[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Draft class of 2099 revealed...
And from a distance, well, it's an interesting one.

This is one of those points in the season where it feels somewhat scary to write about my plan and thoughts. You know, the competition is reading along and telling people what I'm going to do means they other 31 teams could get one step ahead of me. Well, that's the risk I'm running here. Without saying anything about my plans, let's take a look at our roster position by position, then what's available on the free agent market and in the draft, purely looking at the kind of numbers all owners have access to.


Quarterbacks
Nope. Let's not start here, let's go bottom down by how Solecismic orders positions.


Long snapper, kicker and punter
contracted: K Gino Shea (55/65), P Shaun Barlow (50/50)
restricted FA: LS Harris Custer (20/20)
unrestricted FA: -
open market: several LS (20/20), P Freeman (70/70), P Segers (70/70), K Blair (80/80), Giles (70/70)
draft class: P Summers (6.7), P Fletcher (6.5), P Stoffel (6.0), K Reynolds (6.1), LS Carr (2.0)
I should re-sign Custer in pre-draft free agency to fill the LS slot. I'm not 100% convinced Shea is going to be a solid K, but we don't have the cap space to sign one of the veterans and the best rookie is on par with Shea. P Barlow is on the decline, we can't afford to sign a veteran on the market (most likely), it's worth looking at the top rookies at P.


Cornerbacks and safeties
contracted: CB Grant (75/75), S Farrell (55/55), CB Leszynski (40/55), CB Weisz (45/45), CB Harmon (35/35), S Murray (35/35), S Wright (25/40), S Brotzman (25/25)
restricted FA: -
unrestricted FA: -
open market: CB Parrish (65/65), CB Haddad (55/55), CB Gunn (50/50), S Hawkins (60/60), S Linquist (55/55)
draft class: CB Burns (6.1), CB Temes (6.0), S Mueller (6.5), S Gauthier (6.3)
Ideally, I'd like to add a CB to the roster, but purely to have 9 CB/S. Quite frankly, the players on the open market aren't enough of an improvement over our veterans to pursue them. Never underestimate my interest in the draft, but most likely if I'm going to grab a CB/S, it'll be in the later rounds.

Linebackers
contracted: OLB/ST Brady (50/50), OLB/ST Bradford (45/45), ST Cochrane (30/30), ST Meadows (25/25)
restricted FA: OLB Ford (25/40)
unrestricted FA: ILB Hansen (45/45)
open market: OLB Hinson (65/65), ILB Zimmerman (65/65), ILB Levine (65/65), OLB Cholewczynski (60/60), OLB Chenard (60/60)
draft class: ILB Peterson (6.4), ILB Stanton (6.1), OLB Adler (6.4), OLB Lyons (6.0)
We're thin here and Brady is getting old and the cap figure no longer justifies for what he does for us. So, position of weakness for us. If we're going to go on the open market, this position would make sense. There's a handful of complete playmakers in the draft class, which is the alternative. And behind door number three is the trade option, which might actually be the most logical one. Ford can be re-signed at minimum salary, which should book him at least a training camp and pre-season roster spot. Hansen has the skills to be a run stopper, but I'm not sure we're going to want to give him the money he's asking for, despite that it's somewhat reasonable. I hope to go into pre-season with 7 guys on roster, with 6 of those at minimum to make the 53-men roster, including a couple of special teams specialists.

Defensive Line
contracted: DE Piotte (70/70), DT Shumate (55/55), DT Fletcher (50/50), DT Gough (45/45), DT Domis (45/45), DE Dobreski (25/50)
restricted FA: -
unrestricted FA: -
open market: DT B.Brown (70/70), DE Rackers (60/60), DE Lofton (60/60), DE Durfey (50/50)
draft class: DT Ford (6.3), DE Miknich (6.3), DE Ferguson (6.1), DE D.Brown (6.0)
The free agents want to get paid, big time. It's nigh impossible to even think about grabbing somebody here, not even a pure pass rusher, probably. The 6 guys on contract all are, aside from Dobreski, decent to solid enough, but we need a 7th guy for the active roster to get through a game. In the draft, Ford is the only close to complete DT, the rest of the class aren't 3 downs players. The top DEs are also close to complete, but behind them there are a few one-trick ponies worth interviewing. We'll have to get out of this off-season with at least 1 new DE/DT, highly likely 2 of them and to get through pre-season even a 9th guy, making it 3 new faces.

Offensive Line
contracted: C Zinn (80/80), G Toler (70/70), LT Delgado (70/70), G Staigvil (60/60), LT Houston (60/60), G Turnbull (35/35), C Mason (25/55)
restricted FA: -
unrestricted FA: RT Webster (25/30)
open market: several over 55/55
draft class: C Lonier (7.2), G Walters (6.7), G Oakey (6.5), G Loucks (6.1), T Bush (6.8), T Messantonio (6.1), Shepard (6.1), Blasingame (6.0)
Our line is set, no question about it. At least the starting 5. It's really about what to do for the backup slots on the team. C Mason is promising, G Turnbull good enough as a run blocker, if he doesn't fall apart in pre-season. The backup OT slot does need to be filled. I'd prefer to find 2 guys on the market or in the draft to fight it out.

