FOF8 - A new beginning

[Olsson]

BREAKING NEWS

There's excitement in the air around the NFL these days. After the surprise disband of the Washington Redskins a new Franchise is about to get instituted.

What we know:

- The team will replace the Washington Redskins in the NFC East
- They will not retain any rights to Redskins players
- An expansion draft will be held after the draft
- The new team will NOT enter the draft this offseason

The teams in the mix to become the 32nd franchise:

Albuquerque Aztecs
Austin Attack
Lafayette Swarm
Norfolk Thunder
San Antonio Spartans

[Olsson]

The league is preparing for the expansion draft even though the new team haven't been announced:

- 5 players need to be left unprotected
- No rookies
- No players in their last year of contract
- Will teams choose their worst players or try to clear cap space?

Selections:

- The new team can make up till 30 selections
- If a team gets a player selected. They can protect another player
- If a team gets 2 players chosen, their remainding players are automaticly protected.

Unprotected players:

[Olsson]

So... Any suggestions regarding team or players? :-)

[cubboyroy1826]

One question, how are you doing the expansion draft and getting the players on the new team?

[QuikSand]

So, if we want to help here, we're talking about a 2yo FOF roster of NFL players, run through an X-factor? This is like diving when you need that extra degree of difficulty to catch up...

I say look at:
DT Brockers
QB Rosen
WR Agholor
WR Wilson
FS Randall

[Olsson]

Originally Posted by cubboyroy1826

One question, how are you doing the expansion draft and getting the players on the new team?

I do it all manually.

I've gone through all 32 teams manually and chosen 5 players out of skill og cap hit.

I'm gonna chose player by player and then manually change the playerfile.

[Olsson]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

So, if we want to help here, we're talking about a 2yo FOF roster of NFL players, run through an X-factor? This is like diving when you need that extra degree of difficulty to catch up...

I say look at:
DT Brockers
QB Rosen
WR Agholor
WR Wilson
FS Randall

Yeah okay.. Well the roster is the newest on the game

Since I've been working on this the last couple of days I've already picked two of the players mentioned

[Olsson]

FRANCHISE UPDATE:

After an owners meeting today several new facts about the leagues newest franchise have been revealed.

NAME:

The new franchise will be based only 147 miles from Washington. In Norfolk and the team name will be Norfolk Thunder.



WASHINGTON PLAYERS:

It was agreed that Washington players could decide to accept an offer from Norfolk to play under their current contract. While most players will probably decide to maximise their value. It is rumoured that some players are willing to play for the new team.

EXPANSION DRAFT:

Next up is the Expansion draft. Unlike former expansions, Norfolk Thunder will not enter the draft and will rely solely on selected expansion players and free agents.

STAFF

Due to the season being close Norfolk opted to hire all of Washington's staff. It is believed that the organization will be revamped in the next offseason

[Olsson]

6 WSH PLAYERS ACCEPT OFFER FROM NORFOLK

6 players have accepted the offer from Norfolk to be a part of the new team.

4 of the players are UDFA's WR Kidsy, OLB Phillips, CB Delaney and S Ladler

The team targeted several other players but only 2 accepted the offer:

RT Morgan Moses

Drafted in the 3rd round in the 2014 draft. Won the starting job in Washingotn 2015 and has been solid since. Moses believed that staying close to home was more important than money.

QB Alex Smith

Drafted number 1 overall in 2005. Ended the 2018 season with serious injury. After a succesful operation and a good recovery Alex Smith seems good to go in the 2019 season. It is believed Smith and his agent thought they could not get a deal as good as the one he's on right now.

[Olsson]

OFFENSIVE EXPANSION DRAFT SELECTIONS:

QB - Josh Rosen(MIA)

An opportunity to redeem himself. He'll compete with Alex Smith for the starting job.

RB - Wayne Gallman(NYG), Justin Jackson(LAC)

Both have showed promise when given the opportunity but both have slid down the depth chart as of late.

TE – Maxx Williams(ARI), Dalton Schultz(DAL)

Maxx never really fulfilled his potential and has been hunted by injuries. Schultz is a good blocker.

WR – Marqise Lee(JAX), Willie Snead(BAL), Nelson Agholor(PHI)

Perhaps the deepest position on the team. All three have showed they have what it takes to play in the NFL, but all lack the consistency.

T – Cameron Erving(KC), Greg Robinson(CLE)

Erving has been a first in line backup in KC and have had his share of starts. Robinsons problems with the coaching staff landed him on the unprotected list. He's a solid player.

G – DJ Fluker(SEA), Kyle Long(CHI), Trai Turner(CAR)

Another solid position. All three players claimed are solid players and G will become one of the strengths of the team

C – Nick Easton(NO)

To complete a strong offensive line we selected Easton from NO

[Olsson]

DEFENSIVE EXPANSION DRAFT SELECTIONS:

DL – Trent Murphy(BUF), Ndamukong Suh(TB), Arden Key(LV), Michael Brockers(LAR), Jaleel Johnson(MIN)

A diverse group in age and skillset. Suh, Brockers and Murphy are likely to become starters and youngsters Key and Johnson as their backups. A pretty strong group which could provide some chaos.

LB – Christian Jones(DET), Rashaan Evans(TEN), Jerome Baker(MIA), Alex Anzalone(NO)

Evans is clearly the star of these picks. If Evans pans out he'll be a star for our team for years to come. The other selections are pretty average players that in the right circumstances can be solid players.

CB – K'Wuan Williams(SF), JC Jackson(NE), Cameron Sutton(PIT), Quincy Wilson(IND)

JC Jackson was suprisingly left unprotected by NE and we see a starter long-term at CB. We need at least one of the others to pan out to become solid. All three have potential the become average starters.

S – Damontae Kazee(ATL), Quandre Diggs(SEA), Tashaun Gipson(HOU)

A decent bunch of safeties. Gipson will probably start at FS leaving the SS as a camp battle between the other two.

[Olsson]

EXPANSION DRAFT NOTES:

The Thunder did not select a player from these 4 franchises: CIN, DEN, NYJ, GB

They selected two players from the same team twice:

After the selection of C Nick Easton, NO protected WR Trequan Smith and NOR picked OLB Anzalone.

After selecting QB Josh Rosen, MIA protected WR Albert Wilson and NOR picked LB Baker

Norfolk now have 36 players and will need to fill the rest of the roster with free agents.

[Olsson]

TRAINING CAMP:

The Thunder is preparing for their first training camp. They've brought in a total of 22 UDFA's to compete for a roster spot.

We'll design a balanced playbook centered around a spread/3-WR setup to maximise our talent in the WR department. We'll pass quite a bit as both Jackson and Gallman started camp in less than stellar condition.

Here's the team we bring into camp:

[Olsson]

SEASON PREVIEW

TEAM:

Alex Smith will be our QB this year. We have a pretty wellrounded offense based around a decent offensive line and our trio of WR's Lee, Agholor and Snead. In a surprise twist it looks like UDFA Deron Goodwin will start at RB. The defense will play a 3-4 and will rely on a strong D-Line and decent secondary. Our weak spot is linebacker which might become a real problem. DE's Suh and Brockers will be a handful. We're weak on special teams.

Key Players:

QB Alex Smith – With a general lack of talent on offense we need to rely on Alex Smith to carry the pressure.

DE – Ndamukong Suh – He needs to become the leader of this defense. It has potential to be decent but have glaring holes.

NOTABLE PRESEASON INJURIES:

SLB – Christian Jones, 5 weeks

DIVISION:

DAL and PHI are frontrunners for the division and both should be able to make the playoffs. In the other end NYG and NFK are in for a long hard season.

PREDICTION:

Division winner: Dallas Cowboys
Norfolk record: 4-12

[Olsson]

Week 1 – Philadelphia Eagles

Notable injuries:

PHI: None
NFK: SLB Jones

Outlook:

Offensively we'll look to attack the right side of their offensive line with the rush. We'll try them out deep as their secondary is a place they're not dominant. It might burn us as they have a couple of good ballhawks in place.

A great Eagles offense will be a handful. We'll play soft in defense and hope for a bend but don't break mentality. We'll target C Kelce and RT Johnson with blitzes but we won't blitz a bunch. We'll rely on our CB 1-on-1 against WR's Jeffery and Jackson so the space for star TE Ertz is limited.

Game:



Alex Smith and Marqise Lee came firing out on the first possesion in Norfolk. It all ended prematurely in the redzone and we settled for a field goal. An even game went back and forth but ended when NFK failed 2 yards short on the final possesion and turning it over on downs on the PHI 2-yard line.

Notable performances:

WR Lee, 13 catches for 203 yards, 1 TD
DE Suh, 5 tackles, 2.5 sack, 1 hurry
DE Brockers, 5 tackles, 1.5 sack, 2 hurries
S Diggs, 1 pass deflection, 1 FF, 0 catches allowed

Around the league:

Giants upset the Cowboys 28-15

[Olsson]

Week 2 @ Dallas Cowboys(0-1)

Notable injuries:

DAL: RB Elliot(Q)
NFK: SLB Jones, CB Jackson

Outlook:

Offensively we'll try heavy run playaction pass attack. Dallas have a great CB duo and we need to hit them deep and attack their safeties instead.

Defensively we'll stay with our bend dont break style. Although we'll double WR Cooper some of the game.

Game:



Well... That didnt go according to plan. Only 2 for 12 on 3rd down. We kept Dallas at bay most of the game and limited WR Cooper to 27 yards.

Notable performances:

Alex Anzalone, 6 tackles, 1 sack, 1 ff, 1 hurry

Around the league:

WR Albert Wilson had 200 yard srecieving. Maybe we should have picked him up
CB Jonathan Jones, Jackson's replacement in NE had 3 picks.

[Olsson]

Week 3 @ Chicaco Bears(2-0)

Notable injuries:

CHI: None
NFK: SLB Jones, CB Jackson

Outlook:

We'll need to stay safe on offense. The bears defesee is great.

With QB Trubisky under center we'll rely on stopping the run and making Trubisky beat us in the air. We'll put 8 men in the box early and often.

Let's hope our defense can win this for us!

Game:



En even game until the second half. Chicago adjusted better and slowly killed us. Even though they only had 35 yard more than us it never felt even. Well our 100 yards of garbage yards didn't help on that.

Alex Smith was pulled from the game for the second game in a row. UDFA Robertson took charge.

Notable performances:

Lee, 7 catches for 82
Suh, 10 tackles, 2 sacks,
Anzalone, 4 tackles, 1 sack, 1 hurry, 1pd
Easton, 4 KRB, 1 pancake

Around the league:

Teams at 3-0: NYJ, CHI, ATL, LAR
Teams at 0-3: TEN, MIN, NFK

[Olsson]

Week 4 New York Giants(1-2)

Notable injuries:

NYG: C Halapio, ILB Mayo,
NFK: SLB Jones, CB Jackson

Outlook:

So... Finally a game we have a real chance in.

Offensively we're gonna rely on chunk plays.

Defensively we're gonna blitz all day. Their O-line is vulnerable and QB Jones doesn't have what it takes.

Game:



A decent game. Even though we moved the ball inconsistently. We had some succes. Unfortunately RB Barkley was the ultimate chain-mover on crucial downs.

QB Smith threw a crucial pick-6 late in the game. This won't quiet down the voices of the fans wanting Josh Rosen to start!

Notable performances:

Brockers, 2 tackles, 1 sack, 1 ff, 1 frec, 1 hurry
Sutton, 9 tackles, 1 sack

Around the league:

Trubisky leads the league in QB rating with 107
Former unprotected Albert Wilson leads the league in recieving yards. Marqise Lee is second.

[Olsson]

Week 5 - @ Patriots(1-3)

Notable injuries:

NFK: CB Jackson
NE: CB Gilmore

Outlook:

Well try a balanced gameplan with a bunch of short-passing plays. Patriots have a strong secondary even without Gilmore. We need to attack their linebackers.

We'll mix up our defense a bit. They have a wellrounded offense, but the most important assignment is to shut down Brady.

Game:



After loosing the game 7-24 the game crashes and I needed to simulate gain.. Well.. It didn't go any better!

[Olsson]

Week 6 – vs Miami(1-3)

Notable injuries:

NFK: CB Jackson
MIA: CB Crawley

Outlook:

We'll try relying on a heavy run scheme. If Alex Smith cant manage the game he's out after this game.

We'll blitz them all day. Their O-Line is weak and QB Fitzpatrick shouldn't be able to get recievers open fast enough. We'll double WR Wilson much of the game.

Game:



If we can't win at home against Miami I'm not sure we'll get any victories this year

Notable performances:

QB Smith 13 of 30 for 105 yards, 1 int – 38,9 rating
RB Goodwin, 22 rushes for 128
DT Quaccia, 6-3 tackles, 1.5 sack

[Olsson]

Week 7 @ 49'ers

Notable Injuries

NFK: LT Erving, CB Jackson, ILB Baker,
SF: CB Moseley

Outlook:

SF is a monster of a team. We'll play a balanced offense and hope for the best. QB Robertson will start today.

Defensively we're gonna attack the center of the offensive line. If we can't get to QB Garappolo through the center we're toast!

Game:





Second picture says it all really.

Notable performances:

CB Dromeshauser, 1 pd, 1 int, 0 catches allowed

[Olsson]

Week 8 – vs Vikings

Injuries:

MIN: CB Waynes
NFK: LT Erving, CB Jackson, ILB Baker, QB Robertson

Outlook:

After the horrible start I'm gonna let the coaches handle the gameplan the rest of the season. With Robertson injured Smith will be our QB again. Rosen will be activated for the first time this season.

Vikings have a pretty good team. It's incredible they're 1-6.

Game:



Our first competetive game in a while. If we didn't stall repeadetly in the redzone we would have gotten the win. We outgained them by 90 yards.

Notable performances:

QB Smith, 29 of 47 for 335 and 1TD
WR Snead, 6 catches for 106

[Olsson]

HALFWAY REPORT



Sitting at 0-8 there's no chance for the playoffs. Giants are doing surprisingly well at 4-4 while Cowboys need to step up their game.

HEADLINES:

Rams have won all their games and QB is a leading the MVP race with a 101.1 QB rate and a 15-1 TD/INT ratio.

Steelers are playing great football. Connor lead the league in rushing and Heyward are a DPOY candidate.

[Olsson]

Game 9 vs Bills(3-4)

Injuries

BUF: RB Gore, ILB Edmunds, S Hyde
NFK: LT Erving, CB Jackson, QB Robertson

Outlook:

A fine bounce back game by Smith last week. He'll get the nod again. Bills are a wellrounded team led by a mediocre QB Allen. They're really strong in the trenches but can be attacked through the air.

Game:



So close... Most yards came in chunks and we had long 3rd downs most of the game. Still there's hope.

QB Smith 25/50-275, 1TD
WR Kee, 8 for 121 yards
C Easton, 3 KRB, 1 pancake

[Olsson]

Game 10 @ Jets(8-1)

Injuries:

NFK: LT Erving
NYJ: QB Siemian, G Osemele, OLB Copeland

Outlook:

With Siemian out Darnold will start at QB. They have a decent secondary but not much else going for them. How these guys are 8-1 is beyond me.

Even though QB Robertson is back well try rolling with Smith again. The last couple of games have been okay. I honestly think we have a chance in this one!

Game:



K Ficken missed a 48-yard potential gamewinner as time expired and we were headed for OT

Ficken hit a field goal on the opening possesion in OT. K De la Rosa scored a FG on the ensuing drive. With only 1 minute left the game ended in a tie. At least it wasn't a loss!

Our defense played well and held a top-5 offense to 366 yards. They had 5 sacks and generally harrassed Darnold all day.

QB Smith 25/47-275, 2TD
WR Lee, 12 for 151
DE Suh 2-5 tackles, 5 hurries, 2 knockdowns

[Olsson]

Game 11 @ Lions(4-6)

Injuries

NFK: DE Murphy, LT Erving
DET: RB Johnson

Preview:

A decent offense with a great offensive line. QB Stafford needs help from his recievers this time. They've been dropping a lot of balls. WR Golladay are their leading reciever, but he's also dropped 14 balls.

Our offense should be able to get yards against their defense. They have some good players, but most are subpar. We need to stay away from CB Slay though.

Game:



Ever since I let the coordinators call the shots we've been competitive. This time it gave us a win.

We really outperformed them as well... Nearly double the offensive yards. Magnificent game.

RB Goodwin, 26 rushes for 118, 1 TD
DE Suh, 6-3 tackles, 2,5 sack, 4 hurries
C Easton, 5 KRB, 1 Pancake

[Olsson]

Game 12 v Panthers(6-5)

Injuries:

CAR: TE Olsen
NFK: LT Erving

Preview:

After a horrible start where Cam Newton battled Alex Smith for the worst QB rating in the league he's been on fire the last three weeks. The star of the offense is Christian McCaffrey. They have solid recievers, but their Oline is suspect.

Defensively they play a 3-4 and while they have a couple of stars the overall look of the defense is pretty weak. If we avoid balls around Luke Kuechly well be okay.

Game:



It is safe to say that our coordinators do a better job than me in gameplanning. We were close to our second win of the season and we've been playing really well the last 3 weeks.

[Olsson]

Game 13 v Packers(6-6)

Injuries:

GB: G Taylor, DE Lowry, OLB Smith, OLB Gary
NFK: LT Erving, G Long

Preview:

We should be able to overcome a depleted O-line against GB. Although their defense is good overall there's several subpar players to attack. We'll rely on Goodwin to pound the Packers.

Defensively it's going to be difficult to close down Aaron Rodgers. The Packers have a top-5 offense in nearly all categories. We might be in over our head this time.

The weather could become a huge factor with heavy winds and rain.

Game:



So close from another huge upset. De La Rosa got a kick blocked after stalling on the GB1. A-Rod marched down the field for the final touchdown. A very uplifting performance against a team I considered much better than us.

QB Smith, 18/38-259, 2TD, 1int – 5 rushes for 34
DE Suh, 4-3 tackles, 1.5 sack, 3 hurries, 3 knockdowns

[Olsson]

Game 14 @ Eagles(10-3)

Injuries

NFK:
PHI: WR Jeffery, DT Jernigan, OLB Riley, S Jenkins

Preview:

Eagles lead the league in the following categories: Point, Points allowed, Rushing yards, Rushing yards allowed, Total yards allowed – They're all the way down in second place in total yards offense. A MONSTER of a team

We had a close game at home and the last couple of weeks have been good. Their front-7 looks vulnerable and that should be our point of attack

Game:



That one was over quick. After putting our first points on the board JJ Arcega Whiteside returns the kickoff to the house. Then Willie Snead fumbled the ensuing kickoff and suddenly after being within 7 point we we're down 21.... Halfway through the second quarter. In the end we yanked Alex Smith out of the game and gave Josh Rosen his first gametime of the season.

T Moses, 4 KRB

[Olsson]

Game 15 @ Giants (4-10)

Injuries

NFK:
NYG: WR Shepard, WR Tate, WR Slayton, DE Williams, S Bethea

Preview

After our loss to Eagles we are now bottom of the league in both points and points allowed.

Giants are a pretty bad team besides Barkley. With our recent succes there's reason to believe we can take this one.

Game



If we can't keep a game competitive against one of the worst teams in the league we deserve to be labelled the worst team in football

OLB Jones, 2-1 tackles, 1 sack, 1 int

[Olsson]

Game 16 v Cowboys

Injuries:

DAL: T Collins, DE Lawrence, S Woods
NFK: S Diggs

Preview

Final game of the season. Giving the fans a win at home would be great. Cowboys have a solid team how they've played themselves out of contention I don't know.

Game:



Most people thought Elliot would be back at RB but he wasn't. His replacement Pollard had 31 attempts for 144 yards and 4 TD's alongside 7 receptions for 89 yards and a TD. Phenomenal game.

Alex Smith got hurt and Robertson had decent success to start with. After the first couple of drives he was a liability with his lack of pocket presence.

QB Robertson 15/23-138, 12 rushes for 97
OLB Jones, 4-2 tackles, 1 int, 1 TD

[MIJB#19]

At least the lack of cohesion on the team didn't result in a disheartening 0-16 season. Still, nowhere but to go up from here on? 1-14-1 sounds like it was well enough to get the #1 pick (all the 31 other teams had at least 2 wins in the mid-season standings screenshot).

[Olsson]

It was :-) ... I’m a bit torn abort moving on with this. The plan was to follow my attempt at making game specific game plans every week. But I’m seriously horrible at it. I found it much easier in 7. I simply can’t get my team to play the way I want. :-( ... If it was only a matter of execution it would have been easier to digest.

So at the moment I’m on a break and to be fair I’m probably not returning.