Snakebitten: A Real-Time MP FOF thread

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by Pyser

2/3 for lyfe.

money

[QuikSand]

So, we end up... basically the same team. 10-6, pass-heavy, and among the second tier of conference contender. We lose the division on a tie breaker, and settle for the 6th seed and nearly certain doom.

GML: Baltimore Ravens 2077

QB Bush basically replicated what we have come to expect from our QB slot, for tiny money. Interesting. WR Dodge was again a target hog but not very productive with them, his 7.4 ypt was below the team-wide ypa.
RB Schwartz managed to get more carries than my rookie Wetzel - that's just poor gameplanning on my part, but neither was more than a replacement-level producer, so no sense that we lost out badly there.

Defensively, we got turnovers and past that we were not that good. Hancock and Osborne posted 25 sacks, but overall our PR% was only 18.6, way way too low to make this team work properly. LB Marsh was great in coverage (19 PD!) and helped to cover up our other weaknesses, it seems. Work to do there.


Better than expected season, all told. Go, Gino!

[Squirrel]

Originally Posted by Pyser

i know we're all killing time before fof9, but im still in on this thread quik. dont give up

amen

[QuikSand]

we're one and out

squirrel wins

guys retire

grass grows

[Squirrel]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

we're one and out

squirrel wins

guys retire

grass grows

But chemistry is forever

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by Squirrel

But chemistry is forever

let's hope so...

[QuikSand]

Interesting side light... QB Irving Mathews signed last year (3/$85m) with SF, only to carry a clipboard in a non-injury league and get discarded this offseason. Applying real-world logic here would give rise to tons of issues, but we'll just leave it at this: nice payday, buddy.

[QuikSand]

Still at QB...interesting dilemma here. Are we so completely "system" that we could just plug in anybody and get a solid 300 yards a game with a 2:1 ratio or better? Gino Bush, in a walk year, presumably will hold out, right? And if he does, do I give in and grant him a $22m/yr deal? That's low-end money for a pro bowl candidate, but a lot of money (a star player in another slot, in cap terms) if he's merely replacement-level, and any old guy (like our washout soph Terwey) could do more or less as well given a shot.

[QuikSand]

By the way, WR Artie Dodge suffered a ratings dip, and we lost two of our veteran TEs to retirement, including our 6th year "long term starter." We might not be a system team any longer... this could easily be the year where we have 650 attempts for only 4500 yards, and our pass-first approach crosses the line to being truly counterproductive. Just tossing it out there.

[QuikSand]

Traded away our 1st round pick for a future 1st, landed a solid-looking TE with our 2nd round pick

Signed a build-around LB with bog money, and a veteran pass rusher on a no-risk deal - Transactiona page

[QuikSand]

le transazioni continuano

If I'm going to misspell it and make it look like fake Italian, might as well go all in...

[QuikSand]

RB Hector Schwartz leaves for a deal with Houston. I never really got what I had hoped for from him - 7 seasons as a time-splitter, but only 3.97 ypc and 6.36 ypt. I'll chalk it up as a mild failure... I reckon my gameplan isn't super RB-friendly overall, but I really did expect that a RB2 in this offense would find a good deal of open spaces to run into. So it goes, I made him an offer but didn't really put up much fight for an 8th year meh sort of guy.

RB Sebastian Graham will get a look for the 3rd down role.

[QuikSand]

The more interesting transaction is one that didn't happen for us. We got outbid for our stopgap chem leader for the D7, which basically just hastens in a new era for us. One-trick pony DE Ellis Palma just seems too good to let get away, so he will be our build-around guy for chemistry going forward. 4th year guy, 99 leadership means he will stay in the role forever, and 97 personality means every relationship will be strong. He's already got the starts to "count" so this is just a matter of giving him a few places to pin his ears back and stay happy enough to re-sign. hey, if you're only going to have one skill as a defensive end, he's got the right one.

[QuikSand]

...the downside of which is that we have a load of good D7 players in the 11-12 group already. I will likely phase them out by attrition, but that will be a major leak of talent.

[QuikSand]

So yeah, stuff happening.

I ended up with a familiar conundrum. Not that exciting, but I'm not that excited.

It's cutdown day, and these two guys are on my bubble:
CB Mason Rogers
CB Johnnie Horner

So, the deal is... I know guys can gain real value just by being on your team forever. So, even though these guys drifted from borderline contributors to bench-bound after a few seasons on the bench, the fact is they could really have value at some point. But... the thing is I always stumble across guys who just seem a touch better, and then I lose faith... and cut guys like them - which is what I'm almost certain to do here, this season.

[QuikSand]

The dreaded 7 seed

GML: Baltimore Ravens 2078

[QuikSand]

Things have happened. None very exciting. We have submitted a file for another regular season. Expecting another mediocre 7-9 wins, I guess. We're thinner at WR than I can recall, and our rookie at 1.11 turned out to be a nice WR3 rather than a true WR1. We'd probably be better off tanking, but I'm putting in a "do our best" lineup and the same gameplan as usual.

[QuikSand]

Season summary: GML: Baltimore Ravens 2079

11-5 and a bye. Didn't see it coming. Writing it off as a fluke.

[QuikSand]

Seriously, this is a bye team? Pass for just over 7 yards a target, meh. No RB gets even 4 yards a carry, meh. Nobody gets 1,000 yards rushing or receiving, period, meh. Nobody gets 10 sacks, meh. Did we win 11 games with punt returns?

[QuikSand]

Draft recap here: 400 Bad Request

Traded out of our 1st rounder to get a future 1st, that's fine. In the draft, it looks like we landed a playable TE, and a couple utility RBs, okay then. Two (mediocre) long snappers, really? Awesome.

Anyway, I presume we've got another season of "the same" ahead here. Should be solid, not great. I think last year's bye week was a fluke, we're a 9-win team on average if we ran this sucker 100 times.

That's fine, I'm basically just treading water here. Other stuff waxing while FOF waning, it happens.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

So, we can neither confirm nor deny the rumors that the Ravens actually talked with another team about trading away QB Irving Mathews. We would aggressively restate that we are committed to him as our build-around passer going forward, and resist any suggestions to the contrary.

Now, it is also true that we will be watching a certain combine-freak QB Kai "The Golden Hurricane" DeVore with some particular interest in the seasons ahead. Just for, you know, academic purposes.

http://gml.fof-belco.com/playercard.php?playerid=50849

yup

[QuikSand]

file submitted. not a bye team. Ben's rankings put us something like 26th. Maybe 8 wins? 9?

[QuikSand]

WTF we're crazy good 14-2 and #1 seed

GML: Baltimore Ravens 2080

So, what happened here?
QB Bush was solid but not great...8.4 ypt, 37/21 ratio
Rushing attack rebounded, with rookie RB outperforming expensive guy
Soph WR Cailletau emerged as a legit WR1 with 11.4 ypt and 104-1,688-12
We were... WTF -15 on turnovers? How on earth did we win 14 games?
Defense seemed okay but not particularly good... 12th in ypa

I do not get it. We'l take it, I guess. Snakebite coming soon, though. #PaperTigerRavens

[QuikSand]

standard snakebitten one-and-out, as predicted

GML HOME

[QuikSand]

another crappy draft, rated #31 of 32

400 Bad Request

how do we win anything ever?

[QuikSand]

file sent, again

hopes low, again

beats me

[QuikSand]

(rotten twist, we turned in a file including one or two team conflicts at QB... got screwed in the open market from getting the OL leaders I wanted, and basically punted after that...so it goes... just don't have the energy to invest in this right now, tryna manage professional and political turmoil in my real life)

[QuikSand]

Well, if your team is mediocre... over a two year span, it would be best to have all the good luck in one year, and then eat the shit sandwich in the other.

So be it.

GML: Baltimore Ravens 2081

[QuikSand]

(Tiny sample size theater says... a chemistry based team simply cannot afford to play a season with a chemistry problem)

[QuikSand]

working theory - we overused our low-endurance WR1 and paid a big price for it

[QuikSand]

Opening up free agency, we look a bit like a team in "go for it" mode. Two big money signings (albeit non glamour positions, DT and OL) and two early draft picks (WR and OT) ought to get tongues wagging in Baltimore.

We don't exactly have a, you know, quarterback, but I'm told that's not a serious consideration.

[QuikSand]

Submitting regular season file today. Here's the summary:

-We look like a bottom half team this year

-We have a new, unproven and non-affinity guy starting at QB

-Our draft rated mid-pack, but that was with two picks in the top 15 overall... got serviceable but not superstars at WR and OT there

I expect to take some pressure off our WR1, try to get what we can from our offense behind a guy who seems to have "good enough" skills, and hope we can get a few dice rolls our way to eke out a 9 or 10 win season. 6-10 would not be a shock, but neither would 11-5.

[QuikSand]

12-4 and a bye week, because, you know, it's a funny shaped ball or something

GML: Baltimore Ravens 2082

[QuikSand]

Assessment:

QB Howard got us back to the 5,000 yard level, albeit only 7.7 ypa which isn't dominating

Dialing back on Cailleteau was the key, I think, he was back to 9.3 ypt and our rookie posted 10.0, so we have a tandem now, which really helps

Running game stinky, as usual, despite our C getting OL of the Year plaudits

Louis Herdeg was a guy I nearly cut for chemistry reasons, but instead posted an all pro season - playing mainly as our nickel guy, but he's a serious ballhawk, interesting skill set

[QuikSand]

Snakebitten, yet again

400 Bad Request

yet another one and out in the playoffs

career playoff record: an appalling 20-43



Can it be that we are running a flawed gameplan that defeats zombie AI teams, but fails to real people? We have had way more than our fair share of seasons like this - double digit wins, often with a bye week, followed by home playoff losses in short order. Seems more than coincidence.

[QuikSand]

Big problems this season.

Booted first round draft pick on a mediocre-at-best WR. Missed on the stud FA I really wanted. Messed up a key file and had my favorite player cut by the AI. Screwed up the recovery and only had 52 players for the season with a scrambled depth chart.

GML: Baltimore Ravens 2083

12-4 and a bye week, because the world makes no sense

[QuikSand]

...I actually suspect that my game plan was messed up, also. So, there's that too.

Seriously, no components of this team say "power team." We're paper tigers, and will presumably meet our usual fate, perhaps an undignified home loss in our opener, for a one-and-out exit at the hands of AVAILABLE.

[QuikSand]

Yup, one and out. Ben wins. Yay. All is right with the world.

Career playoff record: 20-44... that's a .313 winning percentage (a number dear to me) which is unbelievably hard to manage as a frequent resident of the upper tier. I'm sure we even have a losing record in playoff HOME games. Silly stuff.

[QuikSand]

File sent for the next season. QB stuck around to start for a third season on only a $4m salary, unexpectedly. We will have to make a call there next season, he will want to get paid.

We are rated #28 in the BELCo power ratings, for whatever reason. I'm not one to brag on my team, but even I think we're better than that. Not sure we are a bye week power team again, but I could see 10 wins happening. Or 7, sure. We'll pitch it around a bit, though.

[QuikSand]

Oh, we suck now.

[QuikSand]

File sent for new regular season. Brought QB back on one year all cash deal. Draft stinks, per usual, only my 1st and 7th round picks even chart in Ben's ratings list, where we land at 30th of 32. It's a wonder we don't just fall apart completely and dawdle into a stud QB. But that's not the plan this year - more likely around 7-10 wins again.

[QuikSand]

So, a semi-update. My work ISP is now blocking one of the sites that apparently supports the BELCo universe. So, I can no longer do my GML/CCFL/IHOF rounds during semi-idle time there, including accessing the draft tool.

Largely as a result, I have been missing stages left and right. I'm working crazy hours this time of year, and fairly often know I have a stage to do for a FOF league but simply don't bother.

So it goes. Last season the regular season stage was a skip for me, meaning my chemistry got wrecked and several players were unwisely exposed to free agency. I'm still "running the team" but have lost even more of the wind from my sails, due to the connection problems.

Anyway, that's the update. Add this to the sense that I've not only been passed but lapped with regard to all the i-have-a-spreadsheet-to-back-out-everything elements of the game, and I'm closing in on not giving a damn.

[Kodos]

Could you get around the work ISP problem by doing a mobile hotspot from your phone? (I don't know if you use a personal laptop for FOF or your work computer.)

Sad to see these developments, as I've been enjoying this dynasty. Maybe the new version of the game will rekindle your interest in FOF later. It's always a little sad to see one of the old guard decide to pack it in.

[QuikSand]

That's kind of you. Have been working toward a work-around. Phone hotspot doesn't look like the right option. Still vaguely interested.

[QuikSand]

As far as the team goes - we had another season.

GML: Baltimore Ravens 2089

8-8 behind a rookie QB. He was a BPA non-chem guy from the mid-first round, and after this season I think I'm sold he will be our build-around guy with this team. I drafted a new backfield mainly to take advantage of his chem group (he's a 4-5 guy), so for the moment I think I have slots at FB, RB2, and QB aligned. But, to be honest, a chemistry rebuild is the sort of thing that might actually get me re-interested here, sad as that is.

[QuikSand]

GML: Baltimore Ravens 2090

8-8 season, the dreaded 7th seed, and inexplicably my QB rushed the ball nearly 10 times a game

looks like our big-bars RB picked in round one will be another of these confounding guys who looks like he should be great, but instead just grinds out 3.8 yards a carry or so...ugh

anyway... half-assing it seems to suit me right now, i guess, just wish we could have tanked more effectively (not on purpose) to get an impact pick, rather than 1.17 or whatever we end up with

alas

[QuikSand]

I'm trying not to totally detach from this team (and FOF overall), so I've spent some weekend time at it. I expect that I will turn over the whole OL in the next couple seasons, to match chemistry up with our new "good enough to hold onto" guy at QB. So, that's something to work toward.

The numbers in this fast-moving league get hard to adjust to... overall, I am not sure that implementing nominal inflation into a text sim is a good idea. I get how it works, and it is "realistic," but it's just another humdrum thing to adjust to when you play out a lot of fake seasons. Anyhow, a high quality player worth 10% of the salcap in this league us something like $50m/yr, and the mental stutter-step it takes me to immerse into a league for things like this is one of the things that I have forsaken when in my "half-ass-it" mode of late. (No access from work, very limited time at home)

Anyway, I let two quality players walk into free agency, and in this league (no injuries, no salcap adjustmemts) that's basically an unforgivable sin. If I get them back, great, but if not, it serves me right.

If I get my target player with my pick in the mid first round (possible) I think I will get emotionally invested a bit more, too. I'm among the first human owners drafting, in a league that's maybe half AI teams (many people don't like the super fast pace).

So, state of the team right now:

QB - have our good-enough-guy (there's a guy I'd draft, but I won't trade up to get him and he won't fall to me)

RB - have a stud, need him to perform like one

TE - one nice-enough young guy, but need role players who fit scheme (target this year)

WR - have some fits at WR3/4/5 but really need a headliner type guy (would be thrilled and excited to draft one here)

OL - likely undergoing big overhaul this year and next, lacking a perfect build-around chem anchor, though... may be scouring trade wires to grab someone

D7 - have a chem anchor and decent talent, let stud DE and LB walk in 5th/8th year, but have decent complement all around... I like building this area up around my system

DB - got a nice haul last rookie class, and feel good - could use an ace cover guy to move everyone in the rotation down a notch (also a target for 1st round)

ST - whatevs


I don't know what we are going to do at WR. My best guy is a BPR-first type, good downfield but not really a WR1. I have him blocked for a 2nd round pick, as he's a 4th year guy looking for big coin to re-up. I need a solid WR1 who can play inside... even just a 55/55 guy would be good enough to build around for my young QB. A second weapon at WR or TE would help make everything work better, too.

[QuikSand]

Okay, so I went ahead and rebuilt the OL, and was resigned to this season being a build-up there and elsewhere. We go 6-9-1, and the top yardage skill player (rushing or receiving) on the whole team is... uhh... my QB rushing for 721 yards??? I don't even know what that could be about... I definitely did not manually decide that was my gameplan. Don't know if the AI stepped in, or if I did something stupid (well, apparently yes) but that was our approach this year.

In fairness, if this was an AI decision, it wasn't absurd. Our QB is maxed-out in ScrFrq and has a 4.35 dash, so he's a talented runner. But only 280 passing attempts as a full time starter, and an 11/8 ratio? That's pretty watered down stuff, cannot possibly be a key way to win.

Okay, next season we'll have a fairly early pick, and I will try again this weekend to put some time into the team. We have some young players who can contribute to chemistry and cohesion now, as well as some young talent following two unusually highly-rated drafts (as measured by the BenBot). And a few young guys to build around. Ideally, we can land a go-to WR this season either in the draft or free agency, and this team could be ready to threaten pretty quickly.

[QuikSand]

The good news: we signed a very solid 8th year WR, and now will have some sense of purpose to our offense - namely to force-feed this bastard as much pigskin as he can swallow

The bad news: I'm on the clock for pick 1.11, have phone access only, and didn't prepare properly in the conscripticon app, so i cant even see player bars... have gotten some help but don't love my options

[QuikSand]

So, another 7-9 season and for the first time I'm actually disappointed about it.

GML: Baltimore Ravens 2092

QB Gelenaw runs for over 1,000 yards (a first for me in MP, I'm fairly sure) but our passing game just isn't good enough. Our new big money WR1 manages only 5.9 ypt - that has to be a gameplan problem, I assume. The running game still stinks.

On defense, DEs Baxter and Durham are studs and combine for 27 sacks, and our pass defense is #2 overall, but that's not good enough to win games.

Work to do, but I'm trying to remain interested in this team. And, I have resolved my connection problems, so ought to have more ability to engage going forward.