The midseason collapse that the California Rebels experienced during the second half of the 2016 Season put the team in a negative position with the media. With the way, the team collapsed after starting 6-0 in 2016, made it feel as if the media had written off the Rebels by the time 2017 started. The league’s media turned their attention and discussion focus on the defending Yuma Bowl Champion Cincinnati Harambes, the scrappy Seattle Leathernecks, and the surging OAB. While the Rebels won 9 games in 2016 and were the number one seed in the playoffs, the media appeared bored with the league’s most successful team.
As the national media turned their attention away from the Rebels, the local media kept believing in their team and began 2017 with the focus of becoming a fantasy football dynasty. If the team were to win the Yuma Bowl in 2017, they would officially become a fantasy football dynast by the way of three championships in four years. Coach Matthew Nevers knew the historical impact that the 2017 Season possessed, therefore, he helped coin the Rebels’ 2017 season slogan, “To Rule Them All.” To Rule Them All was based around the idea that the Rebels were by far the best team in the Yuma Scorpions. Winning a championship in 2017 would further solidify the Rebels’ dynastic rule over the league’s other nine teams.
With Coach Nevers focused on building a winner on the field in 2017, I turned my focus in trying to build a winner off the field. In 2013, the Rebels officially introduced their red “Fighting Rebel” logo too much applause. But in the four seasons the team used the red “Fighting Rebel” logo, critics began laughing at the team’s logo, saying it looks more like a leprechaun than a rebel. While those opinions are not mine, I did, however, take consideration for a possible logo change in the near future.
As for 2017, the California Rebels transitioned away from the traditional red, white, and black primary colors the team had been using since 2010. Instead, the team opted to go back to their Hawaiian Rebel colors of navy blue and rebel red. The team would designate their former navy-blue throwback jersey to become their primary jersey in 2017, while the red and white jerseys would become alternates. To coincide with this jersey change, the Rebels changed their logo colors from Rebel Red to Navy Gray. It was a subtle change, but it was a change that made the Rebels’ name and look that much sharper.
The 2017 Yuma Scorpions Draft Lottery was scheduled for March 21, 2017. The Rebels entered the lottery with the third-worst odds at the number one pick, with just a 4.70% chance at winning the number one overall pick. However, the Rebels received a bit of lottery luck when their name was called for the sixth overall pick. The team moved up three spaces in the lottery and it seemed as if the team would be picking in the middle of the pack for the 2017 Draft, but further good news awaited the Rebels when it came to the 2017 Yuma Scorpions Draft.
Longtime league members Metz and Netsch decided to sell their teams in 2017, therefore forfeiting their top two draft lottery positions. To replace these two teams, the Yuma Scorpions welcomed the Anchorage Commandos owned by Peter Stevens, and the Cambria owned by Nick Cambria. These two teams would be placed ninth and tenth in the draft order, officially moving every other team up two selections. The Rebels, who were originally scheduled to draft number sixth overall, were now gifted the fourth overall pick for the second year in a row. This generous gift put General Manager Dan Thompson into a position to negotiate.
As the 2017 California Rebels Scouting season began, all eyes were drawn to Pittsburgh Steelers Running Back Le’Veon Bell. Le’Veon Bell was the second-ranked running back in fantasy football and the Rebels had eyes for him last year in 2016. However, a suspension placed Bell off of the Rebels targeted list in 2016, but with this suspension now in Bell’s past, the Michigan State product became the top prospect for the Rebels.
With Bell being the Rebels’ top prospect in 2017, only one problem arose from this situation. Bell was projected to be either the first or second overall pick in the 2017 Yuma Draft and the Rebels held the fourth overall pick. If the team wanted to draft Bell, they were going to have to trade up into the top two. This didn’t appear to be a problem for GM Dan Thompson, and he knew exactly what team to call in hopes of a trade.
