[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: TC 2089, mixed bag...
Fletcher, Yay. Bell, uh-oh?

Training camp, oh training camp. The time of year where young players make their big leaps forward in their ability to play ball. And for the staff an additional opportunity to make reports on how good they think the young guys are. But y'all are not interested in all 61 players that went into camp. Yes, we managed to sign an additional player and actually not some random hobo. But more on that later. Let's break down the roster by position group.


quarterbacks
45/45 Sheldon (no change)
30/35 Farley (+3/0)
10/50 Bell (+2/+2)
15/15 KH Muchnik (no change)
This is probably the group where optimism isn't in place. Bell made some progress, but nothing that will make us scream: Yes, he's our guy! It doesn't mean we won't give him pre-season action to show he was first round material. Farley's camp was clearly better than Bell's. This isn't a done deal yet on who will do what.

Backfield
55/55 RB Patter (+3/+3)
40/40 FB Brosseau (no change)
40/40 RB Szporluk (+2/+2)
35/35 RB/PR Thongchanh (no change)
30/30 RB Gunja (+2/0)
25/25 RB Ford (+2/+2)
15/45 FB Kinney (+3/-5)
The plan is to put Brosseau on the field more often on running plays. Thong' remains to be the fastest guy, but Patter hasn't just caught up, it's about to make more sense to make Patter the main ball carrier. Neither has the endurance to be a workhorse though. Ford is a special teamer, Kinney is a question mark to make the 53-men roster. Gunja will be released after camp, we had to trim down to 60.

Receivers
75/75 WR Bondy (no change)
45/45 WR Hammond (no change)
40/40 WR Sandlin (+1/+1)
30/50 WR Wilkerson (+3/-2)
35/40 WR/KR Messenger (+2/0)
25/40 TE Blake (+3/0)
30/30 TE Holliday (+2/-5)
30/30 TE Crawford (+1/-1)
25/30 WR/KR Arntt (+1/0)
20/25 WR Gelat (+1/0)
20/20 TE Kotz (no change)
Hammond who? Yeah, we signed somebody just in time for camp to have a legitimate WR2 (no offense, Branden Sandlin). Hammond was the Gothenburg Giants' leading receiver, curiously he was still looking for a team. The tight ends lack the skills to do well in our passing game, Holliday maybe, Crawford perhaps. Blake is a blocker, potentially.

Offensive Line
75/75 C Pearson (no change)
70/70 G Szott (no change)
70/70 RT Humphrey (no change)
65/65 LT Hadinger (no change)
55/55 G Theisen (no change)
40/55 G Watson (+4/0)
40/40 C Labbe (+6/0)
40/40 LT Hamilton (+5/0)
30/35 G Willis (+4/0)
Theisen or Watson, that's the question. The rest of the line should be as is. Labbe once again with great progress, the other guys also made good progress. And one of them will not make the 53-men roster, that's for sure.

Punter/Kicker/Long Snapper
55/55 P Guynes (no change)
55/55 K Wells (+5/0)
20/20 LS Biegen (no change)
We got special teamers. Shocker! They're all better than average, but nothing spectacular.

Defensive Line
60/60 DE Kondovski (no change)
60/60 DT Mojica (no change)
55/65 DT Fletcher (+7/-1)
45/45 DE Exner (no change)
45/45 DT Burgess (no change)
40/40 DE Russell (no change)
35/35 DT Ritt (no change)
30/30 DE Whiting (no change)
25/30 DT Ackerman (+2/0)
20/25 DE Gellar (+2/0)
We've got to like this group. The two second-year guys (Ackerman and Gellar) might be post pre-season casualties, but for now, they're hanging on. Burgess will probably be an inactive mentor for Fletcher.

Linebackers
65/65 Espino (no change)
50/50 Iveans (+4/-2)
45/45 Jackson (no change)
30/40 Mendelssohn (+5/0)
30/40 Wentz (+4/-1)
25/35 Peterson (+2/0)
20/25 Palmer (+3/0)
Espino, then Iveans, then Jackson. That's the hierarchy. Wentz might be a useful WLB. Possibly more so than passing downs specialist Jackson. Mendelssohn made so much progress, but is still a longshot to make the 53-men roster. Peterson or Palmer, that's the battle for a special teams role.

Secondary
70/70 CB Hitchcock (no change)
50/50 S Marty (no change)
40/40 CB McNeil (+4/+2)
30/45 CB Provo (+4/-2)
35/35 S Sword (+3/+2)
30/40 CB Frias (+4/0)
30/35 S Harper (+4/0)
30/30 S Newsome (no change)
30/30 CB/PR Blackwell (no change)
20/25 S Blanchard (+2/0)
Yeah, Hitchcock and a bunch of sidekicks. The safeties are all zone defenders, except for Marty, he'll be our running downs strong safety. Frias is a running downs corner, we'll need to rotate these guys a bit due to endurance issues.


But yeah, what does it matter? We'll see what these guys are worth when the first pre-season game is in the books. Bell will get the first team to play around with, we'll save the development sessions for the second couple of games.


Back to the wide receiver situation, we signed Ronnie Hammond. After four seasons in Toronto and six in Gothenburg, he's up to a new challenge and home. We figured he can still play ball and gave him a two-year deal. He played in two IHOF Bowls with the Giants, won in his first season there, lost last season. Also reached the AOC Championship game in his first season in Toronto. We need a second legitimate wide receiver to be able to make defense play a honest defense against us.

We actually tried to sign one more wide receiver and a new third offensive tackle, but those attempts failed. left tackle Manuel Stevenson signed with the Kansas Creationists, wide receiver Dale Snyder prefers to remain a free agent. Nobody will give you what we offered, but hey, your loss, Dale.

Time to move on, or continue with that. New game plan for a new beginning. C'mon, Merchantmen. We can do this.