Chesapeake Chili Dogs - a multi-player FOF dynasty
 

Chesapeake Chili Dogs – a Multi-player FOF Dynasty

The Chesapeake Chili Dogs are an established franchise in the FOFL, the spinoff football league from the gang who brought you the FOBL (and arguably “killed FOFC” but that’s for another debate). What you see is what you get at FOxL, and that is a well-run and efficient league full of smart owners. It has proven to be pretty challenging.

I have mixed feelings about starting a dynasty thread now – indeed, after four seasons with my team, there has been a missed opportunity, as we could have (at least theoretically) had readers all through our first seasons, and you could have reveled in our peak achievements (and commiserated during our disappointing stretches). But alas – here we are, I’m getting started now, as the team is trying to fight back into contention.

Without further ado, here is the snapshot history up to this season – detailing four years of Chili Dogs football in a nutshell:

The Initial Draft

In the FOFL, we actually went through the initial draft step by step, which allowed for a great deal of control over the players we drafted for our initial rosters. My strategy was to focus on talent along the defensive line first, secure a quarterback fairly early, and fill in from there. After a number of rounds, it became clear that I had fallen irretrievably behind in certain areas, notably offensive line. So, I decided to wait on the line picks, and didn’t make much of an investment there until very late in the draft, when I went after targeted players – securing an OL composed entirely of pass blockers who had affinities with my position leader.

In another unexpected twist, I picked up a second QB fairly early in the draft, after securing my franchise signal caller in Oscar Ozuna, we grabbed a seemingly strong reserve Hilton Boner (obligatory pause for snickering) in the 8th round of the dispersal draft. Intending to go with a pass-inclined offense, I felt that getting Boner either as an insurance policy or as potential trade bait made sense. An early decision with intriguing repercussions later on.

Another factor that casts a long shadow on this whole league is the original roster file. The league used a roster utility to generate its original player universe, and the result (intended or otherwise, I don’t really know) was a fairly low grade of players overall. There were a few stars, but by and large teams were populated with marginal players in many starting positions. It takes some adjustment to see a player rated 30/50 or so as a guy with value, but this league requires that adjustment, at least in its early years. That decision continues to have meaningful effects, even as the league has evolved.



2003 Season

In the league’s first season, our squad took the field, fairly well equipped for the game plans I had envisioned. We were prepared to pass the ball a lot, play very tough against the run, and hope for the best.

Through five games, we were 1-5 on the season, a dismal failure. Oscar Ozuna had posted one good game, but the offense seemed downright inept and the team was foundering. In a “shake up” move, we inserted QB Hilton Boner into the lineup for week six, and he delivered in a big road win with 3 TD passes. We rode the hot hand from there as Hilton Boner led us to 9 straight wins – and he put together a fantastic second half of the season, ending up with a 24/6 TD/int ratio, and an 89.2 QB rating for the season. With the late rally, Chesapeake finished 11-5 on the season, winning the NC East division by one game, and securing a #3 seed for the playoffs.

We hosted division rival Dodge City in the playoff opener, beating the Vigilantes 19-16 in our first playoff game. But in the divisional round, we traveled to Seal Beach, and were beaten by the eventual league champion Sting Rays to end our debut season.


2004 Season

We returned from the 2003 season looking to make improvements on the roster. We were among the most active teams in its initial season of free agency, and secured a number of new players. One thing done by necessity was a rebuilding of our offensive line, as our veteran position leader (around whom the whole system of affinities was constructed) retired, leaving me without a workable backup plan. I also sought to improve the secondary, which I felt was another area of weakness on the team. We traded our 2nd through 7th draft picks to secure an additional 1st rounder, so we looked to target our need areas at the top of the draft, and did so by acquiring CB Howard Kindred and LT Derek Gourdine with back-to-back selections in the late first round.

We once again started the season slowly, getting off to a 2-3 start, but put things together a bit, and finished the year at 10-6, good enough for another division crown, and another #3 seed for the playoffs. And, in keeping with the prior year, we went two and out – winning our home opener (against Davis) but then losing to Subby’s Washington Piledrivers in the divisional round. The league watches Seal Beach claim their second league championship.


2005 Season

In 2005, the league finally saw a few meaningful free agents shake loose, and Chesapeake was again a very aggressive player in the market. We signed LB James Dupree to a solid deal, getting a versatile starting-caliber player for our defensive front. We also picked up a couple of veteran contributors elsewhere as free agents, and strengthened the team overall. A major trade during free agency brought in DE Richard Buxton, who had been tagged by Fritz’s French Ticklers, but was seeking a huge contract extension. The one-year rent-a-stud tactic seemed worth a draft pick, and we had the cap room to take his big salary for the season.

In 2005, the Chili Dogs defense elevated its presence dramatically, with the additions of Dupree and Buxton to an already-solid defensive front, we became very tough against the run, and solid against the pass. The offense, using a vast army of decent skill position players, posted solid numbers – staying true to our pass-heavy commitment, and we were among the top scoring teams in the league. We started the year with a string of 11 wins, amidst whispers of an undefeated season. But after being stung by two-time champions Seal Beach in week 13, we coasted home to a 13-3 record and home field advantage for the playoffs.

In our divisional game, we hosted Seal Beach – the two-time defending champs had slumped this season, but certainly were a formidable foe. Hilton Boner shows up on fire, throws 4 TD passes, and leads our group to a 35-3 rout of the Sting Rays. We post a 30-3 win over Hell Creek in the conference championship, and in the Championship game, our defense is once again monstrous as we defeat Las Vegas 22-9 for the league championship. While Hilton Boner got the MVP award for the title game, it was clearly the Dogs’ defense, particularly the defensive line, which made the real difference, as we forced errors and made big stops throughout the game to secure our rings.


2006 Season

In 2006, we return to defend our title, and make moves to try to do just that. The biggest deal we execute is to arrange the sign-and-trade of DE Richard Buxton, who was asking for a fortune as a free agent. We work out a deal with Wigport (a team executing a major purge-and-rebuild program) to have them sign him and trade him to us. We lose a draft pick, but get a top-shelf player on a cheap deal, and a hope to keep the fearsome defensive front from 2005 essentially intact.

The season comes, and I am basically baffled. The Chili Dogs get out to a slow start once again, but this year we cannot really pull out of the nosedive. We limp to an 8-7 record with one game left, and as fortune would have it, we are once again head-to-head with division rivals Dodge City, in a winner-takes-the-division play-in game. The contest goes into overtime, and Dodge City gets a TD to secure a 12-6 win and send us to the sidelines, missing the playoffs for the first time.

What happened in 2006? I’m really not certain. The team was largely the same as in 2005, when we were truly a dominant force in the league. Superficially, QB Boner’s production dropped a bit, but it was on the defensive side where we noticed the major dropoff. Our titanic defensive front was no longer a brick wall against the run, we gave up big plays, and we allowed 269 points on the season. A disappointing drop-off for this team, falling right out of the league’s elite with no warning signs at all.

