London Monarchs regular season review

London managed to get back to the playoffs with a late 4 game winning streak to finish 8-6. They had a 3 game losing streak in the middle of the season before regrouping and winning its last 4 games.

The offense finished 12th (6th - rush, 17th - pass) and the defense 7th (3rd against the run, 14th against the pass)

OFFENSE

QB Drew Henson was having a very quiet year, he had a new WR and TE and couldnt connect with them much in the early going. In the final month Henson was superb and threw for a lot of yards, one reason was he was more used to his new players, another was WR Christopher Liess who helped open up the passing attack with his great speed.

Henson threw for over 3,200 yards, 14 td's and just 1 int. He had a great year but the team wants more yards from him, 3,200 yards was a very low amount for Henson. At RB Joe Hall proved that hes one of the best in the league, he narrowly lost out on the rushing title (he won it last year) but had a great year with 1,213 yards, 10 touchdowns on the ground and broke a lot of big runs. Its a great job he wasnt injured as his backups are poor, a trade for Jamal Robertson earlier in the season fell through so the team were left with Joseph Smith and David Allen who are lucky they are even on the roster. FB Ben Miller is a great one and should play alongside Hall for many years. Miller didnt break many long runs this year but his blocking is superb.

At WR Dan Sheldon was meant to be the lightening quick WR for Henson but in the early months was very poor. Travis Anglin who led the team last year was traded to Orlando and he looked far better than Sheldon in the early going. Sheldon finally came on strong in the final 5 weeks with 4 100 yard games and made a lot of big plays. He narrowly lost the league lead for most receiving yards in the final few weeks, he finished with over 1,100 yards on 73 catches with a superb 15.4 average to prove hes one of the most feared deep threats in the league. His partner was Kassim Osgood but Osgood despite scoring touchdowns didnt put up the type of performance the team wanted from this former 1st round pick. In came another 1st round pick, Christopher Liess who has struggled in the FWL but Liess after a slow start performed well and has great speed.

At TE Dan Curley was a risk as many laughed at his intelligence but Curley grabbed 50 receptions for over 600 yards but did fail to score. Backups are good and young, Burt Toler has great potential but didnt play since coming over in a trade, Aaron Hosack only had one pass reception but both are well liked by the team.

The offensive line played very well, C Tyler Lenda is a rock, at guard Karreem Marshall was a great pickup and started all year, he has great speed and strength. Scott Huff had a great year after nearly being traded last year but was a rock at guard. At tackle Todd Wike was the teams starting left tackle but a niggling injury pushed him to T2 for much of the year, Michael Moore surprisingly did well at left tackle holding off former starter Dustin Keith who wasnt happy being on the bench all year. First round pick T Allen Feigel didnt play but has great potential and should work his way up the depth chart.

DEFENSE

The defensive line had many changes and just like the receiver position it seemed early on this might be a mistake. DE Nick Burley who had 11 sacks last year was traded, DT Junior Ioane a fan favourite was also let go. In the end the new look line came through, in his 13th season DE Mark Word led the league in sacks and was excellent. Speedy Eric Powell moved ahead of Word to DE1 but Word played better as DE2. Powell who has been a flop in past years finally lived up to his potential with 14 sacks, one behind league leader Word.

At DT Jake Sparks is very quiet, he had a good year stopping the run but only had 22 tackles and 4 sacks. His partner was former 1st round pick Melila Purcell but Purcell was very quiet and had just 3 tackles before getting benched. In came former Admiral, DT Aaron Hunt who looked great and played most of the second half of the season and had 5 sacks to lead all DT's. Hunt should start from day 1 next year and Purcell might be traded if he doesnt improve in camp.

The LB's had major changes. Fan favourite John Leake was traded to the Admirals but London felt they got a good deal with veteran Antonio Rodriguez and Aaron Hunt coming to London. Rodriguez was starting and playing well but he swapped with rookie Anthony Trucks late in the year. Rodriguez had a great year with 63 tackles and a sack. Anthony Trucks could be one to watch, he had just 53 tackles but had a sack, 2 fumbles and 2 interceptions to lead the team. Bobby Brooks was the pass rusher and had a great year with 82 tackles and 9 sacks. Late in the season the team added Surge LB Mark Brown, a former draft pick by the London GM. Brown is one of the best tacklers in history and played very well for London and finished with 87 tackls and 4 sacks and should start for many years, probably breaking the all time record. Young backup Derek Curry is coming along nicely but veterans David Moretti who came over in a trade hardly played and former Berlin LB Dustin Cohen was just insurance.

The secondary had a lot of change as well as Antwaun Rodgers was traded to Barcelona and during the season starting CB Marcell Allmond was traded to Ohio. Eric Hill Jnr had his first year as S1 and played well with 70 tackles and created a few fumbles with his hard hitting. In the end his partner was former CB Erwin Swiney who looked good but needs to improve in camp. The team really like former 1st round pick CB Willie Ford who came over in the Ohio trade and Ford could start next year.

At CB Jeremy LeSuer had a great year, had only one interception (kept his streak running) but is a lockdown corner. His partner was former safety Richard Yancey who played well but age is creeping up. Evan Oglesby a former 3rd round pick could start next year alongside LeSuer as he is looking very good.

SPECIAL TEAMS

K Tyler Jones could be the all time leading scorer when he retires but he had a poor end to the season, at one stage with 4 weeks left he was the most accurate kicker but a few misses put him down the list and he needs to bounce back. He did finish as the leagues leading points scorer amongst kickers for a 3rd straight year though ! P Brian Simnjanovski had a decent year finishing 8th in the league, Simnjanovski who has started since being a rookie has a great chance to finish near the top when he retires.