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Hartford Attack, Owner: Masked
2005 results:
- 10-6 regular season
- Won wild card game against New York, 27-13
- Lost divisional game to Detroit, 23-29

Offense: QB James Oberg put up amazing numbers in 2005: 4506 passing yards with 34 TDs and 11 INTs for a rating of 97.1. He threw at least one TD pass in every single game, and he had 6 games where he threw for over 350 yards. RB Toby Radke will do his best to provide some balance to the offense so that they don't become too one-dimensional. Grade: A-

Defense: Hartford has one of the deepest secondaries in the league. Their leader in the defensive backfield is Damon Freeman, a 5th round draft pick two years ago who has blossomed into a fan favorite and a quality starter. Grade: A-

Special Teams: Kicker J.C. Richmond doubled as the punter for 6 games last season and did surprisingly well, averaging 38.2 yards per punt. Grade: B+

Overall season outlook: 11-5, No one, except for CFL champion Honolulu, scored more points last year than the Attack. Look for more of the same this season.


New York Knights, Owner: Noisaddct
2005 results:
- 9-7 regular season
- Lost wild card game to Hartford, 13-27

Offense: In the offseason New York traded away 2 first round draft picks in exchange for WR Douglas Cowley. Cowley is expected to return punts and kickoffs in addition to being the #1 target of QB Kim Pace. Protecting Pace are an outstanding pair of tackles, Davis and Lukas, who only allowed a total of 3 sacks last season. Grade: B

Defense: The Knights paid big bucks for DE Jerrold Moton two seasons ago, and in each of those seasons he has racked up double digit sack totals. He will need to continue to get a consistent pass rush to make life easier for New York's young cornerbacks. The team has 5 cornerbacks on the roster and none of them have played more than 1 season in the league. Grade: B-

Special Teams: Cowley should be a quality return man. Undrafted rookie kicker Jerry Baxter has been handed the kicking duties and that should be a concern. Grade: C+

Overall season outlook: 7-9, New York has 10 undrafted rookies on the 51 man roster which sounds like trouble. They also need an upgrade at the running back position. Don't expect to see them back in the playoffs this year.


Boston Panthers, Owner: flere-imsaho
2005 results: 8-8 regular season (3rd year in a row)

Offense: Boston made headlines when they traded away RB William Sheehan (1618 rushing yards with 13 TDs in 2005). Sheehan has been replaced with RB Rodger Rubenstein who is the CFL's career rushing TD leader with 29. Rubenstein will run behind a powerful offensive line, and he'll need it at age 32. Grade: B

Defense: In exchange for Sheehan the Panthers got extremely talented DE Ralph Crank from Santa Cruz. Crank is the only quality player in Boston's front 7. On paper this defense looks weak. Grade: C

Special Teams: You've got a love a punter named Brock Lightfoot. Lightfoot is expected to be adequate, as is kicker Joe Lynch. However, the team doesn't have anyone for returning punts or kickoffs. Grade: C

Overall season outlook: 7-9, At least it's not 8-8. The Panthers should be able to control the clock with their offensive line, but they don't have a good enough defense to stop the top offenses like division opponent Hartford.


Atlantic City Phantoms, Owner: General Mike
2005 results: 4-12 regular season

Offense: Atlantic City had the worst offense in the league in 2005, only scoring 178 total points (compared to 420 by Honolulu). They made a move to get better this offseason by trading for WR Coleman Parr from New York (1043 receiving yards with 7 TDs in 2005). However, they desperately need a QB to replace last year's starter Joel Razo. Razo finished the season with 2 TDs and 23 INTs for a rating of only 39.8. Grade: D+

Defense: The Phantoms had the #2 overall pick in this year's draft and took CB Willie Golalic out of Penn State with that pick. Golalic will start from opening day and is the pre-season favorite for defensive rookie of the year. The best defensive player on the team is still DE Seth Keller, who rebounded from a 3.5 sack season in 2004 with a 13.5 sack season in 2005. Grade: B

Special Teams: Punter Andrew Haire had to punt 118 times last year (over 7 times per game) and only averaged 38 yards per punt. Grade: C+

Overall season outlook: 3-13, The Phantoms lost 11 out of their last 12 games and this year doesn't look any brighter.