With nearly three weeks before the 2017 Yuma Scorpions Draft, Dan Thompson called up the newly relocated Las Vegas Razorbacks. Thompson talked to their Owner Cole Kautzky and asked if he would be interested in trading down from the second overall pick. Thompson discussed similar trade terms to the Rebels-Razorback pre-draft trade in 2015, however, this time, the Rebels would give up their third-round pick, instead of their fourth. The Razorbacks took a second to think the trade over, and then they accepted the terms. The Rebels would acquire the second overall pick in the draft for their fourth overall pick and a third-round pick. Le’Veon Bell was only three weeks away from becoming the newest member of the California Rebels.
With the team nearly decided upon who they would draft in the upcoming player’s draft, the Rebels began to do several mock drafts as they had done in years past. But this year, the team conducted mock drafts for one reason and one reason only. The team wanted to see how far Dallas Cowboys’ Running Back Ezekiel Elliott would fall in the draft. Elliott, who ran for a league-leading 1,631 rushing yards in 2016 would have been a no-brainer top-three pick in 2017. However, the 22-year-old running back was facing a lengthy suspension in 2017, severely hurting his draft stock. While the pending suspension was for sure frightening, people throughout the Rebels Organization felt that Ezekiel Elliott would have his suspension reduced and that he would become the biggest draft steal of 2017. The team was willing to take the risk on Zeke and I permitted them to do so.
At the beginning of our mock draft evaluation codenamed, the “Zeke Sweepstakes,” Ezekiel Elliott’s draft stock fell from the top of the first round to the end of the second round. While we were still interested in Elliott, we felt the second round was too high of a price to pay for the troubled young running back. We needed him to fall further in the draft if we even wanted to consider drafting him. As the mock drafts went on, Elliott’s value began to fall. The Rebels’ Front Office smiled in delight.
With only a few days before the 2017 Yuma Scorpions Fantasy Football Draft, Ezekiel Elliott’s draft stock fell to the fourth round. It was at this time, that the team decided to draft Elliott if he were to be available at the Rebels’ fourth-round pick. The team was going to be taking a major risk drafting Zeke, but I trusted Dan Thompson and the plan he had made for the 2017 team.
The 2017 Yuma Scorpions Fantasy Football Draft kicked off on Sunday, August 27th, at 7:30 P.M. Central Time. In the hours leading up to the draft, the Rebels’ Front Office began hoping that the Detroit Titans, who held the first overall pick, would pass on drafting RB David Johnson and instead draft Le’Veon Bell with the number one overall pick. Johnson had a career year in 2016, making him the obvious choice for the top draft selection. Everyone expected the Titans to take Johnson and while we traded up to draft Le’Veon Bell, we had a last-minute reconsideration and were hoping to draft RB David Johnson.
When the draft began, the Titans quickly made their pick and to no one’s surprise, it was Arizona Cardinals’, RB David Johnson. With Johnson now off the board, the Rebels came back to their pre-draft decision and selected RB Le’Veon Bell with the second overall selection. A year in the making, Le’Veon Bell was finally heading to Los Angeles as a member of the California Rebels. In the picks that followed, WR Antonio Brown went to the GMEN, Julio Jones went to the Razorbacks, and Odell Beckham Jr. went to the recently relocated Los Angeles USMC.
As the second round got underway, the Rebels had to decide between either drafting another running back with their second pick, or a wide receiver. General Manager Dan Thompson decided to go down the path of wide receiver and draft Seattle Seahawks’ WR Doug Baldwin. Baldwin was a solid and safe pick for the Rebels, making other teams jealous that the Rebels drafted him. The Rebels sat through the third round without a pick, due to their trade with Las Vegas. Las Vegas used the Rebels’ third-round pick to draft Houston Texans’ RB Lamar Miller. Throughout this entire round, the Rebels eagerly watched every pick, but the team put extra attention on the running backs being drafted. The team smiled every time a running back not named Ezekiel Elliott was drafted.
