View Full Version : One Draft Dynasty (FOF 5.1a)
Celeval
12-06-2004, 02:28 PM
<b>2005 - One League Draft</b>
I'm not much of a storyteller, so here goes.
This is a "One Draft" Challenge, but some specific rules.
<ul>
<li>I'm releasing all players at the end of 2004/start of 2005, a la Empty Cupboard.</li>
<li>I will fill my roster with via the draft and undrafted free agents in 2005.</li>
<li>These 53 players will form my team. I am not allowed to release a player for any reason, other than moving from training camp to season limits in Season One.</li>
<li>Upon an early retirement (injury?), I will only be allowed to sign the worst available free agent at the associated primary position; and then only if there is no way to cover the positional needs.</li></ul>
The 2004 Cleveland Browns finished 0-16 (thanks to running 100% of their plays right up the middle for a 1.68 yards/carry average). For this, I start with the #1 pick.
Celeval
12-06-2004, 02:30 PM
<b>2005 Staff Hiring</b>
<u>Scout</u>
Blake Clayton, 37
QB: Average
RB: Good
WR: Average
OL: Average
K: Fair
DL: Good
LB: Good
SC: Very Good
YT: Good
<u>Head Coach</u>
Lonnie Mabry, 55
Motivation: Good
Discipline: Average
Offensive Playcalling: Excellent
Defensive Playcalling: Very Good
Injury Avoidance: Fair
<u>Offensive Coordinator</u>
Terry Bullock, 59
QB: Average
RB: Excellent
WR: Excellent
OL: Good
K : Average
YT: Excellent
<u>Defensive Coordinator</u>
Matthew Woodard, 58
P : Very Good
DL: Good
LB: Average
SC: Very Good
YT: Good
Celeval
12-06-2004, 02:32 PM
Seems to me that in this type of dynasty, where the quality of players are limited, the coach selections may be more important than normal. I'm very happy with my offensive coordinator, but there just weren't many good DCs on the market. The choice for HC was an interesting one - I personally think playcalling is the most important aspect for a HC, so that's what I tend towards; although this time getting far and away the best playcaller means taking a hit in Injury Avoidance, which could again prove cruicial in this type of dynasty.
Celeval
12-06-2004, 02:35 PM
<b>2005 Draft</b>
The eternal question - draft at Number 1, or trade down?
There are two true studs right at the top of the draft pool:
DT Kyle Rasmussen is 69/94 overall, maxed out across the board on the grey/blue bars. Top DT in the 40 and Agility drills, and top 3 in the Solecismic test and Strength test. He is an adjusted 9.8 overall.
RT Teddy Tyler is 50/89 overall, also maxed out - the only T with a 40 time under 5.0s, number two in the agility drill, and the strongest. He's also the second dumbest tackle with only a 12 Solecismic score. Adjusted 9.2 overall.
I deal the top overall pick to the Bears for 1.2, 2.2, and 3.2; the Bears take n
either of the two top guys, and go with a DE out of Cincinnati.
The 1.2 goes to Miami for 1.3, 2.3, 4.3. The Dolphins take Tyler, and Denver offers me 1.4, 3.4, and 6.4 for the third overall, and takes what looks to be the consensus top back in the draft, R.J. Apotsos from Minnesota. This leaves me the opportunity to take Rasmussen at number four.
Some other wheeling and dealing picks me up a few other picks, but this is what it amounts to:
1.4 - RDT Kyle Rasmussen, Samford (69/94)
Should hopefully be the stud in the center of the defense.
2.1 - RCB Russell Sonntag, Missouri (20/59)
Fastest, smartest, strongest CB in the class. A strong man-to-man defender, so that may be our best bet on D.
2.2 - RB Dwayne Grasso, Mississippi State (39/44)
A quick, strong running back. Maxed out projection at Breakaway Speed, Power Inside, and Speed to Outside.
2.3 - C Grant Brass, Rutgers (16/71)
Best offensive lineman left on the board.
3.1 - FB Pickles Altenburger, Rice (38/63)
Good all-around fullback. Could be best player available, and a great name.
3.2 - WLB Will Clayton, New Mexico State (25/54)
Good run defense, and a strong pass rusher. Decent in other spots.
3.4 - LDE Alex Berlat, Vanderbilt (23/46)
Balanced overall defensive lineman.
4.3 - LG Scottie McCormack, Mississippi State (13/49)
Good technical blocker, not terribly strong.
5.1 - RT Vernon Donovan, Washington (17/39)
Decent technically, strongest tackle left on the board.
5.23 - RDT Isaac Turnbull, Illinois (13/38)
Not much on play diagnosis, not much of a hitter. Solid otherwise.
6.1 - SE Vinnie McKenzie, Clemson (22/42)
Great kick returner, big play receiver.
6.3 - LDE Joel Blair, Kansas State (21/35)
Some potential as a run stopper, good at play diagnosis.
7.1 - SS Van Rigsby, Florida State (20/40)
Not much of a zone player, but solid in M2M, B&R, and intangibles.
7.23 - QB Troy Hagan, Missouri (17/59)
Some word about QBs. There are about 5-6 QBs on the board that I like. I've been steadily putting off drafting one until a run started - and one just simply hasn't. Hagan is the best of the bunch, and is honestly a guy that either the CPU knows is going to bust, or is a lucky break. Assuming ratings at the center of the blue bars, the only sub-50 potentials he has are Third Down Passing, Sense Rush, Two Minute Offense, and Scramble Frequency. There is one other QB I'm keeping my eye on as an unsigned FA - lower rated, but smartest and strongest in the bunch. There's a possibility of having two decent QBs out of this, which would be a huge luxury.
Celeval
12-06-2004, 02:46 PM
Post-TC Ratings Results (from draftees):
<b>2005 Draft Ratings Recap (post-TC)</b>
<table border="1"><tr><td><b>Drafted</td><td><b>Name/Pos</td><td><b>Draft</td><td><b>Post-TC</b></td><tr><td>1.4</td><td>RDT Kyle Rasmussen</td><td>69/94</td><td>74/93</td></tr><tr><td>2.1</td><td>RCB Russell Sonntag</td><td>20/59</td><td>27/66</td></tr> <tr><td>2.2</td><td>RB Dwayne Grasso</td><td>39/44</td><td>42/51</td></tr><tr><td>2.3</td><td>C Grant Brass</td><td>16/71</td><td>18/71</td></tr><tr><td>3.1</td><td>FB Pickles Altenburger</td><td>38/63</td><td>43/69</td></tr><tr><td>3.2</td><td>WLB Will Clayton</td><td>25/54</td><td>26/51</td></tr><tr><td>3.4</td><td>LDE Alex Berlat</td><td>23/46</td><td>25/56</td></tr><tr><td>4.3</td><td>LG Scottie McCormack</td><td>13/49</td><td>11/38</td></tr><tr><td>5.1</td><td>RT Vernon Donovan</td><td>17/39</td><td>19/41</td></tr><tr><td>5.23</td><td>RDT Isaac Turnbull</td><td>13/38</td><td>11/40</td></tr><tr><td>6.1</td><td>SE Vinnie McKenzie</td><td>22/42</td><td>24/42</td></tr><tr><td>6.3</td><td>LDE Joel Blair</td><td>21/35</td><td>21/39</td></tr><tr><td>7.1</td><td>SS Van Rigsby</td><td>20/40</td><td>21/41</td></tr><tr><td>7.23</td><td>QB Troy Hagan</td><td>17/59</td><td>20/53</td></tr></table>
Wow. I hope I draft this well in the IHOF.. no major busts, except possibly McCormack (losing about 20% of his potential), Rasmussen looks like the real deal, and I may have hit breakout jackpot with Sonntag and Grasso.
Celeval
12-06-2004, 02:49 PM
<b>2005 Roster</b>
<u>Quarterbacks</u>
We've got three quarterbacks fighting for the starting spot. Troy Hagan has the initial edge due to having the highest current and future estimates (20/53), as well as having been drafted. Grant and Dillon are equal for the backup - Dillon has a much better arm, but can't read defenses (0/9) or avoid interceptions (0/1), which is pretty ugly. Grant is the opposite - his passing potentials are generally in the 30s (except long 10/50 and deep 9/84), but is 12/76 at Avoid Interceptions and 9/92 at Read Defense. Dillon has a strong affinity with the WR leader, an affinity with the backfield leader, and a conflict with the offensive line leader. Grant is the guy I mentioned before as being a possible breakout candidate - he looks pretty good so far.
Hagan is decent-to-good across the board. His worst rating (aside from scrambling) is 21/21 at Sense Rush, but he's generally more balanced than either Grant or Dillon. He also has an affinity with the backfield and wideouts, and conflicts with the offensive line.
Our depth chart at QB:
QB Troy Hagan - 20/53
QB Casey Grant - 12/49
QB Lorenzo Dillon - 12/48
QB Cornelius Flynn - 19/40 (inactive)
<u>Running Backs</u>
An easier decision here - our top back is far and away Dwayne Grasso, our pick with the second choice of the second round. Grasso is a powerful back - his strongest suit is Power Inside at 98/98. He also has outstanding breakaway speed (74/74), and speed to the outside (86/86). He has the potential to be a decent enough receiver as well. He's likely the second best back in the draft, after the third overall pick by Denver (R.J. Apotsos - unsigned).
Herman Cassidy out of Miami of Ohio beats out Irv Borders for the backup - neither is all that spectacular, but Cassidy has a shot of breaking one every so often (64/64 Breakway speed), so gets the nod. Craig Sons is an elusive back who earns the third spot on the active roster due to his returning skills (19/51 PR, 16/55 KR).
Our depth chart at RB:
RB Dwayne Grasso - 42/51
RB Herman Cassidy - 17/23
RB Craig Sons - 16/24
RB Irv Borders - 25/32 (inactive)
<u>Fullbacks</u>
One tough call to make was actually drafting a fullback, especially in the third round in this type of challenge. Pickles Altenburger has a great name, and looks like he may be a very solid pick, even that high. He has some developing to do (26/66 Run Blocking, 23/97 Pass Blocking), but is stronger than most of our offensive line (77/77), and will be a very solid receiver out of the backfield. He'll be starting for us easily, and will likely play TE in single-back sets to keep him on the field. While a powerful runner (78/78), he can't find holes (33/35).
The backup is O.J. Harper, who might turn into a good run blocker (11/78).
Our depth chart at FB:
FB Pickles Altenburger - 43/69
FB O.J. Harper - 19/38
<u>Tight Ends</u>
Along with offensive guard and middle linebacker, one of our three weakest positions, and one of only those three where we don't have at least one 'Good' potential player. The best receiver of the bunch is Buddy Kappers - and not a bad one, aside from an abysmal 2/5 Avoid Drops rating. The rest of his receiving abilities are in the middle of the scale. Lewis Nichols is a halfway decent receiver, and can hold his own blocking; he'll be the starter, but will be replaced by Pickles in the single-back sets. Rayburn wins the number three slot as long snapper.
Our depth chart at TE:
TE Lewis Nichols - 26/36
TE Buddy Kappers - 25/39
TE Carlton Rayburn - 14/37
TE Butch Williams - 18/37 (inactive)
<u>Wide Receiver</u>
Five players for four slots here. Two automatic spots go to SE Vinny McKenzie (sixth round draft pick) and FL Wally Rogers - Rogers is a great punt returner (47/70), and McKenzie a kick returner (56/84). McKenzie is a decent receiver all-around - good ratings at Getting Downfield and Big Plays. SE Wes Frerotte is the only one of the group without a discernable weakness - all his potential ratings fall between 32 and 50. He'll be the third receiver when the opportunity arises, meanwhile FL Vernon Logan will start opposing McKenzie. Oscar Borders is the remaining player - his best attribute is the ability to adjust to a badly thrown ball, but with the decent QBs we have, that might not be as important as I thought.
Our depth chart at FL:
FL Vernon Logan - 26/35
FL Wally Rogers - 10/22
Our depth chart at SE:
SE Vinny McKenzie - 24/42
SE Wes Frerotte - 19/36
SE Oscar Borders - 17/28 (inactive)
<u>Centers</u>
We drafted Grant Brass near the start of the second round to anchor our line - he has the potential to do so, but needs a lot of development time. Strength is decent (40/40), and while is technical blocking skills have a ton of potential (79, 71), both are at 8 current ratings. Still, he'll start.
Ty Patton and Jim Jenkins are similar players at backup. Jenkins seems to be a bit closer to ready, so he'll make the active roster. With Patton and Jenkins seemingly three of the better linemen on the team (C is the only position other than P/K with all the players at Good potential or better), they may roll into other spots on the line as the career progresses.
Our depth chart at C:
C Grant Brass - 18/71
C Jim Jenkins - 16/41
C Tyron Patton - 11/43 (inactive)
<u>Offensive Guards</u>
Possibly our ugliest position, although MLB may have something to say about that. We spent a draft choice here - fourth round Scottie McCormack - but he may be the biggest disappointment so far. Decent potential at the technical skills (47, 52), but he is 9/9 for blocking strength and 6/11 for endurance. We signed James Chrisman as a LG, but move him to the right side - a decent, balanced player, with potentials ranging from 32-43. He'll turn out to be a decent if unspectacular player, and we'd like him next to our better tackle on the right side. Kenyon McWilliams remains on the left side - similar to Chrisman, but slightly less talented. McCormack will backup the both of them.
Bill Riddle is someone I'm not sure what to do with. I'm going to leave him to develop this season on inactive, but he's a one-trick pony - 23/71 at run blocking, and basically nothing anyplace else. I would like to use him as a one-shot in the goal-line formation or similar, but FOF won't let you modify the line like you can the other positions by formation. He may never see the field, he may end up starting in a few years. Dunno.
Our depth chart at LG:
LG Kenyon McWilliams - 16/35
LG Scottie McCormack - 11/38
Our depth chart at RG:
RG James Chrisman - 18/38
LG Scottie McCormack - 11/38
RG Bill Riddle - 10/29
<u>Offensive Tackles</u>
Some promising talent here. Vernon Donovan was drafted in the fifth round, and he'll start right away at Right Tackle. Donovan is strong as a horse (85), but could use some work on the technical side of things. The other side is similar - Donnell Taylor has good strength (67), but weak technicals (pots in the 30s). The backup will be Jones - He and Gibson are again, similar players, but Jones is closer to being a servicable player. Jones is actually projected above Taylor - Taylor's 0 Endurance brings him down there.
Our depth chart at LT:
LT Donnell Taylor - 19/36
LT Trent Jones - 13/39
Our depth chart at RT:
RT Vernon Donovan - 19/41
LT Trent Jones - 13/39
LT Dusty Gibson - 10/30 (inactive)
<u>Punter</u>
Our one and only - Austin Jarvis is decent, with a good leg. Nothing extraordinary, but should be solid enough.
Our depth chart at P:
P Austin Jarvis - 42/57
<u>Kicker</u>
See Punter. Ronnie Barton isn't the most accurate, but has an above-average leg for distance.
Our depth chart at K:
K Ronnie Barton - 21/44
<u>Defensive End</u>
We drafted two DEs with the intent of keeping the line somewhat solid on the defensive side, but we'll have to see how that pans out. Alex Berlat came out of Vanderbilt with an early pick in the third round - he has solid strength right now, and the potential to be a very good end, but isn't there yet. He's the biggest fan favorite on the team.
The interesting bit here is a swap of draft picks - Joel Blair was our sixth round pick, but projects better as a defensive tackle, so we swap him over there. He picks up a slight potential boost, but the fun part is when we realize fifth round DT selection Isaac Turnbull is small for the DT spot and also projects an increase moving to DE. We do so - and he looks like he'll be a good, physical player there.
We've got one single backup here - Brent (there is no) Spoon will be a decent player against the run, but not much else. It's possible that problems with depth will be filled by outside backers.
Our depth chart at LDE:
LDE Alex Berlat - 26/56 (all situations)
LDE Brent Spoon - 9/26
Out depth chart at RDE:
RDE Isaac Turnbull - 11/40 (all situations)
LDE Brent Spoon - 9/26
<u>Defensive Tackle</u>
We targeted Kyle Rasmussen out of the box, and it paid off. Rasmussen is looking like a serious stud on the defensive line, with no actual rating lower than 57 and no potential rating lower than 86. He's by far the best player on the team.
After moving Joel Blair to the inside, we realize he may also be good enough to start eventually, but not quite yet. Primarily a run stopper, he'll end up with near-50 ratings in Run Defense and Play Diagnosis, but Marlon Peters looks better right now and will get the start. Dexter Brigance is the biggest hitter of the bunch (aside from Rasmussen), and is balanced across the board. He'll get some time in passing situations.
Our depth chart at LDT:
LDT Marlon Peters - 20/32
RDT Dexter Brigance (pass situations) - 22/33
LDT Joel Blair - 21/39
Our depth chart at RDT:
RDT Kyle Rasmussen (all situations) - 74/93
LDT Joel Blair - 21/39
<u>Inside Linebacker</u>
Three undrafted free agents make up our middle linebacking corps - Hugh Tucker is the weakest of the three - Endurance and Special Teams bringin his rating up - so the question comes down to Nolan Thingvold and Marcus Hancock. Thingvold is much better in Bump & Run coverage, and a better pass rusher; Hancock is better in man-to-man, which I expect will turn out to be our best coverage angle. Right now, Hancock will start, but this is one race that may turn out to swap partway through the season.
Our depth chart at MLB/SILB:
MLB Marcus Hancock - 16/28
MLB Nolan Thingvold - 15/33
Our depth chart at WILB
MLB Hugh Tucker - 15/30
MLB Nolan Thingvold - 15/33
<u>Outside Linebacker</u>
We drafted Will Clayton in the third round to play outside linebacker, and he's definately the best of the bunch - a strong pass rusher, who can play the run and coverage equally well. He's likely the most versatile of the linebackers, and might be the one to step up to the defensive end spot when/if needed. He'll start at WLB, and be our most common blitzer. Graham Frederick will struggle to hold down the strong side, but he's our best bet - this was a weak class for linebackers, which might hurt us a good deal. Darren Garner is great at pass rush technique, but zero'd out at strength. He is a big hitter, though.
