Snakebitten: A Real-Time MP FOF thread

[QuikSand]

Sneak peek of the rookie OT is... kinda meh. Hoping it gets better. Still likely our week 1 starter at RT, but might not be a lot more than a replacement-caliber guy without a preseason bump.

We're cap crunched, too. Need to find some nip and tuck stuff to get us to 53 players.

[QuikSand]

Okay, late free agency wrapped.

Biggest news is that we let RB Rick Gilmore walk. I must have miscalculated my cap space, or the order in which things happened - and my offer got rejected for lack of cap space. Ugh. So, he's gone, and we will have two guys only a click or two better than hobos toting the rock. Can't believe I blew it so badly for "the big year" here.

Looks like the cap culprit is WR/PR Ramon Matthews. Nice to have him, and he's been a good return man for us. But not wild about going without a single legitimate asset at RB.

Annoying. No real twists in the training camp stage, I'm tryna grab one more option at RB, but that's about it. Playbook remains the same as last year.

[QuikSand]

Training camp over.

Basically a formality, but we bid adieu to QB Jimmy Mc. A crazy good undrafted rookie season ranking him QB6 league-wide. A couple more seasons as a starter where he held serve just fine, thankyouverymuch. But, he's fading and not strong on chemistry... and still thinks he's a $10m man. Cannot afford it, nostalgia aside. Hats off.

Well, we have 60 players now. Preseason will help us sort out what we do there. Will have a couple rookies who might have made the team under more ordinary circumstances, but this is "the year" and I feel duty bound to max our affinities. Like DB "Yo" Holmes, a nice return man and potential rotation-caliber DB...this year do I really want to start him to trigger that affinity? Prolly not. He likely fades in preseason anyway, but still... guys like that could have latched on a few seasons ago to be with us now as strong affinity, role-player, build-cohesion dudes. There just wasn't such a guy at the time I needed him. Doing this is hard.

[QuikSand]

Running back is a mess. All these guys will carry into preseason, and we'll get some ratings movement to base our final cutdown on.

http://gml.fof-belco.com/teampageroster.php?teamid=2

Is Brumbaugh our RB2 and third down guy?

Lester, to me, looks like he'll prolly bump in preseason and look like a marginal candidate for RB1, with that nice endurance. But no chemistry effect visible in game, due to his 10 personality score.

Is Podolyak good enough to make the team? See the field? If Endurance worked like I think it should, I'd say yes, let him split time... but I don't think that's how it works, and I think this guy is basically a bum.

- - -

For anyone watching this thread, I am 100% open to thought on who is worth keeping on the roster here. Granting that I am the dope who parked the team in this exact tricky spot.

[Chas in Cinti]

So, I'm nowhere near the player of FOF I was 15 years ago... but I think Podolyak is the RB1... with Brumbaugh the 3rd down back... I like Podo's ratings... though the Endurance thing is a head-scratcher...

[johnnyshaka]

I can't believe I'm going to finish behind a team trotting that backfield out there week after week.

[Squirrel]

Podolyak is the one that's going in on the goal line and 3rd and short for me from those.

If those really are the only options I'd be minded to break with chemistry here though (gasp)

[QuikSand]

Well, fun twist.

After weeks and weeks of developing, strategizing, and planning. Pushing guys into starting roles just to click chemistry, investing in cohesion, and manipulating my draft timing -- all to make this year work...

What do I do? Miss the file.

Just a function of a very long day, hijacked by a hundreds-of-millions issue that popped up and occupied nearly all of it, and then a string of cocktails... and by the time I walked right by my office at midnight, I didn't even go in.

I haven't even had the heart to open the league page yet. I'm sure all my chem leaders got cut, undermining the whole foundation of the team. I'm sure multiple cohesion-first guys are gone and now have no idea they ever played with us.

Gonna take some time to get over this. So disappointed. The worst possible day to flake out.

[QuikSand]

FB Karl DeWalters

Reg. Season Week 1

released


C Marshall Keith

Reg. Season Week 1

released


RDE Tyronne Baither

Reg. Season Week 1

released


RB James Thayer

Reg. Season Week 1

released


RB Taylor McCormack

Reg. Season Week 1

released


FL Corwin Smith

Reg. Season Week 1

released


SE Norman Hoover

Reg. Season Week 1

released

[QuikSand]

So, Rex is a predictable clown show with the roster. We end up targeting punt returner Mathews 126 times (for an oddly respectable 6.7 ypt), second most on the team and way more than Victor Lester, who is supposed to be our co-#1 receiver - he gets 11 targets. Mathews, incidentally, didn't even return punts he was so busy running routes with that crazy 32 RR skill.

The running game is not awful, despite the game refusing to play my first round rookie at RT (because he's listed at LT), and instead playing an undrafted rookie stiff, Wes Killens.

Defense didn't really slot guys the way I would want to, but that's not overwhelming.

Anyway... 10-6 and a wild card.

GML: Baltimore Ravens 2112

Not the season I had been hoping for, obviously. Will never know whether this was a blow-their-doors-off team this year, as intended.

[QuikSand]

One and out in the playoffs. Lose to the eventual champs, AVAILABLE. #*@&

[QuikSand]

So I guess we're still doing this. Feeling a little bit On the Beach doing so, but what the heck.

[QuikSand]

Snapshot:

No retirements
43 players signed
01 RFA we'll re-sign (TE Austin, ~$5m)
11 draft picks this year (ugh)
--
55 players basically "in hand"
plus a slew of current guys we'd like to keep

So, better put out my "lots of draft picks available" deal again pronto

[QuikSand]

League hiatus (tech-driven, not coronavirus-driven) abated, we're back...

[QuikSand]

Okay, the first stages of early free agency just ran. Need to get my head back around this, and I'll use this thread to help do so, per usual.

Signings: none

I missed out on T Conway, failign to bid enough to beat out AVAILABLE. I can't remember, after this time away, whether I really wanted him or if that was just a "good enough of a fit" guy. We have two young tackles in the fold in a no-injury league, so it's not a need position. Just need to, you know, actually submit my file so my young guys, you know, PLAY. (Yeah, it's coming back to me why I have a blank in my memory about this league)

Anyway, as usual I have the leading offer out there to nine free agent players...six of them appear to be roster filler types. Probably the most interesting guy on my pursuit list is RB Dashawn Lindsay, who got himself predictably released after one uninspiring season in Oakland (on a 3/$95m deal). My RB situation is in flux - in FOF, Lindsay has no idea how to find Baltimore on a map, despite having played here for five seasons. So, picking him up is investing in a declining asset (6th year RB ftl) with no cohesion benefit. In a more nearly perfect world, I'd be thinking about a rookie plug-and-play option at RB, given the overall state of this roster.

[Chas in Cinti]

Thank goodness this is back... it could be my only sports watching for the foreseeable future...

[QuikSand]

The RB Situation

On the other hand... are we really in dire need at running back?

Grant Lester got the call from Rex to be our main-duty guy. He was a pre-season "bump" guy, and now looks like a decent across-the-board talent guy, overall. Not bad. His 10 personality is too low to register in-game as an affinity, I don't like that, but 4.5 yards per carry is... fine. And I don't have any real designs on "winning with the ground game." I don't buy it. So, maybe the most important number for Lester is that he only fumbled 2 times in 237 touches. THAT is good enough to keep him in the picture, likely as a preferred option to Lindsay, to be honest.

My depth ended up being Ernie Brumbaugh and Glenn Podolyak. Nothing noteworthy about either guy, really.


I tried semi-hard to move back into last year's draft to grab a RB. And failed. Looking back, how did that work out?

First, I offered a 2nd + 3rd package to get a late 2nd/early 3rd round pick to use on this guy, RB Ruben Collett. Didn't work, someone else took him, and sadly they messed up - position-switched him to WR and basically killed him. (Another fun quirk in FOF, you suit up a running back for one afternoon in jersey number 85 and BOOM he forgets how to play football)

So... jury's out on Collett. I can't even locate him, guessing he just up and retired after getting cut following the position-switch disaster.



Then I wanted RB Todd Wilson, offered a 5th and 6th to move in to get him. Nope. Went to AVAILABLE in Dallas.

Now? Wilson is your pretty standard 2nd year prospect. Got on the field for all of one play last season, watching his potential ratings decline, and likely never amounts to very much. I still like that bar profile a bit, and feel like this could be a nice role-player. But I don't think I would trade Lester for him, right now. Lester is solid across and trending up, Wilson has a few nice bars and is wasting away. We'll see if Wilson gets a legit chance this year - right now he's the only RB signed on the Dallas roster, so who knows?

So... RB is indeed an area to improve. But would it be awful if we went back into this season with the same two/three guys? Maybe... not so bad?

[QuikSand]

As I write, we're stalled AF at pick 1.13 of the draft... while our Ravens hold 1.21 and 1.22. It is very unlikely we draft a running back with either of those picks. And I am actively trying to trade away the rest of my picks for future draft capital. So... thinking we might end up just standing pat at RB, more or less.

I expect we have liberty to make some BPA type picks here. If I had to list needs for the next few years, they'd probably be Edge, CB, RB, LB, and TE, in something like that order.

[QuikSand]

Okay, two first rounders are in. My choice is made easier when Johnnyshaka's Browns take the FB (TE-to-be?) I liked, just a couple picks ahead of me. I waffle on a couple choices, but end up just taking two DBs:

http://gml.fof-belco.com/forum/showt...ll=1#post56246

http://gml.fof-belco.com/forum/showt...ll=1#post56247

[QuikSand]

...and here's where I put some pieces of the puzzle together, just barely after the fact. I got stuck with a lousy DC with poor scouting skills. And the second guy I took, linked above, looks GREAT to my pinhead scout, but so-so to everyone else. I expect he will be a modest bust. Still hopeful the first guy can be a CB1.

[QuikSand]

Made a predictable trade to offload draft picks, gain a future (likely late) 1st:

http://gml.fof-belco.com/forum/showt...ll=1#post56257

I have kept a mid-3rd this year, and will likely target either a RB or a KR/PR option with that pick.

[QuikSand]

Yawn. Transactions in FA stages 6-7:

FB Karl DeWalters

FA Stage 6

re-signed as an unrestricted free agent


SE Norman Hoover

FA Stage 6

re-signed as an unrestricted free agent

Two affinity gimps, re-signed without incident, good


RDT Max Thornton

FA Stage 6

signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $5,360,000.

Hard to see him sticking, despite a 91 personality


LDE Terrell Mealey

FA Stage 7

re-signed as an unrestricted free agent


He's a solid rotation-caliber pass rusher, good guy to keep. *( PR Tech, 94 personality)


FL Steven Wasiak

FA Stage 7

signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $6,920,000.

73/77 KR, could be WR 4/5, but we'd need to juggle to make him a chem fit...he's a 2/3, same as our leader...will explore options

[QuikSand]

So, body count right now:

49 players under contract
06 leading bids in free agency
03 draft picks incoming
---
58 hypothetical players heading into late free agency

I'm positioned well to grab a young FA late if need be...always on the lookout for guys getting cut by AI teams, that sort of thing. I don't think I'm going to get either a RB or a KR/PR with my 3rd round pick (my top guys queued up are elsewhere) so I will be hopeful there.

Roster is in pretty good shape. We have space to use for some extensions. Biggest question mark is whether we commit big bucks to Mr. Wonderful, who lives up to his nickname at LB on the field, but won't play tiddly-winks with the team.

[QuikSand]

FYI, we are not going to get RB Dashawn Lindsay. He's getting offers from AVAILABLE, so he will be blessed with another fat-bonus deal for 3 years, earn $15m in bonus money and another 4m in salary, play RB2 for a year and tally 70 carries, and then get released. Or something like that. So it goes. Don't pay close attention to the AI, is the thing I'm saying here.

[QuikSand]

FA Stage 8, after a brief hiatus:

SS Thomas Thomas

FA Stage 8

re-signed as an unrestricted free agent

Affinity fill-in


RB Dashawn Lindsay

FA Stage 8

turned down a contract offer: 1yrs, $7,000,000.

As expected, got a solid deal from AVAILABLE


RG Donnie Darby

FA Stage 8

re-signed as an unrestricted free agent

Getting a guy like him is easy, but him exactly is expensive


SE Rondell Benton

FA Stage 8

signed as an unrestricted free agent from Arizona: 2yrs, $25,000,000.

Cap space, so this. He's been a 4y part-timer, was asking for pretty big money and so this is a team-friendly offer. High affinity, but skills are in the wrong places... but sure where he'd line up, maybe in the slot? Doubtful he makes the team, I think.


C Kelvin Borrelli

FA Stage 8

signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $7,320,000.

An old friend. Has his starts. Still has big potential in run blocking. Outside shot to make the team, affinity is too low, otherwise he'd be a cohesion guy by now.

LG Marcus Freysinger

FA Stage 8

turned down a contract offer: 4yrs, $84,000,000.

Another team-friendly option, just in case nobody wanted him. he got real guarantees from Dallas, goes there, It's fine, he's a better player overall than G Darby who re-signed with us, he just wouldn't have the cohesion for us.

LS Mercury Houghtlin

FA Stage 9

signed as an unrestricted free agent from Oakland: 1yrs, $5,500,000.

Whatever, just a team option in case there's nobody after the draft.

[QuikSand]

Lining up my special teams for the season ahead. Most of this is already in place, so here's how we look... bar splits the guys I intend to leave "encouraged" from the best-rated active guys who won't be.

RB/FB
FB Lusignan 100

TE/WR
TE Barnett 93
TE Weydahl 86
- - - - -
WR Slade 70

D7
DE Anthony 100
LB Tanner 100
LB Rossini 100
LB Randolph 100
DT Calhoun 95
DE Baither 89
- - - - -
LB Harris 78


DB
CB Metzenbaum 92
CB Slechta 92
- - - - -
CB Baskerville 78


Looking very strong. Rookies, we'll see.

[QuikSand]

Okay, the end of early free agency is a non-event. We get our last two fill-in guys (CB Baskerville and DE Baither) uncontested, don't miss out on anyone. I do a number of mainly inconsequential renegotiations, plus one big one (T Shepherd locked up long term, STUD). And we are on into late free agency.

59 players signed at this point. We are a shade over the cap. Have some empty contracts that can fix that, starting with the fat contract WR we just signed - he gone. So, with that move, we are $4m under the cap, and have some room to play ball.

I think I am done with extension renegs. Last guy left I would like to extend is DE Anthony - he's a good fit for what I want to do, he's probably talented enough to play DE3 as a rotation guy, he's got super high endurance and mad special teams, but only a 40 personality. So... is he a $10m guy going forward? Maybe as I do cutdowns, we will free up the room to extend him out. But I'm resigned to letting a few quality players test the FA waters next year.

[QuikSand]

Rookie report:

Only three draft picks, and I think I'm getting what I expect here, including the disappointment with our second guy in round one.

CB Samuel Gallop is the guy I had targeted, scouts loved him, and he starts out as a limited-bar but highly developed type. His initial appearance is really good in bump, zone, and interceptions -- hey, just what I would want from him. Not sure he's a future CB1, but very possibly a CB2 and long term asset. Profile pretty similar to this guy from another league, whom I lucked into after-draft, but has turned into a really nice CB3. If I have to spend a 1st round pick to get a quality guy like this... I guess it's okay.

1st round DB Emmanuel Conway looks... okay. A big PH bar is an encouraging sign, but nearly all his other skills are low-development. I don't knwo what to make of a bump bar of 37/69... I honestly have just forgotten how strong an indicator that is (as a supposedly static bar, coming in with a lot of unrealized potential is... a sign that he's a total phony, perhaps). If he were to develop toward his full set of bars, he could be really well suited for time at safety with us. At worst, maybe he's a rotation-caliber DB who will develop serious ST skills, and that still would have value.

3rd round LB Shane Wilkerson is going to be tricky. I think he can improve, but at 239 pounds I don't know that he can play with his hand in the dirt, were he seems best suited skills-wise. I usually ignore small weigh issues, but that seems too much to overlook. So, he's maybe a rotation-caliber ILB who can play the run/pass a little bit each, and will just sit on some pass-rushing talent that we won't use, as I am not a believer in blitzing very much.

[QuikSand]

So, how important is a guy like WR Moe Bernal to this team?

The case FOR:
-several legit receiver ratings: bpr, courage both >80
-100 personality great for chemistry
-been aboard for 4 seasons, so adds some cohesion

The case AGAINST:
-he wants realist money, like $8m/yr
-he’s been about a 6.5 ypt guy for us
-zero rating in Route Running

Basically, this comes down to the value of a player like him… Who has several specific ratings that would suggest he could be useful in a limited role. But, in FOF, it just doesn’t appear that that really works. It all seems to come down to the route running rating, which is the Lord God among them. This guy has a void there, not just a 20 but a zero… And so in my working theory of FOF, his real number on the visible 0-10 scale, might be a -30. And if he is truly that bad at the route running skill, that means he will always have trouble getting open, being targeted, or really being the first choice on a given play. And, whether we like it or not, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that low RR simply means the guy can’t play wide receiver. He really won’t be a good “big play receiver” despite his surface rating there.

I would like to think that a set of skills like his could be useful in a situational role, maybe like Cordarrelle Patterson has found in the NFL. Not a conventional receiver, maybe for lack of route running skills, but still useful in some ways… Whatever it would be that would make a wide receiver have exceptional ability at big play receiving, it just seems like you should be able to harness that talent in some productive way on a football team. Alas, this guy does not seem to add any real value on the field. So, he’s basically not worth anything more than a stiff. But, I can find, and afford that stuff… I don’t need him to be a cohesion factor, if he’s just going to sit on the in active roster for this team, and I definitely don’t need to pay him 8 million bucks to do so.

Sigh. I have a half-hearted offer in for him.

[QuikSand]

Late free agency. No major news, I don't see any undrafted rookie making the team this year.

We did re-up on team-friendly deals with PR Ramon Matthews and WR Moe Bernal. No other interest. Bernal may remain our WR3 option. Matthews is high cohesion and chem at this point, and is a better PR option than anyone else we've got - he has posted about a 19yd average with us, which is great.

Uneventful camp stage, really.

[QuikSand]

Well, despite having two first round picks, we finish dead last in the BenBot draft rankings. No shock.

I'm still fairly optimistic that we landed two decent quality guys, but admittedly even if I'm dead on there it's hard to say we got good value from that much draft capital. I'm used to that.

[QuikSand]

Okay, it's cutdown day. Preseason done, the last ratings moves are in, and it's pink slip time.

Biggest surprise, to me, is that CB Alexis Montano gets his walking papers. I signed him thinking he'd be our CB2 for a while. But he suffered a ratings slip last year - the league dimwit scout nothing him down from 43 to 38. He still played well for us - an 81.4 in-game PD% rating. This year, scout downgraded him to 28... as he was inactive during preseason (that seems to hurt a lot). So, he's gone, and we eat some bonus money as a result. Sucks.

So, we extend CB Slechta, as our CB1, and will rely on a rotation of guys underneath him, without a true CB2 for the foreseeable future. Don't love that, to be honest.

Rookies look disappointing, should have expected this. I just need to do better. Or do more trades of draft picks for cheap vets. I am not maximizing this asset, at all.

[QuikSand]

Lamantations aside, this could be a good year. Our roster rating is a 46 overall in-game, with a 41-rated QB and my top receivers rated 63 and 53. That should add up to an 8-8 club, maybe. But we have cohesion and chemistry out the ying yang, and that was the main idea here.

I think this is a 12-4 club, with those factors worked in. I'm hopeful we can overcome some roster weaknesses, and all those places where I have "bums" like CB Metzenbaum and Baskerville playing real time - they will work out not because the players are great, but because we know what we're doing here. Cohesion. Chemistry. Let's go get it.

A year delayed, but here it is, let's make this season the payoff. Win it all with a cast of hobos.

[QuikSand]

We are not a 12-4 club. We are not a title contender.

GML: Baltimore Ravens 2113

So, 10-5-1? What happened here?

Teddy was good enough. Not great, but an 84 rating is good enough.
Running game was okay. Kept even with the opposition.
Turnovers were great, we were +15, league best.
Receivers were ok, except Barlow (150 targets only 772 yds)

So, what happened? Defense stinks?
Defense stinks, yes. 15th in ypa, not good enough.
We were 3rd in ppg allowed, so again... why didn't we go 12-4?

Ugh.

[QuikSand]

The indignity of a goddamned road game. FFS.

[Chas in Cinti]

GB, Jax, Cincy home losses hurt... pretty impressive to go 10-5-1 when you're only 5-3 at home...

[QuikSand]

Just sucks. Very disappointed. "Intangibles" are supposed to break our way, what with all this voodoo crap in the background. Honestly, if we were -11 instead if +15 in turnovers, that alone would have me feeling like we just weren't good enough. But we just should have been better than this.

Not exactly the 2010 Chargers, but... sumpin.

[QuikSand]

Postseason is more or less what I'd expect. We win our road opener, but all four bye week teams win their first game at home, and all the wild card round winners are gone. We lose (in a blowout) to Cinti, who manages to go on to win it all. Way to go nicon22.

Wonderful.

Will get the file, and look at the retirement damage. It should start adding up, as this team is now getting old.

[QuikSand]

Three transactions, but one major impact we foresaw - C Castillo is predictably done. I didn't see WR Lester leaving, though. Potentially a function of me fucking around with "starts" to get various assclowns their chemistry triggered. Alas.

C Ezekiel Castillo

Pre-Staff Draft

retired


C Myles Aydelotte

Pre-Staff Draft

retired


SE Victor Lester

Pre-Staff Draft

retired

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

So, how important is a guy like WR Moe Bernal to this team?
...

Sigh. I have a half-hearted offer in for him.

Quick check-in on this guy. 16 starts, 28 targets, 104 yards, zero TD.

He's always been weak, but <4 ypt is unusually weak, even for him.

[QuikSand]

..are we still a "go for it" team? Not really sure. Geez, this sucks.

[QuikSand]

http://gml.fof-belco.com/pinned_ears.php

With 5 sacks in only 8 tackles, Terrell Mealey scores top-10 all time in Ben's "advanced" ear-pinner stat. Best ever for a Raven, and that is with some stout competition.

He's a delight to have on the roster.

(oops, edit - last year was his big stat year, but this season was again top-25)

[QuikSand]

Okay, on to 2114 in earnest.

Big stage today, the FA 1:2... basically where I'm putting together my annual "plan." I will, as usual, elaborate that stuff here. Not sure whether I remain in "veterans only, no compromising on cohesion, we're in it to win it" mode. That perspective should emerge more clearly in the time as I am writing, ahead.

[QuikSand]

So, my usual head count here:

33 players signed
08 draft picks this year (1.26 and 1.28)
01 RFAs as no-brainer re-signings
---
42 players "in hand" as we kick off free agency

I have a number of players on the roster, but on expired contracts. So, we will make our usual foray into the open market of free agency, both targeting our own guys to return and, as usual, select "good fit" players who might fit in around our current cadre.

[QuikSand]

Incidentally, once again RB is going to be interesting. Grant Lester has managed to post up over 2,000 on the ground, with a decent 4.5 ypc average, in his two years as a minsal starter. Now, he reckons, he's a $20m player. Fun!

So...we will have to sort out whether he makes sense to actually pay, or whether we go young yet again. His wingman has merely 80 touches across two seasons, but he himself is thinking he's about $8m worth right now.

Since they are 3rd year guys, I do have the option to offer a fat 1yr deal, and defer any long term decisions until later. So, that remains in play, especially if my early draft picks don't yield a potential starter here.

[QuikSand]

By the way... the league-scout view of Podolyak linked above is probably making you (well, Chas, maybe just you) think "Quik is nuts, that guy is a star!"

Please know that my in-game scout (scouting ability 95 for HC, 75 for OC) shows Podolyak at 39/43, and a very pedestrian okay-at-everything level, nowhere near what the in-game scout thinks. Methinks maybe the play here is to try to peddle him off in a sign-and-trade deal based on the league website making him look like a minor monster there. :rubshands:

[QuikSand]

Trade solicitation posted

[Chas in Cinti]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

(well, Chas, maybe just you) think "Quik is nuts, that guy is a star!"

Of course, I called for him to start the last 2 years, and obviously you made a good decision with Lester... so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt I think...

[QuikSand]

Well, I won't rule out that we decide $20m+ to Lester is foolish, and we hand Polodyak the starting job for this year at $7m or so, whatever a one year fat-bonus deal costs us.

[QuikSand]

..and technically, I don't deserve credit for starting Lester. I need a civil war style term for "the season I had worked for for months of real time and then missed the key file and let Otto run the whole thing." Perhaps "the unpleasantness" will do.