The Rebels had a mid-fourth round pick in 2017, and when it finally became the Rebels pick, they pulled the trigger and drafted Dallas Cowboys’ Running Back Ezekiel Elliot. Other competing teams immediately criticized the Rebels pick, telling us that Zeke was going to be suspended and that we just wasted a fourth-round draft pick. While this was true, Zeke could still become suspended, the reports that the Rebels had been following all summer were beginning to report that Zeke had a better chance at not being suspended, than he did at being suspended. The Rebels used these reports to justify Elliott’s selection.
The remaining Rebel draft picks turned into WR Golden Tate, RB C.J. Anderson, QB Derek Carr, TE Delanie Walker, and K Justin Tucker. The choice to select Raiders’ QB Derek Carr over other quarterbacks like Matt Ryan, Russell Wilson, and Cam Newton was strictly a bias and love affair I had towards the Raiders and their quarterback Derek Carr. Carr was the Rebels’ Quarterback in 2016, and he did a hell of a job. Now, in 2017, the expectations were raised for the Raiders and Carr, with some people saying he was an MVP front runner. With Carr receiving this much hype, the Rebels bought into it and made him their starting quarterback for the second consecutive season.
In the days that followed the 2017 Yuma Draft, draft grades became available for each team. The Rebels received a B+ draft grade, which was quite surprising if I am being honest. The biggest knock that the Rebels received on their 2017 Draft Class was the Ezekiel Elliott pick. With no one knowing the fate of Zeke, many people saw this pick as very risky and not a pick usually accustomed to the likes of Dan Thompson. If the Rebels were going to be successful in 2017, they would need Ezekiel Elliot to not just play, but play well. The team, the league, and the world would soon hear Ezekiel Elliott’s fate.
For the first time since 2013, the California Rebels opened their season, not in the primetime matchup that pitted the defending Yuma Bowl Champion against a worthy competitor. Instead, the Rebels were to travel up to
Seattle to take on division rival and 2016 Yuma Bowl runner-up Seattle. While nearly every Seattle-California matchup is intriguing and drama-filled, the 2017 Week 1 opener against the two made an argument for most dramatic ever. What dramatically made this matchup was Hurricane Irma. In late August 2017, Hurricane Irma ripped through the Gulf of Mexico and the state of Florida. Because of the damage, or potential damage from Irma, the NFL decided to postpone the Tampa Bay Buccaneers versus Miami Dolphins Week 1 matchup. This had little effect on the Rebels, but it had major effects on the Leathernecks, as they would be without their first-round draft pick Mike Evans for the first game of the season. The Rebels caught a major break before the season even started. Their good fortunes would continue a day before the Thursday Night NFL Kickoff Game.
On Wednesday, September 6, 2017, a federal judge ruled in Cowboys’ and Rebels’ Running Back Ezekiel Elliott’s favor, saying that there was a lack of evidence in his potential suspension; therefore, he was eligible to play Week 1 against the New York Giants, as well as, the weeks that followed. Our risky draft pick just turned into the steal of the draft and Dan Thompson’s magic was reborn. When the news of Zeke’s faith was announced, I immediately texted Leatherneck Owner’s Ben Pauli and Nathan Simmons. Both Nathan and Ben were sickened by the news, but they were even more pissed. Their team could not catch a break and the 2017 Season had yet to play a single game.
The following day, Thursday, September 7th, the Kansas City Chiefs traveled to New England to take on the Patriots. The Rebels did not have any player playing in this game, but the Leathernecks had Chiefs’ Rookie Running Back Kareem Hunt, so I was intrigued to watch the game. The game started great from a fantasy perspective for the Rebels as Kareem Hunt fumbled on his first NFL carry. It looked as if the Chiefs were going to bench Hunt in favor of a more experienced ball carrier, but Head Coach Andy Reid stuck with the rookie, and this proved to be the right decision.
