Hey everyone, I’ll be covering Division D2 this upcoming season. For those who don’t know me, I’m Keyon and I write articles across FPF while also filming content and playing in the league. This season, I’m playing in Division D1, but I’m familiar with most of the teams in this division through friends and opponents.

As I mentioned in my Division D1 article, Division D has been split into two groups this season. D2 features 14 teams and only the top 8 will qualify for the playoffs, meaning every win will matter as teams battle for a championship in August.

Even though we’ve only completed Week 1, I wanted to give a few very early predictions along with some sleeper teams that I believe people should keep an eye on throughout the season.

Very Early Predictions

Texas Whales will finish as a top 4-seed

Texas Whales have been trending upward for the past few seasons. I actually played against this team during my first ever FPF season and several times since then, and this is easily the strongest version of the group I’ve seen.

Tyler Cousins has improved drastically as a quarterback. He went from a QB who regularly threw 15+ interceptions in a season to someone who finished with fewer than 10 last year while nearly reaching 1,800 passing yards.

The addition of Alessandro Daniel a few seasons ago certainly helped, but you can’t overlook the rest of the core. Elio Cariglia continues to be one of the more underrated offensive players in the division, while Chazz Pisanelli won DPOY in 5A last season.

Texas Whales finished 8-2 in 5A and I can absolutely see them replicating those results this Spring, especially if they can keep most of their core together every week.

Nicholas Di Maulo will win Receiver of the Year

There are a handful of elite receivers in this division. You have the connection between the Bottazzi twins, young Zack Sebestyen, Marty Freedman, Daniel Alessandro and several others capable of putting up huge numbers.

The name that stands out most to me is Nicholas Di Maulo.

He’s a threat at all three levels of the field and having Adam Malinoff at QB for Richter BFO makes life a lot easier. If I’m not mistaken, Di Maulo has never won an individual award despite being one of the most skilled receivers in FPF.

A big reason for that is because he often plays in higher divisions where he’s viewed more as a complementary piece on teams like The Infantry and West Island Boys.

This season feels different.

Being the focal point for Richter and having Malinoff throwing him the ball, I can easily see Di Maulo posting career highs and potentially running away with the award by the time the regular season is over.

Bandits will finish as a top 5 defence

The veteran Bandits squad enters D2 with one of the most experienced rosters in the division.

Between Émile Skaf, Simon Girard and Rodney Alcime, this group has strong chemistry on both sides of the ball and enough speed defensively to make plays all over the field. They also have a very good rusher in Vincent Demers, who I would expect to finish near the top of the division in sacks.

Girard and Rodney are especially dangerous because they don’t just create turnovers — they can take interceptions back for touchdowns in a heartbeat.

If the offence can remain efficient under either Émile or Girard, whoever is throwing that week, it should allow the defence to continue playing aggressively and creating big plays.

Sleeper Teams to Watch

Viscious & Delicious 

This squad is a mix between Vieux Lynx and the core of Viscious & Delicious, which I believe can do serious damage in this division.

Anthony Robichaud won QB of the Year in 5A last season and the quick Jean-Sebastien St-Arneault won Rusher of the Year. Adding them alongside Antoine Coté, Dylan Boudreau, Olivier Mcduff and Samuel Maranda immediately raises the ceiling of this team.

Viscious & Delicious is mostly known for their Co-Ed experience, but last season was the first time they fielded a men’s team in 6B. They responded with an impressive 8-2 record and it was also a breakout year for Mcduff with 14 INTs.

There may be some growing pains adjusting to D2, but by playoff time, I could absolutely see this team becoming one of those dangerous lower seeds nobody wants to face.

4th Down Freaks

A group of friends with ties to Parlay Tilters, Glory Boyz and Chomedey Chodes, this might be the most talented version of this roster yet.

Matthew Bottazzi will presumably be throwing and has arguably the best group of receivers he’s worked with. As good as Jonathan has been over the years, it never quite translated into playoff success.

Adding the championship experience of Massimo D’Ippolito and Peter Cote expands this offence and gives Bottazzi multiple reliable options in big moments.

The roster also features strong complementary players like Louie Cote and Chris Drukker on both sides of the ball.

The biggest question for this team is emotional control. If they can avoid letting their emotions get the better of them, I think they have the talent to finally make a deeper playoff run.

Super Saiyans

After a difficult season in 4B last Winter, Super Saiyans return to D2 hoping to change the narrative.

What I see when I look at this roster is a group of veterans who understand the game and simply had too many close calls last season. I also think the overall speed in 4B worked against them.

If they were playing in D1, I’d have more concerns. But in D2, the overall pace of the division should be more favourable for them.

Jordan Allard may not be the same quarterback he was pre-COVID, but if he can limit the turnovers, which I believe he can, this team should be able to win several close games through experience and efficiency alone.

Adding Marty Freedman and Samuel Aerts to a core that already includes Gianni Johnston and Jared Gallant gives this team plenty of talent.

I believe they have enough pieces to finish above .500 and become a difficult matchup for anyone in the playoffs.

Closing Remarks

This is my first article covering Division D2 this season and I wish all of you good luck this year. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me at the fields because I’m always interested in hearing players’ perspectives for future articles. As always, if you didn’t get a chance to respond or want to be included in future pieces, you can reach me on Facebook or Instagram @keyoncyrus.