Our depth chart at SLB:
SLB Graham Frederick - 7/30
SLB Darren Garner - 19/33
Our depth chart at WLB:
WLB Will Clayton - 26/51
SLB Darren Garner - 19/33
<u>Cornerback</u>
An interesting position here. We drafted Sonntag in the second round knowing he was going to be good, but he looks like he may be a great player when developed. His Man-to-Man defense is 18/97, is a strong hitter (95). Run Defense should also be a strength of his once developed. He's the top guy, and while Man to Man is his biggest strength, he can play good zone (19/72), and hold his own on the bump and run (41/48). We're going to put him on the top receiver every time.
Our second-best potential corner is not ready for prime time. Jessie Lang looks good, but is severly underdeveloped. 3/46 for Man-to-Man, 42/79 for Bump and Run, and he can't play zone at all. Trouble is, neither of the others are all that good, either. Norbert Castellanos is the most advanced coverage guy right nos, so he'll start - Elliot has good Bump and Man-to-Man potential, and is the best ballhawk, Wilkerson is a good run-stopper. Wilkerson will be the Nickel back, Lang the Dime. Elliot will be on reserve for right now.
Our depth chart at CB:
RCB Russell Sonntag - 27/66
LCB Norbert Castellanos - 15/32
RCB Ross Wilkerson - 15/36
LCB Jessie Lang - 8/33
RCB Sherman Elliott (inactive) - 9/28
<u>Safety</u>
Van Rigsby was a solid pick at the seven spot, although he can't play Zone with a damn. Good Bump and Man-to-Man skills, as well as the intangibles. His run stopping leaves something to be desired - which is the biggest reason he moves to free safety, and will start there.
Our strong safety will be Troy Cepeda to start - not a great guy in coverage, but decent stopping the run. Brett Hayes isn't terribly talented, but will balance across the board. It's possible down the line that Wilkerson will turn into a better Strong Safety and take over this spot.
Our depth chart at SS:
SS Troy Cepeda - 22/36
RCB Ross Wilkerson - 15/36
Our depth chart at FS:
FS Van Rigsby - 21/41
FS Brett Hayes - 15/36
Celeval
12-06-2004, 02:59 PM
We get an 'A+' in the Solecismic draft review, my first one. I wonder how much of this is because every single draft pick filled a need. ;)
Teddy Tyler is the only one of three players taken in front of Rasmussen who has signed. Looks like he's not going to disappoint for Miami, either - 40/100 RB, 34/91 PB, 90 BS, 76 Endurance.
Three of my players made the green list - Rasmussen, Sonntag, and Berlat. Two other non-first round talents from this past draft are up there.. QB Ricky North (3.11 - Buffalo) can't throw a screen pass to save his life, but looks pretty darn good other than that. RDT Rufus Castle, I guy I never even considered went to Arizona with pick 7.12. He has a 0 for Run Defense, but potentials of 76+ everywhere else. Could be an awesome pass rusher.
Celeval
12-06-2004, 03:00 PM
Pre-season power ranking: 9 (last)
Next to last is a 51.
Celeval
12-06-2004, 03:01 PM
This could be a first for me - checking out the scouting report for the Browns, my starting SLB (Graham Frederick) is so bad, he <u>has</u> no biggest strength.
QuikSand
12-06-2004, 03:02 PM
Great draft - unbelievable to get that monster DT at pick four. I don't know if I could have held off after trading down one notch.
Looks like you're following essentially the same recipe that I would.
I think i'd be inclined to give myself mroe latitude with the starting training camp -- I think I'd want to go extra deep in URFA and give myself options at every position.
Good luck, very interesting...
Celeval
12-06-2004, 03:11 PM
Great draft - unbelievable to get that monster DT at pick four. I don't know if I could have held off after trading down one notch
Well, I would have been pretty happy getting either of those two guys. A huge tackle would do for the offense what the DT does for the defense, imho - I'd be able to rely on a running game automatically, and would be a huge step towards a passing game. I was planning to end up at #2, but when Chicago took that defensive end instead (who looks pretty good, don't get me wrong - really this was a pretty strong draft class), it gave me some more latitude.
Denver, it turns out, held the fourth pick and had two pretty darn good defensive tackles as it was; so I thought I was safe going one more. The Texans had the pick behind me - ended up taking the second best OT, but don't have a star at DT, so I didn't want to take the risk.
jbmagic
12-06-2004, 03:28 PM
awesome dynasty
question on the rule..
do we get all new coaches and scout too or can keep some from 2004?
thanks
Celeval
12-06-2004, 03:30 PM
I'm leaving myself wide open for coaches/scouts - can do whatever I want there.
QuikSand
12-08-2004, 02:45 PM
I decided to start one of these dynasties as well... and my opening looks remarkably similar to yours. There is a monster DT in my draft, too -- and I have traded down to pick #4, and he is still there. However, there's also a monster QB in the draft -- and now I'm completely torn. I hadn't planned to start out with a QB, but this guy looks really, really good -- and that might be the only way to really make this thing work at all.
As much as I like the unheralded "little guy" at QB (who i'd no dobt end up with from the after-draft scrap heap) building around a passing god would certainly boost our chances, I have to suspect. *sigh* Dilemmas...
KWhit
12-08-2004, 03:41 PM
QS - Keep trading down until a team takes one of the two and then you take the other one. I imagine you'd need all the additional draft picks you can get to make this kind of dynasty successful.
Celeval
12-08-2004, 07:43 PM
I agree somewhat with KWhit's observation - I'm two seasons in, just haven't gotten an opportunity to bring the writeups to this machine and post them. My DT is arguably the best player in the league right now, and he's helping - but a top QB would be helping more. The big question, I think, is if you can get multiple first round picks from anyone (or if any have any to give). I wouldn't deal my top DT for a second and a third, but I might for a first and a second.
Celeval
12-08-2004, 10:07 PM
I'll be posting a bit more tonight, but some thought on this:
It seems as if one (maybe the only) advantage to this system is the cohesion - the ability to keep a team together the whole way through. But this (so far, three seasons) hasn't been anything for my team - while we do have very good cohesion, I went with the fictional league/preference draft option. Problem with this? /Everyone/ starts with extremely high cohesion, and even in the third season I'm not in the top half of any cohesion group (Passing, O-Line, D-Front, Secondary). Perhaps one way to give more of a possibility of some success to this is to work from a previously-matured universe?
QuikSand
12-08-2004, 10:25 PM
/Everyone/ starts with extremely high cohesion
Well, more accurately, everyone starts with the same cohesion... the scale is a relative one. Whoever is on top gets a 100, and it's scaled from there.
So, from that perspective -- you're relatively way behind everyone now... but that's mostly a figment of their artificially high ratings. You are closer to them than you would be to an ordinary, mature league, I suspect.
Just a technicalilty, of course. You'll be behind a while, but eventually *way* ahead.
Celeval
12-09-2004, 01:11 AM
<b>2005 Preseason</b>
<i>Carolina 42</i>, Cleveland 14
Cleveland 10, <i>New York 14</i>
Cleveland 3, <i>New Orleans 23</i>
Washington 16, <i>Cleveland 13</i>
Not too bad of a beginning. While we lost all four games, we took the initial lead in three of them (excepting New Orleans), which may be a good sign for our starters against theirs.
We also came out with no major injuries - Grant Brass is questionable for the first two weeks of the season with a sprained knee, Pickles has a cold, and our starting SS Cepeda had to miss the Washington game, but is Probably for the opener.
Results-wise on offense, while we didn't put up any huge numbers, we didn't do poorly. Hagan went 29-43 for 344 yards, one touchdown, and two picks over the four games. Grant was 39-79 for 263, one, and three - Hagan is the definite starter heading into the season.
Sons carried the ball the most in the preseason - 40 for 146 and a 3.65 ypc average. Grasso was 37 for 141 (3.81) - if he can bump that up just a bit during the season, we'll be very happy with it. On the receiving side, Vernon Logan caught fifteen balls for 238 yards to lead the receivers.
The offensive line showed some promise - we gave up five sacks in four games, and no single player gave up more than one. The best of the run blockers was Chrismas (8/21), but there were a number of 0-7 and 0-5 type performances in general.
Special teams was a mixed bag. McKenzie was a bright spot returning kicks, averaging 20.0 yards/return on seven attempts; but we combined as a team for 4 punt returns for only 16 yards. Barton was 4-8 on FGs and 4-4 on XPs, but Jarvis looked solid punting the ball, averaging over 46 yards/punt.
Defensively, no surprise that Rasmussen led the team with 2.0 sacks, but we had nine in four games total, and the oft-maligned Graham Frederick had 1.5 sacks as well as leading the team with two interceptions.
We'll stick with the game plans and such heading into the regular season.
Celeval
12-09-2004, 01:11 AM
<b>2005 Season</b>
Week 1: <i>Cincinnati 34</i>, Cleveland 6
Week 2: Cleveland 0, <i>Minnesota 37</i>
Week 3: <i>Miami 31</i>, Cleveland 7
Week 4: <i>Tennessee 23</i>, Cleveland 15
Week 5: Cleveland 16, <i>Jacksonville 20</i>
Week 6: Cleveland 17, <i>Houston 27</i>
Week 7: Cleveland 0, <i>Baltimore 31</i>
Week 8: <i>Indianapolis 27</i>, Cleveland 10
Week 9: <i>Pittsburgh 31</i>, Cleveland 0
Week 11: Cleveland 0, <i>Cincinnati 16</i>
Week 12: <i>Chicago 33</i>, Cleveland 14
Week 13: Cleveland 14, <i>Denver 31</i>
Week 14: <i>Detroit 38</i>, Cleveland 20
Week 15: Cleveland 3, <i>Pittsburgh 31</i>
Week 16: Cleveland 0, <i>Green Bay 31</i>
Week 17: <i>Baltimore 17</i>, Cleveland 7
Final Record: 0-16
Celeval
12-09-2004, 01:11 AM
<b>2005 Postseason</b>
Wild Cards
Baltimore 17, <i>Buffalo 24</i>
Cincinnati 13, <i>Tennessee 20</i>
Detroit 17, <i>Minnesota 24</i>
Tampa Bay 3, <i>Washington 6</i>
Conference Semifinals
<i>Buffalo 22</i>, Oakland 21
Minnesots 10, <i>San Francisco 17</i>
<i>Tennessee 27</i>, Pittsburgh 21
Washington 28, <i>New Orleans 38</i>
Conference Finals
Buffalo 17, <i>Tennessee 26</i>
New Orleans 14, <i>San Francisco 28</i>
Front Office Championship
<i>San Francisco 27</i>, Tennessee 24
Celeval
12-09-2004, 01:12 AM
<b>2005 Awards</b>
Player of the Year: RB Oliver Macomber, TEN
Front Office Bowl MVP: QB Leon Whitfield, SFO
Offensive POY: RB Floyd Nixon, DET
Defensive POY: MLB Antoine Gordon, CHI
Offensive ROY: RB R.J. Apotsos, DEN
Defensive ROY: <i>DT Kyle Rasmussen, CLE</i>
All-League First Team Defensive Tackle: <i>DT Kyle Rasmussen, CLE</i>
Apotsos had a comperable season to Grasso - R.J. started 15 games, had 266 carries for 1042 yards and 5 TDs; Grasso went 298-1050-3. Apotsos also caught 17-127 and 3 scores, while Grasso caught 14-109 and no scores. The touchdowns here were really the only difference.
Celeval
12-09-2004, 08:47 AM
<b>2005 Summary</b>
Front Office Football 2004
2005 Summary for Cleveland Browns
Record: 0-16
Winning Pct.: .000
Cleveland Browns Team Rank
Rushes 441 22 (T)
Rushing Yards 1611 28
Yards Per Carry 3.65 28
Pass Attempts 415 32
Completions 220 32
Passing Yards 2045 32
Yards Per Attempt 4.92 32
3rd Down Conversions 28.9 32
Points Per Game 8.0 32
Turnovers 35 31
Turnover Margin -17 32
Opponents Team Rank
Rushes 543 32
Rushing Yards 2031 27
Yards Per Carry 3.74 11
Pass Attempts 487 6 (T)
Completions 325 28
Passing Yards 3485 21
Yards Per Attempt 7.15 28
3rd Down Conversions 50.8 32
Points Per Game 28.6 32
Turnovers 18 29 (T)
Week Team Versus Oppnt
1 6 CIN 34
2 0 at MIN 37
3 7 MIA 31
4 15 TEN 23
5 16 at JAX 20
6 17 at HOU 27
7 0 at BAL 31
8 10 IND 27
9 0 PIT 31
11 0 at CIN 16
12 14 CHI 33
13 14 at DEN 31
14 20 DET 38
15 3 at PIT 31
16 0 at GBY 31
17 7 BAL 17
Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int
6 Hagan QB 257 134 1364 5.30 7 15
7 Grant QB 147 80 641 4.36 2 8
**Team --- 415 220 2045 4.92 9 23
Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD
47 Grasso RB 298 1050 3.52 3
24 Cassidy RB 109 392 3.59 1
**Team --- 441 1611 3.65 5
Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc YAC TD
84 Logan WR 113 57 711 12.4 150 2
82 McKenzie WR 76 38 449 11.8 44 1
48 Altenburger FB 41 25 118 4.7 79 0
83 Frerotte WR 42 21 212 10.0 30 1
**Team --- 415 220 2045 9.2 511 9
Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack Hurr Ints Defn
76 Rasmussen DT 101 27 6.5 13 0 1
91 Frederick OLB 75 28 4.0 3 1 7
54 Hancock ILB 74 25 0.0 0 1 3
99 Clayton OLB 72 31 2.0 1 3 1
29 Rigsby S 61 21 0.0 0 1 6
39 Sonntag CB 54 19 2.5 0 2 4
28 Castellanos CB 43 12 0.0 0 0 1
30 Cepeda S 43 19 1.0 0 0 0
96 Turnbull DE 41 17 1.5 11 0 1
37 Hayes S 39 19 0.5 0 0 2
94 Berlat DE 38 12 5.0 8 0 0
75 Peters DT 37 11 0.0 7 0 0
52 Thingvold ILB 36 11 1.0 0 0 1
36 Wilkerson CB 33 13 0.0 0 3 3
23 Lang CB 22 7 0.0 0 0 2
93 Tucker ILB 21 6 1.0 0 0 1
92 Brigance DT 19 4 0.0 7 0 1
24 Cassidy RB 16 0 0.0 0 0 0
**Team --- 922 299 29.0 57 11 34
Well, what went right? Offensively, Grasso seems to be the real deal. Logan looks like he might end up being a decent receiver when all is said and done. Our quarterbacks need to develop.
Defensively, we didn't do as bad as we might have. Rasmussen is the stud we expected, and Frederick was a serious surprise despite the horrible ratings. We need the pass defense to improve, but there is potential there, so it might. Our rush defense was slightly better than average, although I suspect a good bit of that was Rasmussen.
Speaking of Rasmussen - he's developed like crazy. He's moved from a 74/93 after training camp to <b>90/93</b> at the end of the season. Pickles made a similar jump - from 43/69 to 57/69, while Sonntag went from 27/66 to 42/66. All this without a mentor, even - I wonder, how much of this is simply playing time and how much are these guys breaking out?
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:01 AM
<b>2005 End of Season</b>
Team Performance: 0/100
Franchise Value: 20/100
Profit/Loss: 97/100
Roster Strength: 77/100
Year End Score: 56
For those curious, we made about $62 million in 2005; picking up about $3m more in total revenue (thanks to the TV contract), and paid out nearly $30m less in player salaries.
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:01 AM
<b>2006 Staff Hiring</b>
Scout
Blake Clayton, 38
QB: Average
RB: Good
WR: Average
OL: Good (+)
K: Fair
DL: Good
LB: Good
SC: Very Good
YT: Average (-)
Head Coach
Brady Wunder, 53
Motivation: Average
Discipline: Good
Offensive Playcalling: Excellent
Defensive Playcalling: Good
Injury Avoidance: Excellent
We basically break the bank to sign Wunder - he's not had a great record, but it looks like should be a good fit.
Offensive Coordinator
Terry Bullock, 60
QB: Average
RB: Excellent
WR: Excellent
OL: Good
K : Average
YT: Excellent
Defensive Coordinator
Matthew Woodard, 59
P : Good (-)
DL: Good
LB: Average
SC: Very Good
YT: Good
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:01 AM
<b>2006 Contracts</b>
We have a handful of players who came on board as UDFAs who we need to resign as RFAs. Of these, only one asks for a real payday - Austin Jarvis, the punter. Jarvis ended up being a top-10 punter by average last season, and is looking for a surprisingly rich deal for a punter - $6.5 million over five seasons. He takes less than that, and we're good to go for 2006 - and negotiate with most of the players who will wrap up at the end of this season. Five remain - QB Grant, FL Logan, and three offensive linemen, all of whom are looking for pricey deals.
Either way, we're barely using a third of the cap, if that, for this season and next; and these guys are RFAs.
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:02 AM
<b>2006 Draft</b>
Other than the 0-16 Browns, the worst team in the league was a tossup - Dallas, Philadelphia, and San Diego all finished at 4-12. San Diego is the one who gets screwed - so they get my first through fifth round picks this season for a seventh rounder in 2008.
That seventh round SDO pick gets immediately packaged with my sixth and seventh rounders this season to the Falcons for their seventh rounder in 2008; and we're out of the draft, just like that.
