July 9, 2026
By Adam Ruffner

THE BACK 12

• For a franchise that showed a lot of their floor through the first half of their schedule, Indianapolis is finally displaying some of the high-end potential their roster advertised entering the season. Elliot Hawkins and Jake Felton are the most prolific pair of deep passing teammates in the UFA in 2026, and are averaging an astounding 6.5 hucks per game as a duo; six teams average fewer hucks per game this season. Hawkins and Felton’s combined range and creative vision with the disc has opened up a suite of options for Indy’s cutters, with Sofiène Bontemps reaping big production numbers in recent starts. The ‘Cats have really started flipping the field against defensive coverages, which has their overall O-line efficiency sneaking into the top 10 for the first time since 2023, the last year this team made the postseason.

• Too few red zone looks coupled with an inconsistent deep attack sealed Toronto’s fate in Montreal on Sunday, and effectively ended the Rush’s playoff hopes for the fifth straight season. And while individual playmaking has produced a lot of highlights, Toronto as a team still ranks just 15th in offensive success rate. Max Pettenuzzo took over pole position in the race to be the league’s top rookie scorer in 2026, and will have a fun finish alongside Chander Boyd-Fliegel in what has become a two-man competition.

• Philadelphia still has just one win following their two-game homestand in Week 11, but don’t sleep on 19-year-old rookie phenom Ezra Beidler-Shenk. A shade under six feet tall, Beidler-Shenk is a mobile throwing madman that is currently second in the league in total yards per game* (703). He’s a tougher-than-his-size receiver in space, and his deep bag of throws allows him to switch fields for the Phoenix offense. Only one other rookie (Declan Miller, 2022) has averaged over 700 yards per game for an entire season since the league began tracking yardage in 2021. 

* Minimum two games played

22.Vegas Bighorns (-)
Record: 0-11
Last result: 28-18 (L) at San Diego
Next game: July 18 at San Diego

21. Houston Havoc (-)
Record: 2-8
Last result: 25-15 (L) at San Diego
Next game: July 17 vs Austin

20. Philadelphia Phoenix (-)
Record: 1-9
Last result: 21-17 (L) vs DC
Next game: July 11 at DC

19. Oregon Steel (-)
Record: 1-9
Last result: 20-18 (L) at Seattle
Next game: July 10 vs Seattle

18. Chicago Union (-)
Record: 1-8
Last result: 24-20 (L) vs Indianapolis
Next game: July 10 vs New York

17. Colorado Apex (-3)
Record: 3-8
Last result: 18-11 (L) vs Seattle
Next game: July 18 vs Oakland

16. Pittsburgh Thunderbirds (-)
Record: 2-6
Last result: 26-19 (L) vs Minnesota
Next game: July 10 at Madison

15. Montreal Royal (+2)
Record: 3-8
Last result: 18-17 (W) vs Toronto
Next game: July 18 at Boston

14. Toronto Rush (-5)
Record: 5-5
Last result: 18-17 (L) at Montreal
Next game: July 12 vs New York

13. Madison Radicals (-2)
Record: 5-4
Last result: 31-18 (L) vs Indianapolis
Next game: July 10 vs Pittsburgh

12. San Diego Growlers (+1)
Record: 6-5
Last result: 28-18 (W) vs Vegas
Next game: July 18 vs Vegas

11. Indianapolis AlleyCats (+4)
Record: 4-5
Last result: 24-20 (W) at Chicago
Next game: July 11 vs Pittsburgh

THE TOP 10

10. Salt Lake Shred (-2)
Record: 5-6
Last result: 23-22 (L, OT) vs Seattle
Next game: July 17 vs Oakland

The back-to-back-to-back, last-second losses at Zions Bank Stadium has been a re-education in sports fandom for the proud Shredhead fanbase. It took just 30 days this summer (June 5 through July 4) for the Shred to equal their prior home loss total since their inception, and now Salt Lake will be without a host playoff game for the first time in franchise history. Even the Shred’s firewall of efficiency inside the red zone cracked, as they converted a season-low 10-of-17 (59 percent) of their short field opportunities against Seattle last Saturday; first time in 67 games as a franchise they dipped below the 60 percent threshold. And yet three different bounces, essentially, and we’d be talking about the 8-3 Shred who are still top 10 on both sides of the ball.  

9. Atlanta Hustle (+1)
Record: 5-5
Last result: 21-20 (L, OT) at Carolina
Next game: July 11 vs Austin

The Hustle are on the precipice of ending a three-season playoff streak, which included a divisional title and three consecutive first round byes in the South Division bracket. Atlanta’s elite offensive play could not offset the uninspired performance by the defense, with the lack of complementary frisbee the leading cause of their poor results in close games. But with two games remaining on their schedule, Austin Taylor is in range of becoming just the fifth player ever to reach 400 career assists.

8. Seattle Cascades (+4)
Record: 7-3
Last result: 23-22 (W, OT) at Salt Lake
Next game: July 10 at Oregon

Seattle’s offense is rounding into top form as the playoffs approach, and their aggressive downfield shots overwhelmed the Shred for the second time in their three last meetings in Salt Lake; the Cascades are 24-of-27 (89 percent) from deep in their last two games at Zions Bank. Belfield-Lofink-Martin-Raunig continue to perform like an elite core, and the emergence of Ben Kass-Mullet and third-year firecracker Gavin Leahy pushes the ceiling of this team; 21-year-old Leahy has developed a gigantic backhand throw that gives this Seattle offense another power thrower on the unit. 

