Retirements

RB Clarence Sorensen retired after his 9th season in the league--all with the Thrashers. Currently considered the CPU's All Team RB, Sorensen went out on top after winning his third Super Bowl.

WR Robert Gutierrez retired after 10 season with the Thrashers; he's the team's leading receiver with over 500 catches and 8,000 receiving yards. The receiver all appeared in six league championships and won three Super Bowls

Offensive Coordinator and long-time coach Jonathan Perdue retired after only one season with the Thrashers, but he helped lead the team to a championship, particularly with the continued development of John Spartan.

Departures

QB Charles Reese was not re-signed for the upcoming season. Reese who is a starting caliber quarterback in his own right backed up QB John Spartan for the last two seasons. Reese won a Super Bowl in 2024 with the Thrashers and spent four total seasons with the team.

FB Mark Cruz was also allowed to explore free agency. The fullback played six seasons for the Thrashers and put up his best stat line in 2026. Cruz was a two-time Super Bowl champion.

OG Arlie Wilson spent four seasons with the team, three of which as a starter, but his age began to show after winning a championship in 2024. Wilson is a 10 year veteran.

DE Rocky Johnson spent 8 seasons with the Thrashers through all the glory, but only as a rotational player. In an ironic twist of fate, his best season was his final one, where he had 4 sacks and 17 tackles.

LB **** Hardwick spent 8 seasons as well with the Thrashers. Hardwick peaked in 2021 where he had 2 sacks, 40 tackles, and an Interception to cap off his season.

LB Vincent Hanna was released after two seasons with the team. Hanna was infamous for being the worst draft bust in Thrasher's history and only now was it feasible to dismiss and eat the remainder of his salary. May he rot.

TE Willie Mays Hayes was dismissed after one season. Although he was not expected to contribute much, he did well in his limited time. The addition of Bruce Lloyd during the regular season limited Hayes' play time even more and Lloyd's salary was much more cost-effective.

Trades

TE Tommy Guyette was acquired from the Dallas Cowboys for a third and fourth round pick in 2027 and 2nd round pick in 2028. Guyette is a five year veteran and will solidify the TE position for another 4-5 years for the Thrashers now that long-time TE Charles Webber has expressed some interest in retirement beginning his 9th season. For this season at least, the Thrashers should have the most dynamic tight end situation in the league.

Early Free Agency Acquisitions

The Thrashers once again had a successful opening to free agency this season. With the number of departures and retirements in the offseason, acquisitions were necessary to keep the standard Thrasher fans are used to. The biggest needs were offensive line, running back, and defensive line. All of which were touched on.

Steve Austin DE/DT Signed from The Real Kayfabe - Austin has strength and some talent for run defending but lacks speed and acceleration to be a real threat on the edge. He will serve in reserve role for both defensive tackle and defensive end for the team.

George Erwin RB Signed from Roswell - Coming off a 2,300 total yard season, Erwin will be called upon to do a little of everything. He’ll be the lightning counterpart to David Lusher’s thunder in the run game. In addition, Erwin caught 92 passes in 2026 and had nearly 600 yards in returns.

Harry Good WR Signed from the Los Angeles Xtreme - Good is a speedy route runner who scored 5 TDs (including the post season). Good was brought in to give a little youth to the receivers as the average age is currently 29.

James Hunt QB Signed from Free Agency - The last time Hunt played a snap was preseason 2025, but the last time he played in a regular season he put a QB rating of 84.6 with the New York Giants. With the ascension of John Spartan, Hunt only need be there for moral support and the occasional accurate pass in reserve.

Vince MacMahon CB/KR/PR Signed from the Real Kayfabe - MacMahon will serve as corner back depth and give a shot in the return game (which surprisingly he has never been tapped for). He does lack top end speed, but he has excellent hands and great burst.

Randy Pierce LB Signed from Roswell - Pierce is a quick player who will help in rotation in the linebacking corps and on special teams.

Thomas Rice LT Signed from Roswell - The seven year veteran will slide directly into the starting left tackle spot. Rice has been excellent in pass protection in his career and gave up zero sacks in the previous two season. In addition, the tackle has only missed 6 games over seven seasons and once again zero in the last two seasons.