My best guess is that the 2005 team was truly overachieving, and that the 2006 team basically underachieved. I think we were better than 8-8 last year, but through luck or poor planning (or more likely both) we ended up failing to reach our potential. So, we approach the 2007 season with a wide-open palette. Is this still the towering title team of 2005? Or is this the meek squad of pretenders from 2006?

Into the 2007 season we go, as the pieces come together for another run. Rebuild? Reload? Oh, and in case that decision wasn’t tough enough, our franchise quarterback is asking for $10 million a year, after playing under the franchise tag last season. So that’s square one, whatever we decide to do.

2007 offseason

We enter the 2007 offseason with decisions to make. In particular, we have two very solid players without contracts – QB Hilton Boner and S Mark Carr. Boner is in his 14th season, and is a proven veteran for us, with a Superbowl MVP and the career lead in passing yards. Mark Carr is a nice 9th year player, who has played healthy for two seasons now and has posted solid, though not exceptional, results. I decide to franchise Carr, and let Boner go into free agency. Last season, Boner’s tag number was some $10 million, and I’m hoping that his age will keep him from being bid too heavily by anyone else, and that we can re-sign him at a reasonable price.

My gambit pays off – a few weeks into free agency, Hilton Boner inks a new deal to return to Chesapeake. He gets $6 million up front, but the first two years of his contract are at salary of $3 million – meaning our cap number for this year and next is only $5 million. That is meaningful relief compared to last season. Carr’s tag value is some $3.6 million, but I am optimistic that we will renegotiate a long term deal for him, which will also clear up some cap room this season.

In free agency, we manage to re-sign a player we picked up as a free agent last season, who is a perfect fit for our secondary. CB Ferdy Nave is a big hitter, but has excellent skills in man coverage and can make interceptions, so he projects to slide right into a starting job for us. CB has not been a team strength thus far – this guy fell right into our laps last year, and we’re thrilled to retain him.

Amidst the excitement of the draft, we opt to swing a deal, once again sending away all of our later round selections, along with next year’s first round pick. In exchange, we land another starting-caliber CB, in 11th year John Raab. Raab is also a perfect fit for our secondary’s style, and we again benefit (hopefully) from a team going through a bit of a purge. Raab comes to us very cheaply for this year, and affordably for two more – so this should sew up our CB needs for right away. In addition, my remaining draft pick in round one goes to a CB as well, as we target South Carolina coverman Billy Joe Scanlon with our selection. I’m optimistic that with this rebuild of our coverage squad, we will be better than ever against the pass.


As I write, we are nearly halfway through the initial 2-stage free agency process, and somewhere in round two of the rookie draft. We are basically done with both – have no more draft picks and no intention of moving back into the draft, and save for a few “filler” players, aren’t making any major pursuits of free agents. If a meaningful player shakes loose, we may move in, but for now, I think the roster for this season is starting to come together.

Next, I will review the roster as it stands – and try to give a flavor for this team right now.

Roster Review


With the return of Hilton Boner, we have more than we need here. We will not carry six quarterbacks this season, but we may carry four. Boner is the unquestioned starter for us, and Chesley is very affordable for a solid backup, at least for this season.

Perry is a mentor at the QB position, and I think it’s reasonably likely we deal him before the season starts, probably to someone who has drafted a young QB. Both Buckner and Sellers are guys I wouldn’t mind holding onto, if we have the roster spots to do so. Potentially, that leaves Kendrick Ping out as a casualty… but I’m open to anything, as he’s not that bad, either.


This team has never been strong at the RB position, and that continues. Jeffrey Burnley was our workhorse back on 2003 and 2004, posting about 1700 yards over those two seasons – but he has never averaged even 4 yards per carry. The last two years, he has slipped back to become a complementary runner, working mostly behind Jeffrey Amburgey, a decent veteran RB we dealt for in early 2005. However, this offseason, we lost Amburgey via free agency, to a team that seems to be aggressiveley collecting mentors – so he is gone.

Doughty is a utility back, a good pass catcher, and good special teamer. He played most of last season as our third RB, and was pretty effective – 53-220 rushing (4.15 ypc) and another 185 yards receiving. I expect him to make the team, but don’t have high hopes that he is capable of stepping into a larger role – I don’t think he can get it done between the tackles at all.

We signed RB Craps Copley as a free agent, with an expectation that he would compete for the starting duties. He has been a starter for Las Vegas, but has never been too effective there – so we have had mixed feelings. He also does not get along well with position leader FB Richardson, which raises some concern as well.

FB Charles Emerson was a first round pick, who I expected to be a complete do-it-all player. However, I was very disappointed to see him regress after his first training camp rather than “boom.” So, we have an overpaid fullback who doesn’t really have the skills to be featured at either TE or RB… instead we use him for short yardage situations, and as a spot player as needed. Cutting him doesn’t save us much, or else we’d consider it - he likely will slot again as our starting FB, a position that gets fairly little use in my offense that features many multi-receiver sets.

FB Nicholas Richardson actually has a shot to start the season as our featured back this year. He oddly enough has a void in “power inside,” but is otherwis pretty solid, with ratings of 50-75 in most areas. Last season, we rotated him in at HB for a fee games, with decent results. I’m open to him as a HB possibility, especially in the absence of particularly strong alternatives.




Our offense doesn’t employ the TE on a full-time basis, so this position ends up being largely reserved for special teamers and role players. However, last year in free agency, we landed Clyde Rego on a pretty affordable deal, and he stepped right into the role. He’s a star-caliber player who grabbed 45 catches for us last year – and ought to have a comparable role this season. We expect to secure a long term renegotiation with him, and lock him up for the foreseeable future.

Lannon and Kerr are role players, in all likelihood only one will make the team. It will be a tough call, as Lannon is an affinity guy and a solid long snapper and special teamer, while Kerr (we believe) has some undeveloped potential and is also good on special teams.



For a pass-happy team, one might expect more standout players here, but we didn’t invest early at the position, and have not had the top draft picks necessary to land high-quality young talent. So, instead, we have a nice fleet of role-players, all of whom contribute fairly well.

Mark Jackson has the most overall talent of the lot, in my book, and has been solid for us for four seasons. He’s very consistent – about 3200 yards in 64 games, no season below 700 yards, none above 900. Pencil him in for about 55-800 and 6 TD.

Justin Berkey generally starts in the slit end slot, and has seen his role grow over time. He broke the 1,000-yard barrier last season (our first player to do so at any major stat) and is our career leader with 3,677 yards receiving and 29 TDs. He will drop a pass or two, but he’s a classic case of a decent receiver with a high “route running” rating (my scout says 78) making for a pretty nice set of stats when it’s all said and done.

