Division E Preseason Report – FlagPlus Football League

Peeze’s Playbook

Preseason Report

By Paolo Della Rocca

FPF has many amazing traits. Yet, the most frustrating thing that FPF does every year is start the spring season on Mother’s Day. Luckily most people know this and plan around it. Often we plan brunches and the like for Mother’s Day so other than trying to keep too many mimosas down, this shouldn’t affect too many teams.

However, this does get complicated with people booking with late reservations, or other circumstances such as having to navigate with in-laws and so on. So I’d like to thank everyone who is playing today for taking the time to plan around their opening games.

Our mothers are special creatures. They’ve been tolerant and loving to many of us throughout the years. We try our best to show appreciation but in the end they show compassion and love when they allow you to leave the festivities early to play a flag football game. For most of us we get off with a slight guilt trip and a promise to see them later this week. Good luck with the aforementioned mimosas and your first games of the season.

Preseason Report

This is fairly simple. The top ten teams, in my my opinion of course, have been ranked as such. They make up my power rankings. The next grouping of teams are a collection of teams that have talent but will likely disappoint. Next I’ve ranked teams that I think will surprise us followed by teams that I think will not perform well. Finally, as this is an introductory division so there will always be teams that I don’t have any information on. The season is set to begin and I will get more information soon. For now however, let’s just consider this to be my preconceptions and biases.

Power Rankings

Los Siete Amigos: Los Siete Amigos proved their worth in the winter season. They came from the top of the Division 6D ranks before losing an eventual first round game to eventual championship runner ups D2: The Mighty Ducks. They have the best rusher in the division in Felix D’Aoust and they’ve added a potentially dominant player in Nicolas Lessard. The team is moving forward with Benjamin Reid at quarterback so ultimately, they will perform as well as he can perform with them.
Clinkers: The last time we saw Marc-Andre Desaulniers at the pivot the he was an all-star and the surrounding cast seems to be stronger than last time around. Phillipe Aussant has become a household name in the division and Jeremie and Maxime Ledoux are probably the best pair of off-season acquisitions by any team.
Tough Lungs: Matthew Lerner has been steadily improving and while I liked seeing him work for one season without his brother (Justin Lerner), the duo are obviously scarier to deal with as a pair. The team is missing one of the pillars they’ve been built upon in “Just” Daron Migdesyan. However, Olivier Doleyres is a low ranked impact player that is useful in a variety of positions on this team. At worst, they risk being one dimensional. At best they have one of the best talents in the lower to mid-divisions of FPF and a quarterback who’s capable of getting it to him.
Pardon my Swag: There isn’t a player I think of whose name is less synonymous with swag then Brad Evans. He is however one of the division’s premier quarterbacks and defensive play callers. The team is stacked from top to bottom and the addition of Craig Browning to a team featuring the brothers Keiller, Kyle McGuigan and Gabriel Bardetti. In the past when PMS has had Brad Evans at the helm they’ve been regular season warriors and flamed out early in the playoffs. However, here’s hoping that the lessons learned from Stephen Harripersaud will pay off in spades.
Los Banditos: In division E, Vincent Benjamin is a problem. In past seasons he and FPF vet Loic Savoiz-Seguin have provide Los Banditos with depthm talent and versatility on both sides of the ball. Role players Karl Janelle and Julien Wilson round out a strong roster that will compete from jump street. Francis Desrochers needs a little more in his arsenal than the deep ball to Benjamin and a run for a ton of yards. If he’s learned to be a more well rounded quarterback LB will rule this division.
Les filles du Roi : (by Simon Dagenais) It may look like a new team on paper, but Les Filles Du Roi have a wealth of experience at key positions. With two FPF veterans in Mike Addona and Peeze Della Reeze playing key positions (including QB), proven talented players in Alexandre Blais and Alexandre Massé-Dubé and a slew of new players eager to prove themselves as true stars in FPF, this team looks primed for a strong push as contenders. With the experience and the speed to compete week-in and week-out, Les Filles du Roi will be the talk of the town for the next few weeks.
Lockdown: Pat Riot is the single best pure passer in the division. He can also be stubborn and impatient. I say it with love and because I can be the same way. However, in the weakest quarterback grouping in years Pat Riot stands head and shoulders above everyone else as the bid swinging stick. However, the team isn’t particularly strong. LD will require Max Newcastle and Shawn Fontaine to carry the load while the secure hands of Steven Alberico serve as the ideal outlet man for this offense. Defensively a lot rests on Eagle’s shoulders (it’s a greater burden considering the size of the platform) to teach a relatively new squad of defenders how to play “Lockdown Defense”. I agree, it is a lame team name.
Trojans: Alexandre Fafard is a smart, solid quarterback. He has a strong arm and calls a system that works decently well. In the past the Trojans core had trouble holding on to his passes. However, with a fall season under their belt and another season in the can for Fafard, I think Trojans will compete.
X-Sterminators: Shayne Feinberg had a strange season in winter. He was solid while not having solved his issue where he throws too many interceptions. Still, I’m a Feinberg fan and I think he’s surrounded with good pieces this season. Mike Knopp is tall and disruptive. Offensively Alex Finkelstein has size and athleticism, and will be a handful for opposing defences.
Threat Level Midnight: There was a time where people would line the streets in protest that Jonathan Lemieux was playing in division E. Now we live in a world where week to week we don’t know what we’ll get from him. Antoine Baril is an exceptionally useful player who will allow this team to use him in coverage, at rush and as a very quick and shifty receiver. The team is well built and can take pressure off of the quarterback who too often puts too much on his shoulders.

