1956 Season Preview

 

1 - Cincinnati Rivermen
1955 Record: 8-4 (2nd West)
1955 Result: Won Championship

The core that finally gave Cincinnati their first title in over two decades are still on the team and are ready to challenge the league to claim another title. QB Lester Parker is one of the best quarterbacks in the league, and as long as he is at the helm the Rivermen are expected to be in contention for a championship. Their offense is the best in the league, with RB tandem of Perry Ferguson and Billy Garcia plowing through defenses, and WR Alfred Dunn as the best pass-catcher in the league. The defense is also very solid, with one of the best secondaries in the league headed by DB Kerry Lantz. Cincinnati seems like they would be able to challenge the Hogs in the West for years to come, but that time could be coming to an abrupt end. Most of their main starters are nearing the end of their prime, meaning this current core only has another few years to claim another title. Knowing how the Rivermen have been building their team over the past few years, they should be able to stay toe-to-toe with the other best teams in the league and keep the gap between championships a lot shorter.

2 - Chicago Hogs
1955 Record: 9-3 (1st West)
1955 Result: Lost West Division Final

Every time the Hogs suffer a major defeat, they go out into the market and attempt to one-up the team that took them down. Chicago made possibly the biggest move in the offseason by acquiring 3-time All-AFL and All-Star LB Barry Moore from Pittsburgh, maintaining their stellar linebacking core and adding to what already was the best defense in the league. And as long as RB Billy Gould is at the helm, they’ll continue to be among the best. All eyes will be looking elsewhere in Chicago, as third-year starting QB Nathan Aldenberg is starting to get doubts if he can really lead Chicago’s offense without relying on the RB tandem of Gould and Arthur Busch. They’ve won a championship with a majority of these starters, but this new era of Hogs football will be put to the test if they really want to make it further than a division title. There are no doubts that the Hogs will not be near the top of the West, but now there will be some competition to get the much-needed bye week and home-field advantage.

3 - Washington Federals
1955 Record: 8-4 (1st East)
1955 Result: Lost Championship

Now that the Federals got out of the cesspit that was the West, they now have free reign to dominate the now-weaker East Division. With most of the East either rebuilding or expansion teams, it’s really a two-horse race for the division between the Federals and the Hammers, but Washington has a significant advantage over Buffalo. This team now has two championship appearances and a title under their belt, with some media pundits labeling QB Johnnie Sellers as one of the best QB’s ever to play professional football. It’s not a surprise, as he’s surrounded by players like RB Rip Rooney and WR Darius Sanderson to make one of the most lethal all-around offenses in the league. Their defense is no joke either, with what may now be the best secondary in the entire league with the addition of rookie S Bobby Loes. Washington is now facing the same problem as Cincinnati: age. Most of their players are reaching the end of their prime, and now the question for the future is how they will replace said stars. With this team’s experience, they should be a shoo-in to make the playoffs and a heavy favorite to make it back to another title game.

4 - Buffalo Hammers
1955 Record: 8-4 (2nd East)
1955 Result: Lost East Division Final

It’s been a turbulent two years under the helm of QB Brendan Turnbull for the Hammers, having given away division titles in two straight years after late-season collapses. The reason could have been how young the offensive core was, but now with some experience under their belt and with an experienced coach in Vincent Merritt, they made major strides last year, nearly winning the division title in the process. If their young pieces develop as they should, such as WR’s Justin Harris and Harry Chilton, then this team could be a threat in the postseason. Age is once again a limiting factor for the Hammers, as most of their veterans that helped them to their last championship appearance in 1952 are aging out after playing successful careers in two different leagues. Their running back core especially seems suspect, as longtime starting RB Calvin Townsend is in his age 30 season and seems to have lost the luster that made him a 3-time All-Star and 1-time All-AFL selection, and understudy Tyler Dye has shown flashes but hasn’t proven that he can be the long-term replacement at 26. A shift to the passing game may be in store for the Hammers, as they’ll be set to dominate the very weak East Division.

