No. 1-ranked Rattlers begin IFL season Friday
The Arizona Rattlers open the 2023 Indoor Football League season on Friday at the Quad City Steamwheelers. The goal, as always for coach Kevin Guy and his team, is to win the championship, as it has been most of their 30-year existence.
To get there, the talk going into the opener focuses on the quarterbacks. Drew Powell is expected to start Friday night, but will he be the man who finishes come August?
The Rattlers came up short last year at home when they fell to the Northern Arizona Wranglers in heart-breaking fashion, 52-51, after leading for the first 59 minutes and 15 seconds of the Western Conference championship game. NAZ went on to roll to its first IFL title in just its second year of existence.
Since winning the IFL title in their first year in the league in 2017, the Rattlers lost to the Sioux Falls Storm 69-68 in overtime in the IFL semifinals in 2018, lost to the Storm 56-53 in the 2019 championship game and lost to the Massachusetts Pirates 37-34 at home in overtime in the 2021 championship game.
Last year, Powell was leagues MVP for the second season in a row. But nothing is guaranteed the way the lpst two years finished.
To push Powell in camp this year, the Rattlers acquired Jorge Reyna in a trade with San Diego. In eight games of his rookie season last year, Reyna averaged a league-best 163.1 yards a game with 28 touchdowns and four interceptions.
The Rattlers traded backup quarterback Demry Croft to get Reyna.
“He’s had a good camp,” Guy said about Powell. “But I thought Jorge also had a great camp. I think he’s right there. We’re going to see this thing play out. Obviously, Drew has had two tremendous years, but we’ve got to get across the finish line.
“That’s not 100% on Drew. But unfortunately, when you’re the head coach and you’re the quarterback, you’re going to get too much credit sometimes, and you’re going to get too much of the blame. It is what it is. He understands that it’s about production.”
Here are things to watch this season from the Rattlers and the rest of the league:
This year’s version of NAZ
Right after the Rattlers in the preseason coaches poll is the Bay Area Panthers, who went 1-15 in their first year last year. That’s like NAZ, which was rock bottom in its first year before winning it all after coaching changes and smart personnel moves. The Panthers hired Darren Arbet to be the head coach this year. Arbet then surrounded himself with two championship coaches, Rob Keefe (defensive coordinator) and Dixie Wooten (offensive coordinator). That right there is enough to send the Panthers to No. 2 in the coaches poll to start this season.
Parity in the West
Guy believes the West is stacked with great quarterbacks, making for so much parity. Nate Davis returns for Duke City after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee early last season against the Rattlers.
Former Phoenix Horizon quarterback Dalton Sneed is in the mix at quarterback for the Panthers, along with Noah Johnson and D’Angelo Fulford.
The Vegas Knight Hawks made a splash by signing Tucson Sugar Skulls QB DaQuan Neal.
The Sugar Skulls added last year’s Offensive Rookie of the Year Ramone Atkins to be their QB. Atkins led the Duke City Gladiators to the playoffs after Davis’ injury.
“I think there is going to be a lot of parity in the Western Conference,” Guy said. “It seemed like a lot of the quarterbacks moved to the Western Conference. Every game is going to be tight and we’re going to have to show some mental toughness this year and execute in situational football.”
Filling holes
The Rattlers’ biggest holes to fill come at center, running back and in the secondary, where they lost cornerback Kyree Woods after he had a big rookie season leading to opportunities in other pro leagues on the outdoor field.
Center Lamar Mady, who retired, was a leader on the field and in the locker room. Running back Shannon Brooks found other pro opportunities after his breakout rookie season.
Rookie Jager Gardner, who played at Temple, is expected to start at running back for the Rattlers.