Like every football season, week one brings up new faces and surprising performances. While some players pick up where they left off, other athletes fly under the radar again.

Vienna balls out on offense

In Vienna, not only did the connection of quarterback Ben Holmes and wideout Jordan Bouah work out just as planned, but Holmes also even managed to provide four touchdowns. On offense, also running back Karri Pajarinen, a Finnish international now in his second year with the Vikings, scored two touchdowns on Saturday, even picking up more steam than last season.

Carlton Aiken Jr. could be the real deal in Switzerland. © Alexandre Bertrand

Dual-threat quarterbacks take over the ELF

In Switzerland, both the Mercenaries and the visiting Dragons could have found their quarterback for the future. Levi Lewis, as well as Carlton Aiken Jr. managed to lead long drives, ensuring their team to hang in the game for a long time. It was a back and forth showing of great quarterback talent with elite scrambling ability. A characteristic that seems to bear fruit in the ELF for a lot of teams, mentioning Javarian Smith’s performance in Prague, or even Cologne’s newest addition, Isaiah Weed. Despite losing their game against Rhein Fire, the Centurions could as well be happy with their showing – staying in the competition all game with quarterback Weed and his playing style with draw plays and off platform throws.

Isaiah Weed had a decent game against the Rhein Fire. © Frederik Löwer

Offensive show-off

While we had an exceptionally great offensive and defensive show-out by the Raiders, with Darion Chafin balling out on offense next to D’Angelo Fulford, on Sunday, we saw two likely contenders in Poland. Both teams, Berlin and Wroclaw, schemed their offense in unpredictable ways, with Steven Duncan and Jakeb Sullivan under center. While Jakeb received help from Robin Wilzeck and Aaron Jackson, Duncan showed his connection to Jakub Mazan, Gennadiy Adams or Daniel Bender. It was a show-off for their offenses, likely to pierce through other defenses in the future.

Gennadiy Adams (21) and Steven Duncan (4) formed a nice duo at their debut for the Panthers. © Lukasz Skwiot

Leading the charge

Both quarterbacks of last year’s final, Jadrian Clark (Rhein Fire) and Reilly Hennessey (Stuttgart Surge), started where they left off, leading their teams to dominant victories. While Clark has a bunch of new weapons, Stuttgart’s strategy of relying on their top three guys seems to be working. Louis Geyer, Yannick Mayr and Darrell Stewart had a great game against the Ravens. With week two on the horizon, even more big plays are waiting to happen.