This, incidentially, also gives San Diego the first shot at Adrian Sampras - the 39/89 franchise QB out of Kansas State. Maxed out across the board with the exception of scramble frequency and kick holding - I may have chosen the wrong year to try this challenge.
Especially when San Diego takes a DE out of Martin Luther (?) instead. Sampras falls to third, to Dallas, and the Cowboys will likely start a brand new dynasty of their own.
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:02 AM
<b>Post-Draft</b>
Front Office Football 2004
Cleveland Browns Roster, Scout Overview
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Hagan, Troy 6 QB 2 24 51 2 yrs
Grant, Casey 7 QB 2 17 52 1 yr.
Dillon, Lorenzo 11 QB 2 12 50 2 yrs
Flynn, Cornelius 10 QB 2 20 41 2 yrs
Borders, Irv 40 RB 2 27 33 2 yrs
Sons, Craig 20 RB 2 15 22 2 yrs
Cassidy, Herman 24 RB 2 18 24 2 yrs
Grasso, Dwayne 47 RB 2 47 56 3 yrs
Harper, O.J. 41 FB 2 19 39 2 yrs
Altenburger, Pickles 48 FB 2 59 71 3 yrs
Rayburn, Carlton 16 TE 2 14 38 2 yrs
Kappers, Buddy 9 TE 2 28 39 2 yrs
Nichols, Lewis 86 TE 2 31 36 2 yrs
Williams, Butch 81 TE 2 20 38 2 yrs
Rogers, Wally 80 FL 2 10 22 2 yrs
Logan, Vernon 84 FL 2 33 35 1 yr.
Borders, Oscar 87 SE 2 20 30 2 yrs
McKenzie, Vinny 82 SE 2 28 42 2 yrs
Frerotte, Wes 83 SE 2 23 40 3 yrs
Brass, Grant 58 C 2 27 70 3 yrs
Jenkins, Jim 53 C 2 17 42 2 yrs
Patton, Tyrone 55 C 2 12 44 2 yrs
McWilliams, Kenyon 72 LG 2 20 38 1 yr.
McCormack, Scottie 66 LG 2 13 39 3 yrs
Riddle, Bill 71 RG 2 10 27 2 yrs
Chrisman, James 77 RG 2 26 41 1 yr.
Taylor, Donnell 78 LT 2 22 39 1 yr.
Jones, Trent 70 LT 2 15 41 2 yrs
Gibson, Dusty 64 LT 2 10 31 2 yrs
Donovan, Vernon 67 RT 2 22 44 2 yrs
Jarvis, Austin 12 P 2 52 54 5 yrs
Barton, Ronnie 2 K 2 27 47 3 yrs
Spoon, Brent 90 LDE 2 9 26 2 yrs
Berlat, Alex 94 LDE 2 32 60 3 yrs
Turnbull, Isaac 96 RDE 2 16 40 2 yrs
Blair, Joel 97 LDT 2 23 38 2 yrs
Peters, Marlon 75 LDT 2 21 32 3 yrs
Brigance, Dexter 92 RDT 2 25 36 2 yrs
Rasmussen, Kyle 76 RDT 2 86 92 4 yrs
Hancock, Marcus 54 MLB 2 19 30 3 yrs
Thingvold, Nolan 52 MLB 2 16 29 2 yrs
Tucker, Hugh 93 MLB 2 18 31 2 yrs
Garner, Darren 51 SLB 2 22 33 2 yrs
Frederick, Graham 91 SLB 2 10 30 2 yrs
Clayton, Will 99 WLB 2 32 50 3 yrs
Lang, Jessie 23 LCB 2 12 35 3 yrs
Castellanos, Norbert 28 LCB 2 23 32 6 yrs
Elliott, Sherman 26 RCB 2 11 29 2 yrs
Wilkerson, Ross 36 RCB 2 23 38 2 yrs
Sonntag, Russell 39 RCB 2 46 70 3 yrs
Cepeda, Troy 30 SS 2 25 36 2 yrs
Rigsby, Van 29 FS 2 26 41 2 yrs
Hayes, Brett 37 FS 2 21 37 2 yrs
$$ - player is in starting lineup, ## - player is inactive.
Players Under Contract: 53
Inactive: 0
On Active Roster: 53
Salary Cap: $96,000,000
Cap Room: $52,390,000
Maximum for New Player: $52,770,000
Cap Room Lost (to old contracts): $13,480,000
Cap Room Lost Next Year (to old contracts): $0
Cap Room Required Next Year: $35,960,000
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:23 AM
<b>2006 Ratings Recap (post-TC)</b>
<table border="1"> <tr><td>Pos</td><td>Name</td><td>2005</td><td>2006</td></tr> <tr><td>QB</td><td>Lorenzo Dillon</td><td>12/48</td><td>15/50</td></tr> <tr><td>QB</td><td>Cornelius Flynn</td><td>19/40</td><td>23/41</td></tr> <tr><td>QB</td><td>Casey Grant</td><td>12/49</td><td>21/52</td></tr> <tr><td>QB</td><td>Troy Hagan</td><td>20/53</td><td>29/51</td></tr> <tr><td>RB</td><td>Irv Borders</td><td>25/32</td><td>28/33</td></tr> <tr><td>RB</td><td>Herman Cassidy</td><td>17/23</td><td>19/24</td></tr> <tr><td>RB</td><td>Dwayne Grasso</td><td>42/51</td><td>49/56</td></tr> <tr><td>RB</td><td>Craig Sons</td><td>16/24</td><td>16/22</td></tr> <tr><td>FB</td><td>Pickles Altenburger</td><td>43/69</td><td>63/71</td></tr> <tr><td>FB</td><td>O.J. Harper</td><td>19/38</td><td>21/39</td></tr> <tr><td>TE</td><td>Buddy Kappers</td><td>25/39</td><td>30/39</td></tr> <tr><td>TE</td><td>Lewis Nichols</td><td>26/36</td><td>33/36</td></tr> <tr><td>TE</td><td>Carlton Rayburn</td><td>14/37</td><td>17/38</td></tr> <tr><td>TE</td><td>Butch Williams</td><td>18/37</td><td>22/38</td></tr> <tr><td>FL</td><td>Vernon Logan</td><td>26/35</td><td>35/35</td></tr> <tr><td>FL</td><td>Wally Rogers</td><td>10/22</td><td>11/22</td></tr> <tr><td>SE</td><td>Oscar Borders</td><td>17/28</td><td>21/30</td></tr> <tr><td>SE</td><td>Wes Frerotte</td><td>19/36</td><td>25/40</td></tr> <tr><td>SE</td><td>Vinny McKenzie</td><td>24/42</td><td>30/42</td></tr> <tr><td>C</td><td>Grant Brass</td><td>18/71</td><td>30/70</td></tr> <tr><td>C</td><td>Jim Jenkins</td><td>16/41</td><td>20/42</td></tr> <tr><td>C</td><td>Tyron Patton</td><td>11/43</td><td>15/44</td></tr> <tr><td>LG</td><td>Scottie McCormack</td><td>11/38</td><td>16/39</td></tr> <tr><td>LG</td><td>Kenyon McWilliams</td><td>16/35</td><td>23/38</td></tr> <tr><td>RG</td><td>James Chrisman</td><td>18/38</td><td>28/41</td></tr> <tr><td>RG</td><td>Bill Riddle</td><td>10/29</td><td>12/27</td></tr> <tr><td>LT</td><td>Dusty Gibson</td><td>10/30</td><td>12/31</td></tr> <tr><td>LT</td><td>Trent Jones</td><td>13/39</td><td>18/41</td></tr> <tr><td>LT</td><td>Donnell Taylor</td><td>19/36</td><td>23/39</td></tr> <tr><td>RT</td><td>Vernon Donovan</td><td>19/41</td><td>24/44</td></tr> <tr><td>P</td><td>Austin Jarvis</td><td>42/57</td><td>54/54</td></tr> <tr><td>K</td><td>Ronnie Barton</td><td>21/44</td><td>29/47</td></tr> <tr><td>LDE</td><td>Alex Berlat</td><td>26/56</td><td>35/60</td></tr> <tr><td>LDE</td><td>Brent Spoon</td><td>9/26</td><td>10/26</td></tr> <tr><td>RDE</td><td>Isaac Turnbull</td><td>11/40</td><td>19/40</td></tr> <tr><td>LDT</td><td>Joel Blair</td><td>21/39</td><td>25/38</td></tr> <tr><td>LDT</td><td>Marlon Peters</td><td>20/32</td><td>23/32</td></tr> <tr><td>RDT</td><td>Dexter Brigance</td><td>22/33</td><td>27/36</td></tr> <tr><td>RDT</td><td>Kyle Rasmussen</td><td>74/93</td><td>90/92</td></tr> <tr><td>MLB</td><td>Marcus Hancock</td><td>16/28</td><td>21/30</td></tr> <tr><td>MLB</td><td>Nolan Thingvold</td><td>15/33</td><td>17/29</td></tr> <tr><td>MLB</td><td>Hugh Tucker</td><td>15/30</td><td>20/31</td></tr> <tr><td>SLB</td><td>Graham Frederick</td><td>7/30</td><td>12/30</td></tr> <tr><td>SLB</td><td>Darren Garner</td><td>19/33</td><td>24/33</td></tr> <tr><td>WLB</td><td>Will Clayton</td><td>26/51</td><td>34/50</td></tr> <tr><td>LCB</td><td>Norbert Castellanos</td><td>15/32</td><td>26/32</td></tr> <tr><td>LCB</td><td>Jessie Lang</td><td>8/33</td><td>14/35</td></tr> <tr><td>RCB</td><td>Sherman Elliott</td><td>9/28</td><td>12/29</td></tr> <tr><td>RCB</td><td>Russell Sonntag</td><td>27/66</td><td>49/70</td></tr> <tr><td>RCB</td><td>Ross Wilkerson</td><td>15/36</td><td>24/38</td></tr> <tr><td>SS</td><td>Troy Cepeda</td><td>22/36</td><td>27/36</td></tr> <tr><td>FS</td><td>Brett Hayes</td><td>15/36</td><td>22/37</td></tr> <tr><td>FS</td><td>Van Rigsby</td><td>21/41</td><td>28/41</td></tr></table>
Some major improvements here - most have been noted before. Our CB Sonntag is a huge jumper - gaining four points of potential, and 22 points of actual during the season.
An interesting situation at quarterback, where despite last season's performance, it's beginning to look like Troy Hagan may not have the highest ceiling after all.
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:23 AM
<b>2006 Roster</b>
<u>Quarterbacks</u>
Hagan didn't do much at quarterback, although everyone else did worse. His 7-15 TD/Int ratio didn't do much for me, nor did the 5.30 average yards/attempt. He had a pretty solid start - through his first four games, he threw for over 500 yards, 3 TDs, and only one pick; but ended up with four multi-interception games, including a four-pick game in a 14-31 loss at Denver.
The interesting bit here is the offseason development - judging from the scout numbers, Casey Grant may have a (slightly) higher ceiling than Hagan, and Troy is trending in the wrong direction. Still, Grant's performance was entirely uninspiring (2 TDs, 8 Ints) while Hagan was hurting last season, so we stay with Troy.
Our depth chart at QB:
QB Troy Hagan - 29/51
QB Casey Grant - 21/52
QB Lorenzo Dillon - 15/50
QB Cornelius Flynn - 23/40 (inactive)
<u>Running Backs</u>
Dwayne Grasso did a solid job for a rookie. He ended up with two 100-yard games (Indianapolis, Pittsburgh), and finished just over 1000 yards for the year; on just about 300 carries. Our biggest offensive problem last season (beside the turnovers) was a horrendous third down percentage - we hope to address that by running a bit more on first and ten, and that means more carries for DG.
Cassidy's breakaway speed didn't do much for him - he ended up with 109 carries for 392 yards, a decent number; but when the third man Sons was in, he had 10-56 yards - possibly due to much better Hole Recognition and Elusiveness ratings. Either way, a change here - Cassidy falls from second team to inactive, Sons moves up to the top backup, and formerly inactive Irv Borders gets his shot at third string.
Our depth chart at RB:
RB Dwayne Grasso - 49/56
RB Craig Sons - 19/24
RB Irv Borders - 28/33
RB Herman Cassidy - 19/24 (inactive)
<u>Fullbacks</u>
Pickles didn't do much carrying the ball, but was a solid blocker (15/41 KRB) and receiver (25-118). He'll keep the starting role.
Our depth chart at FB:
FB Pickles Altenburger - 63/71
FB O.J. Harper - 21/39
<u>Tight Ends</u>
Lewis Nichols and Buddy Kappers are fighting it out again for the starting spot - Nichols caught 14 balls for 91 yards, going 1-6 on KROs. Kappers was 13-64 and a touchdown, and blocked 2-5. We'll stick with the status quo here - letting each develop, as we could really use a good receiving threat at TE.
Our depth chart at TE:
TE Lewis Nichols - 33/36
TE Buddy Kappers - 30/39
TE Carlton Rayburn - 17/38
TE Butch Williams - 22/38 (inactive)
<u>Wide Receiver</u>
Despite 11 drops, Vernon Logan turned out to be a pretty decent receiver. He led the team in catches and yards (57-711), and had a pair of receiving touchdowns. Vinny McKenzie's split end spot was less productive, but still decent (38-449, TD).
Our depth chart at FL:
FL Vernon Logan - 35/35
FL Wally Rogers - 11/22
Our depth chart at SE:
SE Vinny McKenzie - 30/42
SE Wes Frerotte - 25/40
SE Oscar Borders - 21/30 (inactive)
<u>Centers</u>
Brass hasn't lived up to the third pick of the second round yet - had a lot of KROs, but only converted just above 25%, while giving up 8 sacks. He looks like he took a small step forward in the offseason, however; so we have hopes for this season. Jenkins and Patton have also each shown small improvement.
Our depth chart at C:
C Grant Brass - 30/70
C Jim Jenkins - 20/42
C Tyron Patton - 15/44 (inactive)
<u>Offensive Guards</u>
We were awfully worried about this spot, but it didn't turn out too badly last season. McCormack and McWilliams split time at the LG spot, and McCormack outplayed McW - in four starts (while McW was hurt), McCormack converted 41% of his KROs, and didn't allow a sack in 164 pass plays; while McWilliams was an even 25% for the season with three sacks allowed. We're going to list McCormack as the starter, but keep the playing time at 1 to get both in there.
On the right side Chrisman was solid - five sacks allowed, but one in three for KROs. He'll stick there.
Our depth chart at LG:
LG Scottie McCormack - 16/39
LG Kenyon McWilliams - 23/38
Our depth chart at RG:
RG James Chrisman - 28/41
LG Kenyon McWilliams - 23/38
RG Bill Riddle - 12/26
<u>Offensive Tackles</u>
Donnell Taylor did a good job at LT - one in three KRBs, and 2 sacks allowed in 13 starts. Trent Jones filled in for injury, and let in five sacks in only three starts, so we'd much rather have Donnell there.
On the RT side, Vernon Donovan was more of a weak link than we had hoped. 7 sacks, and only 9 KRBs in 52 chances. He'll continue to start because we have no better option, but we'll be likely running a little less to the right outside.
Our depth chart at LT:
LT Donnell Taylor - 23/39
LT Trent Jones - 18/41
Our depth chart at RT:
RT Vernon Donovan - 24/44
LT Trent Jones - 18/41
LT Dusty Gibson - 12/31 (inactive)
<u>Punter</u>
Jarvis averaged 41.6 yards/punt, putting about 20% inside the 20. That - and a 64-yard long - was good enough to be a top-10 punter, and we rewarded him with a 5-year contract paying nearly $1m/year.
Our depth chart at P:
P Austin Jarvis - 54/54
<u>Kicker</u>
Barton wasn't so hot. He had a long FG of 52 yards, but only hit 10/20 overall. He still has room to develop, though, but if he trails off this season, we may look at Jarvis doing placekicking as well.
Our depth chart at K:
K Ronnie Barton - 29/47
<u>Defensive End</u>
Our experiment moving Turnbull to defensive end didn't turn out horribly - 41 tackles, 17 assists, and 1.5 sacks; but he had 11 hurries for a 4.6 PRPct. Not spectacular numbers, but good enough for a rookie there. Berlat had similar numbers, but 5.0 sacks and slightly less hurries. Spoon didn't do much when he played, but will stick as the backup.
We're looking for a bigger season here from Berlat - in the next two, we need him to start living up to some of that potential.
Our depth chart at LDE:
LDE Alex Berlat - 35/60 (all situations)
LDE Brent Spoon - 10/26
Out depth chart at RDE:
RDE Isaac Turnbull - 19/40 (all situations)
LDE Brent Spoon - 10/26
<u>Defensive Tackle</u>
Rasmussen was first-team all-pro with over 100 tackles and 6.5 sacks. Best player on the team, so the focus is the other side. We started Marlon Peters, over Blair and Brigance - Peters and Brigance combined for 14 hurries and no sacks. Brigance was a slightly better pass rusher, Peters slightly better tackler - we'll stick with the same depth chart this season, until someone gives us a reason to move them up.
Our depth chart at LDT:
LDT Marlon Peters - 23/32
RDT Dexter Brigance (pass situations) - 27/36
LDT Joel Blair - 25/38
Our depth chart at RDT:
RDT Kyle Rasmussen (all situations) - 90/92
LDT Joel Blair - 25/38
<u>Inside Linebacker</u>
Hancock played injured for a good part of the season, but still managed to start 15 of the 16 games. Nothing terribly spectacular out of him - one interception, 74 tackles (25 assists). Tucker and Thingvold each had their opportunities, Tucker came up with the lone sack out of the MLB spot, and had the best tackle percentage of the trio. Our emphasis on man-to-man will keep Hancock in, but Tucker has earned the top backup.
