[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 28 down, 4 remaining
Yeah, playoffs...

The 2102 IHOF season is winding down, after 256 regular season games and 8 more in the playoffs, there are 4 teams still standing. On the NAC side of things, the top two seeds were beaten. The third seeded Chesapeake Chitterlings (11-5) won at the second seeded Oakland Black Panthers (12-4), while the Texas Sharks (10-6) pulled the bigger upset by beating the Chicago Norsemen (12-4). The Sharks are still missing their star quarterback Keith Vitale, out with a concussion, but they are somehow holding up well without him. It means there will be a new champion, as the Black Panthers were the title holders. And also means that the two seemingly strongest NAC teams go one-and-done, while the good, but not great, Sharks and Chitterlings face off for a ticket to IHOF Bowl XCIX.

In the Atlantic Ocean Conference, our conference, the Gothenburg Giants (10-6) travelled to the top seeded Toronto Lake Monsters (13-1-2), after having beaten the third seeded Paris Musketeers (11-5) in the wild card round. In a sensational back and forth game, the Lake Monsters prevailed in overtime. Next up a clash with the second seeded Tucker Tigers (12-4), after they beat the Rochester Razorbacks (12-4). Toronto and their quarterback Terrence Levingston are to be considered the favorites, despite that the Tigers and their this season acquired veteran quarterback Angel Henson were arguably the second best team in the league so far.

Far away from the action on the field, the off field activity is slowly getting started up. We'll have some work to do in the off-season, determining what to do with the 53 players currently on roster and the 7 draft picks we're entitled to. Out of those 53, 16 are out of contract, but 8 of them will be restricted free agents. QB Jay Bates was inactive all season, while RB Van Goodwin WR Calvin Hancock, LB Mo Fausel and second year LB Wally Cooley were on our special teams group. WR Gage Greer was inactive most of the season, but played 1 game on the special teams unit. TE Darnell McKie looks like an interesting prospect, he could develop into a reliable third down short yardage receiver and a special teamer. Left tackle Carson McCormick had a respectable season, but with 10 starts, his agent might come with absurd demands.

6 veteran free agents have been late signings, hence their one-year contracts. TE Clarence Gore returned to Maassluis in an inactive mentor role, but the 35-year old could still be a reliable route runner. G Joey Arnold and CB Eric McCool were exclusively signed for an inactive mentor role as well. T Junior Karr was initially only meant to mentor the rookie tackles, but we decided to make him start in 6 games ahead of McCormick. LS Francisco Griffith is a player we want to return to Maassluis next season, unless we find a better snapper who can also mentor our unpolished starting center.

More prominent could be the talks with DE Warren Mendelssohn, who was our leading pass rusher despite his cheap one-year contract. S Blaine Wright became a fulltime starter in his 5th year with us, it'll be a challenge to fend off other teams, although we fully expect his agent to come up with unreasonable demands, scaring away the competition and meaning that Maassluis could be the only team that could use him.

Last but not least, what to do with the Lost Cause Ken Torphy? His talent should be undisputed, but he's coming off a season with just 848 yards with a 2.77 yards per carry average and 2 touchdowns. But the lack of experience on the O-Line didn't just plummet his running performance, he had lows in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns as well. But he bounced back a little bit in the last 6 games, where he was basically good for 20 carries for 70 yards. Maybe his underwhelming numbers will scare other teams or make his agent undersell him. I doubt that though, which means that if we want to bring back Torphy, we'll have to make him a better offer than the one he was supposed to have signed on opening day, but for silly reasons never received.

Does that mean the other 37 players are safe to stay? Well, no. Let's not forget that despite the promise of some players, our roster isn't just one of the most underdeveloped in the league, but our staff assesses the potential of our roster as bottom 5 as well. Which for some teams (like the Merchantmen) doesn't always mean the team is a bottom feeder, but in this instance, there's reason for concern, despite an exceptionally talented WR duo.

Which brings me to the plans for the draft and free agency. It's always tricky to share too much in the public, but it won't come as a surprise that the 2102 Merchantmen were lacking in some areas the fans are used to seeing us play much better in. Let's go over the team quickly group by group.

Quarterback
Is Earnest Ashley the answer? He's still mister 50-50, even when he throws for 300 yards. Overall he's scouted as a mediocre starter, but we're getting playoffs level yards per attempt out of him, he's got the ability to avoid interceptions. Yet, he flipflops from good to bad games, and usually when he has a great game, he throws an uncalled for late game pick that either turns a blowout into a nailbiter, or worse. So, yes, quarterback is a position to look at. Ashley is locked up for two more seasons, $30M in bonus for 2103 and 2104 would be the dead cap hits if we turn away from him. If we don't restructure, but keep him, he's in for $70M next season.

Skill positions
Rookie TE Garrett Alcala needs to start developing, he's still very green, especially his route running is lacking, it has to improve for him to be a factor and we know that a Merchantmen offense without a decent receiving TE can't work. Another question mark will be whether WR Ed Schulz wants to return for an 11th season. I hope he does, he's still got the skills to be a great WR3. I mentioned the RB Ken Torphy situation already, but it's not just him, it's more about whether we want to invest in one guy or want to go to our old school two or three back system. Or can we find a Walt Blair kind of wow-factor, which is what we hoped to have gotten in Torphy.

Offensive Line
The starters are all young and underdeveloped, but mostly, half of them are basically not going to yank up an O-Line to being world class. But we did see rough diamond signals on basically all four of the starting rookies, which should be a reason to give them another chance, no? Maybe just finding one extremely talented veteran would boost this unit up enough.

Front seven
Yeah, this unit will get addressed. Popular belief is that some positions are overrated, but the Maassluis Merchantmen have thrived when there was a world class defensive tackle on the team. We can't demand any new guy to become the new Charles Gomez or Shaun Hartman, but we do need a guy that can do it all on all downs and keep enough o-linemen busy to give the defensive ends even more opportunity to reach the quarterback. Behind the D-Line, we've been lacking a stud linebacker. Don't tell the kids that got the action last season, they might disagree. I'm not sold on Abraham Desimone and Micah Halvorson, but they do actually should be considered to be roughly middle of the pack in this league, which should be good enough, no?

Secondary
We need a new safety. Devon Farrell is about to fall apart, we can't rely on him anymore. I'd love to find a new shutdown cornerback like Peter Tucker, Kirk Hitchock or more recently at a slightly lower level Ernie Grant. But sometimes a kid like Donnie Dogins can get the job done. There's a much bigger risk that we'll lose both starting safeties Farrell and Wright. So, safety is where we'll have to look at.

Special teamers
We're always willing to look at these positions, we've made a tradition of being that team that drafts a kicker in the second or third round. And do it again four seasons later to replace that guy. Even guys I think are good, are never safe to stick around. The support cast roles are not locked up either. Long snapper will need t be addressed, punt returner might be if Rondell Robertson doesn't improve.

Pretty much that.