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Wichita Reinforce Offense and Defense
The opening game of the 2021 regular season is now just days away and in a bold move, the Wichita Outlaws have completed a double trade with the Dakota Spirit.
This morning the Outlaws traded in 3rd year RB Vincent Graham in return for their 2022 1st round pick and hours later they added 8 year veteran SLB Max Boyd for a package of picks and backup players.
With most IFL rosters set following the final cut to 53 yesterday, these moves have caught many by surprise…..not least Vincent Graham and Max Boyd themselves.
Let’s take a closer look at the day’s business:
In a deal cemented through the early hours of this morning, DakotaGeorge and the Outlaws’ own UKPatfan, concluded a deal bringing Graham to Wichita.
At 6’03ft and 230lbs Graham is a big back but unlike most big runners, the USC alumni can really move.
He ran a 4.46 dash in the 2019 combine prior to being drafted at 2.7 by Dakota and he is officially listed as the 5th fastest RB in the league by IFL Scouting Inc.
The guy has home run speed and is a threat to take it to the house every time he gets the ball.
With the endurance to play until the clock hits 0:00 and with quality receiving skills, Graham is a bone fide every down back.
In his two seasons as Dakota’s starting RB, Graham has 2114yds rushing at an average of 4.69ypc.
Last year, Graham hit an impressive 5.19ypc which was good for the second best ypc amongst regular starters.
In his rookie year the Alabama born runner did show a tendency to spill the ball (11 times) but last year, better ball security halved that total whilst he registered 9 TD’s on the ground and through the air.
Graham in his USC days.
Fans and league watchers were caught off guard by the move and there have been some raised eyebrows at the price paid by the Outlaws.
UKPatfan had these comments:
“For the past 3 or 4 seasons our team has run the ball by committee and the ground game has struggled.
Lawrence Strunk and Snap Chapman have both had a go at leading the line but the backfield has desperately needed an injection of top class speed.
With opponents able to key on the passing game, Ouellette and his receivers have found it difficult to play up to their potential.
To be frank, our backfield scared nobody.
We are conscious that the AC North is perhaps now more wide open than it has been for years.
Wichita narrowly missed out on a playoff spot last season and with a true rushing threat, we are confident we would’ve made it.
With the talent on this roster, reaching the playoffs year in year out has to be our minimum aim.
Now is the time to try and take command in the division.
We tried to grab Rich Sparkman at 1.4 in the draft but narrowly missed out on him.
We saw Fulcher and Levine jump off the board by the middle of the 1st rd so we had a choice: Go with what we had or bring in some talent.
We chose talent.
Graham does not have the elite total rating of some backs but I think if you are shrewd enough to look deeper than that, he is good enough to be a feature back in this league.
Speed is dangerous and he has it in abundance, hell he could have turned pro as a wideout!
Yes it’s a risky business trading away a 1st rd pick, but we’re hoping it might end up being in the 1.25 region and if that is the case, we feel that’s around Graham’s value.
If he runs for 1000yds again this season, we’ll feel vindicated.”
The second deal of the day was not such a surprise to Wichita fans.
Wichita were rumoured to have made an offer for SLB Boyd last season and over the past few weeks, the Outlaws were again looking closely at the linebacker.
Insiders claim the Outlaws balked at the 1st rd asking price but after some hard negotiation, the team announced today that they had acquired Boyd in return for their 2022 2nd rd and 2024 4th rd picks, plus two fringe back up linebackers – Scheungrab and Mueller.
Boyd is the real deal at SLB.
Another big player (6’04ft and 260lbs), Boyd is a devastating run stuffer with proven coverage skills.
He instantly fills a hole on the Outlaws D which has been a nagging weakness since Marco Langley retired.
Again, we were able to hear from UKPatfan:
“Boyd is a guy we’ve tracked for a while now.
Lester Butler was a stop gap last year, and the rookie Linkletter will need time to develop.
Boyd further stiffens the D and we hope to get 3 or 4 good seasons out of him if we are lucky.
For what we hope is a late 2nd and change, we’re glad to have him aboard.
If things go to plan and our gamble pays off, we have significantly improved the team on both sides of the ball.
It will be interesting to re-examine these moves this time next year but I stand by my decisions.
We’ve made some big decisions over the past 4 or 5 years and have managed to haul Wichita out of the doldrums.
We hope these roster moves can get us up to the next level again.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained as the saying goes.”
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