Division 4B Award Predictions

Here we are, with 3 weeks left to the season, and it is the perfect time to break down who the award favorites are for this season. I posted the 4A article during the week and it is now time for Division 4B. In case you didn’t read the 4A article, here is how I broke it down:

Quarterback of the season is awarded to the best QB in each division and focuses on the amount of touchdowns, interceptions, sacks, and completion percentage.

2-Way player of the season is awarded to a player who excelled on both sides of the ball and focuses on yards, touchdowns, interceptions, pick-6s, sacks and passes deflected.

Receiver of the season is awarded to the most dominant receiver and is based on yards and touchdowns.

Defensive player of the season is awarded to the most dominant player on defense and takes into consideration interceptions, pick 6s, sacks and passes deflected.

I will give my top 3 for the first three awards. As for defensive player of the year, I will do as I did with 4A, which is calculating the top 10 most valuable players according to a point system. We will get to that later on, now let’s get started.

QB of the season

Before we get to our top 3, I felt it was worthwhile to mention two other quarterbacks who have performed well and could definitely make a run for it. First off, Tylar Bianchi who has only played 5 games and has 3 more games yet to play. Unfortunately the two missed games cost him in this ranking. The other guy is Noah Swaminadhan, who has been amazing, throwing 20TDs and 0 picks in 6 games. Now he has 4 games left to play and can also make a run but X-Men seem to be splitting reps between multiple QBs. That hurts Swaminadhan here, and he probably would have been a favorite if he threw every single pass this season.

#3: George Koutsoukos, 4th and Shlong

8GP, 1439 yards, 34TDs, 6INTs, 12Sks, 63.0%Comp

When I hopped on the podcast to talk about 4th and Shlong’s tough debut, I said I wasn’t worried. I truly believed this team was legit and that they had a real chance of going undefeated the rest of the way despite starting 0-3. Here we are 6 weeks later and the team sits at 5-3. My reasoning despite the three losses to start the season was Koutsoukos’ performances. He was just not getting any help from his defense and now that he does, this team looks very dangerous. Koutsoukos is legit and pretty consistent, but he just needs to be a bit more wary of getting sacked.

#2: Jean-Francois Marquis, Pocket Rockets

7GP, 1288 yards, 36TDs, 6INTs, 3Sks, 65.6%Comp

I definitely had my doubts about Pocket Rockets coming into the season, especially due to the uncertainty at quarterback. I initially though PO Tremblay was going to throw but he moved to receiver. Marquis has had some experience at QB in the past, but was a bit turnover prone: not this season. He throws less than a pick per game, and has been very consistent throughout the season. Marquis has posted a QBR of over 100 in 5 of his 7 games and he has won those 5 games. He knows how to use his receivers and his connection with Gab Champagne has been elite. He’s brought this team to a legit contender tier, but it will need to be seen whether he can limit the turnovers come playoff time.

#1: Jacob Salvail, Les Renards Vifs

9GP, 1960 yards, 48TDs, 7INTs, 3Sk, 66.0%Comp

Is he a lock at this point? Yes. He is averaging 5.33 passing TDs and 218 passing yards per game. He throws below 1 pick per game and only got sacked three times the whole season. His squad is 8-1 and their offense is the most prolific by far in 4B. He’s had a QBR over 100 in 7 of his 9 games, and the two other games he posted 98.2 and 90.9. His worst game came against Penetrators where he only threw 3TDs and 2 INTs, but Penetrators were ineligible due to Oriola Poirier not getting released, oops. Anyhow, Salvail is the best QB this season and he runs his offense through everyone. In fact, 5 of his receivers have over 240 yards and 10 of his receivers have caught at least 2TDs, unbelievable. He wins this award by a mile.

2-way player of the season

Not many players have excelled on both sides of the ball this season, which is a bit of a surprise. This leaves me with only 3 players which I believe are deserving, with one potentially already being a lock.

#3: Justin Gauthier, Dak to the Future

8GP, 1052 passing yards, 26TDs, 12INTs, 5Sk, 55.9%Comp, 6Def INTs, 4PDs, 1 pick-6

Justin Gauthier has been making quite a name for himself in FPF, notably throwing some great seasons and now being a key player as a receiver/DB with Kiss My Inlaws in Division 3. Whilst he’s been amazing as a defender in 4B this season with 6 interceptions, his throwing numbers leave a bit to be desired. He hasn’t been bad, and he’s brought his team to a 5-3 record, but his passing yards are just alright. Gauthier is experienced but he needs to find more consistency throwing one game to the other.

