Categories: Division CGeneral

Double Headers, Simon Dagenais and the Great Debate: Ben McMahon or Jeremy White?

To kick off this article, I want to congratulate semi-former player Simon Dagenais, as this weekend Mr. Confident himself is getting married in Malbaie, Quebec. That’s where Peeze, Eagle, Moe and the FPF President himself have ventured off to this weekend, so party hard, score chicks, be awesome, or something like that.

Back to FPF, the media team has mentioned over the past few segments of Calling The Audible and different articles, that some Quarterbacks have made tremendous strides in the past 4-5 years (10-15 FPF seasons). Two of those names that come to mind are Ben McMahon and Jeremy White. I’m here to point out and prove not only how much these 2 have developed their game from Div E/6 to now in Div C, but to contend that these 2 are playing at an elite level in the middle FPF divisions and may be the next QBs to make the jump into Div1-2/A-B in the coming years. Such thoughts and points will be made throughout the article.

But first, a look at what happened in Week in the division.

Injury Report
  • We’ve got an update to the FPF injury report: Alex Noel of One Step Closer will be out for an undetermined amount of time (estimates suggest 4-6 weeks) after an apparent collarbone/shoulder injury. Luis Begin will surely miss his #1 target and is definitely a hard player to replace. Noel was having a great start to the season, as he was tied for 3rd in TDs (6), 3rd in yards with 226 and the division leader in targets with 26.
  • This ain’t the NFL, where a 0-2 start is a death sentence, but it’s not where Tough Lungs wanna be right now in a tough division.
  • The Infantry got a big win over Blitzed Budds, as Goulet hasn’t yet found the touch with his receivers. Will he find that chemistry in Week 3?
  • Alex Fafard had a field day on the ground over The Commission! 7 rushes for 99 yards and a running TD.
  • Speaking of that game, it looks like The Commission got surprised by a rising Div 4 team in Beer Belly Brigade, losing 39-32. Interesting how the game was so close considering Gino threw 3 INTs, including one on the final drive, meaning The Commission didn’t score late to make what was truly a 2-score game into a 1-score game on paper.
  • Peeze Della Reeze has got to make it on Iggy Magnets FPF Fantasy Team of the week, right? He almost recorded the perfect QB game. He was 1 completion away (dropped pass) away from posting the perfect 158.3 QBR gamer. Keep reading to find out if he made it 😉
  • Free Agency Report: After Chris Rivest is parting ways with family ties down the middle, his brother will not be snapping for The Stoics. As the GM of the team, Rivest has recruited Omar Chavez, a former TE who played in Mexico. “A great guy that needs to learn the FPF game, but he looked good out there” – Rivest
  • Los Penetradores are not penetrating any defenses, sitting in the bottom 3 in points for.
  • Ravens got a big win on Thursday to avoid dropping to 0-3.
  • AF1 bounce back from their Week 2 Game #1 loss to Chris Rivest and the growingly talented Stoics squad when they faced off against TWO INCH’s GANG.
  • Nicolas Ashkar (Two Inch’s Gang) is the next name to remember in FPF.
  • 7 teams are playing double-headers in Week 3; get ready for the grind!
  • Les Montagnards recovered from their loss against EZW, with a 33-19 win over the ESU Timberwolves.
  • One Step Closer played TOPSZN real tight, but TOPSZN squeak out a win, 20-14 led by Ryan McGrath and Matthew Canuel on attack. They combined for 9 receptions, 142 yards and 3 TDs.

The Rise and Ceiling of Ben McMahon

As I browsed through the stats for Div C, it sunk in just how dominant Ben McMahon has been to start the season. He’s completing a career high 72.3% of his passes, averaging 233 passing yards per game and another 61 on the ground. That’s an average of 294 offensive yards per game! Insane! He’s averaging 6.3 TDs per game and has thrown ZERO INTs so far. His season QBR is out of this world, standing at 146.7 after 3 games. We all know McMahon is very good, scary good EVEN, but he is playing at level above all other QBs in the division right now. He’s tasted defeat twice now in the FPF Finals, both by 1 point, and it seems like it’s lit a 3rd burner in his grill. The guy is simply on fire, unstoppable and playing at an exceptionally high level. I really think Ben is a few years away from joining the higher divisions. The jumps from C to B and B to A are huge ones, and while he wouldn’t see success if you put him there right now, the trajectory he is on, I think his ceiling is playing in Div 1/A. Just take a look at the stats for yourself. 8 TDs thrown against a strong Ravens D is just nonsense.

