All Around Sports Team Draft - Football Voting

[larrymcg421]

Participants drafted a team of 13 athletes. For their football lineups, there were no substitutions allowed. 11 players would play both ways on offense/defense. The other two players would be special teams (one Kicker/Punter and one Kick Returner/Punt Returner).

Please vote in this thread for the top three teams. Participants may vote, but no voting for yourself. I'll set a deadline of Wednesday midnight and then we will play some baseball.


West Hollywood Stars (Owner: digamma)

Head Coach: John Heisman

QB: Joe Mauer
HB/FB: Herschel Walker
HB/WB: Carl Crawford
TE: Dwight Howard
WR: Calvin Johnson, Tiger Woods
LT: Lawrence Taylor
RT: Dave Winfield
C: Al Oerter
LG: Roger Clemens
RG: Alexander Karelin


DE: Dwight Howard, Calvin Johnson
DT: Al Oerter, Alexander Karelin
MLB: Dave Winfield
OLB: Lawrence Taylor and Roger Clemens (side depends on opposing team's left tackle)
CB: Carl Crawford, Tiger Woods
FS: Joe Mauer
SS: Herschel Walker

K/P: Tim Howard
KR/PR: Kyle Rote, Jr.


New Orleans Oilbirds (Owner: Karlifornia)

Head Coach: Tom Osborne

QB-Michael Vick
WR-Allen Iverson
WR-Willie Mays
TE-Bobby Orr
RB-Reggie Bush
FB-Eusebio
LT-Deacon Jones
LG-Barry Bonds
C-Amar'e Stoudemire
RG-Zlatan Imbrahimovic
RT-Tom Glavine


DE-Barry Bonds
DT-Deacon Jones
DT-Zlatan Imbrahimovic
DE- Amar'e Stoudemire
OLB-Eusebio
MLB-Bobby Orr
OLB-Reggie Bush
CB-Allen Iverson
CB-Michael Vick
FS-Willie Mays
SS-Tom Glavine

K/P-Cristiano Ronaldo
KR/PR-Floyd Mayweather


Wake Forest Cougars (Owner: Radii)

Head Coach: Phil Jackson

QB Charlie Ward
RB Manny Pacquiao
WR Jerry Rice
WR Carl Lewis
WR Greg Maddux
TE Michael Jordan
LT Ray Lewis
LG Ted Williams
C Roy Halladay
RG Thierry Henry
RT Bill Russell

DE Ted Williams
DT Bill Russell
DT Roy Halladay
DE Thierry Henry
OLB Charlie Ward
MLB Ray Lewis
OLB Greg Maddux
CB Jerry Rice
CB Carl Lewis
SS Manny Pacquiao
FS Michael Jordan

KR/PR David Beckham
K/P Iker Casillas


Road Kill Cafe (Owner: Danny)

Head Coach: Paul "Bear" Bryant

QB Tom Brady
RB Rafer Johnson
FB Gordie Howe
WR Jackie Robinson
WR Kaka
WR Ronaldo
LT Tim Duncan
LG Julius Peppers
C Reggie White
RG Albert Pujols
RT Wilt Chamberlain

DE Julius Peppers
DT Tim Duncan
DT Wilt Chamberlain
DE Reggie White
OLB Gordie Howe
ILB Albert Pujols
OLB Tom Brady
CB Ronaldo
CB Rafer Johnson
S Jackie Robinson
S Walter Johnson

K/P Diego Maradona
KR Kaka


Canton Raiders (Owner: jbergey22)

Head Coach: Pat Riley


QB Joe Montana
WR Gaucho Ronaldinho
WR Ronald Curry
RB Jesse Owens
WR Deion Sanders
WR Steve Gerrard
LT Antonio Gates
LG Dave DeBusschere
C Johan Santana
RG Brian Jordan
RT Hakeem Olajuwon

DE Hakeem Olajuwon
DT Dave DeBusschere
DT Jesse Owens
DE Antonio Gates
OLB Johan Santana
MLB Brian Jordan
OLB Ronald Curry
CB Deion Sanders
CB Gaucho Ronaldinho
FS Joe Montana
SS Steve Gerrard

K/P Lionel Messi
PR/KR Wayne Gretzky

Strategy note: Speed wins will be our strategy. We arent very big so we will do our best to play uptempo in basketball, pass a lot in football, while winning with speed/defense in baseball.


