The ELF’s Main Obstacle is Overcoming the Dichotomy of Talent

The League’s Success:

The European League of Football has proven thus far to be a league that deeply cares about their personnel and success. These strong characteristics have led to the league finding success despite the overwhelming challenges American Football faces on the European continent. Despite this adversity from the league, one major obstacle lies ahead for the future and this is the colossal difference of talent from one club to another.

The Week 6 Blowouts:

Eight games were played over the last weekend of June and these games further conveyed the disturbing trend of talent deficits from the bottom half of the league. The Tirol Raiders pillaged the Barcelona Dragons 32-0 behind Tobias Bonatti’s 23 attempt, 196 yards, and 3 touchdown performance. The Rhein Fire flared over the Madrid Bravos 40-15 with one of the most dominant rushing performances this season with Glen Toonga rushing for 26 attempts, 184 yards, and 3 touchdowns, as well as Sergej Kendus rushing for 10 attempts and 162 yards. The Stuttgard Surge surged past the Helvetic Mercenaries 50-7 with a combined 385 passing yards and 5 touchdowns from Ryan Hennessy and Lars Heidrich. The Paris Musketeers executed the Cologne Centurions 60-25 behind a Zach Edwards return to from of 290 passing yards and 4 touchdowns. To close out the blowouts, the Berlin Thunder stormed past the Prague Lions 34-7 with another massive Aaron Jackson performance of 147 receiving yards and 1 touchdown.

How does the league proceed?:

Although the answers cannot be fully determined at this time, there is an obvious trend of talent deficits that will need to be addressed within the future. The Fehérvár Enthroners discussed returning to the Austrian Football League at the conclusion of this season which further showcases the inability for the smaller franchises to compete. The league desperately wants to reach 24 teams to solidly their competitors and revoke any massive changes to clubs in the near future, however, a slower approach towards 24 teams could prove to be beneficial. A few years of 16 teams (if Fehérvár departs) could allow time for the smaller markets to attract talent and compete with the more heavily talented Western European teams. Another suggestion lies within foundational changes to the A-import rules allowing all teams to support their Defensive and Offensive lines with two additional A-Imports. If this would occur, there could be a fighting chance for these talented QB and WR connections to shine in the smaller markets, as well as have a more prominent defensive front to let these teams to punch above their weight class.

The future is bright for the ELF and if they want to continue to succeed despite their Sisyphean hurdles; they’ll have to find outlets to create more competition from top to bottom.