No Running in Tom Brady's Empty Cupboard Challenge
Premise: Draft a QB in the 6th round or later (UDFA also) that wins 6 or more Super Bowls using an all passing gameplan after beginning with a random player file draft where the worst players are chosen to start the team
Conditions: Contract extensions must be exactly what the player requests, cannot sign another teams FAs, only AI initiated trades, UDFAs to fill roster, injuries off, salary cap and scouting at default
2026 - Year 7
Trade
Not really a positive value trade, but I opted to accept the 4.14 pick from Baltimore for former 3.1 pick OLB Luis Thompson. Switching back to a 34 because of superior coaches, Thompson doesn't fit the scheme and was only in the solid/good category as is.
Draft
Scouted ratings are after the draft and then before Week 1
This is an interesting class, at first glance it appears wholly average with 1 player having a ceiling of 60+. Both LBs and the NT better fit the 34 than the players I have on roster currently however they don't look very skilled. Griffin looks like another receiving RB, which is good because O'Neill has almost no endurance, and Martin Herndon could be something at QB. I would have had to give Wooden the franchise tag and decided barely making the playoffs wasn't worth it. If I didn't have the restrictions on trades I would have moved back instead of taking Ellis at 1.21 but both he and Whiting interviewed as 'very underrated'. The AI also graded my class an 'A-' which leads me to believe there is going to be some improvement after camp and preseason. I'm not entirely sure what is and what isn't predetermined, I just know some aspects of progression are each, and the grade seems to correlate in some way. Realistically I think I just rushed this draft. I didn't spend much time looking over players before deciding on my interviews and was quick in making each rounds selection. Given the success I've had in recent SP games I didn't anticipate the struggles I'd have with this playthrough. Before this season I'll be reworking the playbook and seeing if I can't better optimize it before training camp. And next year I'll make myself pay more attention to the draft - I need to get some stud players, the ones I drafted early are getting old.
Code:
Pick Player # Pos Start Exp Cur Fut
1.21 Terry, Ellis 511 FL 1 42 57
2.21 Whiting, Willie 518 FL 1 30 55
3.21 Armstrong, Jamie 1451WLB 1 45 61
4.14 Snyder, Chance 1546LCB 1 27 59
4.21 Contois, Marshall 1352SILB 1 24 53
5.21 Chandler, Benjamin 1270NT 1 32 50
6.21 Herndon, Martin 114 QB 1 11 41
7.21 Griffin, Irving 239 RB 1 32 42
Better improvement to the draft class than the last few years with more players going up than down. A little disappointing that WR Willing Whiting didn't go up as he was 'very underrated' like WR Terry Ellis. Herndon looks like a possible QB who could work but Schwantes is only in year 4 so no need to rush a replacement. The front seven is made stronger with a real 34 OLB in Jamie Armstrong and the secondary improves with a quality CB in Chance Snyder.
Code:
Pick Player # Pos Start Exp Cur Fut
1.21 Terry, Ellis 511 FL 1 50 66
2.21 Whiting, Willie 518 FL 1 33 52
3.21 Armstrong, Jamie 1451WLB 1 53 69
4.14 Snyder, Chance 1546LCB 1 33 62
4.21 Contois, Marshall 1352SILB 1 28 46
5.21 Chandler, Benjamin 1270NT 1 34 44
6.21 Herndon, Martin 114 QB 1 15 44
7.21 Griffin, Irving 239 RB 1 33 42
Trade
When Indianapolis offered a 4th round pick for TE Terry Borrego I had to take it. I knew Borrego wasn't much of a receiver when I drafted him but he turned out to be worse than expected. Getting a 4th for a TE who doesn't fit my scheme and is 3rd on my depth chart is a no brainer.
