Rocky Mountain Football League

I'm going to start the campaign now...

 

AAA Defensive MVP

 

1a. Troy Peterson, SHOCK - 31 tackles, 11 sacks, 1FR, in seven games. This guy is undersized and every offensive lineman no matter how good had to double team him. In the one game he missed, the time that was allowed for the opposing offense to pick apart our secondary was ridiculous. Granted the records are nonexistent, if I remember he was only 2-3 away from Vaea Fiefia's record that was set a few years ago. (Team finished #1)

1b. Levine Tupe, REV - 51 tackles, 10 tfl, 2 sacks, 2 FR

Anyone who has played against and with the defending D-MVP, knows how valuable he is to his team. Every offensive player knows where he's at, at all times and he is a difference maker. He's a dangerous player no matter where he is. He led the REV to the #2 Total Defense and anchored the defense who was #1 throughout the majority of the season. (Team finished #2)

 

AAA Offensive MVP

1. Sam Thomas, STEALTH - 64 REC 1183 yards 10 TDs - I don't even have a #2 to say. This should be a no brainer, although his team won two games, he accounted for 1183 yards of his team's 2963 total yards. He attracts double if not triple teams every play. Had his team won some more games, I would be making the campaign for him for Overall MVP. However, you'll see why I locked him up for the O-MVP and not the Overall in just one second..

 

Overall MVP

1. Matt Thornton, SHOCK - Now call me bias, but to do what Matt did this season in the AAA is flat out ridiculous, remember he plays on the same team as JK who has MVP like numbers almost every year, however...

Playing both ways all season and special teams, here are his numbers:

 

Offense - 28 rec, 574 yards, 8 TDs. (3rd in RMFL with 23 less receptions than #2, 36 less than #1)

Defense - 18 tackles, 2 INT, 1 TD, 1 FR, 5 Pass Def.

Special Teams - 7 Returns, 234 yards, 1 TD (2nd in RMFL)

10 Total TDs (Tied with Sam Thomas)

Made the GW catch against the Stealth in the 1st game and put us in position to tie last night with a late pick.

Again, playing at a high level on one side of the ball is one thing, but on both sides of the ball at a high level is just ridiculous. I maybe biased, but I haven't seen a year like this from anyone in a long time.

 

HONORABLE MENTIONS -

Chad Draper, Rebels

Steve Vincent, Stealth

Jordan Kjar, Shock

Joe Mapson, REV

Mason Dutton, Ducks

Brandon Hunt, Shock

Justin Walker, Stealth

 

 

I like your picks but I would still put Sam Thomas as overall MVP. He absolutely dominated in receiving statistics.  He had 500+ yards more than the second guy (Mapson).  Only 3 receivers had more than 500 yards total.  Thomas was also the scoring leader in the league with 10 TDs and a 2pt conversion during the regular season. He added another TD in the first playoff game, which the Stealth won over #1seed Shock.  Most people probably don't know it but he was also the Stealths deep snapper on punts and FGs, and he returned punts and kick-offs. 

Matt Thorton did have a great year, but Thomas was dominating And is still playing. 

I appreciate the love! Haha any way it shakes out , if I were lucky enough to get offensive MVP or overall, and even if I get neither and just make the all rmfl team I would be honored. Matt had a great season as many others did on this thread. Lots of ballers. Hard to hand out so few awards to so many good players. The consideration alone is an honor. But I gotta root for my boy Steve Vincent! He is one tough son of a gun. He has played thru a lot this season. Leading this team with poise. He has stepped in masterfully this season. Gotta also agree with my boy kyto in saying Matt really did it all. Played key rolls on a lot of spots. And is very deserving. A lot of guys you can't really go wrong with. We could definitely make a solid all star squad!

Thomas is great. But I would have a real hard time giving the overall MVP to a guy on a 2-6 time. Not to take anything away from Sam but if a guy really was the best overall player and the most valuable to his team and the league, they would be better than 2-6.

KytoKhouang wrote:

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He was tied as scoring leader with Matt. (actually Thomas was the scoring leader due to his 2 point conversion and he added to his scoring lead in the game Saturday by scoring another TD)
He was deep snapper when Jared Harward wasn't there.
He returned kicks after Deejay Lester received his arena contract, but Colten Stark took the majority of the returns. (4 returns for 111 yards on Kickoffs, No Punt Returns)

Trust me I'm not disregarding what Sam did, I've already been called his nut hugger.

But Sam was the sure hand to throw to .. Especially playing down on the scoreboard most of the season.

There is no player who has been able to play both ways like Matt has this season since Trevor Bell.

And Trevor Bell is and was one of the best players to ever play in this league.

Either way-- they both balled out.

-- Edited by KytoKhouang on Sunday 23rd of June 2013 11:33:30 PM

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 Kyto, you are making my point, Sam did whatever needed to be done for his team when needed, including deep snapping, punt and kickoff returns, he was also on the kickoff team.  He wasn't needed on defense, so he didn't play it, although I know he is a very good DB.  And he absolutely dominated all the receivers in yards, catches, and TDs.  Matt is a very good receiver and a good DB, but didn't dominate at either position.  Plus, Thomas was a 2 time offensive player of the week. (although that is really just a popularity award)  Don't get me wrong, Matt is awesome, if there was an award for Ironman of the year, I would give it to him, he plays at a very high level all the time.

