[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: That Anticipated Day You Know Every Pre-Season Comes
And it's usually a mixed bag.

Well, was it a mixed bag? Is Ed Schulz who we hope he is? Is Doug James the best punter in the league? Is Kirk Hitchcock still playable? Theodore Bondy? Moe Sheldon? The running backers Patter and Thong'? Who's the Clarence Gore of '93?

Let's go through this by position groups.

Quarterbacks
35/35 (-6) Moe Sheldon
25/25 (-8) Francisco Farley
10/25 (+3) Lorenzo Emerson (r)
10/30 (-2) Jon Giles (r)
Bad news as Sheldon made a step back. Plan F was looking over his shoulder, but took an even larger step back. Scrambling rookie Emerson was a bright spot, but kick holder Jon Giles is the sure thing to make the team. So, that raises the question: Plan F or the scrambler as our QB2? Emerson will be our second half of pre-season starter, this is his chance to unseat Plan F. (Spoiler: Plan F's cohesion and experience will mist likely beat Emerson for the QB2 role, but maybe, just maybe, we find room for 4 quarterbacks this season?)

Backfield
35/35 (-5) FB Clay Brosseau
45/45 (-10) Francisco Patter
40/40 (+1) Reggie Thongchanh
40/45 (+3) Trey Beyer
30/40 (+1) Benjamin Kapp (r)
20/25 (-2) Darien Bettencourt (r)
Thongchanh returns in shape. Patter looks regressed, but curiously his elusiveness was hit harder than his hole recognition, which hints to him becoming a more effective ball carrier. Beyer will continue to be the alternative for Thong' and Patter. Kapp looks decent, but with less speed and hole recognition, consequently means he won't make the team. Special teamer Bettencourt has a decent chance to make the 53-men list.

Tight ends
50/50 (n.c.) Clarence Gore
55/55 (n.c.) Clay Gaynor
20/20 (-7) Renaldo Crawford
25/35 (-3) Pat Kipps (r)
20/30 (n.c.) Ike Nixon (r)
Gaynor and Gore continue to be the passing downs guys, Gore the main receiver. Crawford regressed, but is still our best run blocker. Although my philosophy is to try to give youngsters 3 seasons to prove their value, Kipps is not going to beat Nixon for the fourth tight end spot, with special teams skills making the difference.

Wide receivers
60/60 (-2) Theodore Bondy
45/70 (+6) Ed Schulz (r)
45/45 (-1) George Stuckey
40/50 (n.c.) Rickey Lyle
40/40 (-1) Branden Sandlin
30/30 (-1) Santiago Messenger
25/25 (n.c.) Mark Perkins
25/25 (-5) Lamont Ramirez
A large group, lead by Bondy, soon to be lead by Schulz and with Stuckey troubled to hold onto that WR2 slot. It's going to be quite the decision here as we're clearly not going to play a lot of 3 WR, let alone 4 WR sets. Lyle and Sandlin continue to be useful players, with Lyle also our alternative to Messenger as the kickoff returner. Perkins is our punt returner. Ramirez was signed to be our new WR5 special teamer. But can we afford to bring 8 wide receivers into the new season?

Offensive line
50/50 (-7) LT Nathan Hadinger
60/60 (-3) LG Michael Scott
45/75 (+1) C Robbie Zinn (r)
40/40 (-4) RG Andre Watson
60/60 (-7) RT Howard Humphrey
40/45 (+1) G Hayden Gaylor
25/35 (-5) C Lewis Azzolini
20/30 (-3) Byron Irvin (r)
The starters are set in stone, no doubt. Zinn continues to look better and better, albeit endurance being a bit of a concern. The guys around him are getting older and older. Gaylor is our OL6, Azzolini and Irvin may seem safe, but I won't guarantee them a 53-men roster spot just yet.

