FOF 2004: Chargers Empty Cupboard
 

This is my first dynasty post. I am going to pilot my beloved San Diego Chargers under a very strict ruleset:

House Rules

1. Empty Cupboard Start.
2. No Trades.
3. No Franchise Tag.
4. No renegotiations except with veteran holdouts.
5. May resign rostered UFAs and RFAs at any time.
6. May not sign players who were drafted before 2005.
7. May sign 1 FA during 20-step period.
8. May sign only undrafted free agents after.
9. Contracts must either meet the player's initial demand or include a signing bonus equal to the largest contract year.

I set Injuries to 150 and turn off cap increases. I generate a fictional universe with preference draft and I'm ready to roll.

I anticipate 2-5 years of dismal failure followed by decades of uninterrupted dominance. Wish me luck!

2004:

My first order of business is a quick sim of the 2004 season with scouts running rosters moves, depth charts and game plans. The Chargers go 8-8 and I expect we'll have the 16th or 17th overall pick in the 2005 draft.

2005:

Before Staff Hiring, I cut every player from my roster for an empty cupboard start.

Staff Hiring: I hire three new coaches and retain my scout;

Herman Beckman DC: VG DL, LB, YT; EX DB.
Donny Tillitski OC: G RB, OL, K; VG Rec; EX QB.
Alan Dennis HC: Fa Motivation; Av Disc, Defense; VG Injury; Ex Offense.
Ernie Slutzker Scout: Av Rec; G QB, K, LB, DB, YT; VG DL; Ex RB, OL

I'm very pleased with the Coordinators--both figure to stick around for a long time. Scout is solid, though I wish he had better Young Talent rating.

Free Agency: I'm forced to skip it this year(see house rules).

Draft: I receive the 17th pick in the draft. No trades and every slot on my roster is a hole, so I'll just sit back and take best player available, with an emphasis on players who have strong measurables.

1(17) - B.J. Montgomery, T, Louisiana Tech Rating: 28/66 Dash: 5.1 BP: 43 Agi: 7.5 Sole: 20
2(17) - Donovan Arends, CB, Nevada Rating: 21/59 Dash: 4.4 BP: 17 Agi: 7.0 Sole: 37
3(17) - Seth Banks, QB, Notre Dame Rating: 10/70 Dash: 4.6 BP: 14 Agi: 7.0 Sole: 42
4(17) - Carlton Thamilarasan, C, Arizona State Rating: 16/56 Dash: 5.3 BP: 40 Agi: 8.1 Sole: 39
5(17) - Bucky Warren, RB, Kentucky Rating: 43/44 Dash: 4.5 BP: 18 Agi: 7.2 Sole: 28
6(17) - Ethan Seidman, RB, Northwestern Rating: 38/56 Dash: 4.6 BP: 17 Agi: 7.2 Sole: 28
7(17) - Kerry Van Dam, CB, Wagner Rating: 12/35 Dash: 4.4 BP: 18 Agi: 6.9 Sole: 27

Wow. I couldn't be more pleased with how this draft went. 5 players figure to be starters for years to come and the two RBs have good or great skill sets to go along with impecabble measurables. RB Seidman was a post draft breakout.

Next Up: I'll sign all the rookie draftees(mostly to three year contracts to ensure that they become restricted free agents) and fill out the roster with 80-120 rookie free agents.

2005 Post Camp:

I ended up taking 162 players into training camp. Making cuts will be a bitch. :)

QB: Seth Banks looks like a solid starter, but his 48 and 41 potentials in Accuracy and Timing limit his upside. I sign some serviceable backups from the rookie free agent pool, but none really intrigue me.

RB: Bucky Warren breaks out a bit to 44/48. He is 84 in breakway speed, 44 hole rec, 45/54 elusiveness. Ethan Seidman's skillet is excellent as well-- 75 breakway, 52/66 hole rec, 54/74 elusiveness. He is also an excellent receiver. I have excellent depth here from rookie free agents--about 10 players who I'd be comfortable starting at RB. My talent here dictates that I play a run heavy offense for the foreseeable future. Did I mention that cutting players here is going to be a bitch? That's usually a good sign!

FB/TE: No one spectacular here, but good depth. I scrounge up a couple FBs with decent run blocking and a few pass catching TEs. I plan to run a lot of power formations this year, so depth at these positions is a plus.

WR: Complete trash here. I am going to gameplan to keep these guys off the field and out of the game.

C/OG: My 4th round pick C Carlton T. looks pretty solid except for his 9 future endurance. I am also pleased with G Kris Jordan--he is 6-8 338 and is 27/52 run blocking with 39 strength and 41 future endurance. Everyone else is the typical roster fodder you expect, with a heavy slant towards run blocking.

OT: LT Montgomery, my steal... er pick at 1(17) is 33/71 overall--+3/+3 breakout. I expect he'll end up even better than 71/71 based on his combine+breakout. I am very pleased with this position group. I have a RT with 52 run block and 50 blocking strength who will contribute nicely this year.

P/K: Warm bodies... that's it.

DE: Trash... DE is the absolute hardest spot to find good players at in FOF 2004.

DT: All three DTs on my roster are converted DEs with high Run Defense. They'll do for now. I have a hard time finding DTs as well, so I'll be on the lookout for D. Linemen in the next draft.

LB: I like what I see here. I have a lot of linebackers with decent skill at two of three areas: Run Defense, Pass Rush Technique and Bump and Run Defense(I run 100% b&r). I think I have enough to run a 3-4 this year.

CB: I am so smitten with this group that I am going to run nickel at 100% this year. My 2nd round pick, DOnovan Arends is 59 potential, but he is potential 81 b&r, 73 play diagnosis and 80 interceptions--very good or excellent in all the areas that are important to me.

S: I converted some CBs with decent run defense and the aforementioned coverage skills to give me good depth here. A player to watch out for is FS Deon Runnels. He was undrafted, but he ran a 4.46 40 and benched 24 reps--he brokeout to 43 potential and that might go up. I will probably play him over players who look a bit better because of the possibility of future breakouts.

2005 Exhibition 60-man Roster


We go 1-3 in exhibition, but we put up 62 Points compared to only 70 allowed. I let the computer control depth charts/game plans, so this is a very promising start. With my gameplanning, we might have a fighting chance at 6-10. Although we'd be better off with the #1 overall pick, I follow an unwritten rule that I try my best to win in any season as long as it doesn't jeopardize player development.

Post Exhibition Season Roster Moves:

Cuts:

WR Jerald Poole
FB Max Powell
C Walter Barret
CB Jessie Fitzgerald
FS Greg Murray

Injured Reserve:

DE Orlando Dotson
DT Louis Sprinkle

Other Moves:

MLB Oliver McNalley is converted to DE with excellent results(48 overall).

I won't include box scores for every game this season, but I will include one for week one.


Wow were we bad. I tried some extreme stuff on offensive and defensive game planning. Obviously it's too early to tell if my gameplanning is bad, but that is one of the worst offensive days I've ever seen from one of my teams. The only thing we did right was force 4 turnovers.

:eek:

Eek.

My boasts of having a shot at 6-10 were very misplaced. This team finished as the worst team I've ever fielded--and I've done more than a few of these empty cupboard challenges. I'll leave the rest to the Team Summary:


Despite our abyssmal season, two Chargers received season awards. SS Weddle was defensive rookie of the year and P AJ Terrell was first team all pro punter... lol. Weddle didn't make any big plays and Terrell averaged 41.1 yards per punt. I am completely disgusted with this team. Oh well, no one said this was going to be easy.

2006 Post Season:

I retain all 4 staff members for the next season.

20-step Free Agency:

I can sign 1 second year player. There are no impact players in thie free agent class. I wait 6 weeks and sign FB Philip Andrews to a 1 year minsal deal(his requested contract). He is decent at run blocking 28/62 and avoid drops 36/72 and his route running is 6/14, which is a + for a FB--although with my receivers I might be better off if he caught more balls.

Amateur Draft:

Jackpot. The #1 overall player is Ryan Ackerman, a 47/95 QB out of Iowa with low volatility and excellent.

In the 2nd round, I am torn between CB Gus Flowers Fresno St 33/60 with 4.4 40, 16 reps and 6.76 Agility, but I end up taking Norm Vann because of his lower volatility and better skillset.

Amateur Draft Report:

Rnd 1(1) - Ryan Ackerman, QB, Iowa - Rating: 47/95 Dash: 4.6 BP: 19 Agi: 7.0 Sole: 46
Rnd 2(1) - Norm Vann, S, Michigan State - Rating: 37/66 Dash: 4.5 BP: 26 Agi: 7.0 Sole: 31
Rnd 3(1) - Dwayne Riley, WR, Houston - Rating: 28/53 Dash: 4.4 BP: 12 Agi: 7.0 Sole: 27
Rnd 4(1) - Geoff Abrams, S, Central Florida - Rating: 24/55 Dash: 4.5 BP: 24 Agi: 7.1 Sole: 44
Rnd 5(1) - Shaun Cordon, CB, Mansfield - Rating: 14/49 Dash: 4.6 BP: 10 Agi: 7.3 Sole: 25
Rnd 6(1) - T.J. Hinsley, OLB, Bowdoin - Rating: 24/36 Dash: 4.8 BP: 30 Agi: 7.3 Sole: 29
Rnd 7(1) - Lonnie Dunn, CB, Arizona State - Rating: 25/35 Dash: 4.5 BP: 14 Agi: 7.0 Sole: 20

I'm not as pleased with this draft as I was with the 2005 draft. Despite my DBs being an area of strength, I got roped into drafting 4 of them because of my devotion to taking the best available players. I will have to run 100% nickel this year to take advantage of my treasure trove at DB.

