What's Next: The 2025 Utah Archers

2025 Record and Result: 4-6, Missed Playoffs

Draft Selections: 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1

Pending Free Agents

Ryan Ambler, M

Graeme Hossack, D

Warren Jeffrey, D

Jake Naso, FO

Pat Resch, SSDM

Nick Washuta, G

Cam Wyers, D/LSM

SEASON RECAP

The Archers entered 2025 as the two time defending PLL champion. To call their season shocking would be an understatement. While Head Coach Chris Bates and Archers players made no excuses, the injury woes can’t be dismissed for this team. They did not play a game in 2025 with their expected best 19 man lineup. Tre Leclaire spent the first three weeks on the PUP List. Matt Moore was lost for the season after week 3. Mike Sisselberger played through a serious hand injury for a few weeks, and then ultimately hit the IR. Grant Ament was again nagged by injuries. It culminated with a knee injury to Tom Schreiber, one that ultimately required surgery to repair. 

The Archers ended the year with the league’s lowest scoring offense; they were the only team in the league not to break 100 scores on the season. They were tied for last in the league in two pointers, and were second to last in shooting percentage. They never had more than 12 goals in a game. Some of the offensive struggles should can be chalked up to faceoff woes. Without Sisselberger, the Archers went just over 30% facing off on the season. The Archers are used to more possession time, and they’ve also historically been very good at 32 second offense. 

The defense, on the other hand, was solid. Graeme Hossack had a DPOY caliber season, Brett Dobson was a GOTY snub. The SSDM unit remains arguably the league’s best. Despite their woes, the Archers did enter the last weekend of the regular season mathematically alive for the playoffs. They ended the season with a win over Carolina , a silver lining for them.

The two time defending champ missing the playoffs altogether serves as a strong reminder for just how narrow the margins are for success in the PLL.

OFFSEASON PLAN:

The Archers are suddenly a team with quite a few needs. The offensive side of things is the obvious place to start. Bates has to decide if it’s time to shake things up a bit, or to run it back with a crew that won two titles but just was never healthy in 2025. 

The defensive side of the ball likely will need help as well. Word is already swirling that Warren Jeffrey and potentially Graeme Hossack will move on from field lacrosse. That creates to big openings down low for the Archers. Mason Woodward is an obvious filler as he can move down low to his natural position. Brendan Lavelle was drafted in part to prepare for this, and he’s played like an elite pro already. They also invested a draft pick in Mitchell Dunham. The Archers likely will need to look at another close defender this offseason.

The Archers could use help in the form of more natural midfielders. Ament’s shift to midfield was a success, but he is the exception and not the rule. Schreiber will be coming off a knee surgery and 34 years old, and Ryan Ambler will be 32. The one place the Archers likely don’t need help is attack. Matt Moore, Connor Fields, and Mac O’Keefe are under contract,  Sam King is a natural attackman as is Dyson Williams, and Ament assuredly would happily move back to attack. Why mention that? Because the Archers pick first, and Joey Spallina will be a popular pick at the top overall spot. 

Given their needs on defense, and that their offensive needs really sit in the midfield, the Archers drafting Joey Spallina reads like forcing a square peg in a round hole. Two scenarios are worth considering for Utah.  One, they pass on Joey and draft their favorite midfielder, then use mid round picks on a defender. One of Bobby Van Buren, Will Schaller, or Billy Dwan should be available to them at the top of round two. In the second scenario, they love Spallina and make some moves. They seek trades for some of their attackmen and build an attack of the future with Spallina and King in starring roles. Keeping the attack as is and drafting Spallina does not seem like a viable option to improve this offense from where it was in 2024.