kevin gilbride

Top 5 XFL New York Guardians players from last season

by
New York Guardians

The XFL New York Guardians had a lot of ups and down in their five games played in the 2020 season. They had a mix of good and bad players during the season, which impacted the outcome of the games they played. Here are the top 5 Guardians’ players this season that made a positive impact:

5. RB Darius Victor

Victor, at first, struggled to get the Guardians running game going, as he rushed merely under 50 yards the first two games. In the next three games, he boosted the backfield as the lead running back and helped the running game achieve over 100 yards per game. Victor finished the season fifth in the league in rushing yards with 238. Although he never scored a touchdown, his boost at the end of the season will be something the Guardians and their fans will look forward to next season.

4. K Matt McCrane

This man was not recognized well enough for what he did on the field for the Guardians. When the offense (most of the time under Matt McGloin) struggled to get to the end zone, McKrane saved their bottoms and put three points through the goal post. His field goal made the difference in the game vs. the LA Wildcats. He was 8 for 8 with field goals on the season, which was 5th in the league. If this were the NFL, he would have likely made a Pro Bowl. 

3. WR Colby Pearson

Colby Pearson was ultimately the number one target for the Guardians last season. Most people expected Mekale McKay to be the number one target, knowing how successful he was in the AAF with the San Antonio Commanders. However, many would say McKay underachieved and Pearson took the spotlight. 

Pearson caught 16 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns. One of them was the remarkable 80-yard pass from Luis Perez against the Renegades that likely sealed the game. With more games next season, it will be interesting to see if Pearson could thrive more as the Guardians’ number one target.

2. QB Luis Perez

Before taking over for the Guardians in Week 3 for the injured Matt McGloin, we knew what Luis Perez was capable of outside of the NFL. Perez did well for the Birmingham Iron of the AAF before the league disbanded in April of 2019. The offense seemed to be bland when McGloin was the quarterback and the offense struggled to put points up on the board. With McGloin starting the team went 1-2. 

Once Perez started Week 4, Guardians’ fans had playoff hopes again, as Perez would lead the team to two more wins before the close of the season due to the coronavirus pandemic. Perez in three games (two started) tossed three touchdowns, 418 yards, one interception and finished 6th in completion percentage (62%) in the league. If the league would have gone on, it was best to say that Perez would have been the starter through the remainder of the season.

1. DT Cavon Walker

This player had a major role in Jim Hermann’s defense and is arguably the team’s best player from 2020. The team’s secondary drowned in a lot of games, giving up most of the yards in the passing game. But when the secondary covered well, you often saw Cavon Walker force pressure or get a sack. Walker led the league at the end of five games with 4.5 sacks. Unfortunately, the Guardians won’t see him next season, as he signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers a couple of weeks ago.

Alex is on Instagram (@alexgajovich) and Twitter (@AlexProtich)

His “Bleeding Big Blue Podcast” is coming soon!!

3 NFL Castoffs that the Guardians should look into

by
New York Guardians

After the agreement was made that the NFL players could sign XFL players, many players signed with the NFL teams. Those including Roughnecks quarterback Philip Walker, Guardians defensive back Dravon Askew-Henry and Battlehawks quarterback Jordan Ta’amu.

97% of the XFL are former NFL players. The teams who lost the players will need to fill up their rosters for next season.

Here are some names that might interest the XFL Guardians into for 2021:

DT Robert Thomas

The Giants certainly surprised a portion of fans when they let Robert Thomas go in the summer of 2018. Thomas had a quiet but productive preseason in 2018. He is best known for tossing Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield to the ground in a preseason game vs Cleveland. Other than that, Thomas had spouts of pressure within his career.

Former Guardians sack leader defensive tackle Cavon Walker left the XFL to join the Pittsburgh Steelers on March 25. The Guardians will somehow have to replace his production and Thomas could be a candidate.

They both have a motor type rush that can get them to the quarterback. Thomas’ s NFL career was not something that worked out, but the XFL has welcomed players who are trying to resurface their football careers. And Robert Thomas is one of them.

OT Adam Bisnowaty

The former New York Giants 7th round pick has never had a real shot at being a starter or being on a 53 man roster for more than a week. Bisnowaty was a Giants 7th round pick by Jerry Reese. The former Panther only started one game in the NFL. Pro Football Focus gave him a 62.3 overall grade, which is better than a quarter of the starting linemen in the NFL. Months after Dave Gettleman was hired, Bisnowaty was gone before training camp.