2027 Draft

The Thrashers wrapped up things early this year in the draft, having only a 1st and 2nd round pick (trade with Terra Haut). In any case, the franchise did the best with what they had to address needs on the offensive side of the ball.

Roger Murtaugh C/G, Tulane. 6’2” 287lbs.
With the 32nd pick in the 2027 Football Moguls Draft, the Arkansas Thrashers selected Roger Murtaugh, a four year starting offensive lineman from Tulane. Murtaugh isn’t the sexiest first round pick, but as a low volatility player with one-day starting talent, the Thrashers were glad for a potential change (see: first round busts of the last few years). Although he is a little undersized for a prototypical tackle, he is ideal for the interior line. He has above average strength and burst off the line and average snapping skills as a backup center, should anything happen to starter Charles Lee Ray. After a year of development, Murtaugh could plug into the left guard spot unless he gets too old for this ****.

Martin Riggs FB, East Stroudsberg (by way of U.S. Army Special Forces). 6’4” 244 lbs.
Riggs is a converted FB from TE, although he played some of both at East. He has above average speed and pass receiving courage. In addition, he has elite strength, hand-to-hand combat training, and he has potential run-blocking skills that will serve the team well. After the military, Riggs got a bad rap as a hothead willing to put others in harm’s way, but the hope is that co-draftee Murtaugh will help tame his fury.

2027 Training Camp

"The most exciting training camp in three seasons?" -- Reporter Newsman, Thrasher Beat Reporter

Although, the team only had two picks in this year's draft, both seemed to adapt to pro level given their areas.

Roger Murtaugh (+3) still needs development and will spend the next year in reserve at C and G, but he looks as though he could eventually take a prominent role anywhere on the line by next season.

Although Martin Riggs (+2) came in as a predominantly run-blocking TE from East, his destiny was to be a fullback. This 244lbs wrecking ball should clear lanes in the run game and register a few catches in the passing game. He'll get the start as a rookie with support from TE Winston Wolfe.

Check back after preseason week 4 for the preseason report.

Late Free Agency

A number of players were signed in late free agency to give some depth all around for key positions and have extra bodies through the preseason.

Charles Reese, QB, re-signed by the Thrashers. Signed for a low asking price in order to remain with the team. The team happily obliged to retain a former Super Bowl Champion.

Rocky Johnson, DE, re-signed by the Thrashers. Johnson rejoined the team for a low contract, but it's not guaranteed he'll make the final roster.

Glen Richardson, C, signed from DET. The center hasn't had a lot of play in the league, but was signed for depth, seeing that Roger Murtaugh (who was drafted as a back-up C/G) excelled so much during camp that he is expected to fill a much bigger need in the future elsewhere on the line.

David Puryear, RB/WR, signed from SEA. Although the RB is not expected to be a starter, Puryear could still a back-up spot from long-time RB Francis Hockensmith. He's a decent pass-catcher out of the backfield and decent in pass protection.

Robert Stickland, MLB, signed from ROS. Another veteran brought in to support the line-backing corps. Strickland doesn't excel in any one particular thing, but was a full starter for Roswell last year, snagging 119 tackles, two interceptions, and 14 knockdowns.

Mid-season Thrasher Report

After going 4-0 throughout the preseason, the Arkansas Thrashers have charged ahead in 2027, only losing one game--a nail-biter in Chicago. Now the team sits atop the AFC at 7-1 with the most points scored and fewest points allowed through these 8 games. Of course, Thrasher fans are always looking over their shoulders because the second place team is division rival, Boston Teabag Party.

Ahead of the pack is MVP QB John Spartan, who currently leads in passing yards and is in the top three for completion percentage, touchdowns, and QB rating. The RB duo of David Lusher and George Erwin has been a great combination; league-wide, Lusher ranks second in rushing yards (704), and Erwin first in rushing touchdowns (8). Both are in the top-10 in scrimmage yards as well, and Erwin is second overall in total touchdowns (14). Once again, WR and TE numbers are more modest but productive. TE Charles Webber leads the group with 437 yards receiving and 5 TDs.