From his second carry on, Kareem Hunt showed that he was going to be a fantasy star in 2017. Over three quarters, Kareem Hunt compiled 148 rushing yards, 98 receiving yards, five catches, and three touchdowns for 48 fantasy points. I was watching the entire game, but I could not believe what I was seeing. How in the world could the Patriots allow one player to touch them so badly? Nathan was having a hay day with Hunt’s performance and even texted me a video with Kareem Hunt telling me that I should have drafted him. With all the good fortunes that had gone the Rebels’ way over the previous four days, I knew that after Thursday Night, the Rebels’ chances of winning Week One were blown. Kareem Hunt had just sent the Leathernecks home with a win.
By the time Sunday came around, I was still excited to watch NFL football, despite knowing that the Rebels were more than likely going to lose Week 1. I kept my faith and believed in my team, but Rebels’ First-Round draft pick Le’Veon Bell quickly changed my belief when he posted only 32 rushing yards and seven fantasy points. Doug Baldwin further added to my team’s disappointing Week 1 performance, posting 10 fantasy points on 4 catches for 65 yards stat line. When the final whistle blew, the Rebels were defeated easily by the Seattle Leathernecks 137-125, giving Coach Matthew Nevers his first career Week 1 loss.
In Week 2 the Rebels traveled to New York City for their annual battle with the GMEN. The GMEN entered Week 2 with the hopes of finding their first win, just as much as the Rebels. When the game began, the Rebels began playing better than they did in Week 1, but the play of Le’Veon Bell continued to be concerning. Bell, who was going up against a tough Vikings Defense, only registered 12 fantasy points. However, Quarterback Derek Carr’s three touchdown passes helped put the Rebels in the lead going into Monday Night.
The Rebels had to go through Monday Night Football as just a spectator, as the GMEN had Lions’ Kicker Matt Prater. The Rebels entered Monday Night up nine points over the GMEN and as the game progressed, it looked as if the Rebels would begin the 2017 Season off 0- 2. Prater hit three extra points and a 56-yard field goal right before halftime to put the GMEN within one point of the Rebels. Fortunately, though, these would be the only points that Prater would score that night. While this was the case, the score between the Rebels and the GMEN was not decided until the final seconds of the Lions-Giants game. As the Lions were trying to kill the clock, a fourth-down occurred inside Giants territory. It looked as if the Lions would kick a meaningless field goal with just seconds left in the game, but instead of kicking the field goal, the Lions opted to go for it on fourth down to kill the clock even more. This in return, saved the Rebels’ hopes of winning as the Rebels would defeat the GMEN 132-131 for their first victory on the 2017 campaign.
This victory would be short-lived as the Rebels would fall to the visiting Anchorage Commandos in Week 3, 116-103. The team’s disappointing Week 3 performance was due in large part to Quarterback Derek Carr’s play against the Washington Redskins on Sunday Night Football. Kicker Justin Tucker also proved to be a disappointment, as the Ravens’ Kicker only managed to register one fantasy point; something I and Coach Nevers hate when it comes to kickers. With the disappointment in both Carr and Tucker, the Rebels’ Front Office began contemplating making changes at both the Quarterback and Kicker positions.
With the team standing at 1-2, the team decided to place a waiver claim on rising NFL star, Houston Texans’ Rookie Quarterback Deshaun Watson. Watson started the season as the backup quarterback for the Texans, but he quickly made his way to the starting position. Following a three hundred yard and two-touchdown performance against the Patriots, GM Dan Thompson believed that Watson was the answer at quarterback When the Week 4 Waiver claims went through the Rebels were awarded, Deshaun Watson. Watson then replaced Derek Carr as the starting quarterback of the Rebels. Along with the move at quarterback, the Rebels reached out to the Detroit Titans on a trade that would send Kicker Justin Tucker to the Titans in exchange for 2016 Rebels Season MVP Kicker Matt Bryant. While the name of Justin Tucker carried some weight, the Rebels also included a backup running back in the trade with the Titans. Kicker Matt Bryant was back on the Rebels and Coach Nevers believed that the team’s struggles at kicker were now behind them.