May 20, 2024
By Evan Lepler
Elliot Bonnet, DC Breeze
Imagine being a 21-year-old UFA rookie on the field in double overtime for a team that traditionally hasn’t hucked that often. You see someone open deep, but perhaps the defense is baiting you. Do you hesitate? Do you focus on patiently preserving possession with the game on the line? Or do you shoot your shot and try to win it right then and there? Obviously, Elliot Bonnet’s choice to launch a powerful forehand toward Tyler Monroe worked out beautifully, as the DC Breeze snatched double OT victory from the jaws of defeat by breaking the Philadelphia Phoenix on the game’s final point. The game-sealing 56-yard huck capped Bonnet’s best day as a pro, as the young Frenchman produced four goals, four assists, and a whopping 714 total yards, the most on his team, as the Breeze improved to 3-1.
Travis Dunn, San Diego Growlers
Friday night marked Travis Dunn’s 101st career UFA game, but it’s not like today’s honor is a simple career achievement award. The 33-year-old Dunn, who’s the last remaining original San Diego Growler still playing for the team, is building another All-UFA type resume with his productivity early in the season. With five goals and four assists in San Diego’s seven-goal win over Portland, Dunn’s now got 28 scores in four games, tied for the second most in the league. He’s 7th in UFA history with 579 career scores, and only three players in the league—two of which have won MVP awards—have gained more yards as a receiver than Dunn since the league began tracking yardage in 2021. If he makes an All-UFA team at the end of the season, it will be the sixth consecutive year being considered either First, Second, or Third-Team All-UFA.
Ben Jagt, New York Empire
One of the MVPs above Dunn on that all-time receiving yards chart, New York’s Ben Jagt is, in fact, number one in UFA receiving yards since the league began tracking the data in 2021. And although Jagt only suited up in one of the Empire’s two wins this past weekend, his performance on Friday evening in Boston earns him a spot among Week’s four sensational seven. On a night when none of his New York teammates finished higher than plus-three, Jagt registered plus-eight, with five assists, four goals, and just one turn. His downfield dominance helped the Empire get back on track, and with Jack Williams piloting the team on Saturday in Montreal, New York has quickly reset the narrative after enduring their first loss in nearly three years on May 4. A couple weeks later, the Empire are back on track, tied with DC atop the East.
Jordan Kerr, Salt Lake Shred
While Salt Lake’s defensive dominance was perhaps the biggest storyline emerging from the Shred’s 2-0 weekend, Jordan Kerr’s ruthless, relentless offensive precision also merits mention here. Even if he’s often not heavily involved with the early flow on a particular point, he very frequently impacts how it will finish. This past weekend, Kerr totaled 10 assists, nine more hockey assists, and scored two goals while enduring just one throwaway compared to 58 completions. He’s got just two throwaways on the season and is on pace to see his completion percentage rise for the fourth consecutive year, from 92.6 percent in 2021 while playing with the Spiders to 92.9 percent in 2022, then progressing to 94.4 percent in 2023 and now with a 97.2 rate through five games, all wins.
Lukas McClamrock, Atlanta Hustle
While many members of the Hustle D-line could have easily appeared in this spot, Lukas McClamrock gets the nod after producing a career-best three blocks and going 20-for-20 passing on his 14 D-points played against Indianapolis on Saturday. Even though they were indoors, McClamrock and the Hustle consistently flustered the AlleyCats’ O, breaking them 10 times in 16 chances in a 25-18 victory. Coming off a Week 3 layout Callahan against Carolina, the almost 25-year-old University of South Carolina alum also set a new career-high in completions despite not playing a single O-point. Dean Ramsey, who scored five goals on D, and Justin Burnett, who finished with three assists, two blocks, and one goal also had standout days for the now 2-2 Hustle.
Jacob Miller, Salt Lake Shred
While Jacob Miller may not piling up the scoring stats like Jordan Kerr, his unbelievable consistency as a disc-moving menace continues to astonish. On Saturday against Colorado, he went 63-for-63, finishing with just three scores but also six hockey assists. Miller’s 63 completions without a turn is the most throws while maintaining a 100 percent rate in the league so far this season. By the way, he also went 27-for-27 on Friday at Oakland, and across the two games he threw for just under 500 yards while receiving over 200 more. Miller finished the regular season last year with a completion rate of 98.1 percent. This season, through five games, that number’s even higher, currently sitting north of 99.
James Pollard, Philadelphia Phoenix (Pictured)
It’s crazy how maybe the best individual performance of the entire weekend—and perhaps of the whole season thus far?—came in a painfully heartbreaking double overtime loss, but James Pollard was that good on Saturday night, clearly the best player on the field much of the night. His pair of buzzer-beaters were massive and heroic, his consistent playmaking steady and spectacular, and there’s no doubt that, even in defeat, Pollard’s play sent a loud message to the rest of the league. The numbers, just to make sure you’re aware, were five goals, five assists, 500 receiving yards, and 463 throwing yards, and this combination of stats has very little to no precedent in recent UFA history. No player across the league produced a 400/400 game all of last season. It happened just twice the year before, though both against teams that went a combined 2-22. For Pollard to be this unstoppable against a team like DC is incredible, and if one more throw had gone the Phoenix’s way, it would have been a perfect night. Instead, it’s just another excruciating outcome for the seemingly snakebitten boys from Philly, even as the team’s most explosive star continues to shine bright.
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