QB Ryan Ackerman is ridiculously awesome. Resigning him in 5 years is going to be painful though. I anticipate having to spend 20-25% of my salary cap to keep him. Seth Banks is relegated to the bench--New York offered me a 1st round pick for him(of course I can't take it). Must have been impressed by his 4.8 y/a season.

I have hopes that my 6th and 7th round draft picks will breakout. They have very good measurables and high-very high volatility. I sign everyone to 3 year contracts except Ackerman who holds out for a 5-yr deal instead of 6. Pity.

On to late free agency.

I take 158 players into training camp this year... 4 less than last year. Progress.

My 5th-7th round draft picks failed to meet expectations. I doubt any of them will make my final roster.

Exhibition season: I cut the roster from 158->60. We went 2-2. Notable is the loss of DE Oliver McNally--this one really hurts. McNally was one of the best players on the team and now he's out for 68 weeks with a degenerative hip condition. His career is likely over.

Here is the roster for the start of the regular season:

2006 Roster Review:

QB: Ryan Ackerman is 54/93 following training camp and he figures to be the face of this franchise. He has 89-100 potentials in every skill except timing 2/8 and scramble frequency 28. It's common to see QBs with very low timing. How much does that skill matter? Depth is exceptional here. Seth Banks crashed and burned his rookie year, but I would still feel comfortable starting him if necessary and Karl Forbes(I should have mentioned last year that I have high hopes for him based on his measurables) is a long term project who should develop into a superb backup or solid starter.

RB: Still solid here. I return 5 players with good skillsets. This year, Ethan Seidman could see time at wide receiver.

FB: Rookie Donovan Acevedo is a converted TE with 10/94 run blocking, 89 blocking strength, 10/96 avoid drops. I expect big things from him.

TE: Full of unspectacular blocker/receivers. Nothing to write home about, but they get the job done.

WR: I'm not the greatest at evaluating WRs, but this group is infinitely better than last years. 3rd round pick dwayne riley is somewhat disappointing with 9/45 avoid drops, but his other potentials range from 50-80. The other WRs have good potentials in avoid drops and getting downfield. Those are the most important skills, right?

C/OG: C Carlton T. is slow to develop and his rookie free agent backup looks more promising at this point. All the guards are fair players with marginal skills in pass and run blocking. I am going to pass the ball a lot more last year, so there was some turnover all across the line.

OT: Sophomore BJ Montgomery is good, but his skills are down a bit from last season. He's still the 2nd best player on the team, and I hope he'll be more productive than last years 27.7 Block% season. Linquist is a good pass blocker... I'm actually going to move him to start at RT after this post.

P/K: Last year's all pro punter :rolleyes: was cut. His replacement is 53/74 in kicking power. Rookie K Willie Coleman is very accurate and average in power and kickoff hangtime.

DE: McNalley is unfortunately gone, likely for his career. He had a very good skillset and we will miss him. The other DEs look decent this year, though low endurance across the board might be problematic.

DT: Low Endurance is a problem here also, but all the DTs are 60-70 futures in run blocking. I have enough strength here to run my preferred 4-3 defense.

LB: Pretty much the same group as last year. I cut my rookie 6th round pick as he failed to boom. Pretty good ratings in run defense, bump coverage and pass rush tech across the board.

CB: Arends is still a stud and last year's 7th round pick Kerry Van Dam is not far behind. Everyone is solid at B&R and interceptions and most are good at play diagnosis as well.

S: I will start two rookies here. Both are spectacular in coverage and one of them or perhaps Runnels will play dime back as well as start at safety.

Good News: We didn't have to wait long for the first win of the season. It was ugly, but we'll tkae what we can get. I cannot understand what is going on with the passing game. We should not be as bad as we have been the last two seasons.

Bad News: Ryan Ackerman is Out 5 weeks with a pulled calf muscle. I hope this isn't an omen.

This is about what I expected. We were dreadful--especially our passing offense which has been even worse than could be expected. There were no real praiseworthy players either--this year we got completely shut out of the post season awards. The lone bright spot was that we held our opponents to under 6 yards per passing attempt.

We will receive the 3rd or 4th pick in next years draft.

In other news, Atlanta makes it to the super bowl for the 3rd straight year and loses for the 3rd straight time... this time to the #6 seed Houston Texans(8-8, outscored in regular season) from the AFC who put together a fairy tale playoff run. Two time defending champion Baltimore Ravens went 7-9 and failed to make the playoffs.

2007 Post Season:

Staff Hiring: I try to hire a new Scout and Head Coach, but the only guys worth having are snatched up by someone with more money. I raise ticket prices.

Free Agency:

I sign a solid 3rd yeard center Pete to a 3-year minsal deal with a $540,000 bonus for $1,920,000 total. Pete should step right in and start. 26/42 run block, 23/65 pass, 60 strength, 63/75 endurance.

Draft:

I have the #3 overall pick. Unfortunately, there is a high likelihood I'm going to get hosed with this pick. The top 2 players(DEs) will likely be taken and then there are no players at positions of need until the 7th spot down the list.

Amateur Draft Report:

Rnd 1(3) Tim Katt, DE, Kansas - Rating: 35/70 40: 4.9 BP: 33 Agi: 7.1 Sole: 30
Rnd 2(3) Erik Dotson, WR, Western Michigan - Rating: 36/56 40: 4.3 BP: 24 Agi: 6.9 Sole: 31
Rnd 3(3) Chad Urlacher, OLB, Houston - Rating: 43/65 40: 4.7 BP: 22 Agi: 7.3 Sole: 19
Rnd 4(3) Leland Prescott, G, Akron - Rating: 21/53 40: 5.2 BP: 42 Agi: 7.9 Sole: 29
Rnd 5(3) Frank Jarvis, C, Syracuse - Rating: 20/51 40: 5.0 BP: 41 Agi: 7.8 Sole: 16
Rnd 6(3) Ronald Wilcox, DT, Michigan - Rating: 21/42 40: 5.0 BP: 31 Agi: 7.7 Sole: 15
Rnd 7(3) Cory Downs, DE, Central Michigan - Rating: 22/36 40: 4.8 BP: 30 Agi: 7.5 Sole: 18

I'm very pleased with how the draft turned out. The top 5 players had minor-major breakouts and the 6th and 7th round D linemen will hopefully shore up an area of weakness.

The biggest breakout is Chad Urlacher, who broke out >10 rating points. He will be a star. DE Tim Katt was a reach(I passed on stars at CB, S and RB to take him), but he fills an area of need(and a position that's really hard to fill) and he is rock solid. Erik Dotson has all-world measurables at WR. I expect him to be our #1 starter from day 1.

The 4th and 5th round lineman are slanted towards run blocking, but they will be much better than the scrubs I started last year. Between Dotson, Prescott and Jarvis as well as FA Pete Robbins, I expect our offense to be much improved.

I forgot to post the pre-season roster overview, so I will post the post season roster and go over individual players with the season summary.

Sweet! First winning season. Missed the playoff by a game(had the tiebreaker over Denver who went 10-6) I knew that a 9-7 season was a possibility, but after starting 2-4, I didn't think it was too likely. After the week 7 bye, we came back and won 7 of 10 including 4 straight to cap off the season.

We were very good passing the ball and we absolutely dominated opposing passing games on defense.



Rookie WR Dotson was excellent--he won 2nd team WR award but was inexplicably passed over for offensive ROTY for an inferior season by a rookie RB from the Texans. 2nd year TE Trent Fisher also played very well--catching 58/87 balls for 700 yards and 2 TDs.

I switched to a medium-long passing game that seemed to work nicely. Ackerman missed 4 games this season, but Banks filled in adequately. Ackerman reached 92/95 at the end of the season, so I'm expecting fireworks in '08.

Despite revamping the O line, RB Warren had another marginal season--dropping to 3.8 y/c. Seidman was a good change of pace/receiving back. Next year, both RBs will be back and I will make Seidman the starter again because of his far superior receiving production.

On defense, our front 7 seemed to be unproductive again and I tend to think that our superb cover corners and safeties are responsible for our success in pass defense. Once again we led the league in rushing y/c allowed. Neither of the star defensive rookies were particularly impressive and Katt's pass rush technique is a mediocre 18/44--I am starting to regret my decision to pick him. Maybe if I'd drafted that 35/86 safety we would have allowed 4.5 y/a instead of 5.5. :D

Btw, if you read this thread, let me know what you think. Thanks. :cool:

2008 Post Season:

Staff Hiring: Same four staff as I've had the last three years running. I couldn't make any moves because the demands were too high. I posted a profit loss this year and I was like 30 million under the cap or more so staff hiring might get worse before it gets better.

Free Agency:

I sign RT Les Hoang to a 3-year, $2.88m deal in week 20 of free agency. He is a 4th year player rated 43/53 with 56/65 run block, 34/50 pass, 42 strength, 41/48 endurance. He's a three year starter, but his numbers have been mediocre--30.3 key block% and 1.9 sack%.

Amateur Draft:

This year I have the 17th pick. I am not particularly enthused with the players that fall to me. Again the BPAs are safeties. I end up taking a 24/70 linebacker with good measurables. This was a weak draft and by the 6th round I just couldn't find promising players.

