General Manager Notes: So, how good is this offense really?
I mean, in potential...
Let's take a look at the personnel that we have on the Merchantmen offense. I'll make a rundown of the squad, not going over all 26 offensive players, picking out the starters and those backups that are likely to see some or a lot of action.
| name | rated | fluff
|
QB Earnest Ashley
| 55/55 (16th in IHOF) | strengths: 3rd down, 2-minute drill, sense rush; weakness: long passes
|
RB Ken Torphy
| 65/65 (4th in IHOF) | strengths: 3rd down, receiving skills; weakness: average hole recognition
|
FB Damien Wanamaker
| 40/40 (10th in IHOF) | strength: best run blocker in IHOF; weakness: nothing but a run blocker
|
TE Wesley Martin
| 40/45 | strengths: run blocking, yards after catch; weakness: pass protection, endurance, running routes
|
WR Calvin Maxwell
| 80/80 (1st in IHOF) | strength: this guy is elite, seriously, the best in business; weakness: the GM's inability to game plan
|
WR Vinny Buysse
| 70/70 (5th in IHOF) | strength: seriously, this guy is all-around very good; weakness: none to speak of
|
WR Ed Schulz
| 45/45 | strength: solid for a WR3 in big play ability, getting downfield; weakness: decreased route running, drops passes
|
C Robbie Zinn
| 75/75 (4th in IHOF) | strength: all-around very good; weakness: endurance
|
LG Nickolas Toler
| 65/65 (17th in IHOF) | strength: pass blocking; weakness: endurance
|
RG Roger Staigvil
| 60/60 | strength: run blocking; weakness: pass blocking
|
LT Johnny Houston
| 55/55 | strength: okay pass blocker; weakness: okay run blocker
|
LT/RT Isaac Delgado
| 70/70 (22nd in IHOF) | strengths: okay run blocker, okay pass blocker; weakness: endurance
|
QB Terrell Sprehe
| 30/35 | strength: sense rush; weakness: everything else
|
RB Dashawn McIntyre
| 55/55 | strengths: okay receiver, protect the pass, endurance; weakness: okay hole recognition, nothing extra as a runner
|
TE Myron Lofton
| 40/40 | strength: 3rd down, okay routes runner; weakness: average run blocker, can only catch short passes
|
TE Riley Bridges
| 35/35 | strengths: run blocking, okay big-play ability; weakness: endurance, pass protection, route running
|
WR Mark Perkins
| 15/15 | strength: punt returner; weakness: can't do anything else
|
C Rickey Mason
| 35/40 | strength: run blocking; weakness: everything else
|
Combined with the best cohesion in O-Line and above average in the passing game, this teams should have enough to do good things. Sure, one could argue we're lacking a solid receiving tight end, but Martin and Lofton should be okay enough. The O-line isn't spectacular, but we've got above average starters in all five slots.
The cream of the team, Maxwell and Buysse is probably close to the top5 of best receiver duos in league history. So, yeah, to call it "mindboggling" or "bizar" still feels like an understatement. I really can't get my head around this, these two guys should be able to provide Ashley with all he needs to complete at least 15 to 20 passes per game for 175 to 200 yards, just to those guys alone and keeping in mind his apparent weakness in throwing long bombs (especially knowing he has proven he can complete those). Schulz, Torphy and the tight ends should be sufficient to improve that to 25 to 30 completions for 275 to 300 yards.
So, have at it. The defense has declined since the 2099 unit that was best in the league by points allowed, but the already declining Richie Piotte and Ernie Grant are incapable of still boosting their sidekicks into topnotchness. We've basically got an unMerchantmenlike team where the offense needs to outscore the opponent to win games. And we've seen they can do it early on in games, until our hard to guess game plan miraculously becomes easy to guess and we can't run for more than 2 yards or complete a pass anymore, while the defense keeps getting back on the field and worn out. This feels like an solvable puzzle, but right now I'm staring blank at it. Roughly a season ago I thought I knew how to turn things around, but I failed to get my mind to it and eventually we fell apart after all, with this season looking even worse than the previous one.
Get a grip, don't give up yet, find the time and motivation to work on a game plan that could work. It's doable, I know it is. The list of players above shows we've got the team for it.