Letter From The Commish

Ah...the faint aroma, not unlike a fine wine in its unique way wafting in the bouquet of its own fresh scent. With painstaking care and patience, Mother Nature and twelve sets of true hands have borne forth a fresh crop. Harvest time at the vinyard is upon us. With great anticipation, so began the task of plucking players like grapes off the vine at the 8th annual OFFL Draft Day celebration, this year also known as OFFL Y2K. The league welcomed one new cast member, saw one owner make it back for the first time in a couple years, witnessed the 2nd straight non-appearance of 1/3 of the Clams triumvarate, Coach Birkel, a.k.a. Hollow Man, renewed friendships and rivalries, and scraped off the rust of eight months of trash talk withdrawel. The draft went off without a hitch, finishing in record time even with the half hour delay in starting. More impressive yet, all 12 teams are paid up with their league dues. There were three proposals that were voted on. Each of the three failed to pass. The results of the draft itself, the Commish thinks, were fascinating. Aside from the amazing fact that not once did a team try picking a player that had already been selected, two trends stood out to the Commish above the others: the promounced emphasis on running backs and the high number of player combos selected this year.

Don't get me wrong. The OFFL has always been known as a running league, the occasional run & shoot aside. Yet, in Y2K the scales tilted more sharply than ever before. Sixteen of the first twenty four players selected were running backs. The 1st round broke down with 8 RB, 2 WR, 2 QB while the 2nd round was comprised of 8 RB, 3 WR and a single QB. It wasn't until Round 3 that the pace slowed down with only 4 RBs being taken. As we all remember from our days in science class, for every action there must be an equal reaction. This year that opposite action was in the form of the QB position. Two rounds passed and only three QBs were selected: Peyton Manning (#4), Kurt Warner (#9) and Brad Johnson (#24). That total didn't double until Round 3 where Brett Favre (#26), Rich Gannon (#27) and Daunte Culpepper (#29) were chosen. Yet, that is still only six starting QBs in a 12 team league through 3 rounds (36 selections). Last year, the sixth QB was the #20 pick of the draft (almost 1 1/2 rounds earlier). In 1999, the 12th QB was taken with the last choice in the 5th round, #60 overall. This year, the 12th QB was taken with the 8th pick in Round 7, #80 overall. And even then, one of the picks was a backup--meaning that not each team had selected one by that point. What conclusions can we draw? First, that nothing has changed with relevance to the RBs. They've always been worth their wait in gold and 2000 was no different. The Palace of Swords took running backs with four of their first six picks. NFC Norris opened their draft with three consecutive RB picks, including the All-ACL backfield of Terrell Davis and Jamal Anderson. All World opened thier draft with the selections of Eddie George and Ron Dayne in the first two rounds as did the Retreads with James Stewart and Cory Dillon, the Strange Highwayts with Fred Taylor and Duce Staley and Montezuma's Revenge with Stephen Davis and Mike Alstott.

As to player combos, veteran league members have long understood the value of pairing up a QB with a WR for the potential big play strike that sometimes can mean victory. One of the most evident examples of the combo paying off occurred in the 1994 OFFL Bowl when the Bone Club's combo of Brett Favre & Sterling Sharpe teamed up for 3 TDs, or 30 points, as the Bone Club blew the lid off the Resin Balls (currently the Strange Highways) to win the championship. This year, it seems there are more combos than ever before, fifteen in all. The Palace of Swords, Greenback Iguanas, Strange Highways, Natural Mystics and PMS have two each. Only the Retreads and King of Dogs don't have at least one combo on the roster. However, the impact of this year's combos are perhaps more questionable. Nowhere is there to be found a combo on the level of last year's Manning-Harrison combo (a#1 QB and a #1 WR) that helped fire the Mystics' lineup each week. Instead, we have Bledsoe-Glenn, Garcia-Rice, Manning-Wilkins, Kitna-Mayes, Aikman-Galloway, Couch-Kevin Johnson, Rob Johnson-Moulds, Warner-Holt and Favre-Schroeder. Of this group, several do come with a nice upside. Johnson-Moulds, Warner-Holt and Aikman-Galloway could each click 10 times during the season. Bledsoe-Glenn hasn't been productive for three seasons while Rice's best days are seemingly past. The other combos mentioned could each be effective but won't match the 13 connections that Manning and Harrison had in 1999.

