[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: A pre-season to forget...
Unprecedented. That's the word for it.

We just finished the pre-season scoring 41 points, that's the cumulative of all four games. We scored a grand total of 6 field goals and 3 touchdowns, all 6-pointers were interception returns. So, basically, the defense outscored the offense. Welcome to the 2088 Maassluis Merchantmen.

Usually, this would be the time of year to announce our 53 men roster, but to be frank: we're still working on some last minute changes before opening weekend. What it means? Let's wait for a day or so and we'll get back on that.

Those hoping for a return of Ellis McAlister, that's out of the question. Despite that he dropped his demands severely from $35M to $11M for a one-year rental, he's simply unwilling to return to Maassluis. Well, honestly, we can't really blame him here.

So, Francisco Farley? How'd he do in pre-season action? He completed 19 of 42 passes for 160 yards with 2 interceptions, 3 sacks and 1 fumble on a scramble (he had 4 carries for 30 yards).
Yup.

Do I have hope he can get things going? Well yeah, even if I didn't, I would still say I do. Because we have to keep believing, throwing our best quarterback under the bus would not help at all. I see you thinking: "best quarterback, what does that look like in this case?"

Farley is scouted by our staff as roughly a 25/35 on the scale of 1-100. Let's draw the picture
XX+_______ screen
XXX+______ short
+_________ medium
XX+_______ long
XXX++_____ deep
XXX_______ 3rd down
XXX+______ accuracy
XX________ timing
XXXXXX____ sense rush
XXX+______ read def
+_________ 2-minute
XXXXXXXX__ scramble
XXXXXXX___ muchnicking


Compare that to McAlister (scouted at 50/50), whom we recently released:
XXXXX_____ screen
XXXXXX____ short
XXXXX_____ medium
XXXXXXXX__ long
X_________ deep
XXXX______ 3rd down
XXXXXX____ accuracy
XXXXXXX___ timing
XXXXX_____ sense rush
X_________ read def
XXXXX_____ 2-minute
X_________ scramble
__________ muchnicking

That's a huge step back from a guy that was already struggling to make our passing game excel. Or perhaps we've arrived at finally realizing our game plan has been too optimistic and Theo Bondy has covered it with his sensational skills.

The defense hasn't been all that great either, but we're going to need these guys to do well, exceptionally well, to have a shot at winning some games. We may look depleted here, having let go of DE Gino Kemp, DT Heath Oliver, DT Erik Shrader, MLB Craig McCorkle, OLB Glenn Brewer, CB Lee Hancock and S Bart Farrell. That's 7 starters gone. We're going to enter the new season with 9 rookies, just on defense. Is that definite? It probably is.

And as such, we're going to have to rely on guys that are no rookies, but still pretty young. DE Gene Kondolovski enters his third season, DE Archie Exner is into his second season. DT Jumbo Mojica is a second-year pro with zero experience and will likely team up with rookie Kurt Ackerman in the middle of the line. OLB Clayton Jackson spent the 2087 season inactive, a rookie will be our third linebacker. Second-year pro CB Jessie McNeil or undrafted rookie CB Ted Frias will be our guy opposite Kirk Hitchcock.

The offense will be mostly unchanged though. Mostly, because we did let go of our RB2 Leonard Belin, FB Tristan Cochrane, TEs Miles Barker and Jessie Taylor, WRs Artie Blazewicz and Tucker Gaylor, and saw G Harvey Hank retire. That's roughly 5.5 more starters gone, including the departure of QB Ellis McAlister.

So yeah, a huge overhaul. I may check on this later, this could be the biggest rebuilding project in franchise history.

Wait, what? Did I throw "rebuilding" in there?
Apparently I did...

Rephrase that. This is the biggest change of guard in franchise history. Pre-season results have me much less enthused about the upcoming season, but I do realize it's just pre-season. Yet, the offensive game plan needs change, that's a sure thing. We might shift to a slightly more run heavy approach, but not too much to allow defenses to adapt.

Nothing is impossible? Well, I'm not dreaming of reaching the bowl game like I did over the previous 4 or so seasons, when we had an elite team, we should have gotten there with that roster. But now, winning the division would be a positive surprise. Sure, I think we can do it, but it won't come easy, that's for sure. But impossible?

We've got to keep believing in ourselves, we can do this. Go Merchantmen!