Underdog 40,000
Doubt. Remorse. Fear. These emotions are held back through relentless training and devotion to the Imperium. But in a soldier’s final breaths, the dam they built can come crashing down, flooding their minds with despair. These brief moments of anguish perpetuate into an eternity of torment as the Sea of Chaos sweeps away their souls into the WoRP. Once a peaceful realm, millennia of war and evil have corrupted the WoRP dimension into a hellish landscape, with each new resident being more vile than the previous.
Part 2 - RB & QB Hits, Misses, and Projections
The WoRP
Doubt. Remorse. Fear. These emotions are held back through relentless training and devotion to the Imperium. But in a soldier’s final breaths, the dam they built can come crashing down, flooding their minds with despair. These brief moments of anguish perpetuate into an eternity of torment as the Sea of Chaos sweeps away their souls into the WoRP. Once a peaceful realm, millennia of war and evil have corrupted the WoRP dimension into a hellish landscape, with each new resident being more vile than the previous.
Image created by T-Rock using Midjourney
Presiding over this underworld are the Gods of Chaos. Representing the four cornerstone positions, each god has inspired a cult following within the Imperium, and untold billions who have given their lives to the deities. Recognition from the gods as a champion of the faith is the highest honor for a follower. Their reward is a divine blessing of unnatural powers in life and rank among their demonic legions in death. But garnering attention from supreme beings is no easy feat. If ever allowed to kneel before their thrones, each soldier must recount every victory they fought for and every failure they suffered in the Tournament of Mania.
Blood & Bone
The distinct rev of chainswords and cries of battle were all around the solider. Man versus Demon. Apostate against Mutant. The RB Truthers were locked in an eternal skirmish under a crimson sky, from which a ceaseless torrent of skulls rained down. Stretching into the horizon were hills of decaying faces surrounded by an endless ocean of bone and flesh. These were the trophies claimed by the RB Truthers in the Tournament of Mania for their god. He loomed in the distance, as large as a mountain underneath the falling cascade of ivory and marrow upon a throne of brass and skulls. With gauntlets of blackened armor, the figure raised a colossal sword and brought it crashing down upon his bloodstained court, initiating the dreadful proceedings for the newly departed soldier.
Image created by T-Rock using Midjourney
“BREAK! RIP! TEAR!” the god’s voice roared. “With shoulders of iron, charge the enemy lines! With unbridled strength, hold back the enemy's advance! With ravenous anger, trample underfoot every foe in your path!!!”
Then came a great shout from the battlefield, “Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!”
The Blood God bellowed in laughter as he slowly turned his attention to the latest reinforcement for the perpetual conflict. “And YOU! What spoils do you bring ME?!”
“God of War!” the soldier shouted. “I have done great honor to the RB in the Great Tournament!”
I sought out consistent, central fixtures of offenses
2023 = CMC & Henry (2024 = Henry, Kamara)
I raised up the dual-threat weapon that operated in the top offenses and received ample opportunities
2023 = CMC & Kyren (2024 = CMC & Jacobs)
I foresaw backups usurping starters
2023 = Hubbard (2024 = Spears & Dowdle)
I can envision workhorses who control the entire backfield on successful offenses
(2024 = CMC, Breece, Saquon, Henry, JT, Jacobs, Pacheco, Mixon, ETN, White)
I project little goal-line opportunities for a team that will look to pass in the redzone
2023 = Packers (2024 = Bears)
Finally, I expect the following RBs to play well in rotation and profit from goal-line touches
(2024 = Montgomery, Ray Davis, Gus Edwards)
“MORE! I NEED MORE!!!” barked the god in anger. “Here, there is no peace, only the time wasted between battles. And you have wasted my time with your failures to build my throne!”
Could you not foresee the deterioration of an offense?
(2024 = Singletary, Edwards)
Did you believe this RB could handle being the Bell-Cow?
(2024 = Zamir)
Why didn’t you anticipate injury or lost touches to talented backups?
(2024 = Gibbs, Kyren, Conner, Mostert, A. Jones, Swift)
With so few WRs, could you not count on a run-heavy offense?
(2024 = Breece, Henry, Cook, Kamara, Najee, Rhamondre, Robinson, Pollard, Singeltary, Chuba)
You didn’t prioritize goal-line opportunities on the top offenses?
(2024 = CMC, Henry, Montgomery, Mostert, JT, Jacobs, Mixon, Kyren)
You lost faith these RBs could not compensate for their rushing inefficiency with their catching prowess?
(2024 = ETN, Cook, Jacobs, Kamara)
You were not ready for the age cliff?
(2024 = Mostert, Ekeler, Conner, Kamara, Mixon)
You couldn’t discern the wide talent gap between the backup and the starter?
(2024 = Charbonnet, Ekeler, Kendre)
You fell victim to Preseason hype?
(2024 = Steele, Wright, Vidal)
Did you misjudge his potential role in an ambiguous backfield?
(Chase Brown, Zeke)
“Master! Allow me to return to the Tournament of Mania! With this knowledge, I will spill more blood for your battlefield and claim more skulls for your throne,” the soldier cried out with his fist clenched.
