[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: the 53 for 2111

Okay, let's recap how we winded down to the 53 players that will play in week 1 of the 2111 season for us. Starting by letting you know which players joined us in free agency between the draft and training camp, then mentioning which players didn't make the team.

TE Kyle Upshaw, CB Brad Morris, QB Darien Lincoln, CB Greg Carfagno, S Stan Cook, DT Christopher Wrighster and CB Preston Lewis have been our undrafted rookie class for 2111. Wrighster worked hard on making the switch to defensive end and got rewarded for it. Upshaw, Cook and Lewis also made the final roster. Morris has moved on to the Paris Musketeers. Lincoln and Carfagno didn't wow enough to make the team as our new quarterback project and our new punt returner.

Also not making the final 53-men roster were some long time members and rookie draft pick.

RB Marcus Jorg had become angry overplaying time, his agent's silly demand was not to just be the main ball carrier (which by game plan he was), but all that really mattered to him was being on the field on the first play from scrimmage. Nothing Less or more. Releasing Jorg opened up some cap room and paved the way for rookie Renaldo Billodeaux to make the team. Jorg leaves us after 4 seasons as a former undrafted rookie gem, eventually saw a lot of time-share action in the 4-1 2108 late season push and the last two seasons in between, so he's been used to playing winning football. Jorg had 204 carries for 834 yards and 9 touchdowns, a valuable member in the rotation with Bennett Holmes and Cary Delgado.

WR Rick Emerson left us after 9 seasons. He was our 7th round draft pick in 2102. In his first 7 seasons with us, he was active in every single game, primarily in a special teams role, but in the later seasons also as a cohesion booster. The last two seasons he was replaced on the special teams squad and saw less action, but turned out to be a huge factor mentally in the 7-game winning streak at the end of the regular season. He leaves after 127 games played, including 4 in the playoffs, in which he scored 5 touchdowns, the highlight being a Hail Mary catch in 2108 at the Moontown Darksiders in a 19-16 victory.

TE Darnell McKie leaves after 9 seasons in a mainly backup role. This former undrafted rookie broke into the team right away as our third tight end and over time occasionally also played on the special teams unit. We flipflopped with him between third and fourth string, but will never forget his pair of touchdowns in the 2104 playoffs, despite the 42-21 loss at Fort Wayne that day. McKie played in 94 games for us.

DT Mitch Potchynok leaves us after 9 seasons of service. A pass rush specialist, we trusted on Potchynok quite often over the years in our passing downs formations. His overall production was mostly helping disrupt and not getting the credits for the sacks made. He played in 134 games for us, which shows how trustworthy he was to me.

DE Zachary Abueva failed to make the team for the third time in his career. He did make the team in 2110, but we kept him inactive throughout. I do believe he's amongst the players that might get called in case of injuries.

DT Leslie Jeffries was our 4th round pick in 2109, but in 2 seasons he remained inactive. I still think he can be a capable run stopper, but we have better on roster. He has already moved on to play for the Paris Musketeers.

CB Ike Pollock was our late 5th round pick this draft, but despite his promising punt return and special teams potential, he got lost in the numbers game.

When I have some more time on my hands, we'll break down the 53 players that did make the team and I'll let you know how we fared in the first 5 games of the 2111 regular season...