2018 draft and camp
Not surprisingly, I’m deeply disappointed in this draft. I had two positions of high need—CB and RB, and both are stunningly poor in this crop. One RB looked very good to me—he fell to pick #9 but was taken there by San Francisco. I end up leaving those positions, and selecting in anticipation of a future need. As it turns out, the players at CB and RB who I rated to be tops at the time of my first round pick—they are available for my next two selections, so again things are okay.
Amateur Draft Report:
Rnd 1 - Gerald Hardman, S, Saginaw Valley – should be good for my defensive scheme (97/99/56/67)
Rnd 2 - Juan Gunn, CB, Washington State – good pickup at need position (60/89/67/67)
Rnd 3 - Jake Duran, RB, Nevada – second best RB in draft, by my book (62/84/38/70/34/58/55/78/67)
Rnd 4 - Wendell Rivers, TE, Colorado State – solid TE, plus a local product
Rnd 5 - Dixon Serwanga, RB, Clemson – very strong current ratings – possible redliner?
Rnd 6 - O.J. Ellison, QB, Washington State – too good to pass up, Acc 70/ Power 53, most in 40-70 range
Rnd 6 - Ryan Vance, WR, Western State – little talent here, but he’s from local school
Rnd 7 - Travis Strobel, RB, Ohio State – another possible breakout player, almost no green lines
I’m not too thrilled by the talent left in the late rounds. I nonetheless get through the draft, and am fairly pleased with my early picks at least. I really wanted a stud RB—instead I got three more guys who look like what I’m used to—solid, but not spectacular.
I hadn’t planned to re-sign FB Jon Gaylor, but seeing the dearth of FBs in the draft has changed my mind. I ink him to a two year extension. I also re-sign T Joel Ignasiak to a pretty lucrative 4yr deal—he looks like he can be the dominating LT that we really want to have, and I’m pleased to make the investment. LB Casey Finley is also up for new deal, and even though he no longer shows potential to grow beyond his current ratings, he’s worth a commitment. I sign him to a 4yr deal. K Marvin Sherman will return and do my kicking duties this season, as he takes a three year deal.
I make some cap room (I was topped out after those re-signings) by releasing several of my fourth year URFA guys—each making over $4m. That clears plenty of room to bring in a bunch of URFAs, looking for breakouts particularly at TE and LB. I’ll let a couple of my Colorado guys (LB Runyon and CB Nixon) drop through into the open market, and I’ll hope to re-sign them after camp.
Here’s the group that comes into my training camp:
Position/Player Current Est Future Est Exp Sgnd
QB Darrin Hoover 7 8 11 2018
QB O.J. Ellison 6 12 1 2019
QB David Brennan 6 11 2 2020
QB Jeremy Flowers 5 13 2 2019
RB Dixon Serwanga 9 11 1 2020
RB Jake Duran 8 13 1 2020
RB Kyle Downs 8 10 3 2019
RB Albert Dirita 7 8 1 2021
RB Gus Hasty 6 8 2 ----
RB Ralph Collier 6 9 2 2020
RB Travis Strobel 6 8 1 2019
FB Jon Gaylor 8 9 4 2019
FB Kenyon Pieper 7 10 2 2019
TE Myron Gibson 10 10 3 2018
TE Wendell Rivers 8 13 1 2020
TE Norman Huntley 7 9 1 2018
TE Randall Perlman 5 5 1 2021
TE Henry Sullivan 5 7 1 2018
TE Arnold Henderson 5 6 1 2021
TE Barry Swedberg 4 7 2 ----
WR Sammy Kerr 15 15 6 2018
WR Kris Ferderer 11 16 2 2020
WR Karl McKeefry 9 11 3 2019
WR Gus Irwin 7 8 3 2020
WR Grant Pyle 7 9 1 2018
WR Grady Ward 5 7 1 2021
WR Pete Atkins 5 6 4 2018
WR Ryan Vance 2 6 1 2019
C Dana Burgess 9 10 4 2018
C Bob Raphael 8 11 3 2018
C Billy Joe Reno 7 12 1 2021
G Leo Mitchell 13 14 6 2018
G Eugene Brock 6 14 2 2019
G Tracy Burgess 4 10 2 2018
T Joel Ignasiak 14 17 4 2021
T Cole McElroy 13 14 5 2018
T Daryl Agrawall 7 9 4 2018
T Perry Reich 7 10 3 2020
P Dean Coles 9 12 2 ----
P Kirk Booker 6 6 10 2019
K Marvin Sherman 5 5 2 2020
DE Lionel Schumacher 16 17 5 2019
DE Wes Conaty 7 11 3 2018
DE Rick Lock 6 16 2 2022
DE Alvin Emmons 4 7 4 2018
DT Alex Dosoo 14 14 6 2018
DT Corey Johnston 6 10 2 ----
DT Joseph Cicci 5 7 3 2018
LB Dominic Barlow 16 16 12 2018
LB Raymond Coppola 13 18 3 2021
LB Casey Finley 12 13 4 2021
LB Daniel Rayburn 10 13 5 2020
LB Frank Runyon 6 9 5 UFA
LB Otis Gunn 6 7 2 2019
LB Alvin Skidmore 6 10 1 2018
LB Don Willis 5 8 3 2020
LB Sammy Sawyer 4 9 1 2021
LB Dennis Burgess 2 7 2 2020
LB Andy Van Winkle 2 9 1 2018
CB Carlton Taylor 16 17 4 2020
CB Andre Hopper 9 12 4 2018
CB Benjamin Nixon 6 7 6 UFA
CB Juan Gunn 5 12 1 2020
CB Darren Miller 4 10 2 ----
S Nolan Stoffel 15 15 6 2020
S Steve Frank 12 12 14 2018
S Gerald Hardman 8 16 1 2023
S Herman Humphries 5 9 2 2020
S Darrell Lake 5 8 3 2019
After camp, we exit with these scout comments:
Position/Player Current Est Future Est Exp Sgnd
QB David Brennan 7 11 2 2020
QB Jeremy Flowers 7 13 2 2019
QB Darrin Hoover 7 8 11 2018
QB O.J. Ellison 6 14 1 2019
RB Jake Duran 10 13 1 2020
RB Dixon Serwanga 9 13 1 2020
RB Kyle Downs 9 9 3 2019
RB Ralph Collier 8 8 2 2020
RB Albert Dirita 7 8 1 2021
RB Travis Strobel 6 6 1 2019
FB Kenyon Pieper 9 10 2 2019
FB Jon Gaylor 8 9 4 2019
TE Myron Gibson 9 13 3 2018
TE Wendell Rivers 8 13 1 2020
TE Randall Perlman 5 5 1 2021
TE Henry Sullivan 5 11 1 2018
TE Norman Huntley 5 6 1 2018
TE Arnold Henderson 2 4 1 2021
WR Sammy Kerr 15 16 6 2018
WR Kris Ferderer 15 16 2 2020
WR Karl McKeefry 10 12 3 2019
WR Gus Irwin 7 8 3 2020
WR Grant Pyle 7 9 1 2018
WR Pete Atkins 5 7 4 2018
WR Grady Ward 5 7 1 2021
WR Ryan Vance 2 8 1 2019
C Dana Burgess 9 11 4 2018
C Bob Raphael 8 10 3 2018
C Billy Joe Reno 7 12 1 2021
G Leo Mitchell 13 13 6 2018
G Eugene Brock 10 12 2 2019
G Tracy Burgess 8 12 2 2018
T Joel Ignasiak 14 16 4 2021
T Cole McElroy 14 14 5 2018
T Perry Reich 7 9 3 2020
T Daryl Agrawall 7 9 4 2018
P Kirk Booker 6 6 10 2019
K Marvin Sherman 6 6 2 2020
DE Lionel Schumacher 16 17 5 2019
DE Rick Lock 10 15 2 2022
DE Wes Conaty 8 13 3 2018
DE Alvin Emmons 5 7 4 2018
DT Alex Dosoo 14 14 6 2018
DT Joseph Cicci 5 7 3 2018
LB Dominic Barlow 16 16 12 2018
LB Raymond Coppola 14 18 3 2021
LB Casey Finley 13 13 4 2021
LB Daniel Rayburn 11 13 5 2020
LB Don Willis 6 8 3 2020
LB Alvin Skidmore 5 10 1 2018
LB Sammy Sawyer 5 9 1 2021
LB Otis Gunn 4 7 2 2019
LB Dennis Burgess 3 7 2 2020
LB Andy Van Winkle 2 5 1 2018
CB Carlton Taylor 16 16 4 2020
CB Andre Hopper 11 13 4 2018
CB Juan Gunn 5 12 1 2020
S Nolan Stoffel 15 15 6 2020
S Steve Frank 11 11 14 2018
S Gerald Hardman 8 16 1 2023
S Darrell Lake 6 10 3 2019
S Herman Humphries 5 7 2 2020
I’m okay with most of my rookies. Hardman, Gunn and Duran all came through looking fine. RB Serwanga did develop a bit more potential, and is now very much on par with Duran. Late round QB Ellison looks like he bumped up as well—my scout has moved him up to having the highest upside of the bunch. What to do? The loser in this camp was, of course, QB Brennan, who failed to step forward and still looks okay—but probably not the best for the long haul. Decisions, decisions.
None of my URFA picked up with breakout hopes panned out—RB, TE and WR just seem to be positions where you cannot tell. It does happen, but I’ve only seen it when it’s been out of the blue (unlike OL, DL, and LB).
I have a number of moves to make now. I grab a few Colorado guys from the FA pile, including my LB and CB that I had planned to retain. I also get a decent backup-quality TE, who will fill a need area for me. I pass (again) on a very good WR Cory Guzman who, for some reason, doesn’t seem to be able to hold a job—he’s from Air Force, and this is the 3rd time I’ve seen him in the post-camp FA pool. He tends to sign 1-yr deals, play very well, then he end up right back here. Odd.
Here’s the squad of 53 that survives the final pruning:
Roster for the Colorado Springs Black Squirrels
Name # Pos HT WT Exp Stat College
Hoover, Darrin + 7 QB 6-4 215 11 ----- Arizona State
Brennan, David 19 QB 6-5 201 2 ----- Washington
Flowers, Jeremy 3 QB 6-2 194 2 ----- Maryland
Ellison, O.J. 13 QB 6-0 216 R Inact Washington State
Downs, Kyle 33 RB 5-9 215 3 ----- Stephen F. Austin
Serwanga, Dixon 45 RB 5-11 199 R ----- Clemson
Duran, Jake 44 RB 5-7 220 R ----- Nevada
Dirita, Albert 47 RB 5-7 202 1 ----- Arizona
Gaylor, Jon 31 FB 6-0 230 4 ----- Oklahoma State
Pieper, Kenyon 24 FB 5-11 241 2 ----- Louisiana Tech
Paullin, Les 85 TE 6-4 223 4 ----- Colorado State
Rivers, Wendell 89 TE 5-11 248 R ----- Colorado State
Kerr, Sammy 88 WR 6-2 203 6 ----- NWestern St., La.
McKeefry, Karl 84 WR 6-3 192 3 ----- Texas A&M
Irwin, Gus 82 WR 6-3 177 3 ----- Furman
Ferderer, Kris 81 WR 5-10 178 2 ----- Penn State
Vance, Ryan 86 WR 5-11 189 R Inact Western State
Ward, Grady 14 WR 5-9 187 1 ----- Troy State
Burgess, Dana 57 C 6-6 252 4 ----- Notre Dame
Raphael, Bob 52 C 6-1 293 3 ----- Colorado State
Mitchell, Leo 60 G 6-1 328 6 ----- Georgia
Burgess, Tracy 64 G 6-7 301 2 ----- Evansville
Brock, Eugene 63 G 6-3 269 2 ----- Western Michigan
McElroy, Cole 72 T 6-9 301 5 ----- Tennessee
Ignasiak, Joel 66 T 6-5 305 4 ----- Nebraska
Agrawall, Daryl 69 T 6-9 314 4 Inact Middle Tenn. St.
Reich, Perry 71 T 6-2 331 3 ----- Cincinnati
Booker, Kirk 11 P 6-3 226 10 ----- Air Force
Sherman, Marvin 4 K 6-1 188 2 ----- Colorado
Schumacher, Lionel 92 DE 6-3 273 5 ----- Alabama
Emmons, Alvin + 91 DE 6-5 284 4 Inact North Carolina State
Conaty, Wes 95 DE 6-0 241 3 ----- South Carolina
Lock, Rick 90 DE 6-1 254 2 ----- Notre Dame
Dosoo, Alex 98 DT 6-6 305 6 ----- Delaware State
Cicci, Joseph 94 DT 6-5 255 3 ----- Northwestern
Chew, Deon 96 DT 6-2 293 1 ----- Furman
Barlow, Dominic 50 LB 6-0 241 12 ----- San Diego State
Runyon, Frank 56 LB 6-3 206 5 ----- Colorado
Rayburn, Daniel 53 LB 6-1 238 5 ----- Air Force
Finley, Casey 51 LB 6-2 257 4 ----- Michigan State
Willis, Don 54 LB 6-4 265 3 ----- Penn State
Coppola, Raymond 58 LB 6-2 242 3 ----- Nebraska
Sawyer, Sammy 97 LB 5-11 222 1 ----- Clemson
Skidmore, Alvin 59 LB 6-2 232 1 Inact Temple
Nixon, Benjamin 21 CB 6-0 204 6 ----- Colorado State
Taylor, Carlton 28 CB 5-10 184 4 ----- Arkansas
Hopper, Andre 29 CB 6-0 195 4 ----- Mississippi
Gunn, Juan 42 CB 5-11 179 R ----- Washington State
Frank, Steve * 37 S 5-9 226 14 ----- Rice
Stoffel, Nolan 20 S 5-9 187 6 ----- Oklahoma
Lake, Darrell 26 S 5-11 193 3 Inact Oregon
Humphries, Herman 34 S 6-1 209 2 Inact Notre Dame
Hardman, Gerald 43 S 6-0 226 R ----- Saginaw Valley
Salary Cap: $171.9 million
Room Under Cap: $13,830,000
QB will be the big question this year—I’m still inclined to use Brennan as my starter. Regardless, I’m hopeful that the rookie RBs can provide some spark, and that the line can continue its excellent play. If so, then our defense ought to have the chance to step up and play even better than it has—and this team could take a real step forward.