Snakebitten: A Real-Time MP FOF thread

[Chas in Cinti]

Interesting, albeit unexpected...

[QuikSand]

(drafts a kicker in round two)

Originally Posted by Chas in Cinti

Interesting, albeit unexpected...

(that's honestly the outcome I decided to settle for...)

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by GML Postbot

Baltimore: QuikSand takes TE Mason Fouts with the 3.28 pick.

Round 3... a guy who looked better to my scout than the consensus, but hopefully remains productive at least at a TE2 level. Sigh.

[QuikSand]

We sign a free agent OL, Moe Cebelak. Thinking here is that our current starting C is just hemorrhaging sacks. If he and his run blocking rating were blowing the doors off DTs in the run game, maybe we're okay with that... but alas, he was only 17/66 in KRBs last season. I realize that stat has its weaknesses, but indirectly, not a great sense there. And Borrelli wants $12m a year starting next season... so I think I'll likely just pull the trigger now and put in Cebelak there right away. He's solid, affordable, and even a stronger affinity. We lose a bit of cohesion but not a ton. So, he's our guy, I think.

[QuikSand]

Important re-signing in G Donnie Darby. He's not a great player, but chem/coh is the key here on this team, we'll live with a run-first guy in the pursuit of the hidden ladders.

Another seemingly valuable signing here is S Jeremiah Wilson. He's my sort of guy - really solid at the skills I value most, and that's about it. Strong safety, well, I'd like some Zone coverage and Run D, and maybe STOP RIGHT THERE. That's him. Sold. We were feeling one man short in the S/DB rotation anyway, so this is good, I think.

[QuikSand]

Headcount check-in:

51 players signed now
03 draft picks coming aboard
01 FA where we are the lead offer (FB Lusignan)
-1 kicker losing his job
02 RB, DT needed to get to legal
---
56 players "in hand"

So, we will have to do some paring. A guy like C Borrelli seems obvious, supplanted as a starter and very low affinity. I'm sure we can find more, too... like older special teamers who suddenly drop from 95 to 75, and become mere chem guys.

Last year, we actually picked up a couple undrafted rookies who stuck, so we will be watching for that, too, but with some countable cost for anyone we pick up.

[QuikSand]

So...related question. How good is WR Aiden Dugas? URFA grab last season, looked promising in preseason, makes the final roster of 53 and gets his chem starts. I already have two young WR who are just chem buffers - can't contribute at all on-field. But I'm wondering about Dugas.

Could he be a 60-target guy for this team? I may have to replace the production from WR Moe Bernal and his infuriating combo of 100 personality and 0 route running. He wants $10m and I just might not have it to spend. Same goes for PR/WR Ramon Mathews who basically brings nothing to the on-field table other than a decent PR rating around 60.

I mean, I fully expect the targets will focus on WR1 Franz, TE1 Weydahl, and WR2 Stocz, basically in that order... but last year there were still around 140 WR targets past that list. Worth getting some legit production out of them, right? The other young candidate is WR Allen Slade who at least has legit GD skills for inside work, but I'm warming up to Courage as important on those inside routes, so I'm wary of using him a lot in the slot.

Anyhow... we'll sort out WR, but it's one of those tricky positions that definitely matters, but I don't have a clear path ahead with.

[QuikSand]

Fun side note here. 4 of my 5 starting linemen are stronger in run blocking than in pass blocking. For the team that passes for more yards than anyone, and whose GM whispers rotten things about the very nature of the running game. Odd flex.

But is that just a bias I don't realize...I like a big bar for run blocking? Is it the nature of the position, that as a value shopper I end up with these guys after the league gets the serious pass protectors ahead of me? Or it this just happenstance?

[QuikSand]

Okay, early FA wraps, draft picks come aboard for their sneak peek. So, where are we now?

First - we nailed down two more returning free agents, FB Lusignan (special teams star) and DT Neill (affinity/cohesion guy). I also floated a team-friendly minsal deal to RB Colby Styles, who would give us nothing for chemistry, but who might be a better RB and PR than what we're looking at paying $15m across two positions for. So, he's sort of a Plan C here.

[QuikSand]

Rookies' Lookies:

RB Schweigert is a mixed bag. Fully maxed out as Breakaway, so a legit big play guy. 46/63 in hole rec is solid, but not spectacular. 30/47 in Endurance is disappointing, and allegedly really important even for part-time RBs (or players?). And, his KR rating is 55/70...definitely good enough to take over those duties, which I wanted, but not necessarily good enough to make him a star without a lot of ST support.

So, my takeaway there? A click lesser of a player than I had hoped for, but still such an obviously good fit that I'm pleased. Probably more of a 2nd round talent, but so it goes. The C I had hoped for no longer looks that close to being max potential, so I guess we did okay. (Chem 93/72)

K Marion Thomas looks good, but not eternal, which is what I ordinarily would really demand of a 2nd round draft pick for a fucking kicker. He likely develops into a 80/60/70/60 player - the sort that other teams seemingly are willing to pay 3x minsal for, but not my teams. So, a miss, overall. Could have had a decent linebacker, but was not having any sort of blue pill reaction to that, tbh. I really just need to be dealing away these flotsam picks.

TE Mason Fouts is going to be pretty useless. Great. No reason to think he can bump past his now-medoicre ratings that are mostly in the 35-55 range, so if he's a 45/45 overall I guess he could be a TE2 who doesn't play special teams. On this team, in this league, that's worth close to nothing. (Chem 18/66)

[QuikSand]

..and by the way, if there's a side market for players to end up with the highest total yards from scrimmage this season, let's see if we can get 15-1 on Mr. Braunschweiger. Methinks between kickoff returns and being our main-duty RB, he could easily end up in the thick of that race.

[QuikSand]

So, we are "active" in late free agency, but expecting to really shape the team a lot here. TBH it's been three days since I prepared the file, and I don't recall that much.

Anyway, here are the moves we DID make, with annotations:


SS Cole Austin

Late FA Stage 1

turned down a contract offer: 4yrs, $60,000,000.

-with our free agent signing, i have the luxury of exposing him to free agency next offseason, may do that


C Kelvin Borrelli

Late FA Stage 1

released

-displaced as starter, chem too low to keep around


TE Eddie Breeden

Late FA Stage 1

signed as an unrestricted free agent from New Orleans: 2yrs, $7,040,000.

4th year guy w no special teams... hmmm



QB Andrew Fitzgerald

Late FA Stage 1

signed as an unrestricted free agent from New Orleans: 2yrs, $6,210,000.

-3rd year guy to watch here, sleeper as "developmental" keeper



RB Edwin Bush

Late FA Stage 1

turned down a contract offer: 1yrs, $2,900,000.

-dang, tried a pile of 1yr money to entice him, looked promising


RB Raul Pile

Late FA Stage 1

signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $4,680,000.

-a breakaway/elusiveness guy who won't make the cut


RB Mercury Stabenow

Late FA Stage 1

signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $4,680,000.

-a mixed bag guy who also won't make the cut


RT Drake Hardy

Late FA Stage 1

signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $4,680,000.

-one of those two-important-bar-void guys I tend to kick tires on...


LDE Logan Mulitalo

Late FA Stage 1

signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $4,680,000.

-potentially intriguing, but do we start him? unlikely


WLB Giovanni Roybal

Late FA Stage 1

signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $4,680,000.

-same story, though not totally inconceivable we'd rotate this guy in


FL Ramon Matthews

Late FA Stage 2

re-signed as an unrestricted free agent

-for 2yr MINSAL, that's sweet... as we can't find an improvement, he'll do


RB Glenn Podolyak

Late FA Stage 2

re-signed as an unrestricted free agent

-HERE YOU GO CHAS


SS Calvin Conley

Late FA Stage 3

signed as an unrestricted free agent from Carolina: 2yrs, $7,060,000.

-wow, a decent 4th year guy with 99 personality and 7 starts just falls into our lap


...and by twist of fate, we landed right at 70 players, needing every one of those rejections to stay in our lane and avoid a multi-offender penalty. So, that's good.


SILB Edgar Peterson

Late FA Stage 3

signed as an unrestricted free agent from Buffalo: 1yrs, $4,600,000.


RB Scottie Writer

Late FA Stage 3

turned down a contract offer: 2yrs, $6,600,000.


FB Howie Burden

Late FA Stage 3

signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $4,680,000.


FL Ben Knight

Late FA Stage 3

signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $4,680,000.


LG Calvin Cannida

Late FA Stage 3

signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $4,680,000.

[QuikSand]

Uh oh, trouble for RB Podolyak. Chas, you might want to look away.

He's taken the laurels as the chemistry leader (4th year guy, 72 leadership, 20 personality) over my gimp guy (11th/52/93). Not good. Podolyak is on a one year no bonus deal (heh) so this won't hurt our bottom line if we cut him... need to sort out based on chem and talent what to do here.

[QuikSand]

Okay, sitting at 70 players, looking toward camp. Have a chem problem in the RB/FB group that needs attention.

First, with WR Mathews back so cheaply, I'm cutting my non-affinity PR/RB Colby Styles. Best if we just forget that ever happened. 69 now and room to add someone.

For the RB group, we have Schweigert as the build-around guy, he's a 4/5 guy and is 93/72. So, in theory, after this season he could actually become our chem leader if we were to go young there. FB Lusignan (4-5, 15, 86) is a cohesion and special teams guy who adds value both ways and gets onto the field, I'd really prefer to keep him around. Our QB trio are all 6-7 guys. All signs point toward the same thing - we need an adequate 2-3 group leader here.

The simple short term plan is just to release RB Podolyak. That puts our gimp guy back in the lead role. Pressure on Liverwurst to get it done as the do-everything back in his rookie season, as he'd be backed up by one of the URFA dudes or perhaps the "Swinger" Vince Vaughn.

Splashing around to see if there's any other candidate out there who might compete with the Vaughn/rookie option for Rb2 this year. I don't think I can save Podolyak.

[QuikSand]

The RB Solution

Minor trade, bring us a guy with enough talent to contribute, and potentially saves Podolyak's ass.

Jaylen Roberts

Best guess now is that we keep Roberts active and involved, use Schweigert as the RB1, and perhaps keep Podolyak as a utility guy. One FB will be active, used as a gunner, but we'll plug in a TE to actually play fullback.

Net effect of all this: still 4 roster slots dedicated to RB/FB, but now all 4 active (net +1). Chemistry effects likely will suffer, as Roberts as the new group leader will only carry an 80 personality, he replaces a guy with 99.

[Chas in Cinti]

Whew... a roller coaster of emotion over those 4 posts... LOL

[QuikSand]

Heh, I think if I had landed that rookie Bush, Podolyak would be out of a job. Instead, I'm spending draft capital to find a way to get him 100+ touches. Funny how it goes sometimes.

[QuikSand]

Ok, training camp is in the books.

The BELCo "Delightful Dandies" has two of my players - undrafted rookies, natch - on the list, albeit fairly low. So, we will keep an eye on LB Roybal and RB Stabenow. Both look fairly far away from being starters, so even with a +5 in preseason (or something like that), they might not be ready to go.

[QuikSand]

My scout doesn't care for Liverwurst as much as the league scout does - I think that's a bad sign. Regardless, I'll try to accentuate the positive... the big bars that I drafted him for are:

Ours League Rating
100+ 100+ Breakaway Speed
48/60 63 Hole Recognition
57/68 68 Kick Returning
31/44 47 Endurance

So, we'll take it, I guess. Again, he looks like a top-75 talent rather than trade-up-for-pick 1.22, but so it goes.

[QuikSand]

Hmm, I had a full thread about my cutdown to 60, but lost it. Alas.

Suffice it to say... RB is thinned, TE is still bloated. We've got 3-4 TEs contending for 1-2 roster slots, need to see some direction. With TE Weydahl likely to retire or dissolve soon, that's becoming a high priority position to target.

[QuikSand]

So, it's "the file" day. Need to cut down for the regular season, get everything tended to, and submit "the file" for the year.

After losing ST star CB Metzenbaum to retirement, we are going to have to dig a bit deeper among our roster for the active/inactive line on special teams. I did a first pass just so I don't overlook it again, but I'm guessing the line will be in the 80s, rather than the 90s.

Notes on difficult cutdown decisions:

-RB/FB appears set, with FB Lusignan, and a trio at RB, all of whom will get touches. Hard cut got made last stage. Podolyak makes the team.

-TE is tricky, as I'm thinking about the future a bit. Furr is super high chemistry at 95, solid 83 special teams, he's a click away in both regards from being a TE3 forever. Instead, he's bubbled. Austin was a guy we loved, but he's about a year away from taking the chem lead and getting cut anyway. Eddie Breeden has two ratings (79 RR, 48 BPR) and does that make him TE1 next year? 39/41 overall, he's a very incomplete player. Rookie Fouts slid in preseason 57 to 48, my scout now says 45, nothing encouraging there.

At LB, we're very old - best guys are at Exp 11,9,12. Youth infusion would be helpful. But guys are marginal...I haven't really hit with limited draft capital. Rookie Roybal bumps in camp, now looks 32/46 and like a decent ILB prospect... 3rd year guy Peterson is 28/41, better coverage for outside, and 86 personality. Don't love squeezing starts for both guys this year, so ... what?

-At QB is young 20/39 Andrew Fitzgerald honestly good enough to figure into our QB1 plans in a couple of years? We'd have to keep 3x QB for him to stick and gain starts... does that make sense?

Okay... that's much of the setup for this year. The last couple cutdowns are going to be brutal, I fear.

[QuikSand]

Quick notes on special teams. Who's encouraged, by position group:

QB
RB
FB 100
TE 90 89
WR 90
OL
PK
DL 96
LB 96 83
CB 93 88 81
S

Hmmm...my first draft here included only 8 players "encouraged." Not enough? Need 10, in theory, right? (One K/P/KR/PR plus a cadre from there?)

I add back in my 83 LB and 81 CB, brings down the average a bit, but seems like it's now less likely it just spins the wheel and drags in one of these 24-rated RB or whatnot.

Next season, will try to add one more ST ace someplace.

[QuikSand]

File is in. WR Mathews keeps his job as PR and chemistry guy, but it was close. Both young LB stay, I think they both get some time this year, and might even get 8 starts. Both should factor into my LB3/4/5/6 thinking for a couple years down the line.

I'd guess we are a bye week team. I hope this RB thing makes a difference, and that my tending to details like special team assignments will be another nudge in the right direction. We are getting old as hell, but that's by design.

12-4, #2 seed, legit shot for the whole thing.

[QuikSand]

Awaiting results from the regular season.

Some idle speculation on the "All Purpose Yards" race. Where might Liverwurst end up here?

My stab at his stats for the year:

Rushing 200-900y on 4.5 ypc
Receiving 50T-40R-300y on 6.0 ypt
KickRet 30-750y on 25.0 avg
---
1,950 total yards from scrimmage
...that would put him the top ten last season, but not near the very top.


A "crushed it" year from him (either this season or at some point) might look like:

1400 rushing
500 receiving
900 kickoffs
----
2800 total yards

...and that would put him into the mix for the top spot overall, in this league.

[QuikSand]

Well, guess we have to do some digging into "what happened?"

GML: Baltimore Ravens 2115

9-7 and a weak-ass division title? What went wrong?

Notes:
Surface stats for offense look okay, weird...
Teddy had a routine year, 3rd highest passer score, about right
Receiver targets spread fairly, all around 7 ypt zone, okay not great
(Crazy stat line for WR Slade, big boom or bust guy)
Run game was fine, split between Liverwurst and Roberts, both around 4.5ypc
-1 turnover margin, not bad enough to be "the problem"
Pass rush was mid-pack (20.2%), that's just not good enough
We gave up 6.32 ypa - that's solid but not enough apparently

Overall takeaway... I don't know why we didn't win 11+ games. I think we would have in a median run of multiple trials. So it goes, I guess.

[Chas in Cinti]

Dang... not a good season to have a statistical anomaly here at the tail end of this period...

[QuikSand]

Right, exactly. I gave a decent look for oddball stuff like too many sacks or whatnot, and I think it's just lousy luck.

[QuikSand]

Return game analysis:

Our returns:
PR 17.4 (1st)
KR 25.7 (10th)

Returns allowed:
PR 9.3 (17th)
KR 23.1 (18th)

So, not dominant, except for the magic man, punt returner Ramon Mathews and his virtually non-existent skill set.

For context, it's been 40 years since this league had a punt returner with an average in the same tier as Mathews and his 15.6 average. If we only counted the seasons he played in Baltimore, Mathews would be #1 all time, north of 18 yards per return. Crazy.

[QuikSand]

Special Teams snaps:

QB no errant snaps
RB Roberts 78, Podolyak 78, Schweigert 77 - all "not encouraged"
FB Lusignan 378 (correct, he's ST 100 and encouraged, should max out)
TE Barrett 370 (89, few real snaps), Weydahl 276 (90, heavy load), Austin 77 (30, not enc)
WR Stocz 274 (95, enc, starter), Mathews 94 mostly PRs

OL starters G Darby and Foreman, T Shepherd and backup T Dotson all in for 121 (long snaps?), all not encouraged

DE Anthony 101 (96, enc, heavy load), another 100 across other DL (not enc)
LB Tanner 320 (96 enc heavy), Layman 296 (83 enc medium), Rossini 200 (90 enc light), 60 more scattered
CB Baskerville 254 (88 enc light), Wordehoff 249 (93 enc light), Slechta 203 (81 end heavy)
S 60 or so scattered, nobody encouraged

[QuikSand]

Postseason:

http://gml.fof-belco.com/forum/showt...ll=1#post57138

We win two games, then get pasted in the conf championship game. WTG Houston, they win it all.

[QuikSand]

Whoa. Five retirements. Four are special teams aces. Ouch. Our era of being really heavy there may have just ended. Big cohesion hit, too.

[QuikSand]

Retirements include: (ST rating, regular usage)

TE Barrett 370 (89, few real snaps)
LB Rossini 200 (90 enc light)
CB Baskerville 254 (88 enc light)
CB Wordehoff 249 (93 enc light)

[Chas in Cinti]

Well... your playoff success sort of shakes out and balances the regular season W/L...

That's a lot of retirements and sort of reinforces this "era" being on it's final legs...

[QuikSand]

Okay, new season reset. We'll start with the annual headcount:

25 players currently signed
02 restricted FAs we expect to re-sign
07 picks in this year's draft
---
34 players basically "in hand"
04 free agenst for my team that nobody else could possibly want(?)
---
38 players all but on our team for this year

So... 15 slots to fill. My roster distribution list is full of red ink.

[QuikSand]

Plan A - keep it together as long as we can

Basically, my default here will be to to re-up where I can with "my guys." A veteran minsal player costs around $2.9m in cap space, with base salary of about $4.9m. So, guys asking for $6-8m per year are not fat cats in this fast-moving league, they're just seeking to be a click or two over the minimum. But that makes our seemingly impressive $300m in cap space a bit less so.

Anyway... if I were to re-up with all the guys like NT Pete Neill (9th year, virtually no skills left, seeking $9m/yr) and CB Schlechta (11th year, still rotation-caliber, wants $12m/yr) I will probably fill up my roster to... maybe 48 players.

Here's the full roster, from my recently re-built text printer dump:

Front Office Football Eight
Baltimore Ravens Roster, Scout Overview
   
  Player                #   Pos   Start Exp  Current Estimate Future Estimate  Cntrct 
Schweigert, Bernie      222 RB          2    43               47               3 yrs. 
Franz, Brad             517 FL          8    63               63               3 yrs. 
Thomas, Mario           1003K           2    68               85               3 yrs. 
Wilson, Jeremiah        1649SS          7    56               56               3 yrs. 
Stocz, Lonnie           512 SE          3    57               57               2 yrs. 
Foreman, Donald         771 LG          9    60               60               2 yrs. 
Darby, Donnie           760 RG          9    54               54               2 yrs. 
Shepherd, Tyrus         863 LT          6    86               86               2 yrs. 
Frederick, Edwin        904 P           8    45               45               2 yrs. 
Mealey, Terrell         1191LDE         8    35               35               2 yrs. 
Randolph, Renaldo       1415SLB         10   59               59               2 yrs. 
Douglas, Riley          1623FS          11   61               61               2 yrs. 
Farrell, Teddy          102 QB          14   42               42               1 yr.  
Lusignan, Jackson       338 FB          12   6                6                1 yr.  
Dugas, Aiden            589 FL          3    42               47               1 yr.  
Matthews, Ramon         586 FL          12   11               11               1 yr.  
Hoover, Norman          588 SE          8    2                2                1 yr.  
Cebelak, Moe            665 C           6    49               49               1 yr.  
Pearson, Isaac          1190LDE         6    40               40               1 yr.  
Roybal, Giovanni        1350WILB        2    39               49               1 yr.  
Wilkerson, Shane        1345WILB        4    24               24               1 yr.  
Conway, Emmanuel        1529LCB         4    42               42               1 yr.  
Gallop, Samuel          1541LCB         4    32               32               1 yr.  
Thomas, Thomas          1636SS          10   16               16               1 yr.  
Conley, Calvin          1639FS          5    43               43               1 yr.  
Bryant, Richie          109 QB          9    28               28               ---    
Roberts, Jaylen         247 RB          5    50               50               ---    
Podolyak, Glenn         234 RB          5    42               42               ---    
Weydahl, Arturo         480 TE          11   43               43               ---    
Austin, Ronald          484 TE          6    35               35               ---    
Slade, Allen            585 FL          6    25               25               ---    
Conway, Marco           581 SE          5    29               29               ---    
Terrell, Conrad         666 C           10   2                5                ---    
Dotson, Joey            867 LT          10   16               16               ---    
Tompkins, Heath         875 RT          5    60               60               ---    
Anthony, Ethan          1198LDE         7    50               50               ---    
Banks, DeAndre          1193RDE         9    45               45               ---    
Calhoun, Ramon          1295NT          13   37               37               ---    
Neill, Pete             1297NT          9    35               35               ---    
Tanner, Jermaine        1305SILB        12   66               66               ---    
Layman, Caiden          1354SILB        13   44               44               ---    
Peterson, Edgar         1325SILB        4    32               49               ---    
Brotzman, Tucker        1352WILB        9    38               38               ---    
Sumner, Floyd           1458WLB         6    45               45               ---    
Slechta, Eugene         1528LCB         11   47               47               ---    
Creel, Harris           1531RCB         3    27               29               ---    
Austin, Cole            1642SS          9    50               50               ---    
Tamburrino, Toby        669 LS          6    17               17               ---    
   
$$ - player is suspended, ## - player is inactive,  
** = player is injured, %% - player is on IR.  
   
Players Under Contract: 25
Inactive: 0
On Active Roster: 25
   
Salary Cap: $679,500,000
Cap Room: $324,750,000
Maximum for New Player: $300,170,000
Cap Room Lost (to old contracts): $2,460,000
   
Cap Room Lost Next Year (to old contracts): $0
Cap Room Required Next Year: $247,300,000

The re-signing candidates, without commentary on how aggressively I'd have to pursue, seem like:

Bryant, Richie          109 QB          9    28               28               ---    
Roberts, Jaylen         247 RB          5    50               50               ---    
Podolyak, Glenn         234 RB          5    42               42               ---    
Weydahl, Arturo         480 TE          11   43               43               ---    
Austin, Ronald          484 TE          6    35               35               ---    
Slade, Allen            585 FL          6    25               25               ---    
Conway, Marco           581 SE          5    29               29               ---    
Dotson, Joey            867 LT          10   16               16               ---    
Anthony, Ethan          1198LDE         7    50               50               ---    
Neill, Pete             1297NT          9    35               35               ---    
Tanner, Jermaine        1305SILB        12   66               66               ---    
Peterson, Edgar         1325SILB        4    32               49               ---    
Brotzman, Tucker        1352WILB        9    38               38               ---    
Sumner, Floyd           1458WLB         6    45               45               ---    
Slechta, Eugene         1528LCB         11   47               47               ---    
Creel, Harris           1531RCB         3    27               29               ---    
Austin, Cole            1642SS          9    50               50               ---    
Tamburrino, Toby        669 LS          6    17               17               ---    

Hmmm...if we re-up with all those cats, we end up at 54 players, assuming we do bring in 7 rookies. And that is before we sort out some of the guys I didn't include above as "no brainers" to at least pursue, like RT Tompkins and DE Anthony.

Okay... that's the general setup, before I wade in to even look at the free agency market for this offseason.

[QuikSand]

File sent for big initial stage. 24 FA offers. Gulp.

[QuikSand]

	Baltimore Ravens	QuikSand	LCB Alfred Harvey	2 years, $8,160,000 (Bonus: $20K. Salary: $3.7M, $4.4M.)	37	37
	Baltimore Ravens	QuikSand	LDE Jimmie Keith	4 years, $76,000,000 (Bonus: $40K. Salary: $19.0M, $19.0M, $19.0M, $19.0M.)	56	60
	Baltimore Ravens	QuikSand	NT Aaron Stevens	3 years, $54,000,000 (Bonus: $36.0M. Salary: $6.0M, $6.0M, $6.0M.)	56	56
	Baltimore Ravens	QuikSand	SILB Jermaine Tanner	2 years, $34,000,000 (Bonus: $24.0M. Salary: $5.0M, $5.0M.)	67	67
	Baltimore Ravens	QuikSand	RT Heath Tompkins	4 years, $100,000,000 (Bonus: $80.0M. Salary: $5.0M, $5.0M, $5.0M, $5.0M.)

Lots to see here. Re-signings were important but uncontested - no shock. We felt very thin along the DL, so Keith and Stevens should give us a solid rotation, though neither should be an impact pass rusher.


But the tone is set. Maintain and extend our window as best we can. I will likely again look to compress our draft, I just don't see room here for 7 rookies. There will be some more active slots up for grabs, with all the retirements of low-skill special teamers, though.

[QuikSand]

RB group returns for this season, with both Roberts (leader) and Podolyak (utility guy and fan fave) agreeing to new contracts.

Last year, we ended up with a serious split of RB duties:

Player..............Snaps R+P....Rush-Yds-YPC.....Targets-Rec-Yds-YPT
Liverwurst........119+236......100-439-4.39.....14-10-72-5.14
Roberts............129+302......100-452-4.52.....29-16-192-6.62
Podolyak...........75+190........55-268-4.87......23-15-99-4.30

So, sample sizes there small enough to leave this as a three-way toss-up in my mind, and likely a similar split for the year ahead. I'd like for us to be holding more big leads and triggering more rushes, but... who knows.

[QuikSand]

Body count:

33 players signed to contracts
21 free agents where we are in the lead
07 draft picks for this year in hand (but have a nibble to deal some)
---
62 working head count

Yeah, we are not going to be starving for players. We are just committed to players that hardly anyone else has any time for.

[Squirrel]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

We are just committed to players that hardly anyone else has any time for.

I'm off to re-read my copy of Moneyball

[Chas in Cinti]

Originally Posted by Squirrel

I'm off to re-read my copy of Moneyball

Quikky Sande?

[Kodos]

It's funny. Reading your thread always makes me want to dip my toe back into FOF. Then I remember that I tend to dislike the game as soon as I give it a try because I have no clue how to do things anymore, especially in the draft. Maybe I could do a solo career to give myself some shred of competence and then take it to an OD where the fun really starts.

But probably not. But just building a team to do what I want it to (rather than chasing the crazy offenses of Tzach) sounds fun in theory...

The other problem being that my daughter ties up my laptop a lot at night with Roblox, making life harder if I do try to play.

[QuikSand]

Flattering, thanks

[QuikSand]

Well, I went to bed basically knowing that my best-chem-fit-guy was almost definitely gonna fall to my pick at 1.29, just two picks away...

Originally Posted by GML Postbot

New England: pyser takes C Broderick Drake with the 1.27 pick.

Oh. The last human pick ends up being my guy. Got it. Dammit.


Anyway, I end up taking a good-looking DL, albeit perhaps not the usual pass-rush focused guy I typically go for:

Originally Posted by GML Postbot

Baltimore: QuikSand takes DE Juan Helming with the 1.29 pick.

Combine skippers tend to slide when Ben's AI does the auto-drafting...so he looks okay to me. Two maxed-out static bars are supposedly a good sign, right? Anyway, he should be, at worst, a guy we plug in at DT/DE in most situations, and let him grind out some solid, quiet production.

[QuikSand]

Free agency continues.

We narrowly, and I mean NARROWLY, miss out on a really nice-looking TE who would have been a chem fit and a build-around guy, albeit a low-endurance one...

TE Duane Settlemaier

I bit 4/158, lost out to the incumbent team's 4/160. Dammit. I had the cap space to go to 42 or 44 or whatever, just... didn't. I win close calls all the time, here I lose one.

[QuikSand]

It is a very busy stage, though:

	Baltimore Ravens	QuikSand	LDE Ethan Anthony	3 years, $27,000,000 (Bonus: $13.5M. Salary: $4.5M, $4.5M, $4.5M.)	50	50
	Baltimore Ravens	QuikSand	RDE DeAndre Banks	2 years, $13,000,000 (Bonus: $4.0M. Salary: $4.5M, $4.5M.)	44	44
	Baltimore Ravens	QuikSand	RB Eugene Breedlove	3 years, $18,000,000 (Bonus: $30K. Salary: $6.0M, $6.0M, $6.0M.)	38	38
	Baltimore Ravens	QuikSand	WILB Tucker Brotzman	3 years, $13,800,000 (Bonus: $60K. Salary: $4.4M, $4.4M, $4.9M.)	38	38
	Baltimore Ravens	QuikSand	QB Richie Bryant	3 years, $13,800,000 (Bonus: $60K. Salary: $4.4M, $4.4M, $4.9M.)	28	28
	Baltimore Ravens	QuikSand	LT Juan Bullock	2 years, $6,260,000 (Bonus: $20K. Salary: $2.9M, $3.3M.)	12	24
	Baltimore Ravens	QuikSand	NT Ramon Calhoun	1 year, $6,500,000 (Bonus: $0K. Salary: $6.5M.)	36	36
	Baltimore Ravens	QuikSand	RT Drake Hardy	2 years, $5,480,000 (Bonus: $20K. Salary: $2.6M, $2.9M.)	22	22
	Baltimore Ravens	QuikSand	RT Seth Langley	2 years, $7,480,000 (Bonus: $20K. Salary: $3.7M, $3.7M.)	33	36
	Baltimore Ravens	QuikSand	WLB Eddie Schultz	3 years, $39,000,000 (Bonus: $25.5M. Salary: $4.5M, $4.5M, $4.5M.)	58	58
	Baltimore Ravens	QuikSand	TE Arturo Weydahl	2 years, $14,000,000 (Bonus: $4.0M. Salary: $5.0M, $5.0M.)	43	43

[QuikSand]

Non-obvious commentary on transactions:


LB Schultz is a key signing for us. Need position, 5th year guy, good enough to start but not star. Some potential as a pass rusher, but for us more likely just a rotation WLB I think.


The OL cheap signings are just splashing around for a guy to plug in for affinity purposes. We already locked up Tompkins at RT, for better or worse - though OT remains a potential draft target (I think two of my top ten rookies right now in my draft queue are tackles).


TE Weydahl comes back for $7m/yr, no other offers. He's greatly valuable to us, not much to anyone else. TE1, ST asset, and cohesion monster. Guess we'll plug him in for another round of 100+ targets, since we failed at grabbing his replacement.




We are still the leading bidder on 10 more guys out there in free agency. But the core of this roster is coming together fine, albeit pretty boring.

[Pyser]

well that was a fun back and forth. i nabbed the C you eyed in the draft, you got the OLB I thought I would easily get (and outbid you but you but I didnt go bonus-heavy enough). good show.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by Pyser

well that was a fun back and forth. i nabbed the C you eyed in the draft, you got the OLB I thought I would easily get (and outbid you but you but I didnt go bonus-heavy enough). good show.

yeah, it happens... with the two of us more than our fair share, i reckon

[QuikSand]

A little more drama in the 2nd round... I make a small offer to trade up from 2.29 to 2.26 to take a pass rusher. He accepts it, but I'm not there to, uh, re-confirm? So he goes ahead and... takes my guy. Weird.

Anyway, I take a big-bars low-development tackle at 2.29. The draft thread didn't work for some reason, so I don't have anything to post here...wide range of possible outcomes here. If he's really maxed-out in both Run and Pass Blocking, great. Of not, then he's probably just another phony 23/67 guys who ends up 43/43 and mediocre.