Rookie QBs Yatim, Favre ready to aim, fire for Cedar Rapids Titans

CEDAR RAPIDS – The Cedar Rapids Titans kick off their fifth Indoor Football League season tonight ready to get a first look at a re-tooled roster.

The Titans will host in-state rival Iowa Barnstormers in their only preseason game Friday at 7:05 p.m. at the U.S. Cellular Center.

'We're very young,' said Coach Mark Stoute, who is 29-16 in three seasons with Cedar Rapids. 'But athletically right now, on paper at least anyhow, we are very talented. We have a lot of receivers. We've gone very big.'

No receiver in camp stands shorter than the six-foot Ryan Balentine, who collected 107 receptions for 1,359 yards and 19 touchdowns over two productive seasons with the now-defunct Bemidji Axemen.

Who will be throwing Balentine the ball will be the bigger question. It appeared 2014 starter Spencer Ohm was signed and set to return, but he has yet to report to the team. Ohm's audible leaves the Titans with a pair of rookie signal-callers – Jawad Yatim and Dylan Favre.

'Both guys are progressing well,' Stoute said. 'Obviously there's a learning curve there for them. They're not used to the indoor game. It's still very fast for them. They will benefit tremendously by this preseason game.'

Yatim, 26, is a 6-foot, 220-pound native of Shrewsbury, Mass., who threw for over 3,000 yards and 27 touchdowns in two seasons at Mount Ida College.

'The windows are a lot smaller,' Yatim said of the indoor game. 'The defenders can get to where they want to get a lot quicker. It's a lot more looking off defenders, a lot more throwing on time. The rush is getting to you a lot quicker, so the pace is a lot faster. You really just got to catch up with the speed of the game with reps and time and we'll get it.'

Favre – the nephew of newly-elected NFL Hall of Famer Brett Favre – is anxious to chart his own course in pro football after a collegiate career that began at Mississippi State and ended at Tennessee-Martin.

'I feel like I have a pretty quick release,' said Favre, who quarterbacked Team USA to a gold medal in last summer's International Federation of American Football tournament. 'So obviously getting the ball out is huge in this league. … My ability to use my feet definitely will help me at some point this year. I feel like my game translates pretty well.'

Nine players return from last season, most notably on the defensive line where reigning IFL defensive player of the year Jermiah Price and Xzavie Jackson – back for a fifth season – reunite for last season's top-ranked defense.

2016 SCHEDULE

(home games in CAPS)

February

12 — IOWA, 7:05 p.m.—*; 20 — GREEN BAY, 7:05 p.m.; 26 —

at Sioux Falls, 7:05 p.m.

March

4 — NEBRASKA, 7:05 p.m.; 11 — at Tri-Cities, 9:05 p.m.; 26 —

SIOUX FALLS, 7:05 p.m.

April

2 — GREEN BAY, 7:05 p.m.; 9 — at Sioux Falls, 7:05 p.m.; 16 — NEBRASKA, 7:05 p.m.; 22 — at Wichita Falls, 7:05 p.m.; 29 —

at Billings, 8:05 p.m.

May

7 — TRI-CITIES, 7:05 p.m.; 13 — at Green Bay, 7:05 p.m.; 21 —

IOWA, 7:05 p.m.

June

4 — at Iowa, 7:05 p.m.; 11 — BILLINGS, 7:05 p.m.; 25 —

at Iowa, 7:05 p.m.

*—preseason

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com