Defensive Line
60/60 (+2) DT Darien Fletcher
55/55 (n.c.) DT Jumbo Mojica
50/50 (n.c.) DE Gen Kondovski
45/45 (+1) DE Archie Exner
30/30 (n.c.) DE Tony Whiting
30/30 (+1) DT A.J. Ritt
30/30 (n.c.) DT Kurt Ackerman
25/40 (n.c.) DT Caleb Domis (r)
35/35 (n.c.) DE Trent Donovan
20/30 (-1) DE Donald Wolfe (r)
Changes will likely be marginal. Fletcher and Mojica will be our inside guys, playing roughly 75% to 80% of the downs. Kondovski, Exner and Whiting will be in the rotation on the outside. Ritt and Ackerman on the rotation as the tackle alternates and possibly as the fourth outside rusher. We will bring at least 8 guys into the regular season, Domis looks like a safe bet, but Donovan has been patient and looks ready to shine. Wolfe is promising, he really is, but the math of roster spots doesn't add up.

Linebackers
70/70 (-1) Brandon Brady
55/55 (n.c.) Daquan Espino
50/50 (n.c.) Clayton Jackson
30/30 (-10) Brant Rayburn
25/30 (+2) Jose Meadows (r)
25/30 (n.c.) Trenton Prescott
20/35 (-3) Archie Pizir (r)
10/10 (-7) Alexc Palmer
Three legitimate linebackers and five special teamers, that's what we have here. Three of those last five will make our roster, but it's almost like flipping a coin or playing bingo. Brady is out of contract after this upcoming season and it starts to look like the cap space to make him a half-decent offer this pre-season to lock him up, it looks impossible. We'll have to get our pocket ready for the next off-season... Jackson is the pass defender, Espino the third linebacker in 7 or 8 up front formations.

Secondary
65/65 (n.c.) S Devon Farrell
55/55 (-10) CB Jackie Richardson
40/40 (-10) CB Kirk Hitchcock
40/40 (+1) CB Adam Harmon
40/40 (n.c.) S Chuck Murray
30/30 (n.c) S Jon Brotzman
20/40 (-1) S Gabriel Cromer (r)
20/25 (-5) CB Bob Reese (r)
This unit is fading away. Clearly no longer the cream of the crop in the league that it was just 2 seasons ago. We lost Frias (traded), McNeil (didn't re-sign) and Newsome (who spent all of '92 on inactive), all three would have upgraded this unit. This group is good, but just that: good. We'll keep our eyes open for new guys, keeping in mind that cap space isn't available to bring in an expensive veteran. Hitchcock can't play man-to-man anymore, it's a pain to the eye to see how only rookie Cromer is worse in that area. He's not useless, but it's surely silly to have this guy signed for $33.8M of cap space. Of course, he's on a minimum salary, which means releasing him won't make the cap hit go away. The players on the open market won't be a better fit on the team than Hitchcock, despite all that we can say about him. Richardson's decline is troublesome as well. Still a starter, no doubts about that, but not an elite shutdown corner anymore. Farrell will have to step it up and carry this team, with Harmon our new CB2, Murray and Brotzman the alternative side kicks to Farrell and Cromer looking promising. Reese is not good enough, regardless of the need to bring 8 guys into the season.

Special Teamers
75/90 (+3) P Doug James (r)
70/70 (-2) K Mark Giles
20/20 (n.c.) LS Bryce Karney
Giles is ok, in the final year of contract and I'm expecting to not offer him a new deal, making him a free agent next off-season. James looks to be the real deal, looking more promising by the day. Karney is getting older, but continues to be a top5 long snapper in the league.

In short:
Offense, mixed bag
defense, not so great
special teams, one of the best out there

That's all there is to say, for now.

Well, almost. We won our first two pre-season games: 22-7 at Hanalei and 23-10 against Arizona in Oranje Haven. In both games we won the turnover battle, dominated field position and had a dreadful passing game with okay running game in support. George Stuckey had 1 catch on 11 targets, while Ed Schulz lead the team with 9 catches (on 14 targets) for 90 yards.

Some bright spots, but such a mixed bag that it could be a long season, but that can be taken both ways: we'll get deep into the playoffs or meaning that we'll be struggling very hard. I can only hope our superior cohesion and special teams unit can make a difference.