My Assessment of the Dragons' off-season so far...

To the casual fan the Dragons' off-season may look boring and unappealing. After all, some significant moves were expected after the horrendous 2007 season. There were almost 100 free agents available at the beginning of the off-season in October, many of whom were stars in the league. Players such as Damien Harrell, Silas Demary, Sean Scott, Chris Jackson, Willis Marshall, and Clay Rush were available, many of the league's top stars. Dragons' fans could only hope that the team would make some noise, as in past years getting a star on the team was not the front-office's top priority. In fact, the Dragons have really never had a star, besides Aaron Garcia.

Before I get to the good stuff, let me first talk about the bad. Unfortunately to start the off-season the Dragons made some terrible moves. First, Mike Horacek, the team's top receiver was sent packing. In return the Dragons' received Henry Taylor from the Voo Doo. While Taylor is a good player, looking from a far, getting rid Horacek looked like a terrible move. Another fan favorite, Will Holder, was the next to go. And this was no trade, the Dragons flat out released him. This was a blow to the gut for me and my fellow Dragons fans, as Holder was a true Iron Man who always showed his versatility and passion on the field. He had become a respected Dragons veteran and one of the team's top players. Oh well. One of their worst moves then came. For the second consecutive year, the Dragons cut DaShane Dennis. In my opinion, this guy was one of the best players on the field at all times. He returned kicks like no other, defended passes as a true threat, and occasionally proved to be an offensive weapon as well. Most of all, he was a great team player and a very good person. I have had a chance to talk to him on multiple occasions and he is a stand-up guy. Discarding him was mind blowing, as it also was during the '06-'07 off-season. The Dragons did get him back in the middle of last season, so my hope is that he once again returns to the team at some time during the season. It seemed as the trimming of Dragons vets had ended, when out of no where they release their incredible kicker Carter Warley. Next to Dennis this is one of the dumbest moves they have made. This guy was in my opinion the best in the league. He drilled some field goals that I could not believe, and his leg was golden. NFL potential for sure.

So by reading that you may think the off-season has been a disaster, well some good has come out of these moves. From a pessimistic stand-point the discarding of Holder and Horacek looks disastrous, but from an optimistic stand-point these moves have opened up opportunity. The Dragons' surplus of talented receivers cannot be ignored, and these moves are going to allow some players to shine, namely Keron Henry. He is by far our most powerful receiver, and now fully healed, he can show the AFL what he can really do. Nothing displayed this power more than the Dragons win against the Voo Doo last year when Garcia dumped off a pass to him and he broke 4 tackles as he ran into the end-zone. And adding to the youth infusion will be Jason Willis, who got some playing time last year, but will be featured again this year full-time. He has great hands and can be a substantial deep threat. A 26 year old Terry Moss has also found his way onto the team. He should get some receiving time, but even more time on kick-offs and some defense. In addition, Dragons fans are happy to see Damien Groce back on the team. The former Dragon was with the rival Destroyers, and now finds himself back with his first team. Groce is a great player and should offer another weapon to Garcia during this season. Now you may be seeing a trend, but we also have veteran Jeremiah Pope, who signed with us in out initial group of off-season moves. He is another great player. With them are two players who have always been with the Dragons, Chris Anthony and Kevin Swayne. Their veteran leadership will help the young receivers blossom. Even listing these players is optimism, as one or two of them are bound to get cut, as that is just too many players to have receiving on one team. There are only 3 spots on the field for these guys. What I would do is just keep doing what they are doing with Anthony, plugging him in as the Mac or Jack linebackers and then bringing him out for the handful of offensive series during the games. It is pretty much a fact that Swayne will always be on the field, and Groce will probably be another go-to guy. What I would do is either trade Swayne for some O-Line help or just alternate him out more than they usually do. Keron Henry NEEDS to be in there, and Willis needs to get some playing time as well. Of course they also have Pope, not sure how they will use him. I would say at this point from this group you have to cut Terry Moss (though he could have been useful as the return man). With all of this said, having too many good receivers should never be a big issue.