“There are none who can stand in our way. None who can match our power. None who are feared more on the battlefield,” the Blood God boiled. “But you do not seek destruction, nor do you revel in gore you coward!” he snapped. “Wrath, fury, strength… these are the weapons my warriors use to wage war and shake the foundations of the WoRP! You are not fit to champion the way of the RB,” he said pointing at the soldier.
“But master!” the soldier cried out as he was descended upon by the demonic servants forged in the hellscape.
Unworthy of the warrior’s paradise, the soldier’s soul was tossed into the infinite void of the WoRP stream, where he would be feasted upon for the rest of time.
The Maze of Madness
“How long have we wandered this labyrinth?” the reflection inquired. “Years? Days? Millennia?” asked the figure in the crystal walls. “Who are you again? Help me to recollect.”
The Commander gritted his teeth and dared not to look at his reflection in the mirrored walls of the maze. “Through trial comes triumph,” he constantly recited. It was the latest in an endless loop of tormenting visions and living nightmares meant to tear the mind asunder. Such is the price when entering the Realm of the Sorcerer in pursuit of infinite knowledge. Nowhere else in the universe does chaos exist more purely than in the dimension of change, the domain of the Great Mutator.
“You’re not really here. This place is just a figment of your imagination,” the shadow continued. “You’re probably wandering through the trenches of a forgotten battlefield, raving to yourself like a shell-shocked maniac, waist-deep in corpses. You’ll never survive the Tournament of Mania!”
“I shall pass out of darkness and reach the light,” the Commander said to himself.
Turning a corner, the high-ranking soldier finally reached what he long sought. The ninth and final gate would grant passage out of the Crystal Labyrinth and into the Impossible Fortress. Hidden deep inside the castle was the legendary Hidden Library, where every truth, thought, reality, and possibility existed as written catalogs. The imperial officer inched closer to the portal, ablaze in pink and blue WoRPfire. Hanging over the large doorway floated a large disembodied mouth.
Image created by T-Rock using Midjourney
“The Changer of Ways bids thee welcome,” smiled the grotesque mouthpiece, widening the gashes in its lips.
“Guardian of the Maze, the Weaver of Destinies has brought me here before you, to follow the ambitious path of the QB. I seek their sorcerous powers to bend fate to my will and reshape reality. I vow to reject error, cast out ignorance, and eradicate impurfection. I understand in the Tournament of Mania:
QBs that have a strong cast of redzone pass-catchers , as well rushing upside, have the strongest potential
(2024 = Hurts, Kyler, Caleb)
The elite rushers have the safest floors and highest ceilings
(2024 = Lamar, Richardson, Daniels)
Some will outperform their ADP because of their surrounding talent
(2024 = Geno, Baker, Rodgers, Carr)
And some will elevate their subpar environments
(2024 = Daniels, Russell)
“Ahhh, you boast of perfection, son of the Imperium!?” chomped the gatekeeper. “But the Raven God is both the Lord of Change and Entropy. What are the heights of enlightenment compared to the inescapable chasms of darkness? To know what waits in the shadows and screams in the night. To be a Dark God is to understand the deepest depths of fear itself.”
“Please lord, let me gaze upon these hidden secrets!” said the Imperium Commander.
The mouth grinned, flashing its pointed yellow teeth and black gums. “Very well.”
Offenses significantly decline from a lack of explosive weapons
2023 = Mahomes (2024 = Allen, Herbert)
Some QBs have excellent rushing upside, but struggle with processing
2023 = Fields (2024 = Levis)
There are QBs we are still waiting on to operate at their potential
(2024 = TLaw, Watson)
Some teams become top passing offenses that few anticipated
2023 = Cowboys, Packers (2024 = Bengals)
Few offenses are built to make the jump from good to elite
2023 = Lions (2024 = Falcons)
Rookie QBs on projected weak teams are often underestimated
(2024 = Maye, Nix)
Low expectations for high passing volume and a career resurgence can spell value
2023 = Baker (2024 = Russell, Young, Darnold)
The Commander stared into the void of the portal as the Guardian’s abominable speech slowly entered his mind. A deep sorrow washed over him as distant and forgotten memories came back into thought. These recollections were slowly remade into new, foreign images, as if his psyche were being corrupted by an outside force. On instinct, he closed his eyes to shield himself from the mental bombardment, but this only quickened the perverse nightmare he was suffering. Unable to fathom the primordial horrors that had invaded his soul, the soldier cried out in terror. A tentacled tongue burst out of the commander’s mouth, wrapping itself around his face. Soon, hairy arachnid appendages and insect antennae ripped through his skin as he transformed. Beginning in his mind and shifting to his body, the metamorphosis was complete. The Imperial Officer was now another loyal spawn for the Great Conspirator to puppet, fulfilling what the deceiving god had fated long ago.
instrumentum
Image created by T-Rock using Midjourney. Perfected by ATM
This series is dedicated to my brother Malik, the Hellhound Primarch