Our depth chart at MLB/SILB:
MLB Marcus Hancock - 21/30
MLB Hugh Tucker - 20/31
Our depth chart at WILB
MLB Nolan Thingvold - 17/29
MLB Hugh Tucker - 20/31
<u>Outside Linebacker</u>
Frederick was a surprise for us despite horrible ratings - 4.0 sacks, 75 tackles from the strong side. Also came up with an interception and seven defended passes. We'll keep him there - Garner is rated higher, but for his pass rushing skills. He saw some time lined up at DE, and had 3.0 sacks in limited duty.
On the weak side, Clayton was up with the rest of the linebackers with 70-ish tackles. Also a pair of sacks, and he tied for the team lead with three interceptions.
Our depth chart at SLB:
SLB Graham Frederick - 12/30
SLB Darren Garner - 24/33
Our depth chart at WLB:
WLB Will Clayton - 34/50
SLB Darren Garner - 24/33
<u>Cornerback</u>
Sonntag took a nice step forward, but hasn't shown the PDPct we need him to. He'll get there, though - an average 18.8 PDPct when constantly matched up on the opponent's top receiver isn't bad. Ross Wilkerson was the one who seemed to step forward the most - he saw time at SS and at the Nickel slot, and came up with three interceptions of his own. Castellanos was a disappointment, and drops from start to Dime back (only one pass defended). Jessie Lang, who I think has the potential to be a solid M2M guy, moves up to Nickel, while Wilkerson starts. Elliott remains a project.
Our depth chart at CB:
RCB Russell Sonntag - 49/70
RCB Ross Wilkerson - 24/38
LCB Jessie Lang - 14/35
LCB Norbert Castellanos - 26/32
RCB Sherman Elliott (inactive) - 12/29
<u>Safety</u>
Cepeda was hurt a handful of games, but played a decent strong safety when he was in. The same story across the board here - we need our pass coverage guys to develop. Rigsby and Hayes stick in the same slots - Hayes saw some time with Cepeda hurt as well, and did solidly enough to back up both safety spots with Wilkerson nw starting at corner.
Our depth chart at SS:
SS Troy Cepeda - 27/36
FS Brett Hayes - 22/37
Our depth chart at FS:
FS Van Rigsby - 28/41
FS Brett Hayes - 22/37
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:23 AM
<B>2006 Gameplan</b>
Our biggest problem last year - not having the ball on offense. Quite simply. 22nd in rushes, dead last in pass attempts - likely last in total plays. Last in third down conversions (under 30%), second to last in turnovers, last in turnover margin (-17).
What we need to do to counter this - get more yards on first down. We passed a good bit on first down last year - around 60% - and with an under 50% completion rate, that turned into 2nd and ten better than 30% of the time. We're pretty confident in our running game moving the ball without much loss of yardage, so we'll be running the ball likely 80% of the time on first down, and a comperable amount on 2nd-and-mid. Hopefully that (and improved QB play) will show an improvement on the offensive side of the ball.
Defensively, we won't change much - because we really weren't all that bad. I'm much more concerned about yards/play allowed rather than total yards (since we were on the field so much), and that was good for 11th against the run (3.74 ypc). Not as hot against the pass (7.15 ypa - 28th), but that will improve as our defenders do. The biggest worry is third downs - we let our opponents convert btter than half the time on third down. I think a good bit of this is passing on third down, so we're going to be less aggressive towards the pass in general, and try and sit back a bit more.
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:24 AM
<b>2006 Preseason</b>
Cleveland 21, <i>Tampa Bay 28</i>
<i>New York 17</i>, Cleveland 14
Cleveland 13, <i>Atlanta 16</i>
<i>Philadelphia 17</i>, Cleveland 9
No luck at all. Twice we lost games in the fourth quarter - although it raises hope, if nothing else. Some minor bumps and bruises, but nothing to worry about.
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:24 AM
<b>2006 Season</b>
Week 1: Cleveland 0, <i>Pittsburgh 20</i>
Week 2: <i>Atlanta 17</i>, Cleveland 9
<b>Week 3: <i>Cleveland 21</i>, New Jersey 10</b>
Week 5: <i>Denver 24</i>, Cleveland 7
Week 6: <i>Oakland 31</i>, Cleveland 17
Week 7: Cleveland 6, <i>San Diego 10</i>
Week 8: Cleveland 3, <i>Kansas City 30</i>
Week 9: Cleveland 0, <i>Baltimore 12</i>
Week 10: Pittsburgh 27, <i>Cleveland 10</i>
Troy Hagan goes Probably with a Sprained Neck for 4 weeks. His statistics - not so hot, with a lower Yards/Attempt average and a worse TD/Int ratio from last season. Enter Casey Grant.
Week 11: <i>Cincinnati 17</i>, Cleveland 10
Week 12: Cleveland 7, <i>New Orleans 34</i>
Week 13: <i>Houston 41</i>, Cleveland 9
Week 14: <i>Carolins 24</i>, Cleveland 10
Grant does even worse - 1 TD, 5 Ints in 4 games. Back to Hagan.
Week 15: <i>Baltimore 27</i>, Cleveland 6
<b>Week 16: <i>Cleveland 20</i>, Tampa Bay 7</b>
Week 17: Cleveland 17, <i>Cincinnati 20</i>
Final Record: 2-14
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:24 AM
<b>2006 Postseason</b>
Wild Cards
<i>Indianapolis 31</i>, New England 28
Miami 6, <i>Denver 14</i>
New York 20, <i>Carolina 27</i>
St. Louis 0, <i>Green Bay 44</i>
Conference Semifinals
Carolina 10, <i>Washington 17</i>
Denver 10, <i>Houston 20</i>
Green Bay 24, <i>Seattle 27</i>
Indianapolis 7, <i>Pittsburgh 24</i>
Conference Finals
Houston 16, <i>Pittsburgh 17</i>
Washington 23, <i>Seattle 26</i>
Front Office Championship
Pittsburgh 21, <i>Seattle 24</i>
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:25 AM
<b>2006 Awards</b>
Player of the Year: QB Bob Stuart, CAR
Front Office Bowl MVP: QB Bruce Hudson, SEA
Offensive POY: QB Bob Stuart, CAR
Defensive POY: SS Dixon Shields, TEN
All-League First Team Defensive Tackle: <i>DT Kyle Rasmussen, CLE</i>
Grasso was among the league leaders in rushing - fourth overall with 1356 yards. He missed two starts due to injury, and finished less than 100 yards behind the league leader - he has a good chance to lead the league next season.
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:26 AM
<b>2006 Summary</b>
2006 Summary for Cleveland Browns
Record: 2-14
Winning Pct.: .125
Cleveland Browns Team Rank
Rushes 503 7
Rushing Yards 1903 15
Yards Per Carry 3.78 26
Pass Attempts 382 32
Completions 209 32
Passing Yards 1764 32
Yards Per Attempt 4.61 32
3rd Down Conversions 35.4 32
Points Per Game 9.5 32
Turnovers 29 27 (T)
Turnover Margin -9 26 (T)
Opponents Team Rank
Rushes 512 30
Rushing Yards 2061 25
Yards Per Carry 4.02 13 (T)
Pass Attempts 512 9
Completions 304 16 (T)
Passing Yards 3416 16
Yards Per Attempt 6.67 17
3rd Down Conversions 43.7 24
Points Per Game 21.9 28
Turnovers 20 19 (T)
Week Team Versus Oppnt
1 0 at PIT 20
2 9 ATL 17
3 21 at NJY 10
5 7 DEN 24
6 17 OAK 31
7 6 at SDO 10
8 3 at KCY 30
9 0 at BAL 12
10 10 PIT 27
11 10 CIN 17
12 7 at NOS 34
13 9 HOU 41
14 10 CAR 24
15 6 BAL 27
16 20 at TBY 7
17 17 at CIN 20
Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int
6 Hagan QB 281 162 1352 4.81 5 15
7 Grant QB 100 46 405 4.05 1 5
**Team --- 382 209 1764 4.61 6 20
Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD
47 Grasso RB 362 1356 3.74 7
20 Sons RB 115 460 4.00 2
**Team --- 503 1903 3.78 9
Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc YAC TD
84 Logan WR 89 43 393 9.1 56 2
82 McKenzie WR 85 39 377 9.6 62 2
48 Altenburger FB 54 34 230 6.7 125 1
83 Frerotte WR 39 24 227 9.4 50 0
9 Kappers TE 29 21 153 7.2 25 1
80 Rogers WR 31 19 184 9.6 15 0
47 Grasso RB 28 16 98 6.1 69 0
**Team --- 382 209 1764 8.4 433 6
Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack Hurr Ints Defn
76 Rasmussen DT 106 29 6.5 21 0 1
91 Frederick OLB 75 21 3.0 1 0 6
99 Clayton OLB 72 22 2.0 1 1 2
54 Hancock ILB 63 25 4.0 1 1 3
39 Sonntag CB 58 12 0.0 1 0 13
30 Cepeda S 58 35 1.0 0 3 6
36 Wilkerson CB 57 22 0.0 0 3 9
29 Rigsby S 49 22 0.0 0 3 12
75 Peters DT 45 14 0.5 2 0 0
23 Lang CB 42 11 1.5 2 0 4
94 Berlat DE 41 14 4.5 14 0 0
96 Turnbull DE 30 18 1.5 5 0 0
93 Tucker ILB 30 15 0.0 0 1 3
37 Hayes S 19 6 0.0 1 0 3
**Team --- 864 287 27.0 60 13 64
Well, we improved in most facets, looks like. Overall, 2-14 is two steps better than 0-16. Offensively, we scored half a field goal more a game - still last, but one step at a time. Defensively, we took a nice step forward, averaging almost a touchdown less a game (6.5 points).
Our rushing offense was slightly better - we brought our yards/carry average up, but not by all that much. Our attempts and rushing yards in general went up.
Passing offense - downhill. Worst overall both seasons, but we had less yards/atempt this time. Could be we we running in more situations where we may have been expected to, and didn't get some easier passes; but either way we need a quarterback to step up and start doing something.
Our biggest problem from last season was the third down conversions - we had some improvement, moving from 28% to 35%, although we're still last there. Also improved our turnovers (slightly), and our turnover margin.
Defensively is where we saw the more noticable improvement. There was something of a tradeoff - we allowed about a third of a yard more per rush, but half a yard less per pass attempt. We'll move in the same direction, as it seemed to help - 8% less third downs allowed, and a full touchdown scored less are big numbers.
Individually, Hagan was a huge disappointment. Less touchdowns, less yards, same amount of interceptions. Grant was better than he was last season, but still not worth writing home about. Grasso was solid, and Sons did a pretty good job in relief.
Rasmussen is a beast. First team all-pro again, and he is rated 96/96 now in his second season - he is second on 'Recommend' for current rosters, behind a maxed out C from Green Bay (also 96/96). Teddy Tyler, meanwhile, is 89/89 for Miami. Lorenzo Medeiros (the DE Chicago drafted first overall) is 65/77 for the Bears, and trails Rasmussen in all statistics. R.J. Apotsos (Denver's RB, who beat Grasso for ROY last season) took a step back, missing a 1000 yard season by two carries. He did double his touchdowns to 10, however.
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:27 AM
<b>2006 End of Season</b>
Team Performance: 0/100
Franchise Value: 17/100
Profit/Loss: 79/100
Roster Strength: 80/100
Year End Score: 47
Our revenue dropped about $5m this season, all due to ticket sales. However, our costs also dropped - about $12m, much of it because we gave out $25m less in bonuses. So our profit went from $62m to $69m.
Next season, we'll lower ticket prices a bit to keep the fans happy.
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:27 AM
<b>2007 Staff Hiring</b>
Scout
Blake Clayton, 39
QB: Average
RB: Good
WR: Average
OL: Average (-)
K: Fair
DL: Good
LB: Good
SC: Very Good
YT: Average
Head Coach
Brady Wunder, 54
Motivation: Average
Discipline: Good
Offensive Playcalling: Excellent
Defensive Playcalling: Good
Injury Avoidance: Excellent
Offensive Coordinator
Terry Bullock, 61
QB: Average
RB: Excellent
WR: Excellent
OL: Good
K : Average
YT: Excellent
Defensive Coordinator
Stanley Quackenbush, 55
P : Average
DL: Excellent
LB: Excellent
SC: Excellent
YT: Good
This guy could possibly be the best defensive coordinator I've ever seen.
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:27 AM
<b>2007 Contracts</b>
Of the expired contracts (RFAs), we get Logan on board for around $4m for 3 years, Chrisman and Taylor for two year deals in the $3m - $4m range apiece, and a pretty easy deal on McCormack. The only touchy one is Casey Grant who is looking for about $8.5 million over three years. I let him sit until near the end of free agency, then give him about $7m over that time. Not that it matters too much, as we're still a good $56 million under the cap.
As for renegotiations, we give Hagan the biggest deal, at $3.5m per for 5 seasons; McKenzie gets about $12.5m over the same timeline.
Ross Wilkerson is the "surprising" bump - he had a decent season last year as a starting CB (3 ints, 19.4 PDPct), but is asking for over $12m over 5 years. We get him on board for 5 years at just under $2m/season instead, and leave the offseason contract stage with the full team on board this year and next. We're still projected at $40m under the cap next season, which is good as over half the team will be coming up for renewal.
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:27 AM
<b>2007 Draft</b>
We draft first overall, in front of the 3-13 Detroit Lions. San Diego didn't do much with my gift of draft picks from last season - they finish 6-10 this year.
That franchise QB I mentioned last year that San Diego and Philadelphia passed on? Adrian Sampras went to Dallas at number three and led them to a 7-9 record, throwing for over 3800 yards, 24 TDs, and 16 interceptions. He's already a top-10 QB in the league, and projects with 4th-year Bob Stuart of Carolina to be the top two throwings in the league for a long, long time.
As for this season - we've decided that we hate the Baltimore Ravens. Not surprising there. But what way to get at the Ravens indirectly? This year's recipients of our draft pick gifts are the Washington Redskins and the Philadelphia Eagles. Hopefully the 10-6 'Skins and 6-10 Eagles will start taking away Baltimore fans.
The Eagles take Christian Witt - DE out of LSU with the top pick, making that three straight seasons where a defensive end is the top selection.
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:28 AM
<b>2007 Post-Draft</b>
Front Office Football 2004
Cleveland Browns Roster, Scout Overview
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Hagan, Troy 6 QB 3 36 49 5 yrs
Grant, Casey 7 QB 3 30 56 3 yrs
Dillon, Lorenzo 11 QB 3 17 49 2 yrs
Flynn, Cornelius 10 QB 3 27 41 2 yrs
Borders, Irv 40 RB 3 29 33 2 yrs
Sons, Craig 20 RB 3 16 23 2 yrs
Cassidy, Herman 24 RB 3 20 24 2 yrs
Grasso, Dwayne 47 RB 3 58 61 2 yrs
Harper, O.J. 41 FB 3 23 40 2 yrs
Altenburger, Pickles 48 FB 3 73 73 2 yrs
Rayburn, Carlton 16 TE 3 24 37 2 yrs
Kappers, Buddy 9 TE 3 35 39 3 yrs
Nichols, Lewis 86 TE 3 36 36 2 yrs
Williams, Butch 81 TE 3 21 33 2 yrs
Rogers, Wally 80 FL 3 13 20 2 yrs
Logan, Vernon 84 FL 3 41 41 3 yrs
Borders, Oscar 87 SE 3 26 31 2 yrs
McKenzie, Vinny 82 SE 3 38 43 5 yrs
Frerotte, Wes 83 SE 3 32 44 2 yrs
Brass, Grant 58 C 3 46 70 2 yrs
Jenkins, Jim 53 C 3 23 41 2 yrs
Patton, Tyrone 55 C 3 14 36 2 yrs
McWilliams, Kenyon 72 LG 3 27 41 2 yrs
McCormack, Scottie 66 LG 3 22 31 2 yrs
Riddle, Bill 71 RG 3 13 25 2 yrs
Chrisman, James 77 RG 3 40 44 2 yrs
Taylor, Donnell 78 LT 3 30 40 2 yrs
Jones, Trent 70 LT 3 23 46 2 yrs
Gibson, Dusty 64 LT 3 9 22 2 yrs
Donovan, Vernon 67 RT 3 31 45 4 yrs
Jarvis, Austin 12 P 3 62 62 4 yrs
Barton, Ronnie 2 K 3 37 49 2 yrs
Spoon, Brent 90 LDE 3 13 26 2 yrs
Berlat, Alex 94 LDE 3 46 65 2 yrs
Turnbull, Isaac 96 RDE 3 25 41 3 yrs
Blair, Joel 97 LDT 3 27 39 2 yrs
Peters, Marlon 75 LDT 3 27 32 2 yrs
Brigance, Dexter 92 RDT 3 31 38 2 yrs
Rasmussen, Kyle 76 RDT 3 95 95 3 yrs
Hancock, Marcus 54 MLB 3 26 30 2 yrs
Thingvold, Nolan 52 MLB 3 17 27 2 yrs
Tucker, Hugh 93 MLB 3 25 31 2 yrs
Garner, Darren 51 SLB 3 28 34 2 yrs
Frederick, Graham 91 SLB 3 17 29 2 yrs
Clayton, Will 99 WLB 3 40 50 2 yrs
Lang, Jessie 23 LCB 3 21 37 2 yrs
Castellanos, Norbert 28 LCB 3 29 31 5 yrs
Elliott, Sherman 26 RCB 3 15 31 2 yrs
Wilkerson, Ross 36 RCB 3 40 40 5 yrs
Sonntag, Russell 39 RCB 3 74 74 2 yrs
Cepeda, Troy 30 SS 3 35 37 3 yrs
Rigsby, Van 29 FS 3 38 41 3 yrs
Hayes, Brett 37 FS 3 30 37 2 yrs
$$ - player is in starting lineup, ## - player is inactive.