Teams That Will Break Your Heart

Jean Guy: Jean Guy has returned and in their history they have had highlights and lowlights. Their last foray into FPF was ill-fated as they went 3-7 and had a +/- of -74. The team has talent: Christophe Chartrand is a decent mobile quarterback and Emile Lamy is a great grinder who helps the team move the chains. They are without stalwart rusher Simon Laporte and playing uniquely spring seasons will have them not learning enough to be consistent from season to season. Expect Jean Guy to lose you money to your bookie.
Diablos: Charles Verrault takes over at quarterback after the failed Michel Deguire excercise. It still remains to be seen how good Verrault will be at leading an offense. JD Joly is an excellent defensive player for this division and I think they will be involved in a lot of low scoring games. However, there aren’t a ton of game breaking options for Diablos. Charles Verrault can’t throw to himself and Francoi Martin isn’t throwing to himself.
Bud Knights: I keep wanting to love Bud Knights. Last season was puzzling as they were expected to rule division 6D an instead proved to be a middle of the pack team. Now Matthew Keiljan has acquired a serious threat in Laurent Foucault. With Stephen Harripersaud returning, we hope that he can coach up this young FPF prodigy but I think instead we will see Bud Knights once again lose so many games that we would have thought they otherwise should have won.
Brewers: The Brewers are in a tough spot. The subdivision they play in is as hard as it gets. They showed some moments in Div E2 but ultimately struggled against tough competition. Jefferey Lefebvre has grown a lot as a quarterback and his consistent weapons in snapper Chris Morin and Eric Pawlusiak help the Brewers move the ball and as such they’ll. Stay in games. Unfortunately they’ll end up on the losing side of most of them.
Honor Game: After spending a whole season with Dave Daoust I’ve learned two things. The first is that he really is, legitimately a great dude. That’s what makes the second part of this difficult. He’s got talent but will make mistakes with the game on the line. This team will win games but despite having the talent to dominate this division, they will likely be in the middle of the pack. Terry Babalis is a great rusher and Dilan Daoust’s familiar presence will certainly help. However, in the past a single Daoust is the key to success. tHey tend to implode on each other when they share a jersey.

Teams That May Surprise You

Believe the Hype: The team name is hopefully ironic and potentially laughably ironic. Their 1-9 season showed this group of youngsters that FPF is a tough league to jump into with both feet. The started in division 4B and all 6 of their player who had reps at QB threw only 15 touchdowns and 28 interceptions. This iteration appears to be without Jarred Gallant. I think there is youth, speed and talent on their side. Now armed with a season of taking their lickings may make them a tougher out in a lower division.
Mean Machine: The team is well built. We know Mean Machine as a decently successful franchise from higher divisions (up to division 4). It’s clear that Daniel Goloff won’t be throwing so on the surface, without a clear quarterback candidate, teams may be overlooking MM. That said players like Jake Titleman and Zak Sigler as well as having Golf their to coach whoever will be at the pivot, Mean Machine may be a contender by season’s end.
Green Means GO!: The last time we saw GMG they struggled all season long. The team doesn’t have a ton of names that will scare you (other than Eugene McLaren). Nicolas Di Maulo will start the season behind centre but the team has the option of moving to Dave Allen. I don’ think this team will score a ton but I can see them piling together some wins on the backs of their defense. This is a team who may go a whole month without allowing 60 points. The schedule also doesn’t have a ton of division stalwarts on it.
The Practice Squad: Tyler Grondin still hasn’t proved that he can play quarterback. However h has surrounded himself with a cast that now has championship pedigree. Andel Thomas-Gordon and Kevin Donnet are just off a championship run with Hurricane SZN and Stefano Spagnuolo and Nim Jenikovsky are solid well rounded pieces. However, until I see it, I think Grondin will simply ind ways to lose games that otherwise should have been wins!
Nemesis: Emile Janda now has a host of tools that will likely have him improving at the QB position very quickly. Mendy Cardichon and Jerson Previllon are guys that can walk onto a field in division E and legitimately dominate. They join Arnaud Prince-Duthel and take a team that had a sputtering offense and may help transform it to being one of the most explosive in the division.
Mambo: This team will surprise us with whoever plays quarterback. Kyle Pedvis and Nikki Papich are great players who will pose a great threat on defense. Yet, the team’s greatest strength is Joe Kano’s mouth and beard. The beard is beautiful and the dude runs his mouth so much it is certain to disorient inexperienced teams. However, the team is in this section because I simply don’t know who’s throwing. So whether awesome or trash, we will be surprised!

