Hotshots Outrace Stallions in AAF Debut

The debut game for the Arizona Hotshots in Tempe went about as well as the franchise could have expected.

Photo Credit; Az Republic

The crowd was very into the game, the game was exciting and the Hotshots didn't only win over the Salt Lake Stallions, they did so in an entertaining fashion as Rick Neuheisel's gang of green and gold left their new home with a 38-22 victory.

Hotshots quarterback John Wolford threw for 275 yards and four touchdowns with two of them to Rashad Ross, who finished with over one hundred yards receiving on the evening.

The now 1-0 Hotshots will travel to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis next Saturday to play the Express, who were shutout in their opener in Birmingham.

Hot Off The Grill

1) Watching three of the four games opening weekend, the biggest issue in quality of play looks to be these two- quarterbacking and protecting the quarterback.

The Hotshots and Stallions did a decent enough job protecting their passers, but the Birmingham-Memphis games and the half that I saw of the San Antonio-San Diego contest, saw some really poor pass protection and some bad quarterbacking, other than from Birmingham's Luis Perez in their win.

2) The one game that I didn't see was the Orlando home blowout of Atlanta.

Steve Spurrier's offense looked to be a good fit for wide-open new leagues and Atlanta losing their head coach Brad Childress in training camp didn't seem to be a competitive matchup.

Orlando was rated with Arizona as being the best team in the league and from the results of the opener, that looks accurate.

3) The Hotshots selected Trevor Knight as their expected quarterback in the AAF Quarterback Draft, but even though reports said Knight is going to see action and didn't play badly in training camp, the starter and camp standout proved to be John Wolford, who proved the decision to be a smart one for the first week with four touchdown passes and some nice touch on his passes.

I remember seeing Wolford at Wake Forest and liking his arm but wondered about his size as an NFL prospect.

Wolford was cut out of the Jets camp, but at his age (24) Wolford should be just the type that can profit from the plays and snaps of a league such as the AAF.

4) Rashad Ross finished with five catches for 103 yards with two of those catches for touchdowns with another non-scoring catch for 41 yards.

Ross might be the best receiver in this league, but here is the red flag on Ross, he's 29 (older than almost all the players defending him), he hasn't played in an NFL regular season game since 2016 and his career stats consist of nine catches and one score.

Ross will be the type of player that can play very well in the AAF and won't make teams at a higher level but will give a young QB a veteran receiver to lean on this league.

5) The Hotshots also have two more veteran types that aren't likely to make the NFL but are again as with Rashad Ross, perfect for a young quarterback to throw to with some experience in the big leagues.

Former third-rounder Josh Huff caught 44 passes over three years with the Eagles and Buccaneers and Gerald Christian was "Mr.Irrelevant" in 2015 with one career catch with Buffalo.

Both are the type of steady veterans that are going to help Arizona thrive in the passing game.

6) The run game is going to be solid, I believe with a committee that combined for 149 yards against Salt Lake with Jhurell Pressley of New Mexico leading with 64 yards on 18 carries.
Justin Stockton averaged 6.6 yards on his seven carries and the former Texas Tech Red Raider could be the top back by the end of the season.

7) Arizona's defense was noted as a leading reason that the Hotshots were ranked as at least the best in the Western Division, if not the best in the league.

The Hotshots knocked down eight Stallion passes in the victory and the secondary defending seven of those.

NFL veteran Rahim Moore lends stability and made four tackles, but it was Robert Nelson with an interception and a pass defended that led the secondary in this victory.

Arizona allowed the most points of a victorious team in week one, but I bet by the end of the season, it's the Hotshots at or near the top of the defensive statistics.

8) Arizona also received excellent games from two members of the front seven.

Linebacker Steven Johnson of Kansas was the standout with seven solo tackles, a batted ball, and an interception, but Rutgers linebacker Steve Beauharnais finished with four solo tackles, four assists with one of those solos a tackle for a five-yard loss and even when Beauharnais did not wrap up the man, he seemed to be near the football on almost every play.

9) The player with the most NFL experience on the team is former Jets kicker Nick Folk, who hit two of three field goals with the miss bouncing off the upright from 46 yards.

Folk connected from 53 yards with one of his attempts and even at his age shows he still has plenty of leg.

I wouldn't be against John Dorsey and the Browns signing Folk to a deal to bring him to Browns camp right now, which is allowed by AAF rules and he could still kick for the Hotshots.

Considering the Cleveland kicking problems over the last season and Folk's experience in cold weather with the Jets could be helpful as a Brown.

10) Salt Lake is going to win some games and these two teams rematch in two weeks in Salt Lake City.

The Stallions have a very interesting running game with speedy former Charger Brandon Oliver (8 attempts for 40 yards) and former Viking Matt Asiata ( 4 carries, 4 yards, and a score) adding a power aspect, so if they have the lead, they could be very difficult to catch.

Both the Stallion passers (Starter Josh Woodrum and backup Matt Linehan) threw a touchdown, but each was intercepted as well and their combined passing yards were a less than fabulous 159 yards.

11) The two dominant players that weren't in the game I watched closest, each had connections to TRS.

Orlando wide receiver Jalin Marshall is a former Buckeye who caught a touchdown and was the leading receiver for the Apollos and San Diego defensive end Damontre Moore, who finished with a sack with six quarterback hits against San Antonio was a player that I really liked in 2013 when he was a third-round pick by the New York Giants.

Moore spent time with five different NFL teams because of his still immense talent and he was a dominant player at Texas A&M before Myles Garrett became Myles Garrett.

Marshall spent 2016 with the Jets after a poor decision to leave Ohio State early and hasn't been in the league since.

12) I thought the league had a good first weekend.

Most of the talk has been positive or at least not negative and they need to build on that.

Only two of the four games were reasonably close and only of those two was high scoring.

The level of play will have to continue to improve and I would say it was around the level of an NFL exhibition game when the stars are on the sidelines, which isn't bad for a start.

I'll be interested to see how the ratings and reception are for the second week of the season.