Los Angeles Letterman (Owner: hahnkim)

Head Coach: Red Auerbach

QB - John Elway
WR - Dwyane Wade
WR - Kirk Gibson
TE - Magic Johnson
RB - Jim Brown
FB - Patrick Willis
LT - Jonathan Ogden
LG - Hakuho Sho
C - Alexander Ovechkin
RG -Roger Federer
RT - Paolo Maldini

Strategy note: I'll be running power run option attack with a lot of play-action passing. Something similar to what Georgia Tech runs. Elway is good running the ball, and great passing it. We've got great matchups for when we do go to the air. Patrick Willis has got 4.4 speed and prototypical fullback size. The left side of the line will be dominant, and Willis should be able to take out any unoccupied defenders to open gigantic running lanes. If the defense overloads the weakside, we drop the QB to a shotgun formation, and run a spread option attack that will attack via open spaces.

DE - Magic Johnson
DT - Hakuho Sho
DE - Jonathan Ogden
OLB - Alexander Ovechkin
ILB - Patrick Willis
ILB - Jim Brown
OLB - Paolo Maldini
CB - Dwyane Wade
CB - Kirk Gibson
FS - Bob Gibson
SS - John Elway
K/P - Gianluigi Buffon
KR - Bob Gibson
PR - Roger Federer

Strategy Note: We've got size and speed all over the place. Secondary should be more than solid, the linebackers are all fast, and mostly extremely mean. The defensive line should swat down a lot passes, and create lots of penetration.


Overwrought Message Board Enthusiasts (Owner: Subby)

Head Coach: Mike Ditka

QB - Brett Favre
WR - Randy Moss
WR - Usain Bolt
RB - Bo Jackson
FB - Vinnie Jones
TE - JR Richard
LT - CC Sabathia
RT - Wayne Rooney
C - Steve Nash
RG - Randy Johnson
LG - Tony Gwynn

DE - JR Richard
DE - CC Sabathia
DT - Randy Johnson
LB - Brett Favre
LB - Vinnie Jones
LB - Wayne Rooney
LB - Tony Gwynn

FS - Bruce Lee
SS - Bo Jackson
CB - Steve Nash
CB - Randy Moss

K/P - Mia Hamm
KR/PR - Usain Bolt


Williamsburg Superstars (Owner: Wade Moore)

Head Coach: Bill Belichick

QB Peyton Manning
RB Rickey Henderson
TE Jason Witten
WR1 Terrell Owens
WR2 Michael Johnson
WR3 Martin Dihigo
LT Shaquille O'Neal
LG Brock Lesnar
C Muhammed Ali
RG Alex Rodriguez
RT Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

LDE Brock Lesnar
LDT Shaquille O'Neal
RDT Peyton Manning
RDE Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
SLB Muhammed Ali
MLB Jason Witten
WLB Alex Rodriguez
LCB Terrell Owens
SS Michael Johnson
FS Rickey Henderson
RCB Martin Dihigo

P/K Oliver Kahn
PR/KR Allison Stokke

Strategy Note: Note: On offense we will let Peyton Manning/Belichick do their magic. Peyton is used to a 3 WR set, so that's what we're going with. On special teams, Stokke will be fair catching everything and/or letting it go out of bounds.