QB Room
Although Herndon saw a bump after preseason I'm still going to roll with Schwantes. I should have stuck with him last season since I knew I'd need to franchise Wooden to have kept him. Now I've got a 4th year QB who still isn't fully developed. Either way, the tentative plan moving forward is to keep Schwantes as the starter until a clear cut replacement is found. In tweaking the playbook and gameplans I think I can post better numbers with a higher YPA and better TD to INT ratio but the variance was fairly high in testing. We'll see how the season goes, the team is good, I just can't seem to figure out how to consistently win with a below average QB and pass only gameplans.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Cur Fut Cntrct OnTeam
Schwantes, Graham 107 QB QB 4 32 45 3 yrs. 2023
Herndon, Martin 114 QB 1 15 44 4 yrs. 2026
Campbell, Tristan 101 QB 3 13 39 2 yrs. 2024
Amari, Joe 103 QB 2 10 26 3 yrs. 2025
Season - 8-8, 3rd in AFC East
Nice to see the playbook/gameplan tweaking pay off - too bad I neutered the defense by switching to a 34. At the time it seemed like a good idea to get better scouting, but in hindsight I had a nice 43 defense built and essentially turned studs into duds in several cases. Next offseason I will need to do a better job putting everyone in the best position with the new scheme or switch back to a 43; which may be preferrable as I find it easier to build with more defined roles. Either way, easily the best season yet for the offense in the NRiTBECC with over 7 YPA and better than a 2 to 1 TD to INT ratio. Also, and I think because the passing game was better, when scrambling Schwantes YPC went up as well. Unfortunately because of the defense the team finished 8-8 missing the playoffs. Now that I've got a better playbook/gameplans for a mediocre QB to only pass, it will be easier to get this team back in contention. Schwantes will be maxed out progression all next year so if I can fix the defense and he puts up similar numbers I think a Super Bowl run is possible.
Code:
Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int Rate
7 G. Schwantes QB 839 519 6125 7.30 40 18 91.0
**Team --- 852 523 6163 7.23 40 18 90.2
$$Opp --- 644 386 4208 6.53 25 14 83.1
Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD Fum
7 G. Schwantes QB 144 746 5.18 5 8
**Team --- 164 806 4.91 5 16
$$Opp --- 447 1963 4.39 9 12
Individual Stats
Code:
Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc Y/Tar Drop TD
82 A. Devine WR 302 183 2568 14.03 8.50 16 17
86 B. Dennis WR 121 82 863 10.52 7.13 5 9
88 L. Al Shawa WR 150 82 1035 12.62 6.90 10 5
33 J. Berry FB 58 37 367 9.92 6.33 3 1
83 C. Burgess TE 58 36 285 7.92 4.91 5 1
22 R. Starks RB 49 32 229 7.16 4.67 6 1
89 N. Giles TE 45 32 307 9.59 6.82 1 2
35 M. O'Neill RB 43 25 321 12.84 7.47 1 4
Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack Hurr Ints Defn PDPct
21 T. Leinaweaver S 113 30 0.0 0 1 10 76.8
58 T. Weir ILB 107 49 1.0 0 0 8 75.1
98 A. Everett OLB 86 25 5.5 11 2 8 78.3
25 D. Turner CB 74 11 1.0 0 4 12 77.2
95 J. Norton DT 66 16 5.0 23 0 2 82.8
42 S. Petherick S 64 32 0.0 0 0 5 75.1
38 E. Newhart CB 56 22 1.0 3 2 9 81.0
51 J. Armstrong OLB 51 22 3.5 7 1 5 81.2
28 R. Walton CB 46 9 0.0 0 2 10 80.1
52 M. Contois ILB 32 18 0.0 0 0 2 68.9
77 W. Stone DE 31 15 2.0 11 0 0 81.1
90 B. Land DE 24 12 1.5 8 1 0 83.1
97 G. De Jongh OLB 19 7 1.0 1 0 1 75.7
Team Stats
Code:
New England Patriots Team Rank
Rushes per Game 10.3 32
Rushing Yards 50.4 32
Yards Per Carry 4.91 4
Pass Attempts 53.3 1
Completions 32.7 1
Completion Pct. 61.4 20 (T)
Passing Yards 385.2 1
Yards Per Attempt 7.23 5
Yards Per Catch 11.78 2
Total Yardage Gained 425.6 1
3rd Down Conversions 31.8 25
Points Per Game 28.5 1
Pass Rush Pct. 19.1 19 (T)
Pass Defense Pct. 51.5 11
Turnovers 23 21 (T)
Turnover Margin -3 20 (T)
Opponents Team Rank
Rushes per Game 27.9 25
Rushing Yards 122.7 21
Yards Per Carry 4.39 16
Pass Attempts 40.3 31
Completions 24.1 29
Completion Pct. 59.9 7
Passing Yards 263.0 31
Yards Per Attempt 6.53 14
Yards Per Catch 10.90 23
Total Yardage Gained 375.6 30
3rd Down Conversions 38.1 27
Points Per Game 21.7 17 (T)
Pass Rush Pct. 18.2 8 (T)
Pass Defense Pct. 45.4 10
Turnovers 20 17 (T)