AAF's only season

[OleMissCub]

Had the flu last weekend so actually watched a few of these games. Some takeaways:

 

- I like forcing teams to go for 2 instead of an extra point. It's much more exciting to see an extra legit football play as opposed to a kick.

 

- Eliminating the kickoff is great. They just start at the 25. Seems to move the game along faster.

 

- They have an interesting "onside kick" rule. You start out at your own 28 and have to complete a 4th and 12 to get to the 40.

 

- The teams remind me of Any Given Sunday

 

- Having the NFL involved and therefore having NFL production quality (for the most part) seemed to add an air of legitimacy to it. The announcers were all guys who call NFL games, so your brain hearing recognizable voices that you associate with NFL helped.

 

- It felt like watching a preseason game, but that may be more a reflection on how they've only been practicing for a couple of months as opposed to player quality. There's obviously a player dropoff from the NFL, but it's still a better product than college football as far as the physicality and speed of the players is concerned.

 

- I'm not sure I want football in the Spring. It feels unnatural.

 

- I don't think the league survives because I don't know who is actually going to go to the games. It's one thing to watch it on TV, but to spend the money to go to the games is quite another, especially since some of the stadiums they are playing in aren't all that great (Liberty Bowl in Memphis and Legion Field in Birmingham are dumps)

 

- This was a pretty cool hit

 

 

- Judging them simply by aesthetics, San Antonio is the only team that looks like it could possibly be an NFL team.

 

Edited April 2, 2019 by OleMissCub

[UMFan83]

I watched the first quarter of one of the games (partially doing something else) and the drop off in play was astounding to me. I probably didn't give it enough of a chance though.

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

Apollos? Plural Apollo? That makes no sense what-so-ever. I like it.

[SouthSideRyan]

Sorry, I'm an XFL loyalist.

 

Bob Stoops, wtf?

[OleMissCub]

Sorry, I'm an XFL loyalist.

 

Bob Stoops, wtf?

 

Speaking of that, I saw that the Dallas XFL team (the fighting Stoops’) will be playing in the Rangers park. I wasn’t even aware that the Rangers were building a new park, but it will open in 2020, and they are converting the Ballpark into a football stadium.

[biittner77]

-

I'm not sure I want football in the Spring. It feels unnatural.

 

That's what they said about the USFL and look how that turned out? Oh.

 

Is this supposed to be a feeder league for the NFL?

[OleMissCub]

 

Is this supposed to be a feeder league for the NFL?

 

Basically it's the NFL's version of the D-league. All of the players in the league signed 3 year deals worth 250k, but they have an NFL escape clause guaranteed.

 

There were apparently a bunch of guys who were or would have been on NFL practice squads but chose to play in the AAF because they'll at least have game film to shop around.

[WrigleyField 22]

-

I'm not sure I want football in the Spring. It feels unnatural.

 

That's what they said about the USFL and look how that turned out? Oh.

 

Is this supposed to be a feeder league for the NFL?

Supposedly with a particular emphasis on QB development. Which I'm not sure is totally necessary since teams just decided they could indeed introduce more college concepts to make use of these college QBs.

[OleMissCub]

Arizona's QB can sling it.

 

https://twitter.com/ftbeard_17/status/1094771798493655040

 

[Old Style]

I enjoyed the games this weekend. I will definitely watch more.

[minnesotacubsfan]

I didn’t watch any games but those announcers were like watching Eastern Washington play Oregon State.

 

Thats not as good as it sounds

[Sammys Boombox]

Is there any chance if this gains traction that elite high school players will choose this league instead of college? Is that even allowed?

[OleMissCub]

Is there any chance if this gains traction that elite high school players will choose this league instead of college? Is that even allowed?

 

AAF and XFL have both said they won’t take players directly out of high school.

[weis21]

Is there any chance if this gains traction that elite high school players will choose this league instead of college? Is that even allowed?

 

AAF and XFL have both said they won’t take players directly out of high school.

If either league lasts whatsoever I can definitely see players choosing this route rather than wait a year to play via transfer rules. Or if they flunk out of school, arrested, etc.

 

That is, if it’s an “only out of high school” rule

[SouthSideRyan]

Is there any chance if this gains traction that elite high school players will choose this league instead of college? Is that even allowed?

 

AAF and XFL have both said they won’t take players directly out of high school.

 

I Don’t know about HS but XFL said they’ll take players not yet eligible for NFL with Trevor Lawrence being used as an example

[OleMissCub]

Is there any chance if this gains traction that elite high school players will choose this league instead of college? Is that even allowed?

 

AAF and XFL have both said they won’t take players directly out of high school.

 

I Don’t know about HS but XFL said they’ll take players not yet eligible for NFL with Trevor Lawrence being used as an example

 

Hmmm, if the XFL has a guaranteed NFL escape clause like AAF, that could really get interesting for some players

[Sammys Boombox]

In my opinion the most exciting iteration of one of these leagues is if it becomes a viable alternative to NCAA for future NFL stars.

[SouthSideRyan]

 

AAF and XFL have both said they won’t take players directly out of high school.