Amateur Draft Report:

Rnd 1(17) Jared Upshaw, OLB, Savannah State - Rating: 24/68 40: 4.6 BP: 21 Agi: 7.2 Sole: 27
Rnd 2(17) Morris Jacobs, S, California - Rating 31/61 40: 4.4 BP: 27 Agi: 7.1 Sole: 34
Rnd 3(17) J.R. Green, WR, Georgia Tech - Rating: 24/41 40: 4.5 BP: 22 Agi: 7.1 Sole: 18
Rnd 4(17) Bryce Dotson, DT, Texas Christian - Rating: 20/51 40: 5.0 BP: 28 Agi: 7.5 Sole: 31
Rnd 5(17) Tom Tyler, ILB, Miami, Florida - Rating: 20/51 40: 4.7 BP: 22 Agi: 7.6 Sole: 30
Rnd 6(17) Bill Tiller, ILB, Texas Southern - Rating: 21/45 40: 4.8 BP: 24 Agi: 7.4 Sole: 29
Rnd 7(17) A.J. Bensen, T, Louisiana State - Rating: 11/45 40: 5.4 BP: 31 Agi: 7.8 Sole: 12

Couldn't pass up Jacobs in 2, his combine was just too damn good. 4 or so of these guys should start this year and the rest should make the roster. I hope Dotson and the LBs will improve our run defense, probably our biggest leak last year.

10-step Free Agency: I bring in 20 rookie free agents or so--relatively austere and then get to work resigning my restricted free agents.

Here is the summary of my signings. I still have to sign Upshaw.



81 Players on the roster going into camp. Much more managable than previous seasons.

First championship!
 

Woohoo, just won my first championship. Comments to follow. Here is the end of season summary:


Season Awards:

DE Tim Katt - Front Office Bowl MVP (3.5 Sacks in the championship game)
LT B.J. Montgomery - 1st Team Offensive Tackle (48/137 key run blocks; 6 sacks allowed in 485 pass attempts).
CB Donovan Arends - 1st Team Cornerback(6 Ints, 22 Pass Defenses; 65 Tackles, 21 Assists)

I am shocked that we won the championship this year. After week one of the regular season, I lost starters C Pete Robbins and LB Chad Urlacher for the duration. I lost both my starting CBs during the playoffs--the last two playoff games I started 4 safeties in my defensive backfield.

We got off to a dominating 9-0 start, but then went 2-5 and went from #1 seed to #5. The offense played great all season.

QB Ackerman, though he was snubbed in the post season, posted awesome numbers in his 15 starts. Ackerman is now 99/99 overall in only his 3rd year!

RB Warren responded to my threat to bench him this season with a banner year--over 2,000 yards from scrimmage and 8 touchdowns on 392 touches. Seidman was subpar all season and caught only 7 passes, down from and average of ~32 over his first three seasons. FB Donovan led the charge for the RBs with 19 Key Run Blocks in 52 opportunities.

The receivers contributed heartily as well. Erik Dotson averaged over 20 yards per catch for most of the season. WR McKelvey, an Irish Catholic who grew up in Kailua, HI and was undrafted from small school Adams State was surprisingly explosive and led all Chargers in Touchdowns scored. Unfortunately, he missed 3 playoff games with injuries.

The Offensive Line was very effective. 4/5 starters had KRB%s over 32 and Montgomery was named a 1st team all pro. The unit surrendered only 27 sacks(5th lowest in the league) all season.

The subpar defense was carried by our offensive juggernaut. We allowed 20.5 pts/game and led the league in yards/carry allowed for at least the third straight year. Outside of our superlative defensive backs and DE Carlisle's flukey 13.5 sack, 21 hurry season, no one distinguished themself.

Victory is sweet. I think we have a solid chance at repeating. Resigning LT Montgomery will be expensive, but we're still $32.6m under the cap for now, even if I have to look ahead to Ackerman's Free Agency in the 2011 off-season.

2009 Off Season

Staff Hiring: Once again, same 4 guys, still hurting for cash.

Free Agency: LT B.J. Montgomery signs to a 6-year, $68m deal. I simply won't pay that much for BJ, who is only 64 run block, 63 pass block, 86 strength, 67 endurance.

Not much to see on the free agent market. I sign WR Kyle Lyons from the Raiders to an affordable 2.2m, 3 year deal in week 20.

Draft: Obviously I pick 32nd overall. I'd like to find a good Left Tackle and improve my front seven.

Rnd 1 - Mao Hall, C, Cal. - Poly SLO -- Rating: 24/79 40: 4.9 BP: 32 Agi: 7.7 Sole: 20
Rnd 2 - Arnie Hebert, CB, Georgia -- Rating: 28/55 40: 4.5 BP: 22 Agi: 7.2 Sole: 35
Rnd 3 - Gerald Brandon, WR, Rutgers -- Rating: 20/52 40: 4.5 BP: 22 Agi: 7.2 Sole: 26
Rnd 4 - Rick Cave, T, Colorado -- Rating: 12/61 40: 5.5 BP: 31 Agi: 7.7 Sole: 32
Rnd 5 - Cris Ferguson, DT, Florida State -- Rating: 21/46 40: 5.1 BP: 30 Agi: 7.6 Sole: 17
Rnd 6 - Terrell Lavan, OLB, St. Francis, Pa. -- Rating: 17/40 40: 4.6 BP: 20 Agi: 7.3 Sole: 31
Rnd 7 - Mo Rogers, G, SW Missouri St. -- Rating: 18/37 40: 5.1 BP: 25 Agi: 7.8 Sole: 39

Rick cave broke out 11 points after the draft--sweet! He looks like a solid starter at LT.

Mao Hall will start somewhere on the interior. I let my scout autopick Mo Rogers, he might or might not make the roster.

CB Hebert and WR Brandon should contribute in reserve roles. Somehow my vaunted CB depth has dwindled to nothing.

Terrell Lavan is nothing more than a reserve backer unless he booms. DT Ferguson will have a shot at starting, DT is still a weak position.

I'm reading.... entertaining... :)

Congrats on the first championship!

Congrats also.

Any chance of seeing a screenie of Ackerman? 99/99! :eek:

Congratulations. Quite an amazing quarterback. Hopefully he won't be too upset that you let his blindside protector go.

I'm looking to start up a similar career this weekend, so this thread has my interest.

Backup LT Lindquist is a solid pass protector. Montgomery's loss is going to hurt even more in the run game--I ran like 40% of my runs to his part of the line and we led the league in rush attempts. I will probably go more pass-heavy this year.

2009 10-step Free Agency:

WR Erik Dotson holds out for a 5-year, $44.5m contract. As much as it pains me, I'm going to have to refuse his offers and hope he comes back to the team. He's a monster, but I can't pay that much and he has no leverage--the guy is a restricted free agent after this season.

Here is a lit of major transactions this off-season:



We added two new receivers and resigned Kyle Lyons, so we'll be alright even if Dotson wants to sit home on the couch, eat pork rinds and watch soap operas.

I will post an updated roster after exhibition season. This year I enter camp with 76 players.

2009 Regular Season Roster

8-0 and looking great. Our defense has really turned it around against the run and WR Hutchins carried the load until Dotson returned in week 5 from his ill advised hold out. They continue to dominate opposing passers--we're allowing only 5.83 yards/attempt and our scouting report reveals that opponents have completed only 12/66 deep passes for 360 yards this season!

The offensive linemen are pass protecting like champions despite the loss of blindside anchor B.J. Montgomery. The unit has allowed only 8 sacks all year--lowest in the league--AND we lead the league in passing yards. Ackerman has coped well with the pressure of carrying the offense on his shoulders. The loss of 4-year starter TE Trent Fisher for 18 weeks to a high ankle sprain is a big blow, however. He has been one of our leading receivers the past two years.

Rushing numbers are down(1st last year in carries to last this year!) and I put this squarely on the shoulders of the loss of Montgomery, who was the focal point of our rushing offense last year. I had to change the gameplan to focus more on passing.

The pressure is on. No team has ever gone undefeated in the era of 16-game regular seasons. More importantly, I have never gone undefeated in an entire season(including playoffs) in FOF 2004. :D

I will post box scores for the next two games after they're played.

15-0
 

Next week: We host Kansas City at Home. We clinched the AFC last week, but we've decided to leave the starters in. That is...with one exception. Unfortunately QB Ryan Ackerman tore a thumb ligament(Questionable) and he won't be full strength for 6 weeks. Drama anyone?

Kansas City has a lot to play for. They are 9-6 and vying for the #6 seed with 9-6 New England.

Attendance: 47,200 (71,600).

:eek:

Something tells me this game would be sold out.

Well, we took home a narrow win here. KC averaged more yards per play than us and there was a notable drop off from Ackerman to Banks, but we simply weren't going to lose this game. The win sends KC home for the playoffs and gives me a shot at my first 19-0 FOF 2004 season.

Bad news: Starting CB Donovan Arends will miss the playoffs again. Starting FS Geoff Abrams and backup FS Deon Runnels are also out with serious injuries. I am torn on whether to play Ackerman or not... no pun intended.

:eek: :eek: :eek:

That would have been an embarassing loss. Apparently we were hurt desperately by the loss of three defensive backs in one week. I may have to alter the defensive game plan next week to compensate.

On the bright side, Banks filled in well. If he hadn't had such an excellent game, we surely would have lost:


CHRIST. I just saw that we lost two MORE starters including ANOTHER starting defensive back and our starting LT. Unbelievable. We're going to be starting 6/13 defensive backs in the conference championship because of my house rules. Oh yeah, my backup LT is a rookie with 9 run block and 6 pass block and he's questionable. %#_@*&%#_*)(&

Another game that was way closer than it would have been if weren't missing so many starters. Two more starters are questionable for next week, but Arends is miraculously recovered enough to play and I'm not going to sit the questionable guys for the championship game.

We face 13-3 Chicago in the championship game. We are battered and bruised, but not broken. Chicago is riding a 14 game winning streak of their own into this game. Without further ado:


We simply demolished them. They were in the game at half time, but we scored off an interception at the beginning of the third quarter and then hung another one on them in our next possession. Ackerman was brilliant as usual and the defense held them to 3.9 yards/play.

UNDEFEATED BABY! From 0-16 to 16-0 in 4 seasons.