The Jacks (Owner: ColtCrazy)

Head Coach: Vince Lombardi


QB - Jim Thorpe
RB - Pele
FB - Lou Gehrig
LT - Anthony Munoz
LG - Stone Cold
C - Jeff Saturday
RG - Shane Warne
RT - Kevin Garnett
TE - Franz Beckenbaur
TE - Derek Jeter
WR - Roberto Clemente

DE - Anthony Munoz
DT - Jeff Saturday
DE - Stone Cold
OLB - Kevin Garnett
ILB - Shane Warne
ILB - Franz Beckenbaur
OLB - Lou Gehrig
CB - Pele, Roberto Clemente
SS - Jim Thorpe
FS - Derek Jeter

K/P - Van de Sar
KR/PR - John Wooden

The key to our team is size. This will be a power running football team. Saturday, Munoz, and Stone Cold give us the best line of all the teams. Gehrig was a FB in college, and Thorpe is known for his running. Pele can be adapted to run as well. It'll be a grinding game, but we should do well...especially with Van de Sar's ability to kick far.


Huevos Rancheros (Owner: None currently. Team for sale.)

Head Coach: Rinus Michels

QB Steve Young
HB Greg Inglis
WR Kobe Bryant
WR Jeff Samardzija
TE Tony Gonzalez
TE LeBron James
T Scott Burrell
T Zinedine Zidane
G Babe Ruth
C Roy Jones Jr.
G Lev Yashin

Strategu Note: Shotgun Spread, offset line, rollout left. Best QB for format (run/pass). Avg. Wr height 6/6. Inglis moves around to handle pressure.

DE Tony Gonzalez
DE Scott Burrell
DT Babe Ruth
DT Lev Yashin
OLB Steve Young
MLB Greg Inglis
OLB LeBron James
CB Kobe Bryant
CB Jeff Samardzija
FS Zinedine Zidane
SS Roy Jones JR.

K/P Johann Cruyff
KR/PR Ty Cobb

[MikeVic]

These offensive lines are funny to picture.

[Subby]

Favre, Bolt, Moss, Bo Jackson

DITKA

/over

[jbergey22]

This is very difficult!

[jbergey22]

1. Los Angeles
2. The Jacks
3. West Hollywood

Sadly the teams I initially liked the best had such glaring weaknesses at important positions that I had to change my voting around.

OMBE has the most talented team however with Nash, Gwynn, and Rooney on the line along with Hamm as the P/K I just cant see how they can over come that.

I also liked Williamsburg however I just picture Allison Stokke fumbling around 4 times a game returning kicks.

West Hollywood had the potential to be higher I just hated how the lineup was set up. I would have had Winfield at DE, Walker at MLB and Calvin Johnson at SS.

In any case this was difficult and I have a headache from it.

[Subby]

Steve Nash can block Gordie Howe.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Subby

Steve Nash can block Gordie Howe.

Your skill position players are easily the best but your line is simply awful

[digamma]

1. OMBE
2. Williamsburg
3. Los Angeles

[cthomer5000]

Kaka probably would be a fantastic receiver. In soccer, he is somehow even faster when he actually has the ball at his feet. So i imagine he'd be a Jerry Rice like 'deceptively fast' receiver who never gets caught one he's ahead of his man.

[jbergey22]

As for the Canton Raiders. I have great team speed on defense and a line that will be solid in this. Johan is a weakness however a center usually only scramble blocks anyway so he can do that pretty easily. Using the run and shoot offense puts the game in the hands of Joe Montana to make the correct reads which I feel fully confident in. Deion Sanders will eliminate the opposing teams top offensive WR. I am very confident my team would do very well in this.

I have 5 starters that have played NFL football and another that should have played NFL Football(Owens)

[Subby]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

Your skill position players are easily the best but your line is simply awful

What's better? Line or skill positions? The Jacks skill position players might be worse than my line.

NOTHING PERSONAL JACKS

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Subby

What's better? Line or skill positions? The Jacks skill position players might be worse than my line.

NOTHING PERSONAL JACKS

Id always take a good line over good skill position players and even more so in this where the skill position players are all great athletes. A bad line dooms you from the snap.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

I also liked Williamsburg however I just picture Allison Stokke fumbling around 4 times a game returning kicks.

Wanted to address this.

Option #1 is always going to be to let it go out of the endzone/out of bounds. Rarely will she ever actually be attempting to catch the ball.

Besides that, it's not particularly hard to train a female athlete to catch a kick.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by wade moore

Wanted to address this.

Option #1 is always going to be to let it go out of the endzone/out of bounds. Rarely will she ever actually be attempting to catch the ball.

Besides that, it's not particularly hard to train a female athlete to catch a kick.

Its not catching the ball I was particularly worried about. Its Ray Lewis ripping her head off when she tries to run. And on kickoff returns she is going to have to return some kicks

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

Its not catching the ball I was particularly worried about. Its Ray Lewis ripping her head off when she tries to run. And on kickoff returns she is going to have to return some kicks

No she's not. I'll take her fair catching at the 15 rather than returning kicks.

If it goes much further than the 15, you let it bounce into the endzone.

She will never take the ball and run with it.

[QuikSand]

OMBE
West Hollywood
Los Angeles

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by wade moore

No she's not. I'll take her fair catching at the 15 rather than returning kicks.

If it goes much further than the 15, you let it bounce into the endzone.

She will never take the ball and run with it.

Well its a live ball off of a kickoff so if you are letting it roll from inside the 15 you could be putting yourself in a lot of dangerous situations. If we replaced the kr/pr category with cheerleader Id vote for you though.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

Well its a live ball off of a kickoff so if you are letting it roll from inside the 15 you could be putting yourself in a lot of dangerous situations. If we replaced the kr/pr category with cheerleader Id vote for you though.

:shurg:

I think it's a reasonable strategy. Catch it and kneel it or let it bounce if it's close enough. Kick Coverage does not get down the field THAT fast, it's not like Punt Coverage.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by wade moore

:shurg:

I think it's a reasonable strategy. Catch it and kneel it or let it bounce if it's close enough. Kick Coverage does not get down the field THAT fast, it's not like Punt Coverage.

Last thing I will say about because I dont think we need to fill up the complete voting thread.

Even if the ball does take the bounce you expect it to every single time you are giving up well over 100 yards of field position each game you play using this strategy. Do you know how often a team scores a TD starting from their own 15 in the NFL? (I'll give you a hint, its less than 20 percent of the time)

[wade moore]

Well:

#1 You're overthinking this little game if you're looking at those percentages.
#2 I think the rest of my squad, compared to most, more than make up for it. I have the best QB ever (arguably), very good skill position players, and a better line than most.

[jbergey22]

Im just simply using my knowledge of the game of football to pick out the teams I think will do the best. I dont know how that could be considered overthinking. While in real life I know you wouldnt have Stokke returning kicks however according to the rules you have to put her there so I have to deduct for it. You and Subby have the best two team if I chose to ignore the weaknesses however its hard for me to ignore the yards you will be giving up on special teams and the fact that his great skill position players will have little room to operate while his QB is going to have less than 3 seconds to throw. I dont know how Moss is going to be able to fulfill his great potential when he is going to have to run all 5-10 yard routes.

It seems like I am voting different than others so Im sorry if I misunderstood how we were suppose to vote.

[Logan]

1. Road Kill
2. West Hollywood
3. Williamsburg

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

Im just simply using my knowledge of the game of football to pick out the teams I think will do the best. I dont know how that could be considered overthinking. While in real life I know you wouldnt have Stokke returning kicks however according to the rules you have to put her there so I have to deduct for it. You and Subby have the best two team if I chose to ignore the weaknesses however its hard for me to ignore the yards you will be giving up on special teams and the fact that his great skill position players will have little room to operate while his QB is going to have less than 3 seconds to throw. I dont know how Moss is going to be able to fulfill his great potential when he is going to have to run all 5-10 yard routes.

It seems like I am voting different than others so Im sorry if I misunderstood how we were suppose to vote.

I'm just defending my strategy. I think the 5-10 (maybe 15? - I can't find stats on specifically average position off of kickoffs) yards isn't a HUGE impact with the quality of the rest of the roster. No issue with you having your opinion, just trying to defend myself for other voters .

People will tell you - I like the back and forth that can happen in these drafts, usually I'm the one in your shoes in this discussion.

[Radii]

The case for my football team is this:

thanks for your support of my basketball team. This thread is now available to make fun of Charlie Ward.

[Radii]

1. OMBE
2. Los Angeles
3. West Hollywood

[jbergey22]

Im a whole lot of surprised that a team with a 4 time HOF SB winning QB, the best cornerback and most diverse talent in the history of the NFL, along with 3 quality other NFL players is getting no love at all.

I am thinking voters are only looking at skill positions and not the all around team.

[k0ruptr]

1. Williamsburg
2. New Orleans
3. Los Angeles

[Danny]

I thought my size on the lines would garner me some more votes. Also, Rafer Johnson was an all pro RB in high school and likely would have been able to go pro. And Jackie Robinson was actually drafted by the pros but chose baseball over football.

[Danny]

Originally Posted by Subby

Steve Nash can block Gordie Howe.

Howe is playing LB, I dont think he would be able to do much against White and Peppers, who would probably be in the backfield before anyone could do anything on most plays.

[larrymcg421]

bump

[Danny]

Another bump, hopefully we get more football votes.

[larrymcg421]

Not gonna close this one until we get to at least 10 votes.

[larrymcg421]

bump

[Izulde]

1. OWMBE
2. Los Angeles Lettermen
3. Canton Raiders

[Vince, Pt. II]

1. Overwrought Message Board Enthusiasts - the line is paper-thin, but they won't need to block long with those skill position players.

2. Road Kill Cafe - The polar opposite of OMBE. Their line will dominate just about any team they face on both sides of the ball. While I worry about the hands on the Soccer players, I think they'll be able to get enough separation from most of the corners to make it a non-issue.

3. The Jacks - Actually, these guys will have the dominant line. I just like Road Kill's skill players better.

I think that there are strong cases to be made for West Hollywood (easily the most well-rounded team, I think), Wake Forest (Jerry Rice, Michael Jordan and Carl Lewis all going out to receive passes? Jesus) and Williamsburg, but my top three are just too dominant in their dominant areas in my opinion. This portion of the competition was way harder to judge than I thought it would be.

[Greyroofoo]

1. Williamsburg
2. Road Kill Cafe
3. OME

[ColtCrazy]

Originally Posted by Subby

What's better? Line or skill positions? The Jacks skill position players might be worse than my line.

NOTHING PERSONAL JACKS

None taken!

My thoughts were to build a team that had a good line, and then run the ball with Thorpe and company. Considering that no other team has great size on defense I feel we can get 5 yards a carry which is enough to move the ball and score. Plus, with a GK at kicker we can score some field goals if things get bogged down.

The more I think about it, the more I like this football team.

[ColtCrazy]

I can't find a power team i like, so going by various skill guys....

1. OMB - best of the skill players
2. Canton - When in doubt, take the best QB. He'll get something out of his skill guys.
3. New Orleans - Not liking the line, but Vick and Bush could be an intriguing, speed combo.

[larrymcg421]

Results for Football:

1. Overwrought Message Board Enthusiasts 31
t2. Williamsburg Superstars 14
t2. Los Angeles Lettermen 14
4. Road Kill Cafe 11
5. West Hollywood Stars 8
t6. New Orleans Oilbirds 4
t6. Canton Raiders 4
8. The Jacks 3
t9. Wake Forest Cougars 0
t9. Huevos Rancheros 0

I'll try to get the baseball thread up this weekend. Barring any last minute volunteer to set a valid lineup, Huevos (and Babe Ruth) will be forfeiting.