Post by MGB01 on Sept 18, 2023 3:21:48 GMT -5
WASHINGTON GLORY
Head coach: Reggie Barlow
Offensive coordinator: Fred Kaiss
Defensive coordinator: Gregg Williams
COACHING: It might not be a new era for the Glory, like say Josh Harris bought the team or anything like that, but it's a new coaching staff in DC. Barlow most recently coached at DII Virginia State, where he was 34-16 and won a CIAA championship. Kaiss, a veteran assistant who was Barlow's OC at Alabama State a decade ago, replaces the popular Tanner Engstrand whom some were holding out hope would be part of the new staff. The loudest name of the bunch is the controversial Williams, whose history is well chronicled. Barlow won a Super Bowl ring as a player, he has assembled the best staff possible in his estimation to get the Glory back into the playoffs, where they only went once under Pep Hamilton.
OFFENSE: Part of the reason Engstrand wasn't retained was Kyle Allen's regression, which resulted in a brief benching for Bailey Zappe. Zappe had his moments but ultimately proved in over his head, especially a disastrous outing in Kansas City where he was 6 of 18 and was picked off three times--including a pick-six. Allen was fine when he came back, but Barlow doesn't want a QB controversy in his first year, so Allen needs to be on point........The run game was a big part of Washington's early success, but when Kalen Ballage tore his achilles in Chicago something was missing. Kevin Harris, Jonathan Williams, and the departed Jacques Patrick all did well. But neither of the returnees are heavy workload guys (despite Harris' two 100-yard games), same for Snoop Conner, who will take Patrick's role. But before they entertain something like a trade for Jonathan Taylor they will have a fullback (Derek Watt) for the first time since the end of Ron Rivera's tenure, they'll see how that works out first......The Glory cleaned house at receiver to the point the only returnees who played major snaps are Willie Snead, definitely not the receiver he was in Dallas or St. Louis, and an inconsistent Dez Fitzpatrick. It wouldn't be out of the question to see two rookies take the field on February 18. One being Cedric Tillman, who a lot of draft experts regarded as the better of the two at Tennessee between him and Jalin Hyatt. Underrated steal Ty Scott from Missouri State could be the other. Michael Mayer, the most well-rounded of all the tight ends in this year's draft, will start from day one......Nick Allegretti will return to his natural center position after playing at left guard, which is where the great flip will come. Chris Paul, the starter at right tackle for much of the year, will switch sides and move to the interior and swap spots with the returning Jalen Mayfield, whose season ended lasted one game with a back injury. Austin Deculus (left tackle) and all-XFL Trey Smith (right guard) fill out the other two spots.
DEFENSE: Williams definitely will have the tools, as former DC Louie Cioffi oversaw one of the top defenses in the league the last two years straight, coinciding with the drafting of Christian Barmore--who lines up all over the defensive line and creates havoc--and also the return to health of all-XFL DT Grady Jarrett. Plenty of other guys on the line eat too between Jalyn Holmes, Maurice Hurst, and Sam Williams......The linebacking corps is solid, with DeMarquis Gates and Malik Harrison on the outside and Terence Garvin in the middle. They also added some depth in the offseason in Chazz Surratt and James Skalski......Obviously it wouldn't be Barlow's choice to come in and watch all-XFL corner Trevon Diggs essentially bounce after the first introduce-yourself meeting, but that's what happened. So Marcus Jones, who was all-rookie as a punt returner last year, is on track to start opposite Anthony Averett. Their excellent safety duo of Amani Hooker and Jayron Kearse returns. Fourth round pick Christopher Smith could play at nickel. Kary Vincent, Michael Joseph, Isaiah Johnson, and J.R. Reed are some of the names fighting for spots on the back end as depth pieces.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Washington changed both their horses midstream. Austin MacGinnis got off to a so-so start before he was dismissed and replaced with Dominik Eberle, who missed just one kick the rest of the way. Pressley Harvin opened as the punter, he boomed a league-best 77-yarder against Columbus but gut hurt midseason and was replaced by Daniel Whelan, who averaged 49.6 per punt but his units also yieded 17.9 per return so some coordnation definitely will be needed there. Ihmir Smith-Marsette will enter the season as of now the top kickoff returner but that could change. Ditto at punt returner when Jones won't cede his duties, coming off an all-rookie season with a league-leading 17.8 per return, but definitely some help will be found by preseason.
OUTLOOK: Things would probably have been different had the defense held firm one more time or the offense not waited until level four evacuation (one past go time), and the fact that it was against Ron Rivera probably sealed it. So a new staff is in, and as detailed here, the defensive side will have plenty even with the loss of Diggs. The offense has the question marks. Kaiss doesn't need to do for Allen what Doug Pederson and Press Taylor have done for Kyle Lauletta but just bringing him back to some consistency would be nice. Having Ballage back healthy helps, he doesn't need to be a 1000-yard back (2021) or have 15 TD (2020) again but just picking up where he left off is a huge lift to the offense in general. This team is good enough for another ten-win season, anything else is up to them.
