One and Done

[Logan]

Trades made prior to draft:

• Traded 1(1) to SF for 1(3) 2(3) and 4(3)
  
• Traded 2009 1st and 2010 1st to ATL for 1(4) and 4(4)
  
• Traded 2009 2nd and 2010 4th to TEN for 2(12)
  
• Traded 2010 2nd and 2010 3rd to BUF for 2(6) and 5(5)
  
• Traded 2009 5th and 2010 5th to OAK for 5(1)
  
• Traded 2009 6th and 2010 7th to PIT for 6(5)
  
• Traded 2009 7th and 2010 6th to SF for 6(3)
  
• Traded 2009 3rd and 4th to PIT for 3(6)

This leaves me with:
1st – 3rd, 4th
2nd – 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 12th
3rd – 1st, 6th
4th – 2nd, 3rd, 4th
5th – 1st, 2nd, 5th
6th – 2nd, 3rd, 5th
7th - 1st

Draft:

Two QBs taken with first two picks. Select LT Bryan Clemons 3rd overall. Below average at run blocking but should be a monster protecting the QB on the pass rush. With the 4th pick, we like WR Harris Powell but hope for some more value. Traded 1(4) 5(5) and 7(1) to NYK for 1(8) and 2(13).

Three more QBs go in picks 4-7. Going to need to grab one soon before they're all gone. At 1(8) I grab WR Powell, who has scouted ratings all near the max. Now to find someone who can get him the ball.

I'm targeting Kim McGregor out of Penn State. He's only 16% developed, but has high ratings in all distance passes besides screens, high in accuracy, timing, and reading the D. He runs the two minute offense well and also scrambles. He was the 8th QB on the board so I figured he'd be there for my 2nd rounders, but with 6 gone already who knows. I'll hold out and only trade back into the 1st if another QB gets taken.

I have five 2nd rounders coming up. Looking around, there is a lockdown CB available, but really no one else who stands out as someone I should be giving up picks for. We'll sim slowly and see how it progresses.

The corner goes 10th overall. There is another very good CB available in Bo Granados. I'd love if he fell into the 2nd.

Jack Yoo, the QB ranked below McGregor, goes at 13. Bo Granados goes 17th. Bert Mayhem, the QB ranked above McGregor, goes 19th. We'll try to trade back into the 1st for McGregor.

We pull off a trade with NE, acquiring 1(20) and 4(17) for our 2(6) and 2(13). We select McGregor and hope he doesn't suck. We've addressed offense with our first three picks; we'll hope to get a DE and a CB with our 2(2) and 2(3), but obviously BPA rules.

The next 13 picks roll off, and no one takes a QB. Maybe I pulled the trigger on that deal too early, but I was nervous.

There's a RB sitting on top of the board in OJ Winters who looks pretty good, but my offense will probably be terrible anyway so I really need some defensive help. There's a real nice SLB sitting down the board in Raymond Turnbull. I'm going to hope he's available with my 2(12).

I take the top safety on the board in Lance Raymond. He's excellent both against the run and pass, so I figure if he's my leader out there, I'm off to a good start. I have the next pick as well. Dennis Dotson is a solid RT – excellent in run blocking, good at pass blocking. Hopefully this will be a nice complement to the LT I picked prior. I made him my 2(3) pick. I would have liked to go defense, but there wasn't a great pick there and OL play is important.

SLB Raymond Turnbull lasts to me at 2(13). Scouted to be excellent against the run, a big-time pass rusher, and great in M2M. His only weakness seems to be zone defense.

After 44 picks, we have six players on the roster: a QB, a WR, 2 OTs, a LB, and a S. Nice distribution. I have two 3rds and four 4ths coming up. There's a really nice looking DE available but seems to be underrated. I'm confident he'll last to the 3rd. I'd like to grab a RB, a corner or two, another WR, and another LB/DE. I'd also like to use a 4th to take another QB just in case.

At 3(1), I select the DE I wanted in Myron Riti. Scouted to be excellent against the run and has excellent pass rush technique. Not great strength though. We pick again at 3(6) and take CB Ray Connell. He's easily the best M2M CB available and is excellent and diagnosing plays, making INTs, and hitting people.

We sim down to the 4th round where we have three straight picks at 2, 3, and 4, to go along with the 17th as well. We take G Peter Coleman, who projects to be solid across the board. Then we grab DT Mike Newhart who I'm surprised I didn't notice before as his ratings are huge. We finish off the string with RB Derek Lawless, who despite his 6'3”, 230 lb frame, apparently can't run inside. Everything else looks nice. We grab ILB Eric Haslett with our last 4th.

We have the first two picks in the 5th. We grab our 2nd CB in Everett Zamora followed by G Billy Joe Ater. There's a few guys I am targeting that I'd be thrilled to get in the 6th where we have three picks. At 6(2) I grab OLB OJ Aschbacher. Not a big pass rusher but his other ratings look very good. I think he may have been a nice steal. Another guy I was hoping for is DE Willie Malcomson. Poor against the run but he's a monster pass rusher. Pairing him up with Riti should be nice. With my last pick in the draft, I grab WR Wendell Frederickson.

Heading into free agency, we still have a lot of work to do. We sign about 60 players to FA deals, most being 2 years at the minimum salary. Many will be cut after camp. Nothing major to report – the best guy I pulled looks like my starting center in Wayne Turnbull (any relation to our starting SLB?). He's projected at 20/62. Not bad for a UDFA.

A quick run-thru of what my drafted players look like before their first training camp:

LT Bryan Clemons 1(3) – 53/71
FL Harris Powell 1(8) – 41/79
QB Kim McGregor 1(20) – 9/47 -- ew
SS Lance Redmond 2(2) – 38/67
RT Dennis Dotson 2(3) – 25/65
SLB Ray Turnbull 2(12) – 32/69
RDE Myron Riti 3(1) – 12/63
CB Ray Connell 3(6) – 31/51
RG Peter Coleman 4(1) – 26/57
LDT Mike Newhart 4(3) – 23/54
RB Derek Lawless 4(4) – 29/46
WILB Eric Haslett 4(17) – 25/56
CB Everett Zamora 5(1) – 24/43
RG Billy Joe Ater 5(2) – 18/55
SLB OJ Aschbacher 6(2) – 20/54
RDE Willie Malcomson 6(3) – 26/49
SE Wendell Fredrickson 6(5) – 17/51

Looking at the numbers, I really don't know how well I did because of how long it's been since I played. McGregor will need to play well above his ratings if this team will ever have any success. I seem to have gotten some nice value from the 4th round and on. All my rookies are signed – the 1st rounders took 5 year deals.

After training camp, not much to report. WR Powell's future decreased from 79 to 72. LB Turnbull also so his potential decrease, from 69 to 62.

We trim the roster down to 46 active, 53 total and head to the preseason. McGregor will be our starting QB and will attempt to justify his draft position. We went 1-3, scoring 41 points and allowing 94. Not as bad as I expected.

We start the season 0-8, scoring 36 points and allowing 195. Selected stats:

QB McGregor – 115 for 234 for 899 yards, 2 TDs and 11 INTs. QB rating of 42.3
RB Lawless – 68 rushes for 351 yards (5.1) 0 TD
RB Hoffman – 75 rushes for 385 yards (5.1) 1 TD
RB Fling – 15 rushes for 95 yards (6.3) 0 TD
WR Powell – 29 catches for 273 yards on 69 targets. 0 TD
WR Frederickson – 20 catches for 183 yards on 37 targets, 2 TDs
RB Hoffman – 13 catches for 103 yards on 14 targets

I've returned 11 punts in 8 games. Doesn't say much about my defense.

Tackles Leaders: SS Raymond – 59, OLB Turnbull – 53, ILB Haslett – 37
Sacks Leaders: DE Williamson – 3, OLB Turnbull – 2, OLB Aschbacher – 2
INT Leaders: One each for CB Connell, Zamora, and S Gomez

We're 0-15 heading into 7-8 Washington for the last game of the season, and we pull out a stunning 7-3 victory thanks to a 6 yard Cedric Hoffman TD.

To go along with our 1-15 record (92 points for, 423 against – this tied with 3 other teams for worst in the NFL), some stats:

QB McGregor – 225 for 442 for 1835 yards, 3 TDs and 21 INTs. QB rating of 44.2
RB Lawless – 162 rushes for 738 yards (4.6) 0 TD
RB Hoffman – 108 rushes for 508 yards (4.7) 2 TDs
RB Fling – 73 rushes for 330 yards (4.5) 1 TD
WR Powell – 51 catches for 475 yards on 118 targets. 0 TD
WR Okobi – 42 catches for 493 yards on 80 targets, 1 TD
WR Frederickson – 38 catches for 357 yards on 76 targets, 2 TDs

Now up to 26 punt returns in the 16 games. My number one returner (Lawless) averaged 4.2 yards. Both my kick returners averaged under 20 yards per.

Tackles Leaders: SS Raymond – 94, OLB Turnbull – 89, ILB Anhalt – 73, ILB Haslett – 71
Sacks Leaders: DE Williamson – 3, DE Cassidy – 3, OLB Turnbull – 2, OLB Aschbacher – 2 (looks like I picked up at most 5 sacks in the second half of the season).
INT Leaders: Zamora – 2, one each for CB Connell, ILB Anhalt, and S Gomez

[Logan]

We head into Season 2. The year end score for season 1 was a 48. Interestingly, my roster strength was rated a 83/100. Hopefully that's a sign of things to come.

The draft preview is available. There is a monster QB, DT, and CB at the top of the board. Alas...

We run training camp. Continuing to monitor my drafted players...

LT Bryan Clemons 1(3) – 62/75
FL Harris Powell 1(8) – 49/68 (his potential keeps dropping, not good)
QB Kim McGregor 1(20) – 18/48
SS Lance Redmond 2(2) – 54/67
RT Dennis Dotson 2(3) – 40/59
SLB Ray Turnbull 2(12) – 35/53 (dropped another 9 in potential, all the way from 69)
RDE Myron Riti 3(1) – 27/55
CB Ray Connell 3(6) – 36/44
RG Peter Coleman 4(1) – 39/57
LDT Mike Newhart 4(3) – 34/47
RB Derek Lawless 4(4) – 30/46
WILB Eric Haslett 4(17) – 36/49
CB Everett Zamora 5(1) – 27/42
RG Billy Joe Ater 5(2) – 30/48
SLB OJ Aschbacher 6(2) – 23/46
RDE Willie Malcomson 6(3) – 26/41
SE Wendell Fredrickson 6(5) – 22/43

Not much improvement, and some disappointment in a few guys. We set our depth charts -- don't think anyone has supplanted the starter from the prior year.

We go 0-4 in the preseason, scoring 47 points and allowing 79. Some improvement over last year.

I'll just go ahead and sim the season, stopping midway to see if any playing time needs to be changed.

Hehe...in week 6 we visit Washington again and pick up our first victory. They were 3-1-1 at the time. We lose the next 9 games before winning at Philly to end the season, putting up 28 points on the day (easily our highest in two years).

A 2-14 season. At this rate, we'll hit the playoffs in year 9. Some stats to go by:

QB McGregor – 233 for 452 for 1993 yards, 6 TDs and 24 INTs. QB rating of 45.7
RB Fling (backup, operating as 3rd down/passing down back) – 211 rushes for 893 yards (4.2) 4 TDs
RB Lawless – 149 rushes for 736 yards (4.9) 1 TD
RB Hoffman – 37 rushes for 176 yards (4.8) 2 TDs
WR Powell – 43 catches for 590 yards on 93 targets, 3 TDs
WR Chapman - 37 catches for 383 yards on 73 targets,0 TDs
WR Okobi – 34 catches for 316 yards on 88 targets, 1 TD
WR Frederickson – 28 catches for 249 yards on 62 targets, 0 TDs

Tackles Leaders: ILB Haslett – 114, SS Raymond – 94, DT Newhart - 70, OLB Turnbull – 65
Sacks Leaders: DT Newhart - 6.5, DE Riti - 5.5, DE Williamson – 4.5
INT Leaders: SS Raymond - 5, CB Connell - 4, OLB Campbell - 3

Our 2-14 team scored 147 points while allowing 399 (24 less than last year). I like some of those individual defensive stats. Got a great year from ILB Haslett as well as SS Raymond. Seems like the pass rush picked up a lot too.

Our year end score is a 56. Roster strength has increased to 85/100.

[Logan]

Season 3. We have all our original UDFAs who we signed to 2 year deals up for new deals. We sign everyone to 3 year deals (with some wanting more than the minimums) with the exception of our 3rd string QB who won't sign because of a lack of playing time. There's no one on the roster who I can convert to QB, so in the interest of keeping this alive, I go out and sign a QB who was part of that class. He's rated 7/17. If anyone has a problem with this and wants to invalidate any success I have, that's cool.

We have our first holdout, as SS Lance Redmond wants a new deal. Can't blame him as he's been very good for us. He wants a 4 year deal for $9.7 million. I'd like to go long term with him, but he won't sign on for more than 4 years at that salary. We give him what he wants.

Some of our other original draft picks are in the last year of their deal. Billy Joe Ater has started all 32 games for us. I reward him with a 4 year, $8.5MM deal. Wendell Fredrickson has started 22 games and caught 66 balls. He gets a 3 year, $2.8MM deal. DE Willie Malcomson had 4.5 sacks last year. We'd like to see him step it up, but for now he gets a 3 year, $3.2MM contract. O.J. Aschbacher hasn't done much in limited snaps at LB, but he gets a 3 year, $2.5MM deal. CB Everett Zamora gets a new deal at 3 years, just under $2.4MM.

And we sim...

Wow this team is awful. 1-15, 192 points scored vs 430 allowed.

At QB, McGregor was beyond awful. 168-305, 1652 yards, 2 TDs, 23 INTs. I gave Bryant Newton the start 5 times (couldn't give anymore as McGregor would become disgruntled as soon as he hit the bench) and played better. 105-179, 931 yards, 6 TDs, 7 INTs.

Derek Lawless continues to be the technical starting RB. 168 carries for 766 yards and 3 scores. Jack Fling was the nice surprise in his short yardage/passing down role. He had 205 carries for 800 yards and 10 TDs. Wow, a standout among my offense.

Harris Powell improved his catch/target ratio, with 41 grabs on 67 looks, for 543 yards and 3 scores. William Okobi was a nice surprise with 52 catches for 568 yards and 3 TDs. He had 108 targets...might need to figure out how to get the ball to Powell more.

Pretty much more of the same defensively. ILB Eric Haslett and SS Lance Raymond continue to be the leading tacklers. Myron Riti led us with 5.5 sacks.

Unless McGregor booms during camp, I have to let Newton start and figure out a way to keep McGregor happy so I can continue.

Year end score - 47. Roster strength of 86.

[Logan]

Season 4 begins. Most of our remaining original picks are up for new deals.

Up steps QB Kim McGregor. I don't want him starting next year...so I try to reward him with a big, long-term deal. Trying to use a little strategy here so I can keep him on the roster as long as possible, and since I can't imagine the cap ever being an issue, we'll pay what is necessary to get him to sign for 7 years. The best I can do is 5 years, $23MM. Disgusting.

RB Derek Lawless gets 3 years, $4.3MM. RG Peter Coleman wants a 4 year, $9.5MM deal and I want to give him more. His ratings actually look like one of a guy who I'd be going for in a normal dynasty. He won't go past 4 years, so we take it. RT Dennis Dotson is another very solid player, who gets rewarded with a 5 year, $23MM deal. DE Myron Riti signs for 5 years, $15MM. DT Mike Newhart gets 4 years, $15MM. MLB Eric Haslett has led us in tackles for 2 years, signs for 4 years, $9MM, which is a steal. SLB Raymond Turnbull gets a 3 year deal for about $7MM. Finally, CB Ray Connell inks a 3 year, $4.5MM deal.

We officially name Newton the starting QB. Let's see what he can do given more time. Fling will also be the starting RB in all situations. I'll be paying attention to how his numbers change with more of a workload. It's possible that how we had it last year might be the best scenario. Besides that, nothing else major will change.

And we go 2-14. Not worth the effort of typing out stats. Newton basically resumed McGregor's role as incompetent starter. McGregor came back in and put up some nice numbers. He'll be back as the starter next year, undoubtedly. Harris Powell benefited from McGregor's solid play, as he put up a 61-835-8 season.

Year end score - 33. Roster strength - 88.

[Logan]

Season 5 (2012). We hire a new head coach and two new coordinators. Start re-signing players, of note is Harris Powell who receives a 4 year, $21.7MM deal. He's maxed out his red bars and is rated 66/66, the #10 WR in football according to my scout.

Bryan Clemons, my #3 pick overall, is due for a new deal as well. He is also maxed out and is the highest rated T in the game at 88/88. Nice development. I sign him to a monster 6 year, $104MM deal with $28MM in bonus money. Let's not suck there, okay kid?

Everyone else signs for more reasonable deals. For some reason, I have a good feeling about this year.


...and we go 0-16.

[Logan]

Some success in Season 6 as we go....4-12! Wooooooo!

Quick stats:

McGregor had a decent season. Completed 56% of his passes for about 2700 yards and threw 13 TDs to 13 INTs. Sadly, this is a huge improvement.

Lawless became our first 1000 yard rusher, picking up 5 yards past that barrier on 202 carries (4.98 avg) and 6 TDs. Fling ran for 945 yards on 235 carries (4 per) and 6 TDs.

Okobi led the team in both catches (60) and yards (742), along with 3 TDs. Powell continues to be a modest disappointment with 42/664/4.

DE Myron Riti stood out with 7.5 sacks.

[Logan]

Season 7 brings another 4-12 campaign.

McGregor had an excellent season. Completed 60% of his passes for 3245 yards, 24 TDs and 16 INTs.

Jack Fling ran the ball 247 times for 1204 yards (4.9) and 8 scores. Lawless went 172 for 789 (4.6) and 4 TDs.

Harris Powell had a huge year! 55 catches for 1107 yards and 13 TDs. Okobi added 58 rec, 662 yards and 3 scores.

Malcomson had 7.5 sacks, Riti with 5.5.

As we can see, the offense was pretty good this year but the defense was bad, giving up 25.7 points per game. I'm going to go after a new defensive coordinator and hope he tightens things up.

[Logan]

Season 8...6-10.

McGregor - 61%, 3356 yards, 20 TDs, 15 INTs

Fling - 242 carries for 1117 yards, 9 TDs
Hoffman - 149/658/3
Lawless - retired

Powell - 72/1263/9
Okobi - 59/703/3

Malcomson led the way with 9 sacks.

[Logan]

As we head into Season 9, Jack Fling and Shannon Matos, our starting TE, are our retirements. We can fill the RB slot with a CB, but have no way of getting a 2nd TE on the roster. This challenge is over.

Final stats (which I believe is to include the original 0-16 year before we took over):

0-16
1-15
2-14
1-15
2-14
0-16
4-12
4-12
6-10

20-124, for a winning percentage of .138.

[digamma]

I had a similar lack of success with McGregor.

[Tasan]

Oh hey more McGregor drafters. Mine went poorly with him as well.