Head Coach Jordan Neumann is back for another run to the title with an improved roster for the 2024 season. Most of Jordan’s coaching staff stays alongside their admired Head Coach for another season, so stability and continuity in the coaching front should help to achieve the ambitious goals that the franchise has surely set for themselves this year.
OFFENSE
QUARTERBACK
Reilly Hennessey will lead the team for a final “last dance” season where he hopes to take the team all the way to the Championship. After good numbers and strong leadership in an injury plagued 2023 season, Reilly is ready for a strong season if he can remain healthy.
The addition of back up Quarterback Lars Heidrich from Frankfurt Galaxy is a very interesting addition to cover for short time eventualities or just provide some relief in one-sided matches. Lars provided good performances last season in Sullivan absences in Frankfurt.
WIDE RECEIVERS
After scoring together the impressive number of 26 receiving Touchdowns and accumulating over 1000 receiving yards each last season, Darrell Stewart Jr, Louis Geyer and Yannick Mayr will be back for another season. This three headed monster is ready to cause havoc among Defensive backs units around the league again and they should remain as the main targets for Reilly throughout the season.
TIGHT ENDS
No changes in this unit with the return of Philip Eichhorn and Emmanuel Hafele. They are expected to continue providing that hidden work that all teams need and it doesn’t show in the stats sheets.
RUNNING BACKS
The Frenchman Nicolas Khandar will lead this unit for another year. After joining Stuttgart late into the past season, his very solid performances convinced coach Neumann that he had finally found his starting Running Back for the 2024 season. Nicolas might not be as flashy as some other Running Backs in the league but the numbers he managed to put up speak for himself. Homegrown Kai Hunter is a very solid back up option to provide fresh legs and keep moving the ball. Youngster Levin Liebenow showed some signs of promise too in limited playing time last year.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Last year Rhein Fire Offensive Line showed to the League how an Offensive Line should look like in a true contender level team. Coach Neumann received the message loud and clear and wasted no time in upgrading this unit.
The backbone of last year O-Line unit is back with the re-signings of 2023 ELF All Star 2nd Team and NFL International Combine invitee Luca Jokiel, former GFL All Star in 2018 and 2022 Alessandro Vergani, center Sascha Beck, Lukas Maier and Robert Hager to name a few. Top quality additions will join an already stacked unit. From Milano Seamen comes Francesco Runco. Homegrown Noah Nnabuo comes straight from the USA after a long experience playing as a starter in NCAA Division II Football. 2022 ELF 2nd Team All Star Sven Fischer from Frankfurt Galaxy will be the icing on the cake for a unit built to lead the team to the ultimate goal: The Championship.
CONCLUSION
The franchise has bet on continuity in the skill positions with the comebacks of proven ELF Stars Hennessey, Khandar, Stewart, Geyer and Mayr. The efforts on the offensive side of the ball has been on upgrading the offensive line so that it can reach the next level. On paper, this is a mission accomplished. This offense should be ready to go all the way through. GRADE: A
DEFENSE
DEFENSIVE LINE
This unit has gone through some big changes. Important players like Aslan Zetterberg and Sercan Vardar left the team to land in Paris and GFL respectively. Nonetheless, the franchise secures the continuity of key pieces such us Alexander Kreß, Maximilian Dommermuth and Simon Butsch. After these, many exciting signings in a unit that will look almost brand new. From the CFL comes finnish Chris Mulumba. Chris has been awarded Finnish Player of the year in 2017, 2018 and 2021. That very same year, Malumba is selected #11 in the CFL Global Draft and joins the Canadian league. From the Sea Devils comes Simeon Okonta-Wariso. The british was also selected in the CFL Global Draft in 2022 but didn’t sign a contract at the end. Homegrowns Neville Krüger and Leander Strathmann come straight from the USA after gathering tons of experience on the other side of the pond. Promising youngsters Patrick Schorn and Sadik Busch complete an exciting revamped unit.
LINEBACKERS
The backbone of an already very strong Linebackers corps is back for another season. After a stellar 2023 season, Sasan Jelvani returns to the team. Sasan posted impressive numbers last year with 63 total tackles, 10.5 sacks and 16 tackles for loss. Veterans Luis Bach and Nikolas Knoblauch are back for another run with the Surge too. Former GFL Defensive MVP in 2022, Luis Bach put up an impressive season last year with 53 total tackles, 2 sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss and 3 break ups. Superserien Defensive player of the year in 2020 and GFL Bowl MVP in 2018, Nikolas Knoblauch comes back to add top quality performances to an already brilliant unit. Luca Siebert and Majan Jelvani add depth to a pretty stacked linebacker corps.
The funny thing is that Coach Neumann had some extra aces up his sleeve for this unit. Big signing in Christopher Ezeala. Chris comes back from retirement after accumulating an impressive resume: Two years with the NFL Baltimore Ravens practice squad, seeing playing time in 4 pre-season games in 2019 and 11 regular season games with the CFL Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2021 as a Fullback and defensive lineman. Finally, from the Centurions comes a very interesting addition, youngster Felix Födinger.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Multiple quality re-signings to start off. Cornerback Mitchell Fettig is a key return for the team. He posted amazing stats such as 70 total tackles, 4 interceptions and 9 BreakUps that led him to be included in the ELF 2nd All-Star Team last season. Nick Wenzelburger had a pretty good season last year as well posting 83 total tackles, 4 interceptions and 4 pass breakups. Cornerback Ben Wenzler was pretty solid too, accumulating 49 total tackles, 3 Interceptions and 3 Breakups. Some other interesting re-signings are Lasse Engel and youngster Julian Jakob.
Is this all? No so fast dear reader… Coach Neumann knows too well that in a pass orientated league such as the ELF, a top defensive back unit is a must have for any legit team with championship aspirations. Big signings to bolster the quality of this unit in American Christian Tutt, British Chad Walrond and the comeback to Germany of young homegrown Marko Vidackovic after multiple years in the USA football system.
CONCLUSION
The team needed an upgrade in defense to really close the gap with the all-mighty Rhein Fire. As proven in the past championship game, the offense was up for the task but the defense suffered to suffocate all the fires and gunpowder that the franchise from Dusseldorf proposed to them. The backbone was solid but not enough to deal with the top team in the league. Signings like Malumba, Okonta-Wariso, Krüger, Strathmann, Ezeala, Födinger, Tutt, Walrond or Vidackovic come to Stuttgart to put a remedy to this.
GRADE: A
SPECIAL TEAMS
KICKER/PUNTER
21 year old Lenny Krieg take kicking and punting duties for another season. Still room for improvement for this promising youngster.
GRADE: C+
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