7. Austin Sol (-)
Record: 8-0
Last result: 21-20 (W, 2OT) vs San Diego
Next game: July 10 at Carolina

Austin’s chances at a second Championship Weekend appearance since 2023 will likely hinge on their upcoming Week 12 doubleheader road test, and if they can secure the one seed in the South Division. The Sol have been the kings at both volume and timeliness when it comes to takeaways, and yet only one Austin player (former all-star Connor DeLuna) has double-digit blocks this season. The by-committee/faceless mob approach to coverage has allowed matchup flexibility for one of the youngest units in the league, which in turn has given this underrated first-year Sol coaching staff the ability to adjust defensive gameplans on the fly.; the Sol’s penchant for late-game heroics is looking more and more like a benefit of their system rather than just pure luck. 

6. DC Breeze (-)
Record: 7-3
Last result: 21-17 (W) at Philadelphia
Next game: July 11 vs Philadelphia

Despite being sidelined for the entire month of June with an ankle injury, AJ Merriman wasted zero time reacclimating to the Breeze offense. He connected with Miles Grovic on a deep shot on his very first touch of the game, and finished DC’s playoff-clinching win in Philly with seven scores and 439 total yards on over 23 yards per touch. Merriman’s explosiveness as a dual threat option makes him a necessity for opposing gameplans to address, which in turn creates more avenues for downfield cutters Coby Loveranes, Gabe Dowd, and Theo Shapinsky to exploit; it’s really not a coincidence that Merriman’s return to the lineup coincided with DC hitting double-digit huck completions for the first time since mid-May.  

5. Carolina Flyers (-)
Record: 9-2
Last result: 21-20 (W, OT) vs Atlanta
Next game: July 10 vs Austin

It took just five starts in 2026, but Tobias Brooks is already Carolina’s team leader in assists, second on the Flyers in passing yards, and third in completions. One of the top graded receiving talents during his last stint with Carolina in 2024 when the team made the championship game, the now 21-year-old Brooks is playing like a top five thrower in the association according to Shown Space stats. Equipped with an already generational hammer throw, what Brooks has really showcased this year is his ability to command an elite offense as a true QB1. The turnovers are still high—24 throwaways over his last 10 regular season starts—but his technical skill and vision in small spaces is getting to “unguardable” levels, especially when paired with Zeke Thoreson.

4. New York Empire (-)
Record: 7-2
Last result: 28-17 (W) at Philadelphia
Next game: July 10 at Chicago

The Empire had a season-low seven turnovers at Philadelphia in Week 11, and a big reason for the lack of mistakes is the way this New York offense creates space. This team is so confident in winning their respective one-on-one matchups that they give every player on the line ample space to operate, which leads to little clumping and lots of clean throwing lanes for their elite throwers to take advantage of. The end result is often big, gouging throws to open targets—laterally or vertically—that can get right at the heart of weaknesses in the defense; Ben Jagt has been a primary benefactor of this system, and his ability to slash underneath and redistribute as a continuation thrower/hucker has him 6-of-6 on hucks this year. Like Indy and their bigtime passers, the Empire can flip the field in a hurry and leave opponents scrambling to recover. 

3. Oakland Spiders (-)
Record: 9-1
Last result: 20-19 (W) at Salt Lake
Next game: July 17 at Salt Lake

After looking damn near immortal against West Division foes through the first several weeks of the season, the Spiders now have the quiet-but-daunting task of recapturing momentum amid awkward scheduling and some flawed results. And while Oakland leads the league in team huck completion rate, that number has been trending downward since the start of June, which really exposes this team’s lack of volume from deep. The Spiders are 20th in hucks per game in 2026, and that inability to stretch the field with regularity has impacted their overall flow; opposing defenses are starting to settle in and tighten up on Oakland’s weave-and-chisel tactics. There’s still several weeks left for adjustments before Oakland hosts the divisional title matchup.

2. Boston Glory (-)
Record: 9-1
Last result: 30-14 (W) vs Philadelphia
Next game: July 11 at Minnesota (Free on YouTube)

Boston hasn’t committed more than 12 turnovers in any matchup during their current four-game winning streak. The MVP is looking like an MVP again this season, but the real question for the Glory will be whether their defense can recapture the intensity that fueled their title run a year ago. Oscar Graff and Lander Decraene have looked like All Defense First Team candidates, but the defensive lineup has been patchwork, at best, for most of the schedule. Vet defenderTyler Chan is back in action this weekend in Minnesota, and is still searching for his first block of 2026; Chan’s speed will be vital in coverage against the Wind Chill’s newfound athleticism on offense this Saturday. 

1. Minnesota Wind Chill (-)
Record: 10-0
Last result: 26-19 (W) at Pittsburgh
Next game: July 11 vs Boston (Free on YouTube)

Having just turned 20 last month, Nate De Morgan is already revolutionizing a Minnesota offense after years of stagnancy and inconsistencies. He’s mostly made highlights and headlines for his ambidextrous, one-timer huck throws, but the Carleton College product is running wild this year and generating much of his production with his legs. He’s currently seventh in the UFA in scores per game (6.3), and his attack mindset coupled with his mobility continually applies pressure to opposing defenses; De Morgan is already one of the best in the league at catching a frisbee on the near rail, and immediately targeting a Wind Chill teammate on the far side of the field with a hammer or numerous other crossfield throws. Consequently, Minnesota’s offense has skyrocketed from 14th in offensive success rate in 2025 (51.3 percent conversion rate) to fifth in 2026 (60.1 percent).