore will have to hope Hockenson continues to progress and play every week for the Lions. Murray is the only offensive player over the age of 25, just a little side note there. Baltimore’s defense like real life Baltimore is a stout unit as a whole, starting off with the DL made up of Jonathan Allen and Frank Clark, with Clowney sitting on the bench waiting to be signed by an NFL team, once he does, that trio should easily be the best DL group in the league. Blake Martinez, Rashaan Evans, Myles Jack, Khalil Mack, Brian Burns, and Oshane Ximines at LB give Baltimore a lot of points at the position and DP, this unit like most others on this Ravens roster will compete to be the best in the league this season. Ronnie Harrison and Darnell Savage pack a punch at the DB spot, but with only Chauncy Garnder-Johnson on the bench behind them, the DB spot is lacking some depth. The loaded RB, WR, LB, and DL groups should do the work to carry the DB and TE spots that are lacking that little something, making Dave a force to be reckoned with.
Predicted Division Finish: 1st
Cleveland Browns (Luke):
Luke by his own admissions is a dynasty rookie coming into the league. That being said, in building his roster he did grab some very solid pieces that should set him up to do some things in this first year whether he starts winning or struggles out of the gates. He is one of the few teams that are carrying two QBs on the roster headed towards the season. The QB duo of Darnold and Cam should be a very capable duo especially if Belichick plays to Cams strengths. It isn’t out of the realm of possibilities for Cam to finish as a to 5-8 QB and Darnold is a very good QB to build on for the future. That being said, Luke is looking to move off Cam Newton and not worry about the QB penalty. The RB room is a bit volatile with Mark Ingram, Brian Hill, and Anthony McFarland, if Ingram loses any amount of touches to Dobbins, Luke will be in trouble. McFarland will probably get work, but would pick up more if Conner follows the trend and misses time. The WR room led by Nuk, Larry Fitz, and Cole Beasley are in a little more of a safer position, but with Keke Coutee and David Moore as the only depth, one injury will ruin that unit. A TE unit with George Kittle in it will always be a top unit in the league, adding Eifert and Fells as depth make this likely the highest scoring TE unit in the league and easily Luke’s best offensive unit. On defense starting at the DL spot, Luke has Fletcher Cox, Myles Garrett, and A’Shawn Robinson to make a very strong trio that will put up solid points there. With Hightower opting out, Luke’s LB core is super crippled and will have to rely on Shaquil Barrett, Uchenna Nwosu, and Lorenzo Carter and that trio does not strike fear into anyone. A more capable unit at DB led by Ricardo Allen, Tre Flowers, Stephen Gilmore and Patrick Patterson with Rock Ya-Sin as depth. With a lacking LB core the defensive unit as a whole is lacking that needed punch to be competitive on that side of the ball.
Predicted Division Finish: 4th
Pittsburgh Steelers (Malachi):
After Dave, I am the 2nd of 4? former DFL champions in the league. The Steelers have a fairly balanced team across the board, but also a team that might not be a title contender right off the bat in the league. So seeing how the talent lines up this year will go a long way in showing if the team will make that step next season. In a division with Dalvin Cook and Saquon, having a top end RB is a must to be competitive and the Steelers would appear to have that in Nick Chubb, who will be backed by the quartet of Carlos Hyde, Dare Ogunbowale, Jalen Richard, and the rookie La’Mical Perine. As it stands the 3 vets look to be in line for a good chunk of work on their teams. Moving to QB, the Steelers are on the Minshew Mania train this year, and will ride or die by the season Gardner has this season, especially now that the Jags cut Fournette. The WR room is very well balanced with young guys and vets. The vets of Thielen and Brandin Cooks could be solid scoring options all season, then 2nd year and rookie WRs Diontae Johnson and Michael Pittman will be the building blocks of the unit and will both look to make big splashes this season. Marquez Valdes-Scantling will have to hope he can top Lazard for the #2 job in GB and make a meaningful impact to provide depth here. For TEs, the Steelers have, in my opinion, the best TE in Philly in Dallas Goedert and Vance McDonald, who Big Ben has a rapport with. The duo should put up solid numbers for the Steelers, but might make it hard to know which one to start every week. On defense the DL unit is 4 deep with Arik Armstead and Trey Flowers leading the group. Brockers and Anfernee Jennings give the group both veteran and rookie depth, with Jennings looking set to be a top scoring DL at some point in his career. The LB core for the Steelers has 5 players all under the age of 24, giving them a young unit to build with. Devin Bush, Ja’Whaun Bentley, and Cole Holcomb will lead the group this year, with Cashman and Willie Gay providing some depth for the season. The trio of Deon Bush, Quandre Diggs, and Keanu Neal will be a solid trio at DB, rounding out a pretty solid defensive unit for the team
