AFL's Inside the Numbers: Week 5 - Benson Rushes Through AFL History Books
Published on May 6, 2017 under Arena Football League (AFL)
Portland Steel News Release
LAS VEGAS- It's only fitting that the League's newest franchise is set to play its first ever home game against the League's oldest franchise. That's just one of the many stats we're looking into as we head into Week 5 of the campaign.
Old Souls Join Philly and Tampa
The Soul and Storm were both busy on the free agent market this week, as they were both assigned some key veterans in preparation for Week 5 and the remainder of the 2017 season.
Philadelphia was assigned former All-Arena standout Tyre Glasper to add to its roster, while the Storm were assigned Josh Bush.
In both cases, these are immediately two of the most traveled players who are active in the AFL, as all three have played in at least 100 games in their careers. Bush, who first played in the AFL in 2004 with Grand Rapids, has played in 112 games, while Glasper, a member of Arizona's title-contending rosters from 2011 through 2016, brings 103 games of experience to the Soul.
Most Career Games Played through Week 4 (Active Players)
Mark Lewis (Tampa Bay): 196 Games
T.T. Toliver (Washington): 194 Games
Josh Bush (Tampa Bay): 112 Games
Tyre Glasper (Philadelphia): 103 Games
Joe Goosby (Philadelphia): 98 Games
Reggie Gray (Baltimore): 95 Games
Derrick Summers (Cleveland): 94 Games
Terrance Smith (Washington): 93 Games
Mykel Benson (Philadelphia): 92 Games
Dexter Jackson (Tampa Bay): 91 Games
Benson Powers Way Up the Charts
With each passing game, Mykel Benson is etching his name deeper and deeper in the AFL record books. In Week 4, he logged three rushing touchdowns, giving him 93 for his career. Along the way, he surpassed Dan Alexander and moved into fifth place all-time in career rushing touchdowns. Up next comes the 100 touchdown milestone, then Odie Armstrong (101) and Andre Bowden (103).
Week 5 Milestone Watch
Over the course of the next two weeks, the Storm are going to take the field against the Brigade and the Valor, marking the 56th and 57th franchises they've played against all-time in their history, more than any other team in the 30-year history of the AFL. It's not, of course, the first time this franchise has ever played a game in the DMV area. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, the then-
Pittsburgh Gladiators played five games against the Washington Commandos (who were known as the Maryland Commandos briefly in 1989). The Gladiators went 4-1 against the Commandos all-time. This week will mark the first visit by the Storm/Gladiators franchise to the DMV area since July 21, 1990. The only two franchises the Tampa Bay/Pittsburgh franchise never played against? The Las Vegas Outlaws from 2015 and the San Antonio Force from 1992.
The Soul have continued to extend their streak of consecutive quarters without being shutout. The mark is now at 151 in a row, including 37 straight games. To put this in comparison, only one of the other four teams in the AFL (Tampa Bay) has scored in every quarter it has played this season.
Joe Hills needs 82 yards to run down Terrill Shaw for 28th place all-time in receiving yards.
Another 24 beyond that will get him to Stevie Thomas in 27th, while several others are not far on the horizon. Look for Hills to build steadily upon his 7,786 career receiving yards over the course of the rest of the season. He is averaging 85.3 receiving yards per game thus far on the young campaign.
Week 4 Quick Hitters
Brandon Thompkins became the fourth active player in the AFL to post 500 career receptions with his first catch last week for the Gladiators. Only T.T. Toliver, Reggie Gray and Mike Washington are with Thompkins in the 500-catch club amongst active players.
The Soul went a stretch of 48:25 in a row without allowing a single point on the board in games against Washington and Baltimore. The streak was broken by a LaQuan Williams touchdown grab early in the second quarter last week, but by then, the Soul were already up 21-7 and on their way to the biggest victory posted by any team of the young season, 69-34.
Dan Raudabaugh hit the 29,000 career passing yards mark last week in the win over Baltimore. He's got a great shot in the next four games or so to become the tenth quarterback in AFL history to throw for 30,000 yards in a career.
With T.T. Toliver's touchdown reception for Washington in Week 4, he broke a tie with the great Eddie Brown for the third most TD catches in AFL history. Toliver is now at 304 receiving TDs, and the 2,000-point watch is officially on and will be picked up again in Week 6 when the Valor return from their second bye of the campaign. Toliver currently sits at 1,990 career points.
That wasn't Washington's only major offensive milestone in Week 5. Erik Meyer also cracked the 300-touchdown mark for his career early on in the Valor's loss to Cleveland. He's still one TD shy of Mike Pawlawski for 24th all-time in passing touchdowns, but he should get there next week when the Valor are back in action against the Storm at the Verizon Center.
Your weekly update on consecutive regular season games with a touchdown? Joe Hills: 71, Brandon Thompkins 33. Thompkins scored in the second quarter for the Gladiators in the Week 4 win over Washington.
Thompkins also pulled a trick play out of his back pocket against the Valor. Siaha Burley's call didn't work, as Thompkins' wide receiver pass fell incomplete. There were only two non-quarterbacks who attempted a pass in the entirety of the 2016 season, and this was the first of its kind in 2017.
Arvell Nelson had a big day on the ground for Cleveland, too. He finished the day with 60 rushing yards, the third most in a game in Glads history. The showcase play was a 43-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, the second longest run in the history of the Gladiators. It was the longest run by a quarterback in the AFL since 2011 and the longest by any player since 2015.
Arena Football League Stories from May 6, 2017
- : Soul Defeat Gladiators, 69-67 - Philadelphia Soul
- AFL's Inside the Numbers: Week 5 - Benson Rushes Through AFL History Books - Portland Steel
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