Players Under Contract: 53
Inactive: 0
On Active Roster: 53
Salary Cap: $103,700,000
Cap Room: $55,460,000
Maximum for New Player: $55,950,000
Cap Room Lost (to old contracts): $0
Cap Room Lost Next Year (to old contracts): $0
Cap Room Required Next Year: $63,670,000
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:29 AM
<b>2007 Ratings Recap (post-TC)</b>
<table border="1"> <tr><td>Pos</td><td>Name</td><td>2006</td><td>2007</td></tr> <tr><td>QB</td><td>Lorenzo Dillon</td><td>15/50</td><td>17/49</td></tr> <tr><td>QB</td><td>Cornelius Flynn</td><td>23/41</td><td>27/41</td></tr> <tr><td>QB</td><td>Casey Grant</td><td>21/52</td><td>30/56</td></tr> <tr><td>QB</td><td>Troy Hagan</td><td>29/51</td><td>36/49</td></tr> <tr><td>RB</td><td>Irv Borders</td><td>28/33</td><td>29/33</td></tr> <tr><td>RB</td><td>Herman Cassidy</td><td>19/24</td><td>20/24</td></tr> <tr><td>RB</td><td>Dwayne Grasso</td><td>49/56</td><td>58/61</td></tr> <tr><td>RB</td><td>Craig Sons</td><td>16/22</td><td>16/23</td></tr> <tr><td>FB</td><td>Pickles Altenburger</td><td>63/71</td><td>73/73</td></tr> <tr><td>FB</td><td>O.J. Harper</td><td>21/39</td><td>23/40</td></tr> <tr><td>TE</td><td>Buddy Kappers</td><td>30/39</td><td>35/39</td></tr> <tr><td>TE</td><td>Lewis Nichols</td><td>33/36</td><td>36/36</td></tr> <tr><td>TE</td><td>Carlton Rayburn</td><td>17/38</td><td>24/37</td></tr> <tr><td>TE</td><td>Butch Williams</td><td>22/38</td><td>21/33</td></tr> <tr><td>FL</td><td>Vernon Logan</td><td>35/35</td><td>41/41</td></tr> <tr><td>FL</td><td>Wally Rogers</td><td>11/22</td><td>13/20</td></tr> <tr><td>SE</td><td>Oscar Borders</td><td>21/30</td><td>26/31</td></tr> <tr><td>SE</td><td>Wes Frerotte</td><td>25/40</td><td>32/44</td></tr> <tr><td>SE</td><td>Vinny McKenzie</td><td>30/42</td><td>38/43</td></tr> <tr><td>C</td><td>Grant Brass</td><td>30/70</td><td>46/70</td></tr> <tr><td>C</td><td>Jim Jenkins</td><td>20/42</td><td>23/41</td></tr> <tr><td>C</td><td>Tyron Patton</td><td>15/44</td><td>14/36</td></tr> <tr><td>LG</td><td>Scottie McCormack</td><td>16/39</td><td>22/31</td></tr> <tr><td>LG</td><td>Kenyon McWilliams</td><td>23/38</td><td>27/41</td></tr> <tr><td>RG</td><td>James Chrisman</td><td>28/41</td><td>40/44</td></tr> <tr><td>RG</td><td>Bill Riddle</td><td>12/27</td><td>13/25</td></tr> <tr><td>LT</td><td>Dusty Gibson</td><td>12/31</td><td>9/22</td></tr> <tr><td>LT</td><td>Trent Jones</td><td>18/41</td><td>23/46</td></tr> <tr><td>LT</td><td>Donnell Taylor</td><td>23/39</td><td>30/40</td></tr> <tr><td>RT</td><td>Vernon Donovan</td><td>24/44</td><td>31/45</td></tr> <tr><td>P</td><td>Austin Jarvis</td><td>54/54</td><td>62/62</td></tr> <tr><td>K</td><td>Ronnie Barton</td><td>29/47</td><td>37/49</td></tr> <tr><td>LDE</td><td>Alex Berlat</td><td>35/60</td><td>46/65</td></tr> <tr><td>LDE</td><td>Brent Spoon</td><td>10/26</td><td>13/26</td></tr> <tr><td>RDE</td><td>Isaac Turnbull</td><td>19/40</td><td>25/41</td></tr> <tr><td>LDT</td><td>Joel Blair</td><td>25/38</td><td>27/39</td></tr> <tr><td>LDT</td><td>Marlon Peters</td><td>23/32</td><td>27/32</td></tr> <tr><td>RDT</td><td>Dexter Brigance</td><td>27/36</td><td>31/38</td></tr> <tr><td>RDT</td><td>Kyle Rasmussen</td><td>90/92</td><td>95/95</td></tr> <tr><td>MLB</td><td>Marcus Hancock</td><td>21/30</td><td>26/30</td></tr> <tr><td>MLB</td><td>Nolan Thingvold</td><td>17/29</td><td>17/27</td></tr> <tr><td>MLB</td><td>Hugh Tucker</td><td>20/31</td><td>25/31</td></tr> <tr><td>SLB</td><td>Graham Frederick</td><td>12/30</td><td>17/29</td></tr> <tr><td>SLB</td><td>Darren Garner</td><td>24/33</td><td>28/34</td></tr> <tr><td>WLB</td><td>Will Clayton</td><td>34/50</td><td>40/50</td></tr> <tr><td>LCB</td><td>Norbert Castellanos</td><td>26/32</td><td>29/31</td></tr> <tr><td>LCB</td><td>Jessie Lang</td><td>14/35</td><td>21/37</td></tr> <tr><td>RCB</td><td>Sherman Elliott</td><td>12/29</td><td>15/31</td></tr> <tr><td>RCB</td><td>Russell Sonntag</td><td>49/70</td><td>74/74</td></tr> <tr><td>RCB</td><td>Ross Wilkerson</td><td>24/38</td><td>40/40</td></tr> <tr><td>SS</td><td>Troy Cepeda</td><td>27/36</td><td>35/37</td></tr> <tr><td>FS</td><td>Brett Hayes</td><td>22/37</td><td>30/37</td></tr> <tr><td>FS</td><td>Van Rigsby</td><td>28/41</td><td>38/41</td></tr></table>
Our early picks took big steps forward. Aside from Rasmussen, Sonntag is looking ready to break out as a true cover corner, and we need to look at getting Pickles the ball more often.
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:29 AM
2007 Roster
Quarterbacks
Hagan's only improvement over last season was his completion percentage - up to 57% from 52%, but his average yards/attempt went down, as did his TD/Int percentage. He missed four starts, which went to Casey Grant - Grant was pretty bad, again. We're still with Hagan, best chance to win and all that. He and Grant are running pretty even on ratings, but Hagan has the edge in performance; even though Grant is shaping up to be a better potential guy. One change comes in hereearly - Dillon and Flynn will both get some time in the preseason to get them on the field. Even with Dillon's complete lack of ability to read the defense, and then to avoid putting the ball in the hands of the opposition; he's still intriguing enough to deserve a shot. One of the two will go inactive - not sure which yet.
Our depth chart at QB:
QB Troy Hagan - 36/49
QB Casey Grant - 30/56
QB Lorenzo Dillon - 17/49
QB Cornelius Flynn - 27/41
Running Backs
Grasso took a nice step forward last season - bumping up his average yards/carry and going over 1300 yards on the ground. With the two starts he missed due to injury, he has a good shot at 1500 this year and the league lead. Craig Sons did a surprisingly good job as the backup, putting up over 400 yards and 2 touchdowns in limited work (averaged 4 ypc). His returns were only so-so, however; 4.0 per punt return and 16.6 on kickoffs. Sons' ratings took a hit since the start of last season, however; so Borders may have a chance at taking the backup job based on performance.
Our depth chart at RB:
RB Dwayne Grasso - 58/61
RB Craig Sons - 16/23
RB Irv Borders - 29/33
RB Herman Cassidy - 20/24 (inactive)
Fullbacks
We avoid giving Pickles the ball on the ground - 40 yards on 12 carries - but receiving he took a step forward, catching 34 balls for 230 yards and a touchdown. Only one drop in that time as well, and I'd like to try and get him the ball more often, especially passing out of the Pro Set and one-back TE sets. He also was solid blocking, with over 30% KRBs made, and no sacks allowed last year.
Harper is not a bad backup, although he doesn't see much time aside from special teams. He hasn't developed as much as we had hoped as a blocker; I'm going to go ahead and move him on the goal-line set to get him some reps.
Our depth chart at FB:
FB Pickles Altenburger - 73/73
FB O.J. Harper - 23/40
Tight Ends
Buddy Kappers saw most of the starting time at TE - and did well, 6 of 15 KRBs and 21 catches for 153 yards. No changes here - Kappers/Nichols/Rayburn. The key with Nichols may be finding a place for him to block - he's the best blocking tight end on the team, better than some of the offensive linemen. In some passing sets, we'll be moving him to the FB spot, and let Altenburger play tight end - since the FB stays in from time to time to block, and the Tight End always goes out, I'd rather have Pickles out catching the ball.
Our depth chart at TE:
TE Buddy Kappers - 35/39
TE Lewis Nichols - 36/36
TE Carlton Rayburn - 24/37
TE Butch Williams - 21/33 (inactive)
Wide Receiver
Vernon Logan was the top WR in our first season, but he took a step back this season - 14 less catches, but just over half the yards. While we like the increased attention the FBs and TEs got, we can't have our wideouts all under 400 yards. The change here comes on the Split End side - McKenzie's catching numbers were about the same, but he caught less than half the balls he was targeted at (39-85), and for only 377 yards. Wes Frerotte caught only 24 balls, but that's nearly 2/3 of the ones thrown at him. We're going to move him up to starting Split End, and see if McKenzie's better Big Play ability will be better served out of the slot - he, at SE2, will be the third wideout in any available sets.
Our depth chart at FL:
FL Vernon Logan - 41/41
FL Wally Rogers - 13/20
Our depth chart at SE:
SE Wes Frerotte - 32/44
SE Vinny McKenzie - 38/43
SE Oscar Borders - 26/31 (inactive)
Centers
After calling Brass out a bit in this space last season, he cut down on his sacks by 3/4, allowing two all season (down from 8). His run blocking still needs to improve (23%), however. The ratings are still moving up, however, so that's progress. Jenkins didn't get quite as much playing time, but will widen his role a bit - backing up a few more spots on the line.
Our depth chart at C:
C Grant Brass - 46/70
C Jim Jenkins - 23/41
C Tyron Patton - 14/36 (inactive)
Offensive Guards
We put McCormack in front of McWilliams here last year based on limited information, but he came through - he started all 16 games, better than doubled his total plays, and kept his Run Block Ratio - 40% KRBs. He did allow two sacks, but still not bad at all, we're happy with him at LG and may run his way more often.
Chrisman improved as well - keeping his KRB percentage solid at 33%, and dropping from 5 to 2 sacks allowed on the year.
Our depth chart at LG:
LG Scottie McCormack - 22/31
LG Kenyon McWilliams - 27/41
Our depth chart at RG:
RG James Chrisman - 40/44
C Jim Jenkins - 23/41
RG Bill Riddle - 13/25
Offensive Tackles
Donnell Taylor took a step back, and that hurt our passing game a good bit. We ran his way more, and didn't get much benefit as the Block Percent dropped from 33% to 28%, but his sacks went up from 2 to 8; cancelling out much of the improvement along the rest of the line. Trent Jones didn't get much work backing him up, but should get more this year as we drop the playing time down a good bit.
Vernon Donovan improved at his run blocking - nearly doubling his percent to 30% - but jumped from 7 to 10 sacks allowed. Trent Jones will see a good bit of time here as well.
Our depth chart at LT:
LT Donnell Taylor - 30/40
LT Trent Jones - 23/46
LT Dusty Gibson - 9/22 (inactive)
Our depth chart at RT:
RT Vernon Donovan - 31/45
LT Trent Jones - 23/46
Punter
Jarvis continued to improve, increasing his average by a yard/punt (42.5), and putting 36 inside the 20 in just over 100 attempts.
Our depth chart at P:
P Austin Jarvis - 62/62
Kicker
Barton is improving slower than Jarvis, but he is improving - from 10/20 (50%), up to 16/25 (64%). Another jump like that will satisfy us.
Our depth chart at K:
K Ronnie Barton - 37/49
Defensive End
Not a lot of direct improvement from the defensive end spots - Berlat had slightly more stats, but less effectiveness - 5.0 sacks, 8 hurries to 4.5/14; but was in on probably 200 more plays due to a healthy season. Not that these are poor stats, but we're hoping from more from the position. On the other side, Turnbull struggled a bit, putting up only 1.5 sacks and 5 hurries. These guys both have a good bit of potential left, and I'm hoping the new defensive coordinator will bring that out.
Our depth chart at LDE:
LDE Alex Berlat - 46/65 (all situations)
LDE Brent Spoon - 13/26
Out depth chart at RDE:
RDE Isaac Turnbull - 25/41 (all situations)
LDE Brent Spoon - 13/26
Defensive Tackle
Rasmussen is the best defensive player in the game, right now. Twice all-league, twice leading the team in tackles with over 100, twice with 6.5 sacks. No worries there. Brigance didn't do much in his passing situations - half a sack, and only 5 hurries - so we're going to move Blair up into where Brigance played last time through.
Our depth chart at LDT:
LDT Marlon Peters - 27/32
LDT Joel Blair - 27/39 (passing situations)
Our depth chart at RDT:
RDT Kyle Rasmussen - 95/95 (all situations)
RDT Dexter Brigance - 31/38
Inside Linebacker
Hancock got a bunch of tackles, but all-told not terribly impressive. Down in tackle percentage from 18.8 to 15.8, but picked up four sacks this season which was a nice bonus. He'll continue to start.
Our depth chart at MLB/SILB:
MLB Marcus Hancock - 26/30
MLB Hugh Tucker - 25/31
Our depth chart at WILB
MLB Nolan Thingvold - 17/27
MLB Hugh Tucker - 25/31
Outside Linebacker
Frederick had another decent season despite his ratings - 3.0 sacks instead of 4.0, but still 75 tackles. He still starts. Garner backed up some at defensive end, but didn't get a sack for us, he drops back to backup SLB.
Clayton duplicated his previous year, which was fine at WLB.
Our depth chart at SLB:
SLB Graham Frederick - 17/29
SLB Darren Garner - 28/34
Our depth chart at WLB:
WLB Will Clayton - 40/50
SLB Darren Garner - 28/34
Cornerback / Safety
Sonntag didn't get an interception last season, but he improved his general defense - defenses went from 4 to 13, and wideouts caught three less balls despite more passing plays. He broke out in this offseason, however - run defense from 40 up to 95, and Man-to-Man and Zone are both up around 80 right now. Sonntag is a top-ten corner in the league, right now. The problem now is figuring out who to place on the other side of him - Wikerson did a pretty good job there last season, so will reprise the role. He matched his three picks, and kept his PDPct high at 19.4.
Sonntag's sudden improvement brings up an interesting possibility - since all of a sudden he's as good at Zone as at Man-to-Man, we have the ability to mix things up a little. Castellanos is great at zone, and is our best second-CB in any individual type of rating. Wilkerson is even in M2M and Zone; but the big problem is at safety - Cepeda is slightly better at zone, but Rigsby can't play zone at all; but Brett Hayes is even across the board. We're going to stick with what we have right now - split M2M and Bump and Run - but may re-evaluate midseason.
Our depth chart at CB:
RCB Russell Sonntag - 74/74
RCB Ross Wilkerson - 40/40
LCB Norbert Castellanos - 29/31
LCB Jessie Lang - 21/37
RCB Sherman Elliott (inactive) - 15/31
Our depth chart at SS:
SS Troy Cepeda - 35/37
FS Brett Hayes - 30/37
Our depth chart at FS:
FS Van Rigsby - 38/41
FS Brett Hayes - 30/37
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:30 AM
<B>2007 Gameplan</b>
We improved offensively across the board, but aren't anywhere near where we need to be to actually win some games. Our percentages are good, I think, but I'm moving a bit around on run directions. Balance out the outside runs, and a bit more to the left side guard.
Defensively again - not much change. More slanted defensive coverage to bump and run, and we already noted in the roster notes that a zone is becoming more of an option. That and continuing in the direction of sitting back on defense hopefully should see our defensive improvement continue.
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:30 AM
<b>2007 Preseason</b>
<i>Detroit 10</i>, Cleveland 0
Cleveland 10, <i>Arizona 13</i>
<b><i>Cleveland 7</i>, Minnesota 3</b>
<i>St. Louis 13</i>, Cleveland 7
Well, we finally won our first preseason game, but it came at a cost - we lost two starters, Ross Wilkerson (CB) and Will Clayton (WLB), 6 and 5 weeks respectively.
We played a number of backups to get playing time in - the big looks were at running back and quarterback. Stats in comparison:
Rushing
Borders : 54-204-1 (3.78 ypc)
Cassidy : 32-127 (3.96 ypc)
Sons : 25-119 (4.76 ypc)
All three backs did well here, which is a good sign from the offensive line, I think. Sons keeps his role as backup, and while Borders did pretty well, he'll keep inactive.
Passing
Flynn : 28-56, 278 yards, TD, 3 Int
Dillon : 21-31, 155 yards, 2 Int
Tough call here for the number 3 slot - Dillon was much more accurate, but both had about the same yards/attempt; and Flynn turned it over less. Flynn will stick on the roster.
Meanwhile, with the injuries - Castellanos moves up to the nickelback position, and Tucker will be playing the weak side.
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:31 AM
<b>2007 Season</b>
Week 1: Cleveland 7, <i>Baltimore 14</i>
Bad first week. Rasmussen out for five weeks.
Week 2: Cleveland 19, <i>San Francisco 38</i>
Week 3: Cleveland 10, <i>Jacksonville 17</i>
More soreness on the defensive line - Turnbull out 8 weeks with a stress fracture.