On the defensive side of the ball, injuries have cropped up all over the place, but none so predominant as the defensive front; it's been an injury carousel all season, and DE Max Dicken and DT Jason Voorhees are are both out for at least two weeks going forward. In spite of an ugly 0.8 sacks per game statline, the unit is in the top ten defenses in the league, generating 1.3 Interceptions per game and 5.0 turnover ratio.

Ultimately, it is the offense that is slashing through the league with 449 scrimmage yards per game--good enough for best in the league and nearly 170 more yards per game than opponents on average. That scrimmage yard total number also ranks highest since league rules changed with 0.4.5 (going back to 2021 seasonal totals).

The back-half of the season doesn't seem to have too many obstacles (other than the team's own injuries), only three games are played against teams with winning records (both division rivals). If the course maintains, the Thrashers should make another playoff appearance this season, but we're still just halfway, so a lot can happen. Check back at the end of the regular season for the next recap.

End of Regular Season Report

The Arkansas Thrashers once again finished at the first seed in the AFC with a 13-3 record. Although injuries circulated throughout the season, the team held together pretty well. Both sides of the ball had time to shine in 2027, so here are some of the highlights:

Offensively, John Spartan turned in another MVP-worthy performance, even with the aid of Miami's bomb of a year which got Spartan 16 of his 45 TDs. He averaged an 114 QB Rating, while throwing for 4,393 yards at 70% completion percentage. He also lowered his Interceptions down to 10 this season for a total TD:INT to 4.5:1.

Even though both running backs spent time injured this season, the duo of David Lusher and George Erwin was as successful as could have been hoped for in the wake of Clarence Sorensen's retirement. Both backs averaged over 5.1 YPC for about 900 yards each. Erwin exploded this season for a total of 19 rushing TDs (9 against Miami in Week 13). Both added over 50 catches each in the passing game as well. Erwin finished the year with 1,615 scrimmage yards and 29 total TDs. Lusher, on the other hand, had 1,486 scrimmage and 4 total TDs.

Super Bowl 2026 MVP WR John Nelson finished as the top receiving threat this year with over 800 yards and 7 TDs. TEs Charles Webber and Winston Wolfe also finished with over 500 receiving yards and 6 TDs each.

Defensively, the unit ranked in the top ten, only allowing 256 yards per game, which was 8th best. Overall, they were first in sacks (once again thanks to Miami) and 10th in Interceptions. DE Michael Cherrito was once again the team sack leader with 9 and managed to have 29 QB hurries as well. CB Elliot Spencer also pulled in 5 Interceptions, 75 tackles, and 11 Knockdowns for the secondary.

The Thrashers get the first round bye and will host their next game in January after Wild Card Week.

Super Bowl Champions...AGAIN?!
--Report Newsman, beat reporter for the Arkansas Thrashers

The Thrashers made short work of opponents in the divisional (Denver) and conference championships (Wisconsin) to head to their 7th Super Bowl in franchise history, and once again, the storied franchise of the Arkansas Thrashers has grown by winning back-to-back championships. This is fourth league title over the last eight seasons. In addition, the Thrashers have made seven Super Bowl appearances in nine years, only missing two since since 2019.

This year's match could not have been more historic. The team faced long-time rivals out of Los Angeles, the Xtreme. The Xtreme were the only other team in league history to have as many titles (3) as the Thrashers, as well as the second most Super Bowl appearances (4).

It was a tough match, a tale of two halves. LA took control early and even had the Thrashers down 21-10 at half time. After a good pep speech by Coach Mitch Castillo and Owner Timothy Thompson, the Thrashers took control on both sides of the ball, not allowing the Xtreme to score again. After the dust settled, the Thrashers were able to put up another 16 points in the second half to bring the final score to 26-21.

John Spartan finished the game with 310 passing yards, two TDs, and one INT and was set to be one of the worst post-season performances of his young career, until he took control of the game beginning in the middle of the third quarter. For his efforts in the comeback, John Spartan was named MVP of the 2027 Super Bowl.

Defensively, there wasn't a standout moment, but in a war of attrition sometimes, the winner is sometimes the one who doesn't bleed the most. The Thrashers held LA's Martinez to 267 passing yards and only 8.3 yards completion while in the running game, kept their running backs to just 3.2 yards per carry. In addition, Max Dicken DE is the only 4-time Super Bowl champion in league history.