8:30 PM
Amway Center - Orlando, Fl.
TV: NFL Network
Radio: TribLive Radio (Pittsburgh), 740 The Game (Orlando)
This week's article is more of a season preview for the Power but I will also touch on some key players for Orlando and what we should expect in this matchup as the AFL kicks the season off.
The 25th season of the Arena Football League is about to begin, and I'm sure Power fans are anxious to see if the improvements the team made in the offseason will be enough to propel the team to the Eastern Division title or at the very least, a playoff berth.
A year ago, the team went 9-9 and barely missed out on winning the division. Head coach Chris Siegfried spent the offseason retooling the lineup and landed some significant upgrades who should be key contributors.
Although Coach Siegfried hasn't committed to Kyle Rowley as the starting quarterback, it's hard to imagine a scenario where a former Arena Bowl MVP rides the pine. My money is on Kyle Rowley and I think he will elevate the level of play we saw out of last year's starter Bernard Morris.
Rowley enters his third season in the AFL. 2010 saw him throw for 4,475 yards, 102 touchdowns and only 11 interceptions. His followup campaign was marred by some injuries but despite missing four games he still threw for over 3300 yards and 78 touchdowns. His interceptions rose a bit which is an area of concern.
One thing the Power will lose is the threat of Morris to take off and run for huge chunks of yardage. Rowley isn't that kind of quarterback, but he is a proven winner in this league who is a much more accurate passer. That's what you need to have success in this league.
If Siegfried does decide to go with Andrico Hines, he'd be passing on an experienced quarterback in favor of one that's thrown only 15 passes in the AFL.
Hines completed 8 of 15 passes for 102 yards in minor duty with the Cleveland Gladiators last year. He does have a bit more height and size than Rowley which can sometimes help a quarterback see the field a bit better over the linebackers.
Once again, experience and accuracy are important in the AFL. It's a quarterback-driven league, and I think Siegfried will ultimately settle on Rowley based on that.
2011 saw Mike "The Joystick" Washington make a name for himself here in Pittsburgh. His one-handed touchdown grab was one of the highlights of the Pittsburgh Power's inaugural season. Washington looks to build upon last year's success. Although he may not be the ideal height for the wide receiver position, he has blazing speed and knows how to run precise routes, which is a strong asset to have as a receiver in the AFL.
Lonnell DeWalt will start the season as the number two receiver until P.J. Berry gets fully receover from his training camp injury. DeWalt played strong ironman football for the Power last year, with many of his catches coming in key goal-line situations. Many Power fans are sure to remember his game winning catch with no time left on the clock to help secure a dramatic come from behind win against Milwaukee last year.
DeWalt's 6'6" frame makes it very tough for defenders to guard him at the goal line, and he also knows how to use that size on defense. I thought he should have won the Ironman award last year, not to take anything away from the man who did win it. P.J. Berry.
Berry joins the Power after spending last year with the New Orleans Voodoo. I did a Q&A With P.J. Berry a few weeks ago which you can read by clicking here.
He's one of the most exciting, dynamic players in the AFL, and set a record for total yards last season. He had over 2000 return yards and is a threat to take it to the house whether he's returning kicks or catching passes. Get used to watching the man they call "Superman" electrify the Consol Energy Center. The sky is the limit for Berry once he fully recovers from his foot injury.
The Power also have solid depth at wide receiver, including former NFL wide receiver Randy Hymes and former Pitt wideout Oderick Turner, both of whom have some AFL experience.
The ability of Bernard Morris to rush the ball made last year's running back Joshua Rue expendable with a few games left in the 2011 season. Obviously this was rotten news for members of "Rue's Crew." Now that Morris is gone, the Power needed to find someone capable of pounding the rock in short yardage situations and have turned to Tyre Young to fill that role.
Young returns to the AFL anxious to repeat the success he had in 2010 with the Milwaukee Mustangs. That year he ran the ball 65 times for 173 yards and 20 touchdowns. Although rushing is hardly the primary mode of attack in the AFL, it's still important to have someone able to get those tough yards in the red zone, and I think the 6'0" 310 pound bowling ball the Power have signed will be a lot of fun to watch.
Offensive lineman Mike Lucian will serve as the backup fullback. He did record two carries last year in a limited role, one of them for a touchdown.
The Power have completely overhauled an offensive line that struggled with injuries and consistency last season. Beau Elliott (6'3" 320 pounds) will be the new anchor in the middle of the line. The AFL veteran will be entering his 4th season.
The offensive guard spot is still up for grabs between Mike Lucian and Dan Jones. Lucian (6'3" 305 pounds) has already spent a year in Siegfried's system but Jones (6'4" 315 pounds) has a little more size. Both should do a strong job keeping opposing defenses away from Kyle Rowley.
Moqut Ruffins (6'5" 300 pounds) will serve as the other offensive lineman/tight end for the Power. He had two touchdown catches in 2010 and again in 2011. Not many players will want to deal with a player that size rumbling towards them after the catch.
Terrance Taylor came over to the Power in a midseason trade with the Spokane Shock and made his presence felt with strong pass rushing skills and a knack for blocking kicks. With Milwaukee leading 38-32 last year, he blocked what would have been the game winning field goal and helped set up the dramatic catch by Lonnell DeWalt for a 39-38 win.
