It wasn’t pretty, but on a rare rain-soaked day in San Diego, the Fleet came back in the fourth quarter to beat the Atlanta Legends for their first victory in the Alliance of American Football (AAF). After struggling with dropped passes by receivers all day, San Diego head coach Mike Martz decided to pound the ball with impunity, repeatedly giving it to runner Ja’Quan Gardner. Through two games, he is looking like the Fleet’s best offensive weapon.
Ja’Quan Gardner Establishing Himself as Centerpiece to San Diego Fleet Offense
On the Ground… Or by Sea?
Usually, when referring to running backs, people say things like “they kept the ball on the ground. However, going with the Fleet’s naval theme, and building on it with the wet conditions the team endured in their home opener, the Fleet might want to say they kept the ball underwater. Gardner endured the soggy conditions of the field to rack up 104 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries.
Last week, against the San Antonio Commanders, Gardner also led the team in rushing, but he only got eight carries. Martz had the team throwing the ball more, attempting 35 passes between quarterbacks Mike Bercovici and Phillip Nelson. However, Gardner was extremely efficient in that game. He totaled 55 yards, good for 6.9 yards-per-carry, including this beauty of a run:
This week, he almost doubled his carry total, but kept his yards-per-carry about the same, at 6.8.
Building an Identity
Coach Martz is best known for being the offensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams during their “Greatest Show on Turf” days. It seemed Martz initially went in trying to replicate those days with a complex passing offense. Last week, the Fleet struggled to protect the quarterbacks. This week, weather and drops made that style ineffective. Finally, Martz went with what he saw was working: Gardner running the ball.
The San Diego Fleet came into the fourth quarter of week two as the only AAF team to not score a touchdown. Gardner changed that. Despite coming into the fourth quarter trailing, Martz’s offense only attempted six passes for the rest of the game. (One of them was on a two-point conversion after a false start backed them up.) Instead, the team ran 16 times, mostly giving it to Gardner.
He ended up scoring not only the first but also the second San Diego Fleet touchdown ever. Here is the first:
4th and 1? No problem. @_JGWentworth_32 scores the first TD in #SDFleet history! ⚓️?? #AllHandsOnDeck pic.twitter.com/BGePeqk2IE
— San Diego Fleet (@AAFFleet) February 18, 2019
Overcoming Odds
The Fleet are playing from behind compared to most AAF teams. Their first overall pick, Josh Johnson ended up getting picked up by the Washington Redskins. Former Tennessee Titans running back Bishop Sankey was supposed to be the team’s starter, but he ended up going down with an injury right before final cuts. This had the starters at both positions very unclear going into the first week.
Bercovici started but got replaced by Nelson. With Gardner, however, it was a different story. He started the first game and looked great, with his biggest weakness of week one being that he was underutilized. The Fleet’s second back, Terrell Watson, is an excellent complement to Gardner. While Gardner is small, quick, and shifty, Watson is big and powerful. He was effective as a change-up back, coming in to bowl through defenses right when they were starting to adjust to Gardner’s speed.
Last Word on Gardner as the Focal Point for the Fleet Offense
In the NFL, the first few weeks of the season are about figuring out identities for offenses. There are usually bumps in the road before the team gets on track by the quarter point of the season. This is exemplified for the AAF since it is not only the first few weeks of a new season but the first few weeks ever. However, it looks like the Fleet are starting to figure out who they are. They are a smash-mouth team who can run the ball down a team’s throat, and play great defense. Gardner will be the centerpiece to that identity throughout the year.
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
