Mekale McKay is the leading receiver for the Commanders in both receptions and targets, but Ward isn’t far behind with 10 catches for 101 yards. He hasn’t scored a touchdown yet, but only because one was called back a week ago against the Fleet. Still, plenty of people around the organization were high on Ward coming out of training camp. He was a former quarterback at the University of Houston, but was too small to play the position in the pros. Still, he’s athletic and capable of making the transition to wide receiver. He’s even gotten some snaps in the punt return game.
The Commanders are going up against a terrific Birmingham Iron defense that is not only first in the AAF with seven points allowed per game, but locks down in the red zone. The matchup between Ward and this pass defense alone is big, but on top of that, McKay has a lower leg injury and did not practice on Thursday. Ward may be the go-to guy for San Antonio’s passing game in Week 4.
Yes indeed. 142 yards rushing sets AAF single game rushing record.
Ward had two receptions for 24 yards and returned a punt for 25 yards. Ayers made a nice diving reception. My DVR only taped till the middle of the 4th quarter. So there may be some additional stats that I missed.
Their QB is awful. It will be difficult for the WRs to accumulate stats.
Farrow, who was a standout at the University of Houston, set an AAF single-game rushing record with 142 yards while backfield mate Trey Williams scored the Commanders’ only touchdown with a 12-yard run that capped a seven-play, 77-yard drive to put San Antonio up 9-3 with 3:38 remaining in the third quarter.
“Ken is a good, solid player,” Riley said. “We have good running backs and Ken is a good example of that group who had a special night. He ran hard, worked hard and all of it was hard. The game was hard, it was a physical good football game.”
Starting quarterback Logan Woodside was 11-of-25 for 106 yards but did not turn the ball over while allowing Farrow and Williams to eat up chunks of yardage on their way to a combined 161-yard performance.
“The O-line, that’s where it all starts,” Farrow said. “They were getting on their man and giving me holes all day, so we just stuck to the tracks, stayed patient and hats off to the O-line because they played an awesome game today.”
The NFL narrative about QB height killed his chance of being a QB at the next level. Now they are drooling over Murray who is most likely an inch shorter than GWJr. The narrative needs to be tossed out or the “scouts” and GMs need to be more consistent in their evals. This includes the AAF too.
Ward had below average arm strength but not horrible. He had above average accurac, but not outstanding. He excelled at using that accuracy to throw to the area that would have the least chance of getting intercepted. And his decision making skills were superb both in RPO decisions and in passing situations.
It was a shame they tried to turn him into a pocket passer his senior year. It really hamstrung him and the team. And it made him look very uncomfortable in situations where he would have run earlier in his tenure. Cancelled out two of his best QB skills, decision making and open field running.
NFL combine numbers are certainly more accurate than UH pro day numbers. I brought up Jackson because he doesn’t have the tools of either QB yet he somehow is a starter for an NFL team. Thus, supporting my point of the inconsistency between NFL GMs and QB evals.