Week 4: Cleveland 3, <i>Buffalo 27</i>
Week 5: Pittsburgh 26, <i>Cleveland 7</i>
<b>Week 6: Miami 14, <i>Cleveland 37</i></b>
Offensive explosion, or "The Dolphins can't stop the run". Grasso has the game of his career so far - 33 carries, 221 yards, 2 touchdowns. Hagan throws for a score, Rigsby runs a pick back for a score as well. This week we also start to get some players back.
Week 7: <i>New Jersey 20</i>, Cleveland 14
Week 8: Cleveland 7, <i>New England 37</i>
Midpoint of the season, and we're 1-7.. but we're not really playing badly. Offensively, we're doing much better - Hagan has 1200 yards, 5 TDs, and 8 picks. Grasso is on pace for a 1500-yard season, and we're averaging 13 points/game which while not amazing, is an improvement.
Our big problem is defensively against the run - can't stop it, allowing 4.28 yards/carry. One big reason? Rasmussen has been out all season, and he's back this week. Turnbull is three weeks away. Clayton came back last week. The secondary hasn't been all that bad - despite much of our defensive front being out, we've put pressure on quarterbacks, and played pretty well against the pass. We'll keep our pass settings as-is and see how things work out down the road.
Week 9: <i>Baltimore 31</i>, Cleveland 13
Week 11: Cleveland 24, <i>Cincinnati 30</i>
<b>Week 12: <i>Cleveland 12</i>, St. Louis 6</i></b>
<b>Week 13: San Diego 16, <i>Cleveland 23</i></b>
Perhaps our best offensive statistics - Grasso over 200 yards again (35-204), Hagan is 12-16 for 104 yards and 2 touchdowns. Our first two-game winning streak.
Week 14: <i>Seattle 17</i>, Cleveland 14
Rasmussen hurt again here - sprained a knee, questionable for three weeks.
<b>Week 15: Cincinnati 10, <i>Cleveland 17</i></b>
Sonntag with Elbow Bursitis. Questionable through the rest of the season.
<b>Week 16: Arizona 10, <i>Cleveland 17</i></b>
<b>Week 17: <i>Cleveland 13</i>, Pittsburgh 10</b>
Final Record: 6-10
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:32 AM
<b>2007 Postseason</b>
Wild Cards
<i>Buffalo 24</i>, Houston 20
<i>Oakland 35</i>, Denver 23
San Francisco 38, <i>Detroit 41</i>
Tampa Bay 16, <i>Washington 20</i>
Conference Semifinals
Buffalo 6, <i>Baltimore 9</i>
Detroit 24, <i>Atlanta 31</i>
Oakland 24, <i>New England 38</i>
Washington 13, <i>Seattle 17</i>
Conference Finals
Atlanta 21, <i>Seattle 24</i>
Baltimore 13, <i>New England 17</i>
Front Office Championship
<i>New England 18</i>, Seattle 15
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:33 AM
<b>2007 Awards</b>
Player of the Year: RB Cary Madison, CHI
Front Office Bowl MVP: QB Trent James, NE
Offensive POY: RB Cary Madison, CHI
Defensive POY: SLB Dave Riley, WAS
All-League Second Team Cornerback: <i>Russell Sonntag, Cleveland</i>
Grasso was ripped off, in my opinion - he led the league in rushing by a wide margin (1823 yards to 1507 yards), but didn't have the touchdowns (6, while Madison had 14; although the second team all-league back also only ran for 6). His receiving yards hurt - he had only about 100 yards receiving compared to nearly 500 for the other top backs.
Not that there's an award for this, but Vinny McKenzie was the only player to return two kicks for touchdowns.
Austin Jarvis had the fifth-highest punting average at 44.0 even.
Sonntag earned his second-team award - 21.0 PDPct, 5 interceptions with one returned for a score. Rigsby played well from the safety spot as well, again with three picks (one for a TD), and a 19.9 PDPct.
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:34 AM
<b>2007 Summary</b>
2007 Summary for Cleveland Browns
Record: 6-10
Winning Pct.: .375
Cleveland Browns Team Rank
Rushes 559 1
Rushing Yards 2291 2
Yards Per Carry 4.09 14
Pass Attempts 373 32
Completions 236 32
Passing Yards 2353 32
Yards Per Attempt 6.30 21
3rd Down Conversions 38.7 23 (T)
Points Per Game 14.8 26
Turnovers 29 27 (T)
Turnover Margin -6 23 (T)
Opponents Team Rank
Rushes 467 17 (T)
Rushing Yards 1856 20
Yards Per Carry 3.97 18
Pass Attempts 523 16 (T)
Completions 300 14
Passing Yards 3214 3
Yards Per Attempt 6.14 5
3rd Down Conversions 39.1 9
Points Per Game 20.1 20
Turnovers 23 14 (T)
Week Team Versus Oppnt
1 7 at BAL 14
2 19 at SFO 38
3 10 at JAX 17
4 3 at BUF 27
5 7 PIT 26
6 37 MIA 14
7 14 NJY 20
8 7 at NED 37
9 13 BAL 31
11 24 at CIN 30
12 12 at STL 6
13 23 SDO 16
14 14 SEA 17
15 17 CIN 10
16 17 ARI 10
17 13 at PIT 10
Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int
6 Hagan QB 373 236 2353 6.30 13 14
**Team --- 373 236 2353 6.30 13 14
Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD
47 Grasso RB 420 1823 4.34 6
20 Sons RB 104 370 3.55 3
**Team --- 559 2291 4.09 9
Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc YAC TD
84 Logan WR 88 60 667 11.1 118 4
83 Frerotte WR 85 49 569 11.6 71 2
48 Altenburger FB 57 43 324 7.5 107 1
82 McKenzie WR 38 19 209 11.0 25 1
47 Grasso RB 26 18 136 7.5 55 1
80 Rogers WR 36 18 190 10.5 6 2
**Team --- 372 236 2353 9.9 447 13
Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack Hurr Ints Defn
54 Hancock ILB 75 37 1.0 0 1 4
91 Frederick OLB 67 29 2.0 0 1 6
29 Rigsby S 66 19 0.0 0 3 11
39 Sonntag CB 62 30 0.0 0 5 16
30 Cepeda S 62 18 0.0 0 2 5
99 Clayton OLB 47 11 5.0 0 1 2
94 Berlat DE 43 23 6.5 14 0 0
36 Wilkerson CB 42 7 0.0 0 1 6
23 Lang CB 36 4 0.0 1 0 4
92 Brigance DT 34 16 0.0 5 0 0
28 Castellanos CB 34 10 2.0 0 0 6
37 Hayes S 34 12 0.5 0 1 3
76 Rasmussen DT 29 12 1.5 12 0 1
96 Turnbull DE 27 10 0.5 9 0 0
97 Blair DT 26 10 1.5 6 0 1
75 Peters DT 25 10 0.0 3 0 0
93 Tucker ILB 21 8 2.5 0 0 3
52 Thingvold ILB 18 9 0.0 0 0 1
51 Garner OLB 17 15 0.0 2 0 1
**Team --- 833 296 23.0 52 16 70
I really think we turned a corner this season. It may have happened sooner - but with all the injuries, especially on the defensive front. Our first game at full strength was Week 12 against St. Louis - the differences are striking.
Weeks: 1-11 12-16
Record: 1-9 - 5-1
PtsFor: 14.1 - 16.0
PtsAgt: 25.4 - 11.5
Huge difference defensively, even with Rasmussen out for the final three weeks.
Our rushing game became a huge factor, and I think that's a lot of what helped Hagan develop. He played every snap at quarterback this year, and took a solid step forward - completion percentage went up to 63%, average yards/attempt and yards/completion both went up, and the TD/Int ratio ended up near even for the first time. Grasso had the kind of season we know he can have, bringing his avg yards/rush up a good bit - although we still would love to get him into the end zone more.
Altenburger was hurt for a good bit of the year, but still made a good offensive impact - catches and yards both went up, and while his blocking suffered a bit, he was able to still avoid giving up a sack. Frerotte was a definite improvement at Split End as well, although McKenzie was able to increase his yards/catch number from the slot.
Defensively, we were a mess for the first part of the year until people started getting healthy - we went from giving up 4.3ypc over the first half of the season to ending at 3.97 - projecting out to a 3.65 or so over the second half; good for top six in the league if we're able to keep that over an entire season.
Our pass defense was exactly what I want to see - I'll give up the completion percentage to keep yards down - third in yards, fifth in yards per attempt is just fine for me. Add in that our third down conversions were nearly identical to what we gave up, and I'm very happy with that.
If we can stay healthy in Year Four, I think we may be a playoff team.
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:34 AM
<b>2007 End of Season</b>
Team Performance: 26/100
Franchise Value: 15/100
Profit/Loss: 77/100
Roster Strength: 82/100
Year End Score: 53
Attendance continued to drop, despite lower prices - down six percent from 2006 to 2007, and about 15% since the start of the dynasty.
Our profit also went down a good bit, although we still made nearly $30 million dollars - our total costs went up about $30m between salary and bonuses, and will likely do so again. Revenues were down about 4%.
Our ticket prices will stay as is - the lowest in the league, right now, and I'll leave them low as long as we keep making money.
Celeval
12-09-2004, 09:35 AM
That brings me up to date.
Goals for moving forward:
<ul><li>At least a .500 record next season</li><li>Possible improvement at Offensive Coordinator</li><li>Hagan with a TD/Int ratio of over 1.0</li></ul>
QuikSand
12-09-2004, 10:55 AM
Speaking of Rasmussen - he's developed like crazy. He's moved from a 74/93 after training camp to <b>90/93</b> at the end of the season. Pickles made a similar jump - from 43/69 to 57/69, while Sonntag went from 27/66 to 42/66. All this without a mentor, even - I wonder, how much of this is simply playing time and how much are these guys breaking out?
Just a semantic issue -- for the most part, in the FOF parlance a "breakout player" is one whose potential ratings grow, rather than his current ratings. Your guys are developing very nicely and rapidly -- almost certainly due to immense playing time, but I'd reserve the term "breakout" for guys like DE Berlat, whose potential ratings have improved during camp.
QuikSand
12-09-2004, 10:58 AM
I like the level of details you're doing here - makes it pretty easy to follow what's going on.
How does your QB look? I can see the overall scout ratings, but does he have strengths in areas that you find important? Do you think he might end up being good enough to lead the team to winning records?
Celeval
12-09-2004, 11:40 AM
The QB situation is one I've been all over the place about. Casey Grant is the guy who's got the strengths where I like them - Avoid Interception, Read Defense - although I honestly haven't played enough with a good quarterback to get a good feel for how useful they are, comparatively. Hagan is pretty well developed across the board at this point, filled up nearly all his potential. Aside from an 88 in Long Passes which stands out, he has potentials between 36-68 in the passing ratings across the board (exception - 24 in Sense Rush). Grant's potential is definately increasing - he's up to 31/56 at the start of 2008 - and his potentials span from 38 (Accuracy) to 93 (Read Defense). The playing time he's had has been horrible, but his currents are a good step behind where Hagan is.
Celeval
12-09-2004, 11:47 AM
This is pre-Training Camp, 2008:
QB Troy Hagan
Long Passes - 11 Formations
Screen: 60/60
Short: 56/67
Medium: 25/38
Long: 88/88
Deep: 37/38
Third Down: 36/36
Avoid Interceptions: 28/39
Accuracy: 48/51
Timing: 60/60
Sense Rush: 24/24
Read Defense: 60/68
Two-Minute Offense: 57/57
Scramble Frequency: 11/11
Avoid Fumbles: 44/47
Kick Holding: 44/44
QB Casey Grant
Short Passes - 11 Formations
Screen: 26/44
Short: 26/44
Medium: 22/40
Long: 33/62
Deep: 32/82
Third Down: 46/52
Avoid Interceptions: 42/88
Accuracy: 17/38
Timing: 59/74
Sense Rush: 40/40
Read Defense: 35/93
Two-Minute Offense: 38/68
Scramble Frequency: 21
Avoid Fumbles: 16/29
Kick Holding: 77/77
Currently, Hagan has the edge on every type of pass; as well as Accuracy and current ability to Read Defenses. Grant's only real current plus is Avoid Interceptions. When you look at potential, Grant still trails everywhere but the deep passes, but outshines Hagan mentally basically everywhere.
With a back like Grasso, I think we can get to a winning record. When it comes down to it, I need a QB to be accurate and not turn the ball over - if we can cut down on interceptions by half, I think we have a team that can get up there.
jbmagic
12-09-2004, 12:15 PM
your improving nicely so far... 6 wins is very good for just the third season
how your defense set up? what you have set for goal line, nickle and dime?
what you have set for run and pass aggesiveness..
what you have setup for man to man, bump and run, 2-deep, 3-deep, 4-deep?
thanks
Celeval
12-09-2004, 02:53 PM
I'm not at a point right now where I can see the gameplans, but here's the gist:
Last season, I think I was '0' for Pass Aggressiveness, across the board. Don't remember run, was mostly Recommended. I have two options right now for the defensive backfield.. the ratings breakdown:
Option A (CBx4 / SFx2)
Man to Man: 80, 35, 32, 30 / 49, 22
Zone: 85, 37, 13, 68 / 0, 34
B&R: 66, 52, 64, 35 / 85, 53
This is approx. what I ran last year, and was in the area of 50% Man, 30% B&R, 10% 2-deep, and 5% 3/4 deep.
Option B: (4xCB / 2xSF)
M: 80, 30, 35, 32 / 34, 22
Z: 85, 68, 37, 13 / 47, 34
B: 66, 35, 52, 64 / 38, 53
If I go this method, I can balance it out a bit more, and run more zone. Still, last year was effective enough that I plan to stay with the first.
RealDeal
12-09-2004, 04:08 PM
Grant should be your starter. Single most important attribute in a QB is avoiding int's, and Grant is light years better than Hagan in that category.
Celeval
12-09-2004, 04:36 PM
Could be - and his interception numbers were better in each of the first two seasons:
2005 - Hagan (257 Att, 15 Int) = 17.1 attempts
2006 - Hagan (281 Att, 15 Int) = 18.7 attempts
2007 - Hagan (373 Att, 14 Int) = 26.6 attempts
2005 - Grant (147 Att, 8 Int) = 18.3 attempts
2006 - Grant (100 Att, 5 Int) = 20.0 attempts
But the other numbers were horrible. Grant averages less per pass in his career so far than Grasso averaged per carry last season (4.23 YdA v. 4.34 YpC). I'm willing to give him a shot, but he hasn't shown me he can do it in either preseason or injury time during the year as of yet.
RealDeal
12-09-2004, 05:34 PM
If you give Grant a meaningful stretch of playing time, I'm pretty comfortable he will easily outperform Hagan.
QuikSand
12-10-2004, 09:02 AM
I don't think the advantage is as great as is being suggested ... but I like Grant better at QB also.
QuikSand
12-10-2004, 09:05 AM
Celeval -- are you taking (or planning to take) any special precautions with players who are getting disgruntled? As I prepare for my second season, it occurs to me that I need to be able to re-sign practically everybody -- and keeping them happy (eve at the expense of my starting lineup quality) might be essential.
Just something to think about, if you're not already there...
Celeval
12-10-2004, 09:06 AM
<b>2008 Staff Hiring</b>
Scout
Rex Fletcher, 67
QB: Average
RB: Average
WR: Average
OL: Good
K: Good
DL: Fair
LB: Average
SC: Good
YT: Fair
Head Coach
Brady Wunder, 55
Motivation: Average
Discipline: Good
Offensive Playcalling: Excellent
Defensive Playcalling: Good
Injury Avoidance: Excellent
Offensive Coordinator
Ed Ferguson, 48
QB: Very Good
RB: Excellent
WR: Very Good
OL: Excellent
K : Very Good
YT: Average
Bullock took a step backwards, so we went looking. Ferguson is better across the board; we're hoping for strides forward by the offensive line.
Defensive Coordinator
Stanley Quackenbush, 56
P : Average
DL: Excellent
LB: Excellent
SC: Excellent
YT: Good
Celeval
12-10-2004, 09:06 AM
<b>2008 Contracts</b>
We're all set this season, with all players signed through 2008. Still, regnegotiations are needed for 2009, and that's better than half the team.
Many of our guys negotiate for minsal or near-minsal deals. A handful of the big boys come up, however - luckily, we've got $50m under the cap to deal with, as we hand out some doozies.
RB Dwayne Grasso: $63 million / 6 years
FB Pickles Altenburger: $12.5 million / 5 years
SE Wes Frerotte: $10 million / 4 years
LT Donnell Taylor: $12.5 million / 5 years
DE Alex Berlat: $14 million / 5 years
CB Russ Sonntag: $55 million / 5 years
I end the session with about $23 million under the cap, and $13 million under for next season. Everyone is signed through the end of next season, so we still have time.
One thing I'm not good at in general is contracts - one benefit I found to working in this manner is without the worry of releasing a player, there's no difference between giving salary and giving a signing bonus. I've got at least two seasons on each of my coaches, so I can take a huge hit financially this year and weather it pretty well. Since players like signing bonuses over salary, it works out better to use minsal deals with large bonuses. Grasso, for instance, wanted over $20 million dollars for the sixth year alone; his deal ended up being about a $45 million bonus, and $3m a year in base salary. This keeps his structure flat at a hit of $10.5m a season, and should hopefully keep him happy as well.
Celeval
12-10-2004, 09:06 AM
<b>2008 Draft</b>
For the first time, we don't draft first. We're tenth in the order, overall.
Updates on some previously drafted players - none of the three players drafted first overall (all DEs) have won any type of award to date. None have managed more than six sacks in a season - basically all overrated.
Oh, and Adrian Sampras is the top QB in the league according to my scout. His second season - over 4000 yards, 25 TDs, 17 interceptions. His worst current rating (not counting a 1/1 Scramble Frequency and a 20/20 Kick Holding) is 80/80 Timing. He already knows 14 formations, and is 14-17-1 as a starter.
