[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: When Father Time comes around
Or how pre-season can end a player's career.

Pre-season action has started and boy were we in for a mixed bag. As I mentioned before the action, the plan was to throw the starters out there. The defense kept up their side of the deal, giving up 503 total yards, combined. That's encouraging, isn't it? Well, except that we gave up a lot of rushing yards, usually a bad omen for things to come. The pass defense was at their A game, seemingly, yanking up 8 sacks in 60 pass plays, none of the four quarterbacks that we faced completed 10 or more passes or reached 100 yards.

But really, what's it worth when the starting quarterback is pulled from the game at half time? We let Earnest Ashley throw the ball 25 times in total spread over the two games, completing 16 of those for 161 yards. Sure, this wasn't my game plan, just the staff randomly throwing around some plays from our play book, there was no general idea behind the play calls.

What about Bart Ta'Amu? Well, he fumbled the ball in both games, which is exceptional for a running back that had 10 fumbles in the last 4 seasons combined. He fumbles about once ever 100 touches, that's very good in my opinion. With 5 catches for 33 yards, he didn't excel there, but we don't really want him to, he'll be there as an additional receiver, not the primary target.

Elsewhere on the offense, Ed Schulz and George Stuckey both had a decent and a horrible game. Good old Branden Sandlin was our top receiver so far: 9 catches, 124 yards. Clay Gaynor scored the only touchdown. Yes, we lost 14-3 in Chicago and won 19-13 against Oakland with 4 field goals.

But after all that jibber dabber, we all know that pre-season is the moment in the season where the staff completely re-evaluates the team. And for some players the re-evaluation will result in an unexpected departure from the Merchantmen. Let's go over the team position group by group, as usual with players graded 1-100, rounded to the nearest 5's, while I'll add what my staff thought compared to right after training camp.

Quarterbacks
55/55 nc/nc QB Earnest Ashley
35/35 -8/-8 QB Efrain Batcheck
25/30 nc/+2 KH Jon Giles
15/30 nc/nc QB Kelvin Everett
Batcheck played well in pre-season, before he fell apart. Ashley is the starter, which is no surprise, we're tied to him for $55M/season for 4 seasons. Giles might make the active roster as the kick holder, if we find a roster spot. Everett still puzzles me, but this second-year 3rd round pick is no Ellis McAllister, we have to admit that. Still, too early to give up on him, no? But do we really, really, really need to go into the regular season with 4 quarterbacks?

Backfield
60/60 -9/-9 RB Bert Ta'Amu
35/35 nc/-1 RB Ronnie Vanden Bosch
25/45 +1/-2 FB Damien Wanamaker
30/30 -7/-7 RB Trey Beyer
30/30 -8/-8 RB/ST Jack Crane
25/25 -5/-5 ST Harris Gerhardt
20/20 -3/-3 FB/ST Owen Johnston
Ouch. Seriously. This is the end for Jack Crane, mister sure hands, former Giants legend. Beyer isn't likely to make the team either, we could keep him for cohesion, but with Ta'Amu, he won't get any carries anyway. And next season will be a no go either, I suspect. Wanamaker will be our fullback. If he makes a bit more progress, because Johnston is the better run blocker for now and a special teamer too.

Tight Ends and Wide Receivers
55/55 nc/nc TE/ST Clay Gaynor
55/55 nc/nc WR Ed Schulz
50/50 +6/+6 TE Clarence Gore
50/50 nc/nc WR George Stuckey
40/40 -3/-3 WR/KR Malachi Pierson
30/45 nc/-2 TE Myron Lofton
30/30 nc/-3 TE/ST Ike Nixon
25/25 -9/-9 WR Branden Sandlin
20/20 nc/nc PR Mark Perkins
15/15 nc/nc KR Darien Thompson
The bad news? Sandlin's decline. The so-so news? Schulz' lack of progress since pre-season of his second season has our fear become reality: he's a phenomenal player, but not in every aspect. He's basically a WR2. And so is Stuckey. And so is Gaynor. Which means we're not in a bad shape, just not as great as I hoped we could be. None of these guys will be cut. Or maybe Thompson as he's about 50-50 being our second or third best kick off returner.

