All The RAGE: A Fan’s Perspective of the Iowa Rampage, Vol 2
Jeremy Poore
Wednesday May 1, 2024
“Offense sells tickets. Defense wins championships” – Paul Bear Bryant
Week one is in the books and the Rampage went into Rapid City, spread carnage on both sides of the ball, and left with a 58-28 win over the Marshals last Saturday night. If the above quote is the truth then the Rampage looks like a team that will not only sell some tickets but also be a top contender to win the AFL in its inaugural season.
Was the game perfect? No. But let’s break it down.
Offense – If I wanted to give a general overview of the Rampage’s offense in week one it would be…explosive. One word is all I can muster after watching this offense score seemingly at will. I can nitpick a few things but the offense knows there is still work to be done on protections, schemes, and total offensive cohesiveness. I can only seeing this group getting better week to week. This fan’s week one grade of the offense would be: A-
Defense – Four interceptions, multiple pass break ups, constant pressure on the quarterback, and what more can you say about the defense than they were smothering. The best player on the field for Rapid City was Mason Lee and this defense held Mr. Lee in check for most of the night. Can they get better? Of course. And they will (and that should scare some opposing OCs out there). Grade: A
Special Teams – If Iowa had to pick one thing to work on this week it’s definitely special teams. And rather than state the obvious points I’ll just say this, and this in my opinion here, the only reason the game was as close as it got was special teams breakdowns. Let’s also give credit where credit is due. Those returners for Rapid City were no slouches. Larry Beavers Jr. also made some very shifty moves to gain some return yardage. It wasn’t all bad. These coaches and players know what needs to be fixed and I have faith they will get it fixed. Consistency is what this unit needs most and time together will only make Iowa’s Special Teams…well…special. Grade: C-
Game Balls for Week One
Offensive Player of the Game: Rakeem Cato – The “Cato Cannon” (I doubt I’m the first person to ever say this. I mean the guy has been a stud for a long time) was on full display this past weekend. I don’t have a stat on how many yards this guy put up but it was a lot.
Defensive Player of the Game: Cedric Thomas – It was hard to pick just one guy but the guy that made the biggest impression with me was Cedric Thomas, not only putting those nails in the coffin towards the end of the game but he and the entire defensive secondary putting a couple a very fast and dangerous receivers on lockdown the entire contest.
Ironman of the Game: Jaylen Schleicher – Okay this guy had a one handed, over the dasher board, oh my goodness what did I just see catch that made it onto ESPN’s Sports Center Top Plays. He also had another circus catch going over the dasher boards (granted he used two hands that time), and another touchdown for good measure. Add to that an early game interception and a hit on the quarterback late in the game that had to feel much nastier than it looked and you have this fan’s Ironman of the Game.
All in all to say I was impressed with the Rampage in week 1 is an understatement. I thought Iowa would pull out a 28-27 type win but they came in with high energy, higher expectations, and a game plan to not only win but dominate.
Getting to Know the Rampage – Jaylen Schleicher
After that week one performance I had to reach out to Jaylen Schleicher to learn more about him and his Rampage team.
The first question for me has to be, what is going through your mind on those two catches over the dasher boards? - The only thing going through my mind on those two over the wall
catches is WIN, that’s a word directly from our Offensive Coordinator Donovan Morgan. He has unwavering faith in our receiver core and our ability to make plays. It gives me so much confidence when he, as an AFL legend, believes with his experience that he knows when and who to call on to make those catches.
Jaylen what brought you to the Iowa Rampage? How are you enjoying Council Bluffs so far? - I was blessed with the opportunity to sneak into the last tryout with the Iowa Rampage that was hosted here in Council Bluffs on April 6th through my trainer Varmah Sonie, an AFL legend, he played CB and also had a run in the NFL for a couple years. He knew most of our current coaches from playing with or against them in the AFL before the reboot. Council Bluffs is special. I love small towns because that’s what I am most familiar with being from a particularly smaller town in Hammond, IN so Council Bluffs has been a great home away from home for me, the people are very friendly and welcoming to people from many different walks of life.
How good is the Rampage team in your opinion? Is this team an AFL title contender in year one? - I believe in my 8 years of playing football I have never been around a team this well put together and hungry for success, we have guys who have come from NCAA power 5 schools to the smallest NAIA schools. But the one thing we all have in common is our love for this game and the determination to not cheat the process, I believe God willing we are all healthy come playoff time we will be a very tough team to stop and with our coaching staff we just might see ourselves in the Arena Bowl in year 1!
Most teams look flat after a long road trip. What did you and your Rampage team mates do to come out on fire from the very start? - As a team we all came together especially after that long 8 hour bus ride going through a lot of unforeseen adversity with one mission in mind and that was to dominate every man that wasn’t in a Rampage jersey that night.
With week two coming up against a SW Kansas team that narrowly lost to Salina, who many have predicted to win the AFL Central, what do you think the team needs to focus on in practice this week? - We know what we have here on our team and the leaders and vets who have been around the game a long time and they all constantly remind us that as long as we focus on being better than we were yesterday and constantly compete with us, everything else will take care of itself when it comes to game time.
Last question, in the NFL draft there was a lot of talk about who the draftees were "comparable" to. Which NFL player past or present do you feel you are most comparable to? - I think it's pretty hard to compare myself with any one player from the NFL with how much my body and position has changed in the last 3 seasons but I would like to think myself as most comparable with Vernon Davis one of the greatest tight ends to ever play just how he moved with swiftness and was still a big body receiver and was able to always find a soft spot to get open.
What I have taken away from watching Jaylen in other interviews, talking with Rampage staff, and getting a chance to talk with Jaylen myself is this is a very humble, hard working, honest, and driven young man. Is it too early to say he’s going to be a first team all AFL player and a possible candidate for MVP? Maybe…but I feel comfortable with saying he’s got to be in the
conversation already. As a former coach used to tell me though, one game does not a season make.
Next Week – SW Kansas Storm
The Storm dropped a heartbreaker to Salina last week 43-40 on the road. This week they face a Rampage team that will for the second week make a long trip to play on the road before starting their home stretch.
The Storm is a team who was down by 24 points last week and battled back to within 3. I believe Iowa’s defense is better than Salina’s and the Rampage’s offense is just as (if not moreso) dangerous. I expect this one to be a little closer than the 30 point margin of victory last week but not by much.
This fan’s prediction: Iowa 47 – SW Kansas 26
