Tier 3 Report Cards: Part 2

We’re back for part 2. We have 10 teams remaining, and I had an extra week of assessment this week’s teams, so that might help make this easier. I also went near perfect for my picks last week, going 13/14, and hopefully I’ll keep the streak rolling. This is our last big week until the season takes a “break”, with only 1, 2 and 5 games respectively for the next 3 weeks after this one. Make sure to heal up, because the final stretch of the fall season will be a grind. Let’s get on to part 2 of the report cards now.

West Island Boys, #4, 4-0-1, 160PF, 86PA

“Starting off with a tie against Born in the 80s is a bit disappointing. Zack Stacey is a very good quarterback, and he has a lot of weapons. Mike Collard, Skylar Bayliff, Mike Badibabungi, Micharl Raffoul, Anthony Grotto, Julian Mclaren-Thompson are all back. Now add Ethan Adrian and the comeback of Nicholas Di Maulo and you’ve got something very interesting brewing. It is no question that this team will do well in the regular season, but will they be able to get over the hump in the playoffs? (3-6)”

This team is right where I had them prior to the season. After that disappointing tie against Born in the 80s, Zack Stacey has rallied his team to 4 consecutive wins. Their most promising result: a 34-13 win against the 3-1-1 Team Sexy, in which they held opposing QB Benjamin Berbrier to a measly 8 completions and 81 yards. This team has been dominant defensively, only allowing 86 points in 5 games. The defense, led by Skylar Bayliff (4 interceptions) and  Ethan Adrian (9 sacks) hasn’t allowed more than 21 points after that first game. Stacey’s offense hasn’t slacked either, with 22TDs and 160 total offensive points (32PPG). With relatively easy opponents on the schedule, West Island Boys might challenge for that 1st seed, though that tie will probably bite them in the you know what. Despite the tie, I think they’ve played better than I expected them to overall.

Grade: B+

Record prediction: 7-0-1

New Diablos, #9, 3-2, 154PF, 122PA

“Francois Martin is probably going to be throwing, but obviously the presence of Luis Begin on the roster suggests double QB plays are on the card. Begin is one of the best receivers in the whole division. Alexis Bessette is also very solid, and so is Frederique Brunnette. Overall, this team looks pretty solid on paper and has a lot of experience. I’m expecting them to be at or above .500. (7-13)”

I don’t think I could have been more right if I tried harder. This team seemed pretty upfront with what it was: a solid team of experienced FPF players with a great leader in Francois Martin. He’s been one of the best QBs in the division, with 24TDs and only 3 interceptions. He’s also averaging over 200 yards per game, a rare feat in tier 3. The two early losses hurt, especially since they are probably better than those two teams, at least Wide Open Bar. This team is in need of one thing: guys showing up. Only Martin and star receiver Alexis Bessette have played all 5 games. Talking about Bessette, he’s been fantastic with 317 yards and 8TDs. Thing is, there are other stars on this team in Luis Begin (2GP), Frederique Brunette (2GP), Kevin Lubin (3GP), but their lack of availability has surely hurt this team, and the connection between QB and receiver needs to be built up. If all of these guys qualify for the playoffs and get more reps together, this team is going to look different (in a positive way) than it will have during the regular season. Considering how hard their remaining 3 games are (West Island Boys, Idaho Udapimps, The Penetrators), expect this team to be out of a double elimination game but be very careful when facing them in the playoffs.

Grade: B

Record prediction: 3-5

In N’ Out, #20, 0-5, 49PF, 146PA

“The team went 1-9 in Div 4 in Winter 2023 with Nicholas Katerelos at QB, who was one of the worst QBs that season. Samuel Deland was perhaps the lone bright spot on that team and will be one of the most dynamic players on the team. Many of the roster players are probably better than their stats indicate due to Katerelos’ struggles during that season. The tier 3 competition will probably be weaker than the Div 4 comp in Winter 2023, and hopefully that makes it easier for Katerelos. If the struggles continue, perhaps it will be optimal to look for someone else to distribute the ball around. (17-21)”

Ugh, I hate to do this. Katerelos is not a Tier3 QB, the same way he was not a Div 4 QB. I said, if things don’t go well, find somebody else to throw or it will be a long season, despite it only being 8 games. You guys are averaging below 10 points per game. Katerelos has only thrown 8TDs, has 11 interceptions and 15 sacks. Samuel Deland has once again been the best player on this team but to what avail. It is not too late to try someone else at quarterback, and perhaps that will unlock the potential of these other receivers.