Moving on, the Dragons have made some other good offensive moves. The addition of former Destroyer Ryan Vena was a great signing and should really help if the injury prone Aaron Garcia goes down again. Vena had a pretty good 2004 season, and hasn't had much a chance since then. He can pass and he can make some moves on his feet as well, and he should help us this year. One of the Dragons' best cuts, Asad-Abdul Kaliq now makes Rohan Davey the third string QB and we don't look so incompetent at the position if Garcia goes down. Also in the backfield, the Dragons got Idris Price, a full back. This was one of our better moves, he is an ironman who is a hard runner, good tackler, and an efficient special teams player. Despite his age (32), he seems to be improving by the year. The Dragons also signed 4 other rookie FBs to compete for the back-up role. To block, the Dragons have picked up some really good offensive linemen. Coming from the NFL, the Dragons signed Torrin Tucker. While with the Cowboys he and the rest of his line created huge holes that contributed to the 114 yard rushing average per game that over the span of 2 years. This is surly a great signing. To go with him, the Dragons still have their veteran center Joe Laudano. He has never been much of an issue, though I have seen better centers. The player to his right is the question. The Dragons picked up some other linemen: rookies Dartangon Shack, Joe Vilani, and Eliot Seifert will all be fighting for the third spot with veteran Greg Randall. The offense is revamped and it should be a fresh offensive year for this team.

As well as a sparkly new offense, our defense has changed dramatically. With Holder, Dennis, and Ohalete gone they had some big holes to fill. Also, a defensive line that could at least move the opposing line back an inch would have been appreciated. Both of these issues have been addressed. Veterans Billy Parker and Chris Anthony remain, with a possible Ivory McCoy in the mix, but the rest is all new. First, we got an INCREDIBLE defensive talent in Levy Brown. This record breaking af2 defensive back is finally making his way to the AFL with hopes to help our revamped squad. Getting af2 players isn't foreign to the Dragons, but a talent like this rare. He is in his prime years and hopefully he can be a shut down corner. The Dragons also made another "smart" pickup. Strait out of Princeton, JJ Artis was signed by the Dragons as their third DB. The All-Ivy player can make a sure impact with the Dragons; he brings speed and great awareness to the table as the Dragons looked to improve their defense even more. Not to be overlooked, the Dragons also got Ronnie Amadi from the af2. Last year he led the af2 in passes defended and should get a shot at the third DB spot platooning with Artis (or staring over Brown if he busts). Onto the defensive line. In return for Horacek we got Henry Taylor, who should be a great addition to the line and will put some pressure on the other team's QB, something the Dragons hardly ever do. Another signing was Kenyota Marshall, a former NFL player and a great tackler. Another af2 player, Jason Hardee comes to the Dragons with the Green-Bay Blizzard's (af2) all-time sack record. Other rookies include Farouk Adelekan and Jonathan Hamm. Without getting too ahead of ourselves, we cannot forget John Nix, who will be in his second year after a solid rookie season. Despite him being shown on the roster, I do have reason to believe he actually may not be on the team. In the last week of 2007 I was told by Bruce Blue, "He ain't here no more." Not really sure about that.

Not to be left out the Dragons also signed Hofsta kicker Chris Onorato to replace Carter Warley. We will have to see how he adjusts to the narrow goal posts, you never know how that transition will go.

Well that should about cover it all. In my opinion the Dragons have had an underrated off-season, with some great players signed that no one knows about and some solid vets that should keep us together. While this doesn't seem like an Arena Bowl winning team, you never know how our talent may come together. I think our offensive success no longer lies in the hands of Aaron Garcia. With our offensive additions I believe Ryan Vena can step in and get a win here and there. Our young defense has some molding to do, but hopefully all of the rookies will adjust well to the AFL. That is all, comment!