#2: Mathew Caponi, The Penetrators

320 yards, 8TDs, 6INTs, 1 sack, 7PDs, 1pick-6

Caponi has been excellent offensively but not necessarily dominant. On the other side of the ball though, he has been the leader for the best defensive team in 4B. He’s tied for first in picks and tied for 3rd in PDs. He ranks tied for 8th in receiving TDs and 12th in receiving yards. He needs to explode offensively to have a chance for this award, but it might be too little too late with only 2 games remaining on the schedule.

#1: Gab Champagne, Pocket Rockets

6GP, 420 yards, 11TDs, 5INTs, 3PDs

Champagne’s defensive numbers aren’t as good as Caponi’s, but 2-way has to be an award given to a player dominant on both sides of the ball. Champagne is that player. Teams simply don’t want to throw near him and he still ranks tied for 4th in INTs, and has a game in hand over Caponi. Champagne’s offensive numbers on the other hand are amazing. He’s tied for 2nd in TDs and 4th in yards despite only playing 6 games. I think he’s potentially got this award locked down unless he completely fizzles out in his last 3, which he won’t.

Receiver of the season

This award is fun, it’s what the game is all about: offense. I have three players selected but this race is between two guys, although it might already be over. I struggled a bit finding number 3 on this list but am happy with who I chose.

#3: Sam Anastasopoulos, Team Sexy

6GP, 392 yards, 9TDs

Sam was one of my favorites to win 2-way at the start of the season but he hasn’t had quite the impact I was expecting (though he’s still been really solid defensively). Offensively, his numbers don’t pop like number 1 and 2, but that can be partly attributed to his QB’s struggles. Despite that, he still is tied for 4th in TDs and 6th in receiving yards. He also has 3 games remaining against not-so-great teams which means he can also make a run.

#2: Andrew Grant, The Wolf Pack

7GP, 472 yards, 11TDs

A player with Andrew Grant’s speed always means trouble for other defenses. His nickname is “Flash” for goodness’ sake. He’s 2nd in yards and tied for 2nd in TDs, which is why he lands in 2nd place. His QB isn’t great with only 848 yards passing, and Grant is responsible for almost 49% of his team’s total yards: bonkers. Despite all the attention he’s most likely received from opposing teams, Flash has been efficient with 34 catches on 45 targets on 13.9 yards per reception: stud.

#1: Tyler Gurberg, Killer Rays

6GP, 554 yards, 15TDs

How often will I have to talk about this guy? I’ve had my reserves about him in the past due to the very high number of targets and how he was somewhat inefficient at times. Well, it is absolutely not the case this season. Gurberg has not only been more efficient with 47 catches on 62 targets, his team is 5-1 when he plays. In that sole loss, he went off for 146 yards and 3TDs against Pocket Rockets. He’s first in yards, first in TDs and he has only played 6 games, with 3 more to go. He’s locked this one down in my opinion and will face off against Andrew Grant on April 3rd. That is bound to be a fun one.

Defensive player of the season

Alright, let’s break down the points system I carefully manufactured.

Interceptions: 1

An interception equals 1 because it automatically guarantees a defensive stop.

Sacks: 0.5

A sack isn’t a guarantee of a stop, but it makes it approximately twice as hard to get a first down. 

Pick 6: Extra 0.5

A pick 6 gives an extra 0.5 bump because it’s cool and definitely adds some value (probably not 0.5 as it suggests an offense would score 50% of the time, but come on, it’s a pick 6, I have to give it significant points).

PD: 0.25

A PD is also probably not worth 0.25, but some PDs can be in very clutch 3rd or 4th down situations and then their value would be higher, so I think 0.25 is a fair middle ground.

Now let me get my calculator.

Here are the top 10 in defensive value

Mathew Caponi: 8.75

Nicholas Fon: 8.25

Justin Gauthier: 7.5

Emerson Peterkin: 6.75

Tyson Peterkin; 6.25

Mass Chiricosta: 6.25

Felix Cossette: 6

Gab Champagne: 5.75

Daron Migdesyan: 5.5

Lou-Felix Roy-Lachapelle: 5.5

So as of right now, I think the winner would be Mathew Caponi, with teammate Nicholas Fon not far behind. The rest are a bit behind but some big defensive games might come skew everything.

Anyways, there you have it for Division 4B’s Award Predictions.

Thank you for reading!