PLL Offseason Preview- Archers LC

Buckle up everybody, American sports has been blessed with yet another expansion draft! Before the NHL added the Vegas Golden Knights and held theirs in 2017, the main American sports leagues had not held one since 2004 when the Charlotte Hornets joined the NBA. Now we have the Waterdogs LC joining the fun in the PLL, and with that move comes a lot of activity in the offseason for the league. The first step for the Waterdogs? The expansion draft on February 12th, meaning they have about a month to make their decisions based on the pool of unprotected players just released. They can pick 18 players but no more than 4 from each team, which is very important to remember here when analyzing the rosters. I’ll be breaking down each team’s protected roster every day, ending with what I think the Waterdogs roster will look like in Gillette this summer. Enough talk, let’s dive in with the Archers.

Archers LC

Protected Players: Will Manny, Marcus Holman, Ryan Ambler, Dominique Alexander, Mark McNeil, Tom Schreiber, Curtis Corley, Matt McMahon, Scott Ratliff, Drew Adams, Stephen Kelly, Pat Spencer (Exempt)

Notable Unprotected Players: Christian Cuccinello, Kevin Rice, Dan Eipp, Ben McIntosh, Joey Sankey, Defense, Jackson Place, Adam Ghitleman

The Archers easily had the most surprising protected roster out of the 6 teams, but they also had the biggest advantage knowing they had the first overall pick. Additionally, Tewaaraton winner and human highlight tape Pat Spencer was exempt as he did not see the field last season because of his ridiculous multi-sport athleticism that led him to Northwestern to play basketball. Leaving Kevin Rice and Christian Cuccinello unprotected would lead me to believe that the Archers are fully confident that Pat Spencer will join the team this summer. This roster, however, does not give any clarity to the Archers plans with the #1 draft pick this summer.

They did their job by keeping Manny, Holman, Schreiber, McMahon, Alexander, and Ratliff. Their core is so balanced that they do have a little flexibility when it comes to their role players, but there are definitely holes here. The clear need on this team is an elite faceoff specialist. Stephen Kelly is no slack, but he had a tendency to disappear in long stretches, which is concerning to say the least. Luckily for the Archers, the best prospect in this draft is TD Ierlan, who has proven himself in the faceoff circle against top competition time and time again. All you need to do is watch him go 15-30 against Trevor Baptiste in the 2018 NCAA Quarterfinals (Yes, that Trevor Baptiste).

Ierlan got beat badly on that face-off, really badly. His ability to stick with the play and lay a perfect check to force a turnover is so valuable, especially with a shorter field in the PLL. It is hard to believe a face-off combination of Irelan and Ratliff would let too many ground balls get by them. It seems as though keeping Stephen Kelly is either Chris Bates showing confidence in his player, or it is a way of keeping all options open in the case of a major injury to Ierlan.

The Archers took some risks here, as evidenced by keeping young defender Chris Corley over Jackson Place, who at this point in his career is clearly the better player, but Corley offers a higher ceiling. While I love the Archers being risky, it does take the draft out of their hands. The Waterdogs almost have more of a say in the top draft pick then the Archers do. If they choose to select Eipp, Sankey, and McIntosh, the Archers might be forced to take Virginia standout midfielder Dox Aitken to fill their depleted midfield. If not, then I think we see TD Ierlan in an Archers uniform giving Trevor Baptiste a run for his money as the top faceoff man in the PLL. However the college draft shakes out for the Archers, their core is balanced and talented enough to keep them competitive for years to come.

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