Grade: E

Record prediction: 0-8

The RudeBoyz, #18, 1-4, 115PF, 177PA

“The RudeSaks rebrand to the RudeBoyz. The team went 5-4-1 in Spring and generally looked solid. It was Raffi Bastadjian’s first season at QB and he was pretty good. He should keep getting better. Trevor Ruffner, Alex Torossian and Jeremy Pelletier are his main targets. Jeremy Pelletier is also a great 2-way player, as he racked up 7 interceptions in 8 games in spring. This team could surprise, but won’t start off the season as favorites. (10-15)”

Raffi Bastadjian has not gotten better, he’s gotten worse. With only 14TDs and a disappointing 10 interceptions in only 4 games, it’s pretty safe to say things haven’t gone the way the team had hoped. Trevor Ruffner and Alek Asatoorian have actually been the main targets, and those guys have been good but the rest has been a bit disappointing, though how much is that to be blamed on Bastadjian’s poor play? It hasn’t gone well on defense either for this team. This does not look at all like the team that, last spring season, beat West Island Boys, and only lost by 5 to Idaho Udapimps.

Grade: E

Record prediction: 2-6

Wide Open Bar, #19, 1-4, 102PF, 188PA

“The team went 7-3 in Div 4 in winter 2023, and that’s probably the best result of any team in Tier 3. Unfortunately for them, the QB of that 7-3 team was Jean Lussier, who is now over the QB cap for Tier 3. Edouard Leroux will most likely be the QB for this team, and Jean Lussier will line up as a receiver. The byproduct will be that Wide Open Bar loses one of its best receivers and Jean Lussier is not as good of a receiver. Louis Lussier and Philippe Leroux will be the main targets. This team will definitely be a playoff team but the uncertainty at quarterback leaves me unsure about whether this team is a contender. (1-5)”

What is going on? You would think that this team’s struggles would be blamed on the change at QB, with Louis Lussier finally being the one to have the privilege of throwing for this team. I know they wish Jean Lussier could throw, that way Louis could play his natural position of receiver and vice versa. Although that would help, that would not solve whatever is happening with their defense. They’ve allowed almost 40 points per game, and outscoring that is an almost insurmountable task for an inexperienced Louis Lussier who hasn’t been particularly bad, throwing 14TDs and 8 interceptions, and rushing for 170 yards and a TD. They simply haven’t been able to get stops and have been forced to hurry up the offense due to always being down. Tristan Scandar and Jean Lussier have been solid as receivers but only have 5TDs between them. The defense has only gotten 3 interceptions. Not good enough. Thankfully, they get to play Mengoose and In N’ Out.

Grade: E

Record prediction: 3-5

Griffnation, #16, 1-4, 137PF, 150PA

“This is a new team and I don’t know if anyone other than QB Olivier Sabourin has ever played flag. Sabourin’s experience in FPF at QB is not very impressive either. All of those guys played football at the CEGEP level with the Griffons du CEGEP de l’Outaouais. With not much FPF experience, I expect this team to struggle initially and get better as the season goes along. I don’t know exactly what to expect from them but their 48-25 win over Rico Ryders is absolutely encouraging. (10-21)”

I thought that this could be the worst team in the division, and also one of the most surprising underdogs. Well, 5 games later, this team sits at 1-4, and if you only looked at their record, you could say this has been a disappointing, though not unexpected start. That is absolutely not the case. They’re 0-3 in their last 3, but only have a differential of -11 in those 3 losses combined. Things are starting to turn around, and the fact is they only lost by 1 to Penetrators and 4 to Killer Rays. In those two games, the offense seemed to fail to click, but the defense was marvelous. They held Justin Goodman to under 50% completion and the game after that, they picked off Tylar Bianchi twice. Olivier Sabourin has just been inconsistent between very good and very bad. If he’s able to find that consistency, this team could surprise many. Thomas Marjooni-Houle is already a star in his first FPF season, and David Chateauvert has done really good as a 2nd option. I can’t give them a very good rating due to being 1-4, but…

Grade: B

Record prediction: 3-5

Mengoose, #11, 2-3, 87PF, 125PA

“After 2 terrible seasons in Div4 and Tier 3, Mengoose move down a little bit in terms of competition. Let’s just be honest, Felix-Antoine Lavigne has been bad in his FPF career so far. He throws a lot of picks and he gets sacked a lot, which is never a recipe for success. Perhaps the easier competition will help slow the game down for him but Mengoose should keep struggling. Charles-Olivier Lavigne is going to be a tough matchup for many teams, and many of the players on Mengoose are ballers, but they’ll need Felix-Antoine Lavigne to be better if they want to finally be competitive. (10-17)”

In a sense, they’re 2-3. In another, they’ve beat the 2 worst teams in the division. In another another, they haven’t scored more than 16 points in their other 3 games. In another another another, they’ve lost by at least 3 possessions in those games. FA Lavigne has once again been bad, he has 12TDs only and 11 interceptions. At least he only got sacked 4 times so there’s improvement. Even CO Lavigne hasn’t been able to do much, and no one has over 140 yards on the squad. Defensively, there’s not much going on either. It’ll be a struggle the rest of the way, and Wide Open Bar is their only real shot at winning. 