Offensive Linemen
80/80 +2/+2 C Robbie Zinn
70/70 +1/+1 LT Isaac Delgado
65/70 -1/nc G Nickolas Toler
60/60 +1/+1 LT Johnnie Houston
35/60 nc/-4 G Ronald Staigvil
40/40 nc/nc G Caleb Turnbull
20/55 nc/-1 C Rickey Mason
30/35 -3/-5 G Vince Henselman
25/35 -4/-6 T Dusty Webster
Who said Zinn isn't top-notch? Yeah, our previous offensive coordinator. Shame on you! I like this group. Cohesion will be lower due to the departure of Howard Humphrey, but I think we'll okay. Staigvil is green, but with Turnbull to mentor, or even to jump in if he doesn't develop, we have a little bit of depth here. Henselman or Webster won't make the final 53-men list. If we have cap space after renegotiations, don't be shocked if both are out of here.

Defensive Linemen
70/70 nc/nc DE Richie Piotte
55/55 +1/+1 DT Darien Fletcher
55/55 nc/nc DT/ST Jerome Shumate
50/50 -3/-3 DE Caiden Croyle
45/45 +1/+1 DT Harold Gough
40/40 -1/-1 DT/ST Caleb Domis
35/35 -7/-7 DE/ST Archie Exner
25/25 -6/-6 DE/ST Gene Kondovski
15/35 nc/-4 DE Bruce Nekolny
Nekolny won't make the team, the rest will. Eight pass rushers, with Piotte, Fletcher, Shumate and Croyle also capable of supporting the run defense. It means this is a great unit.

Linebackers
50/50 -12/-12 LB/ST Brandon Brady
50/50 -4/-4 LB Hayden McNeil
40/40 -1/-1 LB/ST Andrew Cochrane
40/40 -9/-9 LB Daquan Espino
35/35 -6/-6 LB Clayton Jackson
25/25 -2/-2 ST Jose Meadows
_5/_5 -3/-3 ST Brant Rayburn
The decline is here, big time. Both Brady and Jackson are no longer the elite players that they used to be. Brady is now a serviceable starter, Jackson by no means a guarantee to be the second passing down linebacker, he's got to fear for Cochrane. The only player that might fail to make the final 53-men list is Espino. He's been unhappy for a very long time and also on the decline. We might want to check our cap situation before the season starts and think about acquiring a viable starter here...

Secondary
75/75 -1/-1 CB Ernie Grant
65/65 +1/+1 S Devon Farrell
50/50 nc/nc CB/ST Bryson Swafford
45/45 nc/nc CB/ST Zachery Weisz
45/45 nc/nc S Chuck Murray
25/50 nc/nc CB Omar Leszynski
35/35 -3/-3 CB/KR Adam Harmon
25/25 -6/-6 S/ST Jon Brotzman
15/25 -3/-5 S? Artie Hall
Yeah, that wasn't going to happen for Hall. The returning group will stick. Brotzman regressed just a little bit, but was on a time-share with Murray already, which will hardly change. The tricky part is to phase in Leszynski, as he's potentially a running downs cornerback, but is stuck behind Grant and Swafford.

Kicker, Punter and Long Snapper
70/70 -1/-1 K Dylan McMullen
60/60 +2/+2 P Shaun Barlow
20/20 nc/nc LS Travis Hamilton
Yeah, sure, why not. Hamilton is the best in the business and we're paying him for it. McMullen still has to prove he's worth it being a top3 paid kicker. Barlow is barely top10 in the game.

Tomorrow, 5 of the 58 players above will have been told they are no longer part of the Maassluis Merchantmen team. A bunch that are to make the team will be offered a restructured and in some cases an extended contract. All with the intent to later on lock up the two offensive tackles Delgado and Houston so they won't walk away after their rookie contract runs out. And then we'll see about further cap outs or other cuts to potentially look at one or two holes on the team. Finding a team to part ways with a suitable WR1 is too much to ask for, but I think we might have a shot at finding a linebacker that could improve our already very fine defense. So, yes, the 53-men on team tomorrow are not set in stone to be the opening day 53-men...