Istanbul Janissaries (3-7)
Istanbul has finally begun to play up to preseason expectations, winning their last 2 games to reach 3-7 on the year. Not at all where they hoped to be, but .500 remains a possibility if the arc continues.
While their defense has been much maligned–and as they are given up the most points in the league, deservedly so–there is talent there and some improvement. Istanbul also has the worst running attack in the WFL, making that a more likely area of focus in the draft. They are one of only 2 teams in the league averaging over 300 yards per game passing.
Their 19 turnovers and -10 turnover ratio are both second-worst in the league: turn that around and the season turns around.
#Bottom Line
Roster Moves. Promote Perry to reserve role, move Butler up.
Draft Needs. T, RB, DL.
Week Four Draftee Update: Joe Perry. Hasn’t seen the light of day yet..
#QB
Istanbul’s fortunes turned with the replacement of Ben Roethilisberger with Johnny Unitas at QB. Roethlisberger wasn’t downright bad, but he wasn’t doing enough and while both he and Unitas have thrown too many interceptions, the newcomer has been better at getting the ball into the end zone, edging his QB rating towards 100. There are some concerns about Unitas’ consistency: two games over 400 yards passing tend to blur the picture somewhat.
#RB
Franco Harris keeps seeming on the verge of moving into the top echelon of backs in the league, but he is still just short of that group, gaining 636 yards and, as importantly, 11 TDs. The only blemish for Harris–outside the tendency towards solid performances and not great ones–is his 5 fumbles.Right now, Istanbul is convinced the secret to improving the ground game is in the offensive line, not the ball carrier. But questions remain.
Bernard Pierce has been mediocre behind him, and nobody else has stepped up.
#WR & TE
This has been a bright spot for Istanbul: Antonio Brown has been a consistent deep threat, and has 66 catches for over 1100 yards on the season, and Hines Ward has added 62 for 787 while John Stallworth has emerged as a solid #3. The three of them have 11 TDs between them, and there is some depth behind them in Torrey Smith, Markus Wheaton, and, more recently, Yancey Thigpen.
Dennis Pitta and Heath Miller have been very strong at TE, with 36 catches, over 400 yards, and 6 TDs between them
#OL
Marshal Yanda and Mike Webster have been very good up front, and David DeCastro decent. Kelechi Osemele has struggled, but he’s out for the year. Help at T could be useful, even with Eugene Monroe‘s pending return.
#DL
Mean Joe Greene has been strong up front: 6 sacks and 4 hurries, but the line could be doing better overall: Haloti Ngata and Brett Keisel have been good enough when healthy, but Ngata is out another month and Keisel may not be back this season. Elvis Dumervil is also out, but wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire. The good news is that L.C. Greenwood and Dwight White have been doing well filling in.
#LB
This was supposed to be the strength of the team, and while they’ve been rounding into shape over the past few weeks, they’ve still been weaker than expected overall. Greg Lloyd has led the way with 71 tackles, 7 stuffs, and 3 deflections and Ray Lewis has added 55 tackles and 9 stuffs to go along with 2 interceptions. Neither C.J. Mosley or Jack Lambert have really nailed down the other inside LB spot. Andy Russell has done well against the run filling in for the injured (but soon to return) James Harrison.
#DB
Ed Reed and Rod Woodson have led the way: Reed with 12 deflections and a defensive success rate over 50% and Woodson with 6 deflections and 2 picks. Lardarius Webb and William Gay have done well for the secondary. Troy Polamalu‘s injury has been mitigated by the emergence of Jack Butler at S.
#P & K
Justin Tucker has been very good: perfect on 35 XPs and 10 for 12 on FGs.
Sam Koch has been decent on punts: lots of yardage, but not a very impressive net.
#Returns
Wheaton has been very good and occasionally excellent on KOs, averaging over 25 yard. Brown has been less than impressive on PRs, gaining under 7 yards per return.