European League of Football: Playing GM – Frankfurt Galaxy

In our continuing series, examining each team in the European League of Football from a general manager’s viewpoint and suggesting changes, we have reached the Frankfurt Galaxy, one of the top four teams in the ELF.

You have to build a roster that beats the teams in your conference. The Galaxy have the unfortunate circumstance of being in a division with the reigning Champion Rhein Fire and dark horse contender in the Paris Musketeers. These are two high-octane offenses with Rhein being the best offense in the short history of the ELF and Paris investing heavily with the Kyle Sweet, Zach Edwards and Bottella Moreno trio. The break-out of players like Larose and Kwofie is also cause for concern. Today, we are going to build around this premise. In this series we can’t use players who featured in previous rebuilds so if it seems we are missing players, refer to the Milano rebuild. Without further ado, let’s get straight into it.

Frankfurt Galaxy (10-2, lost in semifinal)

Coaching Staff

The easiest part of this rebuild will be the coaching and backroom section of the plan. There is no reason to radically overhaul a team that only lost to the ELF champions all season. So, in this case, there would be an emphasis on as little change as possible and retaining those who have made it work best. Their offense was 4^th in points and 8^th in yards, while defensively they were 6^th for points allowed and 4^th for yards allowed. However, the Galaxy announced on the 9th of October that offensive co-ordinator Patrick Griesheimer has left the team. This gives the conundrum of finding a new OC and adapting to how they wish to run the new offense. With Jamal Clay pushing for more inner promotion within Europe, perhaps Frankfurt will promote a positional coach for some creativity and freshness. With that we have some interviews to be conducted with all of the positional coaches. The head coach position is locked in for the foreseeable future and the team is set up excellently for the upcoming season.

Improving the offense

Let’s start with the offense as it demands the least adjustment from a team perspective. Their offensive identity is very obvious, allowing QB Jakeb Sullivan to go to work. The ball was spread out to 15 receivers in total, with the standouts being Reece Horn, Nico Strahmann and Lorenz Regler who all went over 400 yards and 7 touchdowns. These receivers were all very durable, never having suffered large injury concerns within the positional group. That being said, let’s add Marvin Fuchs as a big-bodied, physical, inside receiver who can make big catches over the middle. His 16 touchdowns and 859 yards in the GFL this season for the Saarland Hurricanes means he is one of the sleeper options for the Galaxy offense. The receiving corps doesn’t necessarily have a speedster in the room, Robin Wilzeck (Berlin Thunder) is naturally the target for that receiver type. He is unlikely to leave the Thunder, but if the plan is to beat the Fire, you go big or go home.

In 2023 the offense had a split back system that didn’t have anyone carry for more than 100 attempts, in total, 1,089 yards were achieved on the ground. Adding in a running back who can be effective in the passing attack could open up the offense a lot. Thomas Fischbach led in rushing yards and receiving yards among the Galaxy backs with 360 and 99 yards respectively. Adding a new dimension to the offense with Ali Khalife (Milano Seamen) who was extremely similar in rushing production but was one of the better receivers out of the backfield, with an 87.5% catch rate, 196 yards and four touchdowns gives Sullivan and Thomas Kösling a more flexible scheme. The offensive line has had a decline this season. This is evident in the fact that they gave up 35 sacks. Potentially, Christian Sinnige of the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns would be a great fit as a mobile, athletic lineman who can play all five spots on the line he is one of the more recognized British lineman but is still very underrated in his ability. This is in addition to Oliver Landström who was a solid late-season acquisition. Kevin Mwamba is still the best blocking tight end in the league. Landström and Mwamba were the sole European players on the offense and the unit still performed at a high level. We would just need to subsidize with more top German players in depth positions, particularly on the offensive line and in the running back room. The Dresden Monarchs, Braunschweig New Yorker Lions, Potsdam Royals and Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns all have some solid offensive linemen. Let’s get them in for a trial and see who matches the system because, over the last week, we’ve seen several Galaxy linemen retire.

Improving the defense

The big issue for the defense is the loss of the long-time stable of the team, Sebastian Silva-Gomez. The 2021 All-Star announced his retirement at the end of the season so priority one is to find his replacement. Wael Nasri is an unknown returner but one we want to have back in the team, paired with Hugo Dyrendahl (Dresden Monarchs) and the linebacker core is starting to shape up. The player to be targeted massively is Flamur Simon of the Rhein Fire. He is an unlikely acquisition but falls into the “Do what you have to do to get him here” category. He’s young, athletically gifted, and experienced but the concern is with injuries if he can remain healthy, he is an “All ELF” talent. Karlis Brauns is one of the most consistent players in the league on the defensive line. The Latvian is entering his physical prime so adding some tools to get him above that 10-sack mark would be incredibly beneficial. Outside of Brauns, the Galaxy lacked a pass rush. Janek Wenke from the Cologne Centurions is a young German who has seen progression over the last two seasons and Joshua Wuensch of the Saarland Hurricanes is another young prospect with North American expedefenseat Albany College. Historically, the Galaxy have invested heavily into the passing defense, Tony Anderson, Jamalcolm Liggins and Dejion Lynch all played at varying times of the season. Liggins and Lynch are great to fill the American spots if they can be retained and stay healthy. Anderson as well as a European spot would be emphasized. Lynch was hypothesized as a Milan target; therefore Monteze Latimore (Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns) and Nigel Lawrence (Braunschweig New Yorker Lions) would certainly warrant an opportunity given their excellent performances in the GFL. If Anderson is unavailable or is tempted over to play for the French rivals, Goran Zec (Stuttgart Surge) is the best player to slot into the safety role and is probably on every team’s short list.

Special teams’ upgrades

Into the special teams, Ryan Rimmler was one of the best kickers in the business so there’s no need to make any changes in that department. He just needs to sharpen up his PAT accuracy. Hendrik Schwarz is again one of the best in the league at the punter position. Reece Horn is more than capable of returning kicks, so we have the unit largely unchanged.

Key Moves

Offense:

• Solidifying the offensive line with European spots.
• More flexible running game with the addition of Ali Khalife
• Give Sullivan weapons. Fuchs, Wilzeck, Khalife.
• More speed on offense.

Defense:

• Flamur Simon comes in for Sebastian Silva-Gomez.
• Revitalize the pass rush.
• Keep the top 5 passing defense together, prepare for losses, however.
• Rebuild the box around young talented LBs.

 Once again, we have finished the rebuild. This one was a completely different angle than the Milano rebuild and was a big challenge to do. Less in terms of the obvious holes and more so in the technical and schematics of the team.

If you have any thoughts or comments, don’t hesitate to reach out. Until next time.