Also this was just the regular season statistics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Heisman_Trophy_winners

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Football_League_Most_Valuable_Player_Award

I agree The RMFL is not the NFL or College, but the various League MVP awards almost always goes to the Offensive MVP.  Not necessarily fair, but reality.

NFL MVP awards

0 times in the NFL has a player that played both ways won the MVP (includes multiple news/sports organizations: AP, Pro Writers Assoc, Newspaper Enterprise, Sporting News, etc.)  Of the 206 MVP awards given out over the years from the various organizations, 7 have gone to defensive players, 4 to Special Teams players, 195 to offensive players, 0 to players that played both ways.

Heisman Trophy (NCAA)

2 times a player that played both ways won the Heisman Trophy (Ernie Davis 1961 - Drafted in NFL as RB, Leon Hart 1949), 1 defensive player won (Charles Woodsen 1997), the rest have been offensive players (75)

I've only watched the RMFL for a couple of years, but from what I can tell, the best offensive player wins League MVP in the RMFL too (Last year MVP - Kjar)

Nighthawk wrote:

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And isn't the awards done on the regular season?

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 Yes.

Hrolf wrote:

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Nighthawk wrote:

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Thomas is great. But I would have a real hard time giving the overall MVP to a guy on a 2-6 time. Not to take anything away from Sam but if a guy really was the best overall player and the most valuable to his team and the league, they would be better than 2-6.

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 Looks like you missed the whole 'going to the championship' thing with the Stealth.

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 So if the Stealth lose, that means Draper is MVP?

But like I said-- each is deserving. And well-- the difference between some of you and myself-- well...

I have a vote.

'Murica!

So let me toss my two cents into the bucket, as irrelevant as they may be. :) I love the comments that have been made so far and although I think there have been quite a few valid points, there seems to be some confusion around two specific topics. 1.) The point has been made that the playoffs shouldn't be included in the voting and you're exactly right that the MVP should be given based off of the regular season. However, a little weight has always gone to how effective a team performs in the playoffs. That doesn't mean that if you win the ship or lose in the first round that you automatically qualify or disqualify yourself. It just means that you get either one more notch in your belt or you don't towards your MVP voting ballot. AND 2. )The individual who obtains the MVP, by no means, has to play on every side of the ball. He just has to have the biggest impact, not on his team, but on the league to be considered the MVP be that Defensive, Offensive or Overall. That said, like the playoff issue in topic #1, there are some belt notches that can be added by playing on multiple sides of the ball and filling in at other positions that aren't your primary position.

With this in mind I have to say that Kyto needs to be in a sales and Matt Thornton needs to hire him because although I've followed this league for a while and knew that Matt was always an athlete he wasn't initially on my top 3 list for overall MVP this year. But Kyto and others have made some valid points that I wasn't necessarily aware of that obviously make Matt a more than worthy Overall MVP candidate. That said, I hope to make my point here why I believe Sam Thomas should be the overall MVP regardless of what has happened/will happen in the playoffs. Let me preface what I'm about to write by saying that Matt is an unbelievable player and deserves every accolade he receives. My vote is only one vote and I get that.

So here we go. Yes, Matt played both ways and on special teams. But he was not dominant on either side of the ball. HUGE roll player but I think it's safe to say that JK was the man on offense and Troy was the man on defense for the Shock. Matt comes in at 2nd in both of those categories in my book and the numbers show that. On the flip side, Sam was easily the #1 player for the Stealth and had no playing time on defense. At a high level and first glance one might say that with these points in mind it's sixes and maybe even Matt deserves the one up here. But when you looks deeper at the stats and what has been brought up prior in this thread you can see the drastic difference between the two players. Here's a quick evaluation:

From a defensive standpoint, it has been pointed out that Matt played and Sam didn't and that this is the difference between the two athletes when it comes to the overall MVP. The issue I have with this is that although Matt was valuable and did some great stuff on the defensive side of the football, his numbers aren't dominant. His 2 interceptions weren't even close to the leader in that category who had more than 3 times that many at 7 INT's and Matt didn't even show up in the top 20 in tackles, TFL's, or sacks. I know he had numbers here in all of these categories but they obviously weren't dominant and "most valuable" which is what we're talking about. Obviously though, it was more than Sam had to show in these categories but using Matt's defensive play as reason to make him the overall MVP seems to have little to no relevance to me because there wasn't dominance in this category.

From a special teams point of view, Sam had 4 attempts on kick returns which accumulated 111 yards, an average of 27.8 yards per return. Matt, on the other hand, had 7 returns for 234 yards, an average of 33 yards per return and one touchdown. I'd be dumb not to give the advantage here to Matt but I think it's fair to point out that the difference in their return average is minimal. With just over 100 yards as the difference here over the course of the season and nearly twice as many attempts in Matt's favor I don't think you can say that this qualifies Matt as "most valuable" player in the league either.

