A7FL SEASON 10 PREVIEW: OPENING DAY MARCH 24 DELIVERS PLAYOFF REMATCHES & SPOTLIGHT ON DEFENDING CHAMPION LAS VEGAS INSOMNIACS

Players on the move, teams under the spotlight as season ten comes into view

Part 1

With A7FL’s tenth season just days away, it is time to prepare and figure out the tangled webs of one of the most chaotic offseasons in A7FL history.

Heading into the 2024 campaign, players, teams, and even divisions feel they need to defend their honor, beginning with the defending A7FL Champion Las Vegas Insomniacs, who spent the offseason winning their division’s Fall Brawl tournament, remaining undefeated in the process.

The glare on the National Champions may show cracks later. Still, many think their path to a second straight national title is all but in the bag with a club that features one of the best offensive lines blocking for a deep bench of running backs including 2023 Championship MVP Anthony Wilkerson.

Yet, what some saw as the National Champion’s aloofness during their Fall campaign could become a bigger issue and signal overconfidence, a problem that may have kept the Trenton BIC from repeating their 2022 championship.  The BIC have made big changes this offseason looking to reclaim their spot at the top of American 7s, adding Trey Robinson, a product of Pennsylvania, who started playing in the state’s A7 scene and then would find himself as one of the most talked about players coming out of Nevada’s Fall Brawl in 2023 due to his athleticism and physicality.

Robinson’s defection to “go back home” adds him to a team featuring quite possibly the best player in the league, Ashante Worthy, a New Jersey native who while in high school was considered the best football player in the state.

Worthy, who spent most of 2023 banged up after a very physical 2022 campaign that yielded him his first A7FL Title, will now have Robinson and other new weapons alongside the accurate and complex mind of former MVP QB Sterry Codrington.

Meanwhile, their longtime rival the Paterson U has made some key moves of their own not the least of who are retaining many of the key weapons that made them 4X A7FL champions. Those moves were headlined by the return of the 2023 MVP (and Quarterback of the U’s championship appearances from 2019-2022) Quatrell Huffin, as well as star defensive lineman Mo Ramadan, who brings along his younger brother who in high school was one of the most highly touted linemen in New Jersey. Plus GM Ryan Shamar convinced big-time return man Jason Cisson to jump from the BIC to the U to bring even more fire to their 3-on-1s.

With Huff’s ability to make plays and throws happen out of thin air, the speed of Cisson, and the overwhelming humanity that makes up the Paterson offensive and defensive lines, all who face the four time champions will feel it on Monday morning.

The Insomniacs, BIC, and the Paterson U are favorites to make it to the league’s 10th Championship this July, but that’s not to say potential spoilers aren’t lurking throughout the league. One I’m watching is the Baltimore Watchmen, who are just one year removed from almost making the Eastern Conference final. Now they’re looking to redefine themselves under the leadership of OG Buck Roekim Chaney along with two-time champion Corey Price.

Chaney, who has orchestrated deep playoff runs for both the Watchmen and the Rare Breed, walks into 2024 once again one game away from an A7FL Championship appearance.

Losing Lenny Hedrick and Jon Gause, who acted as safety valves or avatars for Chaney’s innovative offense, the Watchmen call upon Price, a former A7FL champion on the BIC (2016/22), who spent last season recovering from a week two injury against the Silk City Animals.

With Price in a more humble place than in his younger days, and Chaney’s desire to make a championship run for the Charm City, who’ve not seen the title game since two teams from Baltimore battled for the title in 2018.

The Tampa Bay Nightcrawlers, the team that sent the Watchmen up I-95 with the loss and were only two turnovers away from winning the 2023 championship this past July, has also loaded up for another run for the strap.  Two of the best players in the league, Mark Bagway and Logo Davis, have reunited with defensive stalwart Deyonte Henderson who leads a unit that features former NFL’er Dominique Rodgers Cromartie.

In the Midwest, league insiders are wary of the Indianapolis Octane, who look to rev their engines and race around the competition that includes the defending Midwest champion The Cin-City Chaos. Touting upgrades on the field and roaming the sidelines, the Chaos looks to fend off a Covington Heist team that in the offseason has made it a plan to recruit heavily within the Ohio Valley. 

Stay tuned for Part 2 of my season preview where I break down each of our 3 Games of the Week as Season 10 blasts off on Sunday, March 24 on Caffeine, DAZN, Creator Sports Network, and A7FL TV powered by SEEEN.