What a moron............blah...blah.....blah

2008 Southern Division Preview
Courtesy: Nathan Boudreaux
Release: 02/09/2008

Courtesy: Arena Football League


National Conference – Southern Division

By Nathan Boudreaux -- The loss of the Austin Wranglers brings this division back to four teams – all of which should be competitive in ’08. Georgia (14-2 last season) was the class of the division last year but Orlando and Tampa Bay aren’t far behind. The Force enters ‘08 looking to fill major voids in their receiving corps and must also replace offensive coordinator Steve Thonn. Tampa started slow last year (0-5) but rebounded to win eight of their last nine games and qualify for the playoffs. Orlando will always be in the mix and New Orleans will look to bounce back from a disappointing 5-11 campaign after posting winning seasons in each of their first two years in the League.



Southern Division Preview (in alphabetical order)



Georgia Force

2007 Record: 14-2 (lost to Columbus 66-56 in the National Conference Championship)



Key Additions: WR Willis Marshall (FA-Dallas) DE R-Kal Truluck (Dispersal Draft-Nashville)

Key Losses: WR Derek Lee (FA-Columbus), WR Chris Jackson (FA-Philadelphia)



The Force was the surprise team of ’08 posting a franchise record 14 wins during the regular season. Led by AFL record-setting QB Chris Greisen (117 TD passes), the Georgia offense was one of the League’s top producing units, averaging 62.9 ppg. But, this season the club will have to replace two-thirds of their receiving corps with the loss of WR Chris Jackson (free agent to Philadelphia) and WR Derek Lee (free agent to Columbus). Third-year WR Troy Bergeron (132 catches for 1,736 yards and 41 TDs last season) will be the go-to guy but the coaches are looking for second-year WR Brent Holmes to have a break-out season. Defensively, the Force will have an experienced front line (Ernest Allen, Jermaine Smith and R-Kal Truluck) and solid secondary led by Hamin Milligan, David Crocker and Willie Gary.



Outlook: Georgia won’t win 14 games this season but should battle for the division title again in ’08. Look for the club to take a small step back offensively with the loss of Jackson and Lee and more importantly offensive coordinator Steve Thonn.





New Orleans VooDoo

2007 Record: 5-11



Key Additions: WR Derrick Lewis (FA-Austin), DB Lin-J Shell (FA-Orlando), WR/DB B.J. Barre (FA-Columbus), OL Adam Metts (FA-Georgia), DL Mike Sutton (Trade-Georgia)



Key Losses: FB Dan Curran (Trade-Georgia), DL Henry Taylor (Trade-New York), LB Tremaine Neal (FA-Columbus)



New Orleans suffered their first losing season in franchise history last year with a 5-11 mark. Veteran QB Andy Kelly started the season last year but struggled with consistency and was replaced by rookie QB Steve Bellisari, who passed for 2,287 yards and 47 TDs against 12 INTs in five games as the starter. Bellisari returns to lead the offense that should be much improved in ’08 thanks to the free agent additions of WR Derrick Lewis (Austin), WR/DB B.J. Barre (Columbus) and WR DeAndrew Rubin (Orlando). Lewis has been one of the AFL’s most underrated receivers catching 252 passes for 3,314 yards and 64 TDs in two seasons in the League. Defensively, the VooDoo will have to replace top pass rusher DL Henry Taylor but returns DL Michael Landry (18.5 tackles in ’07) and is excited about the addition of DL Mike Sutton (trade with Georgia) and rookie DL Lauvale Sape. The secondary returns Chris Brown (65.5 tackles, INT) and Calvin Spears, and welcomes free agent DB Lin-J Shell, who finished third in the AFL last season with 110.5 tackles for Orlando.



Outlook: Offensively, the VooDoo, who scored just 52.1 ppg last season, should be much improved with Bellisari getting the majority of snaps with the first team in camp, along with the addition of a go-to receiver in Lewis.



