The Jeff Otis Compendium
03/26/2007 QB Jeff Otis Signed
yup hes a QB... might not be better then booty... talk about camp arm heh
----------------------------------
oh im just chuckling at this guy... heres his bio
PERSONAL: Competed in football and track at Christian Brothers College High School...Was a member of the Missouri East All-Star Team...Was also an All-West County selection and a St. Louis Post Dispatch Super 30 nominee
Here's more information then most people want about our new QB prospect, but WTH - a slow day. The guy led his team to a 22-7 victory in the world Bowl last year - so that's something. He's 6"1" and 215 lbs.
Inside the Huddle with Jeff Otis
May 24, 2006
By Henry Hodgson
NFL Europe
Jeff Otis is stepping in at quarterback for his first start since Week 5. (waynepaulo.com)
The Frankfurt Galaxy are preparing for Yello Strom World Bowl XIV with the same intensity as they have their past ten games. However, there is one significant change to the team in the seven days before the biggest game of their season – the reinstatement of Jeff Otis as their starting quarterback.
Otis won the starting job in training camp, but a combination of an ankle injury and the good play of Craig Ochs (Buffalo Bills) in relief, meant that the Arizona-allocated quarterback did not see much action in the second half of the season.
“I started the first five games, and then the second half of the season things happened which meant that I didn’t play as much as I would have liked to,” says Otis. “The second game I played in I went down with an ankle, and then I was out the following week. I am glad to be back in the saddle for our biggest game of the season, though.”
Otis’ experience as a starter through the first half of the Galaxy’s campaign means that the team should not experience too many problems as they prepare for World Bowl with a different quarterback at the helm.
“Unfortunately Craig went down, but I am ready to get back in that role, and I think most importantly the team is comfortable with me doing that, so I am looking forward to it,” Otis continues.
“Losing Craig is a big loss, because he started for us in the last four or five games, but we are happy with our quarterback situation,” said Galaxy head coach Mike Jones (
not the old Raider...). “Jeff Otis has started a lot of games for us too, and he has plenty of playing time and knows our offense well, so for us it is a loss, but we are going to move forward without feeling too bad about things.”
During his first spell as starter the Galaxy went 3-2, but since then the team has got in a groove and found consistency in its game. Frankfurt’s offensive production has been sparked by outstanding running back Roger Robinson, who went over 100 yards in seven of the nine games he played in, and broke the league single-season rushing record with 1,087 yards on the ground in 2006.
Otis has had to curb his desire to go downfield.
“I think we have got stronger as the season went on,” says Otis. “We got into a groove from around Week Three onwards, and we have done what we needed to do to win every week since then. We have been consistent – pretty much all our wins have been by about three or less points. I feel confident that we have been heading in the right direction.”
Having Robinson and fellow running back Butchie Wallace in the backfield has made life easy for Otis and Ochs, who know that they will be handing the ball off on average 36 times per game. However, the real boost for Frankfurt has been the play of their outstanding offensive line, which has dominated opponents throughout the season.
“Being able to hand off to a guy like Roger, and being able to trust the guys up front, it makes life a lot easier,” Otis explains. “I think our offensive line has easily been the most dominant in the league, and that is a big reason for our success. A lot of the time we have gone into games and teams have known exactly what is coming, but they just can’t stop us.”
Frankfurt’s running game is the dominant hand in their offensive strategy, but the passing game can be pretty effective too. The team has a pair of outstanding pass catchers in the duo of 6-foot-5 receivers Aaron Hosack and Walter Young, as well as athletic tight end Keith Willis. Between them those three players have accounted for 1,133 of Frankfurt’s 1,751 receiving yards, and eight of the 11 touchdowns in the passing game.
The Galaxy aerial attack is based around a receiver running short patterns and quarterbacks hitting them on timing routes for short gains to complement the running game.
“A lot of what we do in the passing game is based on timing, which is what I like to do,” says Otis. “I like to go downfield – and that was something I had to check myself on early in the season – but I have learnt to take the high percentage throws to keep the sticks moving.”
Having played – and lost – against their World Bowl opponents twice already this season, the Galaxy know the gameplan that should make it third time lucky for them against the Admirals in 2006.
“We have to keep a balanced attack against Amsterdam,” he says. “The first time we played them we got behind, and we got to throwing too much. The second game we had a lot of turnovers, and started the game slow, and we never quite got back. Against Amsterdam you have to be at the top of your game, and that means being able to run the ball, throw the ball and limit your turnovers.”
Another area that Frankfurt will be concentrating on is finishing their drives. Despite having the league’s leading offense, Frankfurt have averaged just 17 points per game, and save for a 31-14 defeat of strugglers Hamburg, their average margin of victory has been by just three points.
The main factor in Frankfurt’s struggles to put teams away has been their tendency to waste golden opportunities inside their opponents’ 20-yard line. From 28 redzone visits the Galaxy have scored just 12 touchdowns – a 42.9% conversion rate that ranks fifth among the league’s six teams.
“When you get in the redzone you have to score touchdowns,” Otis confirms. “I don’t know why that has happened. I don’t want it to become a mind thing for this team, because we have the guys to do it. I think we are over it now, so I don’t think it is going to be a problem when we play on Saturday in World Bowl.”
Although Otis did not play in the Week Nine clash between Amsterdam and Frankfurt that resulted in a 17-12 win for the Galaxy, he does not think that his style of play is so dramatically different to that of Ochs that it will change the way the Admirals prepare for the Galaxy this week.
“There are a few differences between my game and Craig’s game, but I don’t know if that means Frankfurt will approach how they play us any different,” Otis says. “They certainly have equal film on the two of us – I started the first five games and Craig started the second five – so they can go to the archives and pull out anything they want with me on there.”
He does think that he knows what Amsterdam will try to do to stop them, however.
Otis knows that the first priority will be stopping Frankfurt's running game. (waynepaulo.com)
“I think what they are going to try and do is first and foremost stop our run game,” he reveals. “They do a lot of man coverage, and that will probably be how they defend us in the passing game. Having played them only two weeks ago will be beneficial for us, because we have been able to go back to that tape and look at it.”
Although Amsterdam have won both meetings between the World Bowl-bound teams, Otis really believes that the Galaxy are primed for victory on Saturday.
“The last two games we have not played that well, and we really could not explain how we lost when we played them in Week Nine,” he says. “If our offensive line comes out and plays at championship level – one notch above how they have played all season – I think third time can be a charm against Amsterdam.”
Should the Galaxy return home with a title ring on their fingers, the football season is far from over for Otis. The next appointment in his diary is for Tuesday, when he and teammate Roger Robinson return to the Cardinals for an organized team activity with the Phoenix based team. Will he be too weary for that? Not at all.
“I love playing football, so I am happy every time I get an opportunity to step onto the field,” Otis says. “Arizona is an exciting team to be a part of right now, with all these young players on offense, and I am looking forward to getting there and seeing what role I can play.”
Perhaps Otis and Robinson can finish the education of Arizona’s youthful offense by mapping out the winning mentality that they have shown in Europe, helping the Cardinals to their own championship in the future.
http://www.nfleurope.com/worldbowl/news/story/9458611