Grade: C-

Record prediction: 2-6

Bandits, #15, 1-3-1, 101PF, 141PA

“Emile Skaf’s Bandits squad definitely has the potential to be dangerous. Skaf distributes the ball extremely well and all of the players on the roster are capable offensively. Aridi, Nahra, Sylvain, Jeannis, Labrosse, Mourelatos and Champagne all had at least 5TD receptions last season. Perhaps the only question mark is whether they have a true star player who can create plays out of nothing when the situations seems dark. Perhaps Aridi or Nahra is that guy. (3-8)”

I think no one was expecting Emile Skaf to have as big of a drop off in quality from one season to the other. This guy threw 38TDs and 7 interceptions in Div D last spring, and you’re telling me that’s the same guy who has 15TDs and 14 interceptions this season? That’s almost worse than the first time he played QB in FPF, back in 2020! Something’s off with Skaf and if he doesn’t find a solution quickly, this season won’t go off for much longer in the playoffs. Jad Aridi and Jean-Pierre Nahra have been solid, as expected. I don’t want to give a bad grade to the whole team, when the QB has been holding the team back, but I will have to.

Grade: F

Record prediction: 1-6-1

Rico Ryders, #13, 2-3, 120PF, 154PA

“Already 0-1 on the season after losing to new team Griffnation. Rico Ryders are a solid team with a very potent offense that can have a lot of turnovers, as was shown through Mathew Yanakoulias’ 3 interceptions thrown in week 1. Justin Lerner, Greg Kritselas and Daron Migdesyan are the main guys. They’re hit or miss, and can win or lose against anyone. (8-15)”

So we can all agree that Rico Ryders are the ultimate trap game for any team in this division? I think Trapstars, Killer Rays and West Island Boys might agree. This really is a hit or miss team that can rack up a lot of yards or get shutdown against apparently similarly talented teams. You never really know what to expect from this team and especially from QB Mathew Yanakoulias, who’s been pretty solid this season. 17TDs and 867 yards is solid for him, but the 10 interceptions are obviously a worry, though a known one. Greg Kritselas, Justin Lerner and Daron Migdesyan were as advertised. They are pretty much exactly where I had them.

Grade: B-

Record prediction: 3-5

Illegal Use of Hands, #2, 5-0, 167PF, 81PA

“This is an interesting squad but I’m personally worried about them. Alessandro Barazzoni and Anthony Lazzara will both be eligible to throw, which means we could see some creative double QB plays, especially on converts. The team is basically a watered down Repeat Offenders squad without Nic Groppini, AJ Gomes and Raff Morelli. You still have Barazzoni who will move to QB, Anthony Lazzara, Anthony Siggia and Dan Lazzara. Repeat Offenders only went 5-5 and this is a worst version of that squad. They could struggle, but the experience they have is almost unmatched in tier 3. (12-17) “

Okay, I was wrong, this team is amazing. Alessandro Barazzoni is one of the front-runners for QB of the year. Bekim Borova has taken his game to another level. Anthony Lazzara has done amazing as a second option. Defensively, both Siggia and Borova have 3 interceptions. The team’s scored more than twice what they’ve allowed. They’re not going to lose another game this regular season and will most likely take that number 1 seed off my team’s hands, Idaho Udapimps. Their dominant win over Joes Panini only confirmed what most are already thinking, they’re the favorites with Idaho to win it all. 

Grade: A+

Record prediction: 8-0

We’re done with mid-season report cards, and so we move on to my picks this week. 

Week 6 picks

Bandits vs. Bleue Dry

Joes Panini vs. Mengoose

Lightwork vs. Illegal Use of Hands

Idaho Udapimps vs. New Diablos

Bleue Dry vs. Wide Open Bar

Griffnation vs. Trapstars

The RudeBoyz vs. Illegal Use of Hands

Born in the 80s vs. Team Sexy

West Island Boys vs. New Diablos

Rico Ryders vs. Born in the 80s

The RudeBoyz vs. In N’ Out

Current Record: 29-9 (73.53%)