European League of Football Week 5 Standout Performances

This was the most exciting week for the European League of Football in a long time featuring game-winning drives, players returning from injuries, and nail-biting finishes.

This week had several intriguing storylines. There are familiar names in this one of course as certain players continue to dominate, but some players we haven’t had the opportunity to talk about yet.

Keanu Ebanks – Paris Musketeers

Seeing the former CFL Brit’s impact on the struggling Paris offensive line was absurd. He came in from a previous injury at left tackle and immediately raised the level of the offense. Edwards was far more comfortable on his blind side and over it was running far more smoothly. The whole offense was not perfect from this single addition of course, but Ebanks is a signing that will pay huge dividends throughout the year, and it was very noticeable the effect he had on that team.

Adam Žouželka – Prague Lions

Adam Zouzelka hits a BIG rush for 6️⃣🦁

📺 #PRGatWPA LIVE now via our Gamepass. https://t.co/u3ptlp1SCM 📲 pic.twitter.com/qFOLHWTks8

— European League of Football (@ELF_Official) July 2, 2023

A total of 168 yards and three touchdowns for Adam’s return from injury. What’s even more impressive is that he was not 100% for that game. He was still somewhat hampered by the injuries and went off several times to the sideline. The 25 touches he got in this single game was more than double his season total previously, yet he still averaged 6.7 yards per carry. He was the reason that the Lions were within touching distance of their first win in the league, but sadly it wasn’t meant to be.

Aaron Jackson and Slade Jarman – Berlin Thunder

With Berlin QB Donovan Isom going down injured and Jarman’s previous time in at the Panthers there were a lot of question marks going into the game against the Leipzig Kings. However, Jarman performed excellently, with 69.23% accuracy, 382 yards and five touchdowns to zero interceptions. He spread the ball out fairly evenly on the offense but the player that stood out was Aaron Jackson. With 142 receiving yards and three scores on the day after a slower-than-expected start, it was his first 100-yard receiving game of the season but if Jarman can continue that production, we might see the full potential of that Berlin offence.

The Wegan Brothers – Vienna Vikings

Probably the most productive brothers in the history of the league, Florian and Anton Wegan. Anton came back from a top season last year and had four carries. He managed to rush for 87 yards and a score which is a 21.8 yards per carry mark. Then Flo ran for 154 yards and two touchdowns to continue his streak of 100-yard games to three. The only downside was the fumbles in which they both had a single on the day, but it doesn’t discount the fact that in total the brothers accumulated 240 yards.

Tobias Bonatti – Raiders Tirol

Sandro Platzgummer’s season-ending injury last week shook up the league. The Raiders had been using him sparingly alongside Tomas Bonatti, but this week Bonatti had the most carries he’s had all season and he made them count. He rushed for 158 yards and two touchdowns on Milano for an average of 8.7 yards per carry. Bonatti was effective everywhere in the running game, picking up long chunk yardage as well as performing effectively in the redzone. He showed that the Raiders’ offense is so high powered that it can still function without a key piece.

Tony Tate – Wroclaw Panthers

What is a top performance list without Tony Tate? With 124 Yards and two touchdowns on the Lions and a win to come home with, there wasn’t much to say that hasn’t already been said about him in his multiple entries into this series. He was uncoverable all day wherever he went on the field and it’s possible without his long score near the end of the game that his team would have lost this game. Another signature performance to add to his growing list, his chase for MVP is looking stronger every week.

Berdale Robins – Frankfurt Galaxy

Tying up the list for this week, Robins was a shut-down performer all day for the Galaxy as they extended their play-off push for the season. Two picks for a combined 58 yards, two pass breakups and a couple of tackles for his trouble. The Galaxy having a strong defense this season is going to be so important for them in this division. They proved it against Paris, and they’ll have to continue down the stretch. These performances will go a long way in building momentum, especially when locked up in a fairly underrated receiver room like Cologne has.

Honorable Mentions:

Jarvis McClam – 129 Yards and 1 Touchdown – Raiders Tirol
Jadrian Clark – 273 Yards, 75.86% accuracy, 5 Touchdowns – Rhein Fire
Jebrai Regan – 5 Total tackles, 1 Sack, 1 TFL, 2 Forced Fumbles