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01-21-2001, 12:23 PM
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#1 | ||
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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WLC Richmond Thunder Walkers
I posted my first season (9-7, wild card win, divisional round loss) in the 'main' thread, but that seems to be getting a bit clogged up, so I'll be posting future updates to this thread.
Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2018 season To finish off 2017 season: Herb: 55/29/41/70 - average 41 Finances: The Walkers made a loss of $64.2m on revenues of $172.8m - I might have to go easy on free agency this year to improve things. I'll also have a look at the market for scouts and coaches (as this ate up almost $50m). Cap position at start of offseason: 28 players signed, $52.9m of $163.8m cap free (not as bad as it looks, as I signed quite a few expensive players in the expansion draft, who can be released at no penalty if required). CB Rod Clouse retired - a 16-year veteran, he was picked up in the expansion draft to provide veteran leadership in the secondary for a year or two. This was not unexpected, but does leave the Walkers a little short at corner. A lot of unsigned players at the moment, but I won't be asking many to come back - a lot of them were roster fillers. I'll wait to see who clears free agency and how the draft goes before making a decision on most of these guys. I change both scout and coach - the new scout is B.J. Nix, a young guy with a good eye for defence, and Rusty Stokes takes over as coach - a good game-day coach who may struggle a bit in player development. Both were signed to 5-year deals at slightly less than last year's staff. Ticket prices - a small raise this year (to help pay the bills...) Richmond: 55/60/70/130/0/3000/150000 Washington: 81/81/103/157/0/5000/255000 No franchise tag this year (I don't have anyone out of contract I feel is worth franchising) Free agency Week 1-10 player: T Tito 'Big Mac' McReynolds - offered $41.0m over 4 years in week 1 - signed in week 4 (this 7th year player will be the anchor of the offensive line - 86/94/84, 6'8", 353) Week 11-20 players: WR Luke Lake - offered $16.63m over 3 years in week 11, reduced to $16.11m in week 12, signed week 13 - a 2nd year receiver with good deep speed. DE Ronnie Jones went to Denver for $10m plus a year over 3 years - I didn't think he was worth this much. C Kenyon Edmond went to the 49ers (he wasn't happy in Richmond, so no big loss). I offered my own FA FB Adrian Moore $6.00m over 2 years (13th year veteran, so likely to be his last contract) in week 9, which he grabbed straight away - the FB isn't a big part of my offence, but this gives me a chance to pick up a decent rookie to develop. This left me with $35.5m of cap room with 31 players signed. Moving on to my own unsigned players, I resigned G Luke Flynn - 2 years, $3.04m - decent backup G with some potential. Moving to the draft, the Walkers' good first season drops us to 23rd pick - probably not high enough to get a real star, but I should be able to pick up a couple of starters. Need areas are defensive line, CB, offensive line, RB, backup QB (in roughly that order), but there are few areas on the team which wouldn't benefit from a good rookie. 1 - Clay Mugford, WR - the top WR I was hoping for (and an amusing name to boot!) 2 - Johnnie Flynn, DE - solid player who can step in straight away 3 - Gilbert Leighton, CB - a bit of a reach, but potentially a starter 4 - Kenny Griesen, C - starting C when the 16-year vet Davis retires 5 - Ethan Nation, RB - speed back with decent hands 6 - Karl Pfingsten, QB - reasonable backup QB for the Walkers' system 7 - K.C. Brooking, FB - good player to pick up this late - good now, but potentially great After picking up some rookie free agents, the Walkers went to camp with 51 signed players (too many unsigned guys), and signed another couple after camp to take the roster to 53. Before starting the season, I renegotiated contracts with some players in the last year of their current contract: S Tommy Perry - 3 years, $16.55m LB Kerry O'Neal - 3 years, £19.27m Preseason - 3-1, including a shutout of New England, and a win in the 'Expansion Bowl' over Greensboro.
Standings
The big problem this year was the lack of success in division - the Walkers didn't win a game against an NFC East team until the 28-0 win over Philadephia in week 16. Statistics QB Randal Nelson: 370-661-4911-31-23 (80.7 qbr), 75-371-3 rushing RB Ethan Nation: 124-683-5 (5.5 ypc) WR Clay Mugford: 103-1712-11 (16.6 ypc), 55.6% caught, 10 drops WR Luke Lake: 89-1145-5 (12.8 ypc), 57.4% caught, 8 drops WR Bernie Greer: 71-837-8 (11.7 ypc), 50.3% caught, 10 drops LB Ray Stacy: 72 tackles, 20 assists, 1.0 sacks, 1 interception S Tommy Perry: 82 tackles, 28 assists S Corey Ligeski: 72 tackles, 24 assists, 4 interceptions Team Statistics Run: Offence 4.9/Defence 4.5/League 3.9 Pass: Offence 7.3/Defence 7.3/League 6.5 In other words, the offence was great, but the defence was awful. Awards: WR Clay Mugford picked up Offensive Rookie of the Year plus a spot in the All-Pro 1st team, with QB Randal Nelson making the 2nd team. Comments: After the struggles on the road in 2017 came the struggles in-division in 2018. The problems were all on the defensive side of the ball - the offence clicked nicely, with rookies Mugford and Nation making a big difference, but the defence wasn't able to stop anyone on a consistent basis - no pass rush, poor coverage, and terrible run defence. Guess what I'll be drafting for in 2019... Martin [This message has been edited by MartinD (edited 01-21-2001).] |
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01-21-2001, 12:24 PM
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#2 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2019 season
To round off 2018: Herb - 15/36/53/69 - 38 Finances improved, with the Walkers making a loss of $17.2m on revenues of $216.6m - revenues increased by 25% (mainly due to the increased ticket prices) with costs remaining flat. The Walkers stay with scout Nix, but decide to make a change after 1 year at coach - coach Stokes just isn't good enough with young players for the liking of management (important for a young team like this one). New coach Neal Emmons is well-known for his abilities with young players, and is solid in other areas as well. Ticket prices: Another small raise Richmond: 60/65/ 80/150/0/3500/175000 Washington: 82/81/104/158/0/5000/258000 Again, no use of the franchise tag. The Cowboys come in with an interesting trade - RB Nation for their 1st round pick and a fair DE, but this fails the reality check. Free agency Week 1-10 player: DE Marlon Fulcher - offered $46.5m over 4 years in week 1, and he signed in week 3. A solid all-round defensive lineman (67/91/84), Fulcher should help to solidify the weak Walkers' defence. Week 11-20 player: S Nathan El Nino - offered $14.55m over 3 years in week 11, signed in week 12. Another solid guy who will make a difference to the Walkers' porous defence. These two additions leave the Walkers with 27 signed players at the end of free agency, with $52.5m of cap room remaining. The following players were resigned at this point: G Hardy Furlong - $26.65m over 4 years P Zach Reid - $2.58m over 2 years LB Kahlil Vanderclute - $11.27m over 2 years CB Harry McClelland - $14.37m over 3 years Draft Drafting 7th this year, the Walkers are still in the position of needing help at pretty well every position - depth on both lines is the big need. 1 - Walter Gretzky, G - will step into the starting lineup straight away 2 - Zack Cook, T - a useful addition to the offensive line 3 - Fred Clayton, DT - potentially a solid NT 4 - Shane Bell, CB - potential redliner with decent return skills 5 - Jack DeBerg, TE - a decent receiver fills a need position 6 - Stanley Conway, T - possible redliner 7 - Ron Shaver, QB - will be a solid backup Not the greatest draft, with few real stars, but the first three picks will make a big difference to the line play. The team headed to camp with 53 players after loading up on rookie free agents. A mixed camp - none of the redliners worked out, but the new coach made a big difference in developing the guys with potential. Preseason: 1-3
The Walkers went into their last two games knowing that they needed two wins to make the playoffs, and they got them, beating Minnesota in week 17 to knock the Vikings out of the postseason. Standings
9-7 was good for a wild card, and a short trip to Washington in the first round of the playoffs. Richmond 3 7 0 7 13 Washington 7 7 10 3 27 The Redskins got 357 yards through the air as they moved into the divisional round. The Thunder Walkers played a solid game on offence, but couldn't control the Washington passing game well enough to stay in touch. Statistics QB Randal Nelson: 301-535-3907-23-15 (82.0 qbr), 89-376-1 rushing RB Ethan Nation: 127-541-5 (4.2 ypc) WR Clay Mugford: 112-1878-13 (16.7 ypc), 58.6% caught, 11 drops WR Luke Lake: 83-1161-7 (13.9 ypc), 56.0% caught, 8 drops DE Marlon Fulcher: 25 tackles, 15 assists, 14.0 sacks LB Ray Stacy: 86 tackles, 27 assists, 2.0 sacks S Nathan El Nino: 98 tackles, 27 assists, 2 interceptions S Brant Finch: 82 tackles, 27 assists, 3 interceptions CB Gilbert Leighton: 4 interceptions Awards: WR Clay Mugford was voted to the All-Pro 1st team. Team statistics Rush: Offence 4.3/Defence 3.9/League 3.7 Pass: Offence 7.1/Defence 6.4/League 6.5 A better season, with the free agent acquisitions (plus the help of a better coach) making a big difference to the defence. The offence was hurt by the lack of a decent third receiver - Mugford and Lake had good seasons, but there wasn't a lot of production behind them. A good draft and a couple of free agent acquisitions should see the Thunder Walkers improve in 2020 - the first division title may well be within their grasp... Martin [This message has been edited by MartinD (edited 01-21-2001).] |
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01-21-2001, 12:25 PM
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#3 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2020 season
2019 results Herb: 58/57/50/69 - average 56 The finances took a turn for the worse, with the Walkers recording a $35.3m loss on $215.7m revenues. Ticket revenues fell despite an increase in ticket prices and a slight rise in attendances (explain that one away if you can!), while there was a slight increase in player and coaching costs. S Tommy Perry retired at the end of the 2019 season - picked up through the expansion draft, he started for two seasons, but was replaced by free agent pickup El Nino last year. No changes to coach or scout - the guys I have are about as good as I'm going to get without spending silly amounts of money. Ticket prices: Another small adjustment Richmond 63/70/ 85/150/0/4000/175000/260000 Washington 88/87/110/164/0/5400/269000 (Note: I appear to have picked up 20 VR boxes from nowhere - not that I'm complaining...) Going into free agency, I have 32 players signed with $21.1m cap room remaining - looks like I'll have to release a couple of players... No franchise tag again this year - no-one worth using it on. No free agents signed in first 10 stages 11-20 player: T Dustin Mason - offered $10.78m over 5 years in week 11 - signed in week 13. Potentially a good pass-blocking tackle, and worth picking up as a backup at the least. Draft: Need areas are interior line (both offensive and defensive), corner, receiver and linebacker. Picking 24th means I won't get the best players, but I should be able to get an impact player in the first round. 1 - Mercury Hines, CB - ballhawk corner with great potential 2 - Trent Mueller, TE - the big short-yardage target the offence could do with 3 - Keith Hatcher, G - solid player this far down - starter in a year or two 4 - Jason Ford, LB - needs polishing, but should be a solid LB 5 - Leland Burdick, QB - not the greatest arm, but knows how to play the game 6 - Lester Whiting, LB - looks to be a redliner, but will contribute nevertheless 7 - Kennedy Heckman, RB - useful backup RB with good hands Players resigned after the draft: FB K.C. Brooking - 3 years, $10.99m C Kenny Griesen - 2 years, $2.45m K Glen Sanderson - 2 years, $1.94m S C.J. Shaw - 2 years, $3.75m CB Dominic Corbett received a renegotiated contract of $18.67m over 2 years (an improvement on the cap hit of over $15m this year...) LB Kerry O'Neal picked up a $6.17m, 2-year renegotiated contract which should take him to the end of his career. A decent camp saw the expected minor breakout from LB Lester Whiting (from 18-20 to 30ish for the main attributes, with around 20 more in potential) Preseason: 1-3, but two of the losses were very close The regular season saw two of the keys to the Walkers' offence go down early - 'Big Mac' McReynolds (with a hip pointer) and Randal Nelson (broken jaw) both missed a couple of months. Rookie QB Leland Burdick stepped in from week 4 to week 12, and did reasonably well.
Standings
The offence wasn't as good as in previous seasons, but the defence was immense, especially in the period when rookie QB Burdick had to step in. 13-3 was good for home-field advantage in the NFC, so the Walkers rested up for a week, waiting to see who would come visiting in the Divisional round. New Orleans 0 7 0 7 14 Richmond 0 7 3 3 13 The Saints took advantage of Richmond's inability to take their chances in the redzone in upsetting the Walkers in their own stadium. Randal Nelson threw for 307 yards and ran for a TD, but was unable to get his team into the endzone through the air. Statistics QB Randal Nelson: 179-287-2473-23-7 (qbr 106.4), 35-142-0 rushing (8 games) QB Leland Burdick: 206-383-2173-10-13 (qbr 65.0) (12 games, 8 starts) RB Ethan Nation: 192-964-6 (5.0 ypc), 34-295-1 receiving WR Clay Mugford: 120-1884-17 (15.7 ypc), 62.8% caught, 10 drops WR Luke Lake: 80-859-4 (10.7 ypc), 50.0% caught, 7 drops WR Tito Carpenter: 53-710-4 (13.3), 54.0% caught, 4 drops DE Marlon Fulcher: 20 tackles, 12 assists, 17.5 sacks DE Johnnie Burgess: 41 tackles, 7 assists, 13.5 sacks DE Johnnie Flynn: 17 tackles, 5 assists, 11.5 sacks (11 games) LB Ray Stacy: 77 tackles, 35 assists, 4.5 sacks, 1 interception S Nathan El Nino: 96 tackles, 22 assists, 2 interceptions S Brant Finch: 78 tackles, 24 assists, 8 interceptions CB Mercury Hines: 4 interceptions Awards: WR Clay Mugford made it three in a row for the AP 1st team (his 1884 yards and 17 TDs were both league records), and was joined by DE Marlon Fulcher. S Brant Finch made the 2nd team. Team statistics Rush: Offence 4.4/Defence 3.3/League 3.8 Pass: Offence 6.9/Defence 5.9/League 6.5 The defence was the difference this year - the offence was as solid as it has been in previous years (allowing for the enforced changes at QB), but the defence stepped up a gear - 4th in rush defence, 8th in pass defence, 1st in 3rd down conversion %, 1st in sacks, 1st in points allowed. This might be the best defence I've had in my (limited) time playing FOF. The key now is to keep this level of play going into next season... Martin |
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01-23-2001, 01:46 PM
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#4 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Thunder Walkers - 2021 season
Roundup of 2020 season: Herb: 90/53/54/72 - average 63 The Walkers' financial position improved in 2020, ending with a loss of $6.1m on revenues of $219.6m - the improvement was mainly due to lower bonus payments, though, so this could be temporary. No changes at coach or scout - they're both doing a solid job. No franchise tag once more this season - I have free agents, but they're not worth using the tag on. Ticket prices - a small adjustment again Richmond - 70/75/ 90/155/0/4200/180000/275000 Washington - 88/88/111/163/0/5600/272000 With 32 players signed, the Walkers go into the free agency period with $54.9m cap room left (out of a cap of $189.0m), but there are some personnel problems - at the moment, the team has no wide receivers under contract. I may not be the most knowledgable guy when it comes to football, but I have a feeling it's a good idea to have wide receivers if you're running a passing offence... Week 1-10 player: DT Cornelius St. Amal - offered $51.50m over 4 years in week 1, upped to $73.00m over 5 years in week 2, signed week 4. A lot to pay one player, but I feel this is worth it for a solid NT (83/54/56) - the key to a good 3-4 defence. Week 11-20 players: None I lost a couple of my free agents - DE Johnnie Burgess and P Zach Reid. Burgess is a player I would have liked to have kept, but he would have been too expensive to keep (a backup DE earning over $10m a year is a luxury I can't afford) An interesting trade offer (which failed the reality check) came in at the end of the free agency period - the Giants offered the first pick in this year's draft plus a solid veteran QB for DE Marion Fulcher. Fulcher is a cornerstone of my defence, but this would have been a tough decision if the trade had been kosher. I went about resigning a few of my out-of-contract players between the end of the free agency period and the draft: RB Ethan Nation - $28.40m over 3 years WR Clay Mugford - $16.90m over 2 years (two vital parts of my offence) WR Luke Lake - $12.00m over 2 years C Buddy Laroche - $2.01m over 2 years DT Hardy Healey - $15.40m over 4 years (a decent backup) A few players in the last year of their current deals got new contracts at this point: T Tito McReynolds - $15.90m over 2 years S Nathan El Nino - $10.95m over 2 years S Brant Finch - $11.40m over 2 years (gets me out of a spot where I had no safeties signed past the end of this season) QB Randal Nelson is in the last year of his contract, but I'll probably wait to use the franchise tag on him next offseason. At this point, I have 38 players signed with $15.0m cap room left - this should just about be enough, but a couple of cuts may be necessary. Draft: Picking 34th means I won't get the best player available, but I should be able to get a starter or two and a few solid contributors lower down. Needs this year are WR, backup D-line and LB, although a useful QB or RB would be handy as a backup as well. I'm astonished when a very solid looking CB drops to my pick - this guy has current values of 71/50/57/72/2/2/65 (little potential, but still a starting-quality corner), so I grab him straight away. A good-quality S drops to the bottom of round 2 - decent now, and potentially a very solid player. Full list of draft picks 1 - Herman Sheffield, CB - likely to start straight away 2 - Rod Pride, S - I would have been happy with this player at the bottom of the first round 3 - Kris Lewis, DT - a bit raw, but potentially a very solid player 4 - Donald LaMarche, RB - apparently no potential, but a solid back even so 5 - Tommie Hanson, WR - not the best hands, but best receiver available at this point 6 - Sherman Hodges, QB - will be a good backup QB for a couple of years 7 - Darryl Hwang, P - best punter available - strong leg Coming out of camp, things look pretty reasonable - the 'too good to be true' top picks appear to be at least as good as they look, but the possible redliners taken lower down (and in free agency) don't do anything. The passing game might be a bit of a problem, as the oversight with having no receivers signed means that cohesion has taken a big hit. Preseason: 3-1, and only a couple of minor injuries
A frustrating season - the oversight with the WRs in the offseason hurt a lot, as the passing game never got going, and the whole team was affected by this, never really getting into a rhythm. Injuries seemed to be worse than in previous seasons as well, with several key players missing a lot of time.
The Walkers had a small chance of a playoff place in the last week of the regular season, but needed to beat Philadelphia and get results elsewhere. Statistics QB Randal Nelson: 13 starts, 284-499-3387-20-16 (qbr 77.7), 62-273-2 rushing RB Ethan Nation: 83-414-2 (4.9 ypc) RB Donald LaMarche: 106-363-1 (3.4 ypc) WR Luke Lake: 76-946-9 (12.4 ypc), 52.4% caught, 11 drops WR Clay Mugford: 10 games, 63-877-6 (13.9 ypc), 55.2% caught, 4 drops WR Richard Hazelwood: 61-731-3 (11.9 ypc), 56.4% caught, 10 drops DE Marlon Fulcher: 7 games, 10 tackles, 5 assists, 7.5 sacks LB Ray Stacy: 97 tackles, 42 assists, 2 interceptions LB Lester Whiting: 63 tackles, 23 assists, 4.0 sacks, 1 interception S Nathan El Nino: 94 tackles, 29 assists, 5 interceptions S Brant Finch: 13 games, 54 tackles, 23 assists, 6 interceptions Awards: S Nathan El Nino made the AP 2nd team. Team statistics Rush: Offence 3.9/Defence 4.0/League 3.9 Pass: Offence 6.5/Defence 6.7/League 6.6 The Walkers were very average this season - 8-8 record (didn't go a game above or below .500 all season!), very close to average on offence and defence... All I can do here is get on with next season, and try to remember to keep essential players under contract! Martin |
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01-25-2001, 05:01 PM
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#5 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2022 season
Closing out the 2021 season: Herb: 40/60/50/71 - average 53 Finances: Signing bonuses kicked in with a venegance in 2021, increasing from $22.8m to over $50m - this was the source of the loss of $27.6m on revenues of $232.0m. On a related note, the new television contract was signed, and the cap will be virtually static for the next 7 years (increasing at $500,000 a year) - things could get a bit tight in the next few years. No changes at coach or scout - coach Emmons looks to have slipped a bit, but I didn't see anyone available I liked better. The big decision this offseason is at quarterback - do I keep Randal Nelson? The 10-year veteran is coming of a poor year, but he's the best QB we have (and it helps when he has a bit of time to practice with the guys he's throwing it to...). After some thought, I decide to franchise him - I don't have a ready replacement, and he's the best guy available on free agency. Ticket prices: The Redskins put up their prices a lot this year, so I have a bit of room for manouvre here. Richmond: 80/ 90/100/175/0/4800/225000 Washington: 116/113/138/190/0/7000/345000 (Note: I didn't see the rule on holding VR boxes to the same as luxury boxes until after last offseason, so this is the first season I'm keeping the prices the same). Going in to free agency, I have 29 players signed, with $55.5m cap room left. Jacksonville come in with a trade offer - QB Leland Burdick for their second round pick (the Jags are picking first this year). Burdick is a decent QB, but is in the last year of his contract, so I accept. Unrestricted free agents: C Kenny Griesen DE Adrian Hughes DE Johnnie Flynn LB Charles Hardee LB Kerry O'Neal CB Dominic Corbett CB Harry McClelland CB Gilbert Leighton Unsigned RB Lamar Mayes FB Tracy Kemp TE Jack DeBerg WR Richard Hazelwood WR Johnny Jenkins WR Cornelius Horner WR Cornell Frase G Marc Levine T Stanley Conway K Glen Sanderson DE Carlos Heath DE Tyrus Bryant DT Jeremy Lake DT Julian Phillip LB Jason Ford LB John Garrison LB Dan Ballard S C.J. Shaw Most of these players won't be coming back unless they're happy earning veteran minimum, although there are a couple I would like to keep (WR Hazelwood and LB Ford). Week 1-10 player: WR Andre Leff - offered $58.75m over 5 years in week 1 - he took a lot of time to think about it (about half the league put in offers!), but decided to join the Thunder Walkers in week 10. He should provide QB Nelson with another reliable target and take some of the heat away from WR Mugford. Week 11-20 player: LB Randal Gillen - offered $18.00m over 3 years in week 11 - signed in week 14. A solid run-stuffer in his 7th year, he will help to replace the veterans I let go this season. I started negotiations with QB Randal Nelson at this point, and a 3-year, $43.5m deal was agreed. It took a bit of work, but LB Jason Ford resigned as well - 3 years, $22.07m. Onto the draft, and the Walkers pick 17th this year (and have the first pick of the 2nd round from Jacksonville). The big need is DE, and backups are required in a lot of areas (notably QB, CB, C, G and DT). No players stood out when the 17th pick came round, so I went for a solid LB - little potential, but should be a starter from day 1. A need was filled with the next pick - a decent C with solid potential. A QB I had been looking at dropped into the middle of the second round - he won't play straight away, but is a potential starter in two or three years. 1 - Emmanuel Winters, LB - will step into the starting lineup straight off 2 - Steve Conley, C - will solidify the middle of the line 2 - Neil Baugh, QB - very raw, but has a lot of upside - should be a good one in a couple of years 3 - Deion Deutsch, DT - another raw D-lineman with good potential 4 - Mitch Schulz, G - I already have decent guards, but too good to pass up 5 - Jay Wray, RB - how did this guy fall as far? Great speed and good hands => good fit for my offence 6 - Mickey Dillon, DE - fills a need at backup DE 7 - Lamont Woolson, CB - I needed a backup CB, and this guy was the best available The Cowboys came in with a trade offer after the draft - T Tito McReynolds for an old QB and their 2nd round pick next year. I'm not that deep at T, but I have three solid players at G. Cap room is tight, and McReynolds is a free agent at the end of the season, so I make the trade (now all I have to do is do my best to make the pick as high as possible!) The QB would have been a decent backup, but was making too much money to keep. At this point, I have 39 players signed with $14.6m cap room left. I would like to resign DE Johnnie Flynn, but I would need to make a cut or two to to get the cap room. To make room, I release backup RB Kennedy Heckman (no bonus, and was a free agent at the end of the year) and renegotiate some contracts: FB K.C. Brooking - $11.46m over 3 years WR Clay Mugford - $18.10m over 2 years G Hardy Furlong - $12.44m over 2 years (frees up a couple of million) DE Marlon Fulcher - $17.30m over 2 years LB Ray Stacy - $22.61m over 3 years S Brant Finch - $11.40m over 2 years S Nathan El Nino - $14.12m over 3 years (good contract if the 11-year vet sees it out) This allows the Walkers to bring back DE Johnnie Flynn on a 3-year deal worth $27.9m, and resign S C.J. Shaw for 2 years at $4.70m. K Glen Sanderson also signs at veteran minimum for a couple of years. A bit of fiddling about with the roster gets me set for the regular season with 53 players under contract inside the cap - this does not bode well for the next few years... Preseason: 1-3, but DE Marlon Fulcher will miss at least the first month of the season - a bad injury at a position with no depth. FOF crashed on me during the regular season (the Walkers were 7-3 at that time, tied for the division lead with the Giants and Redskins), but I had saved just before preseason, so: Preseason 2: Also 1-3, with a big injury to rookie LB Winters, and 3-5 week jobs on several others.
A big win in week 17 (with QB Nelson injured, and 2nd-stringer ineffective against the 49ers, the Walkers threw rookie QB Baugh in against the Eagles, and came away with the victory) earned the Walkers a wild card - the first playoff game against the Eagles in Philadelphia.