At first glance, the league appears as though it may be much more balanced this season. There don't seem to be any teams that jump out as being clear OFFL Bowl teams. Montezuma's Revenge is garnering talk, though, as a potential champion in the Cheatem division. Stephen Davis and Mike Alstoot form a solid 1-2 RB combo. The Revenge are both fast and deep at WR and they have two veteran signal callers at the QB position. The Iguanas are starting Jon Kitna or Jake Plummer at QB, disappointing Curtis Enis at the #2 RB spot and yardage man Jimmy Smith at the #2 WR spot. The Clams are a bit of an enigma. McNown could put up huge numbers or lose his job to Jim Miller. The Clams also have the all-Ricky backfield of Ricky Williams and Rickey Watters--never a dull moment there. The Highways need for Fred Taylor to stay healthy, for Thomas Jones to get 15 carries per game and for the hype surrounding Amani Toomer this season to pay off. The Dewey division looks like it may be quite competitive. The Palace of Swords stand out slightly in that division. From a historical standpoint, the Swords are the only Dewey division team to have ever won a single playoff game. The NFC Norris, a 5th year team, have yet to reach the playoffs. The Swords are anchored by McNair, Martin and Moss. The other running backs could contribute while David Boston is hoping to fill in for the injured Rob Moore in 2000. The Norris is another team that's hard to peg. The running game would seem much more impressive if this were 1998 rather than 2000. Don't expect Jamal Anderson to regain his old ability until next season. The Norris also needs Glenn to stay healthy and for McCaffrey to stop making himself available for target practice each week. PMS has one of the top two QBs in the league. However, the starting backfield has proven to be injury prone in the past. Newcomer All World has two very solid RBs. The second WR position may prove to be a carousel. Out in the Howe division, the Retreads are pinning their hopes of a repeat on uptested Daunte Culpepper. James Stewart and Cory Dillon are both top backs but the Retreads just seem to be missing that RB explosiveness from years past. Aside from Michael Westbrook, the 2nd WR job is up for grabs. For Grandmaster G, grabbing Kurt Warner with the #9 pick was a steal. The rushing attack could be iffy this season if Dorsey Levens does not return to health and Warrick Dunn continues to be unable to locate the endzone. The Mystics are hoping that its starting RBs don't get hurt as there isn't much depth. They also need for Pickens to find himself in Tennessee after disappearing in Cincinnati. The Dogs chose perhaps the top RB. But aside from possibly Charlie Garnter, the rest of the RBs are forgettable. Peter Warrick would be a big addition if he can show he can get open in the secondary.

It's always amazing how the schedule seems to work out. This year, the extra non-division game (Week 13) has some outstanding matchups. The Swords-Grandmaster G play twice this season, All World and the Natural Mystics will battle for Qwest supremacy, PMS-Strange Highways get to renew their friendly but competitive rivalry, the NFC Norris-Montezuma's Revenge matchup and Bearded Clams-King of Dogs matchup means that the four teams that comprised 1999's Dewey division get any extra game in 2000. But perhaps best of all, Coach Detwiler got his wish when his Retreads were selected to play the Greenback Iguanas two times this season. It's the next best thing to getting them in the same division.

Only three teams bothered selecting a 2nd K while, for perhaps the 1st time ever, not a single league team took a 2nd defense this year. Heck, three teams even chose to only select a single TE at the draft. Four teams chose to carry three QBs. That means the rest of the rosters are filled with numerous running backs and wide receivers.

Was it just the Commish or did it seem like there were very few instances this draft of teams having their next selection being taken from them just before their turn? Aside from the Highways taking Moulds one pick ahead of Coach Will and a couple instances of the Iguanas taking players that PMS were about the select, I heard very little grumbling this year.

The division with the most combined league experience this year is the Howe division while the Dewey division is wearing the diapers of inexperience.

Breaks: Montezuma's Revenge catches a break in Week 9 when they play the NFC Norris. The Norris has four potential starters with bye weeks that week. Other breaks: The Mystics get PMS in Week 4 while the PMS starting backfield is resting. However, PMS catches the Mystics without Cris Carter and as many as four other potential starters. The Iguanas will be without Emmitt Smith and Tony Gonzalez Week 6 when All World comes calling. The Revenge are without Alstott and Keyshawn in Week 8 the Retreads. The Highways are without Johnson and Moulds Week 4 vs. All World. The Retreads are minus Culpepper and Walls Week 4 against the Swords. Warner, Holt and Wilkins will be missing Week 6 when Grandmaster G plays the Strange Highways. The Dogs will line up Week 13 without Charlie Garner and Terrell Owens when they play the Bearded Clams.

Anyway gang, it's that time again. The wine is in the cellar aging, the rosters are set, everyone is 0-0 and even the NFC Norris has a shot. Let's play some football!

~Go deep, I'll throw it.

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