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Old 11-21-2018, 12:48 PM   #24
MIJB#19
Coordinator
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Maassluis, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands
2078 Pre-Season, first two games
Alright, pre-season is here! Finally we're got to see some football. We went into the first couple of games with the intention to mostly play the youngsters and keep some starts off the field. Most notably quarterbacks Bennett Morris and Sammy Erickson have been saved for the second couple of games.

Despite the backups being in action, we managed to win both of the first two pre-season games. QB Ellis McAlister was in his usual pre-season form, completing 17 of 29 for 247 yards and 1 touchdown in the 19-12 win at the Oakland Black Panthers. How about the rookies? RB Walt Blair was inactive. RB Ronald Graham ran for only 4 yards on 6 carries. WR Rico Techen had 2 catches for 6 yards. DT Chandler Posante was on the field only 29 times, his endurance issues are already imminent? LB Abel Gonzalez lead the team with 3 passes defended.

The pre-season home game against the Arizona Miners wasn't nearly as close as the 31-24 score suggests. Arizona came back within 7 with only 14 second to play. We outgained them and actually forced turnovers. QB Ellis McAlister was even more impressive, completing 23 of 32 for 359 yards and 4 touchdowns. Two of those scores went to J.R. Mills, who wasn't supposed to see a lot of action, but still gained 101 yards on 5 receptions. Rookies: RB Blair was still inactive. RB Graham ran for 26 yards on 5 carries and had 1 catch for 29 yards. WR Techen had 2 receptions for 36 yards. DT Posante played on only 26 downs, this doesn't bode well. LB Gonzalez had 3 tackles.

Abel Gonzalez is one of six casualties of the first series of cuts down to 53. He was an undrafted rookie free agent signing and had an impressive training camp, but we're too deep at linebacker for this kid to make it without any special teams skills.

Veteran defensive tackle Marc Stevens is the biggest name of the six cuts. He was a starter the last 3 seasons, but never lived up to his pass rush potential.

Quarterback Jamal Radford was our 2077 5th round pick. We kept him inactive for the majority of his rookie season. His sense rush ability suggest he might be better than '31 overall', but behind Morris, Erickson, the emerging McAlister and kick holder Holmes we have no roster spot available.

Dean Meadows played 4 seasons with us. On paper was a starter in his third season, but gained only 2.7 yards per carry. He did win DogBytes Special Team Player of the Year honors as he scored 2 punt return touchdowns and 1 kickoff return touchdown. But his fumbling (18 on 528 touches) makes him a liability.

Safety Ricardo Kornbluth and defensive end Avery Morrish were both signed during the 2077 post-season. We gave them a training camp and 2 pre-season games to show their ability. But their odds to make the team were slit to begin with. Kornbluth does have the potential to be an excellent zone defender, but right now we'll prefer the cohesion other guys at safety give us. Morrish was only an option to make the team as a pure special teamer and I decided to stick with Alexis Turner and other long standing guys for that unit.

That leaves us with 54 guys signed, just 1 too many. We've got 3 starting quality quarterbacks, with Morris in the top5. Perhaps I should go onto the market and try to find a new home for Erickson or McAlister.
I'm also mulling over which running back should be our 3rd down back: Connell or Curie. First things first: two pre-season games to see what Morris with Mills, Stevens, Nadell, Elliott and Schwirzke might be capable of.
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* 2005 Golden Scribe winner for best FOF Dynasty about IHOF's Maassluis Merchantmen
* Former GM of GEFL's Houston Oilers and WOOF's Curacao Cocktail
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