I decide to "auto assign points" for the draft, to escape what seems like a click-a-thon of epic proportions. That appears to have scouted and interviewed the top 40 or so players, which seems dumb if I st at 1.1... all those guys going 3-20 aren't even in my world anyhow. Alas, moving on...
It's a draft page! We're on the clock! Yay! My staff all want the QB from well-known powerhouse Rutgers, I guess why not, we're just barren there on the roster and it has to be hard to improve, right? Unless Steve DeBerg is out there as an 86-rated free agent, I didn't check. He's got a tag as a "game manager" which sounds like a serious knock on a 1.1 pick, but I don't really even see where that came from (interview, i suppose). QB Henry Knight, come on down.
Okay, we drafted. I have no idea how that is supposed to work - I surely did it all wrong. My pinhead staffers recommended guys, there are text write-ups on each guy (a la Football Mogul/Baseball Mogul) that seem to have been typed up by infinite monkeys, and most of the numeric data available before was gone at this point. If the game seems worth playing, maybe I'll try to figure things out someday.
After the fact, I see I got some emails from my various staffers telling me about "sleepers" they liked in the draft. Nice angle, I like it in concept. I, of course, missed it here but might look more closely once I figure out what to do in this game, generally.
Hitting "Advance League" goes back to free agency. Okay. I have $21m in cap space, and nothing but shiny fossils to spend it on. Beats me.
After 5 more FA days, it's apparently time for training camp. I know this because I was asked the loaded question "are you sure you're ready for training camp?" No I am not sure, lemme go do that shit right now. Well, it looks like you can customize this... don't feel like it right now, so we'll leave it vanilla, at my potential peril, I know, I know.
So, I get training camp results, which don't mean a lot except that FitzMagic apparently won't be one of those guys at 44 with stud level ratings asking for a huge contract:
So, these might be random, luck, or something meaningful... lost on me. Pluses are good, minuses are bad, that's all I've got for now.
So, we are apparently ready for pre-season. Here's my entire roster dumped out:
Code:
# Name Hgt Wgt Ovr Pos Age Exp Str Agi Arm Spe Hnd Int Acc RBl PBl Tck End KPw KAc Yrs Sal
14 Fitzpatrick, Ryan 6' 2" 223 76 QB 38 15 51 52 76 44 10 76 75 1 1 14 77 1 1 3 $6,100,000
14 Knight, Henry 6' 4" 252 87 QB 21 0 45 72 84 40 1 84 85 1 1 6 88 1 1 6 $8,100,000
3 Rosen, Josh 6' 4" 218 81 QB 24 2 63 46 79 56 45 78 81 1 1 45 79 1 1 3 $1,406,000
33 Ballage, Kalen 6' 2" 227 84 RB 25 2 51 72 58 79 73 59 55 62 55 1 82 1 1 2 $1,690,000
27 Farrow, Kenneth 5' 10" 220 77 RB 27 4 56 67 15 78 57 55 14 28 13 22 66 1 1 4 $1,280,000
37 Gaskin, Myles 5' 10" 195 81 RB 24 1 63 67 1 72 61 79 1 55 61 1 77 1 1 3 $1,070,000
