Biggest Off-Season Moves (Thus Far)

[indooreast]

Bout time to get a fun player debate going. Which team do you think has made the biggest off-season splash or splashes?

Right now I would go with either Columbus getting Perry, Rideaux, Huren and Marshall or Lehigh Valley Re-signing Bednarik and landing Mike Jones.

Edge might be Columbus, but still don't see a big name lining up behind center yet. However, they have gotten a lot of talent from other teams.

[VinnyTheViper]

Clearly, Columbus has the best of the lot as far as signings from other teams, but then again, they needed to do some work this off season because frankly, they were not very good last season. Columbus looks to be going down the road of assembling an all star squad from the 2013 Columbus and Louisiana squads with Daniels from Albany also thrown in the mix.

Alabama signed Columbus' best receiver from last season in Dupree, Alabama was already loaded at this position, I expect more of the same this season, this league is a QB and WR driven league on offense. Ibe has also signed from Knoxville which should bolster the defensive backfield. Alabama also signed Selman away from Lehigh but I feel the same way about kickers that I do about fullbacks, they are not typically the difference makers in championship runs. Alabama has lost its fullback to Trenton and a LB to Albany. Alabama has also signed Cape Fear's QB Sutphen from the AIF, Cape Fear played Harrisburg for the AIF championship last season.

While Jones is now doubt a good signing and probably fits well for what Lehigh Valley likes to do, it is difficult to see where a fullback is as impressive a signing compared to the wide receiver signings.

I am only analyzing the gains and losses at this point, players that resign with their respective teams are simply holds in my mind, and there are some teams that are sandbagging on their signings, I think there a lot more guys returning to their respective teams than have been announced.

[arenafan]

I would say that one of the biggest signings to this point was Roshawn Marshall DB from Richmond to Columbus. He was second in the league in INT and could man up almost any WR in the league, add 4 time defensive player of the year Daniels to that backfield and that's a lot of interceptions. Columbus already led the league last year in defensive interceptions with an average team, now add two all-stars. But it was Columbus's offense that was horrific. They lost rookie of the year London Crawford, QB Randy Hippeard, kicker Trey Crum, and a great blocking FB (80% of the offense) and it showed on the field last year.

I like what Harrisburg is bringing in. QB EJ Nemeth is and will be top quarterback in the league. All of these signings don't really mean much because I haven't seen a lot of defensive lineman signed. This is not a QB/WR driven league, pressure wins. Russell Hill was a 50% passer last season and didn't lead the league in very many categories. Alabama was the best because they had 3 of the top 4 sacks leaders and gave up the fewest sacks. That's how you win championships.

[indooreast]

While I like what Harrisburg is doing in re-signing a lot of guys there is NO WAY EJ Nemeth is better then Bednarik or Russell Hill

[VinnyTheViper]

I agree that trench work wins championships, I was only trying to make the point that a fullback in arenaball is almost never as important as a QB or WRs to an offense's scoring success. To this point, some teams value the fullback as more of a blocker than a scorer.

Relative to the ranking of QBs, I am not about to touch this one, other than to say that you can massage the statistics a variety of ways to make an argument for anyone of the three. Case in point, of the three QBs mentioned, which is the one who does not own a 2013 championship ring??? Answer: Bednarik Maybe the most important statistic is who owns the hardware!

Hill : 2013 PIFL Championship Ring
Nemeth : 2013 AIF Championship Ring

[coachingubigr]

EJ Nemeth is a stud. Plain and simple. Any team would be lucky to have him.

[indooreast]

Winning the hardware in the AIF is like being the skinniest kid at fat camp.

Also all the rest of them have multiple years playing arena ball. Bednarik just played his first. I guess it to each their own, but we will get to see Bednarik v. nemeth at least twice this year, so we shall see.

My Steelhawks added another steal yesterday landing 2012 PIFL sack leader Micheal Woodhouse. I'm just ready for this season to begin already. Season tickets have been renewed since August.

[VinnyTheViper]

Based upon the last several weeks signings, the Hammers have certainly closed the gap. Looks like their entire receiving corp could be back and two-thirds of both the offensive and defensive lines. I am excited about the signing of Hunter Wanket at QB, while he only played in several games last season, those few that he played, he more than showed why he should have been a starter in this league for some team last season.

[indooreast]

Might not get the chance to see Wanket...he is headed to Spokane first. Love that kid though

[VinnyTheViper]

[quote=""indooreast""]Might not get the chance to see Wanket...he is headed to Spokane first. Love that kid though[/quote]

I believe that the Spokane experiment is over, Spokane has resigned its AFL MVP QB in Erik Meyer, in fact they have signed two QBs. Wanket was never officially signed by Spokane, that is OK, we are more than excited to have him in Hammerville for next season.