Lining up alongside Taylor will be Neil Purvis and Justin Parrish at the defensive end positions. Purvis struggled with injuries last year, but a full offseason to rest should work wonders for the big man. The Power will need him and Parrish to provide the kind of quarterback pressure we saw out of the Power early in the season last year.
Tyrrell Herbert will start at the jack linebacker position in 2012. For those unfamiliar with arena football rules, this is the linebacker position that has to stay within five yards of the line of scrimmage until the quarterback pump fakes, then they can go downfield into more coverage. They are not permitted to rush the quarterback. Herbert was used at both linebacker and defensive back last year.
Anthony DeGrate will start at the mac linebacker spot for the Power. The mac linebacker can only blitz the quarterback from the side of the line opposite the tight end in the arena football league. This will be DeGrate's 3rd season in the AFL.
Lonnell DeWalt will backup Herbert this year after finishing the second half of the 2011 season as the starting jack linebacker.
Moving on to take a look at the secondary of the Power, there was plenty of room for improvement in a secondary that really lost its way once Royce Adams left the team for the UFL and Carlos Campbell got hurt. We saw the team get absolutely torched by Dallas, Utah, and Arizona down the stretch. It definitely doesn't hurt to see some new faces in this unit.
Chris LeFlore blocked 18 passes and intercepted 5 of them last year for the Dallas Vigilantes. He also returned some kicks for Dallas and would be a potential return man if something were to happen to P.J. Berry. He's only 5'10" so he might struggle a little bit with some taller receivers but all in all he has strong cover skills and will be a strong asset for the Power D.
Josh Lay returns for his second season with the Power. Despite missing several games due to injuries and suspension, he led the team in interceptions. He is a physical hitter who isn't afraid of contact. He brings a swagger and presence to the backfield and the defense seemed to feed off that last season.
Bryan Williams will serve as the third starting defensive back. He joined the Power late in the 2011 season and impressed coach Siegfried and his staff. He's got good size at 6'1" and should be able to match up well against opposing receivers.
Overall the defense should play with a lot of fire under new defensive coordinator Derek Stingley, who was the head coach of the New Orleans VooDoo last season. The physical style of the defense should remind Pittsburgh fans a little bit of another team in black and gold around these parts.
Last season saw Paul Edinger start off with a bang and then slowly lose his accuracy to the point where a change needed to be made in the offseason. Coach Siegfried went back to his Spokane book of contacts and dialed up Taylor Rowan to come handle the placekicking duties for the Power.
Rowan was good on 67% of his field goal attempts last year, best in the league amongst regular kickers. He was also good on 85% of his PAT's. He should be a fine addition to the black and gold.
The aforementioned P.J. Berry will handle most of the return duties this year, and you won't want to be at the concession stand when he's lined up to receive the ball. He's a threat to take it to the house every time. Look for him to push for 2000 return yards again.
Overall you look at the Power lineups between last year and this year and they have shown strong improvement across the board. I think the additions of Rowley and Berry will be the biggest offseason acquisitions for the Power. They now have a quarterback who has won it all in the AFL once before, and of course Berry is one of the biggest stars in the game.
Looking at the Orlando matchup, the Power will want to avenge last season's loss to the Predators. The game flipped when the Predators scored back to back net deflection touchdowns to wipeout a 14-0 Power lead. Bernard Morris and the Power had the ball but a last minute interception stalled the potential game tying drive and the Power fell 62-54.
Collin Drafts was the starting quarterback that day and he enters the 2012 season as the starting quarterback for the Orlando Predators. The third year man can struggle at times with his accuracy, completing only 58% of his passes last year. He does rely on his legs to extend the play though, much like Bernard Morris did for the Power last year.
He'll have two of Orlando's top three receivers returning again this year. Antoine "T.T." Tolliver hauled in 1525 yards and 32 touchdown catches last year while Bobby Sippio had 1379 yards and 32 touchdowns. Tolliver in in his ninth season in the league and is a former first team all arena player and made the all-ironman team in 2004. Sippio was a first team all arena wide receiver in 2007 and will be playing in his seventh AFL season.
On defense a familiar face will be suiting up for the Predators. Former Power defensive end Terrance Carter has moved south this year. Carter had 5 sacks for the Power last year.
Orlando's offensive coordinator is former Spokane Shock head coach Rob Keefe who has a lot of history with many of the former Spokane players that coach Siegfried has signed this year. Keefe is especially familiar with the quarterback he coached last year in Rowley. This might provide a little edge to the Predators as Keefe is sure to know the strengths and weaknesses in Rowley's game.
Keys to the game for the Power:
- Establish an identity early
- Play hard physical defense
- Dominate the line of scrimmage
- Weather the early storm
- Jump on Pittsburgh early, keep the crowd in it.
- Rely on veteran receivers (Tolliver & Sippio)
- Enjoy homefield advantage
Both teams want to start the season out on a good note. The Power were in control of the game last year until the "Immaculate Deflections" dealt them a cruel and unusual fate. I think we'll see a close game like we did last year. I also think the Power are greatly improved across the board and the scales of fate owe Pittsburgh one.
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