 

I Don’t know about HS but XFL said they’ll take players not yet eligible for NFL with Trevor Lawrence being used as an example

 

Hmmm, if the XFL has a guaranteed NFL escape clause like AAF, that could really get interesting for some players

 

XFL contracts are all for 1 year so no clause needed

[OleMissCub]

 

I Don’t know about HS but XFL said they’ll take players not yet eligible for NFL with Trevor Lawrence being used as an example

 

Hmmm, if the XFL has a guaranteed NFL escape clause like AAF, that could really get interesting for some players

 

XFL contracts are all for 1 year so no clause needed

 

Makes sense. I bet the AAF goes to mostly 1 year deals after this season. I’m guessing a main reason the AAF chose to offer all of their initial players 3 year deals was just to keep them from participating in the XFL’s startup season. Smart move.

 

Speaking of the XFL, I’m gonna go ahead and go out on a limb here and all but guarantee that Chad Kelly will be the starting QB for an XFL team next year.

[biittner77]

In my opinion the most exciting iteration of one of these leagues is if it becomes a viable alternative to NCAA for future NFL stars.

 

If minor league baseball and college baseball can coexist, why can't the same thing happen in football? The difference is college football makes a lot more money. But a league that paid it's players wouldn't drain that much talent from the big college programs. Or rather it would do so equally among the better programs. There's still quite a lot of value for most football players to go to college.

[Sammys Boombox]

In my opinion the most exciting iteration of one of these leagues is if it becomes a viable alternative to NCAA for future NFL stars.

 

If minor league baseball and college baseball can coexist, why can't the same thing happen in football? The difference is college football makes a lot more money. But a league that paid it's players wouldn't drain that much talent from the big college programs. Or rather it would do so equally among the better programs. There's still quite a lot of value for most football players to go to college.

 

I’m not going to say more about it because I don’t feel like arguing, but I’ve lost basically all interest in NCAA football and basketball. It won’t happen, but I would welcome professional leagues where the quality of play is better than NCAA. Especially if they’re made up of guys basically 18-24 that have legit chances of playing NFL/NBA. Personally I’m ready for those types of leagues to be separated from universities entirely. Plus, the talent would be much more concentrated and be able to pull from a wider pool.

[OleMissCub]

It won’t happen, but I would welcome professional leagues where the quality of play is better than NCAA. Especially if they’re made up of guys basically 18-24 that have legit chances of playing NFL/NBA.

 

It was just their first games, so some of the play in the AAF was sloppy given that they hadn't been practicing that long, but the quality of play of the AAF will certainly be better than the NCAA.

 

According to the NCAA's website, only 1.6% of college football players make it to the NFL. Let's say that the guys who make AAF rosters are the next percentile down, then that basically means that the guys on AAF rosters are still better than 97% of college football players.

 

Watching the games, the players are playing at NFL speed and have NFL size. It was obvious from the 3 games that I watched that the physicality of the product is much, much closer to the NFL than to your average college game.

 

As I said earlier, I think the league could legitimately be a viable league save for the attendance problem. Who knows, maybe the teams really catch on in those markets and people actually go to the games, but I doubt it.

[ConstableRabbit]

It won’t happen, but I would welcome professional leagues where the quality of play is better than NCAA. Especially if they’re made up of guys basically 18-24 that have legit chances of playing NFL/NBA.

 

It was just their first games, so some of the play in the AAF was sloppy given that they hadn't been practicing that long, but the quality of play of the AAF will certainly be better than the NCAA.

 

According to the NCAA's website, only 1.6% of college football players make it to the NFL. Let's say that the guys who make AAF rosters are the next percentile down, then that basically means that the guys on AAF rosters are still better than 97% of college football players.

 

Watching the games, the players are playing at NFL speed and have NFL size. It was obvious from the 3 games that I watched that the physicality of the product is much, much closer to the NFL than to your average college game.

 

As I said earlier, I think the league could legitimately be a viable league save for the attendance problem. Who knows, maybe the teams really catch on in those markets and people actually go to the games, but I doubt it.

It's 7% of FBS and 11% of Power 5, so a bit less extreme depending on who we're comparing it to.

 

I think physicality comes from skill, but is also largely related to the fact that everyone(?) at least 22.

[imb]

i can't see any scenario where either of these leagues do anything other than give depth guys (and maybe the occasional kurt warner-esque story) a place to play in the offseason.

 

i know the one example that gets hit on is the trevor lawrence deal, this obviously pro-ready QB that has to play for free for two years before he can get drafted. But in what universe would trevor lawrence give up two years of development at one of the best colleges in the nation just so he could go play in a league that might be more dangerous than college just to make a little bit of money? Isn't that a huge bet?

 

The problem i think is that to get to the level where you can establish your league as a place to woo the trevor lawrences away from college programs, you need to get some trevor lawrences first. Just seems like an impossible scenario

[SouthSideRyan]

Agreed on the Lawrence point, I think their best hope would be some guy who blows up at Akron and doesn’t want to sit out a year to go to P5