28 Laird, Patrick 6' 0" 205 77 RB 23 1 61 61 1 73 57 66 1 55 61 57 80 1 1 3 $1,045,000
38 Cox, Chandler 6' 1" 236 80 FB 24 1 63 67 1 77 70 69 1 49 35 1 98 1 1 3 $836,000
62 Calhoun, Shaq 6' 3" 311 72 G 24 1 73 36 1 47 1 64 1 69 61 1 69 1 1 2 $780,000
63 Deiter, Michael 6' 6" 325 79 G 24 1 74 67 1 67 1 70 1 68 67 1 72 1 1 3 $712,500
62 Hearn, Taylor 6' 5" 325 80 G 24 2 74 68 1 47 1 57 1 75 75 1 72 1 1 4 $650,000
63 Isidora, Danny 6' 4" 322 83 G 26 3 94 40 1 37 13 59 1 81 71 30 74 1 1 3 $1,282,500
64 Reed, Chris 6' 5" 310 79 G 28 5 73 49 1 49 10 64 1 82 65 23 61 1 1 2 $1,020,000
71 Davenport, Julien 6' 7" 304 81 T 26 3 75 40 1 39 3 71 1 80 74 23 78 1 1 4 $4,190,000
77 Davis, Jesse 6' 6" 327 75 T 29 5 74 38 1 43 9 69 1 70 67 13 77 1 1 3 $627,000
75 Millard, Spencer 6' 3" 328 75 T 22 0 81 37 1 26 18 59 1 77 69 27 71 1 1 1 $300,000
59 Prince, Isaiah 6' 7" 310 81 T 24 1 84 61 1 65 1 68 1 68 69 1 76 1 1 3 $2,250,000
70 Boehm, Evan 6' 3" 310 79 C 27 4 79 41 1 46 10 48 1 78 69 23 54 1 1 3 $1,390,000
67 Kilgore, Daniel 6' 3" 308 89 C 33 9 86 37 1 52 13 58 1 85 78 30 63 1 1 2 $3,600,000
48 Pepper, Taybor 6' 4" 245 70 C 26 3 71 35 1 46 8 66 1 62 59 37 72 1 1 1 $690,000
86 Gesicki, Mike 6' 6" 252 79 TE 25 2 75 46 1 69 81 57 1 63 49 1 74 1 1 2 $3,660,000
46 Smythe, Durham 6' 5" 245 72 TE 24 2 66 64 1 69 63 43 1 61 60 1 74 1 1 3 $1,957,000
80 Sparks, Francisco 6' 5" 227 75 TE 21 0 60 70 1 86 61 70 1 38 37 18 59 1 1 1 $300,000
19 Grant, Jakeem 5' 6" 165 76 WR 28 4 40 69 1 74 83 65 1 22 17 35 80 1 1 3 $2,413,000
86 Hurns, Allen 6' 3" 205 86 WR 29 6 60 86 1 77 88 63 1 25 18 21 82 1 1 1 $9,888,000
15 Louis, Ricardo 6' 1" 215 73 WR 26 4 33 64 1 75 87 55 1 21 12 25 67 1 1 2 $760,000
11 Parker, DeVante 6' 3" 218 94 WR 27 5 57 87 1 91 97 60 1 16 13 35 81 1 1 1 $10,000,000
82 Williams, Preston 6' 4" 210 74 WR 23 1 70 60 1 74 63 64 1 31 27 14 74 1 1 2 $590,000
35 Aikens, Walt 6' 1" 210 87 CB 29 6 57 72 1 81 61 56 1 1 1 71 73 1 1 2 $4,270,000
20 Bademosi, Johnson 6' 0" 200 88 CB 30 8 41 73 1 78 53 50 1 1 1 90 79 1 1 3 $5,016,000
25 Howard, Xavien 6' 0" 201 88 CB 27 4 44 73 1 80 56 50 1 1 1 84 75 1 1 3 $1,985,500
30 Lammons, Chris 5' 10" 190 79 CB 24 2 57 61 1 64 66 69 1 1 1 72 68 1 1 1 $450,000
23 Tankersley, Cordrea 6' 1" 200 83 CB 26 3 43 69 1 81 48 53 1 1 1 79 63 1 1 2 $730,000
31 Webster, Ken 5' 11" 189 84 CB 25 1 57 66 1 70 63 74 1 1 1 78 82 1 1 3 $1,083,000
33 Wiltz, Jomal 5' 10" 174 75 CB 26 3 54 65 1 69 54 64 1 1 1 60 67 1 1 1 $1,212,000
55 Baker, Jerome 6' 1" 225 75 LB 24 2 52 66 1 67 49 68 1 1 1 79 76 1 1 2 $1,270,000
45 Biegel, Vince 6' 4" 245 78 LB 26 3 73 68 1 58 35 70 1 1 1 76 71 1 1 1 $1,692,000
49 Eguavoen, Samuel 6' 0" 227 71 LB 27 1 74 57 1 63 28 61 1 1 1 61 67 1 1 2 $610,000
56 Garcia, Willie 6' 1" 200 77 LB 24 0 76 78 1 60 25 46 1 1 1 72 63 1 1 1 $300,000
57 Hanks, Terrill 6' 3" 230 78 LB 24 1 61 74 1 83 51 74 1 1 1 66 79 1 1 3 $2,375,000
45 Hull, Mike 6' 0" 232 82 LB 29 5 71 61 1 71 34 62 1 1 1 83 67 1 1 2 $4,250,000