After that Bisnowaty bounced around teams and even got drafted by the Dallas Renegades, but was released days later.

The good thing about Bisnowaty is he is alike to Giants’ lineman Nick Gates. That would be for the fact he can be turned inside at guard. That was an unfinished experiment with Bisnowaty conducted by former offensive line coach Mike Solari.

This should be a solid consideration for New York next year. Even if Bisnowaty does not become a starter, he is a solid guy to turn inside as a guard, so that way he is more versatile as a swing lineman.

RB Trent Richardson

If the Guardians do not consider Ware, they should consider Richardson.

Trent Richardson is a former Cleveland Browns 1st round bust from 2012. After his 2012 season, where he was 50 yards away from 1,000, his play grew inconsistent. After being traded to the Colts in 2013, he had to resurface his career. Through his years in Indy, he fell behind veteran runningbacks, Donald Brown and Ahmad Bradshaw.

After bouncing around to even the Canadian Football League, he found a home in Birmingham with the Irons of the AAF. In 8 games with the Irons, he totaled 366 yards on 125 carries (2.5 YPC). Unfortunately, the AAF folded in April of 2019.

Richardson proved he could not get it done in the NFL, but could in football leagues outside the NFL (CFL & AAF). Richardson would be a good lead rusher for jumpstarting the Guardians’ offense and getting by opponents.

XFL Guardians: Some Improvements to make for next year

by
New York Guardians

The New York Guardians were something to watch during the new XFL’s first season. Unfortunately, the season was cut short due to the coronavirus outbreak in the United States. Their final record was 3-2. In conclusion, there are some things the Guardians need to improve on going into 2021:

Stopping the Run

One of the many weaknesses on the Guardians’ defense was stopping the run.  At the end of the season, the Guardians ironically graded out as the 2nd best run defense in the XFL. The run-stopping was not consistent. In Weeks 1-3, the Guardians gave up an average of 138 rushing yards per game. That was last in the XFL. However, during the stretch of Weeks 4-5, their defense allowed 48 rushing yards per game, which were 1st in the XFL. That is one less game, but there is definite improvement during that stretch. The stats below will show.

Rushing Yards Allowed (Weeks 1-5)

Week 1  vs. Vipers: 150

Week 2 vs. Defenders: 108

Week 3 vs. Battlehawks: 156

Week 4 vs. Wildcats: 40

Week 5 vs. Renegades: 56

This is one of the areas the Guardians will need to improve on next year consistently. Though, the last two weeks are a positive note to take into 2021.

More Passing Yards

The passing game was another thing that was a weakness in the beginning. Like stopping the run, the passing game was inconsistent. Here are the passing yards from each week this season for the Guardians:

Rushing Yards (Weeks 1-5)

Week 1 vs. Vipers: 182

Week 2 vs. Defenders: 66

Week 3 vs. Battlehawks: 195

Week 4 vs. Wildcats: 128

Week 5 vs. Renegades: 229

A lot of fans believe this was mostly due to Matt McGloin being the starter. In the first two weeks, there was a raw feeling to the offense. That would be considering Matt McGloin only had one touchdown and completed 52% of his passes.  Week 2’s blowout made it worse when McGloin threw two interceptions and completed under 50% of his passes. Mind you, this is not the NFL, but a 44% completion is not good at all. He got hurt the next week.

The offense saw a boost when Luis Perez replaced him vs. the Wildcats in Week 4. The passing yards may have decreased, but the Guardians blew fewer opportunities. Against the Renegades, the Guardians passed for a season-high 229 yards.

Luis Perez is clearly the answer at quarterback for the future of the Guardians’ offense. The improvement later in the year shows promise for 2021.

Allow less total yards

Allowing total yards was a problem on the defense in 2020. The defense ranked 6th in the league in yards allowed per game with 329.2. But whether it was the opposing running game or passing offense that gave them trouble, the total yards were above 300, three of the five weeks. Here is the number of total yards allowed each week:

Total Yards Allowed (Weeks 1-5):

Week 1 vs. Vipers: 394

Week 2 vs. Defenders: 372

Week 3 vs. Battlehawks: 273

Week 4 vs. Wildcats: 345

Week 5 vs. Renegades: 260

The Guardians were one of the better playmakers in 2020. That means tackles at the line, interceptions, fumble recoveries and sacks. Unfortunately, that never made much of an impact on how many total yards they allowed. That gives a feeling to the opponent that even if the defense makes a play, they can still rebound from it.