A high-scoring team (with the passing game working very well), but the defence left the feeling that something was lacking. Wild Card Game - take 1 (yes, FOF crashed on me again!) Richmond 0 10 0 7 17 Philadelphia 0 10 0 10 20 Wild Card Game - take 2 Richmond 3 0 3 3 9 Philadelphia 7 3 0 3 13 OK, so I won't have to ask for a ruling on this, as I got the same result in both. QB Baugh played a decent game, and the defence put up a good show, but the Eagles made the big plays when it mattered. Statistics QB Randal Nelson: 14 games, 281-491-3881-35-13 (qbr 95.4), 74-333-2 rushing RB Ethan Nation: 113-412-5 (3.6 ypc) RB Jay Wray: 97-353-6 (3.6 ypc) WR Andre Leff: 88-1399-11 (15.8 ypc), 58.6% caught, 14 drops WR Clay Mugford: 91-1389-14 (15.2 ypc), 52.6% caught, 6 drops WR Luke Lake: 68-906-6 (13.3 ypc), 48.2% caught, 8 drops DE Marlon Fulcher: 26 tackles, 18 assists, 9.5 sacks DE Johnnie Flynn: 35 tackles, 9 assists, 8.5 sacks LB Ray Stacy: 103 tackles, 32 assists, 2.0 sacks S Brant Finch: 79 tackles, 28 assists, 1.0 sacks, 3 interceptions S Nathan El Nino: 65 tackles, 19 assists, 8 interceptions CB Mercury Hines: 50 tackles, 15 assists, 8 interceptions Awards: WR Clay Mugford was voted to his 4th AP 1st Team, and CB Mercury Hines made his first appearance in the 1st team. QB Nelson and WR Leff made the 2nd team. Team stats: Rush: Offence 3.6/Defence 3.0/League 3.7 Pass: Offence 7.4/Defence 6.3/League 6.5 This tells a different story to the points (in the standings above) - this makes it look like the team had a very solid year all round. The problem was that the Walkers had the odd game in which they gave up a lot of points while conceding little yardage. I can't complain too much, though, especially about the defence - no depth at DT, injuries to the LB corps all year long, and a safety starting at CB for the last few weeks of the year. Onto 2023, then - this team isn't too far away from big things, but I need to be able to control the cap better - with the small increases, I'm going to have to make cuts fairly soon. Martin |
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01-27-2001, 06:14 PM
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#6 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2023 season
To round up the 2022 season: Herb: 69/68/39/71 - average 59 The finances took another turn for the worse, mainly due to increased bonus payments (as I did a lot of restructuring last year) - $53.1m loss on $235.0m revenues. I forgot to save at the end of the 2022 season. Scout B.J. Nix is out of contract this year, so I had a look around at the available talent, but decided to try to resign Nix. Coach Emmons seems to be slipping fast, so I make a move for Steve Burroughs, who has a solid reputation across the board. Both guys sign - Nix at $700,000 (a small pay rise), Burroughs at $5.5m (a little bit higher than coach Emmons). Ticket prices - the usual small hike (fan loyalty is up to 82, attendance to 73000, so I feel this is justified.) Richmond 90/100/110/180/0/5500/250000 Washington 116/113/138/190/0/7000/345000 Franchise tag: I don't have many free agents this year - the most important is T Zack Cook. Cap room is an issue, so I decide to use the tag on him this year (in my experience, franchise players tend to have lower salary demands). Two interesting trade offers at the start of free agency - Jacksonville offer a reasonable CB with a big salary and the 5th pick of the draft for QB Randal Nelson. Philadelphia offer their first round pick (33) and a decent TE (on a surprisingly reasonable contract) for DT Cornelius St. Amal. Taking these offers will kill me on the cap next year (both have sizable bonus payments outstanding), but will open up a lot of cap room (as well as give me the opportunity to pick up some good young players). After a bit of thought, I feel I have replacements for these veteran players, so I decide to take both trades - the Walkers will become Neil Baugh's team a lot sooner than I thought! Unrestricted free agents WR Luke Lake - will want too much money for a 3rd WR T Zack Cook - franchised Unsigned QB Sherman Hodges - won't want to return RB Orlando Schaefer RB Bart Whitfield FB Tracy Kemp TE Chris Washington WR Tommie Hanson WR Broderick O'Donnell - would like him to return, but money will force the issue. WR David Blackwell C Buddy Laroche T Ronnie Ferreira DE David Witman DE Ben Quinn DT Sherman Tilton LB Lester Whiting - a useful player, but money might be a problem LB Steven Rivers LB Tyrone King CB Floyd Fisk - a solid returner, but will be too expensive CB Leland Stone CB Mercury Hines - a must resign - as good a corner as there is Whiting and Hines (plus Cook) are the only players I really need to resign, and Whiting may become expendable. Going into free agency, the Walkers have 32 players signed, with $36.8m cap room free (but a lot needs to be saved for the draft, with three 1st-rounders and 2 picks in the second - I get the feeling this could be a changing of the guard for the team...) With the tight cap situation, I sit out the first ten weeks of free agency. I spot a reasonable young LB at this point, and offer Tyrus Wright $6.00m over 2 years in week 11 - he signs in week 14. This spells the end for Whiting. In week 20, I take a shot at a young T with a bit of potential, offering Devin Rieke $4.67m over 3 years (with no bonus), which he signs. This contract hopefully gives me a decent backup T for a couple of years, but also gives me a free exit clause if he doesn't work out. I sign T Zack Cook at this point for $15.27m over 2 years, and CB Mercury Hines for $29.75m over 3 years. This leaves me with 35 players signed and $24.7m cap room - RB Ethan Nation starts looking like a cap casualty (which would save me over $10m in cap room). Needs going into the draft are DE, T and depth all over the place - QB, RB, WR, DE, DT and CB. I should be able to meet a few of these needs with the five picks in the first two rounds, but you can only draft the players who are available. With my first pick (5th), I have a chance at a lot of good players, including a couple of solid DEs, but I go for a great WR, thinking that a decent DE will fall to the bottom end of the round. Most of the best DEs go before I pick again (at 27), but I get a player who looks a good pass rusher. A solid DT is my third first round pick, and I pick up another reasonable DE at the top of the second. A CB with a bit of potential falls my way at the bottom of the second. 1 - Kelvin Barnett, WR - a great complement to Mugford and Leff 1 - James Finley, DE - a bit short on endurance, but a solid pass-rusher 1 - Dwayne Ligeski, DT - not a huge need, but too good a player to pass up 2 - Arnie Daniels, DE - hopefully a redliner (28,33/41,60) - if not, not really good value here 2 - Broderick Meester, CB - should be a solid corner in a couple of years 3 - Ralph Griffith, LB - raw linebacker with a lot of potential 4 - Archie Dennis, T - best T available here 5 - Reggie Upshaw, WR - purely for return skills 6 - Kurt Henson, TE - good receiving TE 7 - Hugh Bradley, QB - potentially a solid QB, and a good fit for the system At this point, I have 45 players signed, but only $5.4m cap room left. St. Louis come in with a very big trade - LB Ray Stacy for a top-notch C and a draft pick, but it doesn't pass the reality check (I probably wouldn't have taken it even if it had, as Stacy is one of the key players on my defence). With limited cap room, RB Ethan Nation is released - he was making too much money for me to keep, and won't kill my cap situation as he was in the last year of his contract. I have a similar type back in Jay Wray (fast with good hands) who's making a lot less money. A bit of restructuring for guys in the last year of their contracts: WR Clay Mugford: 3 years at $29.91m G Mitch Schulz: 2 years at $3.83m G Keith Hatcher: 3 years at $22.30m DE Marlon Fulcher: 2 years at $14.30m I had a lot of free agents and unrestricted players I didn't want to resign, so I went to camp with 51 players and $4.9m of cap room left. No-one busted in camp, but there were no breakouts either (given I'd made a couple of draft picks hoping for breakouts, this was not good news.) A couple of players were released, and some others signed to make the roster up to 53. Preseason: 1-3, and a lot of injuries - 3 players out for a couple of months and quite a few more missing several weeks, including my starting QB, top WR, top LB and best DE (that's what you get if you hire a coach who's only Good in Avoid Injury!) I'm forced into starting a rookie free agent QB for a couple of weeks at the start of the season, so expectations aren't exactly high... Week 4, and I start my 3rd-string QB, rookie Hugh Bradley, to see if he'll provide a spark. Well, 426 yards and 2 TDs later, I think he'll be the starter until Baugh returns... (Bradley started in weeks 4-6, finishing 2-1 - not bad for a guy who has current values of around 10-15 max except for third down, scrambling and carrying).
The team coped well with the injuries early in the season, but couldn't keep it going, with 5 straight losses to end the season.
The division was always out of reach after a slow start, but a better finish would have secured at least a wild card. Statistics QB Neil Baugh: 10 games, 212-386-2539-21-15 (77.1 qbr) QB Hugh Bradley: 5 games, 3 starts, 104-166-1361-7-7 (84.1 qbr) RB Rufus Hughes: 90-504-3 (5.6 ypc) RB Max Schulz: 84-419-2 (4.9 ypc) WR Clay Mugford: 94-1491-12 (15.8 ypc), 61.4% caught, 9 drops WR Randall Stevenson: 73-780-3 (10.6 ypc), 61.3% caught, 7 drops WR Andre Leff: 48-607-4 (12.6 ypc), 42.1% caught, 14 drops (that's what I get for sending him out with a broken hand for half the year!) DE Marlon Fulcher: 35 tackles, 7 assists, 8.0 sacks LB Ray Stacy: 93 tackles, 37 assists, 6.0 sacks, 2 interceptions S Nathan El Nino: 78 tackles, 20 assists, 2 interceptions S Brant Finch: 63 tackles, 22 assists, 6 interceptions CB Mercury Hines: 46 tackles, 11 assists, 6 interceptions I had injury problems at WR all season long - my top draft pick ended up playing only 2 games and a rookie free agent was my second best receiver. Awards WR Clay Mugford made his usual appearance in the AP 1st team, with LB Ray Stacy and CB Mercury Hines making the 2nd team. Team statistics Rush: Offence 4.4/Defence 3.5/League 3.8 Pass: Offence 6.5/Defence 6.2/League 6.4 A decent season considering the injuries - if I can get my QB and receivers through a season healthy, the rest of the team is good enough to take the team a long way. Martin |
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01-27-2001, 06:15 PM
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#7 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2024 season
2023 roundup Herb: 33/65/43/70 - average 51 Finances: An improvement to only a $32.1m loss on $261.4m revenues (the increase in ticket prices had a bit of an impact, but increased staff costs nullified this). No change at scout - B.J. Nix is doing a good job, and getting better with experience. Coach is a different matter - after last year's lengthy injury lists, I was always going to check up on who was available. I made an offer to Ronald Hemingway, a solid all-round coach with only a slight weakness with QBs. Unfortunately, he went to Cleveland for twice my offer, so I moved my attention to Wally Cady, who signed a 5-year deal at $4m per year. Coach Cady has some weak spots, but is very solid in many areas, notably Avoid Injury. At the start of the season, I had 37 players signed with $19.3m cap room remaining - as I thought, this is likely to be tight. S Brant Finch (one of only two original Thunder Walkers) is a free agent, but is a must to bring back, so I franchise him. Other Unrestricted Free Agents TE Trent Mueller G Hardy Furlong K Glen Sanderson S C.J. Shaw Unsigned QB Butch Wray RB Max Schulz RB Rufus Hughes RB Renaldo Dodds FB Dixon Thomason WR Randall Stevenson C Nathan Southward DT Darrin Woods LB Howie Rogers The only player on these lists I really want to bring back is Mueller, a solid all-round tight end, although Stevenson would be a good addition (but will be asking for too much as usual for a WR). Ticket prices - no change from last year. Into free agency, and a trade offer for QB Neil Baugh was turned down straight off - he played well enough in limited action last year to make me think that he's my QB for the next few years at least. I did take a trade offer from Tennessee for DT Kris Lewis for their 2nd round pick and a young G - the extra pick is useful, and I have a couple of useful defensive tackles on the roster (enough to work a 3-4). With limited cap room, I looked at renegotiating some contracts for key players. LB Ray Stacy agreed to a 3-year deal for $21.95m, while G Walter Gretzky got 3 more years at $19.55m. Unsurprisingly, no free agent bids this year. TE Trent Mueller was signed by the Colts in week 4 for over $8m a year, a lot more than I could afford. G Hardy Furlong went to the Rams, picking up a $40m contract in the process - not bad for a guy who wasn't drafted. This isn't a big loss, as I have three solid guards on the roster even after losing him. K Glen Sanderson went to Dallas - again, no big loss, as K tends to be fairly replacable. Draft The Thunder Walkers pick 14th this year, and have an extra pick in the second round from the trade with Tennessee. There are no glaring holes for starters (except maybe at T), but backups are needed all over the place. Rnd 1 - Otis Gilmore, LB - will start straight away Rnd 2 - Andre Francis, T - should be a good pass blocker Rnd 2 - Jeremy Marion, DE - a need pick - probably a reach this early Rnd 3 - Mercury de los Santos, QB - a good backup who should play well in this system Rnd 4 - Rob Borders, S - a solid player this low down, even if he is short on potential Rnd 5 - Jimmie Floyd, RB - capable backup Rnd 6 - Kennedy Askew, C - solid backup who is good enough to start if required Rnd 7 - Mercury Ingram, DT - decent backup player Not the greatest draft, but I managed to fill quite a few holes, and got some solid players with my later picks. A trade offer from Chicago gave me cause for thought - DE Marlon Fulcher for an average G and a 4th-rounder next year. Not much for a solid player, but Fulcher is on the way down (12th year veteran) and is in the last year of his contract, so I took the trade. I agreed a contract with franchise player Brant Finch at this point - $18.60m over 3 years. Preseason: 3-1, and no big injuries!
Those pesky Cowboys! Denied the perfect regular season in week 17 by those no-goods from Texas... Other than this, this was about as good a season as I could have hoped for - the passing game worked brilliantly all year (including a couple of big comebacks) whatever QB was under center and the defence played very solidly. The defensive line, which I thought would be a liability going into the season, came up big when it was required. The Thunder Walkers were #1 seed, so got a bye into the divisional round, where we got a chance of revenge - the Cowboys beat Greensboro in the wild card round, and would make the trip to Richmond, where they were met by 70-odd thousand fans (and the air raid sirens which seem to have become popular with the fans over the franchise's history - the odd thing is that they don't use them as noisemakers on defence, but before the offence comes out - can it be something to do with the passing nature of the offence?  )Divisional Round Dallas 7 7 7 0 21 Richmond 7 7 7 6 27 Two Roger Coles field goals in the fourth quarter were the difference between the teams in a closely fought game. Dallas kept the powerful Richmond passing attack at bay to some extent, but at the expense of allowing RB Jay Wray to pick up 135 yards and a TD on 15 carries. Wray also had 2 TD catches, with WRs Mugford and Barnett finishing with over 100 yards receiving and CB Mercury Hines making an interception. The Thunder Walkers advance to their first Championship Game, where they play the NFC Central champion Packers (who beat St. Louis 27-13 in the divisional round) NFC Championship Game Green Bay 0 6 0 3 9 Richmond 7 7 7 14 35 Three TD passes from Neil Baugh, two to WR Kelvin Barnett, and a Woolson interception return for a TD proved too much for the Packers as the Thunder Walkers booked their place in the Super Bowl. QB Baugh had the best game of his career, finishing 25 of 34 for 330 yards and 3 TDs with no interceptions. S Brant Finch and CB Mercury Hines also came up with interceptions for the Walkers, who play New England in the big game - the Patriots coming through shootouts with Denver and Cleveland to be AFC Champions. Super Bowl 2024 New England 0 3 0 3 6 Richmond 3 6 13 7 29 The Thunder Walkers are Super Bowl Champions after a solid display in the rain in Richmond. Roger Coles kicked three first-half field goals to give the Walkers a 9-3 lead at the half, and TD runs from RBs Hammond and Wray and Andre Leff's TD catch from Neil Baugh made the game safe in the second half. Richmond safety Rod Pride, in his first year starting in the Thunder Walkers' defensive backfield, made 10 tackles and picked off Patriots QB Woodard to earn MVP honours. Comment on 2024 season This is as good as it gets - a near-perfect regular season followed by three solid wins in the playoffs to take the first Super Bowl in franchise history. The passing offence was the key, and rookie QB Mercury de los Santos is included in this - he started 4 games early in the year, and played very solidly. Starting QB Neil Baugh justified the trust I put in him last season when I traded long-time starter Randal Nelson by having a solid year, while the triplets at wide receiver (Mugford, Leff and Barnett) all had great years. The defence played its part too - tough to run on, and the best secondary in the league kept opposing offences from pulling off the big comeback. The defensive line overachieved - this was thought to be the weakness on a solid defence, but the D-line did a good job stopping the run and rushing the passer. Special teams also played their part, with rookie booters Coles and Poole doing a solid job, and return specialist Reggie Upshaw consistently picking up yardage. Statistics QB Neil Baugh: 12 starts, 259-452-3453-34-14 (93.8 qbr - led league) QB Mercury de los Santos: 4 starts, 116-190-1550-13-11 (85.6 qbr) RB Jay Wray: 142-796-6 (5.6 ypc) RB Clarence Pilcher: 69-416-3 (6.0 ypc) WR Clay Mugford: 115-1884-16 (16.3 ypc), 57.2% caught, 11 drops (15th all-time with 11,115 receiving yards in 7 seasons) WR Kelvin Barnett: 78-1178-13 (15.1 ypc), 56.1% caught, 9 drops WR Andre Leff: 92-1142-11 (12.4 ypc), 56.4% caught, 3 drops DE James Finley: 29 tackles, 6 assists, 13.5 sacks DE Johnnie Flynn: 15 tackles, 12 assists, 9.5 sacks LB Ray Stacy: 97 tackles, 19 assists, 1 interception LB Otis Gilmore: 64 tackles, 26 assists, 3.0 sacks, 1 interception S Brant Finch: 79 tackles, 23 assists, 3 interceptions S Rod Pride: 73 tackles, 29 assists, 1.0 sacks, 5 interceptions CB Mercury Hines: 48 tackles, 21 assists, 4 interceptions (2 returned for TDs) Awards WRs Clay Mugford and Andre Leff were voted to the AP 1st team (Mugford for the 6th time), with Kelvin Barnett being picked for the 2nd team. CB Mercury Hines also made the 1st team, along with punter Todd Poole. S Rod Pride was the Super Bowl MVP. Team Statistics Per Play Rush: Offence 4.7/Defence 3.3/League 3.8 Pass: Offence 7.7/Defence 5.9/League 6.5 Yardage per game Offence - rush 98.3 (28), pass 312.6 (1) Defence - rush 91.0 (3), pass 219.9 (22) As the 18-1 record might indicate, this was a pretty dominant team, and the stats are just more evidence of this. Not as good a defence as the 2020 model (which gave up only 195 points, compared to 261 this year), but the offence was much better than the 2020 unit (and should get better in years to come, as QB Baugh is still maturing...) Onto the 2025 season, then - the goal: to try to recreate the magic that held this season together Martin |
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01-29-2001, 03:45 PM
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#8 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2025 season
Rounding off the 2024 season: Herb: 100/64/62/72 - average 72 Finances: The Walkers post their first profit, $54.7m on revenues of $296.7m. Revenues increased a good bit (mainly due to the home playoff games), but costs came down a lot, partly due to lower pay for the coach, partly due to a slow year for resigning players. No changes at coach or scout, although it looks like coach Cady has slipped a bit. I could have gone shopping for a better coach (in terms of reputation), but you can't can a guy who's just taken your team to a Super Bowl title. Ticket prices - a small adjustment (which I feel is justified, after no raise last year) Richmond: 100/110/125/195/0/6250/275000 (for both luxury and VR boxes) Washington: 124/118/147/197/0/7500/363000 S Nathan El Nino retired during the offseason - not unexpected, as he had been pushed out of the starting lineup by the emergence of Rod Pride. Signed as a free agent in 2019, he was a big part of the Walkers' defence for several years. Before the start of free agency, I have 31 players signed with $42.4m (out of a cap of $191m) free. Unrestricted free agents T Zack Cook (has been franchised already, so can't use the tag here) DE Johnnie Flynn LB Randal Gillen (not really needed back, as the Walkers are deep at LB) S Rod Pride (part of a top-notch secondary, so is franchised) Unsigned players - not a complete list (as there are a lot of 1-year roster fillers here), but these are the players I would be interested in resigning: RB Jay Wray - probably too expensive for an offence which doesn't use the backs much DT Deion Deutsch - will be the starter at NT, so a must to resign. LB Tyrus Wright - a solid LB who would start if resigned. K Roger Coles - had a good year last year, so would be a good signing at veteran minimum. I decided not to go after any players in the first 10 weeks of free agency - the cap is less of a problem this year, but I don't feel I have enough room to go daft picking up expensive free agents. None of my own free agents attract any interest until T Cook gets a couple of offers in week 11 - this is a guy I would like to resign, as offensive tackle is one of the weak spots on the team (I've put out an offensive line consisting of 4 guards and a center before this...), so I put in an offer of $42.25m over 4 years, which was accepted in week 13. I spot Don Robles, a reasonable 2nd-year DE near the end of the free agency period (with DE being a weak spot), so I put in an offer of $22.8m over 3 years, which was accepted straight away. At the end of free agency, I do my usual signing blitz, getting the following players under contract: S Rod Pride - $17.75m over 3 years LB Tyrus Wright - $21.10m over 3 years K Roger Coles - $3.48m over 3 years This leaves me with 36 players signed and $28.5m of cap room. Onto the draft, and the main need is RB (as I only have one signed), with solid backups across the board (especially on the line on both sides of the ball) also high on the list. The Thunder Walkers pick last in each round, and have an extra 4th-rounder (from the trade for Marion Fulcher last season). 1 - Warren McConnell, LB - not a need pick, but a very solid LB who will start straight off 2 - Jake Davidds-Garrido, DE - not a great pass-rusher, but should be good against the run 3 - Alan Chauvlier, RB, Texas - best back available 4 - Morris Becker, WR - a good fourth receiver behind the 'triplets' 4 - Bryce Gantt, CB - a reasonable corner this low in the draft 5 - Mickey Harlow, DT - a project who should be a solid run-stuffer with time 6 - Myron Warnock, FB - solid player with a good bit of potential 7 - Kris Timpson, S - a decent backup with useful return skills After the draft, restricted free agent DT Deion Deutsch was resigned on a 3-year contract worth $28.30m. This left me with 45 players signed and $10.7m under the cap to play with. After picking up the roster-fillers, the team headed to camp. A few contract renegotiations at this point: CB Mercury Hines - 3 years for $29.65m (a bargain for a shutdown corner) G Mitch Schulz - 3 years for $20.02m G Keith Hatcher - 3 years for $20.77m TE Kurt Henson - 3 years for $16.84m WR Clay Mugford is in the last year of his current contract, but I'll be looking to use the franchise tag on him next year as he wants a big pay rise. Preseason - 2-2, but WR Mugford and LB Winters will miss a couple of months. A tough decision at QB, with little to choose between Neil Baugh and Mercury de los Santos - my scout (who isn't all that great with QBs) reckons that de los Santos is the better player (mainly due to his solid third down play), but Baugh was the leader of last season's Super Bowl team. I decide to go with my scout for a few games - I can always change my mind if de los Santos struggles.
A tough start to the year put the Walkers on the back foot from the off, but they came back well. The loss to Philadelphia in week 17 cost Richmond a first-round bye (the other two division champions finished 12-4, but the Walkers had the tiebreaker on at least one). Wild Card Round Carolina 3 0 6 0 9 Richmond 14 0 7 21 42 A solid playoff debut for QB Mercury de los Santos - 30 of 46 for 430 yards and 5 TDs, with the 'triplets' all finishing with over 100 yards and a TD receiving. Finch and Hines came up with interceptions in an easy Richmond win. Divisional Round Richmond 3 10 0 7 20 Portland 10 7 0 0 17 The Thunder Walkers held the White Sturgeon scoreless in the second half to advance to the NFC Championship Game. QB de los Santos threw two TD passes in an otherwise poor display (20-42-286-2-2), while the Richmond defence kept the Portland offence in check. NFC Championship Game Richmond 0 7 14 0 21 Green Bay 14 0 17 17 48 The Packers, only 24-21 ahead late in the third quarter, pulled away late to win at a canter. Richmond's complete lack of a running game put too much pressure on QB de los Santos, who threw 3 TDs but also 3 interceptions, while the Walkers defence played solidly, but fell away towards the end of the game. Statistics QB Mercury de los Santos: 15 games, 391-720-5024-34-23 (78.8 qbr), 68-229-1 rushing RB Jimmie Floyd: 108-474-6 (4.3 ypc) WR Andre Leff: 116-1580-11 (13.6 ypc), 51.5% caught, 16 drops WR Clay Mugford: 10 games, 78-994-6 (12.7 ypc), 55.3% caught, 12 drops WR Kelvin Barnett: 14 games, 53-842-4 (15.8 ypc), 43.4% caught, 11 drops WR Morris Becker: 60-771-5 (12.8 ypc), 62.5% caught, 1 drop LB Ray Stacy: 101 tackles, 40 assists, 2.5 sacks, 2 interceptions S Rod Pride: 100 tackles, 28 assists, 7 interceptions (3 TDs) S Brant Finch: 65 tackles, 25 assists, 5 interceptions CB Mercury Hines: 52 tackles, 16 assists, 6 interceptions (2 TDs) CB Herman Sheffield: 40 tackles, 12 assists, 7 interceptions (2 TDs) Awards: S Rod Pride was the Defensive Player of the Year, and was voted to the AP 1st team, where he was joined by WR Andre Leff, K Roger Coles, LB Ray Stacy and CB Mercury Hines. CB Herman Sheffield made the AP 2nd team. Team Statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 3.7/Defence 3.7/League 3.8 Pass: Offence 6.8/Defence 5.1/League 6.4 Yards per game Offence: Rush 72.5 (35), Pass 327.1 (1) Defence: Rush 100.00 (11), Pass 184.2 (2) This may be the best defence I've put together in FOF - the only weakness is on the line, but the rest of the D is very solid indeed. This wasn't far away from being another great year - the running game let the offence down, and losing a couple of games early put the team in too much of a hole to get a first round bye (which could have made a big difference). I'll just need to see what I can do next offseason to improve at RB and on the defensive line - if I can get the right people in, this team will be tough to beat. Martin |
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01-29-2001, 05:35 PM
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#9 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2026 season
Rounding up the 2025 season: Herb: 84/67/52/69 - average 66 Finances: A profit of $20.5m on revenues of $290.3m - a drop from 2024, but this was only to be expected, as the team had less home games. More signing bonuses were paid out as well, so it's a good sign that the team is still in profit. No changes at coach or scout, although I did have a look around to see if anyone better than the incumbents was available. Ticket prices: No change from last season Richmond 100/110/125/195/0/6200/275000 Washington 124/118/147/197/0/7500/363000 In a shock move, S Brant Finch retired during the offseason - he played 9 seasons with the Thunder Walkers after being made a second round pick in the team's first draft. A solid safety with an eye for interceptions, he was a mainstay in the Richmond defensive backfield. Going into free agency, the Walkers have 39 players signed and $17.7m cap free. Unrestricted free agents FB K.C. Brooking - expendable WR Clay Mugford - this year's franchise player C Steve Conley - could be resigned at the right price, but cover is available T Devin Rieke - a backup who won't be asked to return Main restricted free agents WR Reggie Upshaw - a solid return man who will be too expensive to resign P Arnie Rigsby - a decent punter, but we'll wait and see who's available. Trades: DE James Finley to Pittsburgh for a 2nd-round pick - a player in the last year of his current deal who hasn't done enough to justify a big contract. RB Jimmie Floyd to Carolina for a 2nd-round pick - Floyd isn't the answer at RB, and wasn't happy in Richmond - easy decision to pull the trigger on this trade. Trade offers for DT Ligeski and LB Stacy are rejected. The Walkers made no offers during the free agency period (as cap room is tight this year), but FB Brooking went to the Giants in week 4. The Bengals made a trade offer of the 17th pick in the draft for QB de los Santos, but this was rejected. At this point, I renegotiated a few contracts: G Walter Gretzky: $12.30m over 2 years LB Ray Stacy: $16.45m over 3 years Going into the draft, the team has a few needs - a starter-quality RB, a solid DE, a decent S to start in a couple of years and depth at most positions (particularly CB and offensive line). Hopefully I'll be able to meet most of these with three second-rounders. It's unlikely we'll get a real impact player picking 33rd, but we should get some solid players nevertheless. 1 - Mack Richmond, DE - won't contribute straight away, but should be good in time 2 - Irv John, RB - best back available 2 - Ricky Clemons, T - a solid pass blocker in a need position 2 - Aaron Foreman, CB - reasonable cover man with good return skills 3 - Marcus Crews, G - another in the line of solid guards drafted by the franchise 4 - Graham Bynum, QB - too good to be true this low down (several 100 potentials) 5 - Robert Hobert, WR - reasonable receiver who can return kicks 6 - Hugh Schulz, S - potentially the replacement for Finch 7 - Nathan Shapiro, C - a decent backup this late This leaves the team with 47 players signed and only $2.2m cap room left - a couple of cuts required: DE Arnie Daniels - hampered by injury, but only a backup now (and so replaceable) LB Emmanuel Winters - a past first-round pick, but not the player he was after several injuries A renegotiated contract with WR Andre Leff ($15.27 over 2 years) saved some money as well, while WR Clay Mugford signed a 3-year deal worth $36.73m. These moves left the Walkers with $11.5m of cap room and 45 players signed. Some roster fillers were signed, and the team headed to camp. Preseason: 3-1, with the only injury to Mercury Hines, who will miss a couple of weeks.
Despite a poor patch in the middle of the season, the Walkers' 12-4 record was good enough for a first round bye and home field advantage in the playoffs (the Saints also finished 12-4, but Richmond had the tiebreaker). Divisional Round Carolina 10 0 7 0 17 Richmond 7 10 14 10 41 This one was a bit of a shootout, with both QBs finishing with over 300 yards passing. The difference was QB de los Santos's 4 touchdown passes, two to TE Henson, and two interceptions and four sacks from the Walkers' defence. NFC Championship Game New Orleans 0 6 0 0 6 Richmond 10 10 3 10 33 The Richmond defence was the difference in this game, holding the Saints QB to only 16 completions from 38 attempts and allowing only 2.4 yards per rush. K Roger Coles connected on all 4 of his field goal attempts, and QB de los Santos contributed TDs on the ground and through the air as Richmond move forward to their second Super Bowl in three years. Super Bowl Denver 0 10 14 7 31 Richmond 17 14 0 3 34 A Roger Coles field goal as time expired won the Super Bowl for the Richmond Thunder Walkers after they looked so close to throwing it all away. The Walkers led 31-3 late in the first half on 3 de los Santos TD passes and a John TD run, but the Broncos came back strong with three TD passes of their own from QB Bucky Harvey to tie the scores at 31 with a little under 5 minutes left. De los Santos finished 25-44-356-3-2, with WR Barnett catching 6 passes for 156 yards and a TD, but CB Herman Sheffield was voted as the game's MVP for a performance which saw him pick off 2 passes and allow only 1 catch. Statistics QB Mercury de los Santos: 400-693-5376-43-19 (91.7 qbr), 62-266-2 rushing (league records for completions, yards and TD passes) RB Irv John: 122-694-4 (5.6 ypc) WR Andre Leff: 115-1537-10 (13.3 ypc), 60.8% caught, 14 drops WR Clay Mugford: 87-1381-10 (15.8 ypc), 49.7% caught, 11 drops WR Kelvin Barnett: 70-1261-7 (18.0 ypc), 55.1% caught, 10 drops TE Kurt Henson: 50-482-4 (9.6 ypc), 63.2% caught, 6 drops DT Dwayne Ligeski: 29 tackles, 13 assists, 8.5 sacks DE Don Robles: 35 tackles, 5 assists, 7.5 sacks LB Ray Stacy: 72 tackles, 24 assists, 1 interception LB Otis Gilmore: 71 tackles, 27 assists, 3.0 sacks S Rod Pride: 79 tackles, 28 assists, 11 interceptions CB Mercury Hines: 9 games, 34 tackles, 12 assists, 4 interceptions Awards: QB Mercury de los Santos was voted league MVP, Offensive Player of the Year, and made the AP 1st team. S Rod Pride repeated as Defensive Player of the Year, and also made the AP 1st team. CB Herman Sheffield was the Super Bowl MVP, while WRs Andre Leff and Clay Mugford were voted to the AP 1st team. Career record note: WR Clay Mugford now has 105 TD receptions in his 9 years in the league, breaking the league record previously held by Hall of Fame WR Fred Powell (Falcons) with 103. Mugford is also 3rd on the career list in receiving yardage with 13,490 (Powell holds this record with 16,139). Team Statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 4.6/Defence 3.6/League 3.9 Pass: Offence 7.7/Defence 6.9/League 6.7 Yards per game Offence: Rush 89.0 (33), Pass 343.8 (1) Defence: Rush 96.0 (4), Pass 257.1 (35) The defence suffered this year because of the retirement of Brant Finch, and the injuries to CBs Mercury Hines and Herman Sheffield - 3rd CB Broderick Meester started 14 games this season. Offensively, the running game worked a lot better, which in turn helped the passing game to flourish. Comments: Not as dominant a team as the 2024 Super Bowl winners, but still the best team in the league - the defence was no better than average this season, but the offence was red hot, with QB de los Santos making the decision on which QB to keep very easy (Neil Baugh, QB of the 2024 team, is a free agent at the end of 2026, and so will be released). Looking at 2027, improvements still need to be made on the defensive line (specifically at DE), and future starters need to be picked up for the defensive secondary. I also need to be concerned with looking at replacements for aging players, especially at WR, where both Mugford and Leff are both solidly in the 'veteran' category. Things should be very interesting as I take the Thunder Walkers into their second decade... Martin |
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02-03-2001, 04:39 PM
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#10 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2027 season
Rounding up the 2026 season Herb: 100/72/58/73 - average 74 Finances: The Walkers recorded a profit of $57.5m on revenues of $319.2m. Costs were very similar to 2025, with revenues up because of the two extra home playoff games over 2025. The financial side of the team seems to be in good order, but keeping things that way will require the team to continue its good performances on the field. No change at scout, as I trust B.J. Nix's opinions, but I feel it is necessary to take a look around for coaches to see who is available. I try to hire Ronald Hemingway again (who chose Cleveland's money over Richmond's talent three seasons ago), but he again takes the money and goes to the Browns - coach Cady will return for at least another year. (I know it's probably not fair on him - he's coached this team to a 46-11 record and 2 Bowls over 3 seasons - but I feel I can get someone better, especially on the player coaching side.) Retiring this year is T Zack Cook, a mainstay of the Walkers' offensive line for several years. Not the best lineman I've had, but a very solid player who was the blind-side QB protection (a vital position in this passing offence). Ticket prices - a small raise again this year (I don't think the fans will mind - the Walkers have 100% loyalty and 100% support for a new stadium at the moment!) Richmond 110/120/140/200/0/7000/300000 Washington 128/124/151/201/0/7900/376000 At this point, the team has 36 players signed and $21.1m of a $192.0m cap free - I'll be drafting last, but this still looks like a few players will be getting cut... Unrestricted free agents QB Neil Baugh - the QB of the 2024 championship team is now surplus to requirements DT Dwayne Ligeski - the big plugger I need at NT, so is franchised LB Ralph Griffith - a player I would like to resign, but not a necessity CB Broderick Meester - will want more money than his talent merits, so won't be back Restricted free agents - the guys I'll look to resign (the rest of the restricted guys are 1-year wonders )C Kennedy Askew - my starting center at the moment DT Mickey Harlow - a solid backup DT, but probably too expensive (especially with the tight cap situation) Little action in the free agency period - Meester and Griffith get offers, but the teams making the offers can't fit them under the cap. I put in an offer of $12.94m over 3 years for 2nd-year CB Emmanuel McGill, who looks to be a good prospect, and a lot cheaper than a veteran corner - he'll fill in at nickel back for a few years. No big signing blitz this year - I want to see who I end up with in the draft before I commit myself. I have quite a few needs in this year's draft - an offensive tackle becomes a need because of Cook's retirement, while depth at DT and LB would be useful. Of course, I'm always on the lookout for a starting-quality player at any position (as can be seen from the QBs I've drafted over the last few seasons - three guys I would be happy to start in Baugh, de los Santos and Bynum (last year's steal)). A very solid cornerback jumps out at me at the bottom of the first round - this guy is a decent player now, and has the potential to be a great one. Several good players drop to the bottom of the second round (including a very solid LB by the name of Slick Willie Glover!), but I take a different LB who is slightly better. Slick Willie is gone by the bottom of the third, but I get the other LB I was looking at with my second pick (you might have noticed I like to have a very deep LB corps!). Full draft: 1 - Broderick Herndon, CB - should be a shut-down corner in time 2 - Billy Joe Kennedy, LB - not the best run-stuffer, but covers and blitzes well 3 - Bo Quayle, LB - might be a redliner, but a decent player even if not 4 - Bruce Harding, G - decent pass-blocker 5 - Lee Washington, DT - a good backup who should contribute straight away 6 - Earl Alcott, FB - raw, but potentially a seriously good player 7 - Blaine Jones, TE - mainly a roster-filler, but a reasonable player with the last pick Signing my draftees meant I didn't have enough cap room for DT Ligeski to sign his one-year deal, so I had to resign him from free agency (I think this is within the rules, as I am resigning one of my own players). This left me with 45 players signed and only $3.4m in cap left, so a bit of roster-shuffling was required. Renegotiated contracts: WR Andre Leff - $14.94m over 2 years G Mitch Schulz - $21.27m over 3 years G Walter Gretzky - $12.73m over 2 years T Andre Francis - $28.12m over 3 years (a necessity, as he's my only decent tackle) CB Mercury Hines - $32.46m over 3 years S Rod Pride - $19.32m over 3 years (a bargain for this quality of player) QB Mercury de los Santos is a free agent after this season, but I don't have the cap room to sign him to a long-term deal at the moment - my current thinking is to franchise him next season. With a lot of depth at cornerback, I felt I needed to drop someone there, so CB Herman Sheffield was cut - he was in the last year of his contract, and I have decent players coming up behind him. Being the Super Bowl MVP doesn't mean you get a free ride onto the team the next year! The Browns offered a 2nd round pick and a decent FB for DE Jeremy Marion. I would have taken this, but it failed the reality check - a pity, as it would have freed up a couple of million in cap room. The team goes to camp with 53 players signed and $1.12m cap room left - this TV deal has to run out soon... The shock of training camp was the breakout of rookie free agent DT Troy Downing - from skills of around 20/20 with little potential (which I though were decent for a UDFA), he's jumped to 24/57, 47/96, 60 - i.e. a starting-quality defensive tackle in a year or two. Now all I have to do is find enough cap room to sign him to a long-term deal next season! The other picks all worked out reasonably well - CB Herndon still looks like a solid cover corner, while the two LBs should be good players. I haven't done a roster print for a while, so I thought it may be a good idea to give people an idea of how my roster shapes up at this point:
This roster is good for a 100 roster rating, with the next best being Greensboro at 59. It may surprise some people to see me carrying 5 guards (the reason is that I've picked up a couple of good guards in the late rounds of the draft in the last couple of years), but this gives me a couple of solid backup linemen at a reasonable cost - at the moment, my starting line includes 2 tackles and 3 guards. Preseason: 2-2, with some minor injuries - both FBs are a bit nicked up, but this isn't overly worrying with this offence! Injuries bit a good bit harder in 2027 than in past seasons, with several starters missing time (notably WR Barnett, CB Hines and S Barnett), but the rest of the team played harder to pick up the slack. A notable performance was in week 13, when the 8-3 Packers came to town in the week when two members of my starting secondary were ruled out until the playoffs - four TD passes and a TD run from de los Santos plus a solid defensive performance which shut Green Bay out in the first half was a great performance, especially by the backups on defence.
A solid regular season after a poor start. QB de los Santos got a minor injury early on, so I decided to start Bynum to see what he could do - unfortunately, he was picked off a few times and the Walkers lost the game. de los Santos returned the next week, and wasn't rested again... 14-2 was good for a first round bye and home field advantage, and Washington came through the Wild Card round to set up a big local derby in Richmond: Divisional Round Washington 3 0 0 12 15 Richmond 0 7 7 0 14 The Redskins kicked a 36-yard field goal with 10 seconds left to pull off a big upset in Richmond. QB de los Santos threw two TD passes, but also threw two picks as the Washington defence kept the Walkers' passing game in check. A frustrating way to end the season, as the Thunder Walkers were the best team in the NFC by a distance (as the 13-game winning streak would sort of indicate...). Injuries to the receiving corps didn't help - both Leff and Barnett played hurt in this game (both questionable), but it just didn't happen in this game. There's always next season, though, to get back at Washington! Statistics QB Mercury de los Santos: 409-644-4874-43-13 (qbr 100.3), 73-340-4 rushing RB Irv John: 147-624-4 (4.2 ypc), 29-263-1 receiving WR Clay Mugford: 121-1701-20 (14.0 ypc), 62.3% caught, 9 drops WR Andre Leff: 13 games, 73-913-5 (12.5 ypc), 57.4% caught, 8 drops WR Kelvin Barnett: 12 games, 58-891-7 (15.3 ypc), 59.1% caught, 11 drops TE Kurt Henson: 45-432-2 (9.6 ypc), 66.1% caught, 5 drops DE Jeremy Marion: 19 tackles, 6 assists, 9.0 sacks DT Dwayne Ligeski: 25 tackles, 10 assists, 14.5 sacks DT Troy Downing: 33 tackles, 6 assists, 6.0 sacks (mainly from DE) LB Ray Stacy: 57 tackles, 19 assists, 3.0 sacks (hampered by minor injuries) S Rod Pride: 73 tackles, 36 assists, 8 intereceptions (2 TDs) S Mercury Hines: 11 games, 37 tackles, 6 assists, 4 interceptions G Keith Hatcher: 34/74 KRB, 7 sacks allowed WR Clay Mugford just seems to keep on rolling - his 10th season saw him break his own league record for receiving TDs (and stretch his lead in the career stats), while his 1701 yards took him past 15,000 for his career. Awards QB Mercury de los Santos was rewarded for another solid year by being awarded NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year, and was voted to the AP 1st team. WR Clay Mugford made his 8th appearance in the AP 1st team, with Rod Pride making the 1st team for the 3rd straight year. Team Statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 4.8/Defence 3.6/League 3.8 Pass: Offence 7.5/Defence 6.4/League 6.6 Yards per game Offence: Rush 112.1(14), Pass 324.3 (1) Defence: Rush 89.5 (3), Pass 206.4 (9) Very solid numbers, as would be expected from a 14-2 team. Most pleasing are the defensive numbers, as key players missed several games (especially towards the end of the season, when I was playing a return man and a rookie at corner). A disappointing end to a very promising season, but I feel the best years are still ahead for this group of players. Martin |
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02-03-2001, 04:40 PM
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#11 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2028 season
Rounding up the 2027 season Herb: 90/70/58/72 - average 71 Finances: The Walkers turned in a profit of $62.5m on revenues of $319.1m - slightly up on 2026, but mainly due to a slow year for signing bonuses. That's likely to be reversed this year, with a QB contract to be signed... Scout B.J. Nix's contract expired last year - a very solid scout (48 years old, fair with QBs, at least good in every other area), so I want to resign him if possible. I open negotiations by offering $750,000 per year over 5 years, which is accepted immediately - another 5 years of good-quality scouting is now guaranteed. Coach Wally Cady is still under contract, but I've been threatening to replace him every year since I signed him, and this year is no exception. I put in an offer of $7.5m a year over 5 years to Thurman Hansen, a solid all-rounder who specialises in QB coaching, but he decided to go to the Saints for $11.4m. With no other decent coaches available, I stay with coach Cady for another year. (It's not part of the challenge, but I've been trying to keep things fairly tight financially - I could pay silly money for the best coach, but I feel that would be taking advantage of the AI too much.) Ticket Prices: The GM in Washington doesn't know what he's doing, as he's set the price of the VR boxes in their new stadium to $25000 (compared to luxury boxes at $394000). Under the rules of the challenge, I have to follow suit... No other changes to ticket prices this year, though. Richmond: 110/120/140/200/0/7000/300000/25000 Washington 137/142/155/200/0/8400/394000/25000 I have a bit of freedom this year with the salary cap, starting out with 29 players signed and $57.5m cap room free (out of a cap of $192.5m), but I need to get QB Mercury de los Santos under contract - he is franchised this year. Other Unrestricted Free Agents TE Kurt Henson: A good player to resign, but not essential G Keith Hatcher: Plenty of depth here, so will be let go K Roger Coles: I'll wait and see - he's solid, but not worth throwing silly money at DE Don Robles: Not all that good, so won't be resigned DE Jeremy Marion: A decent DE, but will want too much money LB Tyrus Wright: I should have enough depth to get away with not resigning him S Rob Borders: Depends on money - he'll be the starter if resigned Main Restricted Free Agents FB Myron Warnock: Won't be resigned, as I have a solid FB waiting in the wings WR Morris Becker: Didn't really perform in his time with the Walkers, so won't be returning DE Jake Davidds-Garrido: a solid player, so I'll try to resign him DT Troy Downing: Last year's breakout will get big money this year S Kris Timpson: A solid backup, but not worth signing at starter's money There are a few holes to fill this year, mainly on the defensive line, where three starters from last year won't be returning. I feel I could also do with some young talent at WR, as injuries at this position cost me a good shot at a Super Bowl last year. The Colts come in with a big trade offer - WR Kelvin Barnett for the 12th pick in the draft and a solid CB. Barnett was meant to be the next great Richmond receiver, but his production hasn't matched his talent so far, and he's in the last year of his current contract. I look at the players available in the draft, and decide that the guy I have is worth hanging onto - there isn't that much going this year in terms of top-quality talent, and CB is one of my deeper positions at the moment (as long as Mercury Hines comes all the way back from last year's injuries). I have enough cap room to go after a big free agent, but I decide not to make any bids early on - I'll see what talent drops through the first couple of months before making a move. DE Marion and DT Deutsch get offers straight off, and Deutsch is off to Baltimore without taking any time to think. G Hatcher and TE Henson jump ship in weeks 6 and 7 (Henson for $13m over 2 years - more money than I would have wanted to offer). Marion finally signs for Miami in week 9 at $13m per year - overpaid for a guy who has all ratings below 60. Miami also make a play for K Coles in week 11 - I take no action, as I don't feel a kicker is worth $2.7m per year, and he signs for the Dolphins in week 12. In week 19, I put in an offer of $9.95m over 3 years for LB J.R. Steel, a 3rd-round pick of Pittsburgh last year. He signs in week 20, giving me a solid backup linebacker at less money than it would have taken to resign Tyrus Wright. I also put in a bid for S Tyrus McElroy ($6.01m over 3 years with no bonus), which is accepted in week 20 - McElroy is a player with a lot of potential, and will be at worst a solid backup at a reasonable cost for a few years. Going into the draft, the Thunder Walkers have quite a few needs: defensive line looks more than a little thin at the moment, while depth in the receiver corps and on the offensive line are big needs. As usual, I'll be on the lookout for good value for picks further down the draft, whatever the position. There are a few reasonable players at the 34th pick, but I decide on a defensive end with good potential - this fills a need for depth, and could give me a game-breaker in a year or two. There isn't much left at the bottom of the 2nd, so I go for a good catching TE. Further down, I do a bit of gambling with a couple of players I want - a decent RB drops into the 6th, and a QB I was thinking of taking in the 4th round ends up as my 7th round pick. Rnd 1 - Emmanuel Bush, DE - a bit of a reach, but a good player if he reaches potential Rnd 2 - Heath O'Sullivan, TE - good safety valve for de los Santos Rnd 3 - Anthony Kramer, CB - possible redliner, but a decent nickel back if not Rnd 4 - Jumbo Ofodile, WR - reasonable returner and backup receiver Rnd 5 - Bobby Eddings, DT - solid backup run-stuffer Rnd 6 - Emmitt Everett, RB - the standard good value back in the lower reaches of the draft Rnd 7 - Jonathan Lindsay, QB - nothing brilliant, but a decent emergency QB Not the greatest draft, as I didn't get a real impact player, but the team's depth is much improved after this draft, especially on the defensive line. Contract negotiations after the draft Unsigned players: P Jose Irwin - $2.08m over 2 years DE Jake Davidds-Garrido - $26.90m over 3 years DT Troy Downing - $36.20m over 4 years I offer QB Mercury de los Santos a longer deal than he was hoping for, but he decides to sign a 5-year, $142m contract (this amount of money makes me very uncomfortable, but he is the future of this franchise!) These deals leave me with 42 players signed and $10.2m cap room left, so I look at extending some contracts for the guys who would otherwise be free agents next year: WR Clay Mugford: $32.70m over 3 years - a veteran, but still has what it takes WR Kelvin Barnett: $36.80m over 4 years LB Ray Stacy: $16.10m over 3 years - a calculated risk that he won't retire soon This leaves me short of cap room to get the roster to 53, so I release past 1st-rounder Walter Gretzky. The 10-year veteran is still a good player, but I have enough solid guards (making less money) that I feel I can afford to release him. RB Alan Chauvlier will be released after training camp (or traded), which should allow me to go after injury replacements if required. No busts or breakouts among the rookies, although DE Davidds-Garrido seems to have been downgraded (it always happens just after they've signed the big contract, doesn't it!) CB Broderick Herndon has developed nicely over the offseason (now has current ratings in the 50s, with potentials over 80 in run defence and zone), and will step into the starting lineup beside Mercury Hines this year. A couple of decent trade offers come in - the Bucs offer their 2nd-rounder next year (plus a guard who'll be released straight off) for RB Irv John. John was originally a second-rounder, and is a decent back, but I feel I have adequate cover, so I pull the trigger on this trade. The Ice Weasels offer a 1st rounder plus a decent TE for LB Otis Gilmore - Gilmore was a 1st-rounder a few years back, and is a solid player, but the first round pick next year could come in very handy (Manchester don't look that great a team, so there is a reasonable chance this pick could work out being fairly high - they'll probably win the Super Bowl now I've said that!), so I decide to take this trade as well - lose a little now to get a good bit more back later. Next year's draft should be a good one for the Thunder Walkers with two picks in each of the first two rounds. Preseason: 2-2, with some minor injuries - LB Kennedy will miss around a month, but otherwise not too bad.
11-5 was good for a first-round bye, but not enough for home-field advantage (which Portland took on a tiebreaker). Divisional Round Greensboro 0 0 13 0 13 Richmond 7 17 7 14 45 A dominating performance from the Thunder Walkers, with the Swamp Ducks never really getting into the game. QB Mercury de los Santos thew for 381 yards and 4 TDs, while the running game picked up 184 yards at over 5 per carry. NFC Championship Game Richmond 6 0 0 8 14 Portland 7 10 0 14 31 How much difference does a tiebreaker make? Losing out on the tiebreaker meant that the Thunder Walkers had to leave Richmond (where they were unbeaten on the year) to go on the road (3-5), and it proved to be a big factor in this game. The White Sturgeon held the Walkers to 209 yards while picking up almost 450 themselves, and sacked de los Santos 5 times. A tough way to end the season, as this team was dominant for long periods of the regular season on both sides of the ball. Statistics QB Mercury de los Santos: 388-653-5397-44-17 (qbr 97.6), 58-245-2 rushing RB Lawrence Martinez: 82-444-2 (5.6 ypc) WR Kelvin Barnett: 87-1610-13 (18.5 ypc), 56.8% caught, 10 drops WR Andre Leff: 114-1559-13 (13.6 ypc), 57.0% caught, 12 drops WR Clay Mugford: 90-1294-8 (14.3 ypc), 58.8% caught, 5 drops TE Heath O'Sullivan: 69-740-8 (10.7 ypc), 58.9% caught, 5 drops DT Dwayne Ligeski: 37 tackles, 11 assists, 10.5 sacks DT Troy Downing: 10 games, 17 tackles, 2 assists, 8.5 sacks LB Warren McConnell: 87 tackles, 30 assists, 1.5 sacks LB J.R. Steel: 75 tackles, 20 assists S Rod Pride: 80 tackles, 33 assists, 10 interceptions CB Broderick Herndon: 41 tackles, 9 assists, 6 interceptions Career records update: WR Clay Mugford broke Fred Powell's record for career receiving yards in 2028, ending the year with 16.485 to Powell's 16,139. If Mugford plays next year, he has a chance of breaking the receptions record - he currently has 1,074, with Powell holding the league record at 1,143. Awards QB Mercury de los Santos retained the treble - NFL MVP, Offensive Player of the Year and AP 1st team QB. Rod Pride regained the Defensive Player of the Year title, and was voted to the AP 1st team. Other 1st teamers were TE Heath O'Sullivan (a great rookie year), WR Andre Leff and WR Kelvin Barnett. WR Clay Mugford was the only Thunder Walker in the AP 2nd team (they could really do with three wide receiver spots in the All-Pro teams...) Team Statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 3.9/Defence 3.6/League 3.9 Pass: Offence 8.1/Defence 6.6/League 6.5 Yards per game Offence: Rush 72.8 (36), Pass 363.5 (1) Defence: Rush 93.0 (3), Pass 247.8 (33) The pass offence was the highlight this year, finishing over 100 yards per game ahead of the pack. The defence wasn't as solid as in previous years - the line played reasonably well, but the changes at LB and S didn't help the cause. The 2029 offseason is a big one for the Thunder Walkers - a lot of early picks in the draft will help to fill holes in the squad, while several key players could be considering retirement. Martin |
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02-04-2001, 04:41 PM
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#12 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2029 season
Rounding up the 2028 season Herb: 84/71/44/72 - average 65 Finances: A loss of $6.7m on revenues of $281.4m. Revenues fell, mainly due to the enforced cut in VR box prices, while the big contracts signed (notably for QB Mercury de los Santos, with a $25m bonus up front) saw bonus payments increase by over 60%. A new TV contract this year - the cap will increase by $3.5m per year over the next 5 years. This should give me a bit more cap room to work with after the straitjacket of a near-static cap for the last 7 years. No change at scout, as B.J. Nix enters the second year of his 5-year deal. Coach Wally Cady has reached the end of his current deal, though, so I need to find a new coach. I make an offer of $4.2m/year for 5 years to Sherman McCullar, a young coach who isn't that great with running backs, but is otherwise solid - he jumps at the chance straight away, and the Walkers have their new coach. Despite compiling a record of 72-20 with 5 straight playoff appearances and two Bowls, Wally Cady is headed to the unemployment line. Ticket prices - No change from last year's. Richmond: 110/120/140/200/0/7000/300000/25000 Washington: 137/142/155/200/0/8400/394000/25000 No retirements this year, so veterans Mugford, Leff and Stacy come back for another year - Andre Leff is a free agent, though, so he may not be back anyway. Leff is the team's only free agent, though, so there may be a bit more continuity this time around than in past years. As he's a veteran nearing the end of his career, I decide to franchise him - he's not the player he was, but he's still good enough to contribute. I have quite a few restricted free agents, but none which I really want to resign. C Nathan Shapiro may be resigned if I can't get a decent C in the offseason. Going into free agency, the Thunder Walkers have 35 players signed with $15.9m cap room free - looks a bit tight, but there are a couple of overpaid players who may end up being surplus to requirements. Wide receiver is starting to become a problem area - two of my starters are getting on a bit, and I very much doubt I'll be able to get a quality replacement through the draft - the Walkers have been picking late for several years now, and I'm not going to have a bad season purely to get a good pick! There is a very solid WR available in free agency (6th year player with good abilities and solid stats - has made a couple of All-Pro teams) who I feel would be a very useful addition, but I need to clear some cap room to be able to sign him. A few players receive renegotiated contracts: G Mitch Schulz: $19.50m over 3 years T Andre Francis: $37.40m over 4 years LB Warren McConnell: $30.50m over 4 years CB Mercury Hines: $25.05m over 3 years S Rod Pride: $17.65m over 3 years Some players I feel I can get by without were released: TE Jim McElroy: picked up in a trade last year, and unhappy about playing behind a rookie CB Emmanuel McGill: a free agent pickup which didn't work out all that well These moves leave me with 33 players signed and $26.1m free - it's still tight, but I feel I can go after this WR without hamstringing myself against the cap. Week 1-10 player: WR Dominic Hussey - offered $37.50m in week 1, which was accepted straight away (to my surprise - I thought this guy would be offered more money if he hung around a bit). Drafted fourth overall by the Patriots, this 6th year receiver is the complete package, and should fit in well in Richmond's passing offence. This ends my involvement in free agency for the year, as signing the big-name receiver leaves me very tight to the cap (this probably spells the end for Andre Leff - four receivers making big money is probably one too many). In a cap-related move, I decide to let DE Jake Davidds-Garrido go - he's simply making too much money for a player of his ability, and I have a good pass-rusher in DT Troy Richmond for spot duty at DE. This allows me to renegotiate the contract of DT Dwayne Ligeski, my starting NT - he signs a 4-year deal worth $41.00m. This takes us to the draft, and the Thunder Walkers have two picks in the first round this year - the gamble in taking the trade with Manchester for LB Otis Gilmore didn't really pay off, as they ended up with the 33rd pick. The Walkers ended up with pick 34, and so have two consecutive picks at the bottom of the first round. I had looked at the draft before picking up WR Hussey in free agency, and thought that the only reasonable receiver wouldn't drop as far as the bottom of the first round. So much for my thinking, as he's top of my draft board when we get to pick 33... I snap him up straight away - he'll be a very solid return man and backup receiver, and will step into the starting lineup when Clay Mugford retires. There are a lot of decent players going for my second first round pick - a solid DE with decent current skills catches my eye. His ratings are a bit symmetrical for my liking, but defensive end is (and has been for about the last 10 seasons) a big need, and there is a big dropoff in talent after him at the position, so I take the risk. The other pick acquired through trade last year comes up near the top of the second round, where I go for an offensive tackle - not really a need position, but offensive line depth is always useful (and the guy I take projects as a starter in a couple of years time). I pick up a decent S with the Walkers' own pick at the bottom of round 2 - he looks to be a good enough player to step straight into the starting lineup beside Rod Pride. 1 - Donald Hutchins, WR - I can't believe he dropped as far 1 - Richie Windham, DE - hoping that equal ratings doesn't mean a bust 2 - Cole Patterson, T - solid offensive lineman 2 - Deon Compton, S - best safety available 3 - Clay Horn, RB - decent back with good speed 4 - Ian Morgenstern, QB - another in the line of potentially great QBs to be drafted by the Walkers 5 - Tim Latschaw, G, Miami - depth on the O-line 6 - J.R. Upshaw, C - fills a need at center 7 - Danny Gillette, RB - a solid backup this far down The draft left me with 42 players signed and $7.3m cap room free. WR Andre Leff was released, as I didn't have enough cap room to fit in the mandatory one-year contract a franchise player gets after the draft - this shouldn't affect the team too much, as I managed to pick up a couple of more than capable replacements. Rookie free agent signings takes the roster to 53, and the team heads to camp. No busts (thankfully), but a few minor slippages of ratings, but this was balanced by some minor breakouts and some solid conversion of potential into current ratings. Preseason: 3-1, and no injuries heading into the regular season.
The big finish, winning the last five including three straight away from home against playoff-quality teams, helped the Thunder Walkers to clinch the division and the #1 seeding in the playoffs. Divisional Round Washington 3 10 0 0 - 13 Richmond 3 9 15 14 - 41 Four Mercury de los Santos TD passes broke this game open for the Thunder Walkers as they eased into the NFC Championship Game. TE Heath O'Sullivan had one of these, an 80-yarder, among his seven catches for 140 yards. NFC Championship Game Detroit 7 0 0 8 - 15 Richmond 0 14 3 13 - 30 The Lions scored first and last, but Richmond managed 30 points in between to book their place in the Super Bowl. The Mexican Montana, Mercury de los Santos, passed for a TD and ran for another, RB Clay Horn added a TD run and K Chuck Bryant kicked three field goals in a solid Thunder Walkers performance. Super Bowl Richmond 7 3 0 0 - 10 Cleveland 7 14 0 0 - 21 The Browns held the Thunder Walkers' normally explosive offence in check, while their own offence controlled the ball in a clinical performance which saw Cleveland win their second Super Bowl in 3 years. Richmond's only TD came on an interception return from rookie S Deon Compton, who was voted Super Bowl MVP. A disappointing end to a good season, but the Browns were just too good in the big game. Getting to the Super Bowl was an achievement, given that the Walkers started off slow - 6-5 and struggling for a playoff spot with five tough games to come was a tough spot to be in, but the team pulled through. Statistics QB Mercury de los Santos: 368-628-5146-48-12 (qbr 102.5), 67-362-0 rushing RB Clay Horn: 100-556-3 (5.5 ypc) RB Emmitt Everett: 97-495-5 (5.1 ypc) WR Kelvin Barnett: 86-1562-13 (18.1 ypc), 55.4% caught, 13 drops WR Clay Mugford: 96-1245-12 (12.9 ypc), 58.5% caught, 13 drops WR Donald Hutchins: 62-886-8 (14.2 ypc), 57.4% caught, 6 drops TE Heath O'Sullivan: 55-585-9 (10.6 ypc), 58.5% caught, 7 drops DT Troy Downing: 36 tackles, 7 assists, 21.0 sacks LB Warren McConnell: 103 tackles, 42 assists, 1.0 sacks, 1 interception LB Ray Stacy: 77 tackles, 24 assists S Rod Pride: 62 tackles, 29 assists, 5 interceptions CB Broderick Herndon: 43 tackles, 12 assists, 3 interceptions CB Mercury Hines: 14 games, 33 tackles, 10 assists, 1.0 sacks, 3 interceptions Awards QB Mercury de los Santos picked up the big three - NFL MVP, Offensive Player of the Year and AP 1st team QB. S Deon Compton was the Super Bowl MVP, while WR Kelvin Barnett and DT Troy Downing were voted to the AP 1st team. TE Heath O'Sullivan and LB Warren McConnell made the AP 2nd team. Team Statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 4.7/Defence 2.9/League 3.8 Pass: Offence 8.0/Defence 6.7/League 6.6 Yards per game Offence: Rush 100.6 (22), Pass 329.9 (1) Defence: Rush 76.2 (1), Pass 253.1 (34) A great year for the offence, while the defence struggled a little with the pass - no complaints about the run defence, though! It appears that picking up a couple of quality receivers (and a good tight end) has helped the passing game to click - all I need now for a good Super Bowl run is a good draft and a bit of luck with injuries... Martin |
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02-04-2001, 04:42 PM
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#13 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2030 season
Rounding up the 2029 season Herb: 95/66/49/72 - average 67 Finances: The Walkers posted a loss of $0.9m on revenues of $299.9m, a slight improvement over 2028. No retirements again, so Mugford and Stacy come back for yet another year (this will be Mugford's 13th year and Stacy's 14th). No changes at coach or scout. Ticket prices: The Redskins have put up their prices a little, so I follow suit. Richmond: 125/140/155/200/0/8000/350000/34000 Washington: 138/145/157/203/0/8600/404000/34000 Only two unrestricted free agents this year - G Marcus Crews and CB Aaron Foreman. Crews is a starter, and so receives the franchise tag. A lot of restricted free agents, with the following being players I would like to keep: LB Bo Quayle P Emmitt Ray K Chuck Bryant At this point in the season, the Walkers have 30 players signed, but only $18.8m cap room free - a few higher paid players will need to be cut to make things work this year... CB Aaron Foreman goes to San Francisco for more money than I would be able to afford (actually more money than I gave All-Pro Mercury Hines for his last contract - the madness of free agency!) in week 11. No other action in free agency this year because of the tight cap situation. Some contract renegotiations took place after free agency: LB Ray Stacy: $18.55m over 3 years WR Clay Mugford: $28.50m over 3 years T Ricky Clemons: $35.50m over 4 years LB Billy Joe Kennedy: $28.25m over 4 years I probably shouldn't have resigned the old guys (Stacy and Mugford) to deals this long, but I feel they can still be productive - if they play anything like last year, these contracts are worth the money and then some. I also sign franchise player G Marcus Crews on a 3-year deal worth $17.75m To give me enough cap room to work these deals, I release T Andre Francis, DE Mack Richmond, LB J.R. Steel and S Tyrus McElroy. Going into the draft, the Walkers have 27 players signed, but only $22.1m cap room - looks like trouble ahead... This year's draft needs are the defensive front seven - I only have four defensive linemen and three linebackers signed - and depth on the offensive line and in the defensive backfield. Picking 35th, I'm surprised to see perhaps the best corner I've seen drop to the bottom of the first round - this guy has potentials way over to the right-hand side of the box, and is pretty solid straight up as well. I need a starting safety more, but I can't pass this guy up. In the second round, I pick up a reasonable safety with great potential, with a solid linebacker following in round 3. 1 - Dominic Pieri, CB - the successor to Mercury Hines 2 - Scottie Peterson, S - should start in a year or two 3 - Kenneth Wolcott, LB - a solid player in a need position - will start straight away 4 - Harvey Kelly, G - good pass-blocker 5 - Herb Lynn, DT - a decent backup who might break out 6 - Brady Junker, C - a reasonable player who fills a need in the middle of the line 7 - Keith Gaylor, LB - a decent cheap backup for a couple of years With only $13.2m of cap room free and 19 players to sign, things are more than a little tight this year - the Walkers won't have a lot of depth. The team goes to camp with only 51 players (too many unsigned). No busts in camp (thankfully - Pieri looked too good to be true, but he kept his ratings). The Eagles come in with a trade offer for RB Clay Horn - a C who's making too much money for me to keep plus their third-round pick next year. As little as the RB means in my offence, this is a no-brainer - an extra pick in next year's draft gives me a chance to start building up depth again. Preseason: 3-1, but DE Bush is out for a couple of months.
A near-perfect regular season - good for the #1 seed in the NFC - despite a lengthy injury list for most of the year - the offensive and defensive lines were most affected, with several starters missing around half the year. The trick now is to carry the hot regular season form into the playoffs, and take advantage of not having to leave Richmond through the postseason - something that previous Thunder Walker teams have failed to do. Divisional Round Carolina 0 0 7 7 - 14 Richmond 0 16 10 17 - 43 A convincing win for the Thunder Walkers, with 'The Mexican Montana' Mercury de los Santos throwing 3 TD passes, K Van Marra booting four field goals and WR Dominic Hussey returning a kickoff 101 yards for a TD. Not the best performance the Walkers have put up this year, but more than enough for the Panthers. NFC Championship Game Detroit 0 0 3 3 - 6 Richmond 7 7 14 17 - 45 Another dominating performance from the Walkers takes them to their fourth Super Bowl in the last seven seasons. QB de los Santos threw for 340 yards and 4 TDs, two to Dominic Hussey as the Richmond offence blew the Lions out of the playoffs. Super Bowl Pittsburgh 0 3 0 0 - 3 Richmond 17 17 10 0 - 44 The Thunder Walkers crowned a stunning season by dominating the Steelers in a totally one-sided Super Bowl. QB Mercury de los Santos added Super Bowl MVP to his long list of honours after throwing 3 TD passes and adding another TD on the ground, while CB Mercury Hines returned an interception for a score. I have to say that the success of this season was totally unexpected - after struggling to fit 53 players under the cap in the offseason, a Super Bowl win was the last thing I was thinking of. Strength in depth was meant to be a problem, with the Walkers carrying well over 20 1-year signings, but the team kept on performing, even with several key players visiting the treatment table on a regular basis. The Mexican Montana lived up to his nickname, having an incredible season, finishing up with game MVP performances in all three playoff games, while S Rod Pride returned to his Defensive Player of the Year form. Statistics QB Mercury de los Santos: 14 games, 358-571-4808-47-11 (108.8 qbr), 67-323-4 rushing QB Ian Morgenstern: 6 games, 2 starts, 65-103-897-11-1 (122.4 qbr) WR Dominic Hussey: 113-1762-18 (15.5 ypc), 57.3% caught, 14 drops WR Kelvin Barnett: 96-1554-15 (16.1 ypc), 60.3% caught, 17 drops WR Donald Hutchins: 12 games, 62-896-5 (14.4 ypc), 65.9% caught, 2 drops WR Clay Mugford: 14 games, 50-491-8 (9.8 ypc), 62.5% caught, 0 drops TE Heath O'Sullivan: 67-740-9 (11.0 ypc), 73.6% caught, 2 drops DE Richie Windham: 11 games, 37 tackles, 4 assists, 8.5 sacks DE Emmanuel Bush: 9 games, 19 tackles, 2 assists, 8.5 sacks DT Dwayne Ligeski: 33 tackles, 16 assists, 7.0 sacks LB Warren McConnell: 97 tackles, 28 assists, 1.0 sacks S Rod Pride: 75 tackles, 28 assists, 11 interceptions CB Mercury Hines: 46 tackles, 13 assists, 5 interceptions I put in a few more players than I normally would on the offensive side of the ball because the numbers are so good! de los Santos was brilliant (as expected), but Morgenstern was pretty useful himself when he came in for a couple of games late in the year - someone is going to get a very good QB after training camp next season. Awards QB Mercury de los Santos - the Mexican Montana - dominated the awards, picking up the quadfecta of NFL MVP, Offensive Player of the Year, Super Bowl MVP and AP 1st team QB. Rod Pride regained the title of Defensive Player of the Year, and was voted to the AP 1st team. Other 1st teamers were TE Heath O'Sullivan, WR Dominic Hussey and WR Kelvin Barnett. Team Statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 3.5/Defence 3.8/League 4.0 Pass: Offence 8.4/Defence 6.0/League 6.6 Yards per game Offence: Rush 79.8 (35), Pass 356.5 (1) Defence: Rush 95.3 (4), Pass 222.2 (20) The passing game was the big difference this season, with the running game struggling (as expected) in the hands of rookie free agents. Defensively, this was a good year, despite a lot of injury problems - the addition of a top-quality third cornerback made a big difference to the nickel and dime packages. Looking ahead to 2031, the main aim is to build the squad up again - this year's team looked very thin on paper, but the backups played well above themselves when called on. Depth on both offensive and defensive lines is a must to improve on. Martin |
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02-09-2001, 04:26 PM
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#14 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2031 season
Rounding up the 2030 season Herb: 100/67/57/71 - average 71 Finances: The Thunder Walkers made it back into profit this year, posting a profit of $44.2m on revenues of $319.1m. A large part of this was 2030 being a relatively light year for signing bonuses, while ticket revenue went up a bit after the extra home games last year. Hall of Fame: An ex-Thunder Walker, DE Marlon Fulcher, was voted to the league Hall of Fame this season. No retirements again this year - seems like Clay Mugford and Ray Stacy want to keep playing for at least one more year... No changes at coach or scout, as I'm happy with the performance of the incumbents. There must have been something about Wally Cady that made me want to sack him - I've not had that urge yet with Sherman McCullar! Ticket prices: Washington have put their prices up again this year, so the Walkers' prices go up a little as well. Richmond: 130/145/158/205/0/8500/375000/47000 Washington: 140/146/158/206/0/8800/412000/47000 No unrestricted free agents this year, but plenty of restricted free agents (mostly 1-year wonders). The only guys I'd be interested in resigning are last year's kicker and punter, Van Marra and Dustin Brackens. No franchise tag used this year (because of a lack of free agents to use it on!) At the start of free agency, the Thunder Walkers have 29 players signed with only $11.3m of a $203.0m cap free - heads will have to roll this year, as I have a few younger players looking for big pay rises over their rookie contracts. The Bears come in at the start of the free agency period with a trade offer of their second-round pick for DT Troy Downing. Normally I wouldn't consider trading a star player, but Downing is taking up $10m of cap room, and is in the last year of his contract. Add in my need for an extra draft pick to build up depth, and a player who picked up 21 sacks two seasons ago is gone. The Thunder Walkers make no moves in free agency this year - the cap situation is simply too tight. I renegotiated a few contracts for players in the last year of their current deal: WR Dominic Hussey: $29.50m over 3 years WR Kelvin Barnett: $31.75 over 4 years TE Heath O'Sullivan: $19.36m over 3 years (that's the passing game sorted for a few more years!) C Brady Junker: $2.18m over 2 years S Rod Pride: $16.04m over 3 years - still a great player in his 11th year I have a big decision to make at CB - both Mercury Hines and Broderick Herndon are in the last year of their current contracts, and I can only really afford to pay one of them. Hines is in his 12th year, but is still a solid player, and doesn't look to have lost a step yet. Neither Hines or Herndon has been franchised yet, so my options are open here. Given I have two picks close together early in the draft (last pick in the first, third pick in the second) in the draft, I'll wait and see how things go in the draft before I make a decision. Going into the draft, the team has 28 players signed with $18.5m cap room, and needs all over the place. At this point, the only guy occupying the offensive backfield is QB de los Santos - I have no RBs or FBs signed at all! The defensive line is also thin, with only two tackles and two ends signed, while I could do with a starting-quality linebacker to replace Ray Stacy when he finally hangs up his cleats. Tough decisions with my first two picks - a starting-quality wide receiver drops to my pick, but I already have the best group of receivers in the league. There are quite a few decent linemen on both sides of the ball, but no-one really worth taking this high - unfortunately, I don't have the mid-to-low second round picks that I feel these guys are worth. Linebacker looks very weak this year, with no-one I feel worth taking before the third round. Given I only have one CB signed past this season, I decide to go after a reasonable corner with my first round pick - not great straight off, but good potential. None of the players I'm looking to take are picked before my next pick, so I go for a DT who can rush the passer (i.e. can fill in at DE if required) - there is a blatant redliner DT (36/41, 39/41, 67), but I don't want to get a backup with a high second round pick. Unfortunately, the offensive linemen and linebackers I thought would drop into the third round are all taken in the second, so I'm not able to fill those needs with my pick at the bottom of the second. The redliner DT is still available, so I take the chance here. Two picks near the bottom of the third round go towards strengthening the offensive line as I pick up a guard and a center - nothing spectacular, just guys who project to be solid starting-quality linemen in a couple of years. 1 - Colin Wheeler, CB - best corner available - projects to be starter-quality 2 - Blaine Houston, DT - good pass-rusher, so will see time at DE as well 2 - Anthony Washington, DT - decent player straight away, and a possible redliner 3 - Edward Kelley, C - should fill a problem position on the offensive line 3 - Corwin Winslett, G - solid backup lineman who could start in a couple of years 4 - Joel Andrews, LB - best linebacker left - will be a reasonable backup 5 - Toby Logan, RB - reasonable speed and hands - will have to start 6 - Andy Harding, DT - I was thinking of taking this guy in the second round! 7 - Roderick Godfrey, QB - might be a bust, but no real loss here After the draft, Minnesota come in with a trade offer for Mercury Hines - this could make that tough decision a whole lot easier! They're offering an old but reasonable offensive tackle and their second round pick next year - a very good deal for a player I was probably going to cut! I accept after a very short pause for thought - this, coupled with the draft, gives me a much more solid offensive line and a defensive backfield which should be set for several years to come. I still need to do some work to fit 53 players under the cap, though, as I only have 37 players signed at this point with $7.1m cap room left - with rookie free agents coming at around $730,000, I need a minimum of another four and a half million cap room just to fill the roster. To clear some room, I release long-serving G Mitch Schulz - he's a solid player, but in the last year of his current deal and may be starting to get a bit past it. After filling the roster with rookie free agents, the team goes to camp with 53 players and $1.5m cap room free - about enough for two injury replacements if required. A few movements in skills over camp - DT Anthony Washington had a small breakout, and looks to be a reasonable pick at the bottom of the second round, while DT Andy Harding also gained a decent amount of potential (especially for rushing the passer), and will see plenty action at DE this year. QB Godfrey turned out to be a bust (never trust those symmetrical ratings!), but is no great loss. Among the veterans, CB Pieri developed sufficiently to secure a starting role, while S Deon Compton has surpassed all expectations, and is now solidly established as the starter at safety alongside Rod Pride. Several trade offers came in after camp - the only one worth considering came from Manchester, who came in with a 5th-round pick for rookie free agent FB Charlie Arnold. Unsurprisingly, I accept straight away (and pick up another undrafted FA at FB). This feels like a better team than last year, but it remains to be seen whether the backups on this team can pull together like the guys last year did - a big part of the Super Bowl win was the unheralded guys who came in when the starter went down injured and played well above expectations. Preseason: 2-2, but a few injuries to starting players - LB McConnell and S Pride will miss a few weeks.
A big loss in the last game of the regular season - instead of winning the NFC East, the loss dropped me into an away wild card game against New Orleans. Even with the poor last game, the team came around well after a bad start to the season - 5-6 with a lot of tough games to come doesn't exactly suggest playoff form... Wild Card Game Richmond 6 0 8 14 - 28 New Orleans 0 14 3 13 - 30 The Saints kicked a 38-yard field goal as time expired to snatch this game out of the hands of the Thunder Walkers. Veteran WR Clay Mugford caught two TD passes from Mercury de los Santos, with Kelvin Barnett also putting the ball in the endzone, but two TD receptions from ex-Walker Andre Leff helped to keep New Orleans in the game. Richmond went ahead 28-27 with 1:45 left in the game on de los Santos's 47-yard pass to Mugford, but the Saints drove down the field for the winning score in the dying seconds. A frustrating end to a frustrating season - several games went this way, with a late score denying the Thunder Walkers a win. There didn't seem to be any particular reason for the poor performance this season - the passing game wasn't as sharp as it's been in the last couple of seasons, but it was still solid, while the defence played pretty close to the standards set in the recent past. Maybe the numbers will tell a different story... Statistics QB Mercury de los Santos: 347-624-5022-42-24 (88.3 qbr), 58-329-2 rushing RB Toby Logan: 122-454-2 (3.7 ypc) WR Kelvin Barnett: 79-1469-10 (18.5 ypc), 53.0% caught, 8 drops WR Dominic Hussey: 78-1416-12 (18.1 ypc), 51.6% caught, 15 drops WR Clay Mugford: 70-826-6 (11.8 ypc), 51.0% caught, 5 drops WR Donald Hutchins: 66-788-7 (11.9 ypc), 58.4% caught, 11 drops TE Heath O'Sullivan: 46-542-8 (11.7 ypc), 62.1% caught, 2 drops Pretty reasonable numbers, although I would like to see less interceptions from the Mexican Montana - he should be more accurate than he showed this season. Good production from the receivers - Mugford and Hutchins shared time as third receiver, which shows in the stats. DE Richie Windham: 41 tackles, 9 assists, 12.0 sacks DE Emmanuel Bush: 52 tackles, 6 assists, 8.0 sacks LB Warren McConnell: (12 games) 81 tackles, 27 assists LB Kenneth Wolcott: 81 tackles, 31 assists, 3.0 sacks, 1 interception S Rod Pride: 74 tackles, 19 assists, 5 interceptions S Deon Compton: 59 tackles, 15 assists, 8 interceptions CB Dominic Pieri: 56 tackles, 20 assists, 3 interceptions CB Broderick Herndon: 45 tackles, 18 assists, 3 interceptions Reasonable individual numbers from the defence - Deon Compton was on for a huge season before getting injured in the last few weeks of the season, while Richie Windham provided a solid pass rush all year. Awards QB Mercury de los Santos heads the list once again, ending up with the big three - NFL MVP, Offensive Player of the Year and 1st team QB (for the fifth year in a row...) Receivers Kelvin Barnett and Dominic Hussey joined him on the AP 1st team. Team Statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 3.8/Defence 3.6/League 3.9 Pass: Offence 7.9/Defence 7.2/League 6.6 Yards per game Offence: Rush 73.6 (35), Pass 333.0 (1) Defence: Rush 103.5 (13), Pass 265.4 (36) These numbers give me a better idea of where the problem is - the pass defence was pretty awful all year. On the other side of the ball, the running game could be better, but things are pretty reasonable offensively. Not the greatest end to the first half of the World League Challenge, but I hope this is the worst season I'll have between now and the end! Martin |
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02-10-2001, 06:33 AM
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#15 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2032 season
Rounding up the 2031 season Herb: 69/67/52/70 - average 63 Finances: A profit of $28.1m on revenues of $296.8m - slightly down on 2030, mainly due to the lack of home playoff games. Retiring at the end of the 2031 season - wide receiver 'The Unbreakable' Clay Mugford. The Thunder Walkers' first round pick in the 2018 draft, he played his whole career in Richmond. He thrived in the pass-happy system favoured by the Walkers, finishing his career holding the three main receiving records - most receptions (1,290), most receiving yards (19,047) and most receiving TDs (159). A player who will certainly be put forward for the WLC 30-year team. Ray Stacy has once again decided to return for another year - his 16th in the league. S Rod Pride is now the career interception leader with 72, and should be around (I hope) for a few seasons yet to improve on that. No changes at coach and scout - B.J. Nix and Sherman McCullar are still doing a great job. (For the record, scout Nix has seen the team go 164-82 (.667) in his time with the franchise, with 11 years in the playoffs and 3 bowl wins.) It's 2032, and the original 15-year lease on the Richmond Municipal Stadium has finally run out, so it's time to see about improving on the old dump! I request an increase in capacity to just under 100,000, with 19900 club seats and 399 luxury boxes, all paid for by the public (as the team has had 100% support for a new stadium for several years now). Ticket prices: Only a small increase on the VR boxes this year. Richmond: 130/145/158/205/0/8500/375000/64000 Washington: 146/151/163/212/0/9200/423000/64000 Only two unrestricted free agents this year, with the franchise tag going to CB Broderick Herndon (a decision made last year when Mercury Hines left in a trade with the Vikings). CB Anthony Kramer, the other free agent, will not be resigned. The usual 20-odd restricted free agents, but only a couple I'm interested in resigning - G Harvey Kelly and P Kyle Britt. At this point, the team has 31 players signed and $28.4m cap room free - a bit better than the last couple of years. The drawback is that this is the last year of Mercury de los Santos's current contract - renegotiating could take up a good bit of cap room. The Jets come in with a trade offer at the start of the free agency period - DT Dwayne Ligeski for an average WR and a 4th-round draft pick. Normally I wouldn't consider this, but Ligeski is in the last year of his current contract and I have a few decent DTs (after picking up three in last year's draft!) - I pull the trigger, and the big guy is on his way to the Big Apple. This leaves me in the unfamiliar position of having a reasonable amount of cap room to play with going into free agency (although I have to sign a CB contract, which will take up quite a bit of room). I spot a solid LB, and make him an offer of $24.75m over 3 years in week 1, but he decides to go to Pittsburgh for 2 years in week 3. Waiting to see who is available in week 11, I make a bid for a young DE, offering $26.1m over 5 years, which is accepted in week 14. DE Andy Flint fills a need for a solid backup at defensive end - I've been trying to get by with scrubs behind the starters for a few years now, and this gives me the opportunity to have someone reasonable coming off the bench. Before starting on the draft, I look to renegotiate QB Mercury de los Santos's contract, and he agrees to a 5-year, $136.5m deal (slightly less than he got for his last contract!), which is slightly easier on the cap this year. The Walkers draft 28th this year, their highest position in some time. There are no pressing needs - mostly depth in pretty well every position, although a couple of starting-quality players would be very handy. There are quite a few good players going late in the first round, but I decide to go after a solid wide receiver who projects to be a starter in a couple of years (when Barnett and Hussey start to decline). With two picks near the bottom of the second round, I have a chance to get two solid players - the first is an immediate starter at G (current 50/44/78), the second a LB who will need to sit for a year or two, but should be good after that. A backup QB follows in round 3, and a reasonable redliner RB with the early 4th-rounder. 1 - Shaun Buckley, WR - another solid receiver at the bottom of the first round 2 - Ethan Coder, G - I don't know how this guy dropped as far 2 - Kurt Fuller, LB - should be a good one in a couple of years 3 - Jeff Lake, QB - another solid backup QB - very similar rookie numbers to de los Santos 4 - Colin Elliott, RB - decent RB for the rotation 4 - Kenneth Gillespie, TE - solid player who might break out 5 - Oscar Clayton, RB - another guy to add to the committee 5 - Matt Schwartz, DT - raw, but could be a force with good coaching 6 - Tony Roberson, G - too good to pass up here 7 - Hugh Murrell, FB - should turn out to be a good blocker and receiver The stadium vote results came in after the draft, with the proposal being rejected - I'll just have to try again next year (and maybe offer to pay something towards it this time!) The cap situation is very healthy this year, with $16.8m cap free and 44 players signed - time to do some renegotiating! First order of business was to get the franchise player, CB Broderick Herndon, signed to a long-term deal - an offer of $43.30m over 4 years was signed, which sets the team at corner for a few more years. I then resign second-year FB Mack Oswald to a veteran-minimum contract worth $3.76m over 3 years, G Harvey Kelly for 4 years on a contract worth $26.40m, LB Warren McConnell for 4 years at $31.95m and S Deon Compton at $27.80m over 4 years. The remaining roster spots are filled with rookie free agents, and the team heads to camp. QB Paul Lake ends up being a bust, but he'll hang around for at least this year (mainly for cap reasons). No other busts, and a couple of minor breakouts. Preseason: About as good as you can expect - a 4-0 record, and only two minor injuries. The worst happens in week 1, as the Mexican Montana goes down with a serious injury against the Patriots - this is a major crisis, as the Walkers have very little at backup QB this year (with the two QBs drafted in the last two years both busting). Rookie free agent Shannon Bullock steps in as the starter for week 2 after a reasonable performance in relief in week 1 (15-24-164-2-0). I guess this is the year in which we find out if the Walkers can win without a QB! Week 2 sees a tough away game in Dallas. The offence doesn't show up, but Bullock throws a TD pass and no interceptions and S Scottie Peterson comes up with two picks as Richmond nick one in OT. After a week 3 bye, the close games continue as Philadelphia sneak a 30-27 out of Richmond Municipal Stadium with a last-second field goal. Week 1 signee QB Howie Henderson saw some action in relief of Bullock and played solidly (I'm starting to wonder how many QBs this team's going to get through this season )The unbeaten Giants are the next team to visit Richmond, and also leave with a 3-point win (snakebit?) Week 6 sees the Walkers visit the Saints, and the defence comes up big after leaking two early TDs - 31 unanswered points later, and the team has avenged the loss in last season's wild card game. Another overtime game in week 7 goes the way of the Vikings - the offence moved the ball, but couldn't put points on the board. Two fourth-quarter TDs make the difference in a tight game against Washington as DT Anthony Washington picks up 3 sacks. After 8 weeks of the season, Richmond lie fifth in the NFC East with a 4-3 record - looks like a tough year to make the playoffs in the NFC... Week 9 saw the Thunder Walkers roll over Dallas with ease - the Cowboys only broke their shutout in the fourth quarter as their QB threw 5 interceptions, with each of the Walkers' starting secondary pulling in a pick. QB de los Santos returns for the trip to Indianapolis and promptly leads two TD drives on the first two Richmond possessions - not a bad comeback. Unfortunately, the Colts managed to come up with a better one, clawing their way back into the game to force OT, then getting the score to take the game. The offence is back in week 11, racking up almost 300 passing yards in the first half in Philadelphia - the Eagles almost pull off the comeback, but the Walkers escape with a 32-30 win. Arizona come visiting the following week, and manage to sneak a defensive game with a late field goal - the Thunder Walkers coughed up the ball in their own end inside the last two minutes to giftwrap the game for the Cardinals. After a poor performance in week 12, the offence takes it out on the Jets in week 13, with the Mexican Montana on fire, throwing 6 TD passes in a 48-12 thrashing, four to WR Hutchins. This sets up a huge game in Washington - a win would be a big step towards the playoffs for one of two 7-5 teams. Richmond come away with the win in a tough defensive struggle - the difference was two Dominic Hussey punt returns for TDs (how important are special teams in football?) The big games come thick and fast at the end of the season for a team in the playoff race, and the game against Detroit is no exception - the loser will drop out of a wild card spot. Four de los Santos TD passes and two Wheeler interceptions are enough for the Walkers to pick up another win. A solid road game in Arizona takes the team to 10-5, setting up a division title decider with the Giants in week 17 - a loss, though, could drop the Walkers out of the playoffs altogether. A fast start for the New Yorkers gives them an early 10-0 lead, but the ground game gets it done for Richmond, with RBs Stratico, Logan and Elliott all scoring TDs as the Thunder Walkers came back with 34 unanswered points. This leaves three teams tied for the division lead at 115 - the Giants, Eagles and Thunder Walkers. The league takes a couple of days to run the numbers through their antiquated systems (circa 2000), and finally pronounces Philadelphia as NFC East champions (apparently on the back of their performance in head-to-head with the other two teams).
A solid regular season despite numerous injuries; de los Santos apart, several starting players (especially in the secondary) missed a fair bit of time - at one point, I was playing my nickel back and third safety as my starting cornerbacks! The league was very even at the top this season - the best record in the league was 11-5, which was good enough to win four divisions, while all the playoff teams have at least 10 wins. Not a good year to drop a few tight games... The reward for beating the Giants was a home game in the Wild Card round against ... the Giants. The Thunder Walkers continued where they'd left off the week before, pitching a shutout in defeating the Giants with ease. This set up a Divisional Round game in Portland. The White Sturgeon in their own house were too much for the Thunder Walkers, though, as a 14-12 loss took Portland through to the NFC Championship Game. Wild Card Round New York 0 0 0 0 - 0 Richmond 14 0 7 10 - 31 Divisional Round Richmond 0 3 3 6 - 12 Portland 7 0 7 0 - 14 A tough way to end a difficult season, but it was maybe asking too much of a battered team to go all the way. Statistics QB Mercury de los Santos: (9 games) 206-344-2637-24-9 (qbr 96.2) QB Shannon Bullock: (7 games) 168-293-2067-12-8 (81.4) RB Oscar Clayton: 66-473-3 (7.1 ypc) (definite RB by committee this year!) WR Dominic Hussey: 102-1545-13 (15.1 ypc), 59.6% caught, 9 drops, 11.9 average, 2 TDs on punt returns. WR Kelvin Barnett: 95-1408-8 (14.8 ypc), 57.9% caught, 2 drops WR Donald Hutchins: 91-1086-12 (11.9 ypc), 57.5% caught, 14 drops A solid year from the offence, especially given the enforced change at QB for most of the first half of the season. DT Anthony Washington: 23 tackles, 16 assists, 13.0 sacks LB Kenneth Wolcott: 109 tackles, 33 assists, 3.0 sacks S Rod Pride: 110 tackles, 35 assists, 8 interceptions S Scottie Peterson: 67 tackles, 31 assists, 7 interceptions CB Colin Wheeler: 36 tackles, 5 assists, 6 interceptions Higher tackle numbers this year because a lot of games were close (in the past, there have been quite a few games where the Walkers have been well ahead early, so the other team throws a lot to try and catch up), but still a good year, especially from the secondary. Awards S Rod Pride was voted Defensive Player of the Year for the fifth time (2025-26-28-30-32), and was the AP 1st team safety. Other first teamers were WR Dominic Hussey and LB Kenneth Wolcott (a big achievement for a linebacker on my teams). WRs Kelvin Barnett and Donald Hutchins made the AP 2nd team. Team Statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 3.7/Defence 3.2/League 3.8 Pass: Offence 7.4/Defence 6.6/League 6.6 Yards per game Offence: Rush 80.3 (34), Pass 304.8 (1) Defence: Rush 86.3 (4), Pass 252.9 (34) The usual tale - the secondary appears to be the weak spot (although I have a feeling it may be the lack of a pass rush more than the defensive backfield). Offensive production was down on previous years - only to be expected with the star QB out for several games. This seems to be a solid team - all I need is an impact player in the right place and a bit of luck, and this team could be headed back to the Super Bowl... Martin |
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02-11-2001, 04:16 AM
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#16 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2034 season
Rounding up the 2033 season Herb: 63/83/41/73 - average 64 Finances: The team made a loss of $23.5m in 2033 on $326.5m revenues, purely because of the payments for the stadium upgrade kicking in (almost $50m in 2033). A new TV contract this year, and the cap will again be almost stationary for the duration of the 8-year deal - increases of only $600,000 per year. The team got through the last low-increase contract better than I thought, but I can't see this being good for the team's cap situation at all. No retirements this year (meaning that star safety Rod Pride comes back for yet another year), but the Thunder Walkers inducted their first player into the team Hall of Fame - WR Clay Mugford is a lock for the league Hall of Fame in a couple of years as well (a 10-time All-Pro who holds all the receiving records that are worth holding should be an automatic inclusion...) Both scout and coach are out of contract, so I need to do a bit of looking around. B.J. Nix is still the best guy available at scout (at reasonable costs), so I offer $900,000 per year for 5 years - a fair-sized increase, but I feel it to be justified. He doesn't get any offers, but isn't taking ours, so we increase the deal to $1m per year, which is accepted. Coach Sherman McCullar is the best available for what I'm looking for (even with the lengthy injury lists over the last two years, he's VG in Avoid Injury - the stadium effect people have been talking about?), so I offer him a new 5-year deal at $8.5m per year, only to see Portland offer almost $17m per year - there is no way I want to go this high. There isn't a lot of talent available in the coaching pool this year, so I decide to go for a guy who isn't thought to be good at developing players, especially young guys, in Eric Bradford. What he does offer is very solid game-day skills, especially on the defensive side of the ball at a very low price (he signed a deal for $2.6m per year) - I'll see how this season goes before deciding if I want to go in another direction next year. Ticket prices: No changes (apart from the VR boxes) once more. Richmond: 130/145/158/205/0/8500/375000/90000 Washington: 154/158/171/218/0/9600/444000/90000 Going into free agency, the team has 35 players signed with $25.2m of a $210.6m cap free - not a huge amount of room, but there should be a bit of space to work with. Only two unrestricted free agents this year - TE Heath O'Sullivan and S Scottie Peterson - but they are both players I would really like to resign. Peterson is more important, though, as I'm light at safety but have a couple of reasonable tight ends already signed - he receives this year's franchise tag. Several unsigned players I would like to resign this year, with DTs Blaine Houston and Matt Schwartz top of the list - unfortunately, I won't be able to keep both. K Al Rhodes did a solid job last year, so I will make an effort to bring him back. A few trade offers going into free agency - Portland offer an old WR and their third round pick for DE Richie Windham. Windham was a first round pick, but hasn't been as productive as I was hoping and is coming off a big injury, so it's an easy decision to take this trade. I also send FB Mack Oswald to Cleveland for a 6th round pick - again, a player in the last year of his contract (and I would hope to get a decent replacement with the pick). A trade offer from the Giants for RB Kenny Woodson is rejected (even though they offered the 18th pick in the draft). Tennessee pick up TE O'Sullivan on a 4-year deal worth $9.5m per year in week 4 of free agency - this was out of my price range, so I didn't make an offer. I do pick up free agent T Jamal Sanders on a 3-year, $6.03m deal in week 12 - a young player with reasonable potential, he should be a decent backup for a few years. In order to sign franchise player Peterson, I release S Deon Compton, saving over $7m in cap room - he was banged up last year, and lost a step, so isn't worth keeping if he takes up that amount of cap room. Scottie Peterson signs a 3-year deal worth $16.90m. DT Blaine Houston will also return after signing a 4-year, $36.30m deal. I renegotiated a couple of contracts as well at this time: WR Kelvin Barnett: $26.07m over 3 years CB Dominic Pieri: $44.25m over 4 years Heading into the draft, depth is more of an issue than picking up starting quality players - WR is a problem area next year, with both Hutchins and Buckley being out of contract (I can probably only afford to keep one of the two), and the defensive line is a big need area with only four players signed. Depth at linebacker is thin, as was shown last year, and I only have my two starters signed at CB. The 9-7 record last year is good for the 26th pick in this year's draft, and I strengthen my LB corps with a name from the past - this guy won't be as good as his namesake, but he'll be a solid starter for the Thunder Walkers. The need at DE is partially filled in the second round by a reasonable pass-rusher - not a lot of potential, but he's good enough to start straight away. The two third rounders go on the secondary - decent backups at S and CB who probably won't be starter-quality, but should be solid players. 1 - Joseph Butkus, LB - good enough to start straight off, and could be a very good player 2 - Corwin Hesse, DE - a decent pass-rusher 3 - Marty Woodard, CB - will be a reasonable nickel back 3 - Oscar Peterson, S - decent cover skills and a good eye for the interception 4 - Kendrick Stephenson, G - solid G who should be able to step in if required 5 - Shannon Copeland, DT - decent backup run-stuffer 6 - Dustin Goodwin, FB - a better player than the guy I traded for this pick 6 - Nicky Jensen, WR - reasonable fourth/fifth receiver 7 - Jim Menendez, C - good backup player this late This leaves me with a shortage of cap room, so I cut G Harvey Kelly - I have a few guys capable of starting at G, so he wasn't really needed. Chicago come in with a trade offer for DE Brett Copeland after the draft - a second round pick for a project DE picked in last year's third round. As bad as my new coach is at developing young players, this is a no-brainer. K Al Rhodes was resigned for 3 years on a veteran-minimum deal ($3.83m) at this point. These moves leave me with 42 players signed and $11.0m cap room free - a fairly comfortable situation (for a change!) I decide, though, to get one of my younger WRs signed to a longer deal - both Hutchins and Buckley are free agents after this year. To do this, I need to release the other, though - I decide to keep Buckley, as he's the better WR (although Hutchins is a solid return man). Buckley agrees to a 4-year $40.05m contract. I fill up the roster with undrafted free agents - a couple of reasonable players, including a possible redliner LB - and head to camp. No busts this year, and a couple of rookies (notably S Peterson) pick up a bit of potential. A lot of the younger players had reasonable development over the offseason, which I wasn't expecting under the new coach. Preseason: About as perfect as it gets - unbeaten in the games, and no-one on the treatment table! The season starts with a game against divisional rivals Arizona out in the desert. The offence doesn't really get moving, but a last-second field goal is enough for the Walkers to escape with a victory. The team is glad to get out of the heat into the more temperate climes of Richmond to take on the Eagles in week 2, and it shows on the field - the defence played a very solid game, and de los Santos throws 3 TD passes in his 391 yards. Defence is again the key in week 3, as the offence sputters. WR Dominic Hussey takes the second half kickoff back for a TD and CB Pieri comes up with two picks in a 25-10 win. QB de los Santos picks up a knee injury in this game, though, and will miss a few weeks. Dallas come to town in week 4, and leave without a victory after QB Malcolm Wynn hits WR Buckley for a TD five minutes into OT. Wynn played a very solid game, finishing 26 of 37 for 255 yards and 2 TDs. The roll continues as the Thunder Walkers roll over the Redskins in Washington, with Wynn throwing 4 TD passes and Scottie Peterson scoring on an interception return. Mercury de los Santos is reinstated as the starting QB after the bye week for the trip to Philadelphia, and leads the team to 4 TDs. Unfortunately, the Eagles managed to score 5 to hand Richmond their first defeat of the year. After a poor game in Philadelphia, the defence shows up against Washington to the tune of two defensive TDs, both on interceptions by Dominic Pieri. This on its own would have been enough to beat the Redskins, but the offence chips in with a couple of rushing TDs as well. The first half of the year finishes with another solid defensive performance against the Giants - only 3 points out of the New York offence, which made it easy for the offence. The Mexican Montana threw a couple of TD passes and took the ball in himself for another TD. de los Santos hadn't played well in the first half of the year, but he played a very good game in Minnesota in week 10, throwing 5 TD passes as the Walkers rolled to another comfortable win. The Bucs cause the Walkers a lot of trouble in the next game, as de los Santos runs in a TD to tie the game inside the final minute, then throws the winning score to Dominic Hussey in overtime. The Mexican Montana seems to have thrown off his early-season problems in Dallas, as he throws for 474 yards and 3 TDs in a 27-17 win. Arizona visit Richmond next, and de los Santos keeps on throwing TDs - 5 more, three to Dominic Hussey, as the Walkers ease to a 42-20 win. Denver pull off an upset win in week 14, sneaking a 22-20 result out of Richmond on the back of five field goals. New Orleans are unlucky enough to be the Thunder Walkers' next opponents, as they catch the backlash - de los Santos throws another 5 TDs in a 49-3 rout. A tough trip out west to Seattle ends with the Walkers just edging out the Seahawks on three more TDs for the Mexican Montana - this clinches homefield advantage through the NFC playoffs for the Thunder Walkers. A 14-2 record is completed with a straightforward win over the 1-15 Chargers in Richmond. Detroit are the opponents in the Divisional round of the playoffs. With the coaches impressing into the team the need to play at their peak to avoid first-round letdowns (which have caught the Thunder Walkers in the past), the team plays a near-perfect game, dismantling the Lions by a score of 58-8. QB de los Santos threw for 4 TDs in the first half, and left early to save himself for the Championship Game, with WR Shaun Buckley picking up 3 TD receptions. G Ethan Coder, out injured for much of the season, returns for the NFC Championship Game against Portland (who upset Chicago in the previous round). In the longest game in Thunder Walkers history, Mercury de los Santos threw a TD pass to RB Dustin Goodwin to clinch the win on the first play of the second overtime period. This game should never have been as close, as three de los Santos TDs saw the Walkers roll out to a 21-0 lead midway through the third quarter. Portland came back, though, with their QB throwing 3 TDs of his own, the last to tie the game inside the last minute of regulation. Both teams had a couple of chances to win the game before the final TD, but neither kicker could put the ball through the uprights when it mattered. The win set up the Walkers' fifth Super Bowl appearance, this time against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jacksonville started out quick, with a long TD pass putting them up 7-0, but FB Dustin Goodwin tied the game with a 14-yard run later in the first quarter. The second quarter scoring was all in threes, as Richmond K Rhodes put over two field goals to Doane's one for Jacksonville - score at the half 13-10 Thunder Walkers. Rhodes added another field goal early in the third, then de los Santos picked out Buckley in the endzone from 9 yards out to make it 24-10. An Elliot fumble allowed the Jaguars back into the game, QB Von Hagel firing his second TD pass of the game to get the Jags only a TD behind. The Thunder Walkers came back firing, though, taking the ball in for a TD on their next drive to extinguish any hopes of a Jacksonville comeback. QB Von Hagel threw two desperation interceptions in the last couple of minutes as the Richmond defence had the last word in the Thunder Walkers' victory. RB Kenny Woodson was voted the Super Bowl MVP after his 20 carries for 162 yards and a TD plus two catches for 20 yards, while the Mexican Montana was solid, finishing 22-41-273-2-1. WR Buckley caught 7 passes, one for a TD, while TE Gillespie picked up the other TD reception. On the defensive side of the ball, S Rod Pride came up with two picks, while among the sacks were DTs Washington and Houston, and LBs McConnell and Butkus (his first professional sack). Statistics QB Mercury de los Santos: (14 games) 329-579-4785-40-15 (96.0 qbr), 69-348-2 rushing QB Malcolm Wynn: (2 games) 57-87-597-5-1 (qbr 99.6) RB Colin Elliott: 102-448-1 (4.3 ypc) RB Kenny Woodson: 87-366-1 (4.2 ypc), 24-223-3 receiving WR Dominic Hussey: 101-1510-13 (14.9 ypc), 55.1% caught, 14 drops WR Kelvin Barnett: 80-1358-13 (16.9 ypc), 64.0% caught, 4 drops WR Shaun Buckley: 64-991-6 (15.4 ypc), 58.7% caught, 9 drops A solid year for the offence, although QB de los Santos started off very slowly - he had a lot of interceptions early in the year, but improved markedly around week 8 or 9. DT Blaine Houston: 60 tackles, 12 assists, 10.5 sacks DT Anthony Washington: 33 tackles, 15 assists, 8.0 sacks LB Billy Joe Kennedy: 86 tackles, 30 assists, 2 interceptions LB Kenneth Wolcott: 82 tackles, 25 assists, 4.0 sacks LB Warren McConnell: 52 tackles, 24 assists, 13.0 sacks, 1 interception S Rod Pride: 82 tackles, 29 assists, 7 interceptions (3 TDs) S Scottie Peterson: 72 tackles, 24 assists, 4 interceptions (1 TD) CB Dominic Pieri: 46 tackles, 12 assists, 8 interceptions (2 TDs) Awards QB Mercury de los Santos was voted the league MVP, and was the AP 1st team QB. S Rod Pride was Defensive Player of the Year for the 6th time, and was voted to the AP 1st team. Other All-Pros were 1st teamers WR Dominic Hussey, DT Blaine Houston and CB Dominic Pieri and 2nd teamer Kelvin Barnett. Team statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 4.0/Defence 3.8/League 3.8 Pass: Offence 8.0/Defence 6.2/League 6.5 Yards per game Offence: Rush 89.5 (33), Pass 336.3 (1) Defence: Rush 96.8 (12), Pass 216.8 (20) The offence got back to its usual level of performance after a couple of poor years, mainly due to a bit more continuity at QB. Defensively, the numbers still aren't brilliant, but coach Bradford seems to have made a difference to this side of the ball (as I hoped he would). A very solid season, culminating in the Super Bowl, but it almost didn't happen - the Championship Game against Portland is one that will stay in the memories of the White Sturgeon for a long time, as they had some great chances to win it. Martin |
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02-11-2001, 02:49 PM
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#17 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2035 season
Rounding up the 2034 season Herb: 100/74/0/72 - average 57 Finances: The reason for the zero in the Herb score is obvious when you look at the balance sheet - I appear to have been paying my scout 10 times what I thought! Not a good thing to go on the record of the franchise - a one-year loss of $383.1m because of an administrative error in a contract. After trying to sack the person responsible (and failing, because it's a bit difficult to sack yourself!), I got on with trying to make the franchise profitable again. After the cock-up with resigning B.J Nix, I have to let the long-serving scout go (although I don't need to give him a golden handshake!). I target Lamar Blades as his replacement - a very good judge of young players, especially receivers. He accepts a 5-year deal at $500,000 per year (a figure which was closely scrutinised before the contract was offered, it goes without saying! ) Coach Eric Bradford returns for another year, having done a solid job in his first season with the team.No retirements this year (so Rod Pride comes back for his 15th year), but Ray Stacy joins Clay Mugford in the Thunder Walkers Hall of Fame (which is currently being constructed as part of the stadium reconstruction work) - the 16-year veteran was a cornerstone of the defence for most of his career, and this is recognition of his efforts. Ticket prices: No increase except to VR boxes once more. Richmond: 130/145/158/205/0/8500/375000/107000 Washington: 159/163/176/224/0/9900/456000/107000 An easy decision for the franchise tag this year - only two unrestricted free agents (C Edward Kelley is the other), and DT Anthony Washington is the key player on the defensive line, so is tagged. The team has 34 players signed and $19.5m of a $211.2m cap free - a tight cap year again, but only to be expected with the low increases from the TV contract. No action in free agency this year - the cap situation is simply too tight. I resign G Ethan Coder before the draft - he's become the anchor of the offensive line in a hurry, and receives a 4-year, $27.90m contract. LB Warren McConnell gets a renegotiated deal worth $18.33m over 3 years and CB Broderick Herndon gets a 4-year deal worth $40.50m, which ties two solid veteran players up for a few more years. To clear some cap room, QB Shannnon Bullock is released - he's a decent backup, but is making too much money (at $5m this season) to keep - along with LB Kurt Fuller, a past second round pick who hasn't really panned out. Apart from the perennial need for a starting-quality player at defensive end, depth is the main concern in this draft - a backup QB is a must, as Malcolm Wynn is in the last year of his contract, while a decent backup RB would be handy and depth on defence is a bit lacking. A starting center would also be handy. There is a really solid-looking safety available at my pick - current ratings in the 50s with a lot of potential - but he's not particularly good on interceptions, so I decide to pass in favour of filling that nagging hole at DE. This pick is a bit of a reach, but I have a big need for a decent player there, as I've been filling in with defensive tackles for several years now. Two low second round picks this year after last year's trade with Chicago - a solid offensive tackle drops to the bottom of the second round - not a big need area, but too good a player to pass up at a hard-to-get position. Jacksonville pick the CB I would have taken with the next pick, so I take another DE - he won't contribute much straight off, but should develop into a decent player. BPA is the call for the third-round pick, as I select a guy who is the latest in a long line of solid offensive guards to be drafted by the Thunder Walkers. 1 - Rico Gomez, DE - should start straight away at DE 2 - Trevor Branch, T - solid player with good all-round skills 2 - Terrance Aaron, DE - will be a reasonable backup for a few years 3 - Marco Mangum, G - better run-blocker, but a decent pass protector as well 4 - Shannon Henderson, LB - projects as a solid run-stopper 5 - Jerald Horton, FB - simply too good to pass up here 6 - Fred Wiggins, QB - solid QB this low in a very deep QB draft 7 - Brady Barton, RB - best back available The Falcons (who announced that they are to move to Hartford in 2040 after the draft) offer a trade for T Cole Patterson with a decent veteran LB and their second round pick next year in exchange. Patterson is the team's best offensive tackle, but the team is deep at T at the moment - past first-rounder Jesse Segalas is now ready to start, and Ricky Clemons is still solid (if a little short on endurance). Depth is reasonable as well, so I pull the trigger on this trade. This leaves the team with 41 players signed and $17.2m cap room free, but we still have to sign DT Washington (the team didn't have enough cap room at the end of the draft for him to sign his one-year tender, but it is OK (as far as I'm aware) to resign a franchise player in this position). The big guy agrees to a 4-year, $29.30m contract, and will return to play nose tackle for the Walkers. G Tony Roberson also agrees terms at this point - the restricted free agent comes back on a 3-year, $18.60m contract. I need to release a couple of veteran backups to clear enough cap room to fit 53 players under the cap, but I manage to lose only players who had little future with the team anyway. No busts or breakouts in camp, although I have a feeling that the coach is holding back a couple of players in terms of development. Preseason: 3-1, with LB Warren McConnell the only injury worth worrying about - he'll miss about a month. The 2035 season starts with Arizona visiting Richmond, and the Walkers come out fast, scoring TDs on their first two drives on the way to a 49-7 victory. Week 2 sees the Thunder Walkers travel to St. Louis, and they make it a round 100 points in two games with a 51-24 win - the Mexican Montana throwing 5 TD passes, and the defence coming up with three interceptions and five sacks. The frenetic scoring continues against the Giants in week 3, with the Walkers leaving New York with a 49-18 win. de los Santos again throws for 5 TDs, with Dominic Hussey scoring on each of his 3 catches. The bye week in week 4 slows the scoring barrage, but the Walkers still manage to leave Washington with a victory, coming out on top 31-24. CB Pieri returns an interception for a score, while DT Houston makes his presence felt with 3.5 sacks. Dallas feels the force of the Richmond offence in week 6, going down 45-7, with de los Santos putting in his third five-touchdown performance of the season. Rod Pride came up with two of the Walkers' four interceptions to further extend his league record. The desert heat gets to Richmond in week 7, though, as the Cardinals win a defensive struggle 16-3. It seems that this game knocked the offence out of gear, as the Mexican Montana was required to throw two fourth-quarter TD passes to clinch victory over Philadelphia by a score of 24-17. A tricky trip to New England was successful on the back of a big defensive performance - S Pride came up with two of the four Walkers interceptions, and backup QB Wynn threw two TD passes in a 31-21 win. Washington visited the Richmond Municipal Stadium in week 10, with the Walkers playing solidly to win 41-24. The Redskins took the opening kickoff back for a TD, but the safety combination of Scottie Peterson (kickoff return TD) and Rod Pride (interception returned for a TD) more than made up for that. The Giants visit to Richmond ended in the unusual scoreline of 20-2, with the Thunder Walkers' defence putting on a show. The Mexican Montana left the game early once again, with Wynn doing a decent job in relief, but will be able to start in week 12. The Jets make a lot of big plays on their visit to Richmond, but de los Santos recovers from an early interception returned for a TD to throw two TD passes and run for another in a 27-20 Walkers win. Portland are no match for the Mexican Montana and the Thunder Walkers defence in week 13, being rolled over 31-0 in a very one-sided game. The Walkers cause the TV commentators nightmares with their visit to Philadelphia by starting Peterson and Peterson at safety, but this wasn't on anyone's mind after the game as the Eagles won a wild game by the score of 62-59 in overtime (yes, you did read that correctly - Philadelphia 62, Richmond 59!). de los Santos had yet another 5-TD game, but ex-Walker RB Clay Horn ran in five TDs of his own as the Eagles kept their hopes of the division title alive. The Mexican Montana is held out of the visit to Dallas after picking up an injury late in the Eagles game, and it shows as the Cowboys dominate in an easy 35-14 victory. de los Santos returns ahead of schedule to start the game against Chicago, and throws a TD pass to fellow injury returnee Shaun Buckley as the Walkers win 27-15. Buffalo threaten to cause an upset in the final week of the regular season as they take a 17-0 lead into the locker room at the half in Richmond, but the half-time pep talk works as the Walkers come back with 20 unanswered points to sneak their 13th victory of the year.
13-3 is good enough to take the NFC East (although the Eagles made it tough, finishing only one game behind) and have home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. Jacksonville finished 13-3 in the AFC, so it's not clear if I have home-field advantage if I make the Bowl. With a couple of upsets in the wild card round, St. Louis are the Walkers' opponents in the divisional round. A scoreless first period is fairly even, but Richmond take control in the second quarter with two de los Santos TDs and a Pieri interception return. The Rams get a score just before the half to trail 21-7. Any hope of a St. Louis comeback is snuffed out as de los Santos throws two more TDs in the second half to finish off a 35-10 Walkers victory. Green Bay are the opponents in the NFC Championship game. Injuries at WR force the Walkers to use normal starting RB Kenny Woodson as their third WR - Hussey and Buckley are probably out for the year. Rookie Brady Barton gets the start at RB. The Mexican Montana makes the problems at receiver irrelevant as he finds Kelvin Barnett for three first half TDs to put the result beyond doubt by the half. Stand-in WR Kenny Woodson also catches a TD pass as the Walkers roll to a 37-6 win. Woodson caught 7 passes for 132 yards, while Barnett made 12 receptions for 173 yards. The AFC representative in the Super Bowl is Seattle, who benefitted from #1 seed Jacksonville's failure to get past the divisional round. Richmond start out fast, with rookie Brady Barton opening the scoring on a 4-yard run and WR Nicky Jensen doubling the lead to 14-0 by catching de los Santos's 7-yard TD pass late in the first quarter. The Mexican Montana let Seattle get back into the game by throwing a pass straight to Seahawks DB Gary Gillespie, who returned the gift for a TD. Seattle closed to 14-13 with two Russell field goals - there was no further scoring until the start of the fourth quarter. Richmond CB Dominic Pieri turned the game back towards the Thunder Walkers by picking off Seattle QB Johnson, and returning the interception for a TD, making the score 21-13. Barnett's catch on de los Santos's second TD of the day made the game safe, with Branch adding a late field goal to make the final score Seattle 13, Richmond 31. Dominic Pieri was voted the Super Bowl MVP for his game-turning interception - not bad for a guy who was passed up by all the other 35 teams in the first round of the draft a few years back for being a bit short to play CB in the NFL (the Mighty Mite is 5 feet 6 tall...) Statistics QB Mercury de los Santos: (15 games) 308-544-4377-41-18 (qbr 94.1), 59-257-4 rushing RB Kenny Woodson: 137-699-2 (5.1 ypc), 36-350-2 receiving WR Kelvin Barnett: 98-1576-12 (16.0 ypc), 55.0% caught, 7 drops WR Dominic Hussey: 70-1086-16 (15.5 ypc), 54.6% caught, 14 drops WR Shaun Buckley: (9 games) 46-697-5 (15.1 ypc), 47.4% caught, 7 drops TE Mercury Lee: 47-551-5 (11.7 ypc), 74.6% caught, 3 drops The offence was on fire early in the season, but cooled late in the regular season (Buckley's injury was a big part of this - he caught a lot of balls as the third receiver early on). RB Woodson is rapidly becoming a very accomplished player - he might be the first back in a long time I'd think about resigning after his rookie contract expires. DT Blaine Houston: 49 tackles, 7 assists, 11.0 sacks DT Anthony Washington: 30 tackles, 21 assists, 9.5 sacks LB Kenneth Wolcott: (14 games) 63 tackles, 25 assists, 4.5 sacks LB Warren McConnell: (13 games) 62 tackles, 12 assists, 5.5 sacks S Rod Pride: (14 games) 77 tackles, 26 assists, 8 interceptions (2 TDs) S Scottie Peterson: 62 tackles, 33 assists, 4 interceptions (2 TDs) CB Broderick Herndon: 51 tackles, 17 assists, 3 interceptions CB Dominic Pieri: 51 tackles, 19 assists, 6 interceptions (1 TD) KR/PR Scottie Peterson: 12.4/punt return, 24.7/kick return, 3 TDs Another solid defensive performance - this unit has really improved under coach Bradford. S Rod Pride was on course for yet another career year until being caught by injuries in the second half of the regular season - he started several games while not 100%. Awards No big awards this year, as Jacksonville had great performances from their QB and S. Making the AP 1st team this year were WR Kelvin Barnett (6th selection), DT Blaine Houston, CB Dominic Pieri and S Rod Pride (8th selection). 2nd teamers were QB Mercury de los Santos and WR Dominic Hussey. Team Statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 4.1/Defence 4.3/League 3.8 Pass: Offence 7.8/Defence 5.7/League 6.6 Yards per game Offence: Rush 98.0 (24), Pass 320.8 (1) Defence: Rush 120.3 (34), Pass 194.5 (6) The run defence doesn't look very good this year, but these numbers are skewed a lot by that freak game in Philadelphia (a back picking up almost 300 yards on 20-odd carries tends to make the numbers look a bit strange!) Other than this, the team played about as well as any GM could hope. Onto 2036, then, and the Walkers are looking for a hat-trick of Super Bowls (or at least another Super Bowl before the key players in this team retire (de los Santos, Barnett, Hussey and Pride are all past their prime)). Martin |
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02-16-2001, 02:53 PM
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#18 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2036 season
Rounding up the 2035 season Herb: 100/83/55/73 - average 77 Finances: A profit of $54.3m on revenues of $363.7m, a big improvement over 2034. This should improve further this year with the completion of the stadium upgrade - no more payments for the building work, and more income from a bigger capacity and more boxes. Two ex-Thunder Walkers are inducted into the Hall of Fame this season - WRs Andre Leff and Clay Mugford, who were a big part of the Richmond offence for many years back in the 2020s. Leff was signed as a free agent in 2022, and was part of the powerful passing offence that carried the Walkers to two Super Bowls in the mid-20s. No retirements again this year, so Rod Pride will return for a 16th season (as long as I can get him resigned...) I decide to try and resign B.J. Nix as my scout - the only reason I dumped him was the salary I'd mistakenly given him in 2034. My initial offer is $700,000 per year for 5 years, which Nix accepts straight away - a good guy to resign. I can't complain about the performance of Eric Bradford as coach of the Thunder Walkers (two years as coach, two Super Bowls and only 5 defeats in 38 games), but I decide to try and make a change - Junior Henselman, a defensive mastermind, is offered a 5-year deal for $4m per year, which is accepted straight away. Apart from his skills on the defensive side of the ball, Henselman offers much better player development skills, which are likely to come in very handy as the Walkers are likely to need to rebuild in the next couple of years. Ticket prices: I reduce prices by 25% (as promised when trying to get enough support for a stadium rebuild), but increase the VR boxes in line with Washington's prices once more. Richmond: 100/110/135/150/0/ 6250/275000/120000 Washington: 161/164/177/225/0/10200/462000/120000 Only two unrestricted free agents this year, but they're two veteran leaders for the Thunder Walkers - WR Dominic Hussey and S Rod Pride. Pride has been franchised already (all the way back in 2025!), so Hussey gets the tag this year - I don't know if I want to resign him, but it won't hurt to put the franchise tag on him. Jacksonville come in with a trade offer for T Ricky Clemons - they're offering their 3rd round pick this year. Clemons is a better player than that, but is in the last year of his contract, is starting to decline, and backup on the offensive line is reasonably solid at the moment - he's sent off to Florida. This also has the advantage of clearing a fair bit of cap room - this move leaves me with 31 players signed and $35.6m of a $211.8m cap free. With a reasonable amount of cap room, I make an offer of $21.70m over 2 years to Rod Pride - a lot of money for a 16-year veteran, but this is a guy I really want to keep until he retires (last season showed that he is still a great player, even at the age of 35). He gets a lot of attention in free agency (around a dozen teams put in offers), but he decides to remain in Richmond in week 4. This is the only move I make in free agency - the cap situation is a bit easier than in past years, but I don't want to make things worse in the future. Philadelphia offer a trade for LB Kenneth Wolcott after the end of free agency - they're offering a decent safety with stone hands and their second-round pick. Wolcott is a solid player, but isn't good in coverage, and I have reasonable backups at the moment, so I take the trade - this makes the Walkers very deep at safety - all four of my current players are starter-quality. I agree a deal with my franchise player, WR Dominic Hussey, at this point - he signs a 3-year contract worth $22.39m. He's started to lose a bit of pace, but is still more than capable of being a productive receiver for at least two of the three years of this deal. This leaves me a bit tight for cap room - 33 players signed with $19.3m left - enough to sign my draft picks, but a cut or two will be needed to fit 53 players under the cap. Before heading to the draft, I start contract negotiations with QB Mercury de los Santos - he's in the last year of his current deal, and would be willing to take a pay cut in order to help the team. He's starting to decline, but I don't have anyone ready to take over, so it's an easy decision to get him signed to a new deal. I hope that the 13th year veteran will be around for two or three years more, so I offer a four year deal initially - he's not sold on it, but would be happy with a 3-year contract. A 3-year, $65.24m contract is agreed - the signing bonus makes up almost half of this, but this is a contract which gives me a solid QB for a few more years and a bit more cap room this year (in other words, worth the risk). The Thunder Walkers look to be in good shape heading into the draft, but several key players are fast approaching the end of their career, and replacements are needed now. Wide receiver is a big concern, with both Barnett and Hussey unlikely to be around in a couple of seasons time, and some young depth at linebacker will be a good investment, as McConnell and Kennedy are starting to slow down. After the trade with Philadelphia for T Clemons, a good backup offensive tackle is also a need. This is a big draft for the Thunder Walkers, as we have three second-round picks and an extra pick near the bottom of the third round - these high picks could yield the starting-quality players I need... After the usual wait until the bottom of the first round, I take a look at what's available - there are quite a few decent second-rounders around, but not many guys I feel are good enough to justify a first-rounder. I narrow the choice down to two - a decent receiver who has slightly questionable hands, but is a solid route-runner with good speed, or a run-stuffing linebacker with little apparent potential. These are both need positions in the near future, but I decide to go with the receiver - a ready-made replacement for Kelvin Barnett, who will be a free agent next season. There appears to be more depth at linebacker - I doubt the guy I'm looking at will last, but there are a few others who look to be solid players. My next pick is the 17th in the second round, and the LB I was looking at in the first round is still available - a solid player who can play straight off, and a possible breakout as well. With my second pick of the round, I take the backup T I was looking for - a guy who looks to be a solid pass-blocker with a bit of time. The last pick of the round goes towards filling the black hole at defensive end - the guy I go for isn't going to be a star, but should be a solid player. The two picks late in the third round go on a useful C (perhaps the first decent C I've had for quite a few years in this challenge!) and a RB who should have gone a lot higher. Rnd 1 - Harvey Bednarsh, WR - should be another great Walkers receiver Rnd 2 - Brandon Perkins, T - a good fit for the Walkers' pass-happy offence Rnd 2 - Warren Mickens, DE - nothing spectacular, but as good a DE as I've seen this far down Rnd 2 - Ty Whalen, LB - could be a starter from day 1 Rnd 3 - Antonio Hoffmann, RB - will see a lot of playing time this season Rnd 3 - Luke Roberson, C - more a run-blocker, but a good player to get here Rnd 4 - Mike McDougall, TE - a need pick, but a guy with good hands Rnd 5 - Vinny Gunn, CB - a reasonable backup this low down Rnd 6 - Rondell Bynaker, DT - great value this low down - can play a bit now, and a lot of potential Rnd 7 - Don Locher, QB - pure redliner prospect, but will serve as a reasonable backup whatever happens A solid draft - a lot of players I felt would go higher dropped to my picks, and I managed to fill a lot of holes (as I should be expecting, given I had six picks on the first day!) Oakland put in a trade offer for WR Dominic Hussey - a scrub DE and a third round pick are the terms. Hussey is a veteran, but he's just signed a new contract, and I can't afford the cap hit next year if I take the trade. The draft leaves me with 43 players signed and $7.6m cap room left - given UDFAs are wanting $760,000, this is just about enough cap room (the first time since the early years of the franchise there's not been some roster shuffling at this point! ) Even with this luxury, I decide to offer LB Billy Joe Kennedy a renegotiated contract of $19.00m over 3 years - this opens up close to $1m more cap room. After loading up on rookie free agents, the team heads to camp with enough cap room to sign an injury replacement for the first time in years...One of my draftees does break out in camp - unfortunately, it's not LB Ty Whalen. QB Don Locher now looks to be a respectable backup instead of a complete scrub - not bad for the last pick in the draft. Several trade offers come in, but all are rejected. The ticket price cutting appears to have been successful - tickets to Thunder Walkers games are almost impossible to get a hold of, with the stadium sold out on season tickets alone, even with the increased capacity. Preseason: 4-0, but QB de los Santos and CB Pieri will both miss several weeks at the start of the season - second year QB Fred Wiggins will get the start in the season opener, while backup S Oscar Peterson will fill in at CB. The opening weekend sees a full house in the newly renovated Richmond Municipal Stadium, but the Walkers fail to give the home fans a win - the visiting Jaguars score with 41 seconds left to sneak a 23-20 win. Wiggins has a reasonable game at QB, but fails to throw a TD pass despite connecting with seven different receivers. Washington are the visitors in week 2, and also leave with a victory. Wiggins is at least partly to blame, having a poor game with 3 interceptions as the Redskins left with a 26-16 victory. With the offence struggling, QB de los Santos hobbles out for the week 3 game against the Giants, and proceeds to spark the offence to 30 points. The story of this game, though, was the defence, holding New York to under 200 yards of total offence and no points. The Walkers then made their first road trip of the year, facing an unbeaten Browns team. The offence again put in a solid performance, with RBs Hoffman and Woodson combining for 3 TDs on the ground, but a late Cleveland field goal broke a tie at 31 to drop the Walkers to 1-3. A win in the desert looked to be a must if the Walkers were to have any chance of defending their division title, and the team played as if they knew it against Arizona - three TD passes from the Mexican Montana got the team 21-3 ahead at the half, and Hoffman and Woodson again scored on the ground as the Walkers eased to a 41-10 win. Dallas were the next opposition, and another complete team performance led to the Thunder Walkers rolling the Cowboys over to the tune of 29-9. RB Kenny Woodson put in a rare 100-yard rushing day for Richmond as the offence recovered from early turnovers to grind up the Dallas defence. Arizona visited the Municipal Stadium after the week 8 bye, and proved to be as hapless as they were in the desert earlier in the year. Both de los Santos and Wiggins threw TD passes in a 35-14 rout. de los Santos had to leave the game with a shoulder problem, though, and will miss several weeks for the second time this season. Fred Wiggins got the start at QB for the big divisional game with Philadelphia, and came through with a solid performance, throwing for 344 yards and two TDs to Kelvin Barnett. A 33-7 win flatters the Thunder Walkers, though, with 17 points coming in the last 3 minutes of the game. St. Louis were the visitors in week 10 in a game with big playoff implications - both teams came in at 5-3. A Wiggins interception was returned for a TD to give the Rams a fast start, but the QB came back with 2 TD passes, and Kenny Woodson had another solid game (149 yards and 2 TDs) as the Walkers scored two late TDs to take the game 31-17. Another big game in week 11, as the Walkers went to the 7-2 Redskins, and the offence came up big, with Fred Wiggins throwing for 395 yards and 3 TDs, two to Dominic Hussey, in a 37-18 Richmond win. A visit to New York threw up another tough divisional matchup, but the Walkers put in another big performance to take the victory. The defence was the difference, with the secondary coming up with four interceptions, two by veteran S Rod Pride. At 8-3 at this point, the Walkers have a 1-game lead in the division, and are tied with Portland for the best record in the NFC, but have only one more home game before a four-game road trip to finish the regular season. The last game in Richmond is against the Packers, and the Walkers start slow, going behind 23-7 early in the second half. The team pull together in a big way, though, and pull off an amazing comeback with 44 second half points, scoring on offence, defence and special teams. The Eagles halt the winning streak in week 13, though, sneaking a defensive game 10-9 with the game's only TD to pull back within a game of Richmond's 9-4 record. A comfortable win over the 49ers on the back of two de los Santos TD passes and four Tice field goals gets the momentum back in the push for the division title. Baltimore take the wind out of the Walkers' sails in week 16, though, as they score a late TD to force overtime, then put away the winner to post a shock 37-31 scoreline. This makes the final game of the regular season in Dallas a must-win for Richmond - a win guarantees the division title and a first round bye in the playoffs. The Walkers make the playoff permutations if they lose irrelevant with a fast start against the Cowboys - three de los Santos TD passes in the first quarter give Richmond a 21-0 lead, which was never really in peril, although the Cowboys did manage to close within a score late in the game. Three Tice field goals sealed a 30-21 win and a first round bye in the playoffs.
Washington win their first round game, and are the opponents for the divisional round - this is a team which rolled over the Walkers early in the year, so it will not be an easy game. The Thunder Walkers produce one of their better performances, with RB Woodson scoring twice on the ground and the defence only allowing the Redskins a field goal in a crushing 34-3 victory. This sets up the NFC Championship against the Portland White Sturgeon - both teams finished 11-5, but the Walkers have the tiebreaker and will be at home. With the teams as closely matched as they are, this could make a big difference. A close game early on (a de los Santos TD pass was partly cancelled out by a Portland field goal) was blown open in the second quarter as de los Santos threw three more TDs for a 28-3 Walkers lead at the half. This pretty well killed off the game as a contest, with the Mexican Montana throwing his fifth TD pass in the fourth quarter to finish off a 38-6 thrashing and put the Thunder Walkers in their third straight Super Bowl. The big show, pitting the Thunder Walkers against Jacksonville, would be played in the renovated Richmond Municipal Stadium, as the 11-5 Jaguars qualified for the playoffs as a wild card team. An exciting game was anticipated with the two teams noted for their offensive firepower, but no-one expected what actually happened. The 'Shootout Super Bowl' saw the teams combine for well over 1000 yards of offence, 97 points and 13 touchdowns as the defences forgot to turn up. Richmond jumped out to an early 21-0 lead as the Mexican Montana found his touch early, but Jacksonville's star QB Edwin Von Hagel pulled one back later in the first quarter. de los Santos, though, kept his incredible passing going, connecting with veteran WR Kelvin Barnett twice inside three minutes to put the Walkers up 35-7, but Jacksonville got themselves back in touch before the half as Von Hagel fired two more TD passes to make the halftime score 42-28. The Thunder Walkers kept their offensive momentum going over halftime, though, and managed to put two more TDs on the board in the third quarter to put the game away. The Jags put two field goals on the board in reply to the Mexican Montana's record eighth TD pass of the game in the fourth quarter to make the final score Jacksonville 34, Richmond 63. Those air raid sirens favoured by the Thunder Walker faithful were never as apt as they were in this game... Mercury de los Santos put the seal on his reputation as a big game player as he finished with the incredible statistics of 31 completions from 38 attempts for 564 yards and 8 TDs as five different Thunder Walker receivers caught TD passes. Unsurprisingly, he was voted as the Super Bowl MVP. The defensive highlight was DE Corwin Hesse, playing his first game in several weeks - he finished with 2 tackles and 3.5 sacks. S Rod Pride, playing possibly the last game of his long and illustrious career, picked off yet another pass in the postseason (making it four in three games in the 2036 playoffs for the 16-year veteran). Statistics QB Mercury de los Santos: (10 games) 230-404-3308-22-7 (qbr 94.5), 32-154-0 rushing QB Fred Wiggins: (8 games, 6 starts) 149-267-2044-10-11 (qbr 75.7) RB Kenny Woodson: 162-825-10 (15.0 ypc), 45-413-3 receiving WR Shaun Buckley: 87-1280-4 (14.7 ypc), 58.3% caught, 10 drops WR Kelvin Barnett: 76-1213-10 (15.9 ypc), 60.3% caught, 11 drops WR Dominic Hussey: 56-894-7 (15.9 ypc), 46.2% caught, 3 drops WR Harvey Bednarsh: 56-869-4 (15.5 ypc), 56.0% caught, 5 drops The offence was very solid this year, with RB Woodson being a big part of this - he gives the Walkers enough of a running game to open up some holes in the pass coverage. All four receivers contributed this year, no matter who the QB was. Wiggins did a reasonable job in relief, but I would like to see less interceptions. DT Blaine Houston: 23 tackles, 14 assists, 12.0 sacks DT Anthony Washington: 32 tackles, 16 assists, 8.0 sacks LB Joseph Butkus: 86 tackles, 25 assists, 2 interceptions LB Ty Whalen: 83 tackles, 45 assists, 3.5 sacks LB Warren McConnell: 42 tackles, 9 assists, 7.5 sacks S Scottie Peterson: 62 tackles, 23 assists, 3 interceptions S Rod Pride: 57 tackles, 20 assists, 5 interceptions S Oscar Peterson: 34 tackles, 9 assists, 5 interceptions CB Broderick Herndon: 36 tackles, 6 assists, 5 interceptions (1 TD) Awards QB Mercury de los Santos made up for his failure to pick up any of the other big awards by being the only choice for Super Bowl MVP. LB Ty Whalen was the Defensive Rookie of the Year, while WR Shaun Buckley, WR Kelvin Barnett and K Nate Tice were voted to the AP 2nd team. Team Statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 4.2/Defence 3.7/League 3.7 Pass: Offence 7.9/Defence 6.4/League 6.5 Yards per game Offence: Rush 98.1 (22), Pass 334.5 (1) Defence: Rush 96.8 (23), Pass 217.1 (19) A solid year on both sides of the ball - the offensive numbers held up very well given the lack of continuity at QB, and the defence doesn't need to be doing any more than this for the team to be successful. The Thunder Walkers head into the last third of the challenge on a roll, having won it all in each of the last three seasons - there are problems ahead, though, as de los Santos won't last forever, and several other key players are getting towards pensionable age (for a footballer!). It will be interesting to see how things go, especially how the franchise copes without the Mexican Montana... Martin |
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02-17-2001, 05:57 AM
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#19 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2037 season
Rounding up the 2036 season Herb: 100/79/75/73 - average 82 Finances: The Walkers posted a profit of $187.8m on revenues of $497.0m, mainly due to the completion of the expansion and renovations on Richmond Municipal Stadium - revenues were up by 36%, mainly due to the increased amount of luxury boxes installed in the reconstruction. Two Thunder Walker greats retired this offseason: WR Kelvin Barnett was part of some of the great offences in Thunder Walker history. His early years were spent as the junior partner in the receiver trio of Mugford, Leff and Barnett which took Richmond to two Super Bowls, but he proved himself as a great player in his own right in the years he started at flanker after Andre Leff left the team. He finished his career with over 1000 receptions at well over 16 yards per catch, and lies second behind his receiving partner Clay Mugford in the receiving yards (16,856) and receiving TD (130) lists. S Rod Pride was simply the best defensive player to play the game in the 2020s and 2030s. Six times the Defensive Player of the Year, Pride racked up a league record 103 interceptions, and made over 1000 tackles in his 16-year career. He took over as the starting free safety from the Thunder Walkers' first star safety, Nathan El Nino, back in 2023, and played at a consistently high level throughout his career, culminating in four interceptions in three games in his final playoff series in the run to Richmond's third consecutive Super Bowl in 2036. No change at scout this year, as B.J. Nix has settled back into his accustomed role, but I may make coach Henselman a one-year wonder, as he seems to have slipped a bit already (surprising given he's only in his mid-50s). I have to start giving coaches a chance to get settled - it seems at the moment that even winning the Super Bowl isn't good enough for me I put in an offer of $9.0m per year for Alvin Jenkins, another defensive genius who should work wonders with the guys in the trenches. He takes a bit of time to think about it, but signs up with the Thunder Walkers in the middle of the staff hiring period. Henselman isn't on the dole queue very long, though, as the Panthers pick him up on a 1-year deal. Ticket prices: Not too much change this year - just a small general increase. Richmond: 105/115/140/155/0/ 6500/290000/132000 Washington: 163/165/178/228/0/10500/471000/132000 Only two unrestricted free agents this year, but they're both important players - RB Kenny Woodson and S Scottie Peterson (who has already been franchised). I never thought I would consider franchising a running back in the offence I'm running, but Woodson is as close to a perfect fit as I'm going to get, so he gets the tag this year. I have a couple of restricted free agents I'd be interested in resigning as well - S Oscar Peterson would be a starter if resigned, and the kicking duo of K Nate Tice and P Jeffrey Schlesinger were solid last year. At this point of the season, I have 35 players signed, and $29.4m cap room left - not a great deal, given I've got a running back to sign to a long-term deal, but this should be enough. Washington come in with a trade offer before the start of free agency - G Ethan Coder for a horrendously expensive scrub DT and their first round pick (28th). Coder is the key to my offensive line, but I have a couple of very solid players behind him, and he's in the last year of his contract. Against this, I don't want to help out a division rival. The draft appears to be reasonably deep this year, though, and I could do with help in other areas, so I take the trade (and release the DT immediately )Scottie Peterson is the best safety available in free agency by miles, and gets snapped up by Indianapolis by week 3 - I could have fitted him in under the cap, but I didn't feel that it was essential, as I have two solid players remaining on the roster (and I'll be looking out for defensive backfield help in the draft). In week 11 of free agency, I see that the best WR (Willie Large) on the board is still available - this interests me, as I'm going to lose WR Hussey fairly soon (which would leave me a bit thin at a very important position). I put in an offer of $34.75m over 4 years in week 11 (which is peanuts for a starting-quality WR), and he signs in week 13. Late in free agency, I spot a LB with a lot of potential I was looking to draft last year - he's wanting a bonus-free contract, so I put in $9.00m over 3 years, which is accepted in week 20. Devin Scherer isn't that good in coverage, but he projects as a monster run-stuffer, which would be very useful for my defence. This contract also has the advantage of no penalty in future years if he doesn't work out and has to be released. Two interesting trade offers arrived on my desk at the end of free agency - Indianapolis want DE Rico Gomez in exchange for their first round pick (32nd), and Colorado Springs want to take backup RB Antonio Hoffmann off my hands for their second round pick. I turn down the Black Squirrels, as Hoffman is a very solid player - I doubt I could get a better replacement with the pick they're offering. The trade offer for Gomez is a different matter, though, as I have a lot of reasonable (but not exceptional) defensive ends at the moment, and DT Blaine Houston is set as the starter at one DE slot. He's signed for several more years, but there won't be a big cap hit next year (as the bonus wasn't all that big) - in the end, I decide to take the trade, and get another (yet) another draft pick in the lower reaches of the first round. I begin negotiations with franchise player Kenny Woodson at this point, and we quickly come to terms on a 4-year, $38.30m deal. I also renegotiate a few deals at this point: WR Shaun Buckley: $38.80m over 4 years G Tony Roberson: $19.20m over 3 years DT Blaine Houston: $40.85m over 4 years CB Dominic Pieri: $41.90m over 4 years This leaves me with 36 players signed and $23.4m cap room left - starting to get a bit tight, as I have three first round picks to sign. There are a couple of players I would like to get signed to long-term deals, but I'll have to wait and see if there's enough cap room available after the draft. Heading into the draft, the Walkers have the last pick in each round, plus 28 and 32 in the first round - this is a chance to get several starters in one draft. The big needs are on the offensive line and in the defensive backfield, and getting a QB who can start in a year or two is also in the back of my mind, but depth all over the team would be very useful. A solid-looking QB falls to my first pick - not the best all-rounder I've ever seen, but he's strong in the areas he needs to excel in to run my offence (short passing, accuracy and third down passing). If he doesn't bust (hopefully!), he should be a very useful QB in a year or two. This draft looked very deep for offensive linemen, but most of the best ones have gone in the first round, so I take a C with my second first-rounder - earlier than I really wanted, but this should give me an anchor in the middle of the O-line to replace Ethan Coder. CB isn't a big need, but I feel I can't pass up on a player who's capable of stepping straight into the starting lineup. He won't be asked to start straight off, but will be a very solid nickel back for a year or two. My pick at the bottom of the second round goes on a reasonable DE - not a potential great, but should be a contributor. The third round pick goes on a WR who is a bit of a reach at this point, but could be a potential breakout - he'll be a respectable backup whatever happens. 1 - Tony Dirita, QB - this sort of QB is usually taken in the first few picks 1 - Tyrell Lathrop, C - potentially the anchor for the offensive line for many years to come 1 - Curtis Montgomery, CB - a good fit for my defence - solid cover man 2 - Jack Simmons, DE - another attempt to fill that black hole at DE... 3 - Walt Schwartz, WR - decent backup receiver with breakout possibilities 4 - Jared Whipple, G - could bust (equal ratings), but a good player to pick up here 5 - Duane Boyer, LB - another solid young LB to add to the team's collection 6 - Tyrus Forsyth, S - a reasonable backup for a couple of years 7 - Louis Forsberg, FB - how did this guy drop this far? Potential All-Pro (in a better system!) This leaves the team with 45 players signed and $9.1m cap room free, but I need to get S Oscar Peterson under contract. Negotiations aren't the smoothest I've ever been involved in (I get the feeling he knew that the team needed him more than he needed the team!), so I eventually give him what he asked for to start with - a 3-year deal worth $20.24m. To free up enough cap room to get 53 players under the cap, I release LB Charlie Carlisle - the veteran came to Richmond in a trade with Atlanta, and played well as a part-time starter, but is now surplus to requirements. With the drafting of QB Dirita, Fred Wiggins is the odd man out at QB - he was in the last year of his contract anyway - and is also released. The team heads to camp after the signing of the one-year wonders, and everyone comes through unscathed, although my 3rd-round redline receiver doesn't show any sign of a big breakout. Preseason: 3-1, including a slightly lower scoring victory over Jacksonville in a Super Bowl rematch. A couple of fairly big injuries, including rookie CB Montgomery, who will miss a couple of months. K Nate Tice is also banged up, and will miss some time. The Black Squirrels provide the opposition in the Walkers' home opener. Richmond's offence never really gets going, with de los Santos throwing four picks, one returned for a TD, in a 24-17 defeat. The Mexican Montana doesn't usually have two bad games in a row, and the Giants took the brunt of his rebound - de los Santos threw 6 TD passes, including 3 to Willie Large in the first quarter as the Walkers pounded New York 45-13. Week 3 saw Dallas visit the Richmond Municipal Stadium, but the Cowboys were never in the hunt as the Walkers eased to a 37-3 win on the back of four de los Santos TD passes and three field goals. The show of offensive firepower continued against Washington in week 4, with RB Kenny Woodson scoring on a de los Santos pass as well as two TDs on the ground. The defence got in on the act as well, sacking the Redskins QB six times in a 34-14 victory. Oakland provide the opposition in week 5, and jump out to an early lead. The Walkers claw their way back into the game on two de los Santos TD passes and a TD run from the QB, but Oakland get two TDs inside the two minute warning to take the game 44-34. A trip to Dallas follows, and the Cowboys start out meaning to take revenge for their thumping earlier in the season, taking a 28-17 lead into the half. The Walkers, with Don Locher at QB, pull off the comeback, though, with Locher throwing the tying TD pass with a little under 5 minutes to play, and then driving the team down the field in the dying seconds for Tice's winning field goal. With de los Santos out for a few weeks, Locher gets the start at QB against Carolina, and proceeds to have an awful game as the Panthers roll out to a 33-7 win. Rookie QB Dirita gets the start against the Giants after the bye week, as de los Santos is still not quite ready to play, but the rookie throws three interceptions as the Giants win 17-13. Dirita starts against Arizona, but is pulled early for de los Santos, who proceeds to spark the offence to 37 points in a comfortable victory in the desert. The offence doesn't quite click against Denver in week 11, but the team does enough - de los Santos throws two TD passes to stand-in receiver Kenny Woodson, and Hoffmann and Woodson both score on the ground in an ultimately comfortable 45-17 win. At this point in the season, injuries are crippling the Thunder Walkers, especially at WR and in the secondary - two members of the starting secondary and a starting receiver are out for the year. The Mexican Montana may not have a full-strength receiving corps, but he still knows how to get the job done - four TD passes, including the game-winner in overtime, were enough to scrape a win over the Redskins in Washington to put the Walkers at 7-4. A big divisional game in Philadelphia in week 13, and the Walkers pulled off one of the great comebacks of all time - two TDs behind after the Eagles took two interceptions back for scores late in the fourth quarter, and Jennings takes the kickoff back for a score to pull within 7, then de los Santos finds Large in the endzone as time expires to take the game into OT, and Hussey catches the game-winner from de los Santos with only a couple of minutes left in the extra period. After four consecutive victories on the road, the Walkers returned to the Municipal Stadium for another big divisional clash, this time with the Cardinals. The defence, especially the patched-up secondary, comes up big, with Arizona's only TD coming on an interception return. The Richmond offence did enough to win the game on this foundation, the final score being 39-10, with most of the points late on. The final away game of the regular season in Chicago was closer than expected against a poor Bears team, but the Walkers still managed to come away with a 29-24 victory. The Walkers seem to have got the knack of winning ugly this season, as a poor offensive performance was masked by defensive heroics against Portland. Blasted by the White Sturgeon passing attack, the Richmond secondary came up with the big play when it mattered, a Montgomery interception return for a TD turning the game the Thunder Walkers' way. With the division in the bag, the week 17 game against Philadelphia is all about who gets home field advantage for the playoffs - St. Louis are currently in pole position with a 12-3 record, but the Walkers and Packers are close behind at 11-4. The Eagles, despite being three games behind, still have their own playoff hopes to consider - a win will clinch a wild card. An big all-round effort by the Walkers gets them a first round bye, though, as Kenny Woodson had his best rushing day of the year (127 yards and a TD on 13 carries) and the defence forced a safety and held the Eagles to only a field goal in a 29-3 win.
The week 17 win was enough to clinch home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, as an upset win for the 8-8 Vikings (#6 seed) in Green Bay earned them a trip to Richmond in the Divisional Round. The Thunder Walkers put on the sort of offensive show they seem to be able to turn on in the playoffs, though, with the Mexican Montana almost back to the form of last year's Super Bowl in throwing for 441 yards and 6 TDs. The defensive backfield also came up with three picks in a comfortable 58-21 win. This win set up a NFC Championship Game in Richmond against the Rams, who are kicking themselves for losing to the Falcons in week 17 (a win would have meant a home game at this stage for St. Louis). Injury problems meant that rookie free agent CB Carlos Jennings would get the start in the Richmond secondary - this area is vulnerable if the Rams can get their passing game working. The Rams drew first blood with an early field goal, but soon regretted not being able to drive it in from inside the Richmond 5 - the Thunder Walkers came back with three de los Santos TD passes to lead 21-3 at the end of the first. St. Louis scored a defensive TD to get back into the game, and kicked a couple of field goals later in the second quarter, but this wasn't enough to keep up with the Mexican Montana, who was in TD-slinging mood, adding another two to take his half-time tally to 5. Another de los Santos TD early in the third quarter basically ended the game as a contest, putting the Walkers up 35-16, with the teams exchanging scores in the remainder of the game to make the final score 55-26. The Thunder Walkers advance to their fourth consecutive Super Bowl, where they play the Jacksonville Jaguars in a rematch of the 2034 and 2036 bowl games. The difference with this matchup is the location - the Jaguars' 14-2 regular season record is good for home-field advantage in the big game. This made for a much more defensive game than the scorefest of last year's bowl, and it showed early on as the Jags scored the only points of the first half late in the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead to the locker room. The Thunder Walkers got their offence going early in the third quarter to tie the score at 7 with a de los Santos to Bednarsh connection from a yard out, but the Jags took the lead for good when the Walkers' patched up secondary let QB Von Hagel hit the long ball for the decisive TD. A late Tice field goal pulled the score back to 14-10 with three minutes to play, but the Walkers couldn't get the required TD in the time remaining. Statistics QB Mercury de los Santos: (13 games) 355-614-4254-36-20 (qbr 85.0), 41-181-1 rushing RB Kenny Woodson: 113-658-7 (5.8 ypc), 78-893-9 receiving WR Willie Large: 91-1090-11 (11.9 ypc), 60.6% caught, 13 drops WR Harvey Bednarsh: 76-966-7 (12.7 ypc), 55.8% caught, 19 drops WR Dominic Hussey: 53-702-5 (13.2 ypc), 51.9% caught, 10 drops Not a vintage year for the offence, not helped by the rash of injuries (last year's leading receiver, Shaun Buckley, only played in four games). Kenny Woodson justified the faith put in him by team management, having a solid year despite having to fill in at WR for several games. DT Blaine Houston: 33 tackles, 10 assists, 10.0 sacks DE Warren Mickens: 62 tackles, 8 assists, 5.0 sacks LB Billy Joe Kennedy: 68 tackles, 28 assists LB Shannon Henderson: 63 tackles, 23 assists, 2.0 sacks S Oscar Peterson: 70 tackles, 20 assists, 4 interceptions CB Dominic Pieri: 65 tackles, 17 assists, 5 interceptions (1 TD) The numbers aren't as high as in past seasons, as the starters in the secondary and at LB spent a good part of the season on the treatment table. Awards The injuries cut down on the number of Thunder Walkers featuring in the end-of-season awards, with only CB Dominic Pieri making the AP 1st team. RB Kenny Woodson and K Nate Tice were voted onto the AP 2nd team. Team Statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 4.8/Defence 3.7/League 3.8 Pass: Offence 6.7/Defence 6.2/League 6.6 Yards per game Offence: Rush 100.9 (22), Pass 308.2 (1) Defence: Rush 99.1 (10), Pass 208.5 (9) The defence kept the team ticking over this year, with the pass defence rating a remarkable achievement given the injuries to several starters at LB, CB and S. On the other side of the ball, the passing game had its worst year for a long time - this is mainly due to injuries at WR (and the change in gameplan forced by this), but the decline of QB de los Santos has to be a factor as well. A frustrating season with all the injuries, but the team did a very good job late in the year in adjusting to get the best results with the players available. Losing in the Bowl is never a good thing, but it was an achievement to get that far! Martin |
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02-17-2001, 01:19 PM
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#20 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2038 season
Rounding up the 2037 season Herb: 95/79/77/72 - average 81 Finances: A profit of $193.5m on revenues of $540.5m - another good year on the back of the refurbished stadium. Long-serving Thunder Walkers linebacker Warren McConnell retired during the offseason - a 13-year veteran, he took over as the leader of the defence after the retirement of legendary Walkers LB Ray Stacy. He didn't put up eye-catching numbers early in his career, but a change in the style of the Richmond defence in his last few years allowed him to pick up sacks and a bit more of the limelight. CB Mercury Hines was inducted into the league Hall of Fame this year - a long-time standout in the Thunder Walkers secondary, he was traded to Minnesota late in his career, and played a couple of years with the Vikings. It is his time in Richmond that he will be best remembered for - the gambling defensive scheme of the Walkers left him out on an island on a regular basis, which gave him many a chance to show off his finely honed coverage skills. No changes this year at coach and scout - the incumbents are the best available (and I need to get out of the habit of giving a successful coach the boot after a year or two! )Ticket prices - only a small hike for VR boxes this year. Richmond: 105/115/140/155/0/ 6500/290000/152000 Washington: 168/170/183/234/0/10700/485000/152000 Three unrestricted free agents this year - S Sedrick Bond, G Kendrick Stephenson and DE Corwin Hesse. I was planning to franchise Bond, but he lost quite a lot with his big injury last season. Hesse is a backup at best, so Stephenson gets the tag this year. With only $19.7m of a $213.0m cap free, it looks as though things could get a bit tight this season. The team does have 37 players signed, though, and there are a couple of veterans who have declined sharply in the last couple of years (WR Hussey and LB Kennedy) who are starting to look vulnerable. S Sedrick Bond goes to Tennessee in week 5 of free agency - this leaves me short at safety, but I didn't feel he was worth paying $9m a year for. This is the only action the Walkers see in free agency, as I don't see any player I feel is necessary for the team worth causing cap problems for. San Diego come in with a trade offer at the end of free agency - their fourth-round pick for C Luke Roberson. Roberson was originally a third-round pick, but hasn't worked out as well as I thought, and I have last year's first rounder, Tyrell Lathrop, waiting in the wings. The trade offer is accepted, giving the Walkers an additional mid-round pick. I agree terms with my franchise player at this point - G Kendrick Stephenson signs a 3-year, $19.35m contract. The team's needs going into the draft are defensive line, linebacker and safety, with the usual need for depth all over the team coming after this. There are a few players who meet a need available at the bottom of the first round, but I decide to go for a LB who should be a star in a year or two. There were a few decent safeties available here, but I thought that at least one would be available with my next pick. Unfortunately, all of the guys I was looking at were taken before the Walkers' next pick, so I went for a good pass-rushing DT who should provide a bit of depth on the defensive line. The pressing need at S forced me into a reach with my third round pick, taking a guy who would normally be backup-quality. 1 - Myron Floyd, LB - will start straight away, and a potential All-Pro 2 - Dana Tapia, DT - good pass-rusher with decent potential 3 - Leo Casillas, S - best safety left, and offers decent return skills 4 - Kenneth Kennedy, RB - too good a back to pass up here 4 - Wade Ansell, TE - big target with soft hands 5 - Marcus Benton, S - decent backup who should be a solid player in a year or two 6 - Carlos Campbell, LB - poor endurance, but could be a great situational pass-rusher 7 - Kurt Lincoln, C - a decent backup for a couple of years This left the team with 45 players signed and $9.5m cap room free, so I felt there was enough wiggle room to do a bit of contract renegotiation: T Jesse Segalas: $37.20m over 4 years DT Anthony Washington: $41.25m over 4 years LB Joseph Butkus: $22.35m over 3 years LB Billy Joe Kennedy was released to clear enough cap room to rework these contracts, and enabled me to resign K Nate Tice for 3 years. After filling the roster with rookie free agents, the team headed to camp. A few trade offers come in after camp, with a Pittsburgh offer for T Trevor Branch accepted - this gives me a decent backup G at a low cost as well as a second-round pick next year for an offensive tackle who's not really suited to the offence I run. Preseason: 3-1, with few injuries. Unfortunately, one of the players dinged up is S Oscar Peterson, who is likely to miss a few weeks. A tricky road game in the desert opens the season for the Walkers, and they come out of Arizona with a solid 31-18 win as de los Santos throws a couple of TD passes and rookie DT Tapia scores in his first pro game on a fumble return. The home opener in week 2 sees New Orleans come to Richmond. In terms of yardage, the offence had a solid game, but touchdowns were at a premium as Nate Tice kicked four field goals, the longest being 25 yards, in a 20-10 win which shouldn't have been as close. The Walkers moved to 3-0 with another solid performance, this time against Dallas. Willie Large returned the second half kickoff for a TD and de los Santos threw two TD passes in a 30-6 win as the team headed for its bye week. Washington came into Richmond in week 5 unbeaten, so something had to give - unfortunately, the Walkers didn't play a good game, with backup QB Dirita forced into the action early on as the Redskins eased to a 23-10 victory. With de los Santos nursing an injured shoulder, Dirita got the start against the Giants the following week - the young QB had an awful game, completing only 14 of 43 passes as New York came from behind to win 17-14. Arizona also took advantage of the backup, picking him five times in a 27-20 win in week 7. The Mexican Montana's return in week 8 saw the Walkers return to winning ways, but the 16-14 win in Philadelphia was a struggle, with three Tice field goals (including a 57-yarder) proving to be the difference. A home game against the 1-6 Patriots was an opportunity to get the team back into the groove, and things worked out that way, the Walkers rolling over New England to the tune of 47-14, with de los Santos throwing 5 TD passes. This set the team up nicely for a tough road game against the still unbeaten Redskins, but Washington had just a little too much as they moved to 9-0 with a 30-27 win. A tough trip to Dallas came straight after this, and the Cowboys took advantage, winning 29-26 to drop the Thunder Walkers to 5-5. The team got back to playing Thunder Walker football in week 12 against the Jets as they put up 38 unanswered points after the New Yorkers took an early 10-7 lead. A scrappy game in St. Louis saw the Thunder Walkers overcome a poor offensive display to sneak a 17-10 win as backup Tony Dirita again saw plenty of action. de los Santos recovered enough to start against Philadelphia in week 14 in a vital divisional game - apart from the Redskins, there isn't much to choose between the rest of the NFC East. The Mexican Montana played a solid game, but it was the defence's four interceptions which made the difference in a 41-10 Walkers win. A slow start against the Giants saw the Walkers fall 14-0 behind, but the team rallied with de los Santos coming up with three more TD passes and CB Herndon returning a late pick for a TD to seal a 35-21 win. The last regular season game of the year in the Municipal Stadium saw the Packers come to Richmond. The Walkers, behind another solid showing from de los Santos, won this one 26-14 to secure a wild card. With little to play for in the last game of the regular season, the Bills pulled off a shock 20-10 over a flat Richmond outfit who didn't really get going at any point.
A 10-6 record was good enough for only a wild card, with Washington's fast start putting the division title beyond reach early in the year. This was only enough to set up an away wild card game against the 11-5 Falcons. An early TD connection from de los Santos to Large and a Tice field goal put the Walkers out in front 10-0. The Falcons hit back with a TD just before the half, but a Woodson TD run restored the 10-point lead. Atlanta again managed to get within 3 with around 5 minutes to play, but a quick TD drive ending in a Buckley reception made the score 24-14 Walkers, enough to book a trip to Washington for the Divisional round. It soon became obvious that these weren't the same Redskins who had jumped out to an 11-0 start to the season - the Richmond defence was all over the Washington offence, holding them to under 100 yards of total offence and only a field goal. On the other side of the ball, the offence had its best showing in several weeks, moving the ball consistently on the ground and through the air as the Walkers eased to a 48-3 win. Green Bay also pulled off an upset in the divisional round, beating Portland in their own house, to set up the NFC Championship game between two teams who had played in the Wild Card round. A scrappy first half saw the Packers lead 10-9 at the break, with Nate Tice the only scorer for the Walkers with three field goals, but the second half was a different story for Richmond. De los Santos threw two TD passes to Shaun Buckley and Hoffmann ran in another TD as the Walkers eased away in the second half to win 32-17 and book a place in yet another Super Bowl. The Thunder Walkers opponents in the big game this year are Cleveland, another team to have won through all the way from the Wild Card round. The Browns, with a 13-3 regular season record, have home-field advantage for this game - a big factor, as the Walkers are 6-0 in home Super Bowl games, and 0-2 when the big game is not played in Richmond. A defensive first half sees the Browns go in at the half leading 6-3, with Nate Tice's early field goal cancelled out by two from the Cleveland kicker in the second quarter. The Browns give up the lead, though, on their first possession of the third quarter as CB Broderick Herndon steps in front of a Brant Brown pass, returning it for the TD and a 10-6 Thunder Walkers lead. Walkers QB Mercury de los Santos finds his favourite receiver, Shaun Buckley, in the endzone twice to put the result beyond doubt, although the Browns get a consolation TD inside the last minute on a Brown TD pass. While the offence came up with the points that put the game away, it was the defence which made the plays which won the game for the Thunder Walkers - apart from the Herndon TD, the secondary came up with three other interceptions, two by Dominic Pieri, as they kept the potent Cleveland offence off balance. Broderick Herndon was rewarded for his big play by being voted as Super Bowl MVP. Statistics QB Mercury de los Santos: (14 games) 315-540-4441-32-12 (95.4 qbr), 31-167-0 rushing RB Antonio Hoffmann: 94-363-1 (3.8 ypc) WR Harvey Bednarsh: 76-1326-6 (17.4 ypc), 59.3% caught, 6 drops WR Shaun Buckley: (11 games) 58-855-7 (14.7 ypc), 48.7% caught, 5 drops RB/WR Kenny Woodson: 66-838-9 (12.6 ypc), 58.4% caught, 4 drops An uneven year for the offence, but the Mexican Montana showed his worth to the team, as the offence struggled every time backup QB Tony Dirita stepped in behind center. DT Anthony Washington: 32 tackles, 18 assists, 9.5 sacks DT Blaine Houston: 53 tackles, 8 assists, 7.0 sacks LB Joseph Butkus: 85 tackles, 27 assists LB Devin Scherer: 73 tackles, 2.0 sacks S Leo Casillas: 70 tackles, 28 assists, 4 interceptions S Oscar Peterson: 60 tackles, 25 assists, 3 interceptions CB Broderick Herndon: 54 tackles, 18 assists, 1 interception (1 TD) CB Dominic Pieri: 51 tackles, 13 assists, 5 interceptions The lack of quality throughout the secondary showed this year, as interceptions were well down on past years - the team consistently made at least 20 interceptions in a season during Rod Pride's career. Awards Apart from CB Broderick Herndon as Super Bowl MVP, only two Thunder Walkers made the awards list - WR Harvey Bednarsh and CB Dominic Pieri were both voted to the AP 2nd team. Team Statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 3.4/Defence 6.1/League 3.7 Pass: Offence 7.5/Defence 3.7/League 6.7 Yards per game Offence: Rush 65.0 (36), Pass 326.9 (1) Defence: Rush 109.6 (24), Pass 200.1 (6) The running game went off for no apparent reason this season, but the passing game was more than able to make up for it, while the defence put in a very solid effort, especially with the problems at safety - the pass defence was solid all year long, even with a rookie starting in the defensive backfield. This didn't feel like a Super Bowl team - there were too many holes in the roster, and the key man at QB is certainly on the decline - but this year's team managed to win games when it mattered most - at the end of the regular season and in the playoffs. If you make the playoffs and win your last game, you go home as champions... Martin |
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02-18-2001, 06:33 AM
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#21 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2039 season
Rounding up the 2038 season Herb: 100/70/62/72 - average 74 Finances: A profit of $146.2m on revenues of $462.1m - a sizeable drop on last year, but this was mostly because of the lack of home playoff games - the team won it all, but didn't play at home all the way through the playoffs. Two retirements this year - WR Dominic Hussey was expected to retire, as he'd obviously lost quite a bit, but DT Blaine Houston has also decided to hang up his cleats after a relatively short career. No change at coach or scout this year - both guys have a couple of years left on their current deals, and I can't see anyone better out there. Ticket prices: A small increase - I feel this is justified after last year's freeze and the on-field success. Richmond: 115/125/150/170/0/ 7500/325000/152000 Washington: 168/170/183/234/0/10700/485000/152000 No use of the franchise tag this year - I have a couple of unrestricted free agents (QB de los Santos and CB Herndon) who have already been tagged, but no-one else I want to bring back. I have a big decision to make this offseason - with the Mexican Montana a free agent, do I make an effort to resign him, or do I go in a new direction? Mercury de los Santos is going into his 16th year in the league, and still has a pretty good arm, but I doubt that he's going to be around for more than a year or two more. It's tough letting a player who's thrown for over 60,000 yards and more than 500 TDs go, but I feel it's in the best interest of the franchise in the long run. The team is in good cap position this year, with $47.8m of a $213.6m cap free and 36 players signed - the improved position is due to the two retirements and de los Santos now being a free agent (this opens up around $35m cap room just with not having these three contracts!) I'll have to take a bit of care not to kill the cap position in future years, but this should allow me to have a run at a good free agent or two. I make an offer of $24.70m to LB Casey Burnett in week 3, not expecting he'll accept it - he's been offered a lot more by several other teams. As I expected, he goes to New England in week 10 on a $39.23m, 4-year contract. It's the end of an era in Richmond as QB Mercury de los Santos will not return for a 16th year - he accepts an offer from Greensboro to play out the rest of his career in a Swamp Ducks uniform. Free agency reaches week 11, and I make an offer to another LB, Toby Carpenter - this offer is $21.45m over 3 years. Despite a lot of attention from other teams, he accepts this straight away - this gives me a player who should be a force in the middle of the defence. CB Broderick Herndon received an offer from Washington during the free agency period, but the Redskins couldn't fit him under the cap. This allows me to drop a $16.71m contract over 2 years in his lap - he's not the player he was a couple of years ago, but is still a good player to have in the defensive backfield. This leaves me with $36.2m cap room and only 15 players to sign to make up the required 53 - the best cap situation the Walkers have been in since the 2010s! QB is a big need for the draft - I feel that Tony Dirita can start, but I have no backup behind him. The defensive line needs a couple of solid players, while a starting-quality safety is a high priority. I don't repeat last year's mistake, and grab the best safety available with my first pick - a guy who is good enough to start straight away, and projects to be a solid starter in a year or two. This seems to be a reasonably deep draft for DE, as a couple of solid players drop into the second round - I take the best pass-rusher with my first second-rounder. A reasonable T falls to the bottom of the second round - good value at this point. 1 - Melvin Glover, S - won't be in the class of Rod Pride, but should be a solid player 2 - Ricardo Castroll, T - another good offensive lineman who should start in a year or two 2 - Michael Ray, DE - good pass-rusher, but a bit low on endurance 3 - Wayne Murray, DT - a big run-stuffer - the ideal NT in a 3-4 4 - Sammie Green, DE - no potential to speak of, but a decent backup 5 - Maurice Ward, QB - a possible redliner who provides a bit of depth 6 - Mercury England, S - not a big need, but too good to pass up 7 - Britt Ross, DT - a bit of depth on the defensive line No problems getting 53 players under the cap this year (I still had around $20m left over!), but I released one of last year's backup safeties to make room for the guys I drafted. After filling the roster, the team headed to camp. Mixed results in camp: redliner DE Sammie Green broke out in a pretty explosive way - he now looks to be a starter - but last year's first round pick LB Myron Floyd now looks no better than a backup after losing a lot of ratings in camp. The Black Squirrels offer a trade after camp - RB Antonio Hoffmann for a decent QB who hasn't played much and their 5th-round pick next year. The team is pretty deep at RB, and Hoffmann is a free agent next year, so I take the trade. The QB is not a bad player, but not suited to the offence I run, so he gets released straight away - I don't feel he's worth keeping on the roster for the one season left on his contract. Preseason: 4-0, but free agent signing LB Toby Carpenter is gone for a couple of months with a muscle tear. It's a strange feeling going into the opening game of the season without #16 behind center, but the last time the Thunder Walkers were in a position like this was the 2024 season, when Neil Baugh, in his first year as a starting QB, led the team to a 15-1 record and the franchise's first Super Bowl. I don't think anything like that is going to happen this season, but the team has a good chance of making the playoffs if Dirita settles quickly as the starter. The first game of the season is in New York, and the Giants start well, leading 21-7 midway through the third quarter. Dirita throws his first TD pass of the year with a little more than 4 minutes to play, and RB Ferrari (a great name for a running back!) pounds in the game-winner with a minute left. Another rushing TD, this one from Kennedy, seals a 32-21 win. Week 2 sees the Walkers play their home opener against the Packers, and Green Bay get revenge for their playoff defeat from last season with a 29-24 win. Tony Dirita has a huge day, throwing for over 500 yards and 3 TDs, but is unable to get the ball in the endzone enough to lead the team to victory. A trip to Philadelphia is next on the schedule, and the Eagles score two defensive TDs in a comfortable 31-13 win. A tight game goes the way of the Cardinals in week 4 with a long field goal inside the last minute being the decisive score in a 17-14 Arizona victory, dropping the Walkers to 1-3 on the year. Dallas also manage to take advantage of Richmond in transition, winning 17-7 in week 5 for their first victory of the year. Things looked ominous in Chicago when it took the offence a quarter and a half to pick up a first down, but a second half comeback, led by three Dirita TD passes, ended with a 24-22 Walkers victory. Week 7 saw a rematch of the 2038 Super Bowl, but the intervening time had treated neither team well, as the 3-4 Walkers played the 1-5 Browns. A defensive TD and two Dirita TD passes were enough for Richmond to come out on top in this game by the score of 24-21, despite two late Cleveland TDs. An assured performance from the young QB coupled with the best rushing output of the year were more than enough to overcome Dallas. The 31-13 victory took the Walkers to an even record at 4-4. Washington put the Walkers back below .500 in the next game, though, with a last-gasp TD snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Defence was the key in week 11 as the Walkers beat Atlanta 31-10. The Falcons struggled to run the ball and saw their QB go down eight times as Richmond won without doing much on the offensive side of the ball. A tight game in Tennessee went the way of the home team on the back of a late field goal. Dirita spoiled an otherwise solid day with three interceptions, giving the Titans a way back into a game they had no business winning. Nate Tice was the game-winner against Jacksonville, booting six field goals, including the game-winner as time expired in a 25-22 win. The week 14 trip to Washington was a must-win for the Thunder Walkers if they were to hold out any hope of making the playoffs, but the Redskins played Richmond off the park in a convincing 34-9 victory. Three straight wins are needed to catch a piece of the postseason for the Walkers, but even that might not be enough. The first of these games was at home against the Giants. New York led 14-10 at the half, but three second-half TDs were enough for the Walkers to take the victory. Philadelphia next, and a solid performance results in a 21-3 win, two Dirita TDs and a Pieri interception return for a score getting the Richmond points. Playoffs were still a possibility, although a remote one, as the Walkers headed into week 17 and a trip to the desert to face Arizona. Two quick TDs near the end of the first quarter, the second on a fumble return into the endzone, gave Richmond a 17-0 lead, and the defence managed to hold the Cardinals to only two late TDs in a 27-17 win. This wasn't enough to get the Thunder Walkers into the playoffs, though, as the NFC wild cards went to 10-6 teams, but the team played well down the stretch when they played several must-win games in a row.
Statistics QB Tony Dirita: 371-613-4351-26-21 (qbr 81.9) RB Kenny Woodson: 101-584-4 (5.7 ypc), 32-366-2 receiving WR Willie Large: 82-1171-2 (14.2 ypc), 54.6% caught, 9 drops WR Harvey Bednarsh: 67-912-7 (13.6 ypc), 58.2% caught, 5 drops WR Shaun Buckley: 74-850-9 (11.4 ypc), 59.2% caught, 5 drops Not a bad year for first-year starter Dirita, although he took a bit of time to settle at the start of the year, which probably killed off any chance the Walkers had of making the playoffs. Woodson did his usual good job in the backfield, but got no support from his backups. DT Anthony Washington: 43 tackles, 14 assists, 6.5 sacks LB Ty Whalen: 90 tackles, 35 assists, 4.0 sacks LB Joseph Butkus: 59 tackles, 21 assists, 7.5 sacks, 1 interception LB Myron Floyd: 48 tackles, 17 assists, 8.0 sacks S Oscar Peterson: 76 tackles, 24 assists, 2 interceptions CB Dominic Pieri: 54 tackles, 16 assists, 3 interceptions (1 TD) CB Broderick Herndon: 37 tackles, 6 assists, 3 interceptions A reasonable year for the defence, although the line needs to come up with more pressure to allow the rest of the defence to perform better. Awards None this year. Team Statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 3.5/Defence 3.8/League 3.8 Pass: Offence 7.0/Defence 6.8/League 6.5 Yards per game Offence: Rush 77.0 (35), Pass 273.7 (1) Defence: Rush 107.5 (20), Pass 228.6 (26) The offence suffered with the change at QB, but this was always going to happen when I replaced a long-standing starter at such an important position. Defensively, the team didn't play particularly well - the line needs to improve, and I could do with a top-quality safety. A transitional year which almost turned into something more, but a poor 1-4 start was too much to recover from. If the offence continues to improve as it did in the second half of the season, and Dirita can cut down on the picks, this team should be a playoff contender once more next year. Martin |
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02-18-2001, 01:24 PM
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#22 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2040 season
Rounding up the 2039 season Herb: 54/81/72/76 - average 71 Finances: A profit of $189.7m on revenues of $488.4m - fairly close to last year's figures. A good playoff run with some extra home games will make a big difference, I think No retirements from the current Thunder Walkers squad, but a legend who moved on last year has called it a day. Multiple Super Bowl winning QB Mercury de los Santos, a 15-year starter for Richmond, has retired as the career leader in passing yardage (68,165), completions (5,076) and touchdowns (553). Drafted back in 2024, he played a few games as a rookie on the road to the Thunder Walkers' first Bowl win. He showed enough that season and in camp the following year to be made the starter over Bowl-winning QB Neil Baugh in 2025, and held the starting spot until he was released by the team in 2039. He led the team to six Super Bowl wins as the starting QB, and will always be remembered for his role in the 'Shootout Super Bowl', the game in which he threw for a league record 8 touchdowns in an incredible 63-34 win. No change at coach or scout as both B.J. Nix and Alvin Jenkins are doing a very solid job. Ticket prices: No changes this year - the team is running at a very nice profit level with the current prices. Richmond: 115/125/150/170/0/ 7500/325000/152000 Washington: 169/171/184/233/0/10700/489000/153000 A bit of a problem with unrestricted free agents this year, as I forgot to do any contract renegotiations last year - a big oversight given the team had a lot of spare cap room. The unrestricted FAs are: G Billy Borders (acquired in a trade a couple of years back) G Tony Roberson T Brandon Perkins P Jeffrey Schlesinger DE Warren Mickens LB Ty Whalen LB Devin Scherer S Oscar Peterson Several guys on this list are starters, so I'll have to make an effort to resign a few of them. Warren Mickens is a solid defensive end - a commodity rarer than gold for this franchise - so is franchised. The advantage with having as many free agents is that the team has quite a bit of cap room to play with this offseason - $58.6m of a $214.2m cap with 31 players signed. If I can't get my own free agents to come back, the option to pick up other players is always there. After turning down three laughable trade offers (one for my starting QB, a fourth rounder for a top-quality C and a 2nd rounder for my best receiver), the team heads into free agency. I put in an offer of $28.5m over 3 years for S Oscar Peterson, who is the anchor of the Walkers secondary, but decide to wait and see for my other free agents. With no other offers by week 4, the offer is reduced to $26.69m over 3 years - he's the one who loses out if he hangs around! Week 5 sees all the bidders on Spellman come calling, though, and he signs for Chicago in week 6 on a 4-year deal worth over $10m per year. In week 3, I decide to make an attempt to sign the best free agent S, J.C. Spellman of the Saints, who is willing to listen to offers of around $7.5m per year. The Walkers bid is $24.75m over 3 years in week 3, which is accepted immediately. Guards Borders and Roberson are both picked up in week 4, though, which leaves the team a bit short on the offensive line. P Schlesinger is signed by the Hartford Falcons in week 10 - not a big loss, as punter is a fairly replaceable position. With no offers for my other free agents through week 11, I decide to try to resign some of them. I offer T Brandon Perkins $33.52m over 3 years, LB Devin Scherer $24.00m over 3 years and LB Ty Whalen $23.25m over 3 years. They all sign by week 14, which leaves the team with 35 players signed and $32.7m cap room free. I didn't expect to have any more dealings in free agency, but a very solid LB is still available at the end of the period - I offer $19.81m over 3 years for Kenyon Hadden in week 19, which is accepted in week 20. Hadden isn't the greatest tackler, but is solid in coverage and rushes the passer well - a good fit for OLB in the Thunder Walker defence. At the end of the free agency period, I get a trade offer from Detroit for CB Dominic Pieri - they're offering the 5th pick in the draft for the Mighty Mite. Pieri is in the last year of his contract, and is an 11th year veteran, but is still one of the best cover cornerbacks in the game. After looking at the players available in the draft, I decide to take the trade - there are quite a few really good players who should be available then, and this frees up quite a bit of cap room as well. Before the draft, I agree new contracts with restricted free agents G Jared Whipple ($20.40m over 3 years) and FB Louis Forsberg ($12.60m over 3 years). With few players signed at these positions, these guys were important to resign, even though it leaves me a bit tight for cap room this year. Going into the draft, the big needs are in the secondary and on the offensive line, with the usual requirement for depth all over the team behind this. Picking 22nd, the team has a chance to get a better quality of player than usual, and the 5th pick of the draft offers the chance to get a superstar. Unfortunately, the CB I was hoping to get with my first pick was taken by the Saints with the pick before, so I have to look elsewhere. There are several solid linebackers, but these guys aren't really of any interest given I signed three LBs during free agency, so I decide to go for another target for Tony Dirita - a guy with great speed who knows how to get open. In a very deep draft for corners, several solid players drop into the lower reaches of the first round - I take a raw but talented guy with good hitting ability and an eye for the ball. A reasonable defensive end is available in the middle of the second round, so I take him - a decent pass rusher is always a useful addition. I add another CB in round 3 - again a guy who can hit, and a solid cover man to boot. 1 - Bill Clancy, WR - should become the go-to guy for Dirita 1 - Warren Spurlock, CB - a solid defensive back who will step in as the starter soon 2 - Rodney Starks, DE - another decent player to add to the D-line rotation 3 - Warren Jung, CB - should be a solid cover man in a year or two 4 - Jonathan Woodard, RB - decent player to back up Woodson 5 - R.J. Denton, QB - will be an acceptable backup for a couple of years 5 - Larry Rivers, G - decent backup for what has become a thin position 6 - Eddie Slade, TE - a reasonable backup 7 - Leslie Mathis, RB - useful backup with this low a pick After the draft, I released LB, who wasn't worth keeping after busting last season - this allowed me to sign DE Warren Mickens to a 4-year, $39.30m contract. I release a couple of guys in the last year of their contract (DE Jack Simmons and S Marcus Benton) to allow me to do a bit of contract renegotiation (not making the same mistake twice )RB Kenny Woodson: $36.16m over 4 years WR Shaun Buckley: $26.40m over 3 years G Kendrick Stephenson: $21.15m over 3 years After camp, the Packers offer a trade for TE Wade Ansell - they're offering a second round pick next year for a past 4th-rounder in the last year of his current contract, which is a no-brainer in my book... I sign a young free agent as a replacement, and the team heads into the new season. Preseason: 3-1, with only minor injuries. The offence gets the new season off to a flier, with Dirita finding Bednarsh on a 2-yard TD pass to cap the opening drive against Arizona. The Cardinals come straight back by returning the resulting kickoff for the tying TD, but Dirita throws three more TDs to put the game away. A couple of late Cardinals TDs to make the final score 31-28 make the game look closer than it was. Dallas play it tight in week 2, but the Walkers come up with the game's only TD to sneak a 13-6 win. The third straight home game for the Walkers is the third straight close game, as Washington take the game to overtime with 10 points in the last five minutes of regulation. Dirita throws his third TD pass of the game deep in overtime, though, to clinch a big divisional victory. The first game outside Richmond Municipal Stadium for the year results in the most comfortable victory of the season, as the Walkers get all their points through the ground game in a 24-14 win over Minnesota. Big plays were the key in week 5 as the Walkers kept up their winning streak - Dirita hit Bednarsh on a 73-yard pass play to open the scoring, and S Spellman returned a pick for a score as the Thunder Walkers rolled over Kansas City 38-8. Dirita was forced out of the week 6 clash with San Francisco early, so rookie QB Denton saw a lot of action - despite the 49ers scoring TDs on defence and special teams, the rookie did enough to win the game, finding Bednarsh inside the last two minutes for the game-winning TD in a 20-17 win. Dirita played through pain in Portland, and had a reasonable game, but the White Sturgeon had just a little too much, ending up 28-16 winners to halt the Walkers' winning streak at 6. After the bye week, the Walkers made the short trip to Washington. Despite giving up two interception returns for TDs inside half a minute late in the first half, the Walkers came back with a solid second half to win 37-20. A big trip to New York followed, as the 7-1 Walkers played the 6-2 Giants. A Leo Casillas interception, returned for a TD, with a little over 3 minutes left was the winning score as the Walkers escaped from Giants Stadium with a 24-20 win. Week 11 saw the Walkers take on San Diego in the Municipal Stadium, and a fast start saw the home team take control of the game, leading 24-0 early in the second quarter. The Chargers came back with 27 unanswered points, though, to lead going into the fourth quarter. Two late TDs pulled the game out of the fire for Richmond, with Kenny Woodson getting the go-ahead score in a 38-27 win. Dallas proved to be easier meat in week 12, with the Walkers never looking like losing after three second quarter TDs put them 21-3 ahead at the half. After the 9-2 Cardinals lost to Philadelphia the week before, the Walkers needed a solid performance against the Eagles to make sure they didn't make the same mistake. A big play on special teams early in the second half, as LB Scherer blocked a punt and took the ball in for a TD, turned the game Richmond's way as the Walkers won 20-10 to go 11-1 on the year. The last home game of the year, against the Giants, was a case of yardage but no points early on, but the defence held New York to only a field goal for the game, and the offence managed to drive in TDs on two consecutive possessions in the third quarter in a 17-3 win. Week 15 saw the Walkers make their annual trip into the desert, but this game meant a lot more than usual - a win would secure the NFC East. Right from the start, it was obvious that this was going to be an unusual game, as S Casillas made an interception on the first play from scrimmage and returned it for a TD. CB Spurlock and S England also scored on interception returns as the Walkers scored 38 points in the second half on their way to a 55-17 win. With the division secured, the focus now turned to home-field advantage for the playoffs - two wins to finish off the year would make absolutely sure. One might be enough, but you never want to rely on tiebreakers. A dominant defensive performance in Philadelphia secured the 14th win of the year as the Eagles were shut out and held to under 200 yards of total offence. The offence did nothing special, but didn't need to as the team kept momentum going with a 24-0 win. Another solid performance rounded off the regular season, with rookie WR Clancy catching 9 passes for 151 yards and 2 TDs in a 28-6 win over the Black Squirrels.
15-1 is obviously good enough for a first round bye, so the Walkers wait to see who comes through the wild card games. With four teams from the NFC East making the playoffs, a divisional matchup was guaranteed, and the Giants beat the Cardinals for the right to play the Thunder Walkers. Richmond come out cold offensively, but the defence manages to hold New York to field goals rather than TDs early on. At 9-7 New York going into the fourth quarter, the Walkers need the offence to step up, and two consecutive long touchdown drives turns the game their way at 21-9. The Giants put together a late TD drive, but couldn't get closer than 21-16. In the NFC Championship game, the Walkers would face New Orleans, who managed to upset the Packers at Lambeau Field in the previous round. The Saints got on the board first with a field goal, but the Walkers got their offence going in this game, scoring 34 unanswered points to put the game away early. New Orleans picked up a consolation score late in the third quarter, but couldn't get any closer as the Thunder Walkers go back to the Super Bowl. The best two teams in the league would meet in the big game, as Cincinnati are the AFC representative - a 14-2 regular season, scoring over 450 points, is the mark of a quality team in anyone's eyes. Former Thunder Walker Antonio Hoffmann is the main ball-carrier for the Bengals, who are led by the league's top-rated QB in Brandon Groza. The Bengals jump out in front early when Groza fires a TD pass inside the first 90 seconds, and they extend their lead to 10-0 on a field goal later in the quarter. Dirita to Woodson from 57 yards out cuts the lead to 10-7, but Cincinnati move further ahead with another Groza TD and a field goal to lead 21-7 at the half. The Walkers were held scoreless in the third quarter, but Dirita managed to find rookie WR Clancy to halve the deficit, then Willie Large to tie the game up with a little over three and a half minutes to go. Tony Dirita, having pulled his team back into the game in the fourth quarter, then throws it away with his fifth interception of the game giving the Bengals the ball with less than two minutes left - Cincinnati moves the ball down the field, and into range for the winning field goal as time expires. 31 yards - snap, spot, kick, it's up and ... it's good - Bengals win. A tough way to end the season, but the team didn't really play well enough in the big game to justify winning the Bowl. Statistics QB Tony Dirita: 377-632-4183-24-20 (78.7 qbr) RB Kenny Woodson: (12 games) 143-711-9 (4.9 ypc), 34-327-1 receiving WR Shaun Buckley: 97-1054-7 (10.8 ypc), 60.2% caught, 11 drops WR Harvey Bednarsh: 68-971-7 (14.2 ypc), 59.6% caught, 3 drops WR Willie Large: 81-925-3 (11.4 ypc), 55.1% caught, 7 drops Numbers for the passing game were down quite a bit, partly due to a slight change in emphasis towards the short passes which suit Dirita, but partly due to a drop in the quality of players the offence has available. DE Warren Mickens: 25 tackles, 17 assists, 12.5 sacks DT Anthony Washington: 17 tackles, 8 assists, 9.0 sacks LB Toby Carpenter: 66 tackles, 29 assists, 3.0 sacks, 1 interception S J.C. Spellman: 62 tackles, 20 assists,3 interceptions S Leo Casillas: 40 tackles, 15 assists, 5 interceptions (2 TDs) CB Curtis Montgomery: 47 tackles, 10 assists, 5 interceptions CB Warren Spurlock: 31 tackles, 7 assists, 5 interceptions (2 TDs) The numbers don't look particularly impressive, but this defence worked very well as a unit - there were no weak areas. Awards Rookie P Courtney Turk was voted to the AP 1st team after averaging over 42 yards per kick and dropping half of his punts inside the opposition 20. WR Shaun Buckley and DE Warren Mickens made the AP 2nd team. Team Statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 3.7/Defence 3.8/League 3.8 Pass: Offence 6.4/Defence 5.6/League 6.4 Yards per game Offence: Rush 97.6 (22), Pass 286.3 (1) Defence: Rush 79.7 (3), Pass 195.3 (5) The worst performance by a Thunder Walker offence since the early days, but the defence worked wonders to make up for that shortcoming! The 15-1 record shows that this team is more than capable of winning it all without the Mexican Montana, but they need to put it together in the playoffs before the ghost of #16 will be exorcised... Martin |
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02-19-2001, 05:09 PM
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#23 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2041 season
Herb: 95/73/80/75 - average 80 Finances: A profit of $233.1m on revenues of $619.9m - as expected, getting some home playoff games made a big difference to the income, but the oversight with not renegotiating contracts made a pretty big dent in this with the increased bonuses being paid out to get free agents back under contract. No retirements this year, but two former Thunder Walkers were voted into the league Hall of Fame this year - WR Kelvin Barnett and S Rod Pride, both mainstays of many Super Bowl teams. B.J. Nix's contract ran out at the end of last season - he's now 61, but still the best guy avaliable, so I try to resign him. My initial offer is $850,000 a year for 5 years, which he takes a bit of time to think about, but eventually accepts. I look around the available coaches, but there's no-one better than incumbent Alvin Jenkins, so no change there. Ticket prices: No change once again. Richmond: 115/125/150/170/0/ 7500/325000/152000 Washington: 169/171/183/234/0/10800/494000/158000 Four unrestricted free agents this year: CB Broderick Herndon - a 15-year vet - he can still play a bit, but not well enough WR Willie Large - did a job, but has now been replaced LB Joseph Butkus - a solid player, so is franchised WR Walt Schwartz - a good backup for several years, but will want too much money Several restricted free agents as usual, but only K Seth Wojtas and P Courtney Turk are likely to return. Going into free agency, the team has 35 players signed but only $32.4m of a $214.8m cap free - this should be enough, but things could get a little tight. Going into free agency, several ex-Thunder Walkers are available amongst others, but I decide not to go after anyone straight away. The Ice Weasels shock the league by offering 15-year veteran CB Broderick Herndon a 4-year deal with over $20m up front in week 5 of the free agency period - unsurprisingly, he accepts straight away (can you see a quick retirement coming on?) I make an offer on a reasonable young TE in week 11 - Tim Brandon was a 2nd round pick last year, and accepts a bonus-free contract worth $8.07m over 3 years. I also offer a 4-year, $13.15m deal to DT Ian Copeland (again bonus-free) in week 19 - he accepts in week 20, giving me a solid backup on the defensive line for a reasonable cost. Cincinnati offer the Walkers a trade for DE Sammie Green, a solid run-stuffer at DE. He's a good player (formerly a rookie breakout), but is in the last year of his contract, and the Bengals are offering their first-round pick, so I take the trade. I resign P Courtney Turk at this point to a 2-year, $3.85m deal, and come to agreement with franchise player Joseph Butkus on a 3-year, $21.80m contract. This leaves the team with 39 players signed and $21.8m cap room free going into the draft, with nine players expected from this year's rookie pool. The big needs this year are at WR and on the offensive line, but depth at DT and in the secondary would also be useful as a lot of players in these positions have contracts which expire this year. The back-to-back picks at the bottom of the first round go on a well-balanced S and a good pass-blocking G - neither will be expected to start straight away, but should contribute in the next year or two. The second round also holds back-to-back picks, which go on a DE I was looking at in the first round and a solid TE with good hands. 1 - Ernie Peterson, G - should be starter-quality in a year or two 1 - Jamie Gordon, S - should be a solid DB in time 2 - Troy Rojas, TE - a good short-range target for Dirita 2 - Ricky Borders, DE - looks to be as good a DE as the team has seen for a long time 3 - Cornell Atkins, CB - good cover skills, especially in single coverage 4 - Ron Mudgett, LB - solid player who can contribute straight away 5 - Lance Priester, DT - useful backup on the defensive line 6 - Nicky Henson, CB - might break out, but couldn't ignore his knack for making picks 7 - Malcolm Bonnell, QB - pure potential, but will be a reasonable backup for a couple of years This leaves the Walkers with 48 players signed and $8.5m cap room free, so no need to make cuts to fit 53 under the cap this year. The room under the cap allowed me to look at renegotiating a couple of contracts for players in the last year of their current deals: C Tyrell Lathrop - $28.40m over 4 years T Jesse Segalas - $34.35m over 4 years LB Toby Carpenter - $19.05m over 3 years The Rams offer a third round pick in next year's draft for DT Anthony Washington - he's still a solid player in the middle of the line, but I have a few good young players behind him, and he's in the last year of his contract, so I take the trade. The cap room that accepting the trade frees up goes towards giving his replacement, DT Wayne Murray, a new deal - $40.80m over 4 years. Preseason - 2-2, with only a couple of minor injuries. A poor showing by the offence is the main reason for a 32-10 loss in the home opener against the Giants, but the team gets its act together in week 2, playing much more solidly to beat Carolina 30-28. QB Dirita threw four interceptions in week 3 against Dallas, but RB Woodard's 122 yards and two TDs more than made up for it in a 28-13 win. The Eagles picked on Tony Dirita in week 4, with the QB throwing two interceptions returned for TDs. Dirita also threw two TDs for his own team, but couldn't do enough to make up for his mistakes, the Walkers losing 34-28. A return to Richmond for the first time in a month agreed with Dirita, though, as he threw six TD passes in a 45-14 demolition of Washington in the Municipal Stadium. A trip to New York to face the undefeated Giants followed in week 7, and the Walkers extracted revenge for their opening week defeat with a solid 21-10 win, Dirita accounting for all three TDs, two to Bednarsh, the other on a QB keeper. Arizona pulled off a big win of their own the following week, though, as they rolled over the Walkers 31-9, taking advantage of a poor Richmond performance. A loss to Indianapolis in a tight defensive game dropped the Walkers back to 4-4, three games behind the division-leading Giants at the halfway point of the regular season. Philadelphia pinched a win in the Municipal Stadium in week 10, winning in overtime after the Walkers led all the way through the regulation four quarters. The three-game losing streak was broken, but only just, against Dallas, with a 23-16 win only being secured on a late Foley field goal. A late collapse in week 12, with the Bills scoring 10 unanswered points late in the game to win 30-27, dropped the Walkers to 5-6 with little chance of making the playoffs. Three quick-fire TDs secured a 41-17 win against New Orleans in a game with big playoff implications - both teams left the game with 6-6 records. Week 14's trip to Arizona is another big game, and the Walkers came out firing, with big plays on offence and defence leading to a 40-20 win which elevates the Walkers above the Cardinals in the playoff race. A disappointing performance in Washington put the brakes on the Walkers playoff push, as a 24-9 win dropped Richmond out of a wild card slot. A win in Green Bay in the penultimate week of the regular season is a must if the Walkers are to stay in contention for a wild card, and the team came through with a scrappy 13-6 victory - not pretty, but effective. Manchester snuffed the Walkers' postseason hopes in the last game of the regular season, winning 24-21 with an impressive offensive display.
8-8 wasn't enough to make the playoffs, finishing a couple of games short, but the team should really have won a couple more games this season - QB Tony Dirita is living on borrowed time, as he seems to throw way too many interceptions for my liking. Injuries also had an effect this year - key positions like DE, LB and WR were decimated during the year. Statistics QB Tony Dirita: 378-675-4851-32-30 (qbr 75.9) RB Jonathan Woodard: 109-493-4 WR Harvey Bednarsh: 102-1335-11 (13.0 ypc), 55.7% caught, 9 drops WR Bill Clancy: (13 games) 46-785-6 (17.0 ypc), 49.4% caught, 6 drops WR Shaun Buckley: (11 games) 51-769-4 (15.0 ypc), 54.2% caught, 8 drops RB/WR Kenny Woodson: 59-767-5 (13.0 ypc), 60.2% caught, 2 drops Too many turnovers... The numbers are reasonable apart from this. DT Wayne Murray: 36 tackles, 15 assists, 8.0 sacks LB Kenyon Hadden: (14 games) 55 tackles, 18 assists, 10.0 sacks S J.C Spellman: 68 tackles, 27 assists, 2 interceptions S Jamie Gordon: 56 tackles, 22 assists, 6 interceptions CB Curtis Montgomery: 65 tackles, 7 assists, 2 interceptions CB Warren Spurlock: (14 games) 25 tackles, 13 assists, 6 interceptions Awards AP 2nd teamer WR Harvey Bednarsh was the only Thunder Walker in the awards list this year. Statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 3.3/Defence 3.7/League 3.8 Pass: Offence 7.1/Defence 6.2/League 6.5 Yards per game Offence: Rush 67.8 (36), Pass 310.1 (1) Defence: Rush 101.0 (12), Pass 223.5 (25) Additional: Turnover margin: -17 This points the finger at the offence, as the defence came up with its fair share of turnovers while having a solid year in general (especially with the young players getting a lot of time on the line and in the secondary). Decisions to be made next year, the biggest being at QB, where it is becoming obvious that Tony Dirita is the question rather than the answer... Martin |
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02-20-2001, 12:05 PM
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#24 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2042 season
Rounding up the 2041 season Herb: 48/74/61/75 - average 64 Finances: A profit of $144.0m on revenues of $487.7m. No retirements this year - not surprising, as the oldest player on the roster is an 11-year veteran. The worst-kept secret in the league was revealed this year, as QB Mercury de los Santos was inducted into the Thunder Walkers Hall of Fame - inevitable is a reasonably accurate description for this... No change at scout (as usual), but I decide to take a big risk in changing coach - I make an offer to Alan Gerhardt, a legend in coaching for his innovative playcalling on both sides of the ball, but not rated for his abilities at keeping injuries down. He signs a 5-year deal paying $5m per year. Ticket prices: Only a small increase on VR boxes this year. Richmond: 115/125/150/170/0/ 7500/325000/163000 Washington: 170/170/184/234/0/10900/496000/163000 Three UFAs this year - WR Harvey Bednarsh, CB Curtis Montgomery and S Leo Casillas. Bednarsh is the best receiver on the team, so is franchised. The Falcons come in with a huge trade offer - the first pick overall in the draft plus a reasonable T for QB Tony Dirita. I haven't been particularly happy with the QB's production over his time as the team's starter, but we have no-one else on the roster at the moment to turn to. There is a reasonable-looking QB available in the draft, though, so I decide to make the trade. After this trade, the team has 37 players signed with $33.1m of a $220.4m cap free - with a frachise WR to sign, there isn't a lot of room available. CB Curtis Montgomery signs with Oakland in week 3 for almost $20m per year - well over what I would have wanted to pay. This is the only involvement in free agency for the Thunder Walkers - there just weren't any players I felt were worth paying out for. WR Harvey Bednarsh agreed to a 4-year, $39.60m contract before the draft. Going into the draft, the big need for the team is at QB, but help in the defensive backfield is almost as vital. No pressing needs apart from this, so there may be some scope to go after BPA with several picks. Last year's 8-8 record means that the Walkers get to pick in the middle of each round - 20th of the 36 teams. There are a few potential stars out there, but I take the best QB avaliable with the top pick - a guy who should be able to play straight away, but shows good signs for future development as well. There is a small risk of a bust (which would absolutely kill the team's cap situation), but I have to take the chance. The need at CB is filled with a short but good player in the middle of the first round. A guy I was looking at in the middle of the first round drops to the Walkers second round pick, so I take a decent S. Two picks close together in the third go on a top-quality FB and a good backup G. 1 - Derrick Mello, QB - hoping he'll be the man to kickstart the offence 1 - Teddy Martinson, CB - potentially almost as good as the other Mighty Mite 2 - Norman Ferrer, S - might not start this year, but won't be far away 3 - Marcus Winters, FB - as good a player as I've seen 3 - Artie Woodard, G - another solid offensive lineman 4 - Winfred Andrews, WR - reasonable 4th receiver with good speed 5 - Mickey Brooks, C - good backup this far down 6 - O.J. Money, DE - possible redliner 7 - Emmanuel Flowers, RB - a decent backup Not a bad draft - the players at the top filled needs, while the later picks went on building depth and getting value for picks. This draft left the team with 47 players signed and $2.2m cap room left - a cut or two will be required. A bit of contract renegotiation opens up some cap room: G Kendrick Stephenson: $21.90m over 3 years T Brandon Perkins: $27.60m over 3 years LB Kenyon Hadden: $32.30m over 4 years S J.C. Spellman: $22.50m over 3 years FB Louis Forsberg becomes expendable with the drafting of Winters, so is released. This gives the Walkers enough cap room to bring the roster to 53 going into training camp. The good news coming out of camp is that QB Mello still looks to be as good a player as the team thought when they drafted him, and the rest of the rookies also look solid. Unfortunately, expected starting CB Warren Sparlock appears to have gone downhill fast, and will struggle to do more than contribute in nickel and dime packages. Preseason: 2-2, with rookie CB Martinson out for a couple of months, and QB Mello expected to sit out a few games to start the year. Baltimore are the first visitors to the Municipal Stadium for the year, and they manage to leave with the victory after tying the score at 24 with a late TD then getting the winner in OT. Backup QB Malcolm Bonnell throws three interceptions in this game, but will start until Mello is fit to play. Bonnell gives up four more picks against the Giants in week 2 as the Walkers drop to 0-2 with a 24-14 reverse, so the rookie will start in the game after the bye week. Derrick Mello sees his first pro action in a hostile Texas Stadium, but comes through well, leading the team to a TD on the first drive of the game, and finishing 25-37-375-2-0 - pretty good numbers for your first game! The rest of the team also play well, beating up on Dallas in every area in a 51-19 win. Another tough game in week 5, as the Walkers travel to Philadelphia, but the team again comes up with the goods, two Mello TD passes and two interception returns for TDs the basis of a 34-6 victory. The third game of this road trip sees the team go to Pittsburgh, and a solid second-half performance turns a close game into a 40-15 win. The last away game of the four is in Washington, and Mello throws three TD passes in another composed performance to lead the Walkers to a clean sweep on the four-game road trip. The rookie QB gets a hero's welcome for his first home start in week 8, and throws a couple of TD passes. It isn't enough, though, as the Eagles sneak a close one 16-14 with a field goal in the last few minutes. The Richmond faithful do see their new star QB lead the team to a win the following week, as three Mello TD passes plus solid kicking from Castillo guide the team to a 47-23 win over Arizona. Dallas take revenge for their earlier defeat in week 10, though, as Mello has to leave the game early - five interceptions by backup Bonnell help the Cowboys roll out a 41-13 win. Bonnell had to come in again against the Giants - he played a good bit better, but the New Yorkers still made off with a comfortable 38-17 win to leave the Thunder Walkers 5-5 and struggling for a playoff berth. A wild shootout against Tampa Bay (involving 11 interceptions!) went the Walkers' way 45-38 to keep playoff hopes alive. With Bonnell's apparent colour blindness, the start at QB against Cleveland went to rookie free agent Malcolm Longoria, and he came through with three TD passes in a solid 34-16 win. A 24-17 loss to Washington in week 14 virtually ended the Walkers' playoff hopes, despite two more TD passes from Longoria. The annual trip to the desert followed, but Arizona snatched a 22-17 win with a late TD to drop Richmond to 7-7. In desperation, the Walkers turned to a hobbling Derrick Mello, who did enough to secure a 13-10 win over Hartford. The playoff race all comes down to the last week of the regular season, with several teams still in the hunt. The Thunder Walkers need to beat St. Louis, who still have faint playoff hopes of their own, and get some help from elsewhere to qualify for a wild card. A missed field goal on the Rams opening drive gave the Walkers good field position, and they took advantage, with RB Flowers pounding it in for the score - 7-0 Richmond. St. Louis tied the game up later in the first quarter, though, before the Walkers regained the upper hand - another Flowers TD run followed quickly by a Ferrer interception return for a TD, making the score 21-7 Walkers at the half. Mello to Buckley for a 4-yard TD near the start of the fourth quarter made the game safe, with the final score 31-14 Richmond. With Arizona only able to tie, and Hartford losing, the win was enough for the Walkers to sneak into the playoffs as the #6 seed.
FOF crashed on me when simming the wild card game - the Cowboys were leading by a distance late in the fourth quarter, so I took the result to be a Cowboys win - the resim came up with this result anyway, so no problem there. Statistics QB Derrick Mello: (10 games) 205-323-2354-17-6 (95.1 qbr) QB Malcolm Longoria: (3 games) 61-111-767-6-8 (64.6 qbr) QB Malcolm Bonnell: (3 games) 93-185-1307-8-20 (48.2 qbr) RB Kenny Woodson: (11 games) 105-498-4 (4.7 ypc), 29-259-4 receiving WR Shaun Buckley: 84-1187-10 (14.1 ypc), 59.5% caught, 9 drops WR Harvey Bednarsh (13 games) 60-809-4 (13.4 ypc), 52.6% caught, 9 drops TE Troy Rojas: 60-540-0 (9.0 ypc), 62.5% caught, 3 drops In the time he played, Mello made the offence tick - most of the 10 wins were games which he played. Bonnell's incompetence was shown up when he was outperformed by rookie free agent Longoria. DE Warren Mickens: 36 tackles, 9 assists, 13.5 sacks DE Michael Ray: 31 tackles, 4 assists, 9.5 sacks LB Toby Carpenter: 66 tackles, 27 assists, 4.5 sacks, 1 interception LB Joseph Butkus: 66 tackles, 27 assists, 2.0 sacks, 1 interception (1 TD) S J.C. Spellman: 94 tackles, 28 assists, 6 interceptions (2 TDs) S Jamie Gordon: 66 tackles, 20 assists, 7 interceptions (1 TD) CB Warren Jung: 45 tackles, 14 assists, 3 interceptions Awards S J.C. Spellman was the only Thunder Walker on the AP 1st team, with TE Troy Rojas, WR Shaun Buckley and DE Warren Mickens making the AP 2nd team. Team Statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 3.5/Defence 3.7/League 3.8 Pass: Offence 7.0/Defence 6.7/League 6.6 Yards per game Offence: Rush 82.1 (32), Pass 277.4 (1) Defence: Rush 104.4 (15), Pass 238.6 (31) The lack of a shutdown corner hurt the defence a lot, as the lack of continuity at QB hurt the offence. A season with a lot of promise - rookie QB Derrick Mello made a huge difference to the team when he was fit to play, but the gamble of taking a coach with great playcalling and poor avoid injury backfired late in the season when several key players missed games. Martin |
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02-20-2001, 12:05 PM
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#25 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2043 season
Rounding up the 2042 season Herb: 63/62/77/75 - average 67 Finances: A profit of $240.0m on revenues of $590.4m - for whatever reason, ticket revenue was up around 30% despite no change in ticket prices (and you can't sell any more tickets than a sellout!). WR Dominic Hussey was voted into the league Hall of Fame this year. After last year's experiment with a Fair AI coach, I decide to play it safe this year and go with a guy who can keep the players on the field rather than in the treatment room - the best guy available is an ex-Walkers coach, Eric Bradford, who (surprisingly) hasn't been employed since his two Bowls in two seasons with Richmond several years ago. Now 60, he may not last until the end of the challenge, but he'll take the team most of the way there. Ticket prices: No change again this year. Richmond: 115/125/150/170/0/ 7500/325000/163000 Washington: 170/171/184/234/0/11100/497000/168000 The team has several unrestricted free agents this year: WR Shaun Buckley - on the downside after several niggling injuries G Jared Whipple - not really needed, as the team have several solid guards DE Michael Ray LB Devin Scherer - this year's franchise player LB Ty Whalen - looks to be slipping already Going into free agency, the team has 34 players signed with $50.4m of a $226.0m cap free - a bit of freedom to go after a free agent or two if required. I put in an offer on the top WR available in free agency, Willie Trinidad - $38.00m over 3 years in week 1, upped to $40.50m in week 2, and he signs in week 5. Trinidad is a big receiver with solid skills, and will be a good target for young QB Mello. G Jared Whipple is signed by Washington in week 11 - no great loss, as he was a backup at best on this team. A few signings between the end of free agency and the draft: FB Reggie Roth: $4.11m over 3 years K Nathan Castillo: $2.42m over 2 years P Courtney Turk: $6.04m over 3 years LB Devin Scherer: $22.80m over 3 years Needs going into the draft are mainly depth - the team has few holes at the moment, although a couple of positions are being manned by youngsters who need a year or two to develop. A shut-down cornerback is the biggest single requirement, but the guys in occupation at the moment will be fine if none are available. Decent backups at QB and RB are the big needs with later picks. Drafting 25th this year, the Walkers pick a solid LB who comes ready to start - this makes up for the loss of Ty Whalen to free agency. A decent pass-rusher at DT drops to the team's pick in the second round, and is snapped up. A safety I was looking at for the second round pick is still available in the third round, and is taken there. Rnd 1 - Steve Pearson, LB, - solid all-rounder who will start from day 1 Rnd 2 - Patrick Conarroe, DT - versatile lineman who can fit in at DT or DE Rnd 3 - Antoine Houston, S - reasonable backup with some chance of a breakout Rnd 4 - Clay Porter, QB - good skills, average arm, but should be decent Rnd 5 - Bucky Moore, DE - redliner/backup - the usual type this low Rnd 6 - Shawn Knight, RB - good hands back who should feature in the passing game Rnd 7 - Emmanuel Corral, QB - a value pick - a reasonable backup With 46 players signed and over $17m cap room left at this point, some renegotiating of contracts was carried out: DE Warren Mickens: $30.00m over 3 years LB Joseph Butkus: $19.18m over 3 years The team headed to camp with 53 players signed (after picking up the required rookie free agents) and over $9m remaining under the cap. Preseason: 4-0, with a fair number of minor injuries, but only T Brandon Perkins missing any time. A solid performance in front of the home fans against local rivals Washington is a good way to start the season, and the 34-29 win in week 1 was exactly that. Defence was the key in week s, with the Walkers shutting out the Giants, holding them to under 200 yards of total offence while scoring 30 points on the other side of the ball. The Walkers timed it perfectly against Minnesota in week 3 - the only lead Richmond held in the game was at the final gun, with Castillo kicking the game-winner as time expired in a 20-17 victory. The team made it four in a row after the bye by rolling over Philadelphia 30-3 - the offence didn't quite click, but a good defensive performance meant it didn't really matter. The Walkers got away with a terrible showing by the offence in week 6 as the defence held Colorado Springs to two field goals, and Mello hit Bednarsh for the game's only TD in a struggling 7-6 win. Three Mello TD passes, all to Willie Trinidad, were enough for the Walkers to take a win out of New York and move to 6-0. The Walkers finally came out on the wrong side of a close game in week 8 as Seattle got a late field goal to sneak a 17-14 win. A solid first half against Denver got the Walkers back to winning ways, although a late rush by the Broncos made the score of 20-17 closer than the game merited. The inability to punch the ball into the endzone cost the Walkers a big divisional game as the Cardinals closed to within a game of Richmond in the NFC East with a 13-9 home win. Philadelphia also managed to take a win out of the Walkers grasp, edging a close game 24-17 in Veterans Stadium. The Cardinals swept the season series with the Walkers on the back of a late TD to pinch a 20-17 victory in Richmond. The offence broke out of its slump at the right time, with Mello throwing 5 TD passes in a vital 41-24 victory over the Cowboys. A trip to Chicago saw the offence's problems in the red zone re-emerge, and the secondary give up a couple of big TD passes, but the team did enough good things to win the game 25-17. Washington, already out of the playoff picture, threatened to cause an upset, but the Walkers managed to hold off a Redskins comeback to take a 20-14 victory back to Richmond. The Walkers took advantage of another team's problems in the red zone in beating Hartford 21-18 - the Falcons were forced to kick four field goals when turning any of them into a TD would have won the game. This set up a big finale to the regular season in Dallas - the Cowboys need the win to stay in contention for a wild card, while a Richmond win coupled with an Arizona loss would mean that the Walkers would win the NFC East. The Cowboys got on the board first with a field goal, but two Mello TD passes and an Atkins interception return for a TD made it 20-3 going into the fourth quarter. Two long TD passes from Dallas made it close, but the Walkers managed to hold on, winning 26-20. Tampa Bay beat Arizona in week 17 to clinch a wild card, a result which also allowed the Walkers to move past the Cardinals into the top spot in the NFC East. The Saints would have the top seed in the NFC, though, with a 13-3 record.
Portland came through the wild card round, and travelled to Richmond to face the Thunder Walkers. The White Sturgeon started fast, getting a long TD run on their first drive to lead 7-0. Richmond struggled to get back in the game for the rest of the first quarter, but got a big play of their own when Mello hit Clancy from 53 yards out to tie the scores. The same players linked up again, from shorter range, early in the second quarter to give the home team the lead, and the White Sturgeon were never in the game after this. Two more Mello TD passes padded the lead, with the final score being 31-0. This set up the NFC Championship Game against the Saints in New Orleans. The Walkers took an early lead on Mello's short TD run, but the Saints dominated after this, with QB Chuck Gunn throwing four TD passes on the way to a 45-22 New Orleans win. Statistics QB Derrick Mello: 31