This season's draft class doesn't have a DE worthy of the pick, but the top rated player on the board is a solid DT out of South Carolina (Teddy Kirschke). We dump our picks this year on the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings - just because. Kirschke goes first to the Chargers, who pair him up with the top pick from two seasons ago, Michael Attico on the defensive line.
Celeval
12-10-2004, 09:07 AM
<b>2008 Post-Draft</b>
Front Office Football 2004
Cleveland Browns Roster, Scout Overview
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Dillon, Lorenzo 11 QB 4 16 48 2 yrs
Flynn, Cornelius 10 QB 4 28 42 2 yrs
Grant, Casey 7 QB 4 31 57 2 yrs
Hagan, Troy 6 QB 4 45 49 4 yrs
Borders, Irv 40 RB 4 30 34 2 yrs
Cassidy, Herman 24 RB 4 20 24 2 yrs
Grasso, Dwayne 47 RB 4 62 63 6 yrs
Sons, Craig 20 RB 4 17 24 2 yrs
Altenburger, Pickles 48 FB 4 73 73 5 yrs
Harper, O.J. 41 FB 4 24 40 2 yrs
Kappers, Buddy 9 TE 4 35 39 2 yrs
Nichols, Lewis 86 TE 4 39 39 3 yrs
Rayburn, Carlton 16 TE 4 24 38 2 yrs
Williams, Butch 81 TE 4 18 28 2 yrs
Logan, Vernon 84 FL 4 61 61 2 yrs
Rogers, Wally 80 FL 4 13 18 2 yrs
Borders, Oscar 87 SE 4 26 32 2 yrs
Frerotte, Wes 83 SE 4 40 45 4 yrs
McKenzie, Vinny 82 SE 4 40 43 4 yrs
Brass, Grant 58 C 4 55 71 3 yrs
Jenkins, Jim 53 C 4 24 42 2 yrs
Patton, Tyrone 55 C 4 12 30 2 yrs
McCormack, Scottie 66 LG 4 28 31 4 yrs
McWilliams, Kenyon 72 LG 4 28 43 2 yrs
Chrisman, James 77 RG 4 46 46 4 yrs
Riddle, Bill 71 RG 4 10 20 2 yrs
Gibson, Dusty 64 LT 4 10 23 2 yrs
Jones, Trent 70 LT 4 25 47 2 yrs
Taylor, Donnell 78 LT 4 36 42 5 yrs
Donovan, Vernon 67 RT 4 36 45 3 yrs
Jarvis, Austin 12 P 4 63 63 3 yrs
Barton, Ronnie 2 K 4 44 54 5 yrs
Berlat, Alex 94 LDE 4 46 53 5 yrs
Spoon, Brent 90 LDE 4 13 25 2 yrs
Turnbull, Isaac 96 RDE 4 28 41 2 yrs
Blair, Joel 97 LDT 4 30 40 2 yrs
Peters, Marlon 75 LDT 4 32 33 3 yrs
Brigance, Dexter 92 RDT 4 36 39 6 yrs
Rasmussen, Kyle 76 RDT 4 95 95 2 yrs
Hancock, Marcus 54 MLB 4 30 31 3 yrs
Thingvold, Nolan 52 MLB 4 20 28 2 yrs
Tucker, Hugh 93 MLB 4 26 32 2 yrs
Frederick, Graham 91 SLB 4 22 30 2 yrs
Garner, Darren 51 SLB 4 31 35 2 yrs
Clayton, Will 99 WLB 4 43 50 2 yrs
Castellanos, Norbert 28 LCB 4 31 31 4 yrs
Lang, Jessie 23 LCB 4 26 38 2 yrs
Elliott, Sherman 26 RCB 4 17 31 2 yrs
Sonntag, Russell 39 RCB 4 76 76 5 yrs
Wilkerson, Ross 36 RCB 4 40 40 4 yrs
Cepeda, Troy 30 SS 4 38 38 2 yrs
Hayes, Brett 37 FS 4 35 38 2 yrs
Rigsby, Van 29 FS 4 45 45 2 yrs
$$ - player is in starting lineup, ## - player is inactive.
Players Under Contract: 53
Inactive: 0
On Active Roster: 53
Salary Cap: $111,400,000
Cap Room: $22,840,000
Maximum for New Player: $23,470,000
Cap Room Lost (to old contracts): $0
Cap Room Lost Next Year (to old contracts): $0
Cap Room Required Next Year: $98,100,000
Celeval
12-10-2004, 09:08 AM
<b>2008 Ratings Recap (post-TC)</b>
<table border="1"> <tr><td>Pos</td><td>Name</td><td>2007</td><td>2008</td></tr> <tr><td>QB</td><td>Lorenzo Dillon</td><td>17/49</td><td>20/48</td></tr> <tr><td>QB</td><td>Cornelius Flynn</td><td>27/41</td><td>32/42</td></tr> <tr><td>QB</td><td>Casey Grant</td><td>30/56</td><td>34/57</td></tr> <tr><td>QB</td><td>Troy Hagan</td><td>36/49</td><td>48/49</td></tr> <tr><td>RB</td><td>Irv Borders</td><td>29/33</td><td>31/34</td></tr> <tr><td>RB</td><td>Herman Cassidy</td><td>20/24</td><td>21/24</td></tr> <tr><td>RB</td><td>Dwayne Grasso</td><td>58/61</td><td>64/64</td></tr> <tr><td>RB</td><td>Craig Sons</td><td>16/23</td><td>18/24</td></tr> <tr><td>FB</td><td>Pickles Altenburger</td><td>73/73</td><td>73/73</td></tr> <tr><td>FB</td><td>O.J. Harper</td><td>23/40</td><td>25/40</td></tr> <tr><td>TE</td><td>Buddy Kappers</td><td>35/39</td><td>35/39</td></tr> <tr><td>TE</td><td>Lewis Nichols</td><td>36/36</td><td>40/40</td></tr> <tr><td>TE</td><td>Carlton Rayburn</td><td>24/37</td><td>26/38</td></tr> <tr><td>TE</td><td>Butch Williams</td><td>21/33</td><td>20/28</td></tr> <tr><td>FL</td><td>Vernon Logan</td><td>41/41</td><td>61/61</td></tr> <tr><td>FL</td><td>Wally Rogers</td><td>13/20</td><td>14/18</td></tr> <tr><td>SE</td><td>Oscar Borders</td><td>26/31</td><td>27/32</td></tr> <tr><td>SE</td><td>Wes Frerotte</td><td>32/44</td><td>42/45</td></tr> <tr><td>SE</td><td>Vinny McKenzie</td><td>38/43</td><td>42/43</td></tr> <tr><td>C</td><td>Grant Brass</td><td>46/70</td><td>58/71</td></tr> <tr><td>C</td><td>Jim Jenkins</td><td>23/41</td><td>27/42</td></tr> <tr><td>C</td><td>Tyron Patton</td><td>14/36</td><td>14/30</td></tr> <tr><td>LG</td><td>Scottie McCormack</td><td>22/31</td><td>31/31</td></tr> <tr><td>LG</td><td>Kenyon McWilliams</td><td>27/41</td><td>30/43</td></tr> <tr><td>RG</td><td>James Chrisman</td><td>40/44</td><td>46/46</td></tr> <tr><td>RG</td><td>Bill Riddle</td><td>13/25</td><td>11/20</td></tr> <tr><td>LT</td><td>Dusty Gibson</td><td>9/22</td><td>11/23</td></tr> <tr><td>LT</td><td>Trent Jones</td><td>23/46</td><td>27/47</td></tr> <tr><td>LT</td><td>Donnell Taylor</td><td>30/40</td><td>39/42</td></tr> <tr><td>RT</td><td>Vernon Donovan</td><td>31/45</td><td>38/45</td></tr> <tr><td>P</td><td>Austin Jarvis</td><td>62/62</td><td>63/63</td></tr> <tr><td>K</td><td>Ronnie Barton</td><td>37/49</td><td>47/54</td></tr> <tr><td>LDE</td><td>Alex Berlat</td><td>46/65</td><td>48/53</td></tr> <tr><td>LDE</td><td>Brent Spoon</td><td>13/26</td><td>14/25</td></tr> <tr><td>RDE</td><td>Isaac Turnbull</td><td>25/41</td><td>30/41</td></tr> <tr><td>LDT</td><td>Joel Blair</td><td>27/39</td><td>32/40</td></tr> <tr><td>LDT</td><td>Marlon Peters</td><td>27/32</td><td>34/34</td></tr> <tr><td>RDT</td><td>Dexter Brigance</td><td>31/38</td><td>38/39</td></tr> <tr><td>RDT</td><td>Kyle Rasmussen</td><td>95/95</td><td>95/95</td></tr> <tr><td>MLB</td><td>Marcus Hancock</td><td>26/30</td><td>31/31</td></tr> <tr><td>MLB</td><td>Nolan Thingvold</td><td>17/27</td><td>21/28</td></tr> <tr><td>MLB</td><td>Hugh Tucker</td><td>25/31</td><td>28/32</td></tr> <tr><td>SLB</td><td>Graham Frederick</td><td>17/29</td><td>25/30</td></tr> <tr><td>SLB</td><td>Darren Garner</td><td>28/34</td><td>33/35</td></tr> <tr><td>WLB</td><td>Will Clayton</td><td>40/50</td><td>46/50</td></tr> <tr><td>LCB</td><td>Norbert Castellanos</td><td>29/31</td><td>31/31</td></tr> <tr><td>LCB</td><td>Jessie Lang</td><td>21/37</td><td>27/38</td></tr> <tr><td>RCB</td><td>Sherman Elliott</td><td>15/31</td><td>19/31</td></tr> <tr><td>RCB</td><td>Russell Sonntag</td><td>74/74</td><td>76/76</td></tr> <tr><td>RCB</td><td>Ross Wilkerson</td><td>40/40</td><td>40/40</td></tr> <tr><td>SS</td><td>Troy Cepeda</td><td>35/37</td><td>38/38</td></tr> <tr><td>FS</td><td>Brett Hayes</td><td>30/37</td><td>38/38</td></tr> <tr><td>FS</td><td>Van Rigsby</td><td>38/41</td><td>45/45</td></tr></table>
One huge development here - whether its because of a new scout or a breakout, but Vernon Logan went from 41/41 to 61/61. If it's the latter, then we're looking good, with a true receiving threat.
We're beginning to look pretty good in the secondary, with our players there finding their max-out points. Frederick at SLB took the biggest jump he's had in ratings, which is nice as he's already been playing pretty well.
Celeval
12-10-2004, 09:08 AM
<b>2008 Roster</b>
<u>Quarterbacks</u>
Troy Hagan took the step forward we were looking for last season, bringing his total interceptions down one to 14 while throwing more touchdowns than he had his first two seasons. He also had his first completely healthy season, and we look for him to build on the success of last season.
Casey Grant is developing pretty well as the backup, he'll stay in that slot. We'll be focusing on getting him and Lorenzo Dillon into the game a good bit during the preseason.
Our depth chart at QB:
QB Troy Hagan - 48/49
QB Casey Grant - 34/57
QB Lorenzo Dillon - 20/48
QB Cornelius Flynn - 32/42
<u>Running Backs</u>
This is what we expected from Grasso - an average yards/carry over 4.3, and leading the league in rushing. The only thing he didn't do was catch the ball that often, and get in the end zone - only six scores, and we want to push that number up. Sons was alright in relief - 104-370. The backup competition is open again in preseason.
Our depth chart at RB:
RB Dwayne Grasso - 64/64
RB Craig Sons - 18/24
RB Irv Borders - 31/34
RB Herman Cassidy - 21/24 (inactive)
<u>Fullbacks</u>
We made a concerted effort to get Pickles the ball last season, and despite his injuries he still posted a career high in catches (43) and receiving yards (324). We'll stick with that plan this season. Harper saw some playing time, although didn't start - was 2 of 3 on KROs as well.
Our depth chart at FB:
FB Pickles Altenburger - 73/73
FB O.J. Harper - 25/40
<u>Tight Ends</u>
This position I'm just unsure about... lots of mixed up time.
Nichols is the best rated of the bunch. He caught 9 balls for 46 yards last season, compared to Kappers (15-151) and Rayburn (3-38). Rayburn was 0-1 blocking, Kappers 2-9, Nichols 2-5. We put Nichols into a FB slot in some passing formations, and he didn't allow a sack, although it's hard to tell how often he was tested. Still, Lewis Nichols is looking better and better as a blocker every minute. His trouble spot receiving is Route Running and Getting Downfield - but that may not be a problem, as I don't necessarily mind if he's not targeted. We'll keep him lined up at fullback in the pass-heavy formations, when Altenburger is at TE; but we'll make good use of running behind him.
Our depth chart at TE:
TE Lewis Nichols - 40/40
TE Buddy Kappers - 35/39
TE Carlton Rayburn - 27/38
TE Butch Williams - 20/28 (inactive)
<u>Wide Receiver</u>
The question in the offseason here is if Vernon Logan's step forward is for real. All of a sudden he's looking like a go-to guy - nearly maxed out on Third Down Catching and Big Play Receiving; and 100/100 at Adjust to Ball. He had his best season catching the ball - 60 catches in 88 targets, but averaged about 11 yards/catch. He's still the guy we need to be a top target.
On the other side of the field, Frerotte started most games, and stuck with his catching ratio - 49 catches, 85 targets. He bumped up his average yards/catch to over 11, and generally played a better Split End than McKenzie had in the prior two seasons. McKenzie worked well from the slot receiver role, catching half the balls thrown to him for again - an 11 ypc average. I'm happy with the general stats - the key now is to have the ball enough to keep the passing game moving.
Our depth chart at FL:
FL Vernon Logan - 61/61
FL Wally Rogers - 14/18
Our depth chart at SE:
SE Wes Frerotte - 42/45
SE Vinny McKenzie - 42/43
SE Oscar Borders - 27/32
<u>Centers</u>
Brass just hasn't turned into the dominating blocker we hoped for at C. He's still developing, and I'm hoping our new, offensive-line-happy offensive coordinator will help out; but he was right around his career numbers in KRBs (28%), and gave up twice the sacks (4) in the same number of plays as 2006.
Jenkins played in all sixteen games, starting none - 0-1 KRBs, and 2 sacks allowed.
Our depth chart at C:
C Grant Brass - 58/71
C Jim Jenkins - 27/42
C Tyron Patton - 14/30 (inactive)
<u>Offensive Guards</u>
Scottie McCormack took a step backwards last season - his BPct dropped from 40% to about 34%, and his sacks allowed more than doubled. He's still a pace better than McWilliams, so we'll keep starting him, but we may need to balance out where the rushes go yet again.
McWilliams, while continuing to develop, is getting less playing time at backup - he was 4-14 in KROs, and gave up 2 sacks in 61 pass plays. He'll back up both guard sides this season.
James Chrisman also was not quite as good a player last season - BPct dropped to 30%, and he gave up a career-high 8 sacks. He'll get a little more rest time this time through.
Bill Riddle will see time in preseason.
Our depth chart at LG:
LG Scottie McCormack - 31/31
LG Kenyon McWilliams - 30/43
Our depth chart at RG:
RG James Chrisman - 46/46
LG Kenyon McWilliams - 30/43
RG Bill Riddle - 11/20
<u>Offensive Tackles</u>
Where the guards went backwards, the tackles stepped up in general. Donnell Taylor looked like he did his rookie season - BPct up to 34.5%, sacks down from 8 to 3. Trent Jones had a very good run blocking year behind him (11-27), but gave up 7 sacks despite not starting a game. Vernon Donovan cut his sacks in half from 10 to 5, and was in the same general blocking range. Status quo here.
Our depth chart at LT:
LT Donnell Taylor - 39/42
LT Trent Jones - 27/47
LT Dusty Gibson - 11/23 (inactive)
Our depth chart at RT:
RT Vernon Donovan - 38/45
LT Trent Jones - 27/47
<u>Punter</u>
Keeps on trucking. Average punt increased three years straight to 44.0.
Our depth chart at P:
P Austin Jarvis - 63/63
<u>Kicker</u>
Barton took a couple years to get here, but is a pretty reliable kicker at this point - hitting 19 of 25 with a long of 53 yards.
Our depth chart at K:
K Ronnie Barton - 47/54
<u>Defensive End</u>
Alex Berlat had his best season to date - 43 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 14 hurries - and after giving him a good chunk of change in the offseason, we need him to keep at that level of play. He held down the fort with the other half of the line out last season. Turnbull was out for six games, but still put up good tackling numbers - his pass rush was really non-existant, with only half a sack.
Where Logan took a nice step forward, Berlat took a step back in ratings - our new scout sees him as not quite as talented as our last. Which brings him back into line with the performance we're seeing I suppose.
Our depth chart at LDE:
LDE Alex Berlat - 48/53 (all situations)
LDE Brent Spoon - 14/25
Out depth chart at RDE:
RDE Isaac Turnbull - 30/41 (all situations)
LDE Brent Spoon - 14/25
<u>Defensive Tackle</u>
We missed Rasmussen for over half the season last year - his numbers were pretty bad in total, but his Pass Rush Percentage was up for the second straight season - he averaged two hurries a game, even with sack numbers being down.
The rest of our DTs had a good amount of playing time to make something. Joel Blair played well in a backup role, although he didn't start - 26 tackles and 1.5 sacks in about 500 plays... that was a comperable number of plays to Marlon Peters, and Peters didn't do nearly as well (25 - 0.0). As such, Blair's flat out earned the starting spot. Dexter Brigance started in Rasmussen's spot, but didn't do much of anything (34 tackles, 0 sacks in over 600 plays).