Alex is on Twitter @AlexProtich and Instagram @alexgajovich

XFL 2020: New York Guardians Season Evaluation

by
New York Guardians

The New York Guardians of the remastered XFL debuted on February 9, 2020, vs the Tampa Bay Vipers. They won their inaugural game 23-3. Ever since then they have been a mixed bag.

The next two weeks they lost horribly to the DC Defenders and the St. Louis Battlehawks by blowouts. Many fans started to feel like it was a tradition to lose in New York (New Jersey) football since the New York Giants and New York Jets have not had a winning season in a while.

Anyway, since Luis Perez had taken over for Matt McGloin as the starting quarterback, their record improved to 3-2. That was until the coronavirus outbreak spread and caused multiple sports leagues to suspend their seasons, including the XFL.  Here’s the Guardians’ 2020 season in review:

Offense

The offense at times looked great when it came to scoring points, but stale on the stat sheet. The first week the Guardians won against the Tampa Bay Vipers 23-3. What may have looked like a 20-pt deficit should have been a lot closer. That game Matt McGloin had an average game, only passing for one touchdown and completing just over 50% of his passes.

McGloin’s play dropped against the Defenders in a blowout 27-0 loss. He threw 2 interceptions as the running game did not get much accomplished. The total offense totaled 137 yards. McGloin during the game and after criticized the offensive gameplan.

The offense improved when it came to the yards vs the Battlehawks, but only 9 points showed up on the scoreboard. As Matt McGloin got injured, backups Luis Perez and Marquise Williams saw some playing time.

Perez replaced the injured McGloin the next week and the offense saw an improvement. Darius Victor rushed for a season-high 82 yards, as Perez completed 69% of his passes and threw a touchdown. The Guardians won a nailbiter 17-14.

The offense saw their best game vs the Renegades in Week 5, scoring 23 points (7 on the pick-six by Ryan Mueller) in a 30-12 win. Though intercepted once, Perez still guided the offense to a much-needed win on the road. The Guardians totaled 373 yards that game.

The offense was 7th in total offensive yards, 5th in average rush yards, 6th in average passing yards and last in points for and average points for.

Defense

The defense was best known for its playmaking abilities at certain times this season. The defense also was known for giving up a lot of yards.

Week 1 vs Tampa Bay was a prime example of that. The Guardians only gave up 3 points but gave up 394 yards.  Bryce Jones and Aaron Soh picking off Aaron Murray twice. Aaron Murray and backup Quinton Flowers combined to pass for 244 yards. The rush defense struggled mightly giving up 150 yards.

The defense gave up fewer total yards the following week but gave up more points in a 27-0 loss to the DC Defenders. Cardale Jones had a field day, as he passed for 264 yards. The running game did better and only surrendered 108 yards.

The pass defense limited Jordan Ta’amu to only 117 yards the next week vs the Battlehawks. The run defense took a hit and gave up 156 yards. The final result was a 29-9 loss.

The defense saw little improvement vs Josh Johnson the next week in a nailbiting 17-14 victory. Josh Johnson made the pass defense bleed by passing for 325 yards (the most given up by the Guardians in 2020). The run defense only allowed 108 yards on the ground between Johnson, Elijah Hood, Dujuan Harris, and Larry Rose.

Next week, they had their best game. The run defense allowed a season-low 56 rushing yards and the pass defense held Philip Nelson to 206 passing yards. Not to mention that defensive tackle Toby Johnson and linebacker Ryan Mueller picked him off.

The Guardians’ defense finished the season 6th in yards allowed per game, 2nd in sacks, 4th in takeaways, 2nd in points against and 2nd in average points against. Defensive tackle Cavon Walker led the XFL with 4.5 sacks.

Analysis

Going into next year, the New York Guardians will have to improve on both sides of the field.

The offense will have to work towards thriving more in the passing game and keep their current run production game going. With an offensive genius like Kevin Gilbride as the head coach, the offense definitely underperformed.

The defense will have to work on allowing fewer yards per game, whether the opposing run game or the passing game gets the bigger chunk of yards. They do create a lot of pressures, which turn into sacks, and force the opponent to turn over the football.

The Guardians’ players will have extra time to prepare for next season, so let’s see if they take advantage of it.

New York Guardians Head Coach Kevin Gilbride reveals favorite New York-Dallas memory

by
New York Guardians, Kevin Gilbride

After countless matchups with the Cowboys, Gilbride now leads the New York Guardians against the Renegades this Saturday.

New York and Dallas will throw the football around this weekend. Playoff positioning is on the line. The New Yorkers bear initials of “NYG,” while the North Texans are blue with the branding inspired by the Old West.

