1988 Season Preview – Good, Bad, Ugly
by: Jack Elliot, USFL Insider
Introduction
The 19888 season sees some significant changes.
Boston Breakers quarterback Matt Dunigan transfered back to the CFL after a successful few years with the league. Stallions quarterback and USFL Championship MVP Cliff Stoudt retired after a great career with Birmingham. He leaves the team in the capable hands of Mike Shula. Perhaps dad will make an appearance at a couple of games.
And, Vegas star quarterback Randall Cunningham flew onto the Eagles of the NFL.
Several new stars join the league as a result of the draft and all teams are looking to build into new identity in the “Prove It” era of the league. Chaos ensued in the territorial draft, leading to another preseason missive by the league commisioner. Let’s examine these stories and more.
The Ugly
Mama always said start with the bad news and end on a good note. In that spirit, we need to talk about the elephant that blew up the preseason. Minnesota shattered the gentleman’s agreement of the territorial draft and took Sterling Sharpe, on fellow expansion team Carolina’s territorial roster, first in the collegiate draft. The move sent shockwaves through the league. Once they set the standard, all hell broke loose and the territorial agreement ended up in shreds on the floor by the end of the fifth round. Similar to his answer to quarterback play the year before, the league commisioner stepped up and ensured that such an event will not occur again in the future. He sent out an immediate missive to all team owners that addressed the issue. We received a copy of this missive and present it unaltered below.
“The territorial draft was a gentleman’s agreement, not a binding rule. Minnesota’s selection of Sterling Sharpe was within the letter of the rules, if not the spirit. Effective next season, the territorial draft will be codified into league bylaws. It will run first, it will be binding, and violations will carry penalties. Until then, the 1988 rosters stand as constituted.”
Some team owners expressed concern at such rapid expansion of the league. In addition to the possible dilution of talent, they feared just such a breach of etitquitte by new owners who had no connection to the formation of the league. Their concerns were repeatedly ignored in favor of the injection of capital that expansion brought in. Then, it looked to be overblown when expansion teams thrived in the league, most notably the rise of the Vegas Ace. This latest incident shows that the league’s officials need to be more careful into the future.
The Bad
Two teams went winless in the preseason, Arizona and Toronto. Two others won only one game, New Orleans and Cascadia. They all share a common thread, their quarterbacks suffering over 20 sacks in the 6 games of the preseason. At the risk of sounding too obvious, these teams need to figure out their offensive line play before their quarterbacks get injured.
Minnesota caused all that controversy in the preseason and then haven’t figured out how to incorporate Sharpe into their offense. He caught only 2 passes for 22 yards. Here’s hoping that they saved him to avoid injury.
Without their all world quarterbacks, Boston and Las Vegas are struggling some. The Breakers’ scoring offense is in the bottom 5 of the league and Vegas’ porous defense is more exposed without Cuinningham to bail them out at the end of games.
The Good
The top of the league looks similar to past years. Perennial powerhouses New Jersey, Tampa Bay, Birmingham, Michigan, Chigago, and LA all won at least four games and look poised to own the league this year.
Elite quarterback play is still the name of the game even with the departures. 5 quarterbacks finished with a QB rating over 100 and Jim Harbaugh finished just below that threshold.
New Orleans rookie running back Ickey Woods shot to the top of the rushing chart, amassing almost 1000 yards in 6 games. While that isn’t sustainable, he may threaten the league rushing title at some point in his career. On the receiving side, young Bandit Justin Rice caught 8 touchdowns in the preseason.
Birmingham continues their tradition of hard nosed defense. They allowed only 46 points in the preseason. That pace is blistering. Not to be outdone, the Chicago Blitz look to have retooled their defense to help a young quarterback grow and develop.
Finally, but not at all least, Tampa Bay rookie kicker Morten Andersen brings a huge boot to camp. He hit two field goals over 50 in the preaseason, including a 57 yarder. He might flirt with 60 this year.
The Wild Card
San Antonio coach Jerry Glanville, continuing to leave two tickets for the king at will call, put in a territorial claim for Eric Metcalf for next year. He “stashed” the pick, perhaps in the know about Minnesota’s ploy to blow up the territorial draft this year. Always seemingly one step ahead of the chaos, Glanville hopes to add the versatile Metcalf to an already dynamic offense next year.
The Verdict
As every year, the USFL stands ready to bring entertaining football at a good price. Birmingham is the defending champs, but they have to do so without their MVP quarterback. Houton hopes to give Jim Kelly another championship before he leaves for the NFL in a year or two. New Jersey hopes the same for Herschel. Can a surprise team bubble up to the top like Vegas the last two years? Which expansion team, Toronto or Minnesota gets their first regular season win? Continue to watch this space for answers to these questions and more as the USFL “Proves It” at a stadium near you.