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
Head coach: Reggie Barlow
Offensive coordinator: Fred Kaiss
Defensive coordinator: Gregg Williams
COACHING: It might not be a new era for the Glory, like say Josh Harris bought the team or anything like that, but it's a new coaching staff in DC. Barlow most recently coached at DII Virginia State, where he was 34-16 and won a CIAA championship. Kaiss, a veteran assistant who was Barlow's OC at Alabama State a decade ago, replaces the popular Tanner Engstrand whom some were holding out hope would be part of the new staff. The loudest name of the bunch is the controversial Williams, whose history is well chronicled. Barlow won a Super Bowl ring as a player, he has assembled the best staff possible in his estimation to get the Glory back into the playoffs, where they only went once under Pep Hamilton.
OFFENSE: Part of the reason Engstrand wasn't retained was Kyle Allen's regression, which resulted in a brief benching for Bailey Zappe. Zappe had his moments but ultimately proved in over his head, especially a disastrous outing in Kansas City where he was 6 of 18 and was picked off three times--including a pick-six. Allen was fine when he came back, but Barlow doesn't want a QB controversy in his first year, so Allen needs to be on point........The run game was a big part of Washington's early success, but when Kalen Ballage tore his achilles in Chicago something was missing. Kevin Harris, Jonathan Williams, and the departed Jacques Patrick all did well. But neither of the returnees are heavy workload guys (despite Harris' two 100-yard games), same for Snoop Conner, who will take Patrick's role. But before they entertain something like a trade for Jonathan Taylor they will have a fullback (Derek Watt) for the first time since the end of Ron Rivera's tenure, they'll see how that works out first......The Glory cleaned house at receiver to the point the only returnees who played major snaps are Willie Snead, definitely not the receiver he was in Dallas or St. Louis, and an inconsistent Dez Fitzpatrick. It wouldn't be out of the question to see two rookies take the field on February 18. One being Cedric Tillman, who a lot of draft experts regarded as the better of the two at Tennessee between him and Jalin Hyatt. Underrated steal Ty Scott from Missouri State could be the other. Michael Mayer, the most well-rounded of all the tight ends in this year's draft, will start from day one......Nick Allegretti will return to his natural center position after playing at left guard, which is where the great flip will come. Chris Paul, the starter at right tackle for much of the year, will switch sides and move to the interior and swap spots with the returning Jalen Mayfield, whose season ended lasted one game with a back injury. Austin Deculus (left tackle) and all-XFL Trey Smith (right guard) fill out the other two spots.
DEFENSE: Williams definitely will have the tools, as former DC Louie Cioffi oversaw one of the top defenses in the league the last two years straight, coinciding with the drafting of Christian Barmore--who lines up all over the defensive line and creates havoc--and also the return to health of all-XFL DT Grady Jarrett. Plenty of other guys on the line eat too between Jalyn Holmes, Maurice Hurst, and Sam Williams......The linebacking corps is solid, with DeMarquis Gates and Malik Harrison on the outside and Terence Garvin in the middle. They also added some depth in the offseason in Chazz Surratt and James Skalski......Obviously it wouldn't be Barlow's choice to come in and watch all-XFL corner Trevon Diggs essentially bounce after the first introduce-yourself meeting, but that's what happened. So Marcus Jones, who was all-rookie as a punt returner last year, is on track to start opposite Anthony Averett. Their excellent safety duo of Amani Hooker and Jayron Kearse returns. Fourth round pick Christopher Smith could play at nickel. Kary Vincent, Michael Joseph, Isaiah Johnson, and J.R. Reed are some of the names fighting for spots on the back end as depth pieces.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Washington changed both their horses midstream. Austin MacGinnis got off to a so-so start before he was dismissed and replaced with Dominik Eberle, who missed just one kick the rest of the way. Pressley Harvin opened as the punter, he boomed a league-best 77-yarder against Columbus but gut hurt midseason and was replaced by Daniel Whelan, who averaged 49.6 per punt but his units also yieded 17.9 per return so some coordnation definitely will be needed there. Ihmir Smith-Marsette will enter the season as of now the top kickoff returner but that could change. Ditto at punt returner when Jones won't cede his duties, coming off an all-rookie season with a league-leading 17.8 per return, but definitely some help will be found by preseason.
OUTLOOK: Things would probably have been different had the defense held firm one more time or the offense not waited until level four evacuation (one past go time), and the fact that it was against Ron Rivera probably sealed it. So a new staff is in, and as detailed here, the defensive side will have plenty even with the loss of Diggs. The offense has the question marks. Kaiss doesn't need to do for Allen what Doug Pederson and Press Taylor have done for Kyle Lauletta but just bringing him back to some consistency would be nice. Having Ballage back healthy helps, he doesn't need to be a 1000-yard back (2021) or have 15 TD (2020) again but just picking up where he left off is a huge lift to the offense in general. This team is good enough for another ten-win season, anything else is up to them.
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
OFFENSE DEFENSE
QB Kyle Allen DE Christian Barmore
RB Kalen Ballage DT Grady Jarrett
FB Derek Watt DT Maurice Hurst
WR Willie Snead DE Jalyn Holmes
WR Cedric Tillman LB Malik Harrison
TE Michael Mayer LB Terence Garvin
LT Austin Deculus LB DeMarquis Gates
LG Chris Paul CB Marcus Jones
C Nick Allegretti SS Jayron Kearse
RG Trey Smith FS Amani Hooker
RT Jalen Mayfield CB Anthony Averett
SPECIAL TEAMS
K Dominik Eberle P Daniel Whelan