Lastly, from an offensive standpoint, Matt caught 28 balls for 574 yards and 8 touchdowns. Sam caught 64 balls for 1183 and 10 touchdowns. Sam more than doubled Matt's production in yards and had almost 2.5 times more catches (9.15 catches per game for Sam compared to 3.5 catches per game for Matt). The difference in those numbers is staggering. It's not as though Matt and Sam were on the same level on offense and Matt's defensive statistics put him ahead. On the contrary, Sam's absolute domination on the offensive side of the football may not only make him the MVP this year but we may never see a receiving season like this again. EVER. (it's also important to know that Sam didn't show up until week 3 of the season)

So, in summary, if you think that Matt's two INT's on defense and 100 extra yards on special teams counts for more than Sam's offensive receiving numbers that more than double Matt's (and Sam did it in one less game) then your vote should go to Mr. Thornton. But, if you think that Sam's nearly 1200 yards in receiving in 7 games as well as his contribution on special teams (Long-snapped pretty much all year, Harward was gone 3/4 of the season- and he also had his fair share of KO returns, KO team tackles, etc.) are more valuable then your vote should go to Mr. Thomas. I, obviously, am of the opinion that Sam's contribution on special teams is equivalent to Matt's and that Sam's nearly 700 yards more of extra offense is more valuable than Matt's two INT's.

Again, Matt is obviously a baller and I don't write this to take anything away from him. I took the time to write this because I've seen the type of year that Sam has had and think it would be an absolute crime if he wasn't awarded the overall MVP for one of the best, if not THE BEST (I haven't seen all time stats), receiving years this league has ever seen.

Kyto, who does vote for the MVP awards and All-star teams?  The constitution states :"RMFL All‐Star Game Selection and/or voting will be determined by the League Office. It will be up to the League Office to Coordinate".  Is it the board, coach's, players or a mix of each?  It appears the All-star team is pretty much based on statistics ( I think I read that on a previous post somewhere).  The MVP's are more subjective.  Are there guidelines for picking the MVP?  Is it supposed to be based only on the regular season? Just wondering.

One of the reasons I thought Thomas would be MVP was based on stats.

QBs

Its hard for me to choose a QB as the MVP because they all have very similar stat lines with completion rates of 60-66%, yardages similar 1600-1750 yards, except for Kjar, he has the fewest yards(1326), but is the most efficient(115 rating).  Vincent has played 2 fewer games and is the 3rd leading rusher in the league which is intriguing for a possible MVP run.  He seems to be a dual threat, like Kjar.  Draper has had a great year too.  He has the most passing yards, but he also has the benefit of most teams focusing on the Rebels running attack.  I think all three of these QBs would be a good choice, but none of them stand out above the others.  If you pick a QB as Overall MVP, it should be whoever wins the ship.

RBs

A case could be made for several running backs too, but no one really stood out.  Several had good numbers, but nothing outstanding.  Sione Tapuosi has been the workhorse for the Rebs - 95 carries for 485 yards 4 TDs, not on the stats for receiving, DeAngelo Branche (Rev) had 66 carries 439 yards 4 TDs, not on stats for receiving.  George Alums (Shock) had 73 carries for 314 yards 7 TDs, not on stats for receiving.

Rec's

This is the only position where one player definitely stood out among his peers, and why I think Sam Thomas should get the Overall MVP.  Thomas had 64 rec for 1183 yards, 10 TDs, a 2 pt conversion, he had 512 more yards than the 2nd receiver (Mapson) and 609 yards more than the 3rd receiver (Thornton), he led the league in scoring 62 pt (60 pts for Matt Thornton).  He had the longest play from scrimmage during the year.  He had the 3rd highest average per catch which is more difficult to do as your catch count goes up.  His performance is the most dominating for any position.  Thornton would be my second choice, due to his performance on the defensive side of the ball, but Thornton wasn't dominating in an category.  Third I would put  Mapson, 2nd most catches, 2nd in yards, 3rd in overall scoring.

Weird -- it takes ME to make the board somewhat interesting again.

WEIRD - the Stealth don't have film to turn into the league to verify player eligibility, but they have film to show how sexy Sam is... (HI Sam! #nohomo)

First off, history lesson--

I can think of 3 for sure guys who had a better season than Sam did this year. 1. Trevor Bell 2. Damon Greenberry 3. Jeff Johnson ... And I believe Joe Mapson did as well in his first year..


There is no All-Star game for the AAA.


But this was fun... The Ballots are out..

And my ballot is turned in.

Good luck to all on the ballot..

BYE GUYS!!

KytoKhouang wrote:

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Weird -- it takes ME to make the board somewhat interesting again.

WEIRD - the Stealth don't have film to turn into the league to verify player eligibility, but they have film to show how sexy Sam is... (HI Sam! #nohomo)

First off, history lesson--

I can think of 3 for sure guys who had a better season than Sam did this year. 1. Trevor Bell 2. Damon Greenberry 3. Jeff Johnson ... And I believe Joe Mapson did as well in his first year..


There is no All-Star game for the AAA.


But this was fun... The Ballots are out..

And my ballot is turned in.

Good luck to all on the ballot..

BYE GUYS!!

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 I thought that was quite weird as well...