In Ra’Shawde Myers first season with the Iowa Barnstormers, he had two sacks.
In his career at Marshall University, he tallied seven and a half.
This season with Iowa, Myers leads the entire Indoor Football League (IFL) with 11.
Ra’Shawde Myers a league leader in second season with Iowa
It has been a career year so far for Myers, who has as many sacks this season that he has had since high school.
“I’ve been working in a lot of speed programs, staying low, bending my hip flexors, and stuff like that,” Myers said. “[I’m] just trying to make myself a better pass rusher.”
Not only does Myers lead the IFL in sacks, but he is second to Spokane’s John Griggs in tackles for loss with 14.5.
“When you can rush the passer in this league, it’s special,” Coach Dixie Wooten said. “The way Myers rushes the quarterback is big time for us. That lets us know we can get off the field after third downs.”
The unit around him
However, part of the reason Myers has been so dominant is because of the stacked defense around him.
“I’m not the only one out their rushing,” Myers said. “When everybody is doing their job, everybody is playing a role in the sack. It isn’t just me out there.”
The Barnstormers defense features two former all-IFL players in Javicz Jones and Dee Maggitt Jr., along with Myers who is well on his way to be a third.
The defense is currently second in the IFL in scoring defense, surrendering just 36.2 points per game this season.
As the top defense, you have to have playmakers on the field,” Jones said. “That’s one thing we take pride in. “Myers has been a key part of it. Last year he came in a little bit late, but we knew he had potential to make big things happen, so it’s kind of cool to see him ball out and play as hard as he can.”
Myers only played six games for the Barnstormers in 2016, but returned to the defensive line this season to continue to hound his skill set.
The line is known for being a competitive unit on the team, which has also helped Myers.
“We always go hard,” Myers said. “We’re competitive. Even though I have 11 [sacks] right now, every one of the d-lineman are still trying to catch up.”
As the end of the season approaches, the other defensive linemen’s opportunities are shrinking.
Will they catch up?
“No,” Myers said.
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The Iowa Barnstormers will face off against the Salt Lake Screaming Eagles this Friday at 8:00 p.m. CT. Fans can follow along live on twitter by following LWOS’ own Connor Ferguson.
Fans can listen to the game live on 1040 WHO AM radio with the legend Joe Stasi on play-by-play.
Barnstormer fans can read more of Connor’s content here.
