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10-17-2005, 09:24 AM
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#151 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Week 9: Chesapeake (3-4) at Wheeling (6-1)
With our team squarely on its heels, and now on the road against a superior foe – there’s little optimism left for this team this year. I’m not giving up, but whatever flickers of a real playoff run we might have harbored with our good start have all but been extinguished. Code:
And with that, we slip to 3-5 on the year. Lackluster effort overall, and this is clearly just not a very good team. Alas – I knew this to be true, and still went about painting the hull of the ship a nice fresh color, hoping that we’d get a few passengers on board for the cruise. |
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10-17-2005, 09:25 AM
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#152 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Week 10: South Carolina (4-4) at Chesapeake (3-5)
South Carolina deliberately tanked last season to get a top draft pick, and then pulled a fascinating stunt to let its starting QB go into free agency, receive multiple FA offers (including a pretty fat one from us, which cooled our ability to pursue other players), only to storm back into the bidding to get him back anyway. Now, they are back to respectability – and already better than us, it seems. Code:
Oh, well. Now we have slipped to 3-6, and are clearly into the lower tier of the league. The presence of QB Ernest Biddle in the game is troubling – we have now lost our fairly young and promising QB Harry Ross to injury for the season, and will be counting on Hilton Boner and company to answer the call at QB – Biddle is slotted as our #2 option, he’s a rookie I like for down the road, bt doesn’t have much chance to really help us now, by any reckoning. Now, we will be focused on maintaining respectability, and perhaps slotting in a few more young players for a look in fgame situations, as we have our focus split between the finish of this disappointing season and what might lie ahead for this team. |
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10-17-2005, 05:03 PM
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#153 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Week 11: Chesapeake (3-6) at Dodge City (2-7)
Well, Dodge City, our division rivals, are going through a similarly frustrating season – they have fallen pretty flat on offense all year long. Historically, we have been the top two teams in this division – this year, we are contending for the bottom slot. Code:
Well, we manage to once again pull of a running attack, with smoke and mirrors – as we pound them for 120 yards on the ground. QB Ernest Biddle again sees some time behind center, and is not quite a complete embarassment – but our defense handled this game for us, and kept the Vigilantes offense struggling all day. At 4-6, what are we to do? We are technically only a game out of the wild card right now – but even if we play well down the stretch, what will that accomplish? We might land awild card, and the practical upside is winning one playoff game. We clearly lack the talent or consistency needed to muster a real threat in this league – and our core of older players is crumbling from within. It’s as it was expected to be – building with vteran players while others are building through the draft has its downside, and this is it, quite candidly. I think I made a poor choice in doing so with this league (where the pool of veteran players is just of a lower caliber than the game-created players overall) as I am investing in guys who simply aren’t as good as the young players others are developing. The league has passed us by – and looking toward next year, we’re going to have to make some pretty tough decisions on some older players. So, a win this week, and some hope for down the line. But for right now, it’s just tough to be playing out the string, after making some real investment in this team for right now. There’s only so much we can manufacture from spare parts and game planning – we actually need some talent to make this thing work, after all. |
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10-20-2005, 08:46 AM
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#154 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Week 12: Chesapeake (4-6) at South Jersey (6-4)
Well, we come into this week below .500, but still technically alive in the playoff race – at least for now. My more promising young QB is out for the year, our defensive front is in total shambles, and we are playing pretty bad football at this point. Not a great spot, really. We are playing at South Jersey – a solid team who is also in the playoff hunt – but much more so than we are. We send out Ernest Biddle to start at QB, but will again have Hilton boner ready to taek over if need be. Code:
Well, Biddle played like a rookie, and his two interceptions returned for touchdowns upended a pretty good defensive effort by our group, leading to a tough loss on the road. At 4-7, it looks like the storyline for this season is all but complete. Adding injury to insult, we have now lost young guard Gus Schmidt for the year to a bolown-out knee. We reshuffle the line setup once again, do the same with our secondary, and will try to field a competitive team for next week – probably with Bobby Chesley taking the reins at QB for now. What we’re doing now clearly isn’t working, and Chesley might give us the best chance to win some games down the stretch. My hopes of seeing some real strides from Ernest Biddle seem to be fading… |
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10-20-2005, 09:59 AM
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#155 |
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Pro Rookie
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Illinois
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That was one ugly game. We were lucky to pull it out.
And one cannot help but be stunned by the choice for game MVP. I know FOF2k4 biases those selections heavily toward QBs, but really, Gus Oliver? 11/20, 110 yds, 0 tds, 0 ints. Yeesh. |
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10-24-2005, 10:43 AM
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#156 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Week 13: Seal Beach (1-10) at Chesapeake (4-7)
Well, if this team has any shot to right itself, it ought to be at home against a club that has only barely entered the win column this season. Code:
Uh, yeah. About that. What do we get from QB Ernest Biddle, still trying to prove that he has some shot to be decent for us? Yet another interception returned for a TD (one of four picks on the day), and yet another early exit, yielding to Hilton Boner for yet another futile comeback effort. Just. Awful. We now head onward, but standing at 4-8, it looks like we are heading for another playoff absence, and a lot of questions ahead. Nothing to see here. Move along, people. |
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10-24-2005, 03:02 PM
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#157 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Week 14: Bar Harbor (9-3) at Chesapeake (4-8)
This one doesn’t shape up too well – Bar Harbor, under cuervo72’s stewardship, seems to have gotten their act together and are looking every bit like a real contender – if not for a very top tier spot as a contender, certainly in the second tier. We, on the other hand, are on a one way ride to shitsville… and it seems we are taking the express. We are getting 11 points at home in the betting line – and they always say that double digit home dogs are a 70% play – so the wise money is probably on a heartbreaking loss. Though I personally don’t think our club is capable of hanging with much of anyone right now. Code:
So, our defense plays like champs for three and a half quarters, setting us up for the inevitable last-minute drive to give them the win. I can’t really complain – we played a superior foe pretty tough and nearly got this one. At this point, if the team finishes the game without our cleats tied together and our game pants bunched around our ankles… it’s pretty much a win. And at 4-9, there now isn’t even a glimmer of hope for resurrecting this season – it just does into history’s dustbin of failed ideas. Or something like that. CB Herman Padgett is going to b a starter for us the rest of this year, as I think he’s a guy with enough talent to hold down the job long term. We may trot out S Jeff McCartney a bit, too, maybe as our top reserve safety, for similar reasons. If we had some young, promising skill position players I’d be featuring them, too – but alas, we are totally empty in that respect. The chance we have given to young Ernest Biddle seems like a total waste of time (42.3 QB rating over 81 attempts suggests a rare inability) – but with Harry Ross hurt, we’re left without a good option there. Hilton Boner is willing to play, but his contract simply dictates that he be cut before next year anyway. So, it will be pretty much status quo on offense, and a few new faces working into the defensive rotation. Next week, we get to visit division-leading Portland. Yay. |
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10-26-2005, 10:10 AM
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#158 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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A note or two about young QB Ernest Biddle
For the last few weeks, I have been experimenting with our young quarterback Ernest Biddle. Thus far, the results have not been too kind: 57/106 completion = 52.3% 673 yards = 6.28 yards per attempt 2 TD, 8 interceptions 5 sacks for 31 yards QB passer rating = 46.9 That is, by any account, pretty dreadful. So, why bother with this undrafted stiff? Well… I have bemoaned for a long time my lack of a promising young quarterback. I have resisted I past rookie drafts the temptation to pick up one of these guys who is rated 12/58 in the draft (the sort who are generally sitting around at the end of round one and into round two), as my own experience with such guys has been pretty tepid (at best). Biddle has shown me exactly one thing so far… and that’s what has him taking snaps. He is, to me, a (fairly extreme) test of the notion that players “tip their hand” on their future development. In his case – here’s what my scout has said about Biddle at the important stages of his development: Code:
My initial attraction to Biddle was grounded in the notion that his secondary skills looked pretty decent – for a pretty low-rated QB, he had decent ratings in things like sense rush (59), read defense (potential 76), and two-minute offense (potential 62). In the past (in solo careers) I have had surprisingly good results form guys like this – and have frequently seen them eventually develop some decent skills in the nominally more important areas (the various pass ratings and things like avoiding interceptions). So, in essence, my thinking with Biddle is that he might actualy look like a pretty different guy in a few years, especially if he gets some good development. I made some half-hearted efforts to get a QB mentor for him, but candidly for the 4th guy on my depth chart who was a minsal post-draft signee, the investment just didn’t seem worth it. Now, since our team has basically collapsed and the season is all but in the dumper – it seems reasonable to give him some opportunity to play, and we’ll see what happens as next season opens. I think it’s entirely possible that my 10/41 URFA pickup might be, by next year’s draft, somewhere in the neighborhood of 20/50. And at that point… he might have the nominal potential to actually become the best QB on my roster. (Right now, our guys’ potential ratings are as follows: Boner 54, Ross 53, Chesley 48, Biddle 47) – we don’t exactly have an all-star lineup here) So… why Ernest Biddle? Reason #1 is the lack of meaningful opportuntites elsewhere, particularly with the injured Harry Ross. If he were okay, I’d almost certainly be starting him, and anticipating him in the #1 job for next season and perhaps beyond. But now that he’s out of the picture, and so is our whole team… giving Biddle some extended look doesn’t seem like a terrible investment. He might, just might, be a transformative player for us – a guy we might be able to drag, kicking and screaming, into respectability. |
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10-26-2005, 12:50 PM
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#159 | |
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Pro Rookie
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Illinois
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Quote:
That sounds a great deal like the effect Mrs. Fonzie had on me. |
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10-26-2005, 03:11 PM
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#160 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Week 15: Portland (10-3) at Chesapeake (4-9)
Things aren’t going too well here in town – the defense is playing pretty well, but our offense simply isn’t clicking at all. We’ve resigned ourselves to an outsider set for this year’s playoffs, and now or main focus is developing our young players and seeing what we are capable of down the stretch. Portland has risen pretty rapidly to become the power team in the division, and having them visit has turned quickly from a date we look forward to, to now one we have to dread. Good luck gang. Code:
Well, I’ll be damned. The defense, once again, showed up to play. What a performance there – 3.5 yard per play allowed on the day, and four turnovers, one for a score. Easy call for our 11 (or more) game balls to hand out. What about Ernest Biddle? His first full game – no quick hook to Hilton Boner to bail him out here. It’s easy to see the thre picks, but I’ll look instead at his 25/38 on the day – completing 65% of his passes is a pretty serious achievement for this kid, so we’ll accentuate the positive. His official stat line fo the day indicates only three “bad throws” by him – the fact that they all seemed to land in Portland hands was an unfortunate circumstance, as he had a better day than usual. Really. Our use of FB Emerson as our primary running back didn’t really seem to pay off, needless to say. It looks as though he may be with us for the long haul, as his contract demands have dropped out… and he’s installed as our RB position leader. But I don’t see a whole lot of work as featureback in his long term future – all-around decent guy will probably have to do. A solid win, totally unepected, but it does suggest that perhaps not all is lost. 5-9 isn’t anything to shout about… but it’s not 4-10. |
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10-28-2005, 04:23 PM
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#161 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Week 16: Chesapeake (5-9) at Las Vegas (2-12)
Two to go, and here’s one where we have a shot, even on the road. I have Biddle out again at QB, and we have some chance against the struggling Lightning, or whatever they call themselves now. Code:
Well, no turnovers in the whole game, our offense didn’t do much, but our defense played well. Actually, let me correct that – to say that our offense “didn’t do much” really gives them a good deal more credit than they deserve. We posted 4.3 yard per play on the day, which despit being slightly better than the 3.6 we allowed, is just pathetic. Our offense is thoroughly flaccid as we wrap up this season, and the fault for this lies nowhere else but right here at the top. So, we’re shut out by a team who jumps to 3-12 on the year. Nice. Let’s face facts. This offensive line is a real soft spot. Here are the main stats for them this year: Code:
Looking at our composite nubers from the OL – our per-slot production is about 28% on key run blocks – and that just doesn’t get it done. Our tackles, both first round picks and both guys who have been fully healthy all year long, are just not getting the job done for us in the running game. And neither one of those guys is exactly slanted toward the pass protecion skills, either – they ought to be solid, balanced guys. And both guys are playing at about the level we might expect from a waiver wire pickup. C Winston Turnbull has played pretty well, as has Lenny Boyd when he’s ben given a chance to get on the field. But there really isn’t any god news here – the line stinks, they have played terribly, and with the marginal skill players we field, we just can’t get anything done. We are averageing 3.62 yards per carry – ranking us 26th in a league of 32. That’s a disgrace, especially for a team that passes a lot, and ought to have defenses softening up against the run so this is actually worse than it seems – there probably aren’t five teams who run the ball less effectivey than we do. Oh, and as if we didn’t have enough bad news to round out this stinker… we have usffered a serious injury to DT Eugene Bradham, arguably our best player on the whole team. The run-stopping lineman has suffered “repetetive concussion syndrome” and is listed as out. For, uh, 88 weeks. We’ll have to do a stats elegy soon, as we probably won’t see him back on the field again. When it rains, it fucking pours, eh? |
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10-31-2005, 02:54 PM
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#162 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Week 17: The End is Near
We now play South Carolina, a hearty and well-prepared band of merry men, whose reactions have been honed by the finest preparatory schemes, and whose bellies are full with the tasts of blood form fallen rivals. The Crossfire have, indeed, turned themselves around with a most improbable reversal of fortune – ascending almost immediately from the lower depths of the league to a far, far more respectable turnout this season – clearly a tribute to the clever and enterprising skills of their owner, the inestimable and oft-banned sjshaw. A win at home this week gives them a respectable 8-8 finish… and who better to be hosting than the lowly Chili Dogs? So, as for the game: Code:
Well, I must say I didn’t think we were capable of posting 24 points, even if the Crossfire traveled to the wrong staium for the day. So, we’ll take that. QB Ernest Biddle once again manages to throw an interception for a TD – I lost count a while back but I’m thinking he might have twice as many TDs to the opposing team than he has to ours. Just dreadful. Horrifyingly enough, I still think he might end up being our long term guy there. And with that, we close the book on a dreadful and disappointing season. Here is the team summary for the year – you may choose to avert your eyes, I will understand. Code:
Is there any saving grace to be taken from all this? Well, it seems that there really is not. We tried to build a team based on “good vibrations” to make up for ou lack of “good players” and in the end, that really didn’t work for us. QB Hliton Boner quickly jumped the shark, and withough a few key players who retired (or limped away) in the offseason, we just didn’t have enough to really be competitive. I suppose if I had done a better job with this particular roster, we might have won a couple more games, but really I don’t think we were cut out for a top spot this year. So it goes. This is a team in dire need of help on offense, where we simply can’t get anything accomplished. We can’t run, we can’t pass, and we can’t keep this up, or else we’ll be relegated to the Primetime football league in another season or two. It appears that we will be picking somewhere between #7 and #10 this year – our first shot at a high draft pick. We have to hope to land an impact player there, and that we can start to have a player to rally around a little bit. |
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11-01-2005, 09:41 AM
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#163 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Cooler Heads Prevailing
Code:
To be more fair, I ought to be giving some credit for this effort. While our offense really dissolved as we got into the season this year, the defense played very well most of the way. Getting our opponents held to only 3.6 yards per carry is very solid, and the pass defense on balance was good as well. We didn’t cause a ton of turnovers, but we put together a pretty stout defense this season – that, overall, has to be the real team highlight. Losing DT Eugene Bradham is going to really hurt, as he was the centerpiece of our run defense this year (and historically). Whe he has played well, we have been at our best. Now, it looks like he’s probably done prematurely – so we will have issues to contend with there. Nobody on the roster really stands out as a legitimate replacement for him, so we may be forced into some reshuffling. |
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11-01-2005, 09:47 AM
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#164 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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By the way - who the heck is reading all this? Since I'm on the inside, I keep posting this stuff, and am getting increasingly snarky with my write-ups as the team implodes. I had been assuming that as the season has draggen on, the readership would drop off as the team was no longer competitive. But from the numbers I see, that doesn't seem true (to my surprise, this thread still gets 20 reads after every update, or thereabouts).
Still worth it to keep going with the dynasty thread into next offseason and beyond? I don't have particularly high expectations for the team right away - we may be doing more rebuilding than reloading... but I honestly don't really undertand the appeal of a thread like this detailing the struggles of a team that moves so slowly, and where the successes are few and far between. I am prone to dropping my dynasty threads (or, more accurately, the teams on which they are based) once I start to get bored... here, I'm a little bored with the dynasty thread, as posting about loss after loss isn't too interesting to me... but I'm sticking with the team in any event. Keep going? Who cares? Less detail? More detail? More cheapshots at my fellow FOFL owners? Anything that would make this flow better, and get me more motivated to do a real write-up? I'm open to thoughts, suggestions, criticisms... now seems like a good time for all that stuff. |
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11-01-2005, 10:10 AM
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#165 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Texas
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Hey Quick, I say keep it going. I personally don't have FOF, but it is dynasties like this one that make me want to get it (I've gotten too many things right now so not feasable to get FOF, plus waiting to see if ne version comes out).
I like the detail you are putting into this dynasty. I'm looking forward to seeing your strategy to get your team back on the winning track. Side Note: This is one of the best FOF dynasties I've read and that has been kept up. I like reading about your team and your strategies.
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XBox360 GamerTag - Tonyr76 Former HTer |
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11-02-2005, 09:55 AM
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#166 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Roster Review, End of 2008
I thought it would be timely to start thinking about where we’re heading next year. So, I’m going to do a position-by-position walk through of our current team, and give some thoughts on who ought to still be here when we suit up for the opener next season. I’m going to try to put together a bunch of information on all our players, to try to give a fair snapshot of the team we had this year and who really contributed. Code:
Well, the meltdown at QB was pretty obvious all season long, with Hilton Boner suffering a late-career drop in ratings, which I now believe was the foretelling of a dropoff in production as well. Harry Ross disn’t really light things up, either – our offense was pretty vanilla with him, but if he does return fully healthy next season, I think he is our starter by default. Ernest Biddle got every chance, probably more than he deserves, and head into next year with no contract and on thin ice. If he makes a bump up at some point, we will probably re-sign him… but we’ll need to see something. This will be an obvious target area for next year – we could get by with Ross/Chesley as our top options, but I think it will be hard to really win in this league with quarterbacks who are truly that limited. Code:
Ah, the running game – probably the worst in the whole league. Morimasa’s numbers look okay, but he is clearly on the decline -it’s tough to build the running atack around a fullback who is in his 14th year and whose ratings are in free fall. It’s possible he’s back, but we won’t guarantee a new deal for him now. Is there anyone among this lot who could actually claim the starting job for us for next year? I supopise Floyd Fraser might have some shot, but that’s really only if we completely strike out in the draft and in free agency. Ideally, we’ll pick up a more promising young back somewhere along the way, and try to get something done with a new guy or two. FB Emerson doesn’t exactly rally the troops all that much anyway, so it may be appropriate to find a new position leadr for this group. Could be much upheaval ahead. Code:
The RE rating above is my home-grown number for Receiver Efficiency, trying to consolidate all the receiving stats into one rating. The formula is pretty simple: Calculated REff=(receiving yards + 20/TD – 10/drop) / targets …and it’s intended to more or less come out with a “yards gained on an average play where this receiver is targeted” (with obvious tweaks for TDs and drops). In any event – I am comfortable with this pair here, and we put the TE back into our main offensive sets this year. I don’t know whether that may have been counter productive to do – Rego became a prime target, but the REff suggests that we wasted our time on a lot of those plays to him. Code:
So, on a pass-happyteam, we really don’t have any serious playmakers in the air game, especially now that Mark Jackson is gone. I can’t really fault Justin Berkey – he is a decent enough starter, but he’s not exactly light-it-up material, either. With the cripled passing game, nobody really posted big numbers anyhow. Marcus Meneses probably gets a shot at free agency – he wants a $3m signing bonus, and I don’t see him being all that special, really. I will make an effort to re-sign Jimmy Castellano, despite his low rating in route running (note the low T%), and will pursue Joey Newbury as our position leader. (Newbury was originally signed to a multi year deal, but the AI cut him one week when I failed to submit my file and had an illegal roster – my fault, but it screwed us up there) Work to do here – Worcester is not the prospect I had hoped for, and there’s nobody here who really fits into a future-looking approach. Time to make a move – we just need better players here. That refrain is getting tired, I know. Code:
Well, my thinking was to try to patch together a decent-enough line this year out of the spare parts I could get my hands onto, and striong it between my two solid tackles, who have both developed into pretty respectable players. What did we get? Well, both tackles had thoroughly mediocre seasons (nearly equal to one another in their pedestrian stats) and clearly neither one has definitely earnmed a fat extansion payday. Trouble is, I don’t like the notion of heading into next season with only one tackle on the team (and a pretty weak one at that, in Boyd). So – I’m making overtures to Stanley Tilton, and trying to lock him up if we can. I wil probably make an effort to have one of these guys re-signed for next year, but unless the price is pretty modest, probably not both of them. As for the interior – well, nobody really played well at all. G Gus Schmit looks like he’s good enough to really get a look at a starting job (speaking of his scouted ratings, not his rookie year production above, which was shaky at best) and C Winston Turnbull played well in limited action too. Do those guys get starting jobs for next year? If we release C Wallace (fairly likely) then we’ll have to get by with guys like those, I suspect. Same old refrain – we really need some help here. Code:
Well, we simply must re-sign Alvin Hall, we can’t afford to let him go. We’ll try to work something out, but using the franchise tag is a possible option as well. With the loss of Bradham, it looks to me like we probably need to make a stab at a new deal with DE Buxton as well. We’ve gotten our cheap years out of him – now, if we let him go, we end up with just a gaping hole on our defensive line. Actually, I think we’ll have that anyway, even if we end up with a guy like Kleinsasser as a starter for us. The best situation going forard is probably that we switch to the 3-4 front, and we sign Buston to have him step into the NT slot and start there for us. Coming into the season, I was feeling okay about this position group, really – we had three excellent starters in Bradham, Hall, and Buxton, and pretty decent situational guys as reserves in Kleinsasser (fairly balanced), Kershner (run stopper), and Santos (pass rusher). Now, we have Bradham gone, and both Hall and Buxton looking for fat new contracts. If we bring back anything much here next year, it will be for a pretty penny, and at best we will have two solid starters to work with. Code:
This position is fairly settled, at least on top. We have three guys in Watkins, Galvan, and Kuykendall who ought to be solid for us – if we play a 3-4, we’ll use Kuykendall (a solid run stopper) as an ILB along with Watkins. I don’t think we have anything too noteworthy in our reserves – Shepard is a so-so reserve guy who played okay at the WLB slot for a while this year, and Harrold is a pass rusher who never accomplished much. Nothing much to see here – DJ Dennis is a special teamer who could probably log a little time in the pass rush for us if need be, but he’s basically just a solid reserve and a great special teamer for us. Our defense was pretty good this season, and having three solid linebackers (who stayed healthy all year) was a prety big part of that. Getting one more solid guy would eb nice – but if we come back with essentially this same group next season, that wouldn’t be awful, either. Finally a position where we’re not in complete disarray. Code:
And now, to what has quickly become our overall strength. We have four solid veteran players who are all quality starters here – CBs Raab and Nave are solid for our scheme and play well, while safeties Plata and Carr are both very strong starters behind them. Very good to start with. Thing is, if there’s one position group where we are fairly well poised to be loking to the future, this is it. Rookie Herman Padgett showed immediate promise for us, and is really ready to be a starter next year if we want him to be. Billy Joe Scanlon is developing pretty well, and is also ready to be a full time player in his upcoming third season. And rookie Jeff McCartney also looks like a guy with some real promise – and sitting him might be frittering away a potential starter there, too. So, what to do? Hard to say. If we could get some value for a guy like Raab (13th year next season) or perhaps Plata (also 13th year), then it might be wise to do so. We’d take a cap hit from dealing Plata, but he’s an excellent player, who has a few good years in him, I’m sure. This league has not been a real trading hotbed… but surelu someone would be willing to do a deal for a guy like Plata, who has excellent all-around skills and would be well under market (as we’d be eating his substantial signing bonus). So – the “verdict” column here is pretty empty, as I don’t kno what we’ll be fielding next year. I think I’m committed enough to Herman Padgett to insist that he starts… past that, anything could happen. Overall, where are we? Right now, here are the players that I envision being part of a “core” of this team going forward – players I expect to be with us next year and for the next several seasons beyon, in whatever capacity (and in what season they will be next year): QB Harry Ross, 6 FB Charles Emerson, 5 C Winston Turnbull, 2 C Wendell Lambeau, 2 G Gus Schmit, 2 G Marvin Brandon, 2 T Stanley Tilton, 5 T Lenny Boyd, 4 DE Alvin Hall, 9 DE Cornelius Kleinsasser, 7 LB John Galvan, 8 LB Travi Kuykendall, 4 CB Herman Padgett, 2 CB Billy Joe Scanlon, 3 S Jeff McCartney, 2 That is not exactly an airtight list, and there are several guys here who might never develop even into starting-caliber players (OL in particular) – but it’s a start. I feel like it’s our main objective now to develop our offensive skill positions as best we can here – by attracting some free agent players, or else landing a few promising veterans. We could end up in a number of different spots with that – pursuing a high quality young QB would be one option, or a RB would be another (probably sending our offense in a different direction). We have some guys to work with… but more holes than I’d really prefer to see. |
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11-02-2005, 04:02 PM
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#167 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Renegotiation Update
We managed to get one new deal done with our veteran players – WR Jimmy Castellano. Catellano is a natural split end (the only one on the team who naturally plays there) and has pretty solid ratings in the 40-75 ratings in nearly every key area, all except for “route running.” Which means that we’d expect him to be exactly what he is – productive when the ball comes his way, which isn’t all that often. In his two years of meaningful playing time with us, he has 1328 yards and 6 TDs – mediocre for a starting receiver, but not so bad. He also has a strong affinity with WR Jimmy Newbury, our position leader, and the deal is pretty affordable – only $1.5 million a year each season. On balance, I’m pleased with the deal – we need to get better at WR anyway, but Castellano is a guy I don’t mind keeping around. |
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11-02-2005, 07:23 PM
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#168 | ||||
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Pro Rookie
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Illinois
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Quote:
*raises hand* Quote:
It's worth it to me, as I enjoy reading your dynasties regardless of the topic. I especially enjoy this one, as I am now a participant in the FOFL and I can connect with your dynasty in a more real way. Quote:
I say keep going as long as you're still enjoying it. And by all means please throw more cheap shots at your fellow FOFL owners. Seriously, I think the level of detail is just right. Quote:
Last edited by Fonzie : 11-02-2005 at 09:51 PM. |
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11-04-2005, 04:07 PM
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#169 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Renegotiations, continued
Not much news from Chesapeake this time of year, as we are watching the playoffs from the outside. We did, however, work out a few more long term deals with centerpiece players: LB Travis Kuykendall signed a new deal for four more seasons, which is good for us. This year is his first one with solid, full-time caliber numbers, so his demands will certainly escalate next season. Here, we lock him up with a top cap number of just over $3m at the end of the deal – solid extension for us. Also, LT Stanley Tilton accepted one of my offers, finally, and will be with us for a while as well. He hasn’t had a stellar career, but his ratings suggest he ought to be a very solid left tackle for us, and locking him up (also for four more seasons) eliminates that position from my “to do” list for the offseason. He’ll be a bit pricey, but a solid LT is probably worth it. Now, if he can only live up to his ratings, he will be a solid guy. A couple lower-profile guys have re-upped as well. DE Cornelius Kleinsasser has accepted a three year deal at a much more affordable level than his current contract, which is very god for us. Looking ahead, he might see an expanded role with our club – he’s been with us since the league’s inception, but has been pretty much a reserve (his 12 tackles this season are a career high). With ratings of 57 in run defense and 46/54 in pass rush technice, he could end up playing a meaningful role in our soon-to-be-depleted defensive front next season – and will do so on a shoestring contract now. Also, RB Lewis Lee has taken a new deal. This basically just gives us the option ot retaining the verstatile return man, rather than battling over him in free agency. In his career with us (before spending this entire season on IR), he has averaged 8.4 yards per punt return, and 25.2 yards per kickoff return. In the league’s conference championships, we’ll see Calverton head to Hell Creek to tangle with the mighty Raptors. Meanwhile, the planets have aligned for former champions Mars and Jupiter to square off for the other championship berth. |
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11-07-2005, 11:03 AM
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#170 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Big Late Personnel moves for Chili Dogs
In the waning stages of the season, Chesapeake has made personnel moves expected to have a sizable impact on the years ahead. QB Hilton Boner has been released, after six seasons with the Chili Dogs. He started in 78 games, and leaves with solid career stats: 21,619 passing rards, 130 touchdowns, and a championship ring and MVP award from the title game in 2005. His story with the Chili Dogs is well-documented, secured as an “insurance policy” for starter Oscar Ozuna, he stepped in and rescued the team’s initial season after Ozuna struggled. From that point on, it was Boner’s team, and he led the offense to some effective seasons among the league’s passing leaders. Releasing Boner was inevitable – doing it this year rather than next spreads the cap hit of his remaiing (unaffordable) contract better for us, so we had to make the move now. It also freed up needed cap space for more contract extensions. With the cap space we have on hand, and a commitment onward, we secure new deals with defensive ends Alvin Hall and Richard Buxton. If I had my druthers, these two would have shared a co-MVP award for our 2005 title run, as it was our defense that really carried us through the postseason in particular. Several he plays by these two secured the win in the championship game, and while the MVPO award typicaly just goes to the winning quarterback, I would have preferred to see a sort of Randy White and Harvey Martin deal here to recognize the true most valuable players. Hall remains a very productive player, actually getting better as he matures, and posted a robust 7.7 PRPct this year – and has 28 sacks in the last two seasons. Hal locks up a multi-year deal that will see him earn nearly $10 million a year – but letting him go and be exposed to the open market just seemed absurd to do. Buxton is in his twilight, but we ink him for another season where he will earn just ovr $8 million – which gives us flexibility to either use him (probably as our starting nose tackle in a 3-4) or else possible deal him away (a top-grade DE at a $4m base salary has to be an attractive addition to a team preparing for a serious run). We make a few more signings, mostly picking up players who might be able to stick around as fringe contributors for next year. This worked last year – we got at least one player with a late FA claim who made this year’s roster – so it’s a no-risk venture worth taking, I think. Salutes to Boner for his Chili Dog career, and a number of moves that clerly foretell the direction of this franchise. |
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11-08-2005, 03:39 PM
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#171 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Post-Season Wrap-up and Accolades
In the league title game, Mars defeats Hell Creek 20-6, in a repeat of last year’s final. Congratulations go out to both teams. After such a lousy season, we don’t expect much in terms of laurels, but we do have one Chili Dog who received first team all-pro honors for an outstanding season. DE Alvin Hall makes his second straight all-pro team this year, with 56+27 tackles and 13.5 sacks – very solid numbers for a defensive end. He’s an outstanding player, just signed to a new long-term deal, and still young enough to be part of our long term planning. We’ll catch Alvin Hall and the gang on the flip side, as we turn the page to 2009. Last edited by QuikSand : 11-08-2005 at 04:41 PM. |
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11-09-2005, 08:37 AM
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#172 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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The 2009 Offseason Begins
The first announcements of any season are, of course, the retirements. With several older players on the possible list, I’m watching anxiously… FB Chadwick Morimasa – in his twilight anyway, we didn’t re-sign him, though we’d have give it some thought. He hangs them up after a prolific career as an all-purpose back and former league MVP. DE Richard Buxton – this one just kills us, I worked out a new deal with him for this year, only to see him walk anyway and force us to eat some $4m in cap space. Ouch – serious loss. We have another serious problem on our hands, too. RG Joseph Shaffer blew out a knee last year, and spent the season on IR. Shame, but that’s life. He still sits on our roster, and he’s listed as out for 29 weeks. Trouble is, since he is hurt, we cannot release him – and this is the “baloon” year in his contract, meaning that he’s going to hit us for $2.9 million in cap space this season, while he contributes nothing )not even affinity). Ouch. So, as we head into the season, here is our salary situation: Code:
$11 million in dead cap space, plus two zombies on the roster eating up another $6m – I usually plan better than this, but alas, things didn’t pan out quite as I had hoped. I have documented my woes and misgivings at the various roster groups already – that’s a matter of public record already. Now, we will have to work things out for the year ahead, and cross our fingers for good news in the draft pool, where we will have the #8 overall pick. Oh, dear. What have we done? |
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11-10-2005, 10:19 AM
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#173 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: May 2001
Location: williamsburg, va
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Btw - I'm still reading, I just had stopped cause work was so busy for a week or two - but I'd love to see it keep going.
__________________
Text Sports Network - Bringing you statistical information for several FOF MP leagues in one convenient site Quote:
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11-10-2005, 01:36 PM
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#174 |
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High School JV
Join Date: Oct 2000
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I've continued reading as well. I would like to see you add your specific game plans prior to the week's play if you continue to pen this dynasty.
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11-22-2005, 05:21 AM
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#175 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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FOFL Offseason underway
After a somewhat extended time off, we finally have some league activity to report. First, Chesapeake has hired a new Defensive Coorindator in Monty Byrne. He is new to the coachign ranks, but signed a very affordable deal and ought to be solid for us – good with linebackers and defensive backs, very good with young talent and kickers, and excellent with defensive linemen. An improvement for us, at a bargain price. Now, in preparation for the free agency period ahead, we have made a few pre-emptive renegotiations. CB John Raab has agreed to a very affordable extension, probably moving him from the “must trade” list to the “we could definitely keep this guy” list. Even if we deal him, a cheap contract makes him far more attractive for a prospective buyer. QB Harry Ross worked out a pretty affordable extension, and injured G Joseph Shaffer has dropped his salary in exchange for some guaranteed bonus money – we get some relief there. Soon, we will be underway with the free agenyc period. Big stuff awaits, as we try to chart the team’s immediate and long term course. There do not appear to be any real impact players at the skill positions, unfortunately – though no surprise there. |
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11-22-2005, 06:04 AM
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#176 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Free Agent Flurry
Well, in pretty short order, we have made a number of meaningful changes to our roster – the first free agency stage has been run, and we have four new Chili Dogs to announce. RB Bill Briner is easily the biggest news, as he comes aboard from Myrtle Beach, where he has been their featured back for six seasons. He has 6,713 yards in that span, on about 4.2 yards per carry, and immediately becomes the leading candidate to take over for us as our starting RB – he has pretty solid ratings, especially as a fairly no-nonsense straight-ahead running back. by the scouting reports, he will be the best ball carrier we have had on this team in our history. His deal is for $2 million a year, and not too bonus-heavy. Briner also becomes our group leader at the RB group, where he already has an affinity with FB Charles Emerson and veteran RB Courtney Criswell. No chemistry with reserves Lewis Lee and Floyd Fraser might put their job security in some jeopardy here. CB Victor Winters is a nice pickup for us, as he will join up with our existing corps of DBs and can play some of our preferred coverage. He also has solid skills as a kick returner, and can return punts as well – an area where we were a bit lacking last season. He quickly fits in with a positional affinity – and this looks good as well. A 5th year player with starting experience from Annawan, this is a nice cheap signing for us. WR Danny Napiecek is a decent enough young receiver, formally a split end (our weak slot) and a decent reserve-quality player. The 3rd year player has 1,120 yards receiving in his first two years, and signed with us cheaply after being released by Norwich. LG Bobby Saladino is a guy we have seen plowing holes as a run blocker for Austin in recent years, and we sign him to come aboar for us in the LG/RG rotation. My best guess is that we will start the coming year with Saladino at LG, and young Gus Schmit at RG. Saladino is a pretty solid run blocker (54/62 by my scout, and over 30% KRBs for his career) but his balance makes him a worthwhile addition – plus, he’s an affinity addition with leader John Houtz. I did, however, make one tactical error – we didn’t immediately offer WR Joey Newbury a new contract, and he has been signed away. Last year, we locked up Newbury to a three year deal, making him our affinity centerpiece at the WR/TE group. However, midyear he was released by the AI when I missed an export – so we had to re-sign him for a minsal one year deal. Now, he has signed (somewhat inexplicably, to me) with Luna City, and has become their position leader – giving them no affinities and one conflict. He’s not the most skiled player (got almost no playing time with us last year) so that’s a bit of a surprise to see – I really though I could wait him out and get him cheaply later. T Derek Gourdine has also been signed away, to no real surprise. I put in a halfhearted offer to him, but he also signs up with Luna City. Maybe someone needs to get word to Luna City management that pursuing Chesapeake players, following our glistening 5-11 season, may not exactly be a recommended route for success in this league. Gourdine has nice apparent ratings, but not much of a track record as a standout, at least for us. |
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11-28-2005, 09:15 AM
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#177 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Big Trade in Chesapeake
With our team’s sights set on the future, we have dealt safety David Plata to Toronto. We worked out a new deal with Plata first, ensuring that they get him on a substantially under-market contract, but boosting the cap hit that we absorb in the deal. However, the compensation for doing so seems very worthwhile: TOR receives: S David Plata CHE 4th round pick in 2010 CHE receives: 1(11) 2(11) TOR 1st round pick in 2010 Acquiring a second solid pick in this year’s draft will likely give us a chance to make an even larger investment in our franchise’s future right now – either by landing two solid contributors with those picks, or else by using that draft equity to move up and secure an impact player at the top of the draft. If there was any real doubt about our commitment to the future, this deal certainly ought to dispel it. We suffer some cap penalty this year and next, but ought to come out of this with some exciting young players. |
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11-28-2005, 10:16 AM
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#178 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Trade Update – The Other Shoe Drops Quickly
Following the trade of S David Plata, Chesapeake has quickly dealth the 1(11) selection, the cornerstone of that trade, along with our own top pick at 1(8), to trade up into the top spot in the draft. Here are the details of this monumental deal: Seal Beach receives: 1(8) 1(11) 3(8) 4(8) 5(8) 6(8) 7(8) 2011 CHE 1st Chesapeake receives: 1(1) Readers of this thread are certainly familiar with Chesapeake’s longing for a franchise quarterback. Picking at #8 was certainly not going to yield such a guy – but this draft includes young Brent Sedor, who has the apparent potential to be a top-tier, multi-dimensional star player. For those who care about such things, he stands out as the comfortable #1 in every single combine section – with raw ratings as follows: 4.42 seconds in the 40 yard dash (4.57 is second best) 48 score on the Solecismic test (42) 25 reps on the weight room test (20) 6.93 seconds in the agility drill (7.31) My scout (good with QB, very good with young talent) grades him at 22/87, with maxed out potential (and a zone of about 73-100) in nearly every category. He’s got a ding in medium range passes (zone looks like 54-81 or so) and a near void in accuracy – but other than that, he has it all. We fuly expect a mobile downfield passer with a very high ceiling. Not a star right away, but certainly the potential to get there. So, we make the moves necessary to lock up the rookie from Cornell, of all places, as our top pick in this draft and our centerpiece for the team rebuilding. Last edited by QuikSand : 11-28-2005 at 10:17 AM. |
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11-29-2005, 09:28 AM
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#179 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Free Agent Signing Solidifes Receiving Corps
Amidst Chesapeake’s major trade activity, another meaningful subplot has unfolded. Our search for a new team leader for the receiving position group has yielded us TE Joel Connell. Connell will join and become, presumably, our third option at TE and a possible special teams contributor – but more importantly, he steps in as the lynchpin for our WR/ET group chemistry. As of this writing, each and every signed player on the roster has an affinity with Connell, and several are strong. That’s how this group was built, and Connell replaces Joey Newbury in the centerpiece role quite nicely. However, we have some disappointing news on the same front, as veteran WR Marcus Meneses has signed with Shreveport, and will be the second of our initial three receiving targets to depart. Mark Jackson started out as our #1 weapon, but injuries forced a premature retirement last season. Marcus Meneses, along with stalwart Justin Berkey, remained last season to anchor the passing attack amidst QB turmoil. But, Meneses leaves us now for a better contract in Shreveport – with 4,458 yards and 23 TD under his belt for us. We are not shocked, but are slightly disappointed to see him go. We still have a number of free agent bids remaining “out there” at this point, and we currently have about $5.2 million to offer in a player contract, with another $5 million or so occupied by our expected draft picks. |
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11-29-2005, 11:42 AM
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#180 | |
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Pro Rookie
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Illinois
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Quote:
Wow. Just, wow. I'd love to know what Toronto was thinking there. David Plata seems like a fine player, but two #1s and a #2 for a 13-year, good-but-not great safety and a 4th rounder? Wow. Unless there's something I'm not seeing here, this was an extraordinarily bad trade by Toronto. |
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11-29-2005, 12:18 PM
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#181 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Quote:
Well, that seems to be the conseusus... but I think people are seriously overlooking the salary cap situation involved. He's not just getting a star-caliber player, he's getting a star-caliber player at far below market price for the duration of the four year deal. I gave Plata a healthy signing bonus when I signed him last year, and then (as a condition of this trade) I renegotiated him this season before the trade -- so he will cost Toronto less then $2m in each season of his four year contract. I still like my side of things, but there is an awful lot of value on having an impact player signed long term for well below his value (as long as he doesn't hold out). I took about $8m in cap hit to swing the final deal -- so while the draft picks are nice, this practically speaking costs me a quality player or two in cap space this year and next. |
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12-01-2005, 01:06 PM
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#182 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Free Agency Drags On…
After the first few weeks, the process seems to slow down… it’s a sort of time dilation we experience, rather like sliding into a black hole. Yes, things are happening, but the apparent pace of them seems, to any observer, to slow considerably. Our team, obviously, has already made its big offseason moves with our trades and top draft pick – so now we wait to see if we can spend the balance of our cap space in a useful fashion, and fill up the roster for a peculiar season ahead. So, after another FA stage… We are rebuffed by an intriguing running back with return skills, Shane Walsh, who signs with division rival Dodge City instead. He’s cut from the same general mold as our current guy Lewis Lee, and might have replaced him on the roster. But no dice – and no great loss. We also, predictably, miss out on RT Roger Bly – a solid player who inked a good $2m/yr contract with Portland. He would have probably become our starter, and would have had an affinity with John Houtz, our leader – but the price tag got a little higher than our offer. Bly has yet to demonstrate he’s really that solid against the pass, so this might have been a good one to miss out on anyway. Young receiver Rob Hammond signs with Toronto on a surprisingly rich offer. We were interested due to his standout kick return skills, but wonder whether he can be effective as a wideout. Hammond gets $3 million for a two year deal – again, out of my price range. We are still in the bidding for a solid linebacker Maurice Huntley, but it’s getting clear that this is getting away from us as well. Huntley looks like a pretty decent player to me, and was apparently used pretty heavily by his previous team Hudson Valley (250 solo tackles in 3 seasons there), but I don’t see him as a real star player – he’d become the fourth best linebacker on our team, I believe. Solid guy to approach for an affordable deal, but now that the offers are approaching $12 million, I suspect we are about to drop from the serious running. So, basically no news is bad news – we lose out on several players we have targeted, and others are falling far out of reach. While I don’t think acquiring veteran players is all that crucial to a team in 100% rebuilding mode… it’s not entirely clear to me that we are in that exact stage. We’ll have to see what QB Sedor looks like emerging from camp, but it’s certainly possible that we go with Harry Ross to start the season, and hope that some stability along the OL and the addition of a guy like RB Bill Briner give us a little bit of real hope for the offense to take a step forward this year. Our defense will likely struggle a bit (we can’t possibly be as good against the run as we have become accustomed to, with the loss of Buxton and Bradham from the DL) but it’s possible that we are a fairly competitive team this season. |
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12-01-2005, 01:06 PM
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#183 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Free Agent Update
We lost another of our free agent targets, when S Earnest Dunn signed with the always malevolent Washington Piledrivers, piloted by Subby. Dunn was a solid run-stopping safety with decent bump skills, and would have made a solid #3 option for us at safety (or even as a reserve LB) but Washington upped the ante with a $3m signing bonus, and locked him up. He’s a 7th year guy, it’s not like he was “the future” but I did think we had a shot to land him with the fairly respectable deal we had on the table. We did make one minor move, locking up WR Jake Madison for a second season. Madison was a decent utility reserve wideout for us last year, has an affinity with our position leader, and can return punts – pretty valuable guy to have around in the bullpen. |
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12-02-2005, 08:51 AM
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#184 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Draft Update – Round Two
As the FOFL draft lumbers along, we have reached our two remaining picks in round two, and have a couple transactions to announce. S Malcolm Rabens is a potential solid run defender and cover man to add to our secondary. He’s not a combine standout, but has skills that match our main targets pretty well, and my scout rates him as a 22/58 prospect. We’ll hope to bring him along in special teams an in reserve duty, and hope he develops well into a contributor in our recently-depleted secondary. Our remaining second round pick has been dealt away to Mars. For the 2(11) pick, we obtain a trio of picks – this year’s picks at 2(32) and 4(32) as well as their third round pick next season. Stay tuned… |
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12-02-2005, 08:51 AM
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#185 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Free Agency Yields Veteran Quarterback
Our carousel of free agency has made another round, and we have an update. 11th year QB Rodney Beach joins us, and probably joins the battle with Bobby Chesley for the third slot on the roster. Why bother? Well, Beach is a pretty affable guy, and he will act as a mentor to our new younr QB project, Brent Sedor – there’s the angle. I don’t expect to see beach getting any playing time, but he will give us flexibility – Sedor ought to develop with him around, even if we opt to let Harry play through the whole season. We lost out on two more players we had halfheartedly targeted, a solid veteran FB and a decent wide receiver. Both get contracts that are a bit healthier than I’d have imagined – so no great loss that we missed out, and neither was exactly a spring chicken type of guy anyway. |
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12-05-2005, 08:51 AM
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#186 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Progress Marches On… Draft and FA Update
After trading down to the bottom of round two, we still managed to pick up a player we like at 2(32), with safety Doug Schwantz. He’s got decent skills, had a good combine, and we hope to see him make improvements to become part of our long term planning here. DB wasn’t exactly our top need, but Schwants was 2nd or 3rd on my list of target players (set in advance) so I’m pretty pleased that we watched 20 guys go off the board and only one or two were higher than him on our list. Solid addition, plus he’s from Syracuse – another bonus. I will probably struggle with him, like I did with last year’s comparable pick Herman Padgett, whether to slot him at safety or CB for the long haul. We ended up moving Padgett to play at LCB, which I think was ultimately the right move… but on paper, I think Schwantz is better suited to play CB as well-- his run defense rating might only be around 35), but his coverage and interception skills look very solid. Right now, we need a safety more than a corner, so we’ll have to weight this puzzler. Schwantz weighs in at 220 pounds, which might make the decision for me anyway—my scout suggests that he’d transition to CB at only 83%, which isn’t awful, but not ideal. In free agency, the news is pretty grim. We had been in the hunt for a couple of linebackers, and managed to be outbid on both of them. So it goes, we ran into this last season. On a team that is nominally looking toward the future, this is probably what we ought to expect – we really shouldn’t be the top money bidders for long term FA contracts with players who are already in the middle of their careers, we ought to be developing from within best we can. Alas. So, we add veteran linebackers Maurice Huntley (best overall LB out there, but signed for a deal worth more than $4m per season) and Preston Gibbons (solid run stopper, would have been an affinity guy) to our list of FA misses this offseason. We do add a couple of complementary players – guys who fit pretty well for us, though not headliners. LT Horace Kolodzik is a guy we could put onto the field if need be, but a solid reserve-caliber tackle who still has a little room for improvement. He fits in well with our line leader John Houtz, which makes him an attractive pickup for us, I think, especially since we only had two tackles on the roster anyway. DE Chuck Linquist is a solid run-stopper, and takes a three year deal with us as well. It’s at least possible that we end up using Linquist as a part-time starter, perhaps slotting him in as the nominal starter, and using another guy like Martin Santos during passing situations. Linquist is only a 5th year guy, so this investment doesn’t seem unwise to me – plus it’s a bonus-free deal, which makes cap sense as well. Looking ahead in free agency, there’s not a lot more to spend our money on. The superstar-caliber DE finally signed a huge deal (we had in a token, short-term bid which didn’t even register, I’m sure) and the rest of the crop seems fairly uninspiring overall. We might tuck in a player or two at need areas, but we expect to mostly fill up the roster with our last draft pick (end of round four) and post-draft rookies. |
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12-06-2005, 09:20 AM
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#187 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Free Agency Update – Moving Right Along…
No real update here, just a passing note. With $7 million plus in available cap space, I again have frittered away an offseason without efficiently using my money. It’s easy to see happen when many teams are still well below the cap, but still frustrating. My last gasp effort was to put in a substantial one-year offer to the best player left on the market, a very good veteran tight end. I wouldn’t have any real problem going to some more 2TE formations if we signed him – he’d be good enough to alter the offense a bit, I certainly think. So, while he had offers for rich 3 and 4 year deals, I put in an offer for one year, $6 million, hoping to land him at least on loan. After one or two stages of this offer sitting out there, I figured it was a lost cause. I toyed with bumping it up a bit more, but figured that if he wanted my offer, he’d have taken it. When we get to stake 10-11 of free agency, the results now show that the TE has signed a one year deal, with Hell Creek, for $6,020,000. For those of you who remember the game show “The Price is Right,” you recognize this behavior right away – I’m the guy who guessed that the washing machine costs $400, and the guy behind me though that was a pretty good idea, so he says “$401, Bob!” And I’m screwed. Hats off to Allosaurus for a shrewd move – just in case the guy was open to a one year deal, he made sure that it would he his deal, and not mine. He wins. |
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12-06-2005, 02:30 PM
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#188 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Chili Dogs Target Veteran Fullback
In a move somewhat inconsistent with their general trend toward “rebuilding,” Chesapeake has acquired veteran fullback Bill Wunderlich from Washington in a trade, sending away our 2nd round pick in the 2011 draft. We see Wunderlich as a very solid (scout rates him 79/79) player, capable of being a short-yardage duty guy, lining up as a traditional fullback, or being used as a receiver as an H-back. I think this players gives us some real flexibility with our running and passing game, and with the deal he comes to us for a pittance salary of $700K this year. He’s a 9th year guy, so there’s no reason to think we won’t have him for the balance of his very affordable three year deal. We have options ahead, but I would think this might make our team a lot more willing to send out two-TE formations using TE Rego and FB Wunderlich, which may be good for both our new running back Bill Briner, and also for our pass protection schemes. In general, I am reluctant to field too-talented fullbacks and tight ends, but with our corps of receivers, I don’t have such reservations, really. |
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12-06-2005, 03:24 PM
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#189 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Dec 2003
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Quick, I don't own the game, but I do enjoy reading - if you have the time, keep it up.
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12-06-2005, 03:29 PM
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#190 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: May 2001
Location: williamsburg, va
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I'm excited to see what you're able to do with the young QB...
__________________
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12-07-2005, 09:20 AM
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#191 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Draft and Roster Update
With the extra pick we obtained in this year’s draft, we have picked up a versatile wide receiver, Howie Hudson. Hudson seems like a decent complementary player – he has reasonable potential in both kick and punt returning, which ought to give us some flexibility, and he ought to be decent enough as a deep reserve wideout. I’m not wild about the direction evidenced by our initial closer look at him, but I am also not surprised. He will have to battle a guy like Dave Worcester (from last year’s draft) for a roster spot, but he has a shot to make the team and contribute. if he makes the team, that might be the end of RB Lewis Lee with us, as hi main role is as a return man. After a few more stages in free agency, I believe we are done there – so it’s time to assess where we are heading into the late FA stages: We have 48 players currently signed to contracts, including two who will certainly miss the season with injuries (DT Eugene Bradham and G Joseph Shaffer), so we effectively have 7 slots to fill. Add in three rookies we will sign (QB Sedor, S Schwantz, and WR Hudson) and we are up to 49 slots filled. We also have about 15 restricted free agents, guys who we can wait out to re-sign, and from that list, I intend to work out new deals with: P Donovan Embry DT Gabe Shah QB Ernest Biddle G Gus Schmit G Tank Castillo G Bennie Olechowski K David Everhart FS Jeff McCartney …which pushes out effective roster count already to 56 players – three over our limit. And we have not even looked through the post-draft rookie free agents, where I always find a few guys worth signing. Assuming I find maybe four or five more players I want to sign and take into training camp – we are likely to come out of camp with a full list of 60 players and some hard cut-down decisions ahead. As usual. Here is our current roster, with salcap info: Code:
The currently signed players who are probably in some jeopardy of being released are: QB Bobby Chesley (I have been offering him around for trade, but no takers) RB Floyd Fraser (non-affinity guy now, and buried on the depth chart) WR Dave Worcester (could be replaced by rookie Hudson in return/reserve role) LG James Cid (strong affinity guy, but we love too many young OL to keep a dinosaur around) Anyway – that’s our current thinking… |
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12-07-2005, 09:23 AM
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#192 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Quote:
I'm thinking that we are in a situation a bit like the Bengals a coupl years ago -- high potential rookie QB, but a capable journeyman already in the lineup with a decent-enough team. Assuming that after camp we see Sedor as what he appears to be (current rating pretty low, only 22, but loads of potential) I expect that we will keep him active as the # behind Harry Ross for the start of the season, maybe set Ross's playing time low to get Sedor some spot duty, but make the decision based on how the team is doing competitively. If we stay competitve and look like we might be a playoff threat (which I don't rule out, despite last season's collapse) then i'll probably plan to stick with Ross as the starter, but if not, we will probably phase over to playing Sedor by season's end. With a mentor on the roster, I feel we can bring him along at a reasonable pace if the current situation demands it. |
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12-09-2005, 07:25 AM
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#193 | ||
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lolzcat
Join Date: May 2001
Location: williamsburg, va
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Quote:
A luxury many of us don't have in MP leagues... But, in the end, a smart way to go.
__________________
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12-10-2005, 10:46 PM
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#194 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Quote:
Tough to say, really... there's little doubt that immediate and constant playing time would be good for his development, so I need to decide quickly how much I value this season (as I do think Harry Ross gives us a modestly better chance to win right now). We'll see... might be only handful of games into the year when se start seeing Sedor taking significant snaps, or even starting. |
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12-13-2005, 09:16 AM
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#195 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Draft Completed – Late Free Agency
With the rookie draft completed, we are into the post-draft clean-up stages – usually an opportunity to bring a bunch of cheap invitees aboard for a shot in training camp. We’ve had decent luck getting passable talents this way, and hope to again this year. However, this year, there’s a twist. Looks like a player sitting in the free agent pool had a sudden boom – and LB Bob McKenzie is an obvious standout in the available pool of players, with my scout tagging him at 53/64. Well, we put in a pretty considerable offer – and voila! -- welcome to the Chili Dogs, you hoser! McKenzie rates 76/94 in run stopping, the first thing I look for in a natural inside linebacker. He ought to be passable in pass coverage, and very effective as an inside blitzer. So, in a season where we felt like we were moving backwards at LB, we land one guy who ought to be a serious difference-maker. And as a 5th year player, we see him being with us for a while, which is good as well. That probably settles things – as McKenzie gives us four solid starting caliber linebackers, enabling us to go to a 3-4 defensive front for this year with ease. I’m not sure about roles quite yet, but Galvan and Kuykendall ought to start on the outside, and we’ll use McKenzie along with Steven Watkins on the inside – possibly the best foursome in the league. After losing two standout defensive linemen last offseason, we need the infusion of defensive talent for certain. Back to the unheralded rookies – we bring in a number of new names. A quick summary: TE Sedrick Ford – affinity pickup, might get a look in preseason as receiving TE TE Robert Cooper – 25/41 has some real potential, high volatility, affinity guy LT Jerry Burns – love this guy as a project, 22/43, 93 volatility, affinity guy C Terrell Dauber – 23/38, has great pass blocking potential ~75, intriguing S Brett Vesser – 10/34, balanced skills, hard to make room for him in deep secondary We have a few more guys out there with pending offers to watch, but T Jerry Burns was the guy we were most interested in. (This could provide some mild side entertainment with fellow team owner Buddy Grant) We needed a guy to give us some time at RT, and assuming he makes the switch fairly easily, Burns could be that guy. With those signings, we are already up to 54 players signed on the roster, with several restricted free agents still unsigned – so we are set up to have some work to do down the line. |
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12-13-2005, 09:25 PM
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#196 |
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Awaiting Further Instructions...
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Macungie, PA
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Great, great dynasty. Looking forward to seeing the young QB in action.
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12-14-2005, 06:55 AM
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#197 | |
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Coordinator
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Maassluis, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands
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Quote:
I've had the same feelings with my Merchantmen dynasty a couple of times, wondering how many people actually read my dynasty. I think the big issue your (and my) dynasy have is the multiplayer aspect. People inside the league already know the scores and don't read to see what your team does, but rather how you get there. The same with 'vultures' and fans of a good read. If teams struggle, especially from the respectable QS, people will continue to read. And (of course) the writing style and update frequency matter. I noticed I lost readers when my updates became more once a week than once a day like. Not to mention that, unlike with a quickly evolving single player careers, you can get up to date of a year of gaming experience in a just an hour or two of reading.
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* 2005 Golden Scribe winner for best FOF Dynasty about IHOF's Maassluis Merchantmen * Former GM of GEFL's Houston Oilers and WOOF's Curacao Cocktail |
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12-14-2005, 09:01 AM
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#198 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Late Free Agency Continues
We land two more undrafted rookie free agents, here’s the quick summary: CB Dixon Webb – 14/40, good special teamer, we even had to outbid someone here FB Cary Lincoln – 19/35, will get a look as a TE, would be affinity there (to 12/35) One thing that is interesting, we have a pretty strong leadership group with our current secondary. 12th year veteran CB Henry Birkland is our position leader, and has affinities with several veteran players: Raab (13th year), Winters (5th), Nave (9th), and Kettler (9th). So, we have a pretty strong engine to build from good chemistry. However, looking down the line, I have some promising young players in my secondary who, we hope, will take over the meaningful jobs in time. And what do we have there? Pretty much by coincidence (leading into this year, at least) we have: CB Herman Padgett – 2nd year CB, future starter, we remain very optimistic CB Dixon Webb – intriguing undrafted rookie this year, good camp makes him a keeper FS Jeff McCartney – 2nd year guy, good camp last year, will squeeze into long term plans SS Brett Vesser – another undrafted rookie, who might stick with a good camp All four guys are from the exact same affinity group – so if these guys all stick, it will be a very easy exercise to bring aboard a veteran leader for the position, and suddenly have four affinities with these guys. We’re building nicely toward having everything come together for us down the road. Admittedly, the potential for long-term affinities played into my thinking this offseason when I targeted Webb and Vesser, but getting the two from last year to line up was pure dumb luck. Ah… if the rebuilding process were always so easy. (Now we’ll have to see if any of these guys is really going to turn out to be worth a damn) |
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12-14-2005, 09:17 AM
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#199 |
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Resident Alien
Join Date: Jun 2001
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I check in here every now and again. It'd be more fun if it was your IHOF team though. Not that the rest of the league would try to use the dynasty to get insider info on how to beat you....
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12-14-2005, 01:29 PM
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#200 |
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College Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Berkeley
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I read it here or at the fofl site every update. Its one of the things I look forward to when I get to work.
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