[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2081, it's a wrap (sort of)
The playoffs are about to begin, but 2081 is over for us.

We finished the season with a 9-7 record, playing above average football for 13 games, only to turn into complete incompetence for the last 3 games. I know, I should be more supportive about my team, but reality is that we lost the last three by a 29, 13 and 19 points. Our first for losses combined for 20 points. The molded, dry cherry on the fallen apart pie was the 97 yards passing in week 17 at the Gothenburg Giants. I think that's unprecedented for us to be held under 100. Mind you, this is in the era of the passing game. The Paris Musketeers quarterback Neil Poling smashed the records with 574 completions on 919 pass attempts for 7,004 yards.

Our quarterback Ellis McAlister finished the season with career lows (as a starter) of 3,620 yards, 287 completed passes, 6.9 yards per attempt and 19 interceptions (technically a career high, but we'll throw that on the pile of worst ever numbers.

Walt Blair finished the season with 1,779 yards (third in the league), leading the league by a landslide with 17 rushing touchdowns, gaining a pedestrian 4.38 yards per carry.

McAlister and Blair. Free agents next off-season. I'm expecting both of them to get big contracts, hopefully far way in the North American Conference. McAlister is by my staff rated as the 21st best quarterback. 25th when you take into account the progress of four promising rookie or second-year quarterbacks. Blair is the 7th best running back according to our staff. He's irreplaceable, basically. *sigh*

We're still weak at wide receiver as well, despite having a 1,000-yard duo on what apparently has been the third most run-oriented offenses. Dennis Nadell is over his peak, we'll have to look at all three of the key skill positions next off-season.

The defense finished the season with a disappointing pass rush. We're still far above average, but no longer part of the elite. The pass defense has been pretty poor, despite all the talent. 385 yards per game allowed, slightly better than the league worst that we were in 2077, but still Merchantmen unworthy. Yes, unworthy, we'll have to improve on that in the next off-season.

And we will. LB Craig McCorkle, LB Glenn Brewer, DT Glen Stiegler and CB Kirk Hitchcock have the skills to carry this defense. Tre Poloski looks promising, ready to step in for CB Alonzo Hitchcock. S Maurice Harkleroad is still decent, but we'll be looking for a new guy to play side by side with him. The sidekicks on the defensive line are all talented enough to run havoc on any offensive line. Cohesion is still one of our strengths, let's build on that with a young core.

2082, can't wait for the chance to rebuild. Actually, we don't really rebuild, we fix what's been broken. We'll never play bad to improve our draft situation. The last time we won less than 7 games was in 2033, 48 seasons ago, and only once did we win less than 5 games. You know it, that was 2004, the inaugural season. We'll find a suitor to McAlister, we'll find a way to use our young gazelles at wide receiver, make tight end Monty Elliott the centerpiece of the passing game and improve that defense.

Keep faith, Merchantmen!