Another draft, another series of highly controversial opinions. The last two articles contradicted themselves, so I’m needlessly bringing my opinions to an ultimate league with the most important, highest stakes possible: bragging rights.
Regular Season Standings:
- Navy
- Kelly
- Sky Blue
- Puce/Maroon
- Mint/White
- Red
Playoff Standings:
- Mint/White
- Sky Blue
- Kelly
- Navy
- Puce/Maroon
- Red
Navy (1 in preseason, 2 in bracket)
This is a young, fun, and explosive team that will stand out early and stay that way. Sam is an absolute monster downfield and has the ability to get under cuts, turn and throw to any of his big receivers. Nes is a top three woman and will remain in the backfield with Steven breaking any defense. Their inability in wind last season will not be an issue with Steven’s control and experience. All this praise needs to stand aside for the future MVP of league: Bhagya Patel. From a strong lineage of ultimate players (ok it’s just Unmil but that’s enough for me), if he learns to compete with his body in the air, he and Ben Hayden will be the leading scorers in league. His length and fundamental ability are endless. Navy’s weakness will be in the depth of their ladies and being able to control Max’s poor decision making when he has the disc.
Kelly (2 in preseason, 3 in bracket)
I love Shea as a drafting king. They should have won league last season if they had been able to avoid injuries to their top 4 guys. This season they have Ryan, Brandon, Ben, and Zak as their top 4 guys, have two of Fuel’s best ladies (Matya and Alex), and STOLE Nathaniel Wilson (DUF alum) as a 9th round pick. They have strong backfield presence and mid players but are going to struggle to threaten the deep space and teams that have athletic handler defenders. If Matya can develop field progression and awareness, she should be tearing up teams and be leading assists.
Sky Blue (3 in regular season, 4 in bracket)
Sky blue is balanced by massive downfield size and tiny backfield players. Aaron is going to have to take over in the backfield with Evan’s crazy shots, and KJ will probably take more of a hybrid role with too many handlers trying to get their fingers in the pie. I think defensively they are going to get lucky by putting out super huge cups in zones, but will get destroyed playing man. They are lacking in rock-solid experienced ladies, and the team will remain consistently average.
Puce/Maroon (4 in regular season, 5 in bracket)
This team is unimpressive. Zach and Jenny are both solid players but the team doesn’t have any athleticism (besides Josh), physicality, or consistency of play. I think this team will probably implode when down as most of the players implode regardless of Jenny and Jeff’s positive attitudes and intentions.
Mint/White (5 in preseason, 1 in bracket)
Ok, I’m going to get a lot of hate for this one. Billy is attempting to play the system, and I love it. The issue with the current league system is that the regular season only matters for seeding in the bracket, and he picked up injured players that will be out until bracket play. This team arguably has the top two men and women, that if healthy by the playoffs will destroy every team in their path. Billy is coming off a broken thumb, was a top 3 national college player in 2018, and remains a steady force on the Cannons. As the best player in league, he’ll be making a difference if he doesn’t get absolutely plastered before every game. Alex is out for several with a hamstring injury but when playing 100% is arguably the second best backfield player in league. Consistently the leading turnover king, it finally seems like he is maturing and using his speed to value the disc rather than sending it 70 yards out the back of the endzone. Big lady picks (Rosie and Natalie) should be uncoverable and will be consistent targets for Billy, Alex, and Speedy once healthy. Billy went for the long haul and I think it will pay off.
Red (6 in regular, 6 in bracket)
Another season of, “Let’s have fun and not win!” by Fresca. This team lacks, well, everything except Munir. They lack a powerhouse pair of players, relying on Drew and Fresca as their washed top pics. Munir is going to have to learn to play aggressively and pray for bad turnout from the other teams if they want any hope of even beating one team this season.