Battle Seattle Watch List & Predictions
Battle Seattle is just around the corner and it has already shaped up to be one the biggest tournaments since Battle Orlando. With over 40 teams registered or on the INC list coming in from all over the country, the talent of this tournament is absolutely INSANE.
The Watch List
The Women’s Division
The 8v8 Contact women’s division is the deepest it’s ever been since the inception of the Battle Circuit. There are some VERY talented women’s teams that are notable to watch. The Seattle Majestics as well as teams like Evolution, Reign, & the Tight Endz are all looking to make a name for themselves on the National scale. The top (2) finishers will win free paid entries into the 2018 Flag Football World Championships.
8v8 Contact Pro Division
Bricks Academy Men’s
This team will be led by notable flag football defensive captain Will Gardiner. This team will be solid defensively & when teams play great defense in any sport they will always be dangerous. The question will be can they score against other top teams consistently.
Fresno Renegades
This team will be interesting to watch from Fresno California. They are known to have athletes surrounding a very fast Quarterback that has a cyborg arm. The ultimate question will be what players will make the trip to help them actually compete?
King Cobras
I am very interested to see how this Canadian team stacks up against the American teams that are NOT from Washington. It’s one thing to come to the United States and compete, but it’s an ENTIRELY different story when it comes to playing teams from the south or speedy California. Anytime I see a team come from another country to play a men’s team from one of the “speed regions” of the country, they are immediately shocked at how much faster those teams are then what they are normally used to. The big question is can they even remotely compete with the speed of a team like Georgia United or even crazier the speed & receiving core of a team like Cali Coalition.
Predictions
Obviously as a flag football fan, player & organizer my predictions are completely my analytic guess & opinion but with literally working in flag football 24/7 & predicting tournaments like Battle Bama 100% correctly, I’m interested to test my own luck!
Cali Coalition – Sacramento, CA (Battle Seattle Champion)
The Good: I truly believe Cali Coalition has the best wide receiver core in the entire country period. The next best core would be the Dirty South receiving core from New Orleans. I believe they have a chip on their shoulder from Battle Orlando & are frankly getting sick of teams like Georgia United giving them problems and retaining bragging rights. They have all of the talent to win this tournament & punch their free ticket to the Flag Football World Championships. Let’s see if Jayson & Chris can get their guys focused and get the win!
The Bad: Can the Cali Coalition keep their steam? We’ve seen this time and time again! A team with all of the talent like Windy City Hammer who gets so close to the finish line but never being able to actually punch the ticket. Let’s see if they can’t shrug that monkey off their back in Seattle.
GU – Atlanta, GA
The Good: GU has great leadership with Patrick Henderson keeping GU as one of if not THE most traveled team in the last 2 years. In 8v8 it’s all about leadership and if you have strong leaders then your team can triumph. Curtis & Patrick both held GU gel together. It’s nothing short of a movie type scenario with Will Franklin, the loud mouthed very controversial quarterback who always seems to stir the pot in whatever location they travel to. GU has just as good of a shot to win this tournament as anyone else. Their DEEP shotgun snaps are one of the best offensive set ups you can possibly have.
The Bad: Seattle is FAR from Atlanta. GU has already traveled to Orlando, Denver, Puerto Rico & now Seattle. Will GU be able to get all of their guys to travel again to the furthest destination yet? GU’s potential lack of depth for this tournament is cause for some concern for Battle Seattle. They absolutely need to be at 100% to beat Cali Coalition who has a much shorter trip.
LV Elite – Las Vegas, NV
The Good: LV Elite is one of the most dynamic teams in this tournament. Most teams will see these guys for the very first time and I believe they will smack a lot of team’s right in the mouth. Over the last 3 years I have been more and more impressed with the teams that come out of Vegas & Arizona. Teams like SU, Playboy Bunnies, Swagger, & the Hoppers have definitely opened my eyes to the talent in the Southwest. With LV Elite being in that area and playing those teams quite often, I look for them to come in a little more seasoned than most would expect.
The Bad: Unproven. That’s the best way to put it. They haven’t been on a big stage in a traveling tournament for these type of cash prizes, bids and ranking points yet. This will be trial by fire for them for sure.
Chiefs – Seattle, WA
The Good: The Chiefs in my opinion when fully manned have a very solid roster. They are in their home state so having quality players should be the least of their concern. They have a national top 10 wide receiver on their team that is frankly an absolute problem for everyone at this tournament. Let’s see how they fair against the faster teams coming to this tournament.
The Bad: They are loose cannons. Reports constantly come in that they can’t keep their composure when calls don’t go their way or they start to get frustrated. Even last year in Spokane their starting Quarterback was tossed for the first half after losing his cool. This puts the entire team at the mercy of his temper & that’s not safe to have your entire teams luck run on your QB’s temper.
Bad Dogs – Seattle, WA
The Good: They have really good size upfront and on the D-line. Noah Roehl quarterbacks & leads the team and has one of the highest QB IQ’s in 8v8. This team is extremely disciplined & should have a very full roster in terms of being able to stay fresh.
The Bad: My biggest question is their athletes. I wonder if they have the speed & athleticism in the secondary & at wide receiver to be able to get open and compete with the faster teams in this tournament. These are typically positions that are always easily found in teams from Texas, Georgia, California
Notable Mentions
King Cobras (Canada), Bricks Academy (Spokane), Fresno Renegades (California), Outlawz (Seattle), Game of Cones (Seattle)
