Expansion Franchise: OKC Night Hawks

[jared16evans]

The Washington Commanders have been sold to the Smith family, of Sonic Drive-in fame. Troy Smith Jr. had the team moved to Oklahoma City and named the Night Hawks. There is no proof, but it's believed that Dan Snyder had his GM get rid of all of the players on the roster. A few of the top players were traded for early draft picks, which can only be assumed was a ploy to keep suspicion off of them.

Enter Jared Evans, the new coach and GM of the Night Hawks. After a rough off-season of only being able to sign low level and/or aging talent, they had to decide where to use their #6 and #8 picks. Having been an offensive lineman and a successful College Offensive coordinator, he went with Danny Tatum the top guard out of Virginia and Montell Sears the highest rated tackle coming from Alabama. The Night Hawks ended up selecting another offensive lineman in the 2nd round making 3 of their 5 starters on the line rookies.

The QB room is led by veteran back-up Colt McCoy but 5th round rookie Mike Dickens took the job over in week 3 after almost leading a comeback against the Dolphins in week 2. Colt has been very supportive of Mike and has said "I just hope he continues to improve and win over this coaching staff, I would hate to see him get replaced before he gets a real opportunity here."

Stay tuned for more Night Hawks news, check out the twitch channel - Monday, Wednesday and Saturday Nights starting at 8 PM central time.

[Ghost Of The Year]

OKC is a good choice for expansion, but will St. Louis get first shot at an expansion in real life before other cities? It will be interesting when the time comes, unlsess the Rams move back to St. Lou first.

[kennylc321]

I would allow yourself to ability to sign one major FA. When the expansion draft happens, the other teams often make available players whose contracts they are trying to get rid of.

But I do like what you have here.

Quote: Originally Posted by jared16evans

The Washington Commanders have been sold to the Smith family, of Sonic Drive-in fame. Troy Smith Jr. had the team moved to Oklahoma City and named the Night Hawks. There is no proof, but it's believed that Dan Snyder had his GM get rid of all of the players on the roster. A few of the top players were traded for early draft picks, which can only be assumed was a ploy to keep suspicion off of them. Enter Jared Evans, the new coach and GM of the Night Hawks. After a rough off-season of only being able to sign low level and/or aging talent, they had to decide where to use their #6 and #8 picks. Having been an offensive lineman and a successful College Offensive coordinator, he went with Danny Tatum the top guard out of Virginia and Montell Sears the highest rated tackle coming from Alabama. The Night Hawks ended up selecting another offensive lineman in the 2nd round making 3 of their 5 starters on the line rookies. The QB room is led by veteran back-up Colt McCoy but 5th round rookie Mike Dickens took the job over in week 3 after almost leading a comeback against the Dolphins in week 2. Colt has been very supportive of Mike and has said "I just hope he continues to improve and win over this coaching staff, I would hate to see him get replaced before he gets a real opportunity here." Stay tuned for more Night Hawks news, check out the twitch channel - Monday, Wednesday and Saturday Nights starting at 8 PM central time.

[jared16evans]

Coach Jared Evans has always liked an underdog, he views himself as one and loves to coach players with that same mentality. That was why the owners of the Night Hawks knew he would be the right guy for the job. They could only get players that others already wrote off as has-beens or never going to be good enough, and hope they put together a great team. Enter quarterback Mike Dickens, a player that the Night Hawks used a 5th round draft pick on, who finally cemented himself as the starter in week 3.

Dickens was always viewed as "just not good enough" in "the experts" eyes. They compared him to a slower, and weaker, Jalen Hurts. What no one knew about, was his work ethic and his desire to be one of the best. This is why Evans wanted him, he had spent countless hours practicing, studying film, and honing his skills to become one of the best in the league. But despite all his hard work, he couldn't shake the feeling of disappointment this week after their game against the Atlanta Falcons.

Sure, they had won the game. But Mike knew it was because of their defense and running game, he knows he could have played better. He had thrown one interception and only one touchdown, and that isn't what a starting caliber quarterback in the NFL is doing these days. As he sat in the locker room, surrounded by his teammates celebrating their victory, he couldn't help but feel like he had let them down.

"Hey, Mike, what's going on?" the team's leading running back, Matthew Dye, asked.

"I don't know, man," Mike sighed. "just feels like I didn't play my best out there. I almost cost us the game. I know that this just puts my time as the starter here in even more jeopardy." Mike was of course talking about the rumors that the Night Hawks are looking at Anthony Knox, the quarterback from Troy.

Matt reassured him. "Hey, we all make mistakes. Remember when I thought I wasn't going to make the team because of all my drops in pre-season? You were the one that told me that with my speed you knew the coaches would find a spot for me, and they did. Don't worry about what the front office might do next season, keep being the one to lead us to wins like this and they'll have to keep you around."

Mike nodded, but he still couldn't shake the feeling of disappointment. He knew he was capable of more, and he didn't want to settle for just being good enough to win.

[kehlis]

Moved to the appropriate forum.