Predicted Division Finish: 3rd
Tennessee Titans (Nate):
Nate landed the #2 overall pick in the vet draft and parlayed that into Saquon to start. In what looks like a capable division, Nate has built a roster that should be able to compete with those teams especially with Saquon leading the way. In the midst of writing thes Nate has already switched up who his QB to lead the offense will be, trading Jimmy G and Denzel Ward for mobile threat Josh Allen. Allen gives him a higher upside QB that might end the season as a top 5 QB especially with an improved Bills offense. The aforementioned Saquon leads a RB duo (currently) that includes rookie Antonio Gibson who has received high praise from his coach. His RB room would be deeper if Guice didn’t have a number of issues causing him to be cut. The lack of depth there could become an issue, but doesn’t look to be currently. Calvin Ridley and Sterling Shepard will clearly be the leaders at WR for Nate, but with young guys like Harmon and Isabella (who it has been reported that Kingsbury will try to expand his role this year) and rookie Higgins on the roster the team has depth at the position. Nate clearly has the TE spot figured out with Mark Andrews there, and Logan Thomas as the backup, with Thomas reportedly headed into week 1 as the #1 TE for the Washington Football Team. Right off the bat on defense Nate has 2 heavy hitters on the DL, in JJ Watt and Joey Bosa, with 2 Washington guys as backups in Ioannnidis and Montez Sweat. The LB core is made up of 4 guys, but heading into week 1 will be missing 1 as David Mayo is out leaving Greenlaw and AJ Klein to lead the group. Okereke is still looking to find his footing in the Colts defense, and if he does should be a solid contributor for Nate. Despite trading Denzel Ward, Nate still boasts a DB unit led by Landon Collins and Adrian Amos, with Xavier Woods and Darius Slay providing very capable depth pieces that can provide points in the DP slots.
Predicted Division Finish: 2nd
The Junior Seau Division Preview will be the next to be released later this week!
The Mel Blount division has some interesting players in it, 2 former DFL champions in Dave and I, a dynasty rookie in Luke, and Nate who I am in Canton with, but outside of his 2 years in that league I do not have any experience with (that I know of). Dave is taking after his time in DFL and has built a strong team that is likely a contender this year, the 3 other teams will be chasing him as it stands.
Baltimore Ravens (Dave):
Dave is one of 4? (Someone correct me if I am wrong) guys from DFL that have won the league that will now search for glory here in LHL. With that being said, he is a guy I am definitely watching out for as a contender (don’t like he is my division here too) to win the league year one. The roster he has assembled definitely backs up my thinking of him being a contender. He snagged the RB I personally wanted in round 1 of the draft in Dalvin Cook, then backed him up with David Montgomery (might miss the start of the season now), Latavius Murray, and Justice Hill to give him a very solid RB room, possibly the best in the league. This division focused more on other areas other than QB as all 4 in the division will likely be middle of the league in production, but have Goff as your QB will lend your team to pretty consistent weeks for points especially with McVay as his head coach. The WR unit is one to be envied, probably the best WR unit in the division. Young studs, with no WR over the age of 25, means this unit will be together for a long time, Sutton, Kirk, Preston Williams, rookie Bryan Edwards, DaeSean Hamilton, and Dante Pettis make for a very scary unit. TJ Hockenson is a very capable starter at TE, but with Josh Oliver living in a crowded TE room in Jacksonville means Baltimore will have to hope Hockenson continues to progress and play every week for the Lions. Murray is the only offensive player over the age of 25, just a little side note there. Baltimore’s defense like real life Baltimore is a stout unit as a whole, starting off with the DL made up of Jonathan Allen and Frank Clark, with Clowney sitting on the bench waiting to be signed by an NFL team, once he does, that trio should easily be the best DL group in the league. Blake Martinez, Rashaan Evans, Myles Jack, Khalil Mack, Brian Burns, and Oshane Ximines at LB give Baltimore a lot of points at the position and DP, this unit like most others on this Ravens roster will compete to be the best in the league this season. Ronnie Harrison and Darnell Savage pack a punch at the DB spot, but with only Chauncy Garnder-Johnson on the bench behind them, the DB spot is lacking some depth. The loaded RB, WR, LB, and DL groups should do the work to carry the DB and TE spots that are lacking that little something, making Dave a force to be reckoned with.