5 - Cleveland Crows
1955 Record: 5-7 (4th West)
1955 Result: Missed Playoffs

If there was one word to describe the 1955 season for Cleveland, it would be disappointment. After a stellar 4-1 start, the team plummeted to a 5-7 record to finish the year after a surprise title run the year prior. With the collapse now behind them, they’ll have another chance to capitalize on that run to get back in the playoffs. Even in a West Division that is more competitive than ever, the Crows seem to have more experience than the other two teams trying to fight for that last spot in the West. It could have been that the team was getting adjusted to new OC Richard Morgan, as QB Denzel Collingsworth struggled a little bit to get the offense to mesh together. Their big acquisition of DL Ralph Rogers didn’t aid the defense as well as they thought it would, though injuries to the other parts of their front seven didn’t exactly help them. This is still a relatively young team, though with another year under their belt they could be ready to right the wrongs that kept them out of the postseason last year. It will be a make or break season for the Crows, ready to prove that their 1954 season was no fluke and that they’ll be in contention to make the playoffs for years to come.

6 - Tri-Cities Hawks
1955 Record: 7-5 (3rd West)
1955 Result: Lost West Division Semi-Final

A surprise playoff appearance from the Hawks last year puts them in an interesting position in the years to come. Longtime starting QB Gilbert Clay is on the last year of his contract that was signed when they won the championship in 1950, and last year’s 3rd overall pick in Rocco Vanthourenhout is waiting in the wings for his turn at the helm. They’ve each shown that they are capable of being the starter, but the question for Tri-Cities is which one to start. The offensive pieces are there for either of them, a good RB duo of Brian Bruce and Spike Roosevelt and a breakout season from WR Max Ausloos made him the favorite target of Clay last year. Their secondary also showed some improvement, led by S Tom Meltzger and DB William Owens. The unfortunate part for the Hawks is that the rest of their team is fairly shallow, with one of the worst offensive lines that severely limited their production and a very lackluster front 7 that gave offenses too much time to make a play. While they addressed the defensive line issue in the draft, the offensive line didn’t change too much, meaning their offense will be stunted once again. With the West as cutthroat as it has ever been, the Hawks will have a tougher time getting back to the playoffs and to another title.

7 - Detroit Knights
1955 Record: 3-9 (5th West)
1955 Result: Missed Playoffs

After a chaotic offseason where original owner August Riddle died and the team nearly moved unauthorized to San Francisco, the Knights may finally have some stability after years of chaos. New owner Florian RIddle promised that Detroit would return to its glory days sooner rather than later, and they made the first move in doing so by cutting ties with former #2 overall pick Terry Kadlec, and allowing a quarterback battle between Mike Major and Mick Casey. Major seems to have won out the battle after starting the latter half of last year, and he’ll take charge of a promising young team with much to prove. The Knights have plenty of good, young players with promise, but inefficient coaching has significantly limited their ability. New HC Tommy Park was hired over from Washington, where he helped turn around a stagnant offense in Columbus to a title-winner in just a single year. They’ve made some good selections over the past 3 drafts, so it may be a matter of time before this team melds together and finally does something good in the AFL. With some teams, this turnaround was done in an instant, but the Knights may take a few more years in such a strong West Division.

8 - Boston Dragons
1955 Record: 3-9 (5th East)
1955 Result: Missed Playoffs

Boston had a rough go-around in their first year in the league, having high hopes as a dark horse in the playoff race that ultimately turned into the worst record in the league. After only one year at the helm, the Dragons moved on from QB Adrian Alfonso and acquired ASPFL MVP Sam Eagleburger from Tri-Cities. Offensively, the team has all the pieces to succeed, running backs Pete Abbott and Jim Riggs are a fairly solid duo, WR Lloyd Lawson is arguably the best wideout in the league, all anchored by one of the best-constructed offensive lines in the league. It didn’t help that the offense last year was without its major starters for a majority of the year, limiting their capabilities. Their defense was also fairly solid, with second-year LB Bob Jessup leading the charge in a relatively inexperienced core, but were also plagued by injuries last year that caused them to plummet to the bottom of the standings. They did address some areas of depth that caused them to go on a long losing streak with, but their starters have to stay healthy if they even want a chance of getting a winning season. If everything goes right with this team, then they have a realistic chance of sneaking into the playoffs.

