With just two weeks left in the regular season, it’s finally time to start the chatter regarding the Most Valuable Player of the Year. There are several worthy candidates but, there has yet to be one specific player to break away from the rest of the pack. Will that happen this weekend? With all teams having 2 games, there are some big opportunities for potential MVP’s to show why they should be ahead of the others mentioned among them. Let’s take a look at 5 candidates from each side of the ball.
Offensive MVP Candidates
DF Littlejohn – Quarterback
Team – House Dawgs (4-0)
Notable Stats – 14 Passing Touchdown’s, 1 INT – 5 Rushing Touchdown’s
Remaining Games – Brothers in Arms, Winston Salem Predators, HeadHunterz
Analysis – Littlejohn has proven to be the league’s most explosive playmaker at the quarterback position. Teams have came to the realization there is no way to stop him, you can only hope to contain him. He has led the House Dawgs to an impressive undefeated record and the #1 offensive in the entire league (139 points, 34 points per game). Being that the most difficult part of his teams’ schedule is over, with a big finish to the season, he will look to be the front runner.
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Jeremy Davis – Quarterback
Team – Burlington Bombsquad (2-2)
Notable Stats – 17 Passing Touchdown’s, 0 INTs – 1 Rushing Touchdown
Remaining Games – Winston Salem Predators, GSO Predators, Carolina Bengals
Analysis – Jeremy Davis may be the league’s most efficient passer with 17 TD’s and 0 INTs. Davis has burst onto the scene of the Triad and this weekend could propel himself into the #1 spot. Two of the toughest opponents on his schedule remain in the GSO Predators and Carolina Bengals. With good outings against these two teams, he will keep in close contention with DF Littlejohn. In the two drives his team has been without him (1st drive vs House Dawgs & 1st drive vs Brothers in Arms) the Bombsquad offense has sputtered. Davis is the oil that keeps that machine going.
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Brandon Stokes – Wide Receiver
Team – House Dawgs (4-0)
Notable Stats – 19 Catches, 8 Touchdowns
Remaining Games – Brothers in Arms, Winston Salem Predators, HeadHunterz
Analysis – The #1 MVP candidate has to be mentioned in the same breath as the guy catching his passes. Stokes has been Littlejohns’ favorite target for the House Dawgs to this point of the season. He has 3 more touchdowns than the leagues’ 2nd place WR. With a big final 2 weeks, Stokes could find himself in the midst of the discussion even with the top QB’s of the league. For every 2 catches Stokes has, 1 of them is a touchdown….on average.
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Terrance Topps – Quarterback
Team: Brothers in Arms – (3-1)
Notable Stats – 5 Passing Touchdowns, 0 INT’s – 5 Rushing Touchdowns
Remaining Games – House Dawgs, Carolina Bengals, Whitsett Warriors
Analysis – Topps is an interesting candiate because he wasn’t the QB in Week 1. Alex Settle was. Settle threw himself several TD’s and impressed TFFL analysts. In Week 2 the Brothers went with Topps at QB and he would impress. He would receive Week 3 offensive player of the week for his 3 TD passes and 3 TD run performance against the Bombsquad. With a BIG 3 weeks, Topps could throw his name into the hat for the offensive MVP race. He will face two of the top 3 defenses in the league in the House Dawgs and the Bengals. If Topps has big games against these teams, it would be foolish not to consider him despite the statistics.
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Darius Cobb – Wide Receiver
Team: Carolina Bengals (3-1)
Notable Stats – 14 Catches, 5 Touchdowns
Remaining Games – Brothers in Arms, GSO Predators, Burlington Bombsquad
Analysis – Cobb has 3 tough opponents to close out the season against but we would not be surprised at all to see him catch several full field TD’s. He is behind Stokes in both statistical categories but we believe he’s going to bounce back in the final 2 weeks to insert himself more into the discussion. He had to leave early Week 3 so he’s more than ready to find himself back into the endzone.
