Well, I’m back! After taking a few weeks off to change the format of this column so I wasn’t repeating myself, I figured it was time to bring back the OL Power Rankings. A lot has changed since week 4, but the trends continue, and a few teams are improving, while others continue sliding down the rankings list.
Week 4:
- DC Defenders(+1)
- Houston Roughnecks(-1)
- St. Louis BattleHawks(-)
- Seattle Sea Dragons(+1)
- Arlington Renegades(-1)
- Vegas Vipers(-)
- San Antonio Brahmas(-)
- Orlando Guardians(-)
Week 5:
- DC Defenders(-)
- Seattle Sea Dragons(+2)
- St. Louis BattleHawks(-)
- Houston Roughnecks(-2)
- Arlington Renegades(-)
- San Antonio Brahmas(+1)
- Vegas Vipers(-1)
- Orlando Guardians(-)
Looking back on the week 4 and week 5 trends, you can see how quickly things can change. The Roughnecks took a huge hit with their first loss against Seattle, as the Sea Dragons put Brandon Silvers and that Houston offense under a ton of pressure, the main reason for the two-position drop comes from the fact that Seattle was the toughest competition Houston had faced to date and they didn’t respond well, at all. On the other side of the coin, Seattle kept the Houston pass rush under control and kept Ben DiNucci fairly clean, despite DiNucci turning the ball over twice in the game. Arlington continued to struggle on offense from week four to five but the other three teams hadn’t seen enough improvement yet to drop them farther down the list. The Brahmas were still offensively inept, as well, but their run blocking was stronger than Vegas, and Vegas struggled in pass protection two weeks in a row.
Week 6:
- DC Defenders(-)
- Seattle Sea Dragons(-)
- St. Louis BattleHawks(-)
- Houston Roughnecks(-)
- Arlington Renegades(-)
- Vegas Vipers(+1)
- Orlando Guardians(+1)
- San Antonio Brahmas(-2)
Week 7:
- DC Defenders(-)
- Seattle Sea Dragons(-)
- St. Louis BattleHawks(-)
- Houston Roughnecks(-)
- Orlando Guardians(+2)
- Arlington Renegades(-1)
- Vegas Vipers(-1)
- San Antonio Brahmas(-)
As you can tell, late in the season the top half of the league is pretty entrenched in where they’re going to stay positioned barring a catastrophic collapse. Despite the week seven loss to the Orlando Guardians, the Defenders still dropped 36 points and they protected Jordan Ta’amu and were able to continue dominating on the ground. The Guardians were the biggest movers in the last two weeks gaining three spots. After Head Coach Terrell Buckley basically overhauled the entire OL, it’s been one of the better units in the league. Arlington continues their slide having lost a total of four positions since week one, and despite the solid week seven performance, they’re still struggling to protect their QBs and their running game is non-existent. The Brahmas had a chance to make some noise in the South and a dreadful performance against Vegas in week seven leaves a lot to be desired for them.
Overall, the XFL has proven that the theory that offenses generally struggle earlier in the year but as the season moves along, so does the chemistry of offenses. The OL is a beautiful gauge to determine the success of teams. The Guardians moving from 8 to 5 despite having only one win on the season is because the offense hasn’t been the problem since Quentin Dormady took over the QB position. The trends are showing the stronger offensive units remaining at the top of the league, while the bottom of the league is still looking for the right combination. The two worst offenses in the league are Arlington and San Antonio, but due to the dreadful running game of Vegas and their lack of explosive plays in the passing game leaves them looking up to Arlington, though it’s close.
I’ll be back with my closing week power rankings for weeks 8 through 10 as we continue to head to the end of the season with playoffs right around the corner!
~Michael Washington
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