2027 Richmond Archetypes Season in Review
Beginning of Season and Free Agency
I don't make any changes at coach or scout again this year. I franchise star receiver Marvin Kadletz and head into free agency. The Atlanta Falcons offer me the 7th overall pick for my super OT Shannon Wyatt. He is definitely a strong player, but the 7th pick is usually a real impact player so I check out the draft board. There are three players that I would love to add to my team as well as three pretty good tackles in case of the three I want is gone early. I decide to take a risk and trade Wyatt.
I sign a great OT in free agency to a four year, $60 million contract to replace Wyatt. At the end of free agency I accept two more deals. In the first I get a third round pick and a good center for last year's leading rushing Marvin Kabinoff. In the second I accept a deal for last year's starting center for a third round pick and a linebacker I immediately cut. The final result of the deals is that I got a better center and $3 million in free cap space to sign my URFA's after the draft.
Amateur Draft
I possess the seventh and 31st picks in this year's draft. My goal is to get a starter quality cornerback and a stud RB. I get my stud CB with my first pick and I spot a pretty good RB down my scout's list I will target for my next pick. The running back is already gone by the time my pick comes around. I see a pretty good guard and a safety with potential to be a star. I only have two safeties on my roster and RJ Harvey is already in his tenth year, so I take the safety. I get the guard with my second round pick. This draft really looks to lack depth so I'm beginning to wish I didn't have to take three third round players. I get a maxed out punter with my first third round pick. I take a RB with my second third round selection. I take a quarterback with my final third round selection. I get a fifth WR with my fourth pick. I take a DE purely as a roster filler with my fifth round pick. I get a decent TE in the sixth round
Preseaon
I'm happy to report that one of my URFA defensive tackles broke out in a real big way this year. I submit for your approval undrafted rookie free agent, Ernie Sweeney.
My other top rookies came out of training camp nicely as well. Here is Bryant Beuerlein, the seventh overall pick in this year's draft.
Bryant should step in as the starter at cornerback and I expect Sweeney will get significant playing time in some kind of rotation this year. Counting Sweeney, this draft was definitely a success. Here is my full roster heading into this season.
Position/Player Current Est Future Est Exp Sgnd
QB Levon Summers 14 16 4 2029
QB Sammy O'Donnell 13 17 3 2028
QB Kurt McCarthy 6 11 1 2029
RB Hardy Cronk 9 11 2 2028
RB Thomas Creamer 9 10 2 2029
RB Marty Winslett 6 9 1 2030
RB William Conwell 5 7 1 2029
FB Tom Bernard 11 11 6 2028
FB Rico Kovach 8 9 3 2028
TE Dean Finley 5 10 2 2028
TE Roger Starks 5 11 1 2029
WR Irv Crowder 16 16 8 2028
WR Marvin Kadletz 15 16 5 2030
WR Myron Keister 14 17 2 2030
WR Ronald Limond 11 12 4 2028
WR Bobby Stroup 6 10 1 2029
C Irv Welch 13 13 11 2029
C Luther Kimmel 11 13 3 2027
G Rusty Clancy 15 15 5 2029
G William Sharkey 14 14 9 2029
G Terrance Winslett 11 14 2 2030
G Kyle Kozak 6 16 1 2030
T Aaron Craig 13 15 7 2030
T Stanley Beyer 11 11 10 2027
T Blake Urquoila 7 9 4 2031
P Clay Hane 16 19 1 2030
K Wesley Holmberg 16 16 14 2029
DE Austin Porras 14 14 7 2029
DE Cory Matthews 14 14 7 2029
DE Kendall Coffey 3 7 1 2027
DT Sean Hawkins 12 12 8 2027
DT Carlos Reid 9 12 3 2027
DT Ernie Sweeney 8 16 1 2027
DT Hardy Nieuwstadt 8 11 3 2032
DT Dusty Falcon 4 11 1 2027
LB Bernie McClay 15 16 3 2029
LB Josh Cloud 11 12 5 2029
LB Clarence Mueller 9 13 3 2028
LB Cris Ochoa 6 13 2 2028
LB Adam Branch 4 6 1 2027
LB Andy Tindale 3 7 1 2027
CB Darrell Ross 13 13 9 2028
CB Bryant Beuerlein 10 15 1 2032
CB Erik Chapman 8 9 5 2030
CB Tyrone Barr 5 6 1 2027
CB Randal Kindred 4 5 1 2027
S R.J. Harvey 16 16 10 2028
S Karl Poston 15 15 8 2029
S Otis Goel 8 13 1 2031
I make it through the exhibition 4-0 and even more important, I am injury free! My goal this year is nothing short of the Superbowl.