Season Awards:

QB Ryan Ackerman: MVP, Championship MVP, Offensive Player of the Year, 1st Team Quarterback
WR Erik Dotson: 1st Team Wide Receiver
WR Bobby Hutchins: 1st Team Wide Receiver
FS Morris Jacobs: 1st Team Safety

Dotson is particularly impressive, as he held out for the first 3 weeks and still led the league in receiving yards and TDs and was second in catches.

Other notables who didn't receive league awards:

RB Bucky Warren scored a team high 17 touchdowns and gained 1650 yards from scrimmage. He fumbled only once in over 330 carries. I said from the beginning that this kid would be a star and so far he's making me look good.

DE Tim Katt lead the team with 11.5 sacks, but he hurried the quarterback only 17 times...a sign that his sack numbers were somewhat anomalous. I must give him at least some of the credit for the turnaround on run defense because he's the best run defender on the team.

CB Donovan Arends didn't put up the interception numbers he did in 2008 when he was named 1st team cornerback, but he defended 21 passes and made 64 tackles and was the leader of a defense that allowed only 15 points per game(2nd in league), forced 28 turnovers(4th) and held opponents to 5.8 yards per pass attempt(1st).

I have a lot of FAs I'd like to resign, but no one critical. C Pete Robbins, LT Marvin Linquist, MLB Charles Paulson and FB Donovan Acevedo were starters last season that are now on the market. WR Erik Dotson is restricted, but may prove to be unsignable. C Frank Jarvis will probably be back and starting at G. I have to stay fiscally responsible and hardball my UFAs to save cap room for Ackerman's huge payday next year--I hit negotiate salary to gauge his demands and he's asked for $120 million over 6 years. I will pay it next year if I can get him back.

Just wanted to say ....This is a great read...
everyone Ive talked to loves it
KEEP UP THE HARD WORK

96 catches from Dotson in just 13 games is mighty impressive, imagine if he was in camp!

I think in the Ackerman era, anything less than a championship season will be a big dissapointment. You have to just give him whatever he wants when he hits FA.

2010 Post Season

Staff Hiring: Same 4 guys back for another year.

Free Agency: I sign promising 5th year DE Vernon Messerly from the Atlanta Falcons to a 3-yr $3.3m contract. Messerly is a pass rushing specialist with adequate run defense. He has played 64 games, started 22 and accrued 18.5 sacks and 36 hurries. He should start on week one.

I will go over the resignings after the 10-step period. No other teams signed any of my players.

Once again, I pick 32nd overall in a talent depleted draft.

Rnd 1 - Jeffrey Ochs, WR, Arizona State - Rating: 29/62 40: 4.3 BP: 17 Agi: 6.8 Sole: 27
Rnd 2 - Earl Morici, OLB, Brigham Young - Rating: 31/56 40: 4.6 BP: 23 Agi: 7.0 Sole: 26
Rnd 3 - Timothy Stennett, C, Wagner - Rating: 23/68 40: 5.1 BP: 38 Agi: 7.8 Sole: 13
Rnd 4 - Roderick Franklin, RB, S. Connecticut St. - Rating: 25/40 40: 4.5 BP: 19 Agi: 7.2 Sole: 14
Rnd 5 - Harry Billmaier, WR, Rutgers - Rating: 24/39 40: 4.4 BP: 23 Agi: 6.9 Sole: 29
Rnd 6 - Barry Ducrot, CB, Texas Tech - Rating: 17/42 40: 4.4 BP: 14 Agi: 7.0 Sole: 36
Rnd 7 - Will Sinclair, G, South Carolina - Autopicked and released.

WR Bobby Hutchins holds out. I'm sick of these primadonna WRs.

10-step Free Agency:

I fail to resign Dotson and he signs with Denver. For $460k. :mad:

I also tried to wait out my FB to drive down his contract demands and he ended up getting snatched by some other team. Oh well, our need for a top run blocking fullback is low right now. Here is a transaction summary:



I enter cap with 76 players and I'm still 20.5m under the cap. I should have room to resign Ackerman next year.

2010 Opening Day Roster

The streak is over at 28 consecutive wins going back to the wild card round in the 2008 playoffs. Ackerman threw 4 picks in an uncharacteristic performance.


We're now 2nd in the division to the 5-1 Raiders. The 4-1 Broncos aren't far behind even though Erik Dotson suffered a torn ACL and will miss the whole season.

Ackerman threw only 1 pick in the other 7 games in the first half.

We've been unstoppable on offense and defense. Many experts think the 1973 dolphins where better than the undefeated 1972 team. I'm inclined to say that the same is true of the 2010 chargers compared to the 2009 undefeated squad. We're top 3 in every meaningful defensive category and we're outscoring our opponents by 20 points/game. I'm getting used to the idea that my individual defensive players are never going to put up great numbers. What a tragedy for a stathead like me!

Disappointment strikes. We just got knocked out of the Conference Championship game by the 11-4-1 2nd seed Steelers.


This is what happens when you allow the other team to rush for over 6.1 yards/carry. Comparisons to the 1973 Dolphins were premature. We should have won this game easily. I'm very disappionted.

Edit: :o :o :o
I accidentally played Seth Banks in both playoff games. What a dumb mistake. He played fine, but this might have been the difference between winning and losing.

Stupid, very stupid. :rolleyes:

We had another banner year passing the football with only a slight decline from the loss of star WR Erik Dotson. The running game was subpar this year, probably because Warren&Seidman(sounds like a law firm) have to run out of passing sets most of the time.

We were unquestionably the best defense in the league.

Free Agent signing DE Messerly gained 11 sacks and 29 hurries.

OLB Urlacher, once thought to be a future star, recovered from two injury plagued seasons to post 8 sacks, 7 hurries, 4 pass blocks and 7 pass defenses. In this defense, those are great numbers.

The defensive backfield continued their quiert dominance. Arends missed 5 games. The backfield still intercepted 23 passes and defended 108 moreand thus we allowed the 2nd fewest pass completions of any team despite being passed on more than anyone except the Pittsburgh steelers who ended up knocking us off in the Conference championship.

Ackerman only won 2nd team qb award this year. Oliver Kingsblood posted a far inferior season and of course won every award in the book.

Bobby Hutchins won 2nd team wr.

I am a little too disgusted with the loss to go into much more this season. I am going to work on signing Ackerman and setting the team up for their 3rd championship.

2011 Off-Season:

Staff Hiring:

Frustratingly, my scout retires and I get stuck with a worse scout who is poor in Offensive Line. Low finances are killing me and when I actually spend to the salary cap I'm going to get killed on staff hiring.

Free Agency:

I resign Ackerman for 5 years: $18,420,000 signing bonus and $18,420,000 salary. My owner wouldn't let me offer more or I would have made it a 7-year deal.

Draft:

Rnd 1 - Dixon Lake, FB, Ohio State - Rating: 55/68 Dash: 4.7 BP: 36 Agi: 7.1 Sole: 34
Rnd 2 - Arnold Tindale, WR, Vanderbilt - Rating: 22/47 Dash: 4.5 BP: 22 Agi: 7.2 Sole: 34
Rnd 3 - Antoine Harrelson, CB, Iowa - Rating: 21/54 Dash: 4.5 BP: 13 Agi: 6.9 Sole: 12
Rnd 4 - Gus Pearson, DE, Texas A&M - Rating: 25/41 Dash: 4.9 BP: 30 Agi: 7.7 Sole: 34
Rnd 5 - Bobby Blair, CB, Washington - Rating: 20/32 Dash: 4.6 BP: 13 Agi: 7.0 Sole: 34
Rnd 6 - James Carmody, DE, Idaho - Rating: 17/38 Dash: 5.0 BP: 27 Agi: 7.5 Sole: 34
Rnd 7 - Kelvin Strobel, DE, Miami, Ohio - Rating: 18/39 Dash: 4.9 BP: 25 Agi: 7.4 Sole: 34

Ugh. Worst draft yet. A lot of players busted too--like I said my scout is a nogoodnik.

Here is my post season transaction report.



I've got 71 players on the roster and I'm only $480k under the cap. Yikes, even with my rabid fiscal responsibility I'm going to run into problem with the salary cap very shortly. Still, I am very pleased to have Ackerman back and to have resigned so many key players. We are poised for another championship run.

Edit: I just had to cut Scott Willmer because he actually was illegal according to the 2005 rule. Damn, wasted my once/year free agent signing and took a dead cap hit to boot.

Here is the roster before week 3:

Speaking of week 3. Vengeance is mine, Steelers! 45-5. They owned us again running the football, unfortunately. Their starting tailback average 8.5 y/c.

The Chargers do the impossible... again.
 

Ho-hum. Another undefeated regular season. :D I'll go over player performances, etc at season's end.

Next up: We face the 9-8 Miami Dolphins in the 2nd round. We are 11 point favorites at home.

Unnecessarily narrow victory. We had the game in hand 24-0 and let within a score by game end. Still, a win is a win.

Conference Championship: We are favored by 13 against the 11-7 Cincinatti Bengals.

No surprises this time, we rout them. The game is well in hand before half time.

Game ball goes to Ackerman of course, for his 5-TD performance:


Championship Game: 1 more win to go to put up an unprecedent second 19-0 season. We are favored by 4 points--that might be the least we've been favored by all season.

Scouting Report on Cardinals

Scouting Report on Chargers

On paper, we match up well. They're a good medium long passing team that is vulnerable to medium-long passes. We crush medium-long passing teams and rely on it to carry our offense.

As an interesting twist, this game is played in Arizona.


We did it! Three Championships in 4 years, 2 undefeated seasons in 3! This is an unprecedented run. That was a tough game, thankfully Ackerman came through with a deep pass to McKelvey that went for 31 yards and a touchdown. End of season comments to follow.