Teams That Will Struggle

Replacements: Replacements are in a tough subdivisions and struggled when moving from the development division into the main division. In a spring where the division isn’t split in the regular season Replacements will struggle. Frank-Teoli Colatrella has learned quickly but the entire team has yet to come together. Unfortunately, I don’t think this will be the season when they do.
Chocolate Barracudas: CB struggled in what was technically a worse division last season (6D). They enter the season with Sonny Elias at QB which showed last season was the best version of this squad. Lesson Pierre is a great, versatile player and the experience of Matthew Fernandez is noted. However, I don’t know if the team did enough to put them in a position to be competitive moving forward.
Thundercats: I’m sure teams that move down to lower divisions after having struggled in the winter season believe they’ll come in and dominate. However, the gap between divisions is shrinking each seasons and the only remaining distinguishing feature is quarterback play. Thundercats haven’t proved they even have that as an advantage. I think Jean-Phillipe Huard will be giving it a go again and his 6 touchdown/10 interception season in the winter lacked a lot to be desired. I’d be surprised to see Thundercats competing for a playoff spot.
Summer Birds: Summer Birds were Dirty Birds in E2. However, like a lot of teams in this situation they now live in a reality where there is only a singular lowest division. Ryan Eichler showed some ability but threw too many interceptions for his team to be competitive in the winter season. I’m hoping that it won’t be more of the same but his growth would have to be immense in a short period of time.
Raw Sauce: Maybe you can chalk this one up to bias cause the team name makes me want to vomit. However, I don’t think Raw Sauce will be any good. William Plante is not on the team’s roster. It makes me wonder who will be taking snaps behind snapper. Yvan Desjardins had a very good 9 touchdown season in the team’s last campaign. However, I don’t think they have the kind of players that can elevate what I expect to be a rookie quarterback.
Lionhearts: Lionhearts improved a great deal over the second half of last year. Emilio Greco has learned what works in FPF and hopefully whether he’s quarterback or he’s been replaced it will have helped a great deal. Chris Rose is a great top threat for this team and Anthony Iannancronz is a solid position receiver. However, the learning curve is about to hit a speed bump as they face some talented teams this season. They should focus on keeping games close and avoiding turnovers in their second season.

Teams I’ve Never Heard Of

Bozy Boyz: I never heard of these guys. I recognize a single player (David Makonen), with whom I played a single game along side. The team name appears to be a reference that I simply don’t understand. Nothing shows me how rapidly I’m aging than new teams in FPF. They consistently reference shows and pop culture references that have spent less time on this earth than my growing collection of white hair. When faced with this question of morality, rather than do the appropriate research I yell and tell them to get off my lawn.
Mountain Goats: If you were to choose an animal by which to randomly name your team after I would imagine that Mountain Goats is seemingly as good as it gets. They’re big, they have wicked white coats, horned af and the juxtaposition of their dark noses and mouths on their white fur does always make them seem like they’re smiling. Their daily movements are based around the species need to forage. Not sure how that reflects on their aiblity to play flag football but I’ve officially made you read a paragraph about goats.
Blackouts: I haven’t gotten blackout drunk as often as I’ve gotten (what I refer to as) brown out drunk. What that means is that I have some memories of the night before but they appear out of order and without context. Wait, how did we get that bottle of grey goose? Wow this rooftop is unsafe! Why did the DJ just stop playing music. Has the music stopped for a long time? This is a really nice dinner; oh that’s vodka in the water glasses. Dancing on a picnic table; not sure who she is. Why did I just wake up on the floor?
Canes: No roster was entered. I’ve put as much effort into this writeup as you did with your registration.

Saturday’s Slumping Shrimp

Yes, sure, I totally got it wrong and completely disrespected your team. My analysis was based purely on bias and not what I think of your team’s chance at success. So tell me what’s up by reaching me the laziest mother’s day gifts and @PeezeFPF on twitter, @Peeze Della Reeze on Facebook or by emailing me at [email protected].

For further analysis, tune in to the official FPF Division 6/6D podcast Calling the Audible where Moe Khan, Stefano Berardi discuss the best buttercream recipes, and how to trap a rabbit. Stay tuned for information about when and where you can watch it.

Have a great and safe first week of action. See you at the fields!