Skip to main content

First Impressions of the AAF

First Impressions of the AAF
by
Darrin Sheffer

In today's blog post I will be discussing why I think that the Alliance of American Football (AAF) league is basically the NFL's JV Squad, and why that isn't necessarily a bad thing.  

See the source image
https://media.wane.com/nxs-wanetv-media-us-east-1/photo/2019/02/08/Alliance%20of%20American%20Football%20AAF_1549661791113.JPG_71803992_ver1.0_640_360.jpg

While I thought it was a little bit weird that here in Virginia CBS was showing the San Diego Fleet vs San Antonio Commanders instead of the Atlanta Legends vs Orlando Apollos I will say that I was pleasantly entertained... at least for the 1st Quarter.  A friend of mine criticized the league for being essentially the JV Squad of the NFL, but that doesn't really bother me all that much.  So far the AAF has done a great job of marketing and avoiding competition with the NFL.  So even though it isn't the same talent level as the NFL, because the AAF openly admits this I'm not disappointed with the product on the field.    

After viewing one game, I would have to rank the quality of pro football leagues like this:
1. NFL
2. CFL (Canadian Football League)
3. AAF (So Far)
4. AFL (Arena Football League)
5. Everything else

I'm excluding the XFL here because they have yet to put out a product.

Why would I place the AAF 3rd on my rankings?  If you are familiar with the CFL, or Canadian Football League, you would know that football in our northern neighbor country isn't any joke.  If you haven't seen a Canadian Football game I highly recommend that you do.  Just look at the quality of talent that those teams have at QB: Jeremiah Masoli and Vernon Adams (Oregon Ducks) Johnny Manziel (Cleveland Browns).  Last night the starting QBs in the AAF game were Logan Woodside for San Antonio (Toledo) and Mike Bercovici (Arizona State).  While there were flashes of talent on the field last night, I'm convinced that most of these players would find it difficult to make a roster spot on a CFL team.  

So why am I not disappointed?  First: I knew what I was getting from the get go and second: it's still football!  The feeling I got last night was similar to the feelings I get during Weekday MACtion during the college football season.  Sure, it isn't SEC, Big Ten or ACC caliber football, but it's football and what the heck else am I going to watch on a Tuesday night?  While I wasn't disappointed, I do think that there are some things the AAF can improve upon which I will touch on in another post another day.

In the meantime
Stay Obsessed!  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Quick Screens From Wing-T Offense

Quick Screens from Wing-T Offense By Darrin Sheffer                 When most coaches hear Wing-T Offense they usually don’t think about passing, however there are a few ways that a Wing-T coach can utilize his receivers on the edge.  Delaware Wing-T X-Now Screen One of the simplest ways to attack the boundary using the Wing-T is to use an X-Now Screen or Quick Screen.  Preferably, unless you have a QB with a rocket for an arm, I would rather use this play when the X receiver is to the boundary.  In the case of using the Right Formation we would like to have the ball on the left hash with the X lined up on or just inside of the numbers, this will give the QB a nice easy pass and the X a bit of room to maneuver.  I would teach my X to use the sideline and get as many yards as possible but you might have a different preference on the Now Screen. An idea that you could use...
Post a Comment
Read more

Unconventional Formations #1: Coach Slade Singleton's X/Z Over Formation

By Darrin Sheffer With Contributions by Coach Slade Singleton Twitter: @slade248 Photo provided by Coach Slade Singleton Coach, is your offense... Boring?  Predictable?  Looking to add some spice to your offense?  I suggest you find yourself an Unconventional Formation.  Now understand that I'm not suggesting that you need to find a whole new offensive scheme, I'm just saying you should really be thinking of adding something new and something that not a lot of other coaches have the balls to do.  Some coaches may be afraid that adding something on top of what they already do will ruin their strategy.  What if I told you it didn't need to?  What if I told you that adding ONE unconventional formation won't be too expensive to teach?   I want to first thank Coach Slade Singleton Co Author/ Unlocking The Air Raid DNA (link below) for allowing me to write about one formation that he uses and I just freaking love, his X/...
3 comments
Read more

Football 101 In The Classroom Part 1

Football 101 In The Classroom Part 1: Level Zero Vocabulary By Coach Sheffer Hey coaches!  A while back I started a blog series called Football 101 where I stated that coaches should consider teaching their players the basics (vocab, rules, etc.) of the game in the classroom before they get to the field.  Well, I'm back now with some examples of how I would go about teaching the basics of American Football to today's youth. https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1162901 For some background I am a High School Science Teacher at a school with a high number of ESOL (English as a Second Language) students and kids that just plain out don't understand American Football.  I have a few years experience teaching science vocabulary to these students with some success and I would attempt to do the same with the Football vocabulary.   I am attaching a file below called Football 101: Level Zero Vocabulary which you can use however you like.  Don't plan o...
5 comments
Read more