Thanks for the interest. I'm glad everyone's enjoying the dynasty.

One other thing: I'm here to please, if you want to know about any other teams, games, players, etc that I haven't covered, feel free to ask.

Career Overviews the Chargers
 

QBs:


Ackerman hit a few milestones in the first year of his contract like 20,000 passing yards and 200 TDs(he has now passed for more TDs in 6 years than the next best player has in 8). Did I mention that the man has only fumbled 12 times in his 84 career games?



Rushers:

Bucky Warren will never be an MVP candidate, but in his 7 seasons with the chargers, he has produced in every phase of the game--even moonlighting as a kick returner earlier in his career(70 returns, 1 touchdown, 22.7 avg). This is likely his last season as a Charger.



Receivers:


Bobby Hutchins takes over the lead in catches, yards and TDs from former superstar Erik Dotson, whose ACL injury with the Broncos has reduced him to a shell of his former self.

Hutchins rise from an undrafted free agent out of Hawaii to a three time all pro receiver is nothing short of amazing. He has also been extraordinarily productive returning kickoffs for the chargers--averaging 29.8 yards/return on 71 kickoffs over the last three years--and he's fumbled only 5 times in 88 games. Unfortunately, he is another key cog who will likely abandon the Chargers for a bigger contract elsewhere.





Defense:


Pass Coverage Statistics:


Both Arends and Van Dam have been extraordinarily productive corners with the team for 7 years--from the incredibly 05 draft that also produced 4 time all pro Offensive Tackle B.J. Montgomery, running backs Seidman&Warren and long time backup QB Seth Banks. Starting LT Marvin Lindquist and MLB Charles Paulson were also signed as undrafted free agents during the same off season.

They have defined a defense that routinely leads the league in fewest yards/attempt. Van Dam is now serving in a nickelback role following an injury in 2008 that caused him to miss the season, but he would start for most teams in the league.





Offensive Line


Some notes on the team:

We are now in first place in regular season(record: 79-49) and playoff wins(11-1) since 2004.



All of Ackerman's records are league records. Dotson's 15 TDs in 2009 are also #1 among all players.



Ackerman holds the records for Attempts, Yards and Completions and ties the record for passing TDs. Clay McKelvey's 4 TDs in a game is also a record.

I'm going to go ahead and skip over to 2012. One quick note: Ackerman was named MVP, Championship MVP, Offensive POTY and 1st team QB. WR Hutchins was named 1st team wide receiver.

Very nice run with this team. I'll continue following along as long as this stays interesting enough for you to continue updating the dynasty.

2012 Off Season

I submit a plan to renovate my stadium for $400m. I demand the works. I'm sick of getting hosed on hiring Scouts--can't complain too much about my excellent coordinators, though my coach is merely adequate.

Staff Hiring: I hire the Head Coach from the Bears. VG Offense, Avoid Injuries, Ex Defense.

I try to hire a scout who's excellent in Young Talent but he gets snatched away from me. I end up with Leo Chrisman back for another year. With this guy on board it's impossible to draft or sign any offensive lineman.

Free Agency:

I have a lot of free agents this year. My guess is most of the starter UFAs are gone. I have 21.4m under the cap(80.6m). I should be able to resign all of the RFAs.

Warren, Bucky 21 RB 2005 UFA 8
Van Dam, Kerry 23 RCB 2005 UFA 8
Runnels, Deon 24 FS 2005 UFA 8
Hutchins, Bobby 86 FL 2006 UFA 7
Stanfield, Larry 22 P 2006 UFA 7
Kirk, Oliver 35 WLB 2006 UFA 7
Abrams, Geoff 38 FS 2006 UFA 7
Lyons, Kyle 80 FL 2009 UFA 6
George, Alan 64 RT 2007 UFA 6
Katt, Tim 91 LDE 2007 UFA 6
Upshaw, Jared 54 WLB 2008 UFA 5
Cave, Rick 78 LT 2009 ---- 4
Ferguson, Cris 96 LDE 2009 ---- 4
Hebert, Arnie 40 RCB 2009 ---- 4
Berry, Eric 46 RB 2010 ---- 3
McNown, Roman 47 RCB 2010 ---- 3
Guerra, Rick 27 SS 2010 ---- 3

I'm going to feel out all the UFAs and see if any of them are cheap enough to move on early. Next, I'llsee what offers everyone gets and try to resign them later on if they're cheaper. None of them are irreplaceable. Same goes for my yearly free agent signing, I'll wait till week 20 and pick up some spare part to improve my roster. Fiscal Responsibility--it's boring but it's the only way to go in these house arrest dynasties.

Surprisingly, I am able to resign RB Bucky Warren, WR Kyle Lyons, CB Kerry Van Dam and OLB Jared Upshaw to contracts ranging from 2.3-3.8m over 3 years each.

I add former 1(1) DE Tom Harada who missed 31 games in his first two seasons. I think he'll replace Katt, my former 1(3) pick who signed a megadeal with someone. Hopefully he'll regain some of his former glory with us. If not, we only invested $3.1m over 3 years.

Draft:

From: Front Office Football

Amateur Draft Report:

Rnd 1(32) - Omar Baither, DE, Kansas State - Rat: 23/61 40: 4.9 BP: 29 Agi: 7.4 Sole: 22
Rnd 2(32) - Ralph Malcolm, CB, Bethune Cookman - Rat: 21/55 40: 4.4 BP: 19 Agi: 7.0 Sole: 31
Rnd 3(32) - Spencer Owen, S, Murray State - Rat: 12/58 40: 4.5 BP: 17 Agi: 7.3 Sole: 22
Rnd 4(32) - Emmitt Rossel, CB, Duke - Rat: 16/52 40: 4.3 BP: 14 Agi: 6.9 Sole: 23
Rnd 5(32) - Wesley Owens, CB, Illinois - Rat: 22/46 40: 4.4 BP: 20 Agi: 6.9 Sole: 32
Rnd 6(32) - Gary Chapman, CB, Colorado - Rat: 13/37 40: 4.5 BP: 22 Agi: 7.2 Sole: 60
Rnd 7(32) - Kris Hagglund, RB, Kent - Rat: 24/38 40: 4.6 BP: 15 Agi: 7.3 Sole: 22

I received an e-mail:

From: The County Government

Your proposal for stadium renovation was submitted to the voters of your county for a decision.

The issue succeeded, and construction is scheduled for completion in 2015!

Here's the final vote tally:

In Favor: 678,153 (32) - 50.2%
Rejected: 670,404 (32) - 49.7%

10-step: Of course for the 8 time in a row my 1st round draft pick turns down my offer to play for the longer contract. I hate how rookie signing is handled in this game...

I converted Baither to DT, but that might have been a mistake since I end up going 3-4 instead of 4-3. Here is the Regular Season roster.

Midseason report. I don't know what's wrong with Ackerman this year. He has cost us a game this year to 3-5 Cleveland with this execrable performance:

Week 7(Loss 29-24)


He's on pace for a career high 20 interceptions.

The loss to Den was inexplicable. We went 4/13 on third down, but dominated them 6.5 yards/play to 4.3 y/p.

We are 1 game back from KC in the division. Anything less than #1 seed in the regular season is going to piss me off. 8 starters are out for our week 10 matchup with Cincinnati, including 4 of 5 starting offensive lineman and 2 of 3 defensive linemen.

It's been awhile since we had an important regular season game, but week 11 at home vs. division leading chiefs(who have tiebreaker leads on us) was one of them.


Ackerman continues to throw too many intereceptions, still on pace for 19-20 on the year.

Poor head coach. Directs the team to a perfect season and gets replaced.

PWNED! :D

I am a soulless mercenary, I admit it.

Conference Championship was a nailbiter:


We had terrible injuries heading into the playoffs this year. The majority of our offensive and defensive linemen missed time in the playoffs. The Championship Game was a little less eventful, but we did outscore the Cowboys 41-7 after starting down 17-0 by the 2nd quarter:


Ackerman Sweeps the major awards again and our soup of the day(3rd year Jeffrey Ochs) at wide receiver wins a 1st team award again. No one else gets a sniff.


Very similar to our other teams of recent years: Extreme dominance in passing yards/attempt on both sides of the ball. This year we were uncharacterstically 7th in the league in Sacks thanks to solid performances by Messerly and Urlacher. Bucky Warren seems to be on the decline--Seidman crushes him statistically for the second year in a row.

2013 Off Season

New Scout. Excellent in Young Talent but Average pretty much everywhere else. Still looking for a top scout, but he's an upgrade.

New D Coordinator. He is a slight improvement over the old one.

Free Agents: Lots of Free Agents this year. I have successors groomed for most or all of them, but I'll try to resign veterans where possible(read: cheaply). I expect that 3/4 or more of the UFAs will be unsignable.

Seidman, Ethan 41 RB 2005 UFA 9
Linquist, Marvin 67 LT 2005 UFA 9
Paulson, Charles 58 WILB 2005 UFA 9
Lee, Ricky 34 FL 2006 UFA 8
Coleman, Willie 25 K 2006 UFA 8
Messerly, Vernon 98 RDE 2010 UFA 8
Prescott, Leland 73 LG 2007 UFA 7
Urlacher, Chad 99 WLB 2007 UFA 7
Tiller, Bill 90 MLB 2008 UFA 6
Hall, Mao 50 C 2009 UFA 5
Billmaier, Harry 85 SE 2010 ---- 4
Stine, Zach 60 LG 2010 ---- 4
Stennett, Timothy 51 RG 2010 ---- 4
Morici, Earl 92 WLB 2010 ---- 4
Ducrot, Barry 32 RCB 2010 ---- 4
McNown, Roman 47 RCB 2010 ---- 4
Ronk, Harold 11 QB 2011 ---- 3
Haas, Henry 45 RB 2011 ---- 3
Rowell, Luke 83 TE 2011 ---- 3
Lyons, Albert 75 LDT 2011 ---- 3

I miss out on resigning Linquist, but I replace him with someone who my scouts say is comparable--5th year LT Ross Goodwin, a 5th round pick out of Tulsa w/ 55/69 Pass Blocking. I resign Seidman and Paulson to 3.5m, 3year deals.

