Octavio Volarus
No. 0 – New Orleans Second Line | |
---|---|
Position: | Offensive Lineman |
Personal information | |
Born: | Porto, Portugal | April 2033, 20 (aged 2044)
Height: | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
Weight: | 310 lb (141 kg) |
Username: | Cementhands |
Career information | |
College: | Portugal College of Applied Arts and Sciences |
ISFL Draft: | 2061 / Round: 1 / Pick: 9 |
DSFL Draft: | 2060 / Round: 3 / Pick: 23 |
Career history | |
Roster status: | Active |
Player stats at ISFL.net |
Octavio "Big Pickle" Volarus (born October 24, 1925) is an American football offensive lineman for the New Orleans Second Line of the National Simulation Football League (ISFL).
Contents
Early years
In High school, Octavio entered both a growth and weight spurt that showed no signs of slowing down. His football coach tried first to throw him on defense because height is important there, for jump balls and what not, but eventually it became just too much to overcome. Octavio, wanting to play sports tried Basketball in his 10th grade, but his weight proved difficult to jump with and he ended up damaging his knees to the point where he was bed rested for all of his 11th grade year. In his final (senior) year, he was able to try out on a local American Football team and his physical stature alone basically rolled out the red carpet for him. That first and only year the back rushed for a record shattering 5614 yards, most of which were runs up the middle, right behind big Octavio's backside. Scouts perked up, this was the rare uynicorn of a big man who was extremely athletic, and had a drive to win.
College career
The college experience for Octavio was different from the stateside members of his draft class. American football is still in the infancy in Portugal, it is growing at a fantastic pace thanks in most part to the Cue family bringing attention to the country. Because of the early stages of the program, there were not school teams, but rather city teams that traveled around and played. There was 1 league that contained Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. Porto became something of a powerhouse, behind Octavio and the running game. Afterall the American football scene was quite sparse, and most players (Octavio included) played both sides of the ball. On the D side Octavio was a Defensive Tackle and tried to model his game after his favorite ISFL player, Raphael McTurtle. Octavio carried his team to the championship and then through it 4 straight years, and really showcased his aptitude for the game and primed himself to be a top pick in the ISFL draft, which was the ultimate goal.
College career statistics
Career statistics | Offensive Line | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Team | Games | Pancakes | Sacks Allowed |
2056 (S41) | ISFL | 10 | 34 | 5 |
2057 (S42) | ISFL | 10 | 42 | 8 |
2058 (S43) | ISFL | 10 | 69 | 2 |
2059 (S44) | ISFL | 10 | 135 | 1 |
Professional career
DSFL career
Coming over to North America early to get ready for the DSFL draft, Octavio was able to sign on with the team who would eventually go on to Draft him, the Portland Pythons. The bit of season he was able to play he was really able to showcase himself and his ability to keep up with the best of the best prospects. The DSFL is made just to be this, develop players to be able to jump into the ISFL without faltering and stumbling. The plan was to get to the ultimate goal - compete with the best, and the DSFL already eats into a season of that ability. Octavio's full season in Portland was pretty good. The only true rookie offensive lineman in the draft, Octavio was able to produce among DSFL veterans. Among 14 games played, Octavio finished 6th in total Pancakes at 52, and just one sack allowed. His shortened season pre draft was also enough to get him a nod for the pro bowl.
Ht | Wt | 40‑yd dash | 20‑ss | 3‑cone | Vert jump | Broad | BP | Wonderlic | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
310 lb (141 kg) |
4.53 s | 4.44 s | 7.64 s | 26.9 in (0.68 m) |
9 ft 0.5 in (2.76 m) |
34 reps | 30 | ||||
2061 ISFL scouting combine (S46) |
ISFL career
In his rookie campaign, Volarus was taken advantage of. 32 pancakes and 8 sacks allowed - among the most allowed in the entire league. It was a learning curve to say the least. His opposition was bigger, stronger, and faster than any he has been able to play against before and it was showing. On the field New Orleans as a whole did quite a bit worse than some fans were predicting at the start of the season. On paper they looked strong, but realistically they had a plethora of young players who were just not able to keep up with the game. The Second Line also made a trade with the heavy regressing Honalulu team which saw them pick up some players close to retirement for futures. Some said they gambled the future on making the playoffs and once the initial trade hype wore off New Orleans went back to their losing familiarity. Volarus can only hope that his performance next season is a big step up, because there is a lot of gains to be made up.
Following up his pretty rough rookie campaign, Volarus saw some marked improvements. He slightly increased his pancake number from 32 to 38, and saw sacks allowed take a sharp nosedive from 8 to 2. This shows that he was no longer a target for oppositions best each and every game, and he's starting to come into his own as a solid daily fixture on New Orleans's stacked O Line. His experience is expected to show through beginning with this season, and might be able to find himself among the top defensive players - not necessarily on the score sheet as his position doesn't allow for maximum pancakes in a position where that is basically the only stat to judge on, but showing up in some other non statistical areas. NOLA's qb Speedlings is thought to be the most well guarded in seasons, if not decades and that should showcase in a very strong offence. Look to them to be fierce ball movers this year both in the air and on the ground, the entire offence should reap the reward of this carefully sculpted O Line.
Professional career statistics
Career statistics | Offensive Line | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Team | Games | Pancakes | Sacks Allowed | |
2060 (S45) | Pythons | 14 | 52 | 1 | |
2061 (S46) | Second Line | 16 | 32 | 8 | |
2062 (S47) | Second Line | 16 | 34 | 2 |
Achievements and records
Use this section as an example.