44 Lacey, Deon 6' 3" 235 80 LB 30 4 64 68 1 67 39 85 1 1 1 78 69 1 1 2 $740,000
52 McMillan, Raekwon 6' 2" 243 79 LB 25 3 73 63 1 68 51 75 1 1 1 71 73 1 1 2 $2,160,000
43 Van Ginkel, Andrew 6' 4" 236 81 LB 25 1 68 73 1 75 43 69 1 1 1 73 75 1 1 3 $2,210,000
72 Brown, Isaac 6' 1" 279 73 DT 20 0 70 67 1 43 39 47 1 1 1 68 50 1 1 3 $255,000
56 Godchaux, Davon 6' 4" 293 82 DT 25 3 76 44 1 62 34 52 1 1 1 76 58 1 1 3 $1,197,000
73 Jenkins, John 6' 3" 359 79 DT 31 7 80 40 1 43 23 45 1 1 1 71 55 1 1 3 $560,500
97 Wilkins, Christian 6' 4" 310 90 DT 24 1 85 70 1 75 1 76 1 1 1 75 72 1 1 3 $2,360,000
90 Harris, Charles 6' 3" 255 90 DE 25 3 73 74 1 76 27 46 1 1 1 83 59 1 1 3 $2,370,000
45 Harris, Trent 6' 2" 256 79 DE 24 2 70 64 1 66 40 61 1 1 1 70 55 1 1 4 $541,500
98 Ledbetter, Jonathan 6' 4" 280 77 DE 23 1 68 57 1 63 48 69 1 1 1 67 74 1 1 1 $860,000
78 Lehmann, Cedric 6' 1" 295 72 DE 24 0 82 58 1 59 35 65 1 1 1 50 74 1 1 4 $255,000
91 Moss, Avery 6' 2" 269 91 DE 25 3 74 66 1 74 25 47 1 1 1 92 57 1 1 3 $5,000,000
44 Orchard, Nate 6' 3" 255 83 DE 27 5 67 56 1 68 36 53 1 1 1 84 66 1 1 3 $2,185,000
29 Hays, Robt 6' 3" 203 73 FS 24 0 30 65 1 88 57 43 1 1 1 46 74 1 1 1 $300,000
28 McCain, Bobby 5' 11" 196 86 FS 27 5 35 72 1 93 52 52 1 1 1 83 64 1 1 3 $2,061,500
42 Bell, Jason 6' 0" 192 82 SS 20 0 43 86 1 72 63 67 1 1 1 74 78 1 1 4 $255,000
20 Jones, Reshad 6' 1" 215 99 SS 32 10 83 77 7 80 56 71 1 1 8 98 97 1 3 1 $10,000,000
7 Sanders, Jason 5' 11" 185 74 K 24 2 61 60 58 64 1 72 58 1 1 1 66 69 73 1 $470,000
2 Haack, Matt 6' 1" 201 76 P 25 3 48 64 58 67 1 57 1 1 1 1 82 77 74 3 $860,000
I don't want to dwell on stuff like my rookie QB being assigned the same jersey number as my veteran. That kind of stuff will get worked out in the...*checks notes*... sixth generation of the game or so. Move on.
The whole flotilla of free agent veterans is still sitting there, including FB John Kuhn, who at a 99 overall rating is apparently the greatest football player to lace 'em up since Jim Thorpe. Whatevs. Every team is over the cap, maybe the consequence isn't anything except the inability to sign free agents.
I go to my "contracts" page, and figure I might try to re-sign a guy or two. I put in offers, don't know when it comes together.
I don't really know what else to do. So I'll just go ahead and start the season.
So... time passes... we end up 6-10. I'm looking for a way to capsule our stats, and paste them here. Don't see anything like that. Kinda funny the AFC leaderboards feature Deshaun Watson (check), our guy Knight (cjeck), and Aaron Murray (late of Georgia, last seen I don't know where) atop the leader boards for passing. Kalen Ballage posts a 1,000 yard game. I guess we were better, overall.
I look back into my email inbox, and notice that S Jones signed my extension, while WR Parker thought my offer was laughable. So it goes.
I save the game. Chuckle at the outcomes. And wrap up my writing for the night. We'll see if I make it back to this game, could go either way.