The Washington Valor kick off the 2018 Arena Football League season Friday night on the road facing the Baltimore Brigade.

Washington Valor’s first game of their second season will take place at Royal Farms Arena. The Valor played the Brigade last year at home beating them 51-38 going on to take the series 3-1. Those were the only three wins for the Valor ending their inaugural season with a losing record of 3-11.

The opening home game at Capital One Arena will take place on Saturday, April 21 at 7 p.m. against the Albany Empire.

Washington Valor Head Coach and General Manager Dean Cokinos announced today the team’s coaching staff for the 2018 season last week. James Clark, Benji McDowell and Jeremy Grier are the new additions to the coaching staff. Clark will be the Assistant Head Coach and Offensive Line Coach, McDowell will be the Defensive Coordinator and Defensive Line Coach and Grier will handle wide receivers and be the Special Teams Coach.

Here is the link to the 2018 Valor roster:

A vital and the biggest new addition to the squad is QB Nick Davila. Davila has played in the AFL for seven years acquiring three league MVP trophies, three ArenaBowl championships and two ArenaBowl MVP awards. His last stint was in 2016 with the Arizona Rattlers throwing 4,198 passing yards and 110 touchdowns. Head coach Cokinos was happy to have Davila on board with the team especially to guide the younger players.

“Nick is a winner on and off the field who brings immediate credibility and leadership to our locker room, meeting room, practice field and on game days”, Cokinos said. “Adding Nick will provide a great opportunity for our younger players to learn how to be a pro and how to give yourself and the team the best chance to compete and win at the highest level.”

There have been some minor changes to the AFL playoffs since there only consist of four teams. At the end of the regular season, all teams participate in the ArenaBowl playoffs, in which the top seed faces the 4th seed while the 2nd seed faces the 3rd seed in a home and home series. The team in each series with the highest aggregate score advances to the ArenaBowl.

While the semifinals consist of two games, ArenaBowl XXXI will still be one game. There is no overtime in the first game of the home-and-home semifinals, but is provided in the second game if the two teams are tied on aggregate.

The Philadelphia Soul, Brigade and Valor are the only returning teams with the exception of the Empire who’s set to begin their inaugural season on Saturday. With there only being four teams, everyone will see each other four times throughout the season. The Valor hope to have a better season than the last especially with the odds being that the Soul will take home the championship again.

Only time will tell for the Washington Valor, but not too much time since the season begins this week.

Prediction for WEEK ONE @ the BALTIMORE BRIGADE

Washington Valor 45

Baltimore Brigade 41

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More predictions at Doc’s Sports.