Rnd 1(32) - Cris Miner, S, Davidson - Rat: 20/70 40: 4.5 BP: 28 Agi: 6.9 Sole: 34
Rnd 2(32) - Lenny Turner, WR, Illinois - Rat: 31/50 40: 4.4 BP: 16 Agi: 6.8 Sole: 34
Rnd 3(32) - Tony Fuld, WR, UCLA - Rat: 35/48 40: 4.3 BP: 17 Agi: 6.9 Sole: 23
Rnd 4(32) - Earnest Humphries, C, Washington - Rat: 12/55 40: 5.1 BP: 29 Agi: 8.0 Sole: 18
Rnd 5(32) - Dixon Kean, C, Syracuse - Rat: 12/56 40: 5.3 BP: 29 Agi: 8.0 Sole: 19
Rnd 6(32) - Marty Diaz, T, Northwestern - Rat: 18/45 40: 5.2 BP: 28 Agi: 7.7 Sole: 24
Rnd 7(32) - J.T. DeAngelis, G, Georgia Southern - Rat: 14/44 40: 5.1 BP: 27 Agi: 7.8 Sole: 28

Ugh, first three prospects will be great, but the next four *all* busted a little bit, so I have low hopes for them even making the roster. That's what I get for picking linemen with no measurables to speak of. Offensive linemen(and defensive linemen to a lesser extent) are the hardest position to draft for past the first couple rounds, IMO.

10-step Free Agency:

This was a big free agency as far as this dynasty goes. Two starters got 4 year deals, but I hiked up their signing bonuses to get slightly cheaper overall contracts. Still no one over $3m/yr though and I think both of the 4-yr guys are seriously underpaid.

Very nice run. It's always interesting to read "empty cupboard" stories, I love 'em. Keep going!

2013 Opening Day Roster:

Well, we didn't lose, but...


No third 19-0 season. :rolleyes: An awful week twelve performance from QB Seth Banks allowed Washington to hang around for the tie.


Only Ochs made the all pro team. Ackerman won the championship MVP again. I was hit hard by injuries this year and we were running on empty, but our scintillating QB Platoon of Seth Banks/Ryan Ackerman and our historically dominant passing defense switched from 3-4 to 4-3 base and carried us to another title.

Surprisingly, this was our most dominant playoff run. We scored 38 points in all three games and held our opponents to an average of less than 14 points/game. We never trailed at any point.

We're going to have to retool the Offensive Line and Linebacker corps sooner or later. Depth is nonexistent and I had to start two sub-30 OL and a sub-40 LB all season long. I just haven't been able to retain our veterans at these spots and our old scout's poor offensive line rating put a damper on OL drafting for 2 or 3 years.

Staff Hiring:

I try to hire a star Scout but I get outbid again. #@%)&(*

I do hire a new D Coordinator:

G DL, VG DBs, Ex LB, YT.

Free Agents:


I'd like to resign TE Lane, LB Tyler and one or both of the DTs.

Long time starter Les Hoang has missed 27 straight regular season games and his career with us is done.

C Jarvis has missed 17 games in the last three years. I'll let someone else overpay him.

WR Ochs will probably ask for $11m a season and some poor sucker will probably pay it.

I lost DT Dotson to Dallas. It's a shame as he was 71/72 Run D, 64/66 play diagnosis with good pass rush and endurance.

QB Karl Forbes, one of my inaugural rookie free agents, is now 67/71, but in 9 years in the league he has only 5 starts.

I sign an absolute steal at RB. Ben Henderson signed for 3 years at 700k per. His Breakway is 52, Third down running 46/58, Hole Rec 72/76, Elusiveness 84/91! He is a poor pass receiver, he fumbles a lot(avoid fumbles 17) and his endurance is too high(90/97), so he won't get as many carries as I'd like. He's averaged 4.7 y/c over 571 carries for his career though and you just can't argue with that production and this skillset.

Draft:

I need Lineman on both sides of the ball and linebackers. Lord knows I'm probably going to get stuck drafting unbelievable WRs and DBs as usual, though.

Amateur Draft Report:

Rnd 1(32) - Wesley Francis, WR, Iowa - Rat: 31/69 40: 4.4 BP: 18 Agi: 6.8 Sole: 29
Rnd 2(32) - Ethan Wooden, OLB, Boston College - Rat: 22/55 40: 4.6 BP: 20 Agi: 7.3 Sole: 31
Rnd 3(32) - Dan Clarke, CB, Northwestern - Rat: 22/50 40: 4.5 BP: 21 Agi: 7.1 Sole: 20
Rnd 4(32) - Tyrone Heath, WR, Texas A&M - Rat: 30/42 40: 4.4 BP: 22 Agi: 6.9 Sole: 27
Rnd 5(32) - Courtney Sorota, DE, Tennessee - Rat: 20/43 40: 5.0 BP: 29 Agi: 7.7 Sole: 35
Rnd 6(32) - Al Summers, T, Louisiana State - Rat: 18/32 40: 5.4 BP: 41 Agi: 7.8 Sole: 29
Rnd 7(32) - Lawrence Davis, WR, Virginia Tech - Rat: 16/37 40: 4.5 BP: 22 Agi: 6.8 Sole: 28

God help me. I can't stop drafting these ridiculous workout warrior WRs. I don't know what I'm going to do with all these WRs--I had too many as it was. I just can't locate good players at the other positions right now for some reason.

Here are your 2014 Chargers:

Once again came oh so close to an undefeated season. Ackerman was even more godly than usual--those numbers are from 11 games. I sat him for the last 5 weeks even when he became probable to return after a week or two. Banks was a huge drop off from Ackerman.

Deja vu all over again, our newbie wide receiver Fuld wins all pro honors and everyone else gets shut out except for Ackerman who wins his obligatory championship MVP. His recent post season snubs are nothing short of absurd.

Henderson was brilliant, as predicted, despite running behind one of the worst OLs I've fielded in years. Henry wasn't bad in relief. The Warren&Seidman era is officially at a close. Warren was cut during the offseason and Seidman totalled a career low 29 touches and 239 yards.

DE Fuld now holds the league receiving TD mark. It seems that no matter who I stick in at WR#1, they end up storming to a spectacular season.

DE Messerly played only 9 games, but he sacked opposing quarterbacks 13 times and hurried them an additional 15 times. By far the most impressive season by a Chargers pass rusher in this dynasty.

The defensive back field slipped a bit--they allowed >6 yards/attempt for the first time in as long as I can remember.

2015 Off-Season:

Staff Hiring

Finally, I snag a good Scout.

Antonio Fell Age: 45(32) - Fair DL; Av RB; G LB; VG QB, K, DBs, YT; Ex Rec, OL

My old O. Coordinator becomes a FA and demands more than I'm allowed to pay. I dump him for an even better coordinator who is Ex in RB, Rec, OL and YT. Good at QBs, but I already have two developed stars at QB.

Free Agents:

Damn it, Banks is making huge demands. He is more important than almost any starter on the team. If he gets any action in 20-step FA I'll have to sign a veteran backup. DE Harada, LB Upshaw and FS Morris would be nice to resign, but I make no promises. CB Arends missed the last two seasons with repetitive concussion syndrome and is now useless to me. C Robbins was also reduced to uselessness by injuries.

I make a few feeler offers and most every player is unsignable. This offseason could be a bloodbath. I'm really sweating the possible loss of Banks.

Amateur Draft Report:

Rnd 1(32) - Junior Flannery, DE, Washington State - Rat: 36/49 40: 4.9 BP: 31 Agi: 7.4 Sole: 35
Rnd 2(32) - Winfred Jordan, S, Notre Dame - Rat: 28/51 40: 4.5 BP: 28 Agi: 7.0 Sole: 32
Rnd 3(32) - Kelly Walton, QB, Liberty (Va.) - Rat: 12/58 40: 4.7 BP: 9 Agi: 7.6 Sole: 41
Rnd 4(32) - Phillip Helfenstein, ILB, Trinity International - Rat: 12/44 40: 4.8 BP: 25 Agi: 7.4 Sole: 30
Rnd 5(32) - Lionel McCullough, CB, Colorado - Rat: 27/46 40: 4.5 BP: 14 Agi: 6.9 Sole: 32
Rnd 6(32) - Levon Bennett, S, Miami, Florida - Rat: 11/39 40: 4.7 BP: 15 Agi: 7.4 Sole: 35
Rnd 7(32) - Antonio Huntley, G, Washington - Autodrafted and cut.

Hmmm, 1st, 3nd round picks busted a bit. 2nd and 5th picks are slight booms. You win some, you lose some.

10-step:

I sign WR Lyons to a 4-yr, $7m deal and QB Banks to a 4-yr $6.5m deal. I also signed a new C Adam Bernard from Denver and resigned a couple other minor players to 600k-1m a year contracts. I am well under the cap even with 76 players under contract. Next year, I have to resign Ackerman, but I wouldn't be surprised to see his demands stay the same or fall from his current contract.

Post-Camp:



Flannery looks good on paper, but his ratings have dropped at every point. He's likely going to bust out. 5th round pick CB McCullough looks good with 49/63 b&r, 30/79 play diag and 58/73 ints.

Here is the opening day roster:

Season Awards:

QB Ackerman wins MVP, Champ. MVP and 1st Team QB

WRs Fuld and Francis are both 1st Team All Pros. This is Francis's first award.