Our depth chart at LDT:
LDT Joel Blair - 32/40 (all situations)
LDT Marlon Peters - 34/34
Our depth chart at RDT:
RDT Kyle Rasmussen - 95/95 (all situations)
RDT Dexter Brigance - 38/39
<u>Inside Linebacker</u>
Hancock worked the middle, picking up a few more tackles than last season - likely due to the lack of stoppage from the center line with Rasmussen out. His 4.0 sack season looks like an aberration, as he only had one sack last year. His solid pass coverage (19.1 PDPct) remained the same, and he had his third year with one interception.
Hugh Tucker had his shot at starting on the outside while Clayton was out - didn't come up with a lot of tackles, but did have 2.5 sacks despite playing less than he did the season before where he simply backed up.
Our depth chart at MLB/SILB:
MLB Marcus Hancock - 31/31
MLB Hugh Tucker - 28/32
Our depth chart at WILB
MLB Nolan Thingvold - 21/28
MLB Hugh Tucker - 28/32
<u>Outside Linebacker</u>
Graham Frederick's total numbers dropped, but his ratios were right on - seems we were on the field less defensively. He's been very steady for us on the outside, which is a huge, happy surprise.
Will Clayton only started seven games last year, but put up career sack numbers - 5.0 sacks was more than he had in his first two seasons combined. We hope to hang onto him the full season this time through.
Darren Garner again had his chance to make his mark, playing some defensive end with Turnbull out, but only managed 17 tackles and 2 hurries in 6 starts.
Our depth chart at SLB:
SLB Graham Frederick - 25/30
SLB Darren Garner - 33/35
Our depth chart at WLB:
WLB Will Clayton - 46/50
SLB Darren Garner - 33/35
<u>Cornerback / Safety</u>
Sonntag's step forward year - he was second team all-league, improving his PDPct to 21.0 and leading the team with 5 interceptions. As such, he signed a nice new deal and picked up a $15 million signing bonus along with a sizable salary the next five seasons.
The battle here is who plays behind him - inside track is to Ross Wilkerson, who rates out as our second best man-to-man cover guy, and solid against the run. Jessie Lang is interesting - not good in zone, but is right with Wilkerson in man coverage and much better in a bump and run scheme. Castellanos is the best of the three in zone coverage.
We're going to stick with the gameplan we ran last season - 50/30/10/5/5, which will put Wilkerson as the second starting corner, Castellanos at Nickel, and Lang as the Dime back. If we lose Castellanos or Wilkerson for an extended period of time, it's like that Lang will move right up into the starting spot, and we'll pull back on the zone coverage.
That would also affect the safeties - Van Rigsby is similar to Lang in that he is very good in Man to Man, and excellent in Bump and Run coverage, but can't play zone at all. He had three picks last season, although his weakness in zone showed up as we played it more - he gave up 8 more catches in less pass plays, and had a PDPct of 19.9 (down from 20.4). Brett Hayes is the backup at Free Safety and isn't as good in either Man or Bump coverage, but is very solid in zone. If we slide to a more zone-heavy set at any point, he may jump Rigsby in the starting rotation.
At Strong Safety, we play Troy Cepeda - who isn't much of a cover man to begin with, but has put up decent numbers.
Our depth chart at CB:
RCB Russell Sonntag - 76/76
RCB Ross Wilkerson - 40/40
LCB Norbert Castellanos - 31/31
LCB Jessie Lang - 27/38
RCB Sherman Elliott (inactive) - 19/31
Our depth chart at SS:
SS Troy Cepeda - 38/38
FS Brett Hayes - 38/38
Our depth chart at FS:
FS Van Rigsby - 45/45
FS Brett Hayes - 38/38
Celeval
12-10-2004, 09:08 AM
<B>2008 Gameplan</b>
Some minor gameplan changes:
Offensively - run directions change up a bit, less to the left guard, and a slight bit more on the edges. Also less running to the fullback.
Defensively we'll sit right where we are.
Celeval
12-10-2004, 09:08 AM
<b>2008 Preseason</b>
Cleveland 10, <i>Chicago 30</i>
<i>San Francisco 15</i>, Cleveland 0
Cleveland 11, <i>Minnesota 26</i>
<i>St. Louis 24</i>, Cleveland 19
Given that we kept many of our best player inactive, this wasn't a disappointment.
First, some injuries:
Two tackles - Donovan is probable with a hyperextended elbow, but only for the opening week, he'll play. Trent Jones is probable for the first week as well (Elbow Bursitis).
We'll have to do without our starting split end for a game or two - Frerotte has a strained ligament in his foot, and is out (should be full strength by week 3).
Rigsby is questionable (knee bursitis), and Berlat has a strained hamstring - could be ugly, he's probable for an unknown length of time.
Fighting for backup spots:
RB Sons 50-205-1 (4.1 avg)
RB Borders 58-206 (3.55 avg)
RB Cassidy 17-64 (3.76 avg)
Sons keeps his spot as top backup. Cassidy sticks around at number 3. Borders is back on inactive.
QB Dillon 44-78, 563, 2-6
QB Grant 12-20, 103
Kind of annoying that Flynn didn't get a chance to do anything - or Grant, for that matter. Grant looked decent, but Dillon had a couple of great games. Grant stays the number 2, Dillon the number 3. I'm fully expecting Hagan to keep his improvement going this season, but this gives me confidence that there's a couple of guys that might be able to step in and do something.
Celeval
12-10-2004, 09:08 AM
<b>2008 Season</b>
<b>Week 1: Cincinnati 7, <i>Cleveland 20</i></b>
Week 2: Cleveland 17, <i>Washington 30</i>
Week 3: Cleveland 6, <i>New Jersey 31</i>
<b>Week 4: Tennessee 10, <i>Cleveland 24</i></b>
Week 5: Cleveland 7, <i>Jacksonville 21</i>
Week 6: Cleveland 14, <i>Houston 26</i>
Week 7: <i>Baltimore 17</i>, Cleveland 6
<b>Week 8: Indianapolis 6, <i>Cleveland 33</i></b>
Midpoint of the season. We swapped coverages to a more zone-heavy system before week 7, and it looks to have paid off a bit with two solid defensive performances.
We've had some injury problems - Berlat is still probable, although now for Depression. Turnbull is out due to a broken leg. Marlon Peters has been playing at his spot, but he's now Questionable as well. Hagan started slowly with no touchdown passes in the first three weeks (Grant started picking up a little bit of the slack with late-game snaps), but has sped up and is playing well now with a 63% completion rate, a 6-4 TD-Int ratio, and an 85.0 QB rating. Grant has put up good numbers as well in relief - 3-1 TD-Int ratio, although less average yards and only 54% completion.
Grasso leads the league in rushing by a good margin - he's just over 1000 yards, on pace for 2000. Next closest has just under 700 (in one less game). Logan has been looking good - maybe that talent jump was for real. He's caught six touchdown passes, good for second in the league, and is on pace to finish close to 1000 yards receiving.
Defensively we're doing well enough, but have had some poor games. Rasmussen has come back with his best season yet - 55 tackles and 11 assists at the midpoint, and 9.5 sacks - one off the league lead right now.
As for the only really meaningful stat, at 3-5 we're one game out of first place in the Central (4-4 Cincinnati and 4-4 Baltimore). Wild Cards at this point are 6-1 Houston and 4-3 San Diego.
<b>Week 9: <i>Cleveland 24</i>, Pittsburgh 23</b>
<b>Week 11: <i>Cleveland 23</i>, Cincinnati 10</b>
Three-way tie in the Central at 5-5 (Baltimore, Cleveland, Cincinnati).
<b>Week 12: <i>Cleveland 23</i>, Philadelphia 17</b>
<b>Week 13: San Diego 13, <i>Cleveland 17</i></b>
Week 14: <i>New York 17</i>, Cleveland 13
Week 15: <i>Pittsburgh 24</i>, Cleveland 10
We're now two games behind Baltimore for the Central league, but are sitting in the Wild Card spot at 7-7. Jacksonville at 11-3 has already wrapped up the other slot. Other competitors for our spot: Cincinnati, New England, San Diego (7-7), Kansas City (6-8).
Week 16: <i>Dallas 23</i>, Cleveland 16
That will likely do it. Cincinnati and San Diego are at 8-7. If both lose, and we beat Baltimore we may still have a shot. Cincy plays Pittsburgh (6-9), San Diego plays Denver (12-3).
Week 17: San Diego 13, <i>Denver 17</i>
Week 17: <i>Cincinnati 35</i>, Pittsburgh 13
Oh well.
Week 17: Cleveland 17, <i>Baltimore 18</i>
Hagan leads us downfield to a go-ahead touchdown with 53 seconds left, but we give up an as-time-expires field goal to the Ravens.
Final Record: 7-9
Celeval
12-10-2004, 09:09 AM
<b>2008 Postseason</b>
Wild Cards
<i>Atlanta 34, Washington 31</i>
Carolina 17, <i>New Orleans 37</i>
Cincinnati 17, <i>Buffalo 20</i>
Jacksonville 17, <i>Baltimore 23</i>
Conference Semifinals
Atlanta 24, <i>Green Bay 27</i>
Baltimore 17, <i>Denver 20</i>
Buffalo 3, <i>Houston 23</i>
New Orleans 23, <i>San Francisco 29</i>
Conference Finals
<i>Houston 20</i>, Denver 19
San Francisco 17, <i>Green Bay 20</i>
Front Office Championship
Green Bay 16, <i>Houston 26</i>
Celeval
12-10-2004, 09:09 AM
<b>2007 Awards</b>
Player of the Year: <i>RB Dwayne Grasso, CLE</i>
Front Office Bowl MVP: QB Earnest Thompson, HOU
Offensive POY: <i>RB Dwayne Grasso, CLE</i>
Defensive POY: SLB Dave Riley, WAS
All-League First Team Running Back: <i>Dwayne Grasso, Cleveland</i>
All-League First Team Center: <i>Grant Brass, Cleveland</i>
All-League First Team Punter: <i>Austin Jarvis, Cleveland</i>
All-League First Team Defensive Tackle: <i>Kyle Rasmussen, Cleveland</i>
A look at Grasso's season to start with - he hit the 2000 yard mark, finishing with 492 carries for 2086 yards and 10 touchdowns, all marks that led the league. He ended up our leading receiver in number of catches with 51, for 375 yards and 2 scores that way as well.
Brass had the step-up season we were looking for from him - his BPct went up to 36%, but what got him All-League was that he led the league in KRBs (51) and KROs (140). Chrisman was also in the top 10 in KRBs (41).
Jarvis continued to raise his punting average, although only slightly (44.0 to 44.2), but led the league in punts inside the 20 with 42. He also had the longest punt of his career (67 yards).
We missed Rasmussen for two games near the end of the season - lost one of the two, which is likely a big reason we fell out of the playoff race. He still ended up with 83 tackles, a good number, and 13.5 sacks - that tied for the league lead with two defensive ends, and better than doubled any single previous season total.
Celeval
12-10-2004, 09:09 AM
<b>2007 Summary</b>
2008 Summary for Cleveland Browns
Record: 7-9
Winning Pct.: .437
Cleveland Browns Team Rank
Rushes 571 1
Rushing Yards 2381 1
Yards Per Carry 4.16 6
Pass Attempts 374 32
Completions 222 32
Passing Yards 2375 32
Yards Per Attempt 6.35 24
3rd Down Conversions 37.5 29 (T)
Points Per Game 16.8 27 (T)
Turnovers 19 8 (T)
Turnover Margin 0 17 (T)
Opponents Team Rank
Rushes 443 10 (T)
Rushing Yards 1747 17
Yards Per Carry 3.94 18
Pass Attempts 496 7 (T)
Completions 293 7
Passing Yards 3443 10
Yards Per Attempt 6.94 19 (T)
3rd Down Conversions 39.5 5
Points Per Game 18.3 12 (T)
Turnovers 19 22 (T)
Week Team Versus Oppnt
1 20 CIN 7
2 17 at WAS 30
3 6 at NJY 31
4 24 TEN 10
5 7 at JAX 21
6 14 at HOU 26
7 6 BAL 17
8 33 IND 6
9 24 at PIT 23
11 23 at CIN 10
12 23 at PHI 17
13 17 SDO 13
14 13 NYK 17
15 10 PIT 24
16 16 DAL 23
17 16 at BAL 18
Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int
6 Hagan QB 295 179 1917 6.49 10 11
7 Grant QB 79 43 458 5.79 5 2
**Team --- 374 222 2375 6.35 15 13
Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD
47 Grasso RB 492 2086 4.23 10
20 Sons RB 65 250 3.84 2
**Team --- 571 2381 4.16 12
Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc YAC TD
47 Grasso RB 67 51 375 7.3 217 2
84 Logan WR 84 42 684 16.2 221 9
83 Frerotte WR 68 38 398 10.4 67 1
48 Altenburger FB 49 34 228 6.7 120 0
82 McKenzie WR 34 18 235 13.0 46 1
**Team --- 374 222 2375 10.6 767 15
Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack Hurr Ints Defn
76 Rasmussen DT 83 22 13.5 22 0 0
54 Hancock ILB 81 32 1.5 1 1 8
99 Clayton OLB 67 21 2.5 1 2 7
30 Cepeda S 61 23 0.0 0 1 5
39 Sonntag CB 60 20 0.0 0 2 17
91 Frederick OLB 58 24 5.5 3 1 7
97 Blair DT 50 22 6.0 10 0 0
94 Berlat DE 40 8 5.5 12 0 0
36 Wilkerson CB 40 12 0.0 0 1 3
29 Rigsby S 40 5 0.0 0 3 1
37 Hayes S 40 17 0.0 0 0 6
28 Castellanos CB 36 13 0.0 0 0 4
51 Garner OLB 21 4 0.0 2 1 0
90 Spoon DE 20 6 1.5 5 0 0
75 Peters DT 17 13 3.5 4 0 2
96 Turnbull DE 16 10 3.5 9 0 0
**Team --- 818 266 44.0 71 13 63
Offensively, small steps forward. We led the league in rushing yards after finsihing second last season. We also bumped our yards/carry up a bit - honestly, I'm not sure our running game can improve much at this point, we're running the ball as well as I could have possibly hoped.
Passing - we were nearly right on the same markers.
Pass Attempts: 373 (2007), 374 (2008)
Pass Completions: 236 (2007), 222 (2008)
Passing Yards: 2353 (2007), 2375 (2008)
Yards/Attempt: 6.30 (2007), 6.35 (2008)
Interceptions: 14 (2007), 13 (2008)
Touchdowns: 13 (2007), 15 (2008)
The big difference offensively was fumbles. We were 27th in the league with 29 turnovers in 2007, but 8th with 19 this past season. That's 15 fumbles down to 4, and a huge overall difference.
The big question is does Casey Grant deserve a shot at starting. His completion percentage and yards/attempt are both significantly less, but he finally had a positive TD/Int ratio, and one much better than what Hagan did over the course of the season. We may open this up a bit in preseason.
Defensively. Dead on the same rushing the ball - while our attempts against and yardage improved, our yards/carry was just about dead even (3.97 to 3.94). Our pass attempts and yardage also improved, but we took a step back in pass defense - allowing nearly a yard more an attempt (6.14 to 6.94). This is still an improvement over the midseason numbers when we made the switch to zone - I'm going to stick with this scheme for a full year before making a decision.
Our points allowed per game went down again - from 20.1 to 18.3, which is nice to see. I think 18 points per game allowed (good for 12th) is a good enough number that we can work with. We still need to get our PPG up offensively (climbed 2 ppg, but 27th overall.
Celeval
12-10-2004, 09:11 AM
<b>2007 End of Season</b>
Team Performance: 31/100
Franchise Value: 12/100
Profit/Loss: 22/100
Roster Strength: 83/100
Year End Score: 27
We lost 400 people in attendance, so may have stopped the attrition there - an even 60,000 came to see us play (82.9%).
We did, however, take a huge hit on the balance sheet - although it was expected. The biggest change was Player Bonuses - spending nearly $100 million more than last season, which accounts for the vast majority of the $118 million difference in total costs. The rest was, honestly, salaries.
Revenues went up - basically due to the television contracts. Our ticket revenus actually notched up a bit, but the suite revenue dropped - goes to show where, apparently, our overpricing is.
We ended up losing about $85m this season. Pretty bad, overall, but I don't expect to be giving $100 million in bonuses this year unless Rasmussen is completely unreasonable. That being said, I'd be disappointed if we didn't make money again in 2009.
Celeval
12-10-2004, 09:15 AM
Celeval -- are you taking (or planning to take) any special precautions with players who are getting disgruntled? As I prepare for my second season, it occurs to me that I need to be able to re-sign practically everybody -- and keeping them happy (eve at the expense of my starting lineup quality) might be essential.
Just something to think about, if you're not already there...I haven't had to... which is, actually, surprising to me. Maybe it's because I'm still dealing with all 4th into 5th year players, but I've been checking the contented players email every week, and I haven't had a disgruntled player yet. Start of the 2009 season, everyone is content. There is still a handful of conflicts - McCormack and Trent Jones with Vernon Donovan; and the QBs don't all get along with the leaders - but no problems to speak of.
Going down the statistics, the only players who haven't played nearly every game of every season are the backup QBs, and the guys on inactive... I guess whatever special teams settings I have are using the backups, but I don't know if that's the reason either.
jbmagic
12-10-2004, 10:51 AM
<B>2008 Gameplan</b>
Some minor gameplan changes:
Offensively - run directions change up a bit, less to the left guard, and a slight bit more on the edges. Also less running to the fullback.
Defensively we'll sit right where we are.
what the reason behind more runs on the edges?
Celeval
12-10-2004, 10:54 AM
what the reason behind more runs on the edges?
Two reasons on the line - the Tackles were blocking a bit better, and I was starting the best blocking TE rather than the best receiving this time through.
Still not much more - Probably about 60% of our runs were inside the tackles, iirc.
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