[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Training Camp 2095 report is here
What's going on with Ed Schulz?

With the Merchantmen we went into training camp 2095 with 64 players, including the still injured punter Doug James. Was it a good camp? For some players we saw a lot of progress, some where we were banking on it. Others seriously disappointed. Let's run it down position group by position group, untraditionally from the bottom up. but traditionally rounded to the nearest '5s as per our staff members, which all but our assistent coach suck in judging player talent.

Special Teamers
20/20 (nc/nc) LS Bryce Karney
90/90 (nc/nc) P Doug James (injured)
50/50 (nc/nc) P Doug Guynes
80/80 (nc/nc) K Dylan McMullen
40/55 (+4/nc) K Tracy O'Neal (rookie)
Yup, promising kicker this O'Neal kid is, but McMullen is technically better. O'Neal won't make our pre-season squad.

Secondary
65/65 (nc/nc) S Devon Farrell
50/70 (+9/-5) CB Ernie Grant (rookie)
50/55 (+6/nc) CB Bryson Swafford
45/45 (nc/nc) CB Zachery Weisz
45/45 (nc/nc) CB Jackie Richardson
40/40 (nc/nc) CB Adam Harmon
35/35 (nc/nc) S Chuck Murray
35/35 (nc/nc) CB Britt Hudson
30/35 (+4/nc) S Gabriel Cromer
30/30 (nc/nc) S Jon Brotzman
20/25 (+2/nc) CB Keegan Cosby
Grant is for real, we're going to have a great secondary with Grant and Farrell. Swafford is continuing to give signs that he's better than he's scouted at. Weisz and Harmon continue to be excellent zone defenders, Brotzman a very good one. Murray a serviceable running downs safety, Richardson a decent man-to-man corner and mentor. Cosby looks to be headed for the door out, to join Cromer, who won't even make our pre-season roster. Cosby's kickoff return skills could save him.

Linebackers
75/75 (nc/nc) OLB Brandon Brady
45/45 (nc/nc) ILB Daquan Espino
45/45 (nc/nc) OLB Clayton Jackson
40/40 (+4/+4) ILB Andrew Cochrane
35/35 (nc/nc) OLB Jose Meadows
20/20 (nc/nc) ILB Brant Rayburn
Brady is the man, Jackson and Espino the sidekicks. Meadows and Rayburn are special teamers. Cochrane is the rough diamond that continues to improve, but he might end up just the second special teamer ahead of Rayburn.

Defensive Line
65/65 (nc/nc) DE Caiden Croyle (vet fa)
60/60 (nc/nc) DT Darien Fletcher
45/65 (+7/+3) DE Richie Piotte (rookie)
55/55 (nc/nc) DT Jumbo Mojica
50/50 (nc/nc) DE Gene Kondovski
45/45 (nc/nc) DE Archie Exner
40/40 (nc/nc) DT Harold Gough
40/40 (nc/nc) DT Caleb Domis
30/30 (nc/nc) DT Kurt Ackerman
Let's wait until pre-season changes to get overexcited, this crew is getting older. Piotte is the obvious star to be, we have potentially a great bunch, once again the best in the league purely based on pass rush technique.

Offensive Line
65/65 (nc/nc) G Desmond Pritchett (vet fa)
65/65 (nc/nc) C Robbie Zinn
55/60 (+5/nc) LT Isaac Delgado
55/55 (nc/nc) RT Howard Humphrey
45/45 (+5/+2) LT Johnnie Houston
45/45 (nc/nc) G Hayden Gaylor
40/40 (nc/nc) C Aidan Doyle
40/40 (nc/nc) G Andre Watson
25/50 (+4/nc) G Vince Henselman (rookie)
Quite the decisions to make in mid-pre-season. The top 5 names are most likely starters, but we know Gaylor is a suitable backup, while Watson has been reliable for so long, Doyle is good enough and Henselman had a decent camp.

Wide receivers and tight ends
55/70 (nc/nc) WR Ed Schulz
55/55 (nc/nc) TE Clay Gaynor
55/55 (nc/nc) WR Theodore Bondy
50/50 (nc/nc) TE Clarence Gore
50/50 (nc/nc) WR George Stuckey
40/40 (nc/nc) WR Rickey Lyle
40/40 (nc/nc) WR Branden Sandlin
25/40 (+2/nc) TE Ike Nixon
25/25 (nc/nc) WR Mark Perkins
20/20 (nc/nc) TE Renaldo Crawford
15/15 (+3/+3) WR Nicolas Coady (rookie)
Same bunch as last season, unless Coady makes a splash in pre-season and if one of the other receivers falls apart. Perkins and Lyle are our return specialist.

That said... What's up with Schulz? This is the puzzle I have no idea how to solve. For the second straight training camp, this "58% developed" super star makes no progress. Remember that he also made no progress throughout the entire '94 season. What's up with that, seriously, what's up with that? What's going wrong here? Is there reason to be worried? Not even, the kid had 19.86 yards per catch, this kid can play.

Backfield
60/60 (nc/nc) RB Jack Crane (vet fa)
50/50 (+3/+3) RB Trey Beyer
45/45 (nc/nc) RB Francisco Patter
35/45 (+2/+8) RB Edwin Harlow (rookie)
40/40 (+1/+1) RB Derek Finch (rookie)
40/40 (nc/nc) RB Benjamin Kapp (trade acq)
35/35 (nc/nc) FB Clay Brosseau
30/35 (+2/nc) FB Owen Johnston
Beyer might have locked himself into retaining half of the carries, but will the second one be Crane or will Patter retain his part? Is the Crane signing already one of our worst ever free agent signings? Harlow looks promising, so does Finch. Caveat, our OC can't judge young players, they might actually really suck. Kapp is still very talented, but it's unlikely he'll make the team. Finch and Harlow are also on the bubble.

Quarterbacks
35/35 (+3/+3) QB Earnest Ashley
30/30 (nc/nc) QB Moe Sheldon
15/30 (+2/nc) KH Jon Giles
10/25 (+2/nc) KH Shaquille Trenery (rookie)
5/25 (+2/-4) QB Colton Cote (rookie)
We know Ashley is much better than this and we'll continue to believe that and ignore our OC's assessment. Ashley is our starter, no questions asked. Cote and Trenery, won't make the pre-season squad.


That's it for now, more after our first couple of pre-season games.