Marcus Meneses generally starts in the slot, as the third receiver. That role got him on the field for 452 pass plays last season, so it’s essentially a starting role. He posted 931 yards in that spot, and his 16.6 yards per catch was a team high.

Behind those three, we have decent reserves. Walter Peter is a solid veteran and a position mentor, who had a 1,000-yard season in 2003 with Duluth. Ryan Kahn and Jimmy Castellano are fairly high-skilled guys who have low ratings in route running, so when they see field time, it tends to spike the production of other players as much as anything.

I am comfortable with this group overall – no real standout, but we get solid production from the lot of them, and now that we have a solid TE threat to work underneath, the options for Boner are quite plentiful.



Well, this line has been almost completely rebuilt since the franchise started. Our “noble experiment” gave decent results in year one, but the affinity foundation fell apart, and it was impossible to restore, so I have resorted back to the tried-and-true method of just trying to acquire good players.

C John Houtz is our last remaining original starter who has kept his job, and is now the position leader. He’s a four-year starter, whose career stats include about 30% key run blocks, and about 1.3% sacks allowed. Not that great, admittedly, but he’s cheap and a decent leader for the group.

We signed two veteran centers in free agency this year, starting with Richard Wallace. Wallace looks like the best of the lot here – a solid pass blocker, which is what we need. Career stats are okay – 27.2% and 1.1%, and I expect that we will move him into the LG slot that was vacated by a free agent departure this offseason. We have Wallace on a contract for $2,000,000 this season, so we would like to get some return from the investment. Our other signee is Reinaldo Johnson, a guy I pursued as a contingency to Wallace. He may not make the team, but if he does, he probably lands as a sixth OL and reserve to most every position.

LG Daniel Beaton, our other original lineman, started for us in 2003 and 2005, but was replaced last season. His career stats are actually quite good (35.0% and 0.8%) and based on that he probably deserves a shot to start. He does not have particularly good ratings, though – and I often defer to the scouting judgments. Tough call. We signed RG Joseph Shaffer to come right into that spot, which could pinch Beaton from his job – Shaffer appears to be more effective, though his career stats (28.4% and 0.8%) are not outstanding either.

At tackle, we are young and solid – we spent first round picks on LT Derek Gourdine and LT Staney Tilton, and both are good starting-caliber players. Neither one is a star, and once their initial contracts expire (following next season for both guys) we may have challenges, but for now, I am comfortable with them as our bookend starters. Reserves Boyd and McElroy are both decent, pass-inclined guys who could get playing time if needed – it would be hard to part with either guy, as they are both cheap and great fits for our system here.

Nothing to be overwhelmed with by this group of players (as is the case with the whole offense) but I don’t think the line is a liability.



Nothing special about these guys. Embry was an undrafted rookie free agent last season, but posted a lousy 37.8 average. I will look for a cheap replacement, though I think he’s capable of better.

Mizer is a veteran, has been with us for four years. 77.6% on FGs is okay, but 7 missed PAT is a bit much. I’m not sentimental – he may be the team’s leading scorer to date, but if a cheap and solid option comes along, he can get his papers any time.



We invested early along the defensive line, and it shows. We have some bona fide talent here, and the defensive line played a huge role in our championship run a couple seasons ago.

DE Alvin Hall was our top draft pick, and he is a solid threat against the run and pass. Last year, he had his best season to date – with 72 tackles and a PRPct of 7.7. He remains very afforable this year and next – then we’ll have to effort to secure him long term.

DE Richard Buxton was our trade target – twice. Now he is on a contract with us, and expects to start on the inside for us, as a potent run stopper. I have played him at DT, DE, and even OLB, and he has been effective everywhere. He was great in 2005 (73 tackles, 5.9 PRPct) but has remained very effective in any role – a great contributor for us.

DT Eugene Bradham had a monster season in 2004, posting 71 solo tackles and 16 sacks (7.0 PDPct) all from the DT spot, making him one of the most valuable defensive players in the league. He remains a major threat, but missed much of last season to injuries. I’m hesitant to hang our lack of defensive success on his absence, as he’s only one player, but getting him back and healthy would be a great boon to us. He looks fine, and we hope he is 100% ready for the season ahead.

DT Martin Santos generally operates from the RDE spot, as he is first and foremost a pass rusher. I signed a lucrative extension with him, which may have been a mixed blessing, but he is pretty consistent – posts about a 7.0 PR Pct every year, which is a solid number to count on.

Last year, we went through the season with only six defensive linemen, the lower bound for a 4-3 team like we are. This season, we will have some depth. We have run-stopping DT William Brown in the fold already, and have just re-signed verstaile DE Cornelius Kleinsasser. We add to the fold DE Donald Shihi, who has been an effective starter for Burlington (career PR Pct of 9.0) and I will be creative in getting him opportunities to play as well. Another new signee, DE Randolph Gritton, will have to fight for a roster spot.



We started with two solid players at the LB position in pass-rushing specialist John Galvan and run-stopper Steven Watkins. James Dupree was an impact signing in 2005 free agency, and then Travis Kuykendall was our top draft pick last year.

Deciding how to use Kuykendall is our biggest challenge here. Our weak linebacker gets pulled a lot, so starting him there amounts to only half time work to begin with. Last year, he got extra playing time when we used him as a safety in our injury-ravages secondary. But only 26 solo tackles in over 500 plays suggests he has some work to do, still. My expectation is that we will so with Galvan-Watkins-Kuykendall as our S-M-W lineup, and will slot Dupree in as the all-purpose reserve at all three spots.

Veteran free agent Urso Harrold has a mixed bag of skills – we may use him, but he is mostly there in case of injury. D.J. Dennis much the same – nice special teamer, could play in a pinch, but not a major asset for us.



The secondary has been a focus of much attention – but I believe we have made great strides here. Projecting Raab and Nave as our starting corners gives us two guys with man coverage skills (86 and 67, respectively, by my scout) to handle the assignment. And we will have good depth, with former starter Howard Kindred (former first round pick, modest bust, but still decent player) and top rookie Billy Joe Scanlon aboard as well.

At safety, Peter Bella is the complete package, and Mark Carr is a productive starter as well. Chappy Kettler is a scrappy and improving journeyman, who will get reserve time at both spots. CB Bradly Ashurst and S Les Hornick basically reverse roles – Ashurst is a big hitter we use as a safety sometimes, while Hornick is a coverage specialist who has logged 49 starts, mostly as a cornerback. Both will get time in the mix this season.


In the return game, our best contributors are RB Lewis Lee, who can return both punts and kicks, and probably keeps his roster spot just for those skills. We have several other KR options, including RB Jeffrey Burnley, S Mark Carr, and S Les Hornick.


