A new era of Pittsburgh Power football is set to kickoff when the black and gold host the Cleveland Gladiators in the season opener this Saturday, March 15th.
Forget last year’s 4-14 record because it no longer matters. The Power spent the entire offseason revamping the roster with one goal in mind, an AFL championship. No AFL contender can do so without a quarterback and the Power have a great one in Tommy Grady.
The former league MVP has become the face of this franchise and symbolizes the new direction the team will go in in their fourth season of AFL football. Fans have to hope the quarterback shuffle of the past is done and in my opinion this is the guy to end it. Grady owns the league record of 142 passing touchdowns from his MVP season in 2012 but he’s also a bit prone to throwing the interception. Still when he’s on he’ll put up more touchdowns than other AFL quarterbacks as well.
Grady isn’t the only new face on the Power offense, he’s brought some of his favorite receivers with him. He also brings former 1st team all-arena wide receiver Aaron Lesue and Shaun Kauleinamoku with him from his Utah days and the Power also traded to get Prechae Rodriguez from the Orlando Predators. All three players are capable of making big plays from anywhere on the field and will present nightmare matchup problems for opposing secondaries.
The offensive line, a sore spot last season for the Power, has been completely revamped and will feature a bunch of new faces. Travis Miller will take over at center for Daverin Geralds. Miller played for the Iowa Barnstormers last season. Starting at guard will be third year AFL veteran Jayson Palmgren, who spent the last two seasons playing for the Iowa Barnstormers. Colin Madison will also play on the line, lining up as a tight end in the offensive formation. He played last season for the Chicago Rush and had five receptions for 64 yards and three touchdowns. Rounding out the offensive side of the ball will be fullback Tommy Taggart who has the ability to be a strong blocker but also can score some touchdowns (21 TD’s in three seasons) when called upon.
Defensively the team has brought in a bunch of new faces as well. The group is highlighted by safety Virgil Gray who joins the team after helping the back-to-back champion Arizona Rattlers win their titles. Gray tied for the league lead with 15 interceptions last season and has 33 interceptions total in a stellar 4-year AFL career. Sergio Gilliam and Brandon Freeman return for their second seasons with the Power and will fill out the rest of the starting secondary. Gilliam had seven interceptions last year for the Power, returning three of them for touchdowns, so he’s no stranger to big plays.
The Power will look to improve their pass rush from last year with Jake Killeen and Curtis Young as the new defensive end starters and Justin Lawrence playing nose tackle. All three players have several years of AFL experience which should be a big boost. Keep an eye on the third defensive end on the roster, Anthony Hoke, who has totaled 16 sacks in a three year AFL career. He will likely play a big part of a rotation to keep the ends from tiring out. Rounding out the front five will be mack linebacker James Bryant and jack linebacker Latarrius Thomas.
Julian Rauch is back as the Power kicker and hopes to improve upon his solid numbers from last season and Lesue and Gray will serve as the team’s kick returners.
In terms of key backups who could play a big role, watch Arvell nelson who will serve as the backup quarterback, jack linebacker, and could even see a few plays at wide receiver. Should the unthinkable happen to Tommy Grady he will be more than ready to step in and keep the ship headed in the right direction.
The sky is the limit for the Power this season and I know a lot of fans have been hoping to see this franchise get things turned around. I look at this roster and all I see is McDonald’s and let me say “I’m loving it.” I fully expect the team to be one of the top contenders in the American Conference and should also make some noise for the league title.
If you haven’t given the Power a chance before, you owe it to yourself to check out a game this year. Gameday tickets start as low as $15 and you can buy season tickets for as low as two seats for $99. It’s truly one of the best entertainment values in the city.
For more information on tickets and the team itself, be sure to check out pittsburghpowerfootball.com.
Photo courtesy of Arron Anastasia/Pittsburgh Power Facebook
