Division B: Where have all the sacks gone?

Since FlagPlus Football first arrived on the scene in 2005, the Rusher position has been one of the most important in the sport. Next to Quarterback, the ability to rush the QB, get them to throw before they’re ready, rush their reads, deflect passes, create turnovers, and get sacks, are all crucial parts to winning.  

Look no further than the NFL, where players like Myles Garrett, T.J Watt, Nick Bosa, Maxx Crosby, Chris Jones, DeForest Buckner, and Dexter Lawrence among others, are all keys to the success of their respective defenses, and are driving up the price tags for what defensive players are being paid.

With names like Matt Kirouac, Francois Hogue, Zackary Alberts-Gill, Isiah Allard, Hinsley Adams, Julian McLaren-Thompson, and the record holder Ryan Aridi, FPF, has been home to some of the best pass-rushers the game has ever seen.

In recent seasons, players like Ethan Adrian, Thomas Coutu, Raffaele Morelli, J.C Ferland, Luca Leccese, Xavier Tran-Khanh, and Massimo Rosati, have added their names to the list of players who have become dominant at the position.

Last spring season Division B was home to some of those big names as Adrian, Ferland, Alberts-Gill, Leccese, along with other stalwarts in Gabriel Wiseman and Mike Zenobi chased down Quarterbacks. In total, the position combined for 86 sacks.

This year, the regular season is more than half-way over. Thirty-one games have been played so far, with most teams having only about three remaining. Despite those numbers, Division B has only produced 43 sacks. Thomas Coutu of Mangoose leads the way with nine QB takedowns, Brandon Vickers of the Silent Ticklers is in second place with three, while a host of other players have registered two. You don’t need to be a mathematician to figure out that 43 is exactly half of what was recorded last year. With Week 8 slated to start today, that gives players less than a month to make up the difference before the regular season comes to an end.

When looking at the disparity between the two seasons at first glance, one could simply attribute it to the absence of players like Ferland, Leccese, Adrian, Alberts-Gill, and Wiseman from the division this summer. While not having them certainly might play a role in the decline of sacks, there are still several solid Rushers still in Div B, in Emile Descoteaux and Manu Allard-Roy, along with the aforementioned trio of Coutu, Vickers, and Zenobi.

Another reason for the lack of sacks according to FPF Commissioner and Div. B Quarterback Ben McMahon, could be due to having Quarterbacks who rely more on their arm than their legs in the division.

“I think it is because the higher you get in divisions, the less mobile Quarterbacks tend to be. In addition to that, they are smarter, so throw aways are more common than sacks. In lower divisions QBs try to make the most out of every play which result in a sack more often than not. In higher ones, the passers are smarter. They rarely ever take sacks or unnecessary risks.”

Udaho Idapimps Quarterback Brady Ohanessian, who plays both in Div. A and B, echoes McMahon’s statements about the awareness and intelligence of the passers in Division B compared to those in lower divisions.

“The majority of Quarterbacks in Div. B are experienced. They read the field exceptionally well, and they get the ball out of their hands before the Rusher has a chance to make a play.”

The two-time All-Star also believes that the evolution of the flag game has changed what is being asked of from the Rusher position.

“I think as flag grows and strong offensive concepts become more well known, and QBs get better, what people view as being important (sacks) for the Rusher has changed…People want fast players rushing the QB, but in all honesty, they have little effect on the game at the higher levels. Now it is about disrupting the timing of plays and getting in the passing lane. Those things are more important than just speed.”  

Even though he leads Div. B in sacks, Coutu, feels that how teams themselves are using their Rushers plays a part in the decrease in sacks.

“In Div. B I feel that there aren’t many true rushers. Most teams rotate about two to three per game. There a very few teams in B or Division A that go with just one Rusher.”

There appears to be some truth in Coutu’s statement. The Silent Ticklers use two in Zenobi and Vickers. FINS UP employs both Joey Notaro and Kareem Anthony Chilcott. Never Overtime relies on the duo of Yvan Saloman and Karim Madji. Poseidon’s Kiss rotates between Evan Vavinis and Rocco Christiano and Shake & Bake sends Descoteaux and Marc-Andre Reeves to harass quarterbacks.

Several teams have also resorted to using subs at the position. Out of the 43 sacks tallied, seven have come from players who have played only one game for their respective teams, which represents 16% of the total.

One effective play that offenses in the higher divisions tend to run, especially on conversions, is the double and triple Quarterback plays. Made famous by the Braves, the play sees one or two Receivers drop back to the depth of their QB after the snap and pass the ball back and forth to each other behind the line of scrimmage, before throwing a pass to a teammate in the endzone. The key to it, is to have the Rusher go side to side chasing the Quarterbacks while they essentially play monkey in the middle and buy time for Receivers to get open. Smart defenses send an equal number of defenders at the QBs, but the delay in doing so often results in a score for the offense.

Reserved mostly for the Braves and other teams in Division A, it has now become so popular that numerous teams in various divisions now run it, and not just on conversion attempts. Even at the international level, the play was run to success multiple times at the Canadaian Senior Men’s Flag Football championship tournament last weekend, even against the Braves.

The answer to where have all the sacks gone could be found in the various responses, as well as in the offensive play call. Another option is it could simply be a down year for the position. Whatever the case may be, opposing offenses and Quarterbacks in particular, are enjoying the extra time.     

If you liked the article, hated it, or simply felt like I left something out, please feel free to contact me at [email protected], or on the FPF Facebook page.