2026 Season Preview

Weekly predictions and previews from the 'experts'
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Mike
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2026 Season Preview

Post by Mike »

Western Division
1. Honolulu. HB Irons’ rushing has to be stopped or your offence will have to match score for score each drive. Played three OT games in the playoffs last year, so this team knows nothing comes easy. Weakness is some key players are getting a little old. Division rivals had 12th and worse rush D so real tests outside of the division. Big tough guys had the most penalties. Fort Wayne Alumni: WR Windsor

2. Reno. Budding rival in the division. QB Chang had the 6th best rating last year. Brought the Honolulu Hurricanes to overtime in the playoffs but 12th rush D doesn’t foster great confidence. WR looking speedy coming out of TC. Great draft pick in CB Dowling but he’s low on the depth chart. Fifth overall pick WR Yo Murphy penciled in at WR4…want to trade?!?! Call me for a trade! Fort Wayne Alumni: None (call me!)

3. San Jose (Lexington) Amazing pass D. Interesting FB pickup but that may not address crucial needs. WR Watts is amazing but in his eighth year may be better used as trade bait. Third overall LB Tisdale will finally bring some backbone to a team that gave up 20 rushing TDs. Can the coach get a profile that brings in a supporting cast? Only the HB and WR1 had over 500 yards receiving. Fort Wayne Alumni: None

4. Portland. Had the worst record but this GM knows his business. Slowly building around QB Reilly who had a respectable 95.1 rating on a weak team. Needs to get a HB who can carry the ball and work on defence (yes we will be using the Queen’s English with a ‘c’). May get the first overall pick again (call me!) Fort Wayne Alumni: QB Reilly and WR Eubanks

Midwest Division

1. Wichita. Made a lot of moves this offseason to bring the team to a higher level. Only one of two teams to go over 300 points last year. HB Holiday may be better than his former HB but who knows? Great Rush D may be a great matchup vs some of the great rushing offences. Fort Wayne Alumni: QB James McNear.

2. Green Bay: Love this team’s energy. Risk-taking GM actually found a way to improve on Palmer by taking QB Michna. Was edged out of the playoffs in OT by HON but won the Gold Cup the year before. The secret to this team’s greatness is its quiet but effective defence led by S Gilliam. 5-2 division record is the success that Jimmy needs to replicate, but that is very difficult to achieve given the division’s talent…or would be if SPR were still around. Fort Wayne Alumni: HB Booker

3. Minnesota: team with the most to gain as SPR left. #1 rush D would be effective against WCH but lost to them by 1 point last year. Can the veteran Shawn King bring them back to greatness? Not bad TD ratio but they need a higher rating to bring it to the next level. #5 sacking team that curiously gave up passing yards galore which makes him the Laughinghous of the league. . Fort Wayne Alumni: none

4. Bismarck. Interesting team whose endurance is a bit low, so not a 60-minute team. Great explosiveness but has to get ahead to win. Burlsworth is an awesome OL but not sure that will fix the 17th-ranked rush D especially as Burlsworth is penciled in at T3. QB Dixon protects the ball but needs a little help. Well, more than just the awesome WR BJ Sams who had over 1400 yards! Wow! Fort Wayne Alumni: DE Atkins

5. Colorado. Hurts not to put them higher, but with the worst D in the league last year this may make the prognostication look good. #2 In total yards offence shows that a balanced team Is needed. LB Sundy looks amazing and will be the cornerstone of the defence rebuild. 1-6 vs Division so can focus on that to shoot up. Fort Wayne Alumni: none

Central

1. Tennessee. Perennial division leader. #1 pass D last year and #1 rushing offence. Great sacking with 75 sacks. Buck-Zeck is probably the top DT tandem in the league. The weak point may be the passing game because the team is ahead so often we don’t know if they can come from behind. Fort Wayne Alumni: LB Flugence

2. Springfield. This move may have made this division the toughest. Barely missed the playoffs with 8-6 season and edged by WCH. Had exactly net 0 points for and against. Needs a bit better D to take it to the next level. Fort Wayne Alumni: none

3. Nashville. Underestimated by Mike (GM FWS) made a shrewd trade for QB Ricky Ray from Fort Wayne. Took a 4 win team and made it 7 within a year, keeping FWS out of the playoffs. Young team needs to be carefully moulded by GM Dean to greatness. Fort Wayne Alumni:
Ricky Ray

4. Fort Wayne. Has some great pieces but is terribly inconsistent. QB Manziel’s frequent trips to Vegas likely contributed to a sophomore slump, but strangely that made Manziel more popular with the fans. High draft picks in RB led to an average running game. Springfield’s move and Nashville’s surge likely means another high draft pick (Great picks by Fort Wayne). As this is likely the toughest division, FWS is two years away from playoffs at least. Fort Wayne Alumni: none as they are still on the team.

Eastern Division

1.Chesapeake. Great team. Only one of two teams to go over 300 points. Pass offence was 17th but they didn’t need to move the ball being ahead and having the #2 HB. A bit hotheaded, #2 in penalties. Best D in the league in that they gave up only 212 points. A lot of great TEs were taken recently but TE Nicklas probably best of the young TEs. Fort Wayne Alumni: none

2. Rochester. Surprising that they took over CON but they deserved it, surging past Fort Wayne in a 22-13 win to make the playoffs. Bethel B Johnson was passed over by POR and HON but surged with the Raiders to over 1200 yards receiving. Who knows what he could do with a real QB? Holiday almost had 1000 yards and was 4th in rushing, but was traded away after a terrible showing against CHE in the playoffs. Maurice Clarett is the rushing man now, but this team isn’t quite ready to go higher. This young team gets passed by as the other division wipes up free playoff positions Fort Wayne Alumni: none

3. The CON game. The Coyotes (who should be called The Artists) played well and barely lost in OT to TEN in the first round of the playoffs. This team is formidable, having lost in the Gold Cup (GBY) two seasons ago, and made it to the Conference finals for the two years before that. Opponents did get a lot more first downs, and the offence’s big names are getting a little older now. The icicles are growing long on TE Frost’s nose! Fans love the ‘talk to the hand!’ display and music when DE1 Omari Hand made his sacks, but DE2 Smith was second in league with sacks with 17 (TEN DT Buck 18). While this team’s players clearly know how to win, analytics suggests a few weaknesses that leave them out of the playoffs after a week 14 loss to Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne Alumni: C Cardenas.

4. Pittsburgh. Most curious team in the league. #3 defence but #18 offence. Very strange with two awesome starting WRs in Williams and Brown and Terrell Owens, and don’t forget CFL favourite Flick. Two seasons ago the numbers were very good…but they did not translate into the ‘W’ column. Big Bam Morris will be sorely missed as he was 11th in rushing while being so old he used a cane. He was also 21st in receptions. His D may be so stressed that they go on a Bender, Fort Wayne Alumni: T Mensch

5. Marion. Quite a turnaround, perhaps GM of the year but there was no GM! This year they will have a little setback with no owner. How can they keep up the league-leading +10 turnovers from last year? Time to give CFL great Andrew Harris the start at RB. Fort Wayne Alumni: none

Gold Cup: HON over CHE as HON makes one move that brings them over the top
2011 Gold Cup Winner
2013 Gold Cup Winner

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Connecticut
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Re: 2026 Season Preview

Post by Connecticut »

hee hee CON Artists
good stuff Mike :)

Good luck to everyone this year!

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