The Top 6 Best Franchise Tagged Players

By: Kyle "FCF Stathead" Sheridan

This is a two part list, part two will be the worst franchise tagged players. These two lists aren’t meant to bash or hype players, it's more to evaluate the season they had. I genuinely have a high respect for all of these athletes and wish to see them succeed. That being said, some rules for this list: I’m only doing the tags for weeks 1-4, so none of the defensive backs will be on this list. This list is based on overall impact for the team, playing consistency, and of course statistics.

To start, a few honorable mentions

KaVontae Turpin - Glacier Boyz (Tagged: Week 3)
While KaVontae was an excellent compliment to Andrew Jamiel, he 

didn’t have as big of an impact. Not that he didn’t try, with 4 TD’s, 197 yards, and a league high 8 PAT catches. He simply isn’t on this list because I deemed the other 6 more impactful.

Christian Saulsberry - Beasts (Tagged: Week 4)
Having a wicked breakout game earned him a franchise tag, but afterwards he slowly fizzled. His stats aren’t wowing: 11th in receiving yards, 3rd in targets (only 8 of which were caught). He had a good overall season, but for the Beasts he didn’t play at the level of his breakout game.
Calen Campbell - Glacier Boyz (Tagged: Week 4)
Ironic that the two players on the Glacier Boyz week 3 franchise tag poll are here. Yes, the second best SB in FCF doesn’t quite make the list as it seemed he was under valued by the team that tagged him. There are arguments that can be made that Quinn Porter was more effective, but either way Campbell had a very good season with 141 yards and 4 touchdowns on 20 carries. He contributed, but wasn’t utilized till much much later.

Raphael Leonard - Wild Aces (Tagged: Week 4)
Leonard was a good dual threat WR, by that I mean he was good during a drive and on the PAT. He tied for fifth in receiving yards and 5th in targets and had 3 touchdowns and 118 yards receiving. Holding him back is the one drop, and similarly to Turpin, I deemed these 6 more impactful.


1. Jackson Erdmann - Wild Aces (Tagged: Week 1)
Surprised? This is my list, so I’m gonna be opinionated and to me there was no better Franchised player than Jerdy. He played his role the best, making throws when needed, adapting to the game, and leading his team to a championship (with some help from Galloway). While their run game took a bit of time to take off, they always had Erdmann who was a smart player to help keep them alive. His stats aren’t as flashy as our next entry: 57% completion rating, 234 yards passing, 5 touchdowns and a pick. It doesn’t seem great but it got results, and once Galloway popped off it made Erdmann’s job easier.
2. Quinton Flowers - Beasts (Tagged: Week 2)
Flowers was THE QB of the first season of FCF. He was throwing bombs, making plays on the ground, he couldn’t be beat. Well, until week 4 and in the playoffs. His stats are something all FCF QB’s should strive for ( except for his 39% completion rate and his under 100 passer rating): 335 passing yards, 271 rushing yards, 12 total touchdowns. Granted he turned the ball over twice, but still he was MORE than effective and a strong leader, playing through injuries, dominating games every week, playing strong football. His only fault is he is used to 100 yard fields, so he overthrew a lot, and he didn’t win when it mattered.
3. Andrew Jamiel - Glacier Boyz (Tagged: Week 2)
Arguably the most consistent player, he was targeted often and always. 49 times to be exact and out of his 19 catches, he didn’t drop a single pass….in the regular season. 241 yards, 6 touchdowns, he was a reliable target but how GOOD was he? A lot of teams left him unguarded, wide open, so OF COURSE they are gonna throw his way. So it was no wonder he averaged 10 targets per game through the first 5 weeks. It wasn’t until the People’s Championship that we saw what happens when you actually put some coverage on him. He’s a clean route runner, reliable hands, but short and not terribly fast. His appearance makes him seem like less of a threat, which is why he popped off throughout the season and if he would return next season I imagine teams might try harder to slow him down.
4. Ladarius Galloway - Wild Aces (Tagged: Week 2)
Kinda low for the Offensive MVP, isn’t it? Well the reason is, he took a while to get going. The first two weeks, he wasn’t the dominant bull he became. Now granted that’s not a knock against him per say, it took a couple of players a few weeks to get comfortable. But oh man once he had that 100 yard game? It was game over for the rest of the season as he became an unstoppable force. So while he lacked consistency, he made up for it for just how much he gave the team: 239 rushing yards, 4 touchdowns, 7 yards per carry. In a shortened field, this kind of tough nose, ground and pound football, is very effective. Good on the Wild Aces for recognizing it and great on Galloway for a monster performance.
5. Travis Toivonen - Zappers (Tagged: Week 3)
Travis “Trav Daddy” Toivonen was THE deep threat in the FCF….until Gordon showed up. He was fast enough to out run most DB’s and those he couldnt he would just leap over and snag the ball. His game winning hail mary catch (which was voted best play of season 1) tells the whole story. While he wasn’t targeted as much as Jamiel, he had more yards and helped the Zappers get the ball down field (and score). He was pretty invisible in the short game, and his two drops (on the Wild Aces) also held him back but nothing that can’t be improved. However his complete disappearance in Week 5 was disastrous and I don’t know if the Zappers even showed up that day.
6. Logan Marchi - Zappers (Tagged: Week 4)
Kind of a sleeper pick in my opinion, but Marchi solved the Zappers biggest problem: the quarterback position. Sure Manziel was their face, but he’s no QB, he’s a scrambler that throws the ball MAYBE a few times per game. Marchi was the whole package -  he could run and pass, he made smart plays and Mahomes-esque throws. When you have a player that is fun to watch AND can win you games, it’s a good pick for your franchise tagged player. Granted, the hail mary to Toivonen wasn’t him, it was Braden Smith, and Marchi also disappeared in Week 5. His low completion percentage (49%) and passer rating (92.772) aren’t ideal but the Zappers wouldn’t go 2-2 without him.


Look out for part two, The top 6 worst franchised players of FCF 1.0. Who do you think is the best Franchised player of FCF 1.0? Do you agree with my list? Leave a response below and try to change my mind, I’ll be reading all comments.