DE Messerly is a first team all pro with his stellar 15 sack, 29 hurry season. This is his first award.

OLB Earl Morici wins his first award as well--1st team Linebacker--with his 116 tackles, 4 forced fumbles and 14 Pass Defenses.

Solid Post Season award class--usually we're lucky to get 2 or 3.

Seth Banks' career is probably over--repetitive concussion syndrome. Ackerman missed three starts and the last two games I played rookie QB Walton, who was serviceable.

The running game was surprisingly robust this year with a 4.5 y/c average. Additionally, our linebackers played very well. I run so much nickel/dime that we essentially start 2 linebackers--both of them defensed 14 passes on a defense that renewed it's legendary status despite losing multiple key starters.

WR Tony Fuld breaks the single season Receiving Touchdowns record and his season ranks second on the receiving yards list.

My career win% is now 71.6(137-54-1), I'm 23-1 in 8 playoff appearances with 7 championships(5 straight).

4-time league MVP, 6-time championship MVP Ryan Ackerman's career numbers:



Edit: I'm now UNretiring the dynasty. :D

Sorry to see it go... would've been interesting to see what happened after Ackerman retired... with your troubles on the lines, I'm sure the drop would have been huge...

I think the lines were okay. It's pretty easy to build an effective one dimensional pass blocking line in Single Player. The key to building a good offensive line is to use lots of Centers--they're undervalued by the AI but they can be converted or played out of position.

On DL, I had 4 good starters, but lacked depth.

I'm thinking that I might have been a little hasty with my retirement lately--I'm feeling an urge to see if I can continue my success with aging, injury pro uberstar Ackerman and star backup Seth Banks(who's out for 48 weeks with Repetitive Concussion Syndrome).

Okay, I've decided to unretire the dynasty. :D

I lost two starters at DB this offseason--CB Hebert and Ducrot. I also lose starting DT Omar Baither, former DE->DT convert and 1st round pick. RB Ethan Seidman hung up his cleats.

Ackerman is back for a 4-yr, $78.4m contract($35.7m bonus). He's in his 11th year and he's declined from 99/99 to 90/95. I also resigned RB Eric Berry to a 3-yr 2.7m deal and G Tim Stennet to 4-yr 11.5m. I have about 20m or so left under the salary cap and 33 players on roster.

In 20-step, my yearly UFA signing is none other than 12th year Karl Forbes--now 72/72, I signed him as an undrafted rookie back in 2005 and kept him around for 5 years. He's replacing QB Seth Banks as QB2(Banks is likely done with Chargers). Terms: 4 yrs: 12.1m. With the injury woes that have plagued Ackerman, I have no problem dropping that much on a very good backup.

Amateur Draft Report:

Rnd 1 - Lee Badger, OLB, Arizona State - Rat: 35/64 40: 4.7 BP: 23 Agi: 7.2 Sole: 38
Rnd 2 - Nick Shula, CB, Alabama - Rat: 22/63 40: 4.4 BP: 20 Agi: 6.9 Sole: 38
Rnd 3 - Jerald Kidman, DE, North Carolina - Rat: 24/36 40: 5.0 BP: 32 Agi: 7.4 Sole: 33
Rnd 4 - Jonathan Hutchins, OLB, Northwestern - Rat: 24/41 40: 4.7 BP: 26 Agi: 7.5 Sole: 29
Rnd 5 - B.J. Tikaran, S, Weber State - Rat: 21/36 40: 4.7 BP: 29 Agi: 7.1 Sole: 31
Rnd 6 - Jamie Rice, T, Arizona State - Rat: 14/42 40: 5.2 BP: 28 Agi: 7.7 Sole: 28
Rnd 7 - Gary Lang, CB, St. John's, NY. - Rat: 22/41 40: 4.5 BP: 12 Agi: 7.0 Sole: 29

3rd round DE was a huge bust and probably shouldn't make the roster. I'm very pleased with the top two picks and the rest should add depth.

2016 Opening Day Roster:

This is becoming embarassing...


3rd 19-0 season. Holla!

QB Ackerman - Championship MVP
WR Francis - 1st Team WR
SS Miner - 1st Team S
WR Lary - 2nd Team WR (ROBBED! 1632 Yards, 20 TD... only second team wtf! 1st Team had 1702 yards and 5 TDs!)

Boy am I glad I signed Forbes as QB#2.

Couple interesting factoids: Despite leading the leage in Attempts, only one team was sacked less than us(we were sacked just 18 times all season). This despite having no stars on OL.

This is the first time we outscored our opponents by 20 points/game(593 PF, 273 PA). We set new single season records for Points scored, Passing yards/game, total yards per games and pass attempts.

Ackerman's QB Rating of 129.7 broke his previous 2014 league record by a full 10 points. He broke the 400 career TD mark in week 8 vs. the Broncos. He passed for 30 TDs in only 8 games!

2017 Off-Season:

I bring back all 4 staff members and I'm very pleased with that group(finally).

Free Agency:



DE Ferguson offers reasonable terms and will surely be back, as will RB Henderson, TE Rowell and LB Tyler. Most of the other UFAs will not be back unless they garner little interest in 20-step FA.

Amateur Draft:

Rnd 1 - Bubba Foley, DE, Tenn. - Chattanooga - Rat: 27/61 40: 5.0 BP: 32 Agi: 7.4 Sole: 17
Rnd 2 - Walt Wolfe, DE, Vanderbilt - Rat: 15/51 40: 4.9 BP: 26 Agi: 7.3
Rnd 3 - Troy Boehner, WR, Nebraska - Rat: 21/45 40: 4.5 BP: 21 Agi: 7.1 Sole: 22
Rnd 4 - Trevor Garrett, OLB, Georgia Tech - Rat: 13/44 40: 4.6 BP: 20 Agi: 7.5 Sole: 28
Rnd 5 - Ricardo Wheeler, RB, Louisiana State - Rat: 23/45 40: 4.6 BP: 13 Agi: 7.1 Sole: 27
Rnd 6 - Cole Reilly, QB, Kent - Rat: 13/62 40: 4.6 BP: 12 Agi: 7.7 Sole: 39
Rnd 7 - Cornelius Webster, CB, Navy - Rat: 17/35 40: 4.5 BP: 14 Agi: 7.5 Sole: 30

Well, I think half the players lost some points after the draft, but I still like my class alright. Bubba Foley should convert to DT smoothly(295 lbs, very good run defense).

Here is a summar of offseason FA activity:



I have a lot of cap room, so I decided to offer Morici a big one year deal. I haven't done much creative contract negotiating in this dynasty like big one year deals, backloading, voidable years, etc... Mainly multiple year flat rate deals are all I offer.

Harada returns to replace Messerly after a two year stint in Seattle with a pathetic 2.5 sacks. Still, he's cheap and his ratings are good so I bring him in for 3 yrs, 3m.

2017 Opening Day Roster:

Wow, crazy championship game.


Wow. Unbelievable game. We only fumbled 13 times in the regular season, so I can't fathom how we managed to put it on the ground 5 times in one game when all the marbles were on the line.

Never been so disappointed in a champion team... We lost two games because both our top two QBs were out(and I IRed Seth Banks in preseason). The 37-31 loss was a flukey overtime loss. Dallas(eventually 13-3) scored 11 points in the last 6 minutes to tie the game.

First season with more than 2 losses in the regular season since our first championship in 2008. Also, by far our worse defensive effort(by points allowed) since 2008. I wonder how many more we can win before I hit a talent depleted year and get knocked out early.

A championship's a championship though, and that makes 7 straight and 9 out of the last 10.


Ackerman won his 8th championship MVP award... too bad he's missed 16 games in the last two seasons, because he's missing out on the chance to really rewrite the record books. He did narrow overtake 15-year starter Deon and former MVP O'Neal for 1st on the passing yards list

WRs Turner and Francis both gain 1900 receiving yards and win 1st team WR awards. Next year I am thin at receiver after losing countless all pros their to free agency over the years.

No one else wins anything.

2018 Off Season

Staff Hiring: The Fantastic Four are back in town for another run.

Free Agents:


Kerry Van Dam has been with us for 14 years and is amazingly one of our best starters with 83 Bump&Run, 100 Play Diagnosis, 84 interceptions. Little did I know how great a player I was getting when I drafted him in the inaugural empty cupboard draft in the 7th round out of Wagner. I'd like to bring him back, but he's demanded 7m/year. We'll see, but I doubt it.

Morici and Miner are demanding huge deals... I'm really starting to get hit hard. Last year was our worst defensive effort in nearly a decade and now we may lose our three best starters.

WR Francis has been great, but he's not getting $12m/year from me.

The rest of the UFAs should resign. I may hand out a couple monster 1 year deals to keep a couple of the defensive guys.

I resign Morici and Van Dam to big one year deals. I lose Miner and Francis. I resign CB McCarthy, OLB Holguin, DE Mariotti and RB Drayton to miner deals and add WR Donald Chapman at WR for 14.4m over 5 years--a bit more than I usually spend, but it does give me some stability and strength at WR for the next few years.