Wide receivers
contracted: WR Buysse (60/70), WR Schulz (55/55), WR Stuckey (50/50), KR Thompson (15/15), PR Perkins (15/15)
restricted FA: -
unrestricted FA: -
open market: WR Sabol (55/55), WR Kemnitzer (55/55), WR Doyle (55/55)
draft class: Maxwell (6.2), Irwin (5.8), Ward (5.8), Korter (5.5)
Okay, we have 3 quite solid guys here and two quality return specialists. I'd prefer to have a 4th WR, the listed players from a distance all might be 1.3 pick worthy, or at least top10 worthy. We can't afford the mentioned veterans.

Tight ends
contracted: TE Gore (45/45), TE Lofton (35/35), TE Nixon (30/30)
restricted FA: TE Borders (30/35)
unrestricted FA: -
open market: TE Morse (65/65), TE Horan (50/50), TE Bernstein (50/50)
draft class: TE Burton (6.8), TE Fausel (6.1), TE Hoyler (5.8)
Losing Gaynor means we're going to rebuild our game plan, which already was part of the plan. I'm afraid we can't afford any of the veteran free agents. Rookie Burton looks like a complete TE, but are we really going to pick that position at 1.3? Borders wants more than minimum, but I'm likely going to come forward and give what he's requesting. That would fill our 4 slots already, but is that enough? Borders is a run blocker, but if needed can make a short catch over the middle out of a running formation. Lofton is a decent blocker and can make a short third down catch. Nixon can turn a short catch into a medium gain and plays special teams. Gore is the route runner, but can do little else than try to make a screen pass turn into a 5 to 10 yard gain. So yeah, for the passing game an additional true receiving TE would be desired.

Fullbacks
contracted: FB Wanamaker (33/45)
restricted FA: -
unrestricted FA: FB Johnston (20/20)
open market: FB Glover (55/55), FB Potchynok (50/50)
draft class: FB Dewacht (6.0), FB Pierce (5.5)
Re-signing Johnston would be good for the special teams unit and for having a decent alternative run blocker. Wanamaker is a run blocker and could be a decent short yardage runner. We still struggle to get Wanamaker involved in that running game. It's unlikely I'll go after the Tucker Tigers star Glover.

Running backs
contracted: RB McIntyre (50/50, RB Ta'Amu (45/45), RB Vanden Bosch (35/35), RB/ST Gerhardt (20/20)
restricted FA: -
unrestricted FA: -
open market: RB Irons (60/60), RB Dail (60/60), RB Watson (55/55), RB Chizmar (50/50)
draft class: RB Torphy (7.1), RB Gaines (7.0), RB Strickland (5.6)
The open market is a minefield with over the hill veterans, just like it always is. We've got such a veteran on roster in Ta'Amu already. Vanden Bosch continues to be an endurance lacking guy, while McIntyre just doesn't have the breakaway speed that Vanden Bosch does have. Rookies Gaines and Torphy are phenomenal. It's no longer fancy to pick a RB in the top5, but after seeing what Chandler Ferguson was capable of for Paris last season, these two guys might convince teams to grab one of these guys in the top10. If I had the sense that our offense was just a RB away from breaking out, I might consider doing that...

Quarterbacks
contracted: QB Ashley (55/55), KH Giles (20/25)
restricted FA: -
unrestricted FA: QB Batcheck (35/35)
open market: QB Forland (65/65), QB Spencer (50/50), QB Hansen (45/45), QB Norris (35/45)
draft class: QB Levingston (7.2), QB Bensen (5.8), QB Cooney (5.5)
So, Ashley, are you the franchise QB that we're paying you to be? Cap space technically, we're stuck with this kid for this and most likely next season. Just because the dead cap figure would be too much to overcome. We can't afford going into the bidding war that will obviously arise for Forland, even though he's likely a one-year rental. And then there's Terrence Levingston. A 6'1" 204 pounds red flag, but look at those combine numbers and he had 1.1 pick written all over. Even with his red flag character. Will we grab him if he falls to 1.3? We'll have to, this kid is the best of his class. Can we afford trading up to 1.1? Only one way to find out: inquire. But... What to do with Ashley and his cap figure if we go that route? I'm not sure what the best move is here. The original plan was to trade down from the 1.3 slot, not up.


So yeah, a very interesting off-season is upcoming. Sure, we're projected at $118M over the cap, but I'm convinced we'll manage that with a series of renegotiations with all the locked up players. G Nickolas Toler is basically the only offensive starter that needs to get locked up for the future. S Devon Farrell and LB Preston Bradford are amongst the defensive starters that are out of contract after 2099.