9 - Pittsburgh Shamrocks
1955 Record: 5-7 (3rd East)
1955 Result: Lost East Division Semi-Final

After a few years of disappointment, the Shamrocks decided it was time to rebuild. They sold star LB Barry Moore to the Hogs for a fairly large return, and sent starting QB O.J. DeMille to St. Louis for some pick swaps and ASPFL players. They spent some of those resources to trade up to the 3rd overall pick to guarantee getting hometown QB Aksel Kahr as their quarterback of the future. It may be a couple of rough years for the Shamrocks, having lost two of their star players to trades and had to move on from longtime RB Marion Waters, who retired after the end of last season. Former Bernheim Trophy winner Paul Barker will take over as the lead running back, now having to carry the remnants of a once-great team. The defense still has a few key pieces, including veteran DL’s Archie Webber and Roy Forbes and DB Jerry Pruitt, but the younger players have not been developing as they should be for them to compete. Pittsburgh made the right move to sell off with the current state of affairs in the East, and it’s just a matter of how far they will continue to fall with a rookie QB and an aging team.

10 - St Louis Stallions
1955 Record: -
1955 Result: -

St Louis will suffer the same expansion woes as its brethren, but they’ll have a slight bit more attention on them for one reason or another. It’ll be a true test of westward expansion, as they’ll be the first new team west of the Mississippi for the fledgling league. The other point of contention is at quarterback, taking a significant risk by acquiring Pittsburgh’s O.J. DeMille to compete for the starting job with former Cincinnati backup Addison Golden. DeMille won the close battle for QB1, and the young team seems to be putting their trust in him for the time being. They managed to build a fairly average defense, which in terms of expansion teams is already a great start. 2nd overall pick LB Isaac Bullock will be in line to eventually become the leader on the defense in a few years, but there will be a few years before he can potentially become an elite player. Even if they were to be competitive, they would have to get through the gauntlet known as the West Division, where it is unlikely they’ll get a winning record within the division. They may be considered a “dark horse”, but their surrounding circumstances will not allow them to get very far barring a major shakeup.

11 - New York Lions
1955 Record: 4-8 (4th East)
1955 Result: Missed Playoffs

The Lions managed to stay in the playoff race until the very last week due to how mediocre the rest of the division was. RB Jeffery Spears made a bounce-back year to make his first All-Star game since 1952, and QB Roy Woodward made some progress to get back to his prime form before the AFL. Their defense got riddled by injuries as well, but New York managed to limp to a decent 4-8 record, setting a low bar for expansion teams to beat. They’ll have slightly more expectations put upon them this year, where the offensive side has progressed towards a more balanced approach after going run-heavy the prior year and the defense has young players who are ready for a breakout year such as DL Leroy Brockhaus and LB Duane Ackerman. Those expectations will have to wait at least a few more years, as the Lions are far from competing for the playoffs barring an explosion somewhere on the team. Expect their record to be somewhat similar to last years’ team, maybe with a win or so of improvement at best.

12 - Philadelphia Rattlesnakes
1955 Record: -
1955 Result: -

Philadelphia will primarily be relying on one man to carry them to any sort of relevance in their first year, that being first overall pick Mickey Greene. Greene has the potential to be one of the best running backs the league has ever seen, meaning Philly can be one of the first expansion teams to leap out of the basement in the near future. However, the Rattlesnakes like the other expansion teams suffer from a lack of experience that both Boston and New York suffered from last year, especially at the QB position. Two of their potential starters, Freddie Hughes and Dwayne Dessena, have never made an appearance in the AFL, only starting games for teams in the bottom half of the ASPFL last year. They attempted to build a defense with the leftovers of the league, and will likely languish at the bottom of the East for a few years as a result. The future in the city of brotherly love seems bright, though it will take several years to even get to where they want to be in the first place.