2017 Men's Club Opinions

I have a bunch of opinions on outlook of the Men's 2017 club season.  I'm going to go through on a roughly team-by-team basis then make some wild picks at the end.  (because if you don't make picks, then you're just afraid.  Picks aren't fun if you're guaranteed to be right):

Revolver:

This team is obviously the best team.  Notably, you could have said this last year at the start of the season.  I would argue they get better this year.  The only chink in their armor is that Beau has declined substantially from the force of nature he once was.  The good news is they have Nick Stuart now, who is probably the premier deep threat in the nation.  

Looking at their roster, they lose:

Lior Givol

Hagen - Block Generator

CK - Good O Handler

Jamie Quella

Seth Reinhardt - Played big in the finals v ironside

Nick Schlag - Consistent O handler

Josh Wiseman - Good O cutter, but getting older

They add:

Antoine Davis - Block Generator

Tom Doi - Elite O cutter

Eli Friedman - Great role player

Justin Lim - Good O handler

Nick Stuart - Elite deep threat

Sawyer Thompson - Guerrilla's best player

Ashlin Joye - Elite O Handler

The biggest upgrades here are in cutter offense (adding nick and tom), which should translate to really potent offensive units on both sides of the disc for them.  Ashlin coming back means Eli Kerns doesn't have to be The Guy on offense, which I think makes him significantly better/more dangerous.  More in-shape versions of Grant Lindsley and George Stubbs are also scary.  I would be very surprised if this team doesn't win nationals and worlds.

Ironside:

Ironside is really good, but a lot of the guys who carried them to a title last year are old.  Cricket, Jared Inselmann, and Jeff Graham are among the oldest ones, all played big minutes in big games.  They have a strong core of younger players, but I think there'll be a bit of a title hangover here.  Kurt being injured for the first part of the season doesn't help.  I'd be surprised if they didn't make worlds though.

Ring of Fire:

I think ring is super good.  The triangle area keeps getting better, and the CUT/Ring exchange program is legit.  Jack Williams was (obviously?) the best men's player in college and is a force at the club level.  Nethercutt is the real deal.  Continuity in coaching and with the audl seems to have helped this squad.  I don't really think adding goose and brett to this team will make much of a difference - they were good without them.  I think adding them as role players will be nice for them though.  I think when your team is good enough that you can afford to utilize those guys as role players, you're in a good spot.  (see bravo 2014, team usa men's)

Bravo:

I think bravo making semis last year was a huge surprise.  I would consider that an over-performance for them.  I really liked their offensive systems, but I didn't expect it to translate to nationals results so quickly.  That said, I don't see them as a lock for semis.  Nick Lance is a nice piece to add back, but I don't see that as a game changer for them really.

Truck Stop:

This team underperformed in rockford.  Alternate storyline: they just got beat by a Ring of Fire team that was better than anyone thought.  I think this team is a semis contender despite some personnel losses.

Doublewide:

I think doublewide is an easy pick as a semis contender this year.  This is probably the 2nd or 3rd best roster in the nationals field.  It's basically the best players from the 2016 versions of DW, HIP, and PF.  Plus most of them are getting reps with each other on the roughnecks.  This team has a very high ceiling.  Not sure I see them as world-beaters though.

Dig:

I would be very surprised if this team makes it to nationals again without Babbitt.  This is basically a team of college all-stars.  I think there is a significant difference between being a good player in college and being a good club player.  I don't see this team earning a bid or getting past Ironside/Pony/GOAT when it matters.  If they add Babbitt back, even just for the series, I'll reconsider.

Machine:

The biggest offseason loss for machine was Ron's mind.  People like to make a big deal about them losing goose and brett and bob, but I think this isn't correct or accurate.  Look at the tape, those guys played terribly in prequarters in rockford - dropping open swings, turfing resets.  The team still has a really good core of athletes.  Would be very surprised to not see them in Sarasota in October.

PoNY:

This roster is better than in years past for them, but I think ultiworld is overrating them by a fair bit.  Better, yes.  But not incredible.

Sockeye:

I don't believe the title hype for Sockeye.  Yes, I think they will be good, but definitely not as good as everyone seems to think.  I do think adding Freechild to their roster makes them better, but I don't think it really pushes them up into title contention.  I think they can contend for a semis spot at their level.

2017 Picks:

1. Revolver

2. Ring of Fire

3. Ironside

4. Doublewide

5. Truck Stop

6. Sockeye

7. Johnny Bravo

8. Patrol

9. High Five

10. Machine

11. PoNY

12. Madison Club

13. Guerrilla

14. Sub Zero

15. Rhino

16. Chain Lightning

Left Out:

Dig, Prairie Fire, Temper, Goat