Amateur Draft Report:

Rnd 1 - Graham Shillingford, WR, Mississippi - Rat: 30/53 40: 4.4 BP: 21 Agi: 7.0 Sole: 26
Rnd 2 - Kelly Case, FB, Alabama - Rat: 43/78 40: 4.7 BP: 27 Agi: 7.2 Sole: 30
Rnd 3 - George Angelo, TE, Illinois - Rat: 30/69 40: 4.8 BP: 27 Agi: 7.4 Sole: 35
Rnd 4 - Clifton Nixon, CB, Hawaii - Rat: 21/46 40: 4.5 BP: 13 Agi: 7.1 Sole: 26
Rnd 5 - Neil Stephenson, CB, Michigan - Rat: 20/43 40: 4.6 BP: 19 Agi: 7.1 Sole: 25
Rnd 6 - Eddie Dahnke, WR, Colorado - Rat: 25/39 40: 4.4 BP: 10 Agi: 6.9 Sole: 26
Rnd 7 - Jose Huffman, CB, Florida State - Rat: 17/34 40: 4.6 BP: 11 Agi: 7.1 Sole: 33

I must say, I'm very pleased with this draft. WRs in Rd 1, 6 further strengthen my WR corp. I add two starters in Rds 2 and 3--you may have noticed that over the years my WRs have taken more and more of the catches, so I hope these guys will take some of the pressure off as well as helping as blockers. I reloaded on DBs in 4,5,7 but I'm not thrilled with any of them. 1-2 should make the roster as reserves.

Signing Van Dam to the 1 year deal was a mistake... I had to let some young reserves go because of cap space and I had enough CB depth to make up for him. Oh well, I won't make the same mistake next year. I also had to cut Seth Banks, but luckily he was only QB3 this year following his decline from repetitive concussion syndrome(79/83->62/70, two full seasons and most of a 3rd out with that injury))



Here is the opening day roster:

Tenth Championship.

Check out those absurd numbers by Ackerman... He put up those stats in 13 games. 133.0 Season QB Rating. Truly sick. Nice bounceback year after missed 16 games in the two previous seasons.


Ackerman wins his 9th Championship MVP award, but this year he proved all the doubters wrong with possibly the greatest season in the history of the NFL.

WRs Turner and Chapman won 1st team WR awards and WR Heath won 2nd team WR. :D

I'm amazed we lost the week 4 game to PIT. I guess it's hard to avoid getting upset once in awhile, no matter how dominant the team is. We lost that one despite being +1 in turnovers and posting 7.0 yards/play to their 5.7.

I was looking through the single game records, and I noticed an incredible game back from 2016. Check out Ackerman's stat line and the drive chart located at the bottom. Greatest single game performance in the history of FOF? :D



:eek:

First seven drives:


:eek:

2019 Off Season

The only key unrestricted Free Agent is OLB Earl Morici, again. I will try to bring him back as I have 19m under the cap and he is a key defensive contributor. Van Dam will only be back if he takes a favorable deal. Former 1(32) DE Junior Flannery has developed into a very good run stopping DL, but I can't afford him and I can replace him.


I doubt I'll make a splash in FA, but I am in need of a starting running back. Henderson is on the decline and FB Kelly Case was less than stellar in his games at tailback. Another possibility is that I'll add a linebacker or defensive tackle. I had to switch to a 4-3 late last season because of injuries. I've got 3 good DL and 3 good LB so I'm on the bubble.

Oops. This is the one FA period where I did make a splash.



I just noticed that I set the voidable to 100 tackles instead of 30...that means I'm going to have to eat that contract in 2023, but I am still fine with the signing. It's a bargain even if I eat that backload. This guy is a beast, I should check the early 20 FA stages more often!

I also resigned DE Junior Flannery to a 4-yr, 16.5m deal. It's slightly backloaded with a voidable as well(maybe I should add a no voidable year house rule). I think it was a good signing, though I might have overpaid slightly.

Amateur Draft Report:

Rnd 1 - J.J. Compton, S, Delaware State - Rat: 25/72 40: 4.5 BP: 17 Agi: 6.9 Sole: 38
Rnd 2 - Howie Salcido, FB, Ohio - Rat: 45/83 40: 4.7 BP: 31 Agi: 7.3 Sole:25
Rnd 3 - Nolan Stevenson, WR, Mississippi - Rat: 22/50 40: 4.4 BP: 14 Agi: 7.0 Sole: 27
Rnd 4 - Curtis Hooper, OLB, Michigan - Rat: 21/45 40: 4.6 BP: 19 Agi: 7.0 Sole: 38
Rnd 5 - Kurt Cogan, CB, Virginia - Rat: 19/36 40: 4.5 BP: 21 Agi: 6.8 Sole: 22
Rnd 6 - Ben Alameda, T, William & Mary - Rat: 15/41 40: 5.2 BP: 28 Agi: 7.6 Sole: 39
Rnd 7 - Irv Blythe, G, Kansas State - Rat: 23/40 40: 5.0 BP: 29 Agi: 7.6 Sole: 35

I'm thrilled with this draft. I am happy with every pick. I'm not sure what to do with FB Salcido, but I'm sure I'll figure out something.

Opening Day Roster


I'm getting into some salary cap trouble from the last two seasons, but I believe Ackerman will reduce his contract demands next year. Still no QB of the future--I am praying that Ackerman plays 4 more years or so. We're on retirement watch from here on out and he's been injury prone as it is--starting only 162 games in 14 seasons. In the last three seasons alone he's missed 19 games.

Breaking news: Ackerman is out for the season with a Torn Rotator Cuff. This might be the end of the line.

We lost the first 2 games, bounced back to 3-2, but our division rivals are a combined 11-2 and we're pinning our hopes on 15-year veteran Karl Forbes. We have been plagued by injuries--7 starters are out for week 6.

Can Forbes lead us to the promised land? The rest of the team is still strong and Forbes has been very productive in his 32 games, 18 starts over the last 3 years--completing 449 of 738 passes for 6,934 Yards and 73 TD-25 Int. His QB rating has been 107.4+ in each of those 3 years.

Good News: We made it into the playoffs.

Bad News: We are the #6 seed.

We've been here before. In 2008, we went 11-5 and had to win on the road to advance to and win the championship. I am not at all confident we'll go anywhere this year, though. That 2008 team went 9-0 to start the season and they had something we don't... Ryan Ackerman. Forbes has been abysmal(sub-50 completion%) and injuries have completely decimated the core of the team.

In the wild card round, we play @ Tennessee, who went 9-7 and was outscored in the regular season. We're favored by 4.


Another weak performance from Forbes. I take back every good thing I've said about him! If we play this poorly next week at 13-3 Denver, we can expect a loss.

This week, we travel to Denver to face the Denver Juggernaut. We lost in their hour 26-24 in week one. We have one thing going for us though... their starting quarterback(who wasn't great to begin with) is out and their backup, Rufus Cochrane, was awful in the regular season despite leading them to a 6-0 record in his 6 games.

His stats:

103-205-1179 with 10 TD/4 Int and 76.0 QBR.

They're favored by 1.


We might just pull this off yet! Forbes flashed his old brilliance and we somehow crush them despite allowing 7.5 yards on the ground. CB McCullough gets the game ball for his gamebreaking performancing:


Next week, we are 7 point favorites at the Pittsburgh Steelers, who happen to have a gigantic horseshoe stuck up their ass. They went 8-8 in the regular season and won narrow games against 11-5 Oakland(16-13 at home) and @ 12-4 Miami (17-16). They do boast QB Floyd Boyer at QB and he has been excellent this season. The steelers are the only team to claim a playoff victory over us--knocking us out in the conference championship in 2010. We want revenge and we want to win our 9th consecutive championship. I pray that Forbes can pilot us to a win.

On the plus side, we get starting DE Junior Flannery and #1 Receiver Tyrone Heath back from the inactive list. We're expecting big things from these two in the conference championship.

We're going to remember this one for a long time. Forbes was brilliant, but we were god awful running the football and allowed fare too many yards through the air. It looks like they scored the winning touchdown in the last minute an a half. What an absolute heartbreaker. The streak is over, ended by a team that had no business even being in the playoffs. We can only hope that, like the time they beat us in 2010, they go on to lose the championship.

They do. 21-17 to the New York Giants. There is some justice in the world.

Not much of a bright side. We just didn't play up to the standards everyone has come to expect from this team.

DT Currie, our free agent signing, was named 1st team DT and defensive player of the year for his magnificent 100+, 15.0 sack, 4 forced fumble season.

CB Nick Shula was named 1st team all pro CB for his 6 Ints and 28 defensed passes. He also picked up 61 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

I am too disgusted to go into much more detail. We got hosed by injuries and I absolutely hate how often Case is getting pass targets. His presence has actually hurt us as far as I can tell.

2020 Off Season

DE Cris Ferguson retires unexpectedly after having a career year as a DE and pass down DT. He played 11 seasons with the Chargers and played in 9 championship games. He'll be missed.

Ackerman is back and as far as I can tell he hasn't lost anything from the rotator cuff injury, but you never can tell if he'll ever be reliable again after all the injuries he's had. He's a FA and I might be able to get him at a bargain price.

Staff Hiring: I hire a new OC. VG RB, YT. Ex QB, Rec, OL.

Free Agents:


I will resign Ackerman, most likely at a much more affordable deal. I won't be afraid to sign an impact player in free agency with the extra cash, but that impact player might be a backup QB. :o

I signed 6th year RB Mario Anderson at RB for a minor 3 year deal. The dood has great skills, though. 60 Breakway, 75 Hole Rec, 77 Elusiveness. He'll start from day one.

Ackerman signed another big deal 3 year 14m per. I'm probably going to end up way under the salcap though--should have signed one of my UFAs to a big one year deal.

Amateur Draft:

I chose 27th overall and picked up my QB of the future in round 1. Unfortunately, he is weak in deep passing, so I'll have to retool my offense when he takes the starting job in a few years, but otherwise he looks awesome.

WR Graham Shillingford makes a critical mistake and hols out. I sign him to a highly favored 5 year deal. :cool:



$18m/yr on QBs even after Ackerman's renegotiation. I hope Forbes is not on the decline... I really had no choice but to sign him unless I wanted to enter the season with Luke Alves as QB#2 behind Ryan "Glass Cannon" Ackerman.

Opening Day Roster: