GFL1 – Week 1 Preview

Preseason review
The long German season is about to begin in one of the top leagues in Europe. With reigning champions Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns looking a good outfit to reach the German championship after convincingly beating French giants Amiens Spartans twice already in the Eurobowl. 

This most interesting goings on this past off-season seem to be coming from the Dresden Monarchs who in recent years have fallen in the rankings. This season they have signed both Quarterback Jeff Welsh and Running Back Trevar Deed from the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes who continuously make national championships and for the past 2 years have fallen mere points short of the title. Jeff Welsh is arguably one of the best quarterbacks currently playing in Europe.

Berlin Rebels @ Berlin Adler
Kevin Ramay from California Lutheran will be quarterbacking the Adler this year, after a very successful year with Kyle Callahan, a decent year with Clint Toon, and a disappointing year with Alex Good last season (Who consequently is now with Graz Giants) the Adler will be looking to start this season with a bang in their cross city rivalry game and show their fans that they’re back at the top of the German league and seriously battling for the Eurobowl again. With a lot of players on both teams having played for one or the other at some point in their careers this isn't as much of a heated rivalry game.

Conrad Meadows of the Adler last season showed his worth on offense and defense and earned a call back this season, including an impressive performance versus the Blitz and played a big part in their victory in that game.

I’m almost certain Wanja Mueller the Adler will come out on top with the Rebels showing no signs of any particularly special imports and the better EU players in the city travelling to play for the Adler instead it’s always tough for the Rebels.
Berlin by 4 scores

Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns @ Franken Knights
2 time champions in a row, great crop of German players, and with no other sports teams in the town Schwäbisch Hall can draw in a massive fan base of an entire town that religiously follow them. The Franken Knights one of Bavaria’s best teams will struggle to compete with the kings of German football. The Unicorns are basically unstoppable when it comes to the regular season. Continuously producing talent through a well-funded and structured program there isn’t much more I need to say about them, they’re one of the biggest teams in Europe and Franken are one of the smallest teams in GFL1. 

The Unicorns have a thing about claiming small school and often less impressive quarterbacks as their imports, last year going with Jake Spitzlberger a short and relatively average quarterback who would go on to be one of the best quarterbacks in Europe that year, possibly due to head coach and evil genius of the German Football League, Siegfried Gehrke. Gehrke played to Spitzlbergers strengths and reaped the rewards, I fully anticipate him to do the same with new quarterback Ryan Taggart.
Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns by 6 Scores

Rhein-Necker Bandits @ Weisbaden Phantoms
The Bandits this preseason successfully and convincingly beat GFL2 bullys the Frankfurt Universe. This must be somewhat comforting to Rhein as they have been hovering just above the bottom of their division for these last few years and since the promotion of Dusseldorf Panthers. 

The Panthers crushed Weisbaden in a preseason game this year 20-3. It’s obviously going to be vital that the Phantoms learn how to move the ball on their offense who don’t seem to be interested in signing americans and would rather sign decent German players, indicating money problems or confidence in their Germans, based on their preseason scrimmage, I have begun to rule out the latter. 
Bandits by 2 Scores