So, that’s a basic rundown of the club at this point. In a league where the overall talent level is still pretty low, we are a team built mostly of veteran players. I have not invested heavily in the draft, and have not yielded a great bonanza from the picks I have made – so we are mostly dependent on the veteran players on the squad. Our team has an average age of 27.8 – making us the third-oldest club in the league. I’m not surprised.

At the moment, our roster rates 1 95 on the “franchise value” screen, but that is likely full of noise as some teams who do not have a full roster are being unfairly penalized for that. We may revisit that rating later, but I do expect to be in the upper tier of the league in that respect.

Breaking News

Just announced in the FOFL, a trade..

Chesapeake sends RB Craps Copley and a 2008 3rd round pick to Royal, in exchange for FB Chadwick Morimasa.

Okay, with two fullbacks already, and an offense that doesn’t feature the FB at all – how does this make sense at all?

Well, Morimasa is a full-back in name only. Check out these stats from four years as a feature back in Royal:

1,405 carries for 5,928 yards rushing and 39 TD
Career rushing average = 4.21 ypc
199 receptions for 1,462 yards
2005 League MVP
Three-time first-team fullback

So, this is no ordinary fullback, he has the skills to play as a featured ball carrier, and is a solid addition to our RB corps.

Why are we getting him so cheaply? Well, Morimasa is a 13th year player, and started to show some signs of decline last year, as his ypc dropped below 4.0 for the first time. Is he done? Tough to say – his ratings still look awfully solid to my scout (who rates him 68/68), but the truer test will come on the field. But with our modest complement of running backs, this move seems to make some sense – it’s a far less expensive upgrade than we’d get by trying to deal for a top-tier halfback from anyone, I’m certain.

Breaking News, again

Just announced, another FOFL trade…

Chesapeake sends its 2008 2nd round pick to South Carolina, in exchange for LB Gary Rosenbaum.


South Carolina is in a purge-rebuild phase, and we’re trying to take advantage once again. (CB Raab was the first step of this) Gary Rosenbaum is a 13th year veteran, but is a standout-caliber linebacker, who could be an impact player for us. This is adding strength to strength for us, but overall, it’s a bargain for us – Rosenbaum comes to us with a very affordable salary for three seasons, so he ought to be a great value.

What will this mean for our LB corps? I don’t know, but Rosenbaum can certainly play at DE or SLB very naturally, and even has the skills to man the middle, if need be. Having five very good linebackers is a luxury – we’ll work through it one way or another.

QS and SD dynasties have had a MAJOR influence on my dynasty writing.. so it is great to see this..

Inspires me to rededicate myself to my Toerpedoes MP dynasty or maybe start up a Colonials one instead.

Breaking News, yet again

Yet another FOFL trade…

Chesapeake has traded QB Mohammed Perry to division rival Portland, and receives their 5th round draft pick.

We had surplusage at the QB position, and dealing Perry helps to resolve that. Kendrick Ping may make the final roster after all, though it probably depends on the progress, if any, of the two youngsters we have aboard.

Look who's on a trading spree now!
This isn't an attempt to make fun of my 'dynasty', is it, QS?
;)

Edit: I failed to mention that QS FOF dynasty reports are usual a 'must read' to me.

Not at all, Matthijs, though this little trading spree has been reminiscent of your efforts with the Merchantment, this is just what we do down our way. The FOFL has, on balance, far fewer trades than the IHOF -- in fact, CHE might be one of the most active teams in trading there has been in the league. I doubt I'm even in the top third in the IHOF, where dead cap space just seems to be a way of life.

That always helpful information to have about a multiplayer dynasty. A bit of background info on league style makes it easier to follow the story. Makes it easier to value these kind of movements.

Of course, as an oft trader myself, I wouldn't make fun of people who trade. The dead cap space is something that actually helps to keep my own team together, as I'm getting 15M more cap room next season to work with. But that's food for thought in my own thread, I suppose.

Very pleased to see a FOFL MP dynasty - I'll be following this with interest.

Great name.

I hate it. If we hadn't already won a championship, I think I'd be looking to change it... but alas. I'm generally a fan of (1) regional team names rather than simpel cities or states, and (2) alliteration... but I'm less than wild about this one.

I hope you're not thinking of the Tidewater Tides. :)

Not really, though I do like that name. I don't even know if they are stil the tides, or did they revert to "Mets" again?

Anyway, I was partial to Hampton Roads Scholars, but that's a little smarmy, I guess.

I believe they're the Norfolk Tides now. Norfolk built the new stadium near downtown, and by my understanding the team changed their name from Tidewater to Norfolk as part of the deal.

I like your idea, though. I'd go with a Hampton Roads type name, if you were to change it.

Well, my generic idea isn't that the team is actually located in the city of Chesapeake, Virginia... but rather that the team (perhaps located in or around Annapolis) is just representing the entire Chesapeake region. My fictional leagues are full of teams from (thinking back) Puget Sound, Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Key West, Hawk Mountain, St. Lawrence, Cape Cod, and the like. Just a personal quirk, I suppose. (Yes, some are techcnially cities, but I'd rather name a team for a landmark than a town)

Special Teams Analysis

Since we’re at something of a lull with the league, I wanted to take a moment and check out my special teams capacity on the roster. This is something that I tend to pay tangential attention to ordinarily – but one of the benefits (and purposes) of doing a dynasty report here is my ability to delve a little more deeply into such matters.

So, at the moment – here are the players who are likely to be on the roster when the season starts, who we’d expect to contribute on special teams:


Among the seven top-rated guys we have here, we average about 80 in current special teams rating, which is fine. I have no idea how this stacks up against other teams, but I’m comfortable that we can field a squad with high-skilled special teamers with relative ease.

My anticipation is that we will use RB Doughty as a gunner, along with one of the linebackers, probably whomever from that top threesome is active, but not in our starting defensive lineup (perhaps Dupree). Walter Peter is a gunner candidate as well.

I can understand that. I've thought about naming a team the Pax River "X". I went to a Navy school up there, and I liked how Pax River kind of encompassed the area, regardless of exactly where you were.

I have NEVER paid attention to my ST ratings...

Maybe I should...

*shudder* PAX River...

I have a soft job offer there for BAE when I get out. I doubt my wonderful wife would let us move there, though.

It certainly pained me to let go of Morimasa. That experiment paid off in a big way. His ratings really slipped last year and I believe it takes a superstud FB to have success as a feature back, I think it was time to cut bait. We wish him well in Chesapeake, he is certainly a future Ape Hall of Famer.

I don't have any illusions that Morimasa is going to be a monster back for us -- but RB was clearly our weakest position (and basically has been since the league started), so for us, even a watered-down Morimasa looks like a real upgrade over what we had on hand.

We'll do our level best to treat him well in Chesapeake, and give him every chance to succeed.

