[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: My Merchantmen looking good in pre-season?

Pre-season action has arrived and the first two games we played well. Or did we really get tested, facing the two worst teams of last season?

We kicked off with a 24-14 win over the Fairbanks Northstars, gaining 409 yards and giving up 134 yards. Their first touchdown was a 99-yard interception return. QB Evan Drake completed 19 of 34 passes for 278 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception. RB Broderick Levine ran for 86 yards and 1 touchdown. WR Calvin Maxwell had 8 catches for 162 yards and 2 touchdowns. Rookie WR Alfredo Samuels had 1 catch for 8 yards. Fellow rookies C Zane Chaplain and G Andres Uwaezuoke traditionally were benched in the third quarter, I hate it that my staff keeps doing that to rookie linemen. S John Aponte and CB Herb Duffy, sadly, barely played. QB Monty Truitt and CB Joel Delgado were inactive, as were on the fence about FB Carlos Wiggins, DE Lester Simmons and DT Conrad Columbo.

We continued with a 24-10 victory at the Arizona Miners. We gained 329 yards and gave up 198 yards. QB Evan Drake completed 6 of 14 passes for 84 yards, with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. That last part is becoming a concern. RB Broderick Levine ran for 73 yards and 2 touchdowns, once again stealing a lot of RB Bennett Holmes' carries. TE Garrett Alcala is ready for the season, notching his first touchdown of the pre-season. Rookie WR Alfredo Samuels had 1 catch for 20 yards. The staff once again fucked up, taking rookies C Zane Chaplain and G Andres Uwaezuoke off the field long before the game was over. S John Aponte and CB Herb Duffy got a bit more plays, but still far too little to be able to get ready for the season. The same rookies were inactive as in the first pre-season game.

Between these games, our coordinators re-evaluated the roster and came to the conclusion some players are not what they used to be or that we hoped they'd be. The main casualties, if you can call them that:

* QB Evan Drake, went -8/-8, not quite obvious where he went down in ability, which makes it even scarier that it will be in his ability to avoid interceptions. His sense rush is still off the charts (100) and timing good enough (55).

* RB Van Goodwin went -11/-11, but by virtue of being our best special teamer in the backfield, he's going to make the 53-men roster anyway. Still sad to see a player aged 27 decline so hard. His hole recognition (20) in particular vanished.

* RB Rondell Robertson went -10/-10 and by that is going to not make our regular season roster. In fact, he'll be released mid-pre-season. That's too bad as he was our punt returner for the past 4 season, an area in which he also regressed.

* TE Darnell McKie went -9/-9. It marks his second straight pre-season with a big decline. He will still make the team though, his special teams skills are still good, but in particular his route running (50) took a hit.

* WR Alfredo Samuels went -2/-8, which is a terrible sign for a rookie. His trainnig camp was already underwhelming (+3/-2), but this makes for a horrible forecast about his future in Maassluis. His route running (5/30) went from acceptable to a looping hole in his abilities. His special teams skill will keep him active and could be high enough hang on to him long enough to see where he'll be in 2 or 3 seasons.

* G Corwin Driver went -6/-6 and will be off the team before pre-season is over.

* DT Ben Courcy went -6/-6 and DT Gabriel Morris went -10/-10, yet they continue to overall be one of the best duos in the league at their position.

* LB Mo Fausel went -8/-8 and moved even more into the direction of being just a special teamer. Same can be said about the unhappy LB Cody Ross, he went -9/-9.


On the bright side of things is QB Monty Truitt, as he went +3/+2 in training camp and more spectacularly n.c./+6 in pre-season. If he keeps this up, he might be for real and an improvement over QB Randy Walters (still 30/50 overall), who will be cut. Truitt will be active in the last 2 pre-season games. RT Ivan Dole went +4+4 and grew even more into being an elite run blocker. Undrafted rookie Joel Delgado went +4/n.c. in training camp and +1/+5 in pre-season, which means we're going to find a way to make him make our 53-men roster. He'll be our alternate to the starting CBs, but with lack of zone defense skills, he'll have to wait for their injuries to come into play. Delgado will get action in the final pre-season games.