Player Acquisition:
Every team that has succeeded in the Arena football league has one thing in common, a great Quarterback. Most of these Quarterbacks have three things in Common, Most lead the league in yards per completion, Most are Dual Threat, and most championship winning Arena League Quarterbacks have a High QB efficiency rating.
The other component to a great Arena team is your passing Defense. Most every team that has succeeded in the Arena league has a top 3 passing defense in the league. It’s a perfect benchmark for understanding how good an opposing team is because in most cases the stat “Opponents Passing Yards per Game” matches up precisely with league standings. If you give up the most passing yards per game you are most likely bottom of the standings. The same cant be said for rushing yards per game, you can be one of the worst teams in the league in terms of stopping the run but still be top of the table in terms of overall standings in the league. The way you Win on defense in Indoor football is you disrupt the passing game with pass rushers and make sure you have pure cover corners and Safeties to clamp up downfield. So what this tells me is when teams are signing/scouting Defensive linemen and linebackers they should not be worried about “Run Stoppers” or a prototype Nose Tackle or a Run Stopping Defensive Tackle, the only thing coaches and General Managers need to be asking is “Does this player have the potential to get the quarterback on an every-down basis?”.
Quarterback Targets:
Jayru Campbell | QB | Ferris State
6’5″ | 215lbs
- 2018 Harlon Hill Trophy Winner as D2 National Player of the Year
- Consensus First-Team All-American (2018)
- Lead the nation in total touchdowns with 49 (2018)
- Ranked as the nation’s leading rushing quarterback with 1,460 yards (2018)
- Ranked #1 most of the season in passing efficiency (2018)
- Ranked in top six in-country in points responsible for, passing efficiency, rushing touchdowns and total offense (2018)
- 2931 Passing Yards
- 27 Passing Touchdowns
- 1460 Rushing Yards
- 21 Rushing Touchdowns
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Roland Rivers III | QB | Slippery Rock
6’3″ | 230lbs
- 2019 Harlon Hill Award Winner – DII College Player of the Year
- 2019 PSAC West Offensive Player of the Year
- 2019 D2CCA and Don Hansen National Offensive Player of the Year
- Lead the Nation in Passing Yards (4460) and Passing Touchdowns (52)
- 700 Rushing Yards and 9 rushing Touchdowns in 2019
- 2019 D2CCA and Don Hansen Super Region One Offensive Player of the Year
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Jerod Evans | QB | Virginia Tech
6’3″ | 232lbs
- Transferred from the US Airforce Academy to Virginia Tech in 2015
- Evans in 2016 set school records for most passes completed (263), most touchdowns thrown (28), most touchdowns thrown in a game (5), most passing yards, and highest completion percentage.
- Evans announced that he was entering the 2017 NFL Draft but he ended up undrafted
- Threw for 3,552 yards and rushed for 846 yards in 2016
- Played in the AFL for the Washington Valor and Baltimore Brigade since 2018
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Trevor Knight | QB | Texas A&M
6’1″ | 215lbs
- Won the Wuerffel Trophy (2016)
- Was named MVP of the 2014 Sugar Bowl
- Has four 300-yard passing games and two 100-yard rushing games in his collegiate career
- Finished first among all quarterbacks in the vertical jump, broad jump, and had a 40 yard dash time of 4.54
- Has Run for over 1,400 yards in his College career
- Signed a contract with the Arizona Cardinals after going undrafted in the 2017 NFL Draft
- In November 2018, Knight was selected by the Arizona Hotshots with the sixth-overall pick of the 2019 AAF Quarterback Draft
- Was a four-star recruit by ESPN.com as a High School Senior
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Skill Position Targets:
Corey Felton Jr. | CB/WR/ATH | Virginia University of Lynchburg
5’9″ | 178lbs
- Nicknamed “Jetrabbit” for his blazing speed, with a 4.3 40-yd dash time
- Versatility to play all over the defensive backfield and on special teams
- Compared by an NFL Scout to Chicago Bears’ Cornerback Tim Jennings
Made NFL Draft Diamond Top Small School List Invited to FCS Bowl - I really like this player, world-class speed with all the tools to play anywhere on the field
- Tore it up in the World Developmental League, Played Cornerback, Wide Receiver, Punt Returner, and Kick Returner starting at 4 positions for his team
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Kolby Listenbee WR TCU
6’1″ | 183lbs
- Ran a 4.39 at the NFL Combine
- Was a 6th Round Pick by the Buffalo Bills in the 2016 NFL Draft
- Is now working in Video and Photography
- Was compared to Texans receiver Will Fuller during the draft process
- Was last playing football in 2018 on the Indianapolis Colts Practice Squad
- Also was a Track and Field star for the TCU track team
- He was ranked the 11th best wide receiver in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com
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Jamarcus King CB South Carolina
6’2″ | 181lbs
- One of the nation’s top junior college cornerbacks in 2016
- The four-star athlete was the number-one-rated junior college cornerback in the country (2016)
- King was a high school receiver before attending Coffeyville Community College
- King started all 13 games in 2017, posting 41 stops, a sack, two interceptions, and a team-high 12 pass breakups
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Isaiah Wright WR/RB/ATH Temple
6’2″ | 220lbs
- Was awarded #2 at the beginning of summer practice – Temple awards single-digit jerseys to the toughest players on the team
- Paul Hornung Award Watch List (Most versatile player in major college football)
- AAC Special Teams Player of the Year
- First Team All-AAC
- Was one of the most Versatile Return men and Players in the Nation
Can play a Multitude of positions including WR/RB/KR/PR
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Josh Forrest OLB/MLB Kentucky University
6’3″ | 229lbs
- All-SEC third team (2014)
- Began his college career as a freshman receiver before moving to defense in 2012
- As a former wide receiver, he has the speed to play linebacker and also has a good feel for defending the passing game
- Totals 139 tackles, including 9.5 tackles for loss, and has three interceptions in Senior Season Led the team in tackles with 110 stops and ranked third in the SEC in tackles per game … Had double-figure tackles in five games (2014)
- One of my Favorite players coming into the 2016 NFL Draft, just never panned out in the NFL
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Jared Dangerfield WR Western Kentucky
6’3″ | 216lbs
- 2015 Biletnikoff Award Watch List
- 2015 Preseason All-Conference USA First Team
- Played in the AFL for the Washington Valor quickly becoming a top 10 receiver in the league
- Caught 70 passes for 629 yards and 8 touchdowns in 2018-19 for Washington in the AFL
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