Did we mention, however, that it’s March and not December?

The New York-Dallas football rivalry opens a new chapter this Saturday. It’s the first XFL-authored entry, as the New York Guardians battle the Dallas Renegades at Globe Life Park in Arlington (5:00 p.m. ET, Fox).

An athletic battle between the Empire and Lone Star states is nothing new. The rare long-distance rivalry is kept alive by the NFL’s Giants and Cowboys meeting twice a year for NFC East divisional proceedings. Dallas leads that ancient set with a mark of 68-47-2.

Kevin Gilbride was on hand for 21 of those matchups. The Guardians’ original head coach served in several offensive positions during Tom Coughlin’s tenure as head coach of the Giants, most notably in the offensive coordinator slot from 2007 through 2013. Contesting the Cowboys was certainly nothing new for Gilbride. A prior coaching stop with the in-state Houston Oilers had him running into the Cowboys at the end of every preseason. His five years in Houston also featured two regular-season matchups against America’s Team.

Gilbride hasn’t been one for nostalgics during his XFL adventure. Still, he made an exception when speaking to ESM on Thursday afternoon after the Guardians’ final practice before departing for Arlington. He had a quick, simple answer for his favorite Texas memory, anecdotally traveling back to the early stages of the 2009 NFL season.

“There are many, but I have to say my favorite one was going down to Dallas when we opened up their stadium, and we beat them,” Gilbride said. “They wouldn’t let us on the star (during the pregame). They had security around it, going through warmups. Then we beat them in a high-scoring game. That was a great one.”

The Giants were the Cowboys’ opponent for their first regular-season game in the palatial Cowboys Stadium (now known as AT&T Stadium) in Arlington, the successor to Texas Stadium in Irving. A back-and-forth Week 2 game went down to the literal final seconds, as Lawrence Tynes converted a 37-yard field goal as time expired to give the Giants a 33-31 victory. Tynes’ memorable make was the final stanza of an 11-play, 56-yard drive to cap things off. Eli Manning shook off an early penalty to account for 62 yards on the trek, part of a 330-yard, two-touchdown output. The Giants’ quarterback commemorated the win by leaving his signature and the final score on the wall of the visitors’ locker room.

Big Blue would go 12-9 under Gilbride’s offensive watch, including an 8-7 tally with him in the coordinator role. That grouping includes the Giants’ 21-17 win the 2008 NFC Divisional Playoff in Arlington, the lone postseason get-together between the rivals.

Gilbride isn’t the only Guardians representative to have a memorable business trip to the metroplex. Quarterback Matt McGloin was previously the starter for the Oakland Raiders when they were the Cowboys’ Thanksgiving opponent in November 2013.

Then an undrafted rookie, McGloin, helped the Raiders build a shocking 21-7 lead before Dallas came back to the tune of 31-24 win. McGloin’s efforts in a moral victory for Oakland (18-of-30, 255 yards, and an interception) were enough to impress ex-Giants quarterback Phil Simms, who called the game for CBS. The Penn State alum was named a finalist for Simms’ All-Iron Award, which he presented annually to the MVP of CBS’ Thanksgiving game. Ironically, current Renegades running back Lance Dunbar shared that season’s edition of the award with Tony Romo and DeMarco Murray.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnS2rZGW2uY

“Talk about being a rookie, an exciting time, awesome atmosphere, fantastic stage to play on, something you dream about,” McGloin recalled. “We came up short, but it was a great game. We had a chance to win it there in the end, just couldn’t pull it through. But what an experience. Moments like that don’t come around that often in football. What a great time that was.”

The Guardians (2-2) certainly hope they’ll be able to make new football memories to bring back home. A win over the Los Angeles Wildcats last Saturday at MetLife Stadium allowed them to return to the XFL playoff picture, but they’ll have to end their woes on the road to truly build momentum. Visits to Washington DC and St. Louis ended with the Guardians on the wrong end of a combined 56-9 scoring margin.

Conversely, Dallas (2-2) is searching for their first win at Globe Life Park, the converted former home of MLB’s Texas Rangers. The Renegades fell 15-9 to the St. Louis BattleHawks on opening weekend and dropped a narrow 27-20 decision to the undefeated Houston Roughnecks last Sunday. Dallas will be without starting quarterback Landry Jones, who departed last week’s in-state showdown with a knee injury. Former AAF starter Philip Nelson will get the nod in Jones’ place, with ex-Syracuse star Eric Dungey working as the backup.

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags