Blast from the Past - FOF 2001 Dynasty!!! (With a New Team)

[Abe Sargent]

Week 09- We win on the road against the Saints 38-6. Clements hits Foster, Baker and Gardener twice. Shepherd has 106 yards on 18 carries and a score. Wagner grabbed 100 yards on 7 tosses. Carlson is Game Mvp with 3 picks and Morabito had 2 picks of his own.


Week 10 - We win on the road against the Bills 38-15. Clements hits Shepherd, Foster and TE Phillips for scores. Shepherd has an 87 yard run for a score, but it is Eric Carlson again with the Game MVP award with a 58 yard pick and return. Rebensdorf had a pick and Matthews added two more sacks.


Week 11 - BYE

RB Jesse Lincoln will be back next week.


Week 12 - The Colts are terrible at our place and we win 44-10. Clements is Game MVP with TD passes to Baker and Gardener. Baker had 157 yards on 10 catches. Shepherd added tow ground scores and 74 yards on 24 rushes. Carlson had another pick returned for a score and Morabito added a pick.


Week 13 - The one win Dolphins host us and prove to not be an obstacle as we win 36-10. Eric Carlson was AGAIN Game MVP with an 82 yard pick return and Rebensdrf added a pick. LB Crawford had 2 sacks. Claude Johnson had 5 FGs on 5 attempts. Clements hit Baker for a score and Shepherd had 73 yards and a score. Baker grabbed 141 yards on 10 catches.

WR Foster is questionable again and deactivated. Again.

3 of the final 4 games of the season are at home, which may help us get a good playoff spot. The Chargers have one loss just like us. We may have already won our division. The closest teams are 7-5, we are 11-1.

[Abe Sargent]

Week 14 - We defeat the Cyberhawks at our place 31-24. Clements is Game MVP with passes to Wagner and Baker. Shepherd added a rushing score and just 68 yards. Wagner had 102 yards on 8 grabs. Carlson had another pic and Matthews had another 2 sacks.


Week 15 - We host and crush the Patriots 35-10. Clements is Game MVP and hit Gardener and Wagner for scores, plus ran for a score. FB Clancy rushed for a 4th score. Shepherd had 71 yards on 21 carries. Baker added 105 yards on 6 grabs. Carlson had 2 more picks and Westbrook added a pick. C Brennan had 4 KRB. Clements was NFL Offensive Player of the Week.

WR Foster is back from injury.


Week 16 -0 We hit the road and win 28-19 vs. the Rams. Clements was Game MVP with a 62 yard play to Wagner, a 28 yarder to Foster, and Wagner had 113 yards on 4 grabs. Shepherd was held to 41 yards but had 2 more rushing Tds. Carlson had another pick and Morabito had 2. Meadows had 1.5 sacks. OT Rathbone had 5 KRB.


Week 17 - We are in the #1 spot after the Chargers lost but we still need to win this week to keep it, so I keep my players in.

We host the 10-5 Patriots looking for a nice WC berth.

We win 23-17 in OT when Clements hits Baker for a score. Game MVP is Shepherd with an 83 yard rushing score, 164 yards on 24 rushes, and a receiving score. S Westbrook had a pick and DE Gaines had two sacks. C Brennan added 5 KRB. Shepherd is NFL Offensive Player of the Week.


I have high hopes at year’s end for some nice awards, just wait…..

[Abe Sargent]

Wild Card Weekend:

Baltimore edged Buffalo 43-33.

New England defeated Seattle 23-3



Divisional Weekend:

We host New England again.

We win 41-11. No Overtime this week New England!


Jerome Baker is Game MVP with 3 TD catches, 1 from Clements and 2 from Bob Kieta after Clements goes down to injury. Meadows had 2 sacks. Morabito, Carlson and Berdys had picks. Shepherd had 116 yards and a score on the ground.

Clements is probable and will be starting next week. Meadows is questionable and will be starting as well.


The Charges win in overtime 37-31 over the Ravens

[Abe Sargent]

The 2016 AFC Championship:

The #1 seed 15-1 Albuquerque Rail Runners host

The #2 seed 14-2 San Diego Chargers



We lose 38-28.

Clements hit Gardener, Baker and Wagner. Shepherd added a 76 yard play.


For the first time in five years, we will not be in the Super Bowl.


San Diego crushes the Rams 30-3 in the big one.

[Abe Sargent]

Season Awards:

NFL MVP: RB Heath Shepherd
NFL Offensive Player of the Year: RB Heath Shepherd
NFL Defensive Player of the Year: S Eric Carlson

All-Pro 1st Team: QB Tony Clements, RB Heath Shepherd, TE Ed Gardener, WR Jerome Baker, C Marty Brennan, DT Ross Meadows, S Eric Carlson
All-Pro 2nd Team - CB Leon Morabito, S Travis Westbrook


Rock!

I wish we had won a super bowl, but these are some great results. Offensive AND Defensive PotY? MVP? Top QB, TE, WR and RB from one offense? Awesome!

[Abe Sargent]

Tony Clements was selected in the third round and started as a rookie. He has been in the playoffs every year of his 10 year career.

Heath Shepherd a 2nd round draft pick from four years ago.

Ed Gardener was a 2nd round pick from 7 years ago

Jerome Baker was chosen 1/31 and is in his 5th year.

Marty Brennan was a 4th round selection and is in his 4th year.

My 5 offensive All-Pros were drafted low, and just one was selected in the 1st round, and that was a late selection.

Now, look at my 4 defensive players:

Meadows completed his 8th year. The second overall selection.

CB Morabito was taken with the 1/12 pick and is in his 7th year.

S Eric Carlson was taken with the 1/19 selection and is in his 6th year

Westbrook was taken 1/34 and is in his 4th year

This was a good year awards wise for a lot of reasons. Shepherd and Carlson and Meadows and Gardener continue their All Pro dominance. C Marty Brennan solidifies his talent.

WR Jerome Baker had his first All pro award and you know it was because the other WRs were injured for much of the year, so he benefited from a more limited target pool.

Clements got his second All Pro and would have had three in a row had he not got knocked out in the 14th game last season.

Westbrook finally had his first all pro year. Yay!

I love that Morabito is back. He was in the All Pro for the first several year, and then as I got better Dbacks, he was needed less, but he still had mad talent, led the league last year with pasdef despite just 12 starts, and had another All Pro year this year. Perhaps another 4 starts would have given him an award last year too.



S Junior Burke was an All Pro too, I drafted him once before. Christian Torres had another all pro year.

[Abe Sargent]

Team Stats:

2nd most rushing yards, 3rd most ypc
2nd most passing yards, best average by far (8.4 yards)
2nd best rushing defense, tied for 6th smallest ypc allowed against you
12th most passing yards allowed, tied for 14th worst yards per allowed.
Led the league with +19 TO
Got just 39 sacks, tied for 14th most in league
Allowed 38 sacks, tied for 13th most

My sack margin is too small. We’ll need to take a look at that. That’s obviously a lack of good DE play.

[Abe Sargent]

Individual Stats:

QB Tony Clements, 4403, 500 yards more than anyone else in the league, 65.5% completion, 2% more than anyone else, 32 TD, second highest, 11 Int, 4th fewest among 16 game starters, 103.9 QB Rating, 7.6 more than the next qualifier.

Just simply amazing. That is a QB ladies and gentlemen.

Heath Shepherd led the league with 22 rushing TD, lead the league with 1683 yards, 5 ypc which was 4th, add 3 receiving Tds

Another good year.

Jerome Baker - 1428 yards, 8 TD, 96 catches, 3rd most yards in league, 4th most catches,
Ed Gardener with 81 catches, 822 yards and 7 scores.
Thomas Foster had 32 for 332 and 7
Wagner had 45 for 651 and 4 in 10 starts

K Claude Johnson had 25 of 35 w/ long of 51.
P Steve Washington dropped again in average but # in 20 again raised, 33 out of 82

DT Ross Meadows was tied for 4th most sacks in the league with 13.5. Guy is a house.
DE Doug Gaines had 5.5, DT Bieniemy grabbed 5 as did rookie Ernest Clinton.

S Eric Carlson led the league with 12 picks and lead with 15 pas def
S Westbrook was tied for 2nd most pasdef in the league with 11, and grabbed 7 picks, tied for 5th most in the league

CB Morabito had 6 picks, while Rebensdorf had 3.

No one in the league had more KRB than C Marty Brennan. Brennan had 11 more KRB than anyone else, with 45.

OT Conley had 28, tied for 10th most KRB in the league
Wells had 21, Pintsak had 17 and Rathbone had 14

This was a disappointing year for KRB especially since I expected to get way more KRB from the OG position. Wells has had 32, 36, and 31 in the three previous years but just 21 this year. His blocking % was the lowest it had been since his first two seasons. Pintsak had 27 each of his first two seasons and just 17 this one with the same number of KRO as last year.

I am happy with Conley, who had just 60 KRO. Both Wells and Pintsak had way more KRO but fewer KRB.

Gaines had 3 fumrec.

[Abe Sargent]

Team Awards:

Offensive Player of the Year: QB Tony Clements. I like what Baker did this year finally getting a major year, and I love what Gardener, Brennan, and Shepherd keep doing. Gardener had his best receiving year yet, Brennan led the league by 11 KRB, Shepherd set a rushing record with 22 rushing TD, and Baker had, by far, his best receiving year and a great All Pro season. But it was Clements that set the cake. 103 QB Rating? 32:11 TD:INT ratio? 500 more passing yards than the next guy? This was just a really great year by a really great player. Good job Tony!
Defensive Player of the Year: S Eric Carlson. 12 picks, 15 pas def, both league leading. He also had the most tackles on my team.
Special Teams Player of the Year: K Claude Johnson. Welcome to Albuquerque!
Rookie of the Year: OT Corey Conley. 2nd on the team in KRB and in the top ten in the league. That is a really promising start! Only one player in the league had at least 50 KRO and had a higher blocking percentage than Conley.
Heart Award: TE Peter Phillips. He had 9 KRB out of 19 KRO, which is really good. He also caught a 43 yard receiving play for a TD. He wasn‘t in much, because Gardener takes a lot of the snaps, but when he was in, he performed very well. He is leaving our team at the end of this year, so here’s to Peter Phillips


Get this. Most passing yards in a season, the current record is 4408 by Oakland last year. Clements had 4403. Gah!

[Abe Sargent]

Score:

Performance: 90
Value: 48
Profit: 52
Difficulty: 73
Year End Score: 60

The New Hall of Fame:

Chris McAlister
Donovin Darius - ex-San Antonio Lone Star
Jason Elam
Champ Bailey
Shawn Springs

[Abe Sargent]

The two last expansion teams have been announced - Austin and Richmond

Now I need to make a decision. Do I stick with the Albuquerque Rail Runners or do I hop to Richmond?

Before I make that decision, I change the nickname of the Austin club to the Tonkawas from the Gold Rush. Tonkawas is more appropriate for the area, so I picked it.

Hop to Richmond or stay with Albuquerque. Why would I want to do each?

Richmond - Building a franchise from scratch is fun! I only have one more chance to do it, this year in Richmond. Albuquerque has momentum and I can leave it and jump to Richmond for some serious fun.

Albuquerque - Working with my draftees is fun! I feel some loyalty to Heath Shepherd, Tony Clements, Ed Gardener, Jerome Baker, Marty Brennan, Orlando Wells, Donald Wagner, Ross Meadows, Leon Morabito, Eric Carlson and Travis Westbrook. (The 11 All Pros on my roster that I drafted).

I want to get them into the Hall of Fame, and by continuing to surround them with talent, I can dictate game plan and roster in order to get them wins, trophies and more.


However, to everything there must be an end. Ending my tenure at Albuquerque will be a end to an era.

Ah, well, I jump to Richmond. Ta-ta Albuquerque!

[Abe Sargent]

Time to name the Richmond team.

I do not like the name Hill Cats. Yuck. There are enough cats in the league already (Panthers, Jaguars, Lions).

We do some research on Richmond and come up with some names as the finalists:


The problem is that Richmond history and locale are tied just as much to the Old South and the Civil War as they are to the Revolutionary one. It is hard to name your team the Richmond Rebels or Richmond Revolutionary without also bringing in the Civil War. Other names dismissed were the Richmond Greys (using the alien as a mascot), Richmond Tobacco Planters, and other names like Powhatan, Beateaux, and even the Patrick Henrys.

Once it was realized that Richmond could not easily have itself dissociated from its past and yet have a meaningful mascot, they began the task of finding an inoffensive name that had relatively no meaning.

Suggestions included:

Rattlesnakes
Wolves
Thunder
Rain Warriors
Raccoons
Beavers
Ronin
Rivercats
Vultures
Rapids
Rampage
After some consideration, the new Richmond team will be named The Richmond Rattlesnakes.

I’ve wanted to use snakes for a while, Richmond Rattlesnakes has the whole double R thing going for it and both the Timber Rattlesnake and the Canebrake Rattlesnake can be found in Virginia, so it’s not a bad name for the area.

[Abe Sargent]

The Richmond Rattlesnakes have already hired a head coach and lead scout. Let’s take a look at each:

Lead Scout:

Louis Kelly
4 year deal at 800k

Excellent: WR
Very Good: QB, K
Good: RB, Oline, Y Talent
Fair: DB, Dline
Poor: LB

Not a great Scout.

Head Coach:

Chester Crawford
1 year deal at 4,170,000

Excellent: LB
Very Good: WR, O Line, DB, Motivation, Off Play C, Def Play C, Discipline
Good: K, Y Talent, Injury Risk
Fair: D Line
Poor: QB, RB

Also not that great and we only have him for a year, needing to replace him next.


There are now 36 teams

The Richmond Rattlesnakes:

12th lowest franchise value
13th worst stadium
16th worst support
6th best economy


Our Outdoor/Natural grass stadium seats 63,000

[Abe Sargent]

The expansion draft has begun.


I want to find people that do not rape my cap and have playing ability.

And I am competing against Austin for bodies


2017 NFL Expansion Draft

Richmond Rattlesnake Recap:

1. LB Roosevelt Nagel, Albuquerque
2. OT Clarence McClesky, Tampa Bay
3. DT Kerry Galloway, New Orleans
4. OG Aaron Patton, Buffalo
5. LB Ed Feely, New England (I drafted him)
6. S Sam Bonds, Kansas City
7. DT Darrell Coffey, Albuquerque
8. K Trevor Hoffman, Atlanta
9. P Jon Barbaritz, Tampa Bay
10. TE Cory Biladeau, Baltimore
11. OG Jessie Doty, St. Louis
12. CB Cory Tate, New England
13. CB Toby Scott, Cincinnati
14. WR JR Hopkins, Tennessee
15. FB Devin Hill, Cleveland
16. RB Rich Wiggins, Albuquerque
17. OT Terrell Terry, Albuquerque
18. DE Tyrone Estrada, St. Louis
19. DE Lamar Franklin, Albuquerque
20. WR Harry Ellard, Indianapolis
21. S Edwin Meechan, Philadelphia
22. TE Bennie Cooper, Tampa Bay
23. OG Nate Thurston, Minnesota
24. DT Tim Mixon, Cincinnati
25. LB Derek Emmons, Green Bay


We are in the NFC Central with the Lions, Packers, Vikings, Buccaneers and Bears.

[Abe Sargent]

I make some serious FA offers to:

DE Dennis Perry
LB Dexter Sutton
OT Tim Becker
TE Mitchell Spence (who I drafted)
CB Johnny Meester
S Tyrone Rexin
P Derek Kerr


Week 1 - S Tyron Rexin signs with us

Week 2 - LB Dexter Sutton signs with us

Week 3 - OT Tim Becker joins us as well

Week 5 - CB Johnny Meester and P Derek Kerr sign.

I cut P Jon Barbaritz

Week 6 - DE Dennis Perry joins us.

Week 7 - TE Mitchell Spence joins us.



I advance to week 15

There is nothing left.

[Abe Sargent]

The 2017 NFL Amateur Draft

An OT goes first to Austin so I can select every player at pick 1.2. When I had this pick with Albuquerque I made the right choice with Ross Matthews. I also think I made a solid choice when I picked up QB Jerome Allard with the 1/1 pick way back when. Who will be the first pick of this franchise?

DT Claude Borg is great, and it would duplicate my Rail Runner success quite nicely.
RB Gus McLemore is no Heath Shepherd, but he could be a feature back easily.
WR Tim Bielby is strong
RB Ralph Barrett is good too
I need a QB so I could try and force one now. QB Kendell Kyle looks to be the best choice.

I have narrowed it to Borg or Kyle. I can get WR later. DT are very tough to come by and getting a franchise QB is also nice, even if Kyle is not so good that he is automatic. I have to take the QB.

At the top of the 2nd my options are RB, WR and S. I go WR.

Barrett is still on the board at the top of the 3rd and he is quite good so I snatch him and count my blessings

The 4th arrives. Choices time. I grab a guy with decent potential and its obviously BAP here on out. Usually there is a good C hanging around, but not this year. There’s also often a great FB lying around, and not this year.

Draft Recap:

1 - QB Kendall Kyle, Duke
2 - WR Mickey Baum, Wake Forest
3 - RB Ralph Barrett, Mississippi
4 - DT Steven Atkins, Minnesota
5 - C Wayne Gerhardt, American International
6 - S Carey Haggins, Vanderbilt
7 - QB Spencer Brady, Arkansas State


I sign some UFA:

WR JJ Nobile, Kansas
RB Ian Thorstonson, Florida State
FB Billy Winters, USC
LB Zack Curtis, Wake Forest
S Conrad Patten, Hofstra
QB Curtis Mueller, Washington State
OT Danny Baker, Michigan State
OG Derek Simpkins, South Carolina
C Nick Reuter, Miami Florida
CB Drew Epperson, USC
RB DJ Ferguson, Oklahoma State
WR Zach Winslett, Indiana
LB Willie Panos, Miami, Florida
CB Darren Pipkin, North Carolina A&T

I cut S Sam Bonds

[Abe Sargent]

We get through the first camp’

Son of a….my QB busted! DAMN!

On the other hand, my RB broke out to Heath Shepherd levels. I’ll take that!

The new GM at Albuquerque drafted an amazing K in the draft and cut Claude Johnson so I sing him for a year.

I cut K Trevor Hoffman

I release QB Kendell Lyle now. Might as well take the hit while I can.

QB Spencer Brady, my 7th rounder, doesn’t suck. It may not be worth building into him though, he top out in the 50s and 60s.

There are a couple of post camp QBs that intrigue me.

The best QB out there is QB Brett Ypremian. He’s ok and more developed than Brady. There is a very tempting QB out there, though. QB Jerome Allard was released by Arizona. Ypremian is the better long term choice, because he can grow into a better QB. I don’t want any of these as my long term Qbs though. And with that sentiment, I grab Jerome Allard for the year.

I sign a few patches for a year:

DE Stan Hinson
OG Bill Clinton
WR Moe Paradis (He was with me in Albuquerque, he’s aged poorly, but will still be acceptable).

I cut OG Aaron Patton
I cut WR JR Hopkins and his 6+ million salary


I am 51 million under. I didn’t feel like spending unwisely, but Austin just has 8 million left. They do apparently. Their hot OT they took 1/1 was a bust too.

They entire draft blows!

Oh, we sold 46,000 season tickets out of 63k total

Get this, as of this year, we have only ever had 3 Qbs start for us, Jerome Allard, Tony Clements, and one year of Rex Alstott with Albuquerque.

[Abe Sargent]

The 2017 Richmond Rattlesnakes - Inaugural Roster

QB Jerome Allard - He’s a fan favorite, which can help to bring in the tickets. His skills have diminished.
RB Ralph Barrett - This guy may be the real deal. I really like him.
FB Devin Hill - He sucks.
TE Mitchell Spence - I love that I get a guy I drafted and really liked at Albuquerque.
WR Mickey Baum - This rookie is solid, but he’s no Marvin Graham or Jerome Baker.
WR Moe Paradis - The years have not been kind, but he’s good enough
C Wayne Gerhardt - He’s not that great, I was hoping for a better C in the draft.
OG Jessie Doty - Not good
OG Bill Clinton - A patch who’s okay
OT Tim Becker - I like him. A nice FA Signing
OT Clarence McCleskey - Feh
P Derek Kerr - I’ve seen a lot worse
K Claude Johnson - Happy to have gotten him
DE Dennis Perry - I love great DEs off the FA market. See Tony Brackens, Phil Lee, Christian Torres. This guy has underperformed, never having more than 12.5 sacks in the season, and having just 41 in 5 years. Time ot change that.
DE Stan Hinson - Patch
DT Kerry Galloway - Best of the crappy DT
DT Steven Adkins - Rookie is green but has decent potential
LB Dexter Sutton - Will start in the MLB spot. I look for a big year from him.
LB Ed Feely - I drafted him 8 years ago in Albuquerque and this 1/11 pick never lived up to the hype. Can he as our SLB?
LB Derek Emmons - This old LB is wearing poorly, and will be our WLB starter
CB Johnny Meester - I know when someone is worth bidding on in FA, usually. He was.
CB Cory Tate - Just a guy
S Tyrone Rexin - I paid a lot for him off FA, but he’s just solid. Solid right now is good.
S Cary Haggins - The 6th round rookie is just good enough to start over my weaker veterans.

KR/PR - Tyrone Rexin and WR JJ Nobile and WR Henry Ellard

[Abe Sargent]

Our rankings:

14th worst QB
7th best RB
15th worst FB
4th best TE
20th best WR
6th worst C
15th worst OG
14th best OT
8th best P
2nd best K
7th best DE
7th worst DT
5th best LB
20th best CB
10th best S


As you can see, our RB is one of the few places we can truly brag.

[Abe Sargent]

Scout Overview of my Drafted Rookies:

RB Ralph Barrett, 65/87
WR Mickey Baum, 56/72
QB Spencer Brady, 23/72
S Cary Haggans, 46/71
C Wayne Gerhardt 22/66
DT Steven Adkins, 14/60



You know what? Forget Jerome Allard.

I’m going to start Spencer Brady. Here are his potentials:

64
62
66
60
72
63
44
54
69
56

Nah, the 44 is accuracy and the 54 is power.

Allard it is.

[Abe Sargent]

Well, hmm..

If I start Allard, I’m basically saying the year is a throwaway year at the QB position. If I start Brady, it is likely the same but seeing how the guy plays has value to me. Plus, a more developed QB can add t ohis trade value, give me a better backup next year, and so forth. Allard will just be with me the one year, since I will not be bringing him back next year.

Look, if it’s a throwaway year for the position anyway, why not develop someone? I just wish his power and accuracy were in line with everything else.

Here’s another possibility. What if, next year, when I get a new scout, my scout loves Brady? Then I might have wished I had started him all along.

Sigh.

As much as I REALLY want to start Allard, it’s obvious that the best call is to start the 7th round rookie.

I increase some of my run percentages.

[Abe Sargent]

We finish the preseason 0-4. Ouch! DT Tim Mixon is out VERY LONG TERM with a broken tibia. I IR him and sign DT Norm Torello.


The 2017 Richmond Rattlesnakes Schedule:

1. Chicago
2. TAMPA BAY
3. Green Bay
4. DETROIT
5. Minnesota
6. GREEN BAY
7. Detroit
8. OAKLAND
9. BYE
10. Denver
11. MINNESOTA
12. Tampa Bay
13. CHICAGO
14. AUSTIN
15. Kansas City
16. CORPUS CHRISTI
17. Carolina


Okay, here we go…….

I doubt this is going to be a good year. This roster does not feel as good as my last two in its first season.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by Abe Sargent

As much as I REALLY want to start Allard, it’s obvious that the best call is to start the 7th round rookie.

I increase some of my run percentages.

[Abe Sargent]

Well, I;m not stupid.

[Abe Sargent]

Week 1 - We lose to the Bears 14-16 on the road. A respectable score. Moe Paradis and Mickey Baum both caught Tds. S FA signing Tyrone Rexin was our Game MVP with 2 picks. DE and FA signing Perry had 1.5 sacks.

It was a good day for a rookie 7th round QB starting his first career game on the road at Chicago and the first game of the franchise. Brady had 13 of 22 for 170 and 2:0. That’s not bad. Where we failed was in the rushing game, where supposedly amazing RB Barrett was held to 25 yards on the ground.


Week 2 - We lose to Tampa Bay 14-13, another close one. Barrett had a rushing TD and they scored a TD off a Brady pick and run. Barrett had 46 yards. CB and FA Signing Meester had a pick.


Week 3 - We lose 17-37 to Green Bay. Barrett had two TD runs and 110 yards on the ground. OG Clinton had 4 KRB.


Week 4 - Another loss to Detroit this time, 14-27. Tyrone Rexin was the MVP again with a pick returned for a score, and 3 picks on the day, plus he led the team in tackles. DE Perry had 2.5 sacks. Backup WR Winslett caught a TD pass. Rexin is NFL Defensive Player of the Week.

[Abe Sargent]

Week 5 - We lose to Minnesota 6-38. I’ll spare you the details. DT Atkins is out. His abilities drop. I IR him and sign DT Frankie Stephens, who will start for the rest of the year at the position.


Week 6 - We get our first win! 26-13 over the Packers. Game MVP was RB Ralph Barrett with 2 TD runs and 240 yards on 22 carries. Ok, there’s my hot commodity. Perry had 3 sacks and Rexin added a pick. Clinton had 4 KRB. C Wayne Gerhardt is out. OG Clinton is questionable. Rexin was Defensive Player of the Week again.


Week 7 - We lose 10-45 against Detroit. Again, I’ll spare you the details.


Week 8 - Even now a team like us can defeat the Raiders. We win 28-14. Barrett was Game MVP with 2 TD rushes and 205 yards on 26 carries. Rexin, Meester and Haggans each had picks. Perry had 1.5 sacks. OT Becker notched 5 KRB. Barrett was NFL Offensive Player of the Week.


Week 9 - BYE

[Abe Sargent]

Week 10 - Moe Paradis is out and I IR him. I sign Ron Sellers to finish out the year as our split end. We lose against Denver 38-20. Starting QB of Denver? Rex Alcott. Heh. Ellard had an KR TD, and Barrett had 2 TD runs. Perry had 2 more sacks. OT McClesky is out and I IR him. I sign OT Winston Bucky.


Week 11 - We edge the Vikings 30-27. Barrett was Game MVP with a td and 171 yards on 21 carries. Baum and Sellers caught scores.


Week 12 - We edge Tampa 18-16. That’s right, two in a ROW!! LB FA Signing Dexter Sutton is Game MVP with 16 tackles. Barrett had our sole TD on the day.

Week 13 - We defeat Chicago 31-21. CB Johnny Meester is Game MVP with 2 picks while CB Tate had one himself. OT Becker had 6 KRB. Hill had a fumble recovered for a score. Brady hit Baum and TE Spence for scores. Spence, with 99 yards, came just shy of our first 100 yard receiving day. Barrett was injured and Thorstenson had 108 yards and a score.

[Abe Sargent]

Week 14 - Our winning streak continues in the battle of the expansion teams as we defeat Austin 17-14 in OVERTIME. How appropriate. Cary Haggans has a 28 yard pick and return for ascore. Ron Sellers catches a Brady pass. Game MVP is Ralph Barrett with 136 yards on 34 carries - the hard yards.


Week 15 - The winning streak ends as we lose 3-24 to KC.

LB Ed Feely is out for the final two games.


Week 16 - We lose to Corpus Christi 21-9. Barrett had 199 yards on 23 carries. Baum had a TD pass. Haggins and Scott had picks.


Week 17 - We lose to Carolina 22-27. Baum had the first 100 receiving game of the season with exactly 100 yards and a TD. Barrett just got over a century with 106 and a TD. Haggans and Epperson had picks and Perry had 1.5 sacks.

[Abe Sargent]

2017 NFC Playoffs:

Carolina over St. Louis 31-28.

New Orleans over Washington 19-9



Philadelphia over Carolina 45-16

Detroit over New Orleans 45-7


(In the AFC Albuquerque hung 62 points on Denver)



NFC Champions - Phily over Detoris 24-21



2017 Super Bowl

Philadelphia vs. Albuquerque - a rematch of a previous year.


Eagles over Rail Runners 17-10.

[Abe Sargent]

Season Awards:

Offensive Rookie of the Year: RB Ralph Barrett
Defensive Player of the Year: S Tyrone Rexin

All-Pro 1st year: OT Tim Becker, LB Dexter Sutton, S Tyrone Rexin
All-Pro 2nd year: DE Dennis Perry


And we already know our shining lights.

[Abe Sargent]

Team Stats:

6th best running game by yards, 3rd best by ypc
Worst passing game in the league by far in every category
7th most rushing yards allowed
6th most passing yards allowed
TO Margin +9
7th lowest sack total with 35
9th fewest sacks allowed with 34

[Abe Sargent]

Individual Stats:

QB Spencer Brady, 2460 yards, 51%, 10:19, 58.3 QB Rating, fumbled ball 10 times

RB Ralph Barrett - 1537 yards, 12 rushing yards, 5.2 ypc. A good year

Reciving sucks. No one had more than 650 yards. Baum had 5 TDs.


Meechan was the 5th best KR average in the league and did so without a TD.

K Johnson was 27 of 38, long of just 45
P Kerr had a low average and 39 of 105 in the 20.

LB Dexter Sutton led the league with 141 solo tackles, 36 assists, 2 sacks. 10 pasdef, tied for 8th most in league.
S Rexin was 5th in the league with 107 solo tackles, 24 assits, 1 sack, Led the league with 8 picks. He also had a KR TD.

DE Perry was 2nd in league in sacks with 17.5, next highest was DT Galloway with 4. 
CB Meester had 5 picks, Haggans four

OT Tim Becker was third in the league among all O Line players with 37 KRB.
OG Bill Clinton was tied for 10th with 31

The other o line sucked.

[Abe Sargent]

Team Awards:

Offensive Player of the Year: OT Tim Becker did a great professional job handling blocking for the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. Good job Becker. He also allowed just 3 sacks all season long.
Defensive Player of the Year: S Tyrone Rexin. Great picks and great tackles. A very solid year for the FA signing.
Special Teams Player of the Year: K Claude Johnson. He was called on two win several close games, including an OT winner. Good job with the hot kicks, Claude!
Rookie of the Year: RB Ralph Barrett. There’s not any other option. No one else was that good except Barrett and he was wonderful.
Heart Award: S Cory Haggans. This 6th round BAP pick just edged out a poor veteran for the starting gig and he never looked back with 4 picks and did a professional job as the FS.


And that concludes our first year. There were some bright spots, and places to build on as we finish this 6-10 year and move to next year.


Some other awards of Note:

P Steve Washington, finally broke out and had 1st team all pro
My draftee LB Quinn Burroughs had his first All Pro season
Heath Shepherd was just 2nd team All pro, but he still was NFL MVP

[Abe Sargent]

Score:

Team Performance: 22
Franchise Value: 42
Profit: 12
Difficulty: 70

Score: 30

That is a horrible Profit/loss and I operated way under the cap.

Hall of Fame: Germaine Crowell


I have 23 players under contract.

Franchise:

17th lowest franchise value
12th best economy
14th worst stadium
13th worst roster
14th worst support

[Abe Sargent]

Albuquerque better watch out. They have the following players entering their final year - DT Ross Meadows, WR Jerome Baker, WR Thomas Foster, CB Leon Morabito, CB Jimmie Rebensdorf, S Eric Carlson, LB Blake Crawford, TE Ed Gardener, C Marty Brennan, S Travis Westbrook. That could be very dangerous. Let too many go and the dynasty will collapse.

I would not be surprised to see them try to unload some players and resign some players, because they are over the cap right now by a lot.

[Abe Sargent]

Anyway, time for me to go coach and scout shopping, as needed.

QB Jerome Allard retired as did Marvin Graham. Sad to see them go. LB Bart Zambrano also retired from my Lone Star days.

Hall of Fame in Graham’s or Allard’s future? I guess we’ll see.

I need a new HC, mine had a one year no expired deal. I’d like a new scout.

I like HC Brian Newman. Currently with no HC experience.

Thurman Staten is my Scout preference. Let’s see what happens.

At the end of one week, we are the only ones to make an offer on Staten but he has ye to sign. My HC has a massive offer we cannot match from the Patriots. I withdraw my offer.

I make a cheap offer to Donnell Talley. 3 million a year for 5 years.

Staten signs in week two.

Talley signs week three.


Talley is the 2nd cheapest HC in the league:


Donnell Talley

Excellent: D Play C, WR
Very Good: Av Inj, O Play C, Motivation, K
Good: Young Talent, DB
Fair: QB, RB, O Line, D Line, LB,Discipline
Poor: Nothing

So I’ll take him on the cheap. Save some cash.

Lead Scout Thurman Staten

Excellent: RB, O Line, DB
Very Good: QB, Young Talent
Good: K, D Line, LB
Fair: WR

[Abe Sargent]

I franchise Claude Johnson

I am 71 million under the cap.

We’re taking almost 30 million in hit from the bonus money paid to our 1.2QB last year.

We have pick #10 in the draft

I sign Claude for two years.

Albuquerque resigned a bunch of their players. Smart.

I trade OT Clarence McCleskey to the Dolphins for their 4/3 this year.

I cut DT Kerry Galloway

TE Mitchell Spence is being ornery and not wanting to extend his two year deal. Perhaps a franchise tag at the end of the year will keep him around.

I cut Toby Scott

Ralph Barrett busted a bit with my new scout. Still solid though.

[Abe Sargent]

Going into Free Agency, we need starters at:

QB, FB, WR maybe, C, OG, OG, OT, P maybe, DE, DT, DT, LB, LB, CB, S

But I won’t get someone just to get them. Let’s see what pieces I can find.

Hello Dwayne Orozco a really nice P.

I make him an offer

I make an offer to OG Bucky Coffey.

I can draft good S, C, FB, perhaps WR and LB typically year in and year out. Where I really want to get talent are positions where I have two starters and no real talent - OG and DT.

There are not any hosses in FA. Quality DTs are very rare and very expensive.

I make an offer to DT Bill Murray who isn’t even that good. I mean, he’s not Ross Meadows or that guy I had with San Antonio - Marshall something?

Okay, let’s look at QB. Sign one now? Options.

There are just two Qbs worth looking at. Sam Humphries is in his 7th year and still has a little green. Key stats of accuracy and power are 96 and 50 potential. Last year was his first as a starter for Tampa, not that good.

The other option is Toby Barclay, a 10 year vet out of Oakland. Accuracy 66, power 52. Has only started 13 games in his career for Oakland.

I make an offer to Sam Humphries. He’s not great, but I hope he’ll be good enough.

Those are my FA offers - DT, OG, P and QB.


Week 2 - DT Bill Murray signs with us.

Week 3 - OG Bucky Coffey signs

Week 4- P Orozco signs and I cut Kerr

Week 6 - We lose Sam Humphries to Tampa Bay, his own team, even those we were offering a lot more dough. Ah well, loyalty.

We still need a QB and Barclay signed.


Week 18 -

I make offers to some players deep in the pool:

QB Billy Joe Mills for three year
DE Adam Dosoo for four years

Both of these guys are very green but could become someone solid in a few years.


Week 19 - Both sign


I sign RFA FB Billy Winters back for the year at minsal


Now I have at least 26 players going into the draft.

I trade QB Curtis Mueller to the Bucks for their 5th rounder this year.

Mueller is now third on the team and I still am looking for a strong franchise caliber QB, so he’d get knocked off the team anyway. Now I can get a draft pick and hopefully use it to have a more long team player on my team, even a backup.

25 players on my roster.


Okay, drafting time.

[Abe Sargent]

2018 NFL Amateur Draft


I needs to get a real player this time, because two busts in a row won’t do.

We draft 10th.

Here we go.

Draftable players:

OG Marcus Sakurai - Not a hoss, very green, acceptable
S Patrick Horton - Green than some S, eventually becomes very good, not a bad investment at all. Not a pick machine though.
OG Joe Weaver - Also solid
CB Darren Frederickson - Solid, very good, great even, except for lower picks.
LB Johnny McDaniel - Very high potential
QB Ernest Mayes - Not worth the pick.
C Mark Glenn - HOT. There are other really strong C though
DT Stanley Allen - More of a 1/20 pick than a 1/10 pick but strong at a position of weakness.


Best upside of these players, McDaniel. Lowest need of these players, McDaniel and Weaver/Sakurai. No to Mayes and Glenn.

Horton, Frederickson, Allen.


DT, CB or S. At this point, with a major DT signee in the fold, DT appears to be a luxury so I’m going with…

Darren

2nd round it is down to a C or a G. I look at pure numbers, and the C is a better player. I select the C.

Round 3 arrives. I grab a LB who can start for me.

In the 4th I see a possible OG starter in Travis Thomas so I grab him.

Then I take him. The best QB of the draft after the first round was over. QB Roderick Irvin from Memphis.


Then BAP.


Draft Recap:

1. CB Darren Frederickson
2. C Jesse Tate
3. LB Brant Wilkerson, Arizona
4/3. OG Travis Thomas, Penn State
4/10. QB Roderick Irvin, Memphis
5/10. WR Levon Owen, Wisconsin
5/19. DT Ben Corgan, Wofford
6. OT Harold Strickland, Nebraska
7. LB Joey Hulsey, Oregon State

These 9 players are the next wave of immigrants.

[Abe Sargent]

34 players under contract.

I sign RFA OG Derek Simpkins to a three year deal.

I sign RFA OT Danny Baker for a 4 year deal.

36 players


I sign some UFAs:

RB Irving Given, Arkansas
FB CJ Meier, Cincinnati
WR Clifton Prescott, Kansas
DE Matthew Wolf, Washington State
CB Marshall Martin, Boston College
S Louie Guthrie, Southern Methodist
RB Tracey Chandler, USC
TE Tracey Wilson, Missouri - Rolla
CB Monty Denson, Monmouth

These are some seriously crappy players. 36 teams eats away at the talent level.

I hope to find some nice post-camp cuts. Perhaps even a nice QB gift wrapped for me!

[Abe Sargent]

We sold 45,200 season tickets.

I take a look at free agency for some roster help.

I sign:

S Donnell Newhart
RB Perry Sutter
LB Glenn Ferguson
CB Phil Green


And a few more UFA:

DT Marco Imme, Oklahoma
OG John Winters, Fordham
WR Lonny Ballard, Michigan State

[Abe Sargent]

Now I have a decision to make.

There is a FA QB available. Conrad McKnight. 4th year man. Started two season for the Bengals. Potentials are:

48
68
94
51
66
76
62 accuracy
57 power
54
77

These are not numbers that smack you over the head. Now, here is my rookie, Irvin:

64
70
69
100
80
44
75 accuracy
45 power
61
26

Irvin will fumble more than McKnight. He had a lower 3rd down passing and power and medium passes. On the other hand, he is better at screen, accuracy, long ball and deep ball. Sort of a Jerome Allard type player.

Considering I have fewer sacks that other teams, is the fumble issue as much of an issue? Probably still something to consider.

Of course, Irwin has to grow, and McKnight mostly has.

Hmm, okay, for this year, let’s grab McKnight and see where we are next year.

I have Irvin, McKnight, Bailey and Billy Joe Mills. That’s one QB too many.

I can’t trade Billy Joe though, the computer won’t let me. Spencer Brady is more developed than the other two Qbs, so he should be staying too.

[Abe Sargent]

Evals of my drafted rookies:

C Jesse Tate - 31/79
LB Brant Wilkerson - 24/77
CB Darren Frederickson - 24/69
OG Travis Thomas - 20/65
QB Roderick Irvin - 22/59
WR Levon Owen - 16/58
DT Ben Corgan - 18/55
LB Joey Hulsey - 11/48
OT Harold Strickland - 6/30

[Abe Sargent]

The 2018 Richmond Rattlesnakes:

QB Conrad McKnight - We will start him this year and see where we are next year with Irvin, McKnight and the QB situation.
RB Ralph Barrett - Run and run and run
FB Billy Winter - Feh
TE Mitchell Spence - Want to see more of him in the passing game
WR Mickey Baum - Let’s explode for yards
WR Levon Owen - The rookie who’s merely okay.
C Jesse Tate - A great potential rookie
OG Travis Thomas - Another rookie with solid potential
OG Bucky Coffey - Now with a FA signing of significance
OT Tim Becker - Coming off All Pro season, nice.
OT Danny Baker - Starting for us. Okay, but not any better than that.
P Dwayne Orozco - He is good. Very, very good. Tres good.
K Claude Johnson - I likes him
DE Dennis Perry - All Pro last year for us. Yay!
DE Adam Dosoo - Will be starting for us, run stopping specialist
DT Bill Murray - New FA signee, All Pro last two years for 49ers. Needs to be for us too, please.
DT Ben Corgan - Another high potential rookie getting the starting nod
LB Dexter Sutton - Starting in the middle. All Pro season last year for us
LB Brant Wilkerson - Our 3rd round rookie is a great WLB prospect and will start there.
LB Glenn Ferguson - Starting at SLB is our patch
CB Johnny Meester - Yay. I like him a lot. Very hot
CB Darren Frederickson - Very good and I’ve seen better, but solid. Won’t get all pro every year.
S Tyrone Rexin - All Pro and DPotY for the league with us. Say hello to Tyrone.
S Donnell Newhart - A patch

KR/PR - Rexin will be our PR/KR with WR Ballard joining on KR.

We are starting 6 rookies in our 22. Still a young team. Already 9 of 22 starters have been drafted by me and 8 of those by this franchise. (Barrett, Spence, Baum, Owen, Tate, Thomas, Corgan, Wilkerson, Frederickson).

We are starting only two players from last year’s class - Ralph Barrett and Mickey Baum. However, we are starting a FA from last year’s class, OT Danny Baker.

[Abe Sargent]

What does the league think of our starters?

18th worst QB
3rd best RB
13th worst FB
5th best TE
14th worst WR Corps
11th worst C
15th best OG
12th worst OT
THE best P
THE best K
15th best DE
14th worst DT
5th best LB
8th worst CB
5th best S


We are 32 million under the cap.

[Abe Sargent]

Let’s look at my QBs still in the league:


QB Spencer Brady - Backup QB for my team after getting a year of starting as a rookie.


QB Tony Clements - Had another Super Bowl appearance, and loss, with Albuquerque last year, still their starter. A great 3rd round pick! 12th year as a pro


QB Bob Keita - Currently with the Chiefs in his 3rd year. Just a backup


QB Wayne Webb - In his 7th year, Wayne has been the starting QB for the Giants for 3 years. He’s been acceptable, but not light’s out or good or anything.


Not many out there right now.

[Abe Sargent]

Let’s play a different game. Here are the player I have drafted that have won a league award, still in the league:


RB Ralph Barrett - Offensive Rookie of the Year, Richmond
RB Heath Shepherd - NFL MVPx5, Others, Albuquerque
QB Tony Clements - Offensive Rookie of the Year, 2x All Pro, Albuquerque
TE Ed Gardener - All Pro x5 , Albuquerque
WR Donald Wagner - All Pro, Albuquerque
WR Jerome Baker - All Pro, Albuquerque
C Marty Brennan - All Pro x3, Albuquerque
OG Orlando Wells - All Pro x2, Albuquerque
DT Ross Meadows - All Pro x5, Albuquerque
LB Quinn Burroughs - All Pro, Albuquerque
CB Leon Morabito - All Pro x4, Albuquerque
S Eric Carlson - Defensive Player of the Year, All Pro x3, Albuquerque
S Travis Westbrook, All Pro, Albuquerque
C Gerald Wright, All Pro, Detroit Lions
DE Andrew Kadanoff. All Pro, New Endland Patriots


Let’s see who can get added to that list this year.

My prediction 8-8 or 9-7.

[Abe Sargent]

The 2018 Richmond Rattlesnakes Schedule:

1. Corpus Christi
2. Buffalo
3. Detroit
4. CHICAGO
5. Tampa Bay
6. Dallas
7. Chicago
8. NEW ENGLAND
9. Green Bay
10. BYE
11. DETROIT
12. MINNESOTA
13. GREEN BAY
14. SAN FRANCISCO
15. Minnesota
16. MIAMI
17. TAMPA BAY

HOME games are in CAPS

That is a very lopsided schedule. Start very, very hard and end very very easy. Perfect for a green team that should get better as the season continues, getting the easier games just when we get better. That’s my guess, but it makes sense.

We go 1-3 in the exhibition games.



LB Dexter Sutton is knocked to doubtful and is deactivated.

[Abe Sargent]

Week 1 - We lose 10-13 on the road in our opener. Barrett had our lone TD on a 12 yard run. He had just 54 yards on the day on 26 carries. McKnight was 15 of 33 for 144 and 0:0/ DT Murray already has 1.5 sacks for us.

I toss CB Monty Denson on IR and grab CB Joseph Downs to finish off the year.


Week 2 - We lose 17-24. Barrett broke one for 80 yards. 101 yards on 16 carries. Backup Sutter also had a 12 yards TD run. DE Perry had 2.5 sacks.

DT Murray is questionable but will start next week.


Week 3 - We defeat the Lions on the road 35-16. RB Ralph Barrett is Game MVP and NFL Offensive Player of the Week with a 60 yard run for a score, and a 73 yard reception for a score and a 19 yard reception for a score. 165 yards on the ground on 20 carries. 99 yards on 3 catches. 1 more yard and he would have had the first 100/100 game a Back would have ever had for me. Ah well. McNight looked downright good with 15 of 25 for 208, 4:1 ratio. Prescott and Baum also caught scores. Rexin had a pick. OG Coffey had 4 KRB.

CB Darren Frederickson is doubtful and is benched for a few weeks.


Week 4 - We lose our only home game island of the early part of the season 20-26 in OT. Barrett gets two Tds, one on the ground and a 62 yarder in the air. He had 73 yards on the ground and 85 receiving. Rexin had another pick.

LB Dexter Sutton will be back next week.

[Abe Sargent]

Week 5 - We win on the road again at Tampa Bay, 23-13. Ralph Barrett had TD catch and TD run again and was Game MVP. 201 yards on the ground on 2 carries. Meester and Downs have picks. We were held sackless. OT Becker had 6 KRB and Coffey had 4.

QB McKnight is probable and I will start him next week.


Week 6 - We lose on the road 21-34. Joseph Downs has a pick returned for a score. Owens catches his first TD of the year. Baum caught at 2 point conversion. Barrett had 72 yards.


Week 7 - We win on the road again vs. Chicago, who beat us in our place, so there’ a little vengeance there. 30-11. Barrett is Game MVP with two TD runs on 87 yards and 30 carries. Sutter also ran for a score. Emmons, Meester, Rexin and Newhart all had picks. 2 sacks by Atkins.

RB Perry Sutter is out for the long time with Torn Calf Muscle. I IR him and sign RB Daniel Fleming to get us through the year.

QB McKnight is knocked to doubtful. I deactivate him. I will start Irvin to see what he has got.

CB Frederickson is back.


Week 8 - We lose in our place 14-27. Barrett had a rushing TD and Irvin hit Owen for another. Irvin’s first day as a starter: 10/28, 179, 1:1.

CB Downs and Meester are both questionable, and OG Coffey is doubtful.

I pull Coffey