Defensive MVP Candidates
Rodney Beasley – Rusher
Team: GSO Predators (3-1)
Notable Stats – 15 Pulls, 9 Sacks, 2 Safeties, 1 Fumble Return Touchdown
Remaining Games – Carolina Bengals, Burlington Bombsquad, Blackout
Analysis – Beasley is the leagues’ fastest rusher and has been a pain for opposing Quarterbacks to handle. Beasley had 8 sacks through 3 games and picked 1 up last week on a QB kneel. Even with a quiet Week 3 against the HeadHunterz, Beasley still has almost doubled the 2nd place leader Earl Wallace. He will be going up against great blocking every game for the rest of the season so if he can pick up sacks against these 3 final teams, he may have the defensive player of the year on lock.
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Franklin Terry – Cornerback
Team: Carolina Bengals (3-1)
Notable Stats – 5 Pulls, 3 Interceptions, 2 INT’s returned for Touchdown, 1 Fumble return for Touchdown
Remaining Games – Brothers in Arms, GSO Predators, Burlington Bombsquad
Analysis – The last 3 games of the season will also be very important for Franklin Terry. He can leapfrog Beasley into the top spot if he can force turnovers against 3 very solid offenses. He will face 3 QB’s who don’t turn the ball over and as a ball hawk in the secondary, he’ll need to feast on these offenses. He was the defensive player of the week this past week with a couple pulls and 2 defensive touchdowns that won his team the ball game against Blackout. Specifically we look forward to his game in the final week against the Bombsquad, whose QB has yet to turn the ball over.
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Alex Winters – Linebacker
Team: Burlington Bombsquad (2-2)
Notable Stats – 22 Pulls, 1 Interception returned for TD
Remaining Games – Winston Salem Predators, GSO Predators, Carolina Bengals
Analysis – Winters has proven himself as one of the leagues’ top flag pullers. He had a monster week 2 with 9 pulls in 1 game. He was pretty quiet in Week 3 but we expect him to really show out this week as his team will play “both” Predators from Winston Salem and Greensboro. Winters will be key in preventing big gains against a very athletic GSO Predators team. His ability to make pulls at the first level, has saved his team from giving up even bigger scores.
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Sean Bennett – Linebacker
Team: Winston Salem Predators (1-3)
Notable Stats – 16 Pulls
Remaining Games – House Dawgs, Burlington Bombsquad, Sabercats
Analysis – Quality flag pulling is few and far between. Sean’s ability to pull flags alone has put him into the discussion. After a monstrous first 2 weeks, he had a slow week in week 3 against the Whitsett Warriors. I would not be surprised to see Sean pull 10+ flags in Week 4. If the Winston Salem Predators had a more ferocious rush, his flag pulling ability would be spotlighted even more.
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David Whitefield – Linebacker
Team: House Dawgs (4-0)
Notable Stats – 12 Flag Pulls
Remaining Games – Brothers in Arms, Winston Salem Predators, HeadHunterz
Analysis – The true dark horse of the discussion is David Whitefield. Whitefield has been a top notch flag puller, even though Sean Moore of the Whitsett Warriors has 2 more flag pulls, we went with David Whitefield because his presence is felt on nearly every play. Even if he doesn’t pull the flag, he is within inches of doing so. Unfortunately there is no statistic to track how a defensive player is “in” on just about every play. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a big final 3 weeks and see Whitefield with 25+ flag pulls to finish out the year.
Honorable Mentions (Ronte Gamble – Sabercats, Josh Morehead -Whitsett Warriors, Sean Moore – Whitsett Warriors, Earl Wallace – Burlington Bombsquad, De’Andre Stevenson – House Dawgs)
Offensive and Defensive Most Valuable player of the year awards will be awarded at our end of the season banquet. Award winners will receive a personalized plaque for receiving the award. Speak with Corey or myself for more information. The banquet will be on May 19th and the location has yet to be determined. $10 covers your entry and will pay for your dinner.