Orlando Predators

2007 Record: 8-8 (lost to Philadelphia 41-26 in the Wild Card round of the playoffs)



Key Additions: DL B.J. Cohen (FA-Kansas City), DB Damon Mason (FA-Austin), DB Kenny McEntyre



Key Losses: DL Greg White (NFL), DB Lin-J Shell (FA-New Orleans)



The Predators, who finished with an 8-8 record last year, are consistently one of the AFL’s top team’s year in and year out. Orlando has not suffered a losing season since their inaugural campaign in 1991 (3-7). Last year free agent QB Shane Stafford didn’t produce eye-popping numbers (76 TDs against 10 INTs) but was efficient. The offense returns two of their top three receivers (T.T. Toliver and Ron Johnson) from last year, but will be without WR Jimmy Fryzel, who injured his knee in training camp and will miss the entire season. Veteran center Justin Cleveland will also start the season on injured reserve but head coach Jay Gruden is excited about rookie Jonathan Clinkscale, who has the ability to play both center and guard. The biggest question marks for the Predators will be on the defensive side of the ball where the club will need to replace their top two playmakers (DL Greg White and DB Lin-J Shell). Nine-year veteran B.J. Cohen (Kansas City) inked a free agent deal this off-season as did defensive backs Kenny McEntyre (10th season) and Damon Mason (10th season), who each return to the Predators to wind down their careers. Look for a pair of young defensive ends to also make a name for themselves in ’08 – DL Quinton Staten (led af2 in sacks last year) and DL Darryl Campbell (Notre Dame product who was in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers camp last season).



Outlook: If it were the year 2000 and not 2008, the Predators might have the best defensive unit in the AFL. For Orlando to be successful this season the veteran secondary of McEntyre and Mason will need to play at a high level and the club has to get immediate production from their young pass rushers.



Tampa Bay Storm

2007 Record: 9-7 (lost to Columbus 56-55 in the first round of the playoffs)



Key Additions: WR Sedrick Robinson (FA-Austin), WR/LB David Saunders (FA-Columbus)



Key Losses: None



The Storm struggled to open the season last year but came on late winning eight of their last nine games and in the process found their quarterback of the future in Brett Dietz. Dietz, who was named Co-AFL Rookie of the Year, passed for 2,395 yards with 47 TDs over the second half of the season. WRs Terrill Shaw (101 receptions for 1,411 yards and 24 TDs) and Hank Edwards both return as does veteran WR/LB Lawrence Samuels (team-leading 122 receptions) and free agent WR/LB David Saunders. Saunders, who caught 68 balls for Columbus last season, will rejoin the Storm in ’08 (played for Tampa Bay from 2000-05) and gives Dietz another solid red-zone threat. Defensively, veteran DB Jeroid Johnson anchors the secondary along with Khalid Naziruddin and Traco Rachal.



Outlook: Tampa should ride the momentum from last year into a solid start. Dietz plays with confidence and Shaw is still a top receiver. Look for the Storm to win a tight Southern Division battle with Georgia.



Boudreaux’s Predicted Order of Finish:

1- Tampa Bay (10-6)

2- Georgia (9-7)

3- Orlando (8-8)

4- New Orleans (7-9)



Nathan Boudreaux has been working for arenafootball.com since 2002. He has been associated with the AFL since 1999 and has worked as media relations director for both the AFL's Florida Bobcats (1999) and Carolina Cobras (2000-02). He also spent four years (2002-05) in the media relations department of the NFL's Cleveland Browns before moving to his current post as manager of marketing and business development for USA Football (usafootball.com) – the national governing body for America’s favorite sport leading the development of youth, high school, and international amateur football.

The fan poll seems to disagree. It had NO and Ga tied when I voted. lol

I was thinking and pondering on 10-6 but that will depend on how healthy were are after opening against Dallas. I expect that, as usual, to be a physical match up with a few bumps and bruises afterwards.

How quick we regroup will determine the season results.

If the measure of how well a team does is based on how many "star" players you lose then, as last year, we'll be "lucky" to even make the playoffs. Yeah, that's what Butt-dreaux, Rose (speaking of, where has that hack gone?) and most other of the league columnists said. Look at what happened. The real measure is how the leadership of the team (coaches, player coordinator, gm, etc) retools. Now if history is any indication then I think we're in safe hands. Since camp hasn't even started then there's no way Butt-head can make even any kind of accurate prognostication.

With that said, until there are dedicated team columnists that go every day to the camps then there's no one that will even come close to predicting things. C'mon, who had Columbus going to the AB last year? Yeah sure. That's what I thought. I'm looking forward to going to fan appreciation day!