The Juice of the Lime
by Simon McGrother
Closer Look: Orlando Predators
Orlando have one of the most impressive dynasties in American sports. Since their 1st season in the league (1991) when they went a creditable 3-7, they have posted 15 consecutive winning seasons and have reached the playoffs in each of those 15 seasons. Seven of those playoff visits have led all the way to the ArenaBowl (an AFL record), with 2 World Championships brought back to central Florida. They boast one of the highest attendance averages of any AFL team at their home: the Jungle.
Their storied history includes a 50-0 victory, the only shutout in AFL history and a game with 7 possessions in the final 46 seconds (The Miracle Minute) in which Orlando outscored Detroit 18-7 to overcome a 42-32 deficit.
They are coached by Jay Gruden, who has consistently proven to be talismanic in the AFL &mdash he now boasts 6 (SIX!) ArenaBowl championships either as player or coach (and in his spare time, picked up a SuperBowl ring as an assistant to his brother for the 2002 Tampa Bay Bucs).
The Predators 2007 line-up promises a continuation of the success to which they have become accustomed.
Under center is long-time enemy Shane Stafford. Stafford leaves arch-rivals Tampa Bay as all time leader in attempts, completions, yards and TDs. So no lack of quality there. When he looks up from the pocket he'll see a balanced WR corps (much as he did at Tampa Bay), with Jimmy Fryzel and Javarus Dudley accounting for half the receiving yards and slightly more than half the TDs in 2006. Gruden's offensive talents come through in the balanced nature of the scoring stats. Five players scored 12 or more TDs for the Predators in 2006, keeping defenses very honest, and on their toes.
Fryzel and Dudley return, as do DeAndrew Rubin and Lin-J Shell. So that is 4 of the top 6 receivers from last year, with only the released Jerrian James and the retired Cory Fleming not back in the Jungle. This consistency should make the transition easier for Stafford - his receivers know the offensive playbook and their routes very well and should be where he expects them to be.
The FB position sees Marlon Moye-Moore and Kevin Nagle return. Orlando were 2nd in the league in rushing yards last season and should be one of the better rushing teams again.
So on the offensive side the Preds look to be very solid indeed and the lack of player turnover should see them play very well from the start, and in a tight conference, avoiding early season hiccups could be critical.
All credit to Gruden's skills as an offensive mastermind, but the Orlando D has been no slouch either. They were 7th in the league in TDs conceded in 2006. However the loss of Khalil Carter and Kenny McEntyre constitutes 150 tackles that they are going to have to find for the 2007 season.
I think that the defense will become more porous for the Predators, and while the offense will probably be slightly improved on 2006 the net effect will be a similar record to last year (10-6). Probably enough to win the division but if they want to go back to the ArenaBowl, they better hope that the new faces in the secondary prove to be (more than) adequate replacements for the loss of Carter and McEntyre.
Simon McGrother is a founding member of ArenaFootballOnline.com, the #1 source for Arena Fantasy Football information, and has been following the Arena Football League for 4 years. Contact Simon at smcgrother@arenafootballonline.com
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