Passing:

Rushing:

Game Recap

Air Force 1

vs.

TWO INCH’S GANG

First of all, TWO INCH’S GANG, WHY YOU YELLING? Maybe because they started off this game en fuego 🔥🔥. The first drive was headline by Nathan Tran‘s smooth execution of the dip move to surprise the AF1 defence for a 13 yard first down, as well as by Sam Granger‘s 24 yard scamper downfield. That put TIG at the 3 yard-line where the AF1 Redzone defense held strong until 4th and goal from the 1, where Félix Pérusse punched it in for 6. The AF1 Offense would turn the ball over on 4th down after Xavier Collette could only manage to keep 1 foot in bounds as Simon Blais took a shot on the sideline go, catching the D off-guard by going deep on 4th and 4.

TIG then used their other new weapon, Nicolas Ashkar, on the first play after the turnover for a 26-yard Deep TD pass that Ashkar fought for possession and won. Luckily, AF1 has been around the league for a few years and Simon Blais never looks rattled. He just goes out there and executes, which is what he did on their next drive, scoring with just 2 completions, as he hit Manu Allard-Roy deep. Allard-Roy was able to win a contested ball all while keeping his 2 feet tucked in behind the back of the endzone for AF1’s and his first score of the night.


Then, like what any quarterback will ask from their defense, AF1 were able to force a turnover-on-downs, as Antoine Caron got the big sack on 4th down to give the ball back to the offense. Asking for the time on the clock, ref Jack Nudi signaled 1 minute over to Blais. Knowing he needed just 24 yards to drive, Blais knew 6-7 plays were plenty to score and wisely conserved his timeout. Of course, he in fact did drive the field, ending with a Guillaume Fraticelli 6-yard drag TD, leaving only 1 play left for TIG, which fell 7 yards short of the Hail Mary TD.


The 2nd half is when this game got lopsided as Manu Allard-Roy started taking over on both sides of the ball. Up 14-12 at halftime and already with 1 TD and 1 sack, Allard-Roy would go on to score 3 more TDs and rush down Sam Granger for 3 more sacks, as he put on a clinic at Loyola last Tuesday on how to takeover a game.

With those 3 TDs, AF1 would go on to shutout TIG 18-0 in the 2nd half and put up 32 straight points after conceding the first 12. AF1 now moves to 2-1 on the season while Two Inch’s Gang fall to 1-2 after losing 2 straight.

Player of the game: Manu Allard-Roy: 8 receptions, 8 targets, 75 yards, 4 TDs, 4 sacks 🔥👀

The Dip, The Swag, The Confidence: This is Jeremy White

Jeremy White is a fascinating case study of a developed flag football quarterback. He came into FPF with the tackle football experience, killed it as a receiver with his first 4 seasons in his FPF career (Spring 2016-Winter 2018), producing at least 468 receiving yards each season and a combined 56 TDs. It was in the Spring of 2018 that he gave his shot at QB, and pumped out a 1781 passing yard, 46 TD, 7 INT season, taking the first iteration of EZW all the way to the Div E2 Final, losing out to the Ducks 53-33. In Div 3 this past Winter season, he put up 1737 passing yards, 50 TDs to 5 INTs with a whopping 122.5 QBR. So far this season, he’s on pace for 2,055 yards, 60 TDs and 0 INTs, and currently has a 132.7 QBR (yes, just after 2 games). However, those games are not against weak defenses. Both Beer Belly Brigade and Les Montagnards were strong defenses in Div 4B last season, but they aren’t elite-level defenses either that White faced last season in Div 3. Still, the 132.7 QBR is a career-high (for now) as he is simply picking apart defenses like a vulture would on an animal carcass. He’s entering his 9th FPF season as a Quarterback, and it’s clear he’s gained enough experience that the game has slowed down for him and is making the right reads and decisions with the football. That, plus his improved accuracy combined with his ability to extend plays with his legs are reasons why I see him making the leap into Div 1-2 / A-B sooner rather than later.