Predicted Division Finish: 1st
Cleveland Browns (Luke):
Luke by his own admissions is a dynasty rookie coming into the league. That being said, in building his roster he did grab some very solid pieces that should set him up to do some things in this first year whether he starts winning or struggles out of the gates. He is one of the few teams that are carrying two QBs on the roster headed towards the season. The QB duo of Darnold and Cam should be a very capable duo especially if Belichick plays to Cams strengths. It isn’t out of the realm of possibilities for Cam to finish as a to 5-8 QB and Darnold is a very good QB to build on for the future. That being said, Luke is looking to move off Cam Newton and not worry about the QB penalty. The RB room is a bit volatile with Mark Ingram, Brian Hill, and Anthony McFarland, if Ingram loses any amount of touches to Dobbins, Luke will be in trouble. McFarland will probably get work, but would pick up more if Conner follows the trend and misses time. The WR room led by Nuk, Larry Fitz, and Cole Beasley are in a little more of a safer position, but with Keke Coutee and David Moore as the only depth, one injury will ruin that unit. A TE unit with George Kittle in it will always be a top unit in the league, adding Eifert and Fells as depth make this likely the highest scoring TE unit in the league and easily Luke’s best offensive unit. On defense starting at the DL spot, Luke has Fletcher Cox, Myles Garrett, and A’Shawn Robinson to make a very strong trio that will put up solid points there. With Hightower opting out, Luke’s LB core is super crippled and will have to rely on Shaquil Barrett, Uchenna Nwosu, and Lorenzo Carter and that trio does not strike fear into anyone. A more capable unit at DB led by Ricardo Allen, Tre Flowers, Stephen Gilmore and Patrick Patterson with Rock Ya-Sin as depth. With a lacking LB core the defensive unit as a whole is lacking that needed punch to be competitive on that side of the ball.
Predicted Division Finish: 4th
Pittsburgh Steelers (Malachi):
After Dave, I am the 2nd of 4? former DFL champions in the league. The Steelers have a fairly balanced team across the board, but also a team that might not be a title contender right off the bat in the league. So seeing how the talent lines up this year will go a long way in showing if the team will make that step next season. In a division with Dalvin Cook and Saquon, having a top end RB is a must to be competitive and the Steelers would appear to have that in Nick Chubb, who will be backed by the quartet of Carlos Hyde, Dare Ogunbowale, Jalen Richard, and the rookie La’Mical Perine. As it stands the 3 vets look to be in line for a good chunk of work on their teams. Moving to QB, the Steelers are on the Minshew Mania train this year, and will ride or die by the season Gardner has this season, especially now that the Jags cut Fournette. The WR room is very well balanced with young guys and vets. The vets of Thielen and Brandin Cooks could be solid scoring options all season, then 2nd year and rookie WRs Diontae Johnson and Michael Pittman will be the building blocks of the unit and will both look to make big splashes this season. Marquez Valdes-Scantling will have to hope he can top Lazard for the #2 job in GB and make a meaningful impact to provide depth here. For TEs, the Steelers have, in my opinion, the best TE in Philly in Dallas Goedert and Vance McDonald, who Big Ben has a rapport with. The duo should put up solid numbers for the Steelers, but might make it hard to know which one to start every week. On defense the DL unit is 4 deep with Arik Armstead and Trey Flowers leading the group. Brockers and Anfernee Jennings give the group both veteran and rookie depth, with Jennings looking set to be a top scoring DL at some point in his career. The LB core for the Steelers has 5 players all under the age of 24, giving them a young unit to build with. Devin Bush, Ja’Whaun Bentley, and Cole Holcomb will lead the group this year, with Cashman and Willie Gay providing some depth for the season. The trio of Deon Bush, Quandre Diggs, and Keanu Neal will be a solid trio at DB, rounding out a pretty solid defensive unit for the team
Predicted Division Finish: 3rd
Tennessee Titans (Nate):
Nate landed the #2 overall pick in the vet draft and parlayed that into Saquon to start. In what looks like a capable division, Nate has built a roster that should be able to compete with those teams especially with Saquon leading the way. In the midst of writing thes Nate has already switched up who his QB to lead the offense will be, trading Jimmy G and Denzel Ward for mobile threat Josh Allen. Allen gives him a higher upside QB that might end the season as a top 5 QB especially with an improved Bills offense. The aforementioned Saquon leads a RB duo (currently) that includes rookie Antonio Gibson who has received high praise from his coach. His RB room would be deeper if Guice didn’t have a number of issues causing him to be cut. The lack of depth there could become an issue, but doesn’t look to be currently. Calvin Ridley and Sterling Shepard will clearly be the leaders at WR for Nate, but with young guys like Harmon and Isabella (who it has been reported that Kingsbury will try to expand his role this year) and rookie Higgins on the roster the team has depth at the position. Nate clearly has the TE spot figured out with Mark Andrews there, and Logan Thomas as the backup, with Thomas reportedly headed into week 1 as the #1 TE for the Washington Football Team. Right off the bat on defense Nate has 2 heavy hitters on the DL, in JJ Watt and Joey Bosa, with 2 Washington guys as backups in Ioannnidis and Montez Sweat. The LB core is made up of 4 guys, but heading into week 1 will be missing 1 as David Mayo is out leaving Greenlaw and AJ Klein to lead the group. Okereke is still looking to find his footing in the Colts defense, and if he does should be a solid contributor for Nate. Despite trading Denzel Ward, Nate still boasts a DB unit led by Landon Collins and Adrian Amos, with Xavier Woods and Darius Slay providing very capable depth pieces that can provide points in the DP slots.
Predicted Division Finish: 2nd
The Junior Seau Division Preview will be the next to be released later this week!
