By Michael Voitek
The Raiders had a great year last season going 8-4 in 2022, losing in the semifinals of the playoffs. Now their 2023 European League of Football roster is set and it’s time to see if they can take it all the way this year.
The roster consists of 46 players: four American imports, six European imports, and 36 national players.
They lost MVP and ELF hall of fame-type QB Sean Shelton this year and will try to rebuild around new Raider, Canadian Christian Strong. He was a two-time all-star in the German Football League and seems poised to fill those big shoes. At running back, the Raiders signed one of the best players in the league: Sandro Platzgummer. Sandro spent a few seasons on the New York Giants practice squad and looks to bring whatever he learned from Saquon Barkley to the European League of Football. The fact that he’s counted as a national player only helps them out more. They were one of the best passing offenses last year, but without Shelton, it’s not going to be the same offense. They signed Jarvis McClam who was a teammate of Christian Strong’s at Seton Hill University. This duo can be explosive; McClam was the leading scorer in the German Football League last year. They will also have Marco Schneider, their leading receiver from last year, coming back. He had 600 yards receiving and 8 TD’s. Good numbers, but he will probably be the number 2 this year. Michael Habetin, their all-star tackle, has retired, but they signed Danish lineman Steven Nielsen, who played at Eastern Michigan, and Toby Lettman, a major D-I player at TCU University. Basil Weber is another name to watch for up front. The former Galaxy tackle brings his talents to Tirol, making for a solid group to open up holes for Platzgummer.
Photo: Reuters
The Raiders defense was ranked fourth overall and second against the run. They’re stout up front and have added some good talent to the back end of the defense.
Niklas Gustav is their stopper. He had 10 sacks last year at defensive end and was a second team all-star. They also signed Joel Maddock a star in Australia and in Germany who played D-I FCS (Central Connecticut University) ball in the States. He should be a good complement to Gustav. The Ogbevoen brothers are joining forces in Austria! Precious and Lucky we’re both top 20 in tackles last year and will look to become stronger together. They will join ILB Ruben Seeber as part of a great linebacking corps. The Raiders made two huge late signings in Gregory Laday and Divine Buckrham. Laday played college ball at D-I Colorado State and Buckrham played at D-I FCS Lehigh and Lamar University before playing with the XFL. Jan Mayerhofer was the team leader in INT’s last year and he’s back for another campaign.
For most of the offseason this team did not seem to be doing much, but with their late signings of Platzgummer, Laday, and Buckrham, big things may be on the horizon for the team from Innsbruck.
Photo: Hans Kaestle
Quarterback
Christian Strong – Canadian – (Seton Hill University)
Running Backs
- Lukas Haslwanter – National
- Tobias Bonatti – National
- Sandro Platzgummer – National
Jarvis McClam Photo: Ben Cziesla
Wide Receivers
- Marco Schneider – National
- Jarvis McClam – American – (Seton Hill University)
- Adrian Platzgummer – National
- Philipp Haun – National
- Toni Rabensteiner – Italian – (Non-E import)
- Fabian Abfalter – National
Tight Ends
- Markus Schaberl – National
- Richard Weber – National
Steven Nielsen Photo: official.angel.photography
Offensive Line
- Jeffery Asare – National
- Gerd Mitterdorfer – National -(non-E-imp)
- Toby Lettman – British – (TCU University)
- Basil Weber – Switzerland
- Steve Nielsen – Danish – (E-import)
- Tobias Haslehner – National
- Daniel Fankhauser – National
- Robert Wittmann – National
Defensive Line
- Niklas Gustav – German – (E-import)
- Stanley Aronokhale- National
- Laurynas Orlovicius – Lithuania – (E-import)
- Tinashe Jefferson Chawaguta – National
- Denis William Butz – German – (Non-E-Import)
- Nicolas Melcher – National
- Joel Maddock – Australian – (Central Connecticut University)
Patrick Pilger #20
Linebackers
- Ruben Seeber – National
- Lucky Ogbevoen – National
- Patrick Pilger- National
- Tim Unger – German – (non-E-imp)
- Sebastian Huber – National
- Precious Ogbevoen- National
- Philipp Timmermann – German (non-E-imp)
- Julian Perfler – National
Defensive Backs
- Jan Mayerhofer – National
- Christoph Nitzlnader – National
- Thomas Kugler – German – (non-E-imp)
- Jessey Mensah- National
- Gregory Laday – American – (Colorado State University)
- Divine Buckrham– American – (Lamar University, XFL)
- Vincent Müller – National
- Fabian Raunig – National
- Matthias Rebl- National
- Clemens Voit- National