Passing:

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Rushing:

Division C Fantasy Team of the Week

Quarterbacks (2):

QB1 – Benjamin McMahon (Vultures): 14/19, 73.7% completion, 218 yards, 6 TDs, 0 INTs, 150.9 QBR, 7 Rushing Attempts, 69 Rushing yards, 1 for 6 on converts

QB2 – Jeremy White (EZW): 23/29, 79.3% completion, 196 yards, 6 TDs, 0 INTs, 134.4 QBR, 5 Rushing Attempts, 49 Rushing yards, 5 for 6 on converts (including running one for 2 points).

Receivers (5):

WR1 – Manu Allard-Roy (Air Force 1 – Game 2): 8 receptions, 8 targets, 75 yards, 4 TDs

WR2 – Alex Noel (One Step Closer): 5 receptions, 6 targets, 108 yards, 3 TDs, 1x XP1

WR3 – Ryan McGrath (TOPSZN – Game 2): 9 receptions, 11 targets, 130 yards, 1 TD

WR4 – Vincent Pedneault (Ravens): 6 receptions, 8 targets, 97 yards, 3 TDs

WR5 – Charles-Olivier Lavigne (EZW): 5 receptions, 5 targets, 95 yards, 3 TDs

Honourable mention: Frédéric Viens, James Drysdale, Jean-Christophe Ferland, Yvan Desjardins, Evan Vavinis, Mike Pierrecin (So many good receivers this past week!)

Defensive Backs (5) + Rusher (1):

DB – David Enault (Beer Belly Brigade): 2 tackles, 1 INT, 1 Def INT

DB – Cesar Garcia-Diaz (The Stoics – Game 2): 4 tackles, 1 INT, 1 Def INT

DB – Antoine Gagnon-Griffin (Les Montagnards – Game 2): 2 tackles, 1 INT, 1 Def INT

DB – Adham Hassan (Ravens): 2 tackles, 2 INTs, 1 PD

DB – Jeffrey Lefebvre (The Stoics – Game 1): 3 tackles, 1 INT, 2 PDs

Rusher -Giordano Proulx (The Stoics – Game 1): 5 sacks, 1 tackle

A Final Argument: White vs. McMahon

So this question came up in the FPF Group Chat… Today, right now, you have a single-elimination playoff game… who you taking? Jeremy White or Ben McMahon? I think the question is a great one, because these 2 are in their prime and both are white-hot, they are burning the lights out of complexes. White has won more hardware, winning QB of the year 5 times already, to McMahon‘s 2, but McMahon’s averages this year are NASTY and unheard of.

Just look at the QBRs though, both on their own and relative to their peers; these 2 guys are currently in a class of their own that it’s no wonder they have their respective teams at 3-0 and ranked 1-2 in the standings. So I’ve put the exact question we raised in our group chat as a poll question in the FPF Facebook page, so if you are reading this and haven’t voted, let us know who you’re taking as your QB!

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Week 3 Game Picks 

My Picks are in Bold Green

Tough Lungs vs. Ravens

The Commission vs. ESU Timberwolves

ESU Timberwolves vs. Vultures

Air Force 1 vs. The Commission

The Infantry vs. The Stoics

Tough Lungs vs. TOPSZN

Blitzed Budds vs. EZW

Los Penetradores vs. TOPSZN

Les Montagnards vs. Beer Belly Brigade

Vultures vs. Les Montagnards

Beer Belly Brigade vs. The Infantry

Ravens vs. TWO INCH’S GANG

Air Force 1 vs. Hot Sauce Sports

One Step Closer vs. Blitzed Budds

Epilogue

Well, that does it for the Week 2 article! Your boy made his debut as HOST of Calling The Audible. I didn’t make myself look like a fool, at least I don’t think so, so that’s a win. Check it out below! Also, feel free to reach out to me on socials @iggymanz or Ignacio Valdes-Manzanedo on FB messenger.