Chili Dogs Select DB With Late Round Pick

In the 5th round, with the pick acquired from the trade of QB Mohammed Perry, Chesapeake has selected DB Adrian Walker out of Boston College. Walker figures to be a solid for for the defensive secondary scheme, as he is best suited to a man coverage scheme, and can play the ball well. Walker will be battling veterans Bradly Ashurst and Britt Peterson for a roster spot, and may be converted to cornerback to better feature his cover skills.

The riff-raff phase

We have concluded the league draft (a quite painfully slow process, for whatever reasons) and are ready to begin the second round of free agency. Since quality restricted players are not yet available, we’re basically looking at the same old veterans that nobody wanted during the first 20 rounds, plus the rookie nobody wanted through 224 draft picks.

Sound great, right? Well, I have had a little bit of luck here in the past – usually finding special teams contributors and the like. On the current team, we have a few guys who were undrafted rookie free agent (URFA) signees – usually guys who either have one particular skill that makes them helpful, guys who contribute to team chemistry, or guys who have a bump up in their first training camp to suggest potential future development.

LB D.J. Dennis was a URFA, and remains with us as a special teams demon
TE Clay Lannon was also a URFA, first acquired by Burlington, and is decent
QB Sherman Buckner showed some early potential for development – mixed bag
CB Britt Peterson, on the roster bubble, was a URFA and is a decent role player
TE Gino Kerr was a URFA in 2005, switched from FB to TE to make the roster
RB Lewis Lee was also a URAF in 2005, and looks to stick this year as a returner
RG Larry Rapaport was a URFA last year, showed some growth potential, but is in danger
P Donovan Embry was a URFA last year, and is likely to hold the job this season
C Brett Lyon looks like a keeper, a solid pass blocking URFA from last year

So – at the moment, we have eight or nine guys who are on the roster from the URFA process. This is, not surprisingly, a natural outcome of my usual strategy of selling off my late round draft picks – I don’t have a parade of 6th and 7th rounders to fill the roster, so I get players (usually of pretty comparable quality) after the draft, and take my chances there. No bonuses (usually) make this a low-risk proposition.


We put in offers to a number of rookie free agents, and will hope for the best. In the next couple of days, I’ll detail the guys that we have landed, and will try to give a sense of where they might fit into our scheme, if at all.

On a team that already has 59 players committed (58 signed plus our top draft pick), it’s tough to see any of these fresh faces sticking – but we will have to do some paring down at the end of the line, and it’s probably better to have a marginal contributor be a promising youngster than a fossilized veteran – so guys like DE Randolph Gritton and C Reinaldo Johnson are the players who will need to be watching the rookie camps.

Late Free Agency Begins

After the first round of free agency, we have a little news.

First, we welcome in an undrafted rookie punter to compete for the starting job. Back in about the fifth round of the draft, I openly mused “You know, I wouldn’t mind having a punter named ‘Spoilsport’.” Well – now, I have my chance. Spoilsport Earhart is aboard for a rookie minimum salary (two year deal) and will compete with Donovan Embry for the starting duties. My scout rates Embry as 34/42 (making $310,000 on the second year of a URAF contract) and Embry as 26/59 making $230,000. With the nickname working for him, Spoilsport is the leader for the job, I reckon.

I have an offer in for veteran kicker Tyler Gambill as well. The 7th year kicker is has been pretty effective in his career, with 73.7% on FGs, and 100% on PATs. However, I am up against a big contract, it seems – Las Vegas is offering him a five year deal worth over $9 million, and under league rules that means it must have at least $1.8 million in signing bonus. I can’t imagine paying millions in bonus to a kicker… just doesn’t fit with my way of doing business. So, it looks like we will miss out on him – I may look through the rookie rubble and see if there’s someone who would be an improvement on Donald Mizer (77.6 FG%, but rated only 30/30).

The early signs are that 5th round draft pick S Adrian Walker is going to be a bust… so we’ll have a decision ahead whether to even offer him a contract. I may leave him unsigned through training camp, and make the decision afterward. He looks like one of those typical guys whose future potential ratings make him look fairly attractive -- he has future ratings in the 75-100 range for man and bump coverages and is rated overall a 14/40. But the usual career path sees him declining, and after a couple of years he’ll look like about 17/25 and not worth a damn. We’re already over our roster limit and safely under the salary cap, so it’s not like we’re scrambling for depth on this club.

A similar case in point with CB Donovan Snyder – a guy I considered with my 5th round pick, but passed on. He has some nice skills, and my scout rates him as 12/42. I have a bid in, but a bigger bid is in from Fritz’s French Ticklers. My best guess is that Snyder, too, will be the handful of sand, and in time will wither away to nothing. I don’t think I need to make any investment – certainly not a guaranteed investment – in a guy like him, so we’ll probably watch him head to the Ozarks.

We are one of several teams bidding for the services of FB Bob Parise, a guy I like but who is an obvious FA target. Our team has three fullbacks already – it would be very hard to justify making roster space for Parise. But, if we land him, we’ll give him a look – he’s got good pass blocking skills and might make a decent TE if we picked him up.

We have a few more rookie bids in as well – but nothing really worthy of profiling, at least until we land the players. My socks have not been knocked off by anyone in this undrafted rookie crop.

Yeeeeaaaaaahhh, if you're not making a logo for it. At least not one that doesn't involve a hot dog with limbs.

Easier than Chitterlings though.

Late Free Agency, continued

No news here, as my file export didn't register, it seems. The only development is that it appears a couple teams put in "topping" offers just a bit higher than mine on a couple of the undrafted rookies we have been targeting. More to come... but no tears being shed here.

Late Free Agency, yet again

Okay, we landed a couple of rookies – as I have indicated, nothing to get too worked up over, but two guys I like a bit.

QB Chris Tamm has some decent potential in the “lower” skill areas, including reading defenses, sensing the rush, and avoiding interceptions. Even so, he probably needs to “pop” a point or two in training camp to make the roster. The early returns are encouraging, though – my scout likes his future potential two points better now that he is signed and on our roster.

G Albert Neiman looks to have potential as a pass blocker – maybe a future rating there of about 60 or so. If he fully developed, he’d be an okay guard for our offensive system. We’ll give him a look, but it will be tough going – he’ll be a longshot to make the team.


There’s also a veteran DE on the market, released after a contract holdout, who has attracted a bit of attention. A 10th year player, he has been pretty productive – I expect sparks to fly over him.

Late Free Agency drags on

Following one more sim, we have gotten through two more stages of the late free agency process.

I was denied in my effort to land a solid free agent kicker – since we had some cap room this year, I put in an offer for about $1.1 million – half of it bonus. However, it turns out he received a fat offer from Las Vegas which included $1.75 in bonus money over a five year deal. It would never occur to me to pay that kind of money to a kicker (especially one like him who looks good, but not really exceptional) and we will settle for the riffraff we have, it seems.

We did land two more undrafted rookies on the defensive line:

DT Gabe Shah actually looks like a better pass rusher than run stopper, so if he sticks, it would probably be to play at the DE position more than at DT. My scout likes what he sees – even though we are fairly deep along the DL, we can’t build exclusively from aging veterans, so Shah might have a shot to stick.

DE Edgar Welch is probably not heavy enough to comfortably move to DT, but his run stopping skills are probably his best asset. Actually, his best skills are in the incidentals for the position – endurance and punishing hitter. I don’t really know what a player with these primary skills accomplishes on the field – indeed, I don’t really understand the “punishing hitter” rating at all, to be honest. My scout likes Welch a bit, too – but I think it will be even tougher for him to stick than for Shah.

Incidentally, the stud fre agent DE who became available also went to Las Vegas -- thei sign him with a $10 million bonus, but he will only hit their cap for $3m for each of the next two years.

La Vegas looks like a team in "win now" mode, but they are currently without a very impressive lineup at QB. It looks like their approach will be to try out different guys there, but my scout doesn't rate any of them over 50... so I have trouble seeing this team making a really big run this season without improvement there. Perhaps this is more of an effort to use the team's considerable cap space, rather than a pure "win now" gesture.

Training Camp

I had a bad day to be completely away from my computer and the FOFL boards, and therefore ended up without a training camp submission. Life goes on – I usually don’t have a lot of deep thinking at that stage anyway (unlike back in the old days of FOF 2001, where I always felt like that was a meaningful contribution to the team setup).

So, the main thing with training camp is watching your players – specifically younger players – to see if there are signs of good or bad things yet to come.


So this year – we get some decent news, but nothing earth-shattering. With eyes on our top draft pick, still unsigned CB Billy Joe Scanlon, his ratings did not move. However, our later draft pick S Adrian Walker has proven to be a total clown – and we will probably not even offer him a contract. We did see this coming, though – so no real surprise there.

Among our other rookies – we are going to have some difficulty deciding what to do with our defensive line. I liked DT Gabe Shah coming into camp, but DE Edgar Welch actually had a better training camp. There was no guaranteed roster spot for either guy – so to make room, we’d have to release a veteran player (who could do more for us right away). I am a bit worried that this team, without making many draft picks ach year, doesn’t have much of a farm team to fall back on – but the problem is that by relying on veterans for most of our playing time, we won’t be able to develop young players too well anyway. It’s a bit of a catch-22, actually.

We did get an interesting bump from another player who’s going to cause problems – RB David Smith. He was a guy I picked up to compete for the HB duties back before we acquired FB Morimasa – but since the deal, I had fully expected to see Smith be a post-camp casualty. Now, David Smith actually had a minor veteran bump in training camp – he boosted by +1/+1, according to my scouts. Not a huge move, but it might be enough reason to keep an eye on him, and perhaps we could be open to keeping Smith and releasing longtime C-Dog Jeffrey Burnley.

I don’t think we got enough out of QB Chris Tamm or G Albert Neiman to expect them to stick. Other than that, a very predictable set of camp results – most of our young players continued their development, and we look to be in decent cap shape in case something shakes loose among the post-camp roster cut-downs.


We have 63 players on the roster right now – so we need to make a first round of cut-downs to get to the 60-player limit for the exhibition season. The casualties are:

QB Chris Tamm
LG Albert Neiman
P Spoilsport Earhart (terrible camp, scout ratings dropped by –8)
DE Randolph Gritton

(We cut four, so in case our contract offer to CB Scanlon goes through, we will remain within the 60-contract limit)

Preseason, Week 1-2

We finally take the field, in our first preseason game. Here’s the box score:


We post a decent 24-16 win over Royal, using almost exclusively our “second team.” I am pleased with the effort from both QBs, but especially Sherman Buckner. This undrafted reserve has continued to show glimmers of hope – I think he may one day actually get meaningful snaps for this team. There’s some chance, at least.

We actually got quite a lot of production from some of our reserve wideouts – guys like Castellano, Peter, and Kahn, all of whom are fighting to make the team. We may carry six WRs this season, but doing so presumably means cutting a young player or two, so their good showings will bode well for them.

I’m also pleased with the effort from RB David Smith, a guy who is essentially fighting to make the team. I expect we’ll keep him in as the primary RB for the next game or two, and if he continues to produce fairly well, he might end up cementing the role as the HB2 on the depth chart. That could be bad for Jeffrey Burnley, who has been with us since the start. Burnley has 2,428 yards rushing for us – but most of that was in our first two seasons. He has started 7 games in the last two seasons, and has mustered only about 3.6 yards per carry over that spell. Our team is not built around the running game, but that level of production is not very strong in any light. He’s making over $800,000, has no role in leadership or chemistry, and unless he’s getting meaningful playing time – he is basically dead weight. $800,000 for a so-so kick returner and third or fourth option in the running game isn’t much value.

DE Cornelius Kleinsasser posted a nice game on defense – he’s a solid reserve DL who simply won’t get much playing time on this team. A bit of a shame, but it’s good to have nice depth. His conflict with new position leader Donald Shihi has me wondering what to do with the latter – Shihi has been a very effective pass rusher (with 43.5 sacks in four years) but there is apparently no market for a solid 14th year veteran who plays beyond his bars. I don’t have the flexibility to make the reverse move and deal away a starter intending to use Shihi instead – so I’m faced with a dilemma: keep Shihi as a top reserve pass rusher despit the chemistry conflicts, or else release him and go with lesser backups but improve our chemistry situation. Tough call, in my book.

Preseason, Week 3

We have our second game of the pre-season, losing to Capital City in a thrashing:


WR Jimmy Castellano isn’t helping himself by catching only one of nine passes thrown his way – if the preseason plays any role in my decision-making (open question in a game where you can see skill ratings directly), then he’d be in serious jeopardy of even making the team. Ryan Kahn has outplayed him these two games, when he has had the chance.

Our offense, though, didn’t really click this week – not a huge surprise, but a bit disappointing.

I decide to place G Hugh Rumph onto the injured reserve list – that way, he at least makes the team. He’s a former first round selection, presumably a bust (explaining why he was a free agent) but still has pretty solid potential as a pass blocker, which is our team’s main focus. This essentially clears up a roster spot for us – my main goal with the move.


This week, we also worked out a four year contract with CB Billy Joe Scanlon, who slots as our third cornerback for this season. We will get him into the defensive lineup for upcoming games – he actually played sporadically this week (despite not getting into the depth chart), but will get a much harder look in the next two.

Exhibition Game Three

We get another look at our second team, as we expect to seed in starters for our final preseason game. Here, QB Sherman Buckner cements a spot on the final roster, and our other young QB Derrick Sellers didn’t do a lot to help himself here.

FB Charles Emerson has been a tough call – a former first round pick, he is clearly overpaid. However, he is talented enough that I really don’t want to cut him outright. He got 10 carries here, and two touchdowns, and may well have secured a spot as a short-distance runner. We will probably carry three fullbacks this season, and two tight ends – a bigger investment at those two spots than I’d ordinarily envision, but that’s okay.

Alas, it appears that our file export didn’t register, as rookie CB Billy Joe Scanlon failed to make it onto the field much at all, and isn’t in the depth chart. Probably my mistake, though I seem to recall exporting and transferring the file. No great loss, but I did lose my chance to IR the now-healthy G Hugh Rumph, meaning he may not make the final roster after all.


We do not have a single injury on the entire roster, so nobody has a back door way to make the team by getting placed onto IR. I fully expect a challenging set of decisions after this last preseason game – and at the moment, if we end up carrying four QBs and three FBs, that will put the squeeze on some other places.

Current bubble players:
QB Kendrick Ping/
RB Jeffrey Burnley/Matt Doughty/David Smith
WR Ryan Kahn/Jimmy Castellano
C Brett Lyon/Reinaldo Johnson
G Hugh Rumph/Larry Rapaport
DE Donald Shihi/Edgar Welch
LB Urso Harold/CB Bradly Ashurst

One from each line would amount to seven cuts, getting us from 60 to 53. We’ll watch the injury list next week very closely, but these guys all need to be worried, I think.

Preparation for Final Preseason Game

We have our roster set, and we’re ready for the last preseason game. We have more players than we can carry, and some of these final cuts will be difficult. Several players can probably only make the team by getting injured and placed onto IR. Fun times.

I also have to keep in mind the possibility that there will be some decent players cast off by other teams at this phase. I need to remain open to the possibility that we will actually want to sign a player or two soon, meaning yet another cut from our roster to make room.

We’ll see – tonight we run the final preseason games, so we will be simultaneously asking for minor injuries in selected spots, and perhaps a few performances to help me make final decisions.

Exhibition Week 5

We have our final preseason game this week, and we decide to leave most of our first tea on the shelf for this one. The result, regardless, is a solid win over Annawan, and some momentum leading into the regular season.

(Actually, a more accurate description would be that the file that contained my updated roster either did not register with the league, or else I simply failed to upload it… I can’t tell which, but I think this is twice this had happened, to my chagrin. I have had connection problems with the FOFL site of late, but I am fairly certain that I uploaded my changes. Drat – this means that CB Scanlon basically sat out the whole preseason, as a result of either technical errors or my blunders.)


FB Charles Emerson played well this preseason, especially in this game, and may well have saved his roster spot with the effort.

Most importantly of all, this is cut-down time. we must get to 53 players now – and since our roster is completely devoid of injuries, there are no opportunities to hide players on IR for the year.

The first round of cuts are fairly easy:

- QB Kendrick Ping was going to be our 3rd or 4th guy, but with two younger and more promising options on the roster, he’s gone. The continued development of third year reserve Sherman Buckner has me optimistic about him, and that seals Ping’s fate.

- WR Ryan Kahn has caught 35 passes in 3 years with the Dogs – a decent reserve wideout, but not an impact player for us by any stretch. WR Jimmy Castellano has moved past him on my depth chart, and Walter peter provides leadership and mentoring – that’s enough to cost Kahn his spot.

- G Hugh Rumph was supposed to be on the IR, but that export failed to connect – and now he’s being cut. A former first round pick, he probably has been a bust, so his upside isn’t really there – a painless cut.

- C Reinaldo Johnson is a decent player, and an excellent long snapper, but he just gets forced out by a numbers game along the offensive line. After cutting Johnson and Rumph, we still are carrying ten linemen.


Then, we still have three more cuts to make to get to 53 – and they won’t be as simple to do.

Among our cadre of RBs and FBs, we number a full seven men. That’s ridiculous – this is a pass-first team, and we only occasionally even use a FB formation to begin with. So, I think we probably need to make two cuts here, and carry five backs into the season.

Who makes the team? FB Chadwick Morimasa, former league MVP, will make it and project as our first RB option. RB Lewis Lee makes it, basically because he will be our first option as a punt returner, and will contribute on kick returns as well. So, there are two guys who are in easily. The rest are tougher decisions:

RB Jeffrey Burnley has been our starting RB, but has never been too effective – 2,428 rushning yards, but on only 3.61 ypc for his career. His prospects look dim.

RB David Smith got a decent look in this preseason, and has a few decent ratings to suggest he could be a passable ball carrier. Career 4.13 ypc, but a dud in the last preseason game.

RB Matt Doughty has good receiving skills, and would be the best of the bunch to slot at WR if pressed into service. 4.15 ypc for us last year in spot duty, but not much of a pure runner. Special teams asset.

FB Nicholas Richardson was going to get a shot at carrying the main load at RB, before we acquired Morimasa. Now, he stands as our top backup at FB, TE, and perhaps still RB. Lacks power inside and special teams skills, which may cost him here.

FB Charles Emerson is a disappointing former first round pick who did not explode as we had suspected – instead he’s a serviceable fullback. Good short yardage man, solid special teamer. Drags a pretty hefty salary for a backup fullback, though.


With that – I decide that the two cuts are going to be RB Burnley and FB Richardson – and we are halfway home. We will count on our backs for help in the special teams departmnt, and to support Morimasa is he fails or goes down.


That gets us to the final cut. We currently have nine defensive linemen, and that looks like a possible target area. DE Donals Shihi was signed this offseason as a veteran presence who has been consistently productive as a pass rusher, but now he’s in some jeopardy. We have two fairly promising young D-linemen who, in all likelihood, will just fester on this team for a year or two with no playing time and then get dumped. (Such is the fate of young players on a team stacked with veterans) And we have DT Martin Santos, a guy who has started for us at DE for 64 straight games, but who is clearly crumbling before our very eyes.

I’ll take a side-by-side look at Santos and Shihi – two veterans trying to claim the starting role at RDE:


Clearly, Santos looks like the better rated player (even after some decline) but Shihi has been remarkably productive. A 9.0 PR Pct is an elite performance level, by nearly any reckoning.

Releasing Shihi would clear up a conflict on the defensive front, and would have the effect of helping our team chemistry. But I decide that’s too high a price to pay – and I decide that I want to keep both of these players on the final roster.


I decide that G Larry Rapaport will be our final release – he’s yet another fairly promising young player, but his skills are not a match for us, he has no mentor at OG, and he figures to get essentially no playing time with this club this season. So, we cast him off, paring our OL grouping down to 9, and we are at the magic number of 53 players.


We set the lineup, have our first team installed, and are prepared for the first game of the season. Our most challenging situation is at LB, where our moves have given us five starting-quality linebackers. That’s great for depth – we can end up using these guys at DE or safety as needed – but for right now, it means that two solid players are in reserve roles. We go with SLB Galvan, MLB Rosenbaum, and WLB Kuykendall to start off the season, pushing former starting MLB Steven Watkins to a top reserve role, and moving James Dupree into a reserve/gunner position. I think all are solid players, and my hope is that Watkins might become a bit more forgiving on his contract demands is this season is spent in a supporting position.


That’s that – we are ready to head into the season. If we have needs on this team for this season, they might include a standout punt returner, an improvement at backup RB, and perhaps one more solid cover cornerback. Only the first of those needs is likely to show up in free agency, but we’ll keep our eyes open as the wave of final roster cuts come forth.

For future reference, Chesapeake Chessmasters might be suitable. Or for a less cerebral team, the Chesapeake Chaingang has promise. Then you have the Chipmunks, the Chimpanzees (or Chimps) and the natural progression to the Chumps. Challengers, Chaps, Chargers, and Chuckers (for a pass-heavy team such as yours) all come to mind as well.

Of course sticking with your food theme (Chitlin's, Chili Dogs) you could go for Cheerios, but that sounds rather like a British welcoming commitee.

I generally don't like the singular term for a team... but I agree, that is pretty good. Most of the rest have occurred to me at some point, but not this one.

Hope you don't mind - it's in my on deck circle.

I'd be flattered.

Roster Ready

Here’s where we are after the cutdown to 53 players:


I’m not wild about having five million in cap room right now, but this year’s free agency market was pretty dry – I don’t think we really missed out on too much for lack of effort.


We have rather sparse chemistry effects on this team, as it turns out – only five total affinities on the entire team. If things don’t go well with the “pure talent” approach this season, I may re-invest in this side of things. We have three conflicts, all arising from QBs – Derrick Sellers, my fourth QB causes two of them. That might make him vulnerable to a cut, especially if a promising player pops up in free agency at some point.


I do have a look through the free agent list at this point, and the best-looking players out there to me are, frankly, the list of guys we just cut. I have to expect some of these guys will get picked up for this season, but they are all off limits to us now. We have cast our lot.


With not quite everyone down to the roster limits yet (there are varied storied in this league), here’s a snapshot of where we stand:

Roster Rating: 93 (tied for 3rd behind Hell Creek 100, Toronto 100, and even with several teams – Jupiter, Austin, Shreveport, Capital City, and defending champions Mars)

Cohesion:
Passing – 87 (middle third)
Offensive line – 76 (bottom third)
Defensive front – 80 bottom third)
Secondary – 96 (top third)

I don’t quite understand the secondary rating – we are starting two brand new cornerbacks this year, but admittedly we do have several veteran guys who have been around her a long time.


Nothing new to report here – this team is built to be competitive right now, and we are angling for a meaningful berth in the title hunt.

Week 1: South Carolina at Chesapeake

We open up at home, against a team making moves to rebuild under new leadership. We are solid favorites to start off strong here, and the game goes pretty well for our lads, as we put forth a strong third quarter effort to tally our first win of the season.



Well, in the first game, my decision to start DE Donald Shihi seems to have paid an early dividend. I had to ignore the red/green bars to do so, but he has been soproductive as a pass rusher, that I felt he deserved a chance to play. First game – 32 pass plays, he notches 2.5 sacks and a QB hurry. That’s outstanding.

Chadwick Morimasa gave us a workmanlike performance – but we’ll be looking for more than 3 yards a carry over the longer haul. I know he’s used to running behind brutes on the OL – now he’ll have to make do with this group, like it or not.

I just spent 15 minutes thinking of a clever pun regarding Boner's performance. For everyone's sake, I've decided to side with the better part of discretion.

Thank you.

That makes you the first. Nice save.

Week 2: Chesapeake at Burlington

We are made 4 point favorites on the road, playing against a club with a strong starting QB, but probably not the level of talent that should give us real trouble. I’m optimistic that if our team plays well, we can get a solid road victory here.


Just a dreadful effort, really. No excuse for that kind of day from our offense – we were positively anemic. One long TD drive, and basically we’re done for the day. 36 yards rushing? 220 yards of offense? Good lord, that’s disgraceful. The defense wasn’t awful, but letting them hold the ball for 38 minutes is just ridiculous.

Terrible, terrible effort. A team of the caliber I as hoping for simply would not let this happen. Sure, we could lose a game like this one, but not in this fashion.

Actually, the game capsule for us is right here:


We couldn’t protect the QB, he misfired a fair number of times, they blocked away some of his good passes, and we dropped more than our fair share of the rest. There you go, a big fat turd.


Does anyone deserve a stoke from this game? Maybe S Mark Carr, who only gave up one catch, batted one pass away, and grabbed a pick. Fine, you’re the mayor of shitsville.


Grrr…

Week 3: Chesapeake (1-1) at Davis (0-2)

We get a shot at some redemption here, playing on the road again against 0-2 Davis. Despite their slow start this season, Davis has been a playoff team for three straight years – this is not a pushover game.


We get a better showing from our offense, and eke out a road victory.

Rookie CB Billy Joe Scanlon makes his first league interception, and puts forth a nice effort in his first real game action. For the third straight game, DE Alvin Hall puts up 1.5 sacks, and he is on his way to potentially a fine season for us after being a slight disappointment as our top overall draft pick. We have 10 sacks and 20 hurries in our first three games – not bad.

LB John Galvan suffers an injury, and will miss three weeks. Fortunately we are plenty deep at LB, and move Steven Watkins back in to start at MLB, with Gary Rosenbaum playing at Galvan’s usual SLB slot.

We now have the division lead to ourselves, and will gear up for our return home to take on Norwich next week.

How did Donald Shihi do? I'm always interested in how a game replicates players who perform better than their raw ratings. It would be a nice story to see this guy become a valuable player despite his lack of talent (from a ratings point of view, which is a necessary evil in text-sims - but that's an entirely different conversation altogether).

Week 4: Norwich (0-3) at Chesapeake (2-1)

Here’s a game we should win – we’re taking on Norwich, who are off to a slow start.


Not a dominating win by any stretch, but we come away with a W.

FB Morimasa was effective, including one long run, but then pulled up with an injury – he will miss a couple of weeks. I’ll have to do some thinking about the depth chart for the next couple of games – Smith filled in okay, but I’m unsure about him as a full-time starter.

We also lose LB Travis Kuykendall for a couple of weeks – suddenly our depth at LB is looking like a wise decision, as we still have solid players for all three slots even with two starters down.


So, after four games, here’s the team summary for a decent overall view:


What makes me pleased here? We’re pretty effective at stopping the run so far – 3.4 yards per carry is even lower than what we get on the ground, and we’re terrible! Actually, the defense as a whole has been pretty effective, though we have been yielding points.

The offense isn’t really clicking completely, but we’re average and perhaps have the potential to improve. We’ll see about the RB situation, but Boner and company can keep pitching it around okay, I think.