As the German Football League heads into its final break of the season with six weeks to go, some familiar patterns are emerging in terms of the leaders of the four key statistical categories. Interestingly, the number one team in Europe, the Braunschweig New Yorker Lions, still has only one player among the top two in any category while the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes, has players leading in two of the four categories. Meanwhile, the 3-8 Munich Cowboys have the leading tackler in Germany and the 4th leading rusher.
Passing
Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns quarterback Marco Ehrenfried leads the top offense in Germany and his passing yardage is one reason. He has 2,483 yards passing in nine games and 32 TD passes. Australian Jared Stegman of the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes has climbed into 2nd with 2,286 yards and 40 TDs. Dresden Monarchs QB Garrett Safron is 3rd in passing yardage with2,282 yards and 27 TD passes and 30 TDs. Rick Webster of the Ingolstadt Dukes has dropped into 4th with 2,235 yards passing and 34 TD passes. Following him in 5th is Casey Therriault of the New Yorker Lions with his 2,060 passing yards.
Receiving
Kiel WR Xavier Mitchell is the favorite target of QB Jared Stegman and he leads the league in receiving yardage with 946 and 13 touchdown receptions. Not surprisingly, New Yorker Lions WR Niklas Römer is 2nd with 867 yards while Christian Hafels of the Allgau Comets is a surprising 3rd with 785 yards receiving. Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns receiver Nate Robitaille has moved up into 4th with 750 yards receivng and a league-leading 14 TD catches while Dresden Monarch WR Sebastian Sagne is now 5th with 714.
Rushing
Kiel Baltic Hurricanes RB Chris McClendon was one of the top two rushers in the GFL in 2016 and he is still the leader after nine games. He has rushed for 1,280 yards and 13 TDs. RB Kevin Parks of the Cologne Crocodiles is 2nd with 942 yards and a 13 TDs. Veteran New Yorker Lions RB David McCants is the 3rd leading rusher in Germany with 825 yards and his 10 TDs put him past the 100 career TD mark! Fabien Gaertner of the 3-8 Munich Cowboys has climbed into 4th with 688 yards while Frankfurt’s Silas Nacita has rushed for 686 yards in 8 games,and is now 5th.
Tackling
Munich Cowboy LB Ryan Newell is back among the top tacklers in Germany. He led the GFL in tackles in 2013 and 2014 with the Cowboys and he still leads with 111 so far this year. Michael Taylor of the 6-2 Marburg Mercenaries is 2nd with 103 total tackles while Newell’s teammate Jeremiah Maluia of the Cowboys is 3rd with 98. Allgau Comets LB Niall Padden as usual is among the top five and is 4th with 89 tackles and Burton De Koning of the Berlin Adler has made it among the top 5 with 75 tackles in 8 games.