Regular Season
We travel to Pittsburgh to open up our tenth anniversary season. We win the game 38-20. Hardy Cronk plays above his head and gets 171 yards and three touchdowns. Summers plays great getting 209 yards and two touchdowns on only 19 pass attempts.
We travel to Washington this week to face the hated Redskins and defeat them 27-13. Summers plays another brilliant game getting 223 yards and two touchdowns without an interception.
The road tour continues in Philadelphia this week where we face the 1-1 Eagles. They barely defeat us 23-20. The running game falters and Summers never really gets it going.
Cincinnati comes to Richmond for my first home game of the year and spanks us 29-7. The offense can't do much of anything and the defense doesn't show up to bail them this time.
Arizona comes to Richmond this week. Once again they are the cellar dwellers of the division. We teach them a thing or two about the chain of command with a 37-7 blow out win. Summers passes for 304 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. The running game actually shows up this week. I think my offense is really built around the run. If I can get even just a 100 yards on the ground per game I think my offense will be in good shape.
We travel to Dallas this week. I like this schedule. These early road games really toughen up the team. We manage to score 10 points in the final six minutes to steal this one. Summers gets 225 yards passing and a touchdown.
We travel to Arizona to face the pitiful Cardinals for the second time in three weeks. Must be Christmas time. We win this one 33-7. Summers goes out about midway and my two quarterbacks combine for 200 yards and three touchdowns with a single interception.
We travel to Portland this week. We defeat them 23-13. Two of my backs combine for 217 yards rushing and my kicker and defense do the rest. We now sit atop the division at 7-2 with six of our final seven games at home.
The hated Redskins come to Richmond at 4-5. This is a bit of an off year for them and we would love to kick them while they're down. We get the W with a 23-16 win. The offense scored quick in this game and then let the defense hold them for the win.
The Eagles come to town this week. It seems the Eagles are good year after year and this is no exception. They sit atop the division with us, tied at 8-2. Unfortunately they beat us in Philadelphia earlier in the year so we really need this game if we want to win the division. We make a huge statement with a 27-0 shutout win! We held them to only 11 yards rushing on the game, only allowed three first downs on the game, and gave up 74 total yards of offense.
We travel to Green Bay to face the Packers. We've had a lot of trouble with Green bay in our history and it seems like we ALWAYS have to play them at Lambo. This year is different, however. This year we win 24-19 to move up to 10-2.
This week the 3-7 Giants come to Richmond. They habd me my third defeat 39-33. Three key starters missed this game including stand-out rookie CB Bryant Beuerlein.
St Louis travels to Richmond this week. St Louis is another perennial powerhouse that we seem to have to play each year. This time we defeat them 33-8. RB Cronk goes off for 193 yards and three touchdowns. The defense holds them to only two first downs until the very final minutes of the game.
Baltimore comes to Richmond for the first time and we defeat them 47-26 to drop them to 8-7 and most likely out of the playoffs (although it’s the AFC, so who knows…). The defense plays huge once again. RJ Harvey leads the way with an amazing three interception with two returned for touchdowns.
My final game is against 5-10 Dallas, but I had already wrapped up home field advantage throughout the playoffs last week so I let my injured players rest but still win 34-17. I loose two players to injuries for the season, but neither is a starter so I feel good going into the playoffs.
Regular Season Recap
This team was easily the best I've had during my tenure at Richmond. I feel we are strong at every position and have enough depth at most to cover for injuries. We went 13-3 despite playing most of the season without leading receiver Irv Crowder and my best cornerback. Both will play in the playoffs though.
Key Stats
QB Leven Summers - 16 starts, 236/401, 3455 yards, 25 TD, 7 int, 100.5 QB Rating
Summers put all talk of a quarterback controversy to rest early this season with career best numbers in every category. He should easily be an All-Pro this year and even garner some voted for MVP.
RB Hardy Cronk - 16 starts, 303 carries, 1159 yards, 3.8 avg., 11 TD
We're really starting to think we could plug anyone one into our offense and generate 1000 yards rushing.
RB Thomas Creamer - 2 starts, 174 carries, 762 yards, 4.3 avg., 3 TD
I mean anyone. Creamer played well has the second back and even started two games at fullback due to injury.
WR Marvin Kadletz - 64/116 catches, 1028 yards, 16.0 avg., 7 TD, 13 drops
Kadletz had a pretty good year. He got to play as the primary receiver much of the year while Crowder suffered through various injuries just like last year. Way too many drops this year though.
FS RJ Harvey - 65 tackles, 11 int, 2 TD, 5 dfns, 51.6 PDQ
This guy should probably be DPOY. This was probably the best year for this potential HOFer.
SS Karl Poston - 78 tackles, 7 int, 1 TD, 9 dfns, 40.5 PDQ
The second half of Richmond's dynamic duo on defense. I should sweep the 1st team safety awards this year I think.
Team Statistics
Rushing: 3.8 / 3.0 / 3.7
Passing: 8.5 / 6.5 / 6.8
My numbers didn't change much from last year, but the league passing average went up which makes my defense look that much better. My scoring differential is where you can see the real change in my team.
PF: 451
PA: 260
Playoffs
I get the first bye for the first time in this career and then find that my first opponent is Philadelphia. We split the season series, but I defeated them in the playoffs last year so they should be hungry for this one. The good news is my players are hungrier. We go out and prove it with a 23-13 win. Creamer leads the way on offense with 179 yards a touchdown while Summers play mistake free football and the defense plays its normal suffocating style.
Tampa Bay will be our opponent for the NFC championship game. They entered the playoffs at 10-6 as the winners of the NFC Central. They had to go through the Wild Card round and seem to have several injuries coming into this game. We handle them easily 34-14 to earn a birth in our second Superbowl in three years!! Creamer had another huge game with 153 yards rushing and two touchdowns on only 15 carries. Winslett was huge with 95 yards rushing and one touchdown on 23 carries. Summers passed for 205 yards and a touchdown without an interception. Backup defensive tackle Carlos Reid let the defense with two sacks.
This year Denver will come to Richmond for the big game. The first half is mostly a battle of field position, but Denver manages to score a touchdown early to make it 7-0 at the half. We score on our first possession of the second half to make it 7-7. We stop Denver on their next possession, get the ball back and drive in for another score to make it 14-7 Archetypes with six minutes left in the third. We stop Denver again and get this time drive for a field goal to make it 17-7. My defense is starting to smell blood in the water and makes another great stop. We drive into their territory but they force us to settle for another field goal to make it 20-7 with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. Denver takes the ball this time and drives all the way into the redzone. My defense comes up strong and forces the field goal to make it 20-10 with five minutes left in the game. Denver attempts an onside kick which they manage to recover and they quickly drive for a touchdown to make it 20-17 with four and a half minutes remaining. We field the kick and then turn the ball over deep in our territory. My defense holds Denver to a field goal, but the game is now tied with only 4 minutes remaining. We field the ball in the endzone for a touchback, move to midfield and then score on a long touchdown to make it 27-20 with a little over a minute to go. My starting CB Darrell Ross gets an interception at my 17 yard line with nine second left and Summers takes a knee for the SUPERBOWL VICTORY!! I wish all the Superbowls were exciting as the two in which I have played…
Creamer carried the ball 22 times for 110 yards on the ground and one touchdown. Summers completed 19 out of 28 passes for 245 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. DE Cory Matthews was awarded Superbowl MVP for his 6 tackles, 2.5 sacks and single pass deflection.
Player Awards
My offensive line pulls a near sweep of the 1st team awards!
C Irv Welch - 1st Team All-Pro Center
G William Sharkey - 1st Team All-Pro Guard
G Rusty Clancy - 1st Team All-Pro Guard
T Aaron Craig - 1st Team All-Pro Offensive Tackle.
P Clay Hane - 1st Team All-Pro Punter
S RJ Harvey - 1st Team All-Pro Safety
DE Cory Matthews - 2027 Superbowl MVP
[This message has been edited by Daimyo (edited 01-24-2001).]