kislingbury
01-08-2008, 05:25 PM
Hello all. Ive been thinking about starting up a dynasty but couldnt decide on parameters. Ill give this a go and let me know if its absolute tripe. Thanks for your time...
Background
After the Giants/Dolphins game at Wembley, the NFL fans in Britain had a real hunger for the game. It wasnt long before a consortium of businessmen got together enough money to make a serious bid for a franchise. The league itself was amenable to the suggestion as they wanted to pick up all the foreign revenue. With this in mind, the consortium bought up...The Buffalo Bills.
The logic ran that the easiest places to fly to and from London in the US are New York and Florida while Boston isnt much harder so the division games should be easy on the players in terms of travel. NY also could stand to lose a franchise as they obviously already had two.
Once the franchise was bought up, the consortium had to find a base in England for the team. Eventually Richmond was chosen. Its an affluent area of SW London. Easy for travelling as its so close to Heathrow, and logic said it would easier to get players to move to the big city than anywhere else in the UK. Next up a new name was needed. Something inoffensive, yet indicative of the English' burning ambition for their new team.
With this in mind, the Richmond Imperials came into being. The aim was to bring the team along with an eye on the long term and establishing a team in the UK. This would mean coming up with new faces even though players would likely resist moving to the team. This would mean that only one free agent could be signed before FA stage 8, we wouldnt be able to sign and we wouldnt be able to trade for additional picks in case players refused to sign. We would also struggle to sing staff, so we will nly be able to pick up coaches and scouts from GB (ie with no prior experience in the league).
They eventually hired Tom Kislingbury, a Surrey native as GM and public face of the Imps. This is his story.
Cut to the present.
On taking over, my first job is to look over the staff at the club. We would keep them on for the first season, but it would be good to ascertain the feel of the staff.
Head Coach
Raymond Petherick (49)
Ray is an Englishman and a rookie coach. He's an offensive guy, with a strong line in discipline. He should keep our players fit, but has little aptitude for the defensive side of the game. We plan to stick with him for his 2 year contract and reevaluate.
OC
Skip Dodge (63)
Skip (Hes English, honest) has a 4 year contract. He doesnt have much experience (understandably), but he has a real feel for bringing on young players. This fits with the clubs philosophy, but Skip will need to prove himself.
DC
Darryl Derlange (40)
Darryl is our ace card. He's young, hungry and has a flair for the defensive line. We're looking for a sack based D to emerge under his tutelage over his 4 year contract.
The next step was to look over our inherited squad.
QBs
Name Exp Cur Pot
JP Losman 4 15 28
Trent Edwards 1 12 48
JP Losman is the incumbent, but he has issues with Peerless Price. Signs are that we will go with the rookie Trent Edwards. He seems to be a steady player with a decent range of throws under him, but will not be a long-term winner. This is one of the franchises most pressing needs.
RBs
Anthony Thomas 7 41 41
Marshawn Lynch 1 40 55
Fred Jackson 1 17 27
Dwayne Wright 1 40 53
Marshawn Lynch is the obvious player here. The rookie has burning speed, safe hands and the toughness to be an every-down back in his first year. Marshawn could well be the face of the Imps for the next several years. Anthony Thomas provides a steadying influence, whilst fellow rookie Dwayne Wright will look to grab his fair share of carries.
FBs
Ryan Neufeld 7 28 39
Josh Scobey 5 14 16
At fullback Neufeld is the starter, and a 3rd down threat, but Scobey appears to be nothing more than a liablility. The sooner he loses his passport, the better.
WRs
FL Peerless Price 9 37 37
George Reed 6 27 27
Josh Wilson 2 13 16
SE Sam Aiken 5 22 31
Lee Evans 4 67 70
Roscoe Parrish 3 20 32
Lee Evans fits the bill well, he is a real deep threat and also a great kick returner. Aside from that Price still has some of the old magic and Parrish appears to be a propsect.
TEs
Robert Royal 6 37 37
Matt Murphy 5 31 42
Kevin Everett 2 49 74
Everett has bizarrely reported a strange pain in his neck. he seems fine though, and lets hope karma can help him achieve his potential. He's a great blocker and the fans love him, but will never be a Gates or Gonzalez.
OL
C Melvin Fowler 6 56 63
Duke Preston 3 19 27
Ryan Neill 1 8 13
LG Derrick Dockery 5 25 25
RG Jason Whittle 9 19 19
Brad Butler 2 8 11
LT Jason Peters 4 35 45
RT Langston Walker 6 30 38
Kirk Chambers 3 23 41
At centre, Fowler looks to be the glue that holds the line together. peters and Chambers are the future at T, but we have a talent black hole at G that will take some time to fill. Ulp.
K/P
K Brian Moorman 7 84 84
P Ryan Lindell 8 53 53
At K we have a consistent, steady guy with a big leg. In a soccer country we shouldnt have too much trouble replacing him in afew years either. Lindell with have a year to prove himself.
DL
LDE Chris Kelsay 5 50 50
Ryan Denney 6 42 53
RDE Eric Powell 2 54 31
Aaron Schobel 7 63 63
LDT Larry Triplett 6 32 32
Jason Davidson 3 11 15
RDT John McCargo 2 21 34
Kyle Williams 2 47 66
Tim Anderson 4 60 66
We are very lucky here. Kelsay-Schobel-Williams-Anderson will be the starters, and we have especially high hopes for the two young players at tackle. We should be a difficult team to run on for some years with this base.
LBs
MLB Paul Posluszny 1 43 73
John DiGeorgio 2 13 27
SLB Keith Ellison 2 37 59
Mario Hagan 5 19 26
WLB Angelo Crowell 5 49 49
Josh Stamer 5 22 32
Coy Wire 6 19 23
Posluszny will dominate this unit for along time, and Ellison should also be a sack-machine. Will is open for a fight, but we expect Crowell to be steady at the worst.
CBs
Jabari Greer 4 27 31
Terrance Mcgee 5 30 30
Jason Webster 8 49 49
Kiwaukee Thomas 8 21 21
Ashton Yobouty 2 13 32
By far the weakest position on the roster. Yobouty will be given all opportunities to persuade me, but everyone expects this to be a prime concern for the foreseeable future.
S
SS John Wending 1 31 52
Donte Whitner 2 58 86
FS Ko Simpson 2 62 72
Jim Leonard 3 22 37
Wow. Im the kind of guy that thinks SS is the QB of the defense, so Im made up here. Everyone thought Whitner was a reach when he was drafted top 10, but Im loving him. he and Simpson could well grow to be the best safety partnership in the league.
Overall thoughts.
Offensively, we have some runners and a deep threat. The line is a project, and QB needs to be adressed. Expect us to pound the ball early, long and hard.
Defensively, Im overjoyed with the spine of the team from DT, MLB and S. With some upgrading at CB, this could be a dominant D for some time.
Background
After the Giants/Dolphins game at Wembley, the NFL fans in Britain had a real hunger for the game. It wasnt long before a consortium of businessmen got together enough money to make a serious bid for a franchise. The league itself was amenable to the suggestion as they wanted to pick up all the foreign revenue. With this in mind, the consortium bought up...The Buffalo Bills.
The logic ran that the easiest places to fly to and from London in the US are New York and Florida while Boston isnt much harder so the division games should be easy on the players in terms of travel. NY also could stand to lose a franchise as they obviously already had two.
Once the franchise was bought up, the consortium had to find a base in England for the team. Eventually Richmond was chosen. Its an affluent area of SW London. Easy for travelling as its so close to Heathrow, and logic said it would easier to get players to move to the big city than anywhere else in the UK. Next up a new name was needed. Something inoffensive, yet indicative of the English' burning ambition for their new team.
With this in mind, the Richmond Imperials came into being. The aim was to bring the team along with an eye on the long term and establishing a team in the UK. This would mean coming up with new faces even though players would likely resist moving to the team. This would mean that only one free agent could be signed before FA stage 8, we wouldnt be able to sign and we wouldnt be able to trade for additional picks in case players refused to sign. We would also struggle to sing staff, so we will nly be able to pick up coaches and scouts from GB (ie with no prior experience in the league).
They eventually hired Tom Kislingbury, a Surrey native as GM and public face of the Imps. This is his story.
Cut to the present.
On taking over, my first job is to look over the staff at the club. We would keep them on for the first season, but it would be good to ascertain the feel of the staff.
Head Coach
Raymond Petherick (49)
Ray is an Englishman and a rookie coach. He's an offensive guy, with a strong line in discipline. He should keep our players fit, but has little aptitude for the defensive side of the game. We plan to stick with him for his 2 year contract and reevaluate.
OC
Skip Dodge (63)
Skip (Hes English, honest) has a 4 year contract. He doesnt have much experience (understandably), but he has a real feel for bringing on young players. This fits with the clubs philosophy, but Skip will need to prove himself.
DC
Darryl Derlange (40)
Darryl is our ace card. He's young, hungry and has a flair for the defensive line. We're looking for a sack based D to emerge under his tutelage over his 4 year contract.
The next step was to look over our inherited squad.
QBs
Name Exp Cur Pot
JP Losman 4 15 28
Trent Edwards 1 12 48
JP Losman is the incumbent, but he has issues with Peerless Price. Signs are that we will go with the rookie Trent Edwards. He seems to be a steady player with a decent range of throws under him, but will not be a long-term winner. This is one of the franchises most pressing needs.
RBs
Anthony Thomas 7 41 41
Marshawn Lynch 1 40 55
Fred Jackson 1 17 27
Dwayne Wright 1 40 53
Marshawn Lynch is the obvious player here. The rookie has burning speed, safe hands and the toughness to be an every-down back in his first year. Marshawn could well be the face of the Imps for the next several years. Anthony Thomas provides a steadying influence, whilst fellow rookie Dwayne Wright will look to grab his fair share of carries.
FBs
Ryan Neufeld 7 28 39
Josh Scobey 5 14 16
At fullback Neufeld is the starter, and a 3rd down threat, but Scobey appears to be nothing more than a liablility. The sooner he loses his passport, the better.
WRs
FL Peerless Price 9 37 37
George Reed 6 27 27
Josh Wilson 2 13 16
SE Sam Aiken 5 22 31
Lee Evans 4 67 70
Roscoe Parrish 3 20 32
Lee Evans fits the bill well, he is a real deep threat and also a great kick returner. Aside from that Price still has some of the old magic and Parrish appears to be a propsect.
TEs
Robert Royal 6 37 37
Matt Murphy 5 31 42
Kevin Everett 2 49 74
Everett has bizarrely reported a strange pain in his neck. he seems fine though, and lets hope karma can help him achieve his potential. He's a great blocker and the fans love him, but will never be a Gates or Gonzalez.
OL
C Melvin Fowler 6 56 63
Duke Preston 3 19 27
Ryan Neill 1 8 13
LG Derrick Dockery 5 25 25
RG Jason Whittle 9 19 19
Brad Butler 2 8 11
LT Jason Peters 4 35 45
RT Langston Walker 6 30 38
Kirk Chambers 3 23 41
At centre, Fowler looks to be the glue that holds the line together. peters and Chambers are the future at T, but we have a talent black hole at G that will take some time to fill. Ulp.
K/P
K Brian Moorman 7 84 84
P Ryan Lindell 8 53 53
At K we have a consistent, steady guy with a big leg. In a soccer country we shouldnt have too much trouble replacing him in afew years either. Lindell with have a year to prove himself.
DL
LDE Chris Kelsay 5 50 50
Ryan Denney 6 42 53
RDE Eric Powell 2 54 31
Aaron Schobel 7 63 63
LDT Larry Triplett 6 32 32
Jason Davidson 3 11 15
RDT John McCargo 2 21 34
Kyle Williams 2 47 66
Tim Anderson 4 60 66
We are very lucky here. Kelsay-Schobel-Williams-Anderson will be the starters, and we have especially high hopes for the two young players at tackle. We should be a difficult team to run on for some years with this base.
LBs
MLB Paul Posluszny 1 43 73
John DiGeorgio 2 13 27
SLB Keith Ellison 2 37 59
Mario Hagan 5 19 26
WLB Angelo Crowell 5 49 49
Josh Stamer 5 22 32
Coy Wire 6 19 23
Posluszny will dominate this unit for along time, and Ellison should also be a sack-machine. Will is open for a fight, but we expect Crowell to be steady at the worst.
CBs
Jabari Greer 4 27 31
Terrance Mcgee 5 30 30
Jason Webster 8 49 49
Kiwaukee Thomas 8 21 21
Ashton Yobouty 2 13 32
By far the weakest position on the roster. Yobouty will be given all opportunities to persuade me, but everyone expects this to be a prime concern for the foreseeable future.
S
SS John Wending 1 31 52
Donte Whitner 2 58 86
FS Ko Simpson 2 62 72
Jim Leonard 3 22 37
Wow. Im the kind of guy that thinks SS is the QB of the defense, so Im made up here. Everyone thought Whitner was a reach when he was drafted top 10, but Im loving him. he and Simpson could well grow to be the best safety partnership in the league.
Overall thoughts.
Offensively, we have some runners and a deep threat. The line is a project, and QB needs to be adressed. Expect us to pound the ball early, long and hard.
Defensively, Im overjoyed with the spine of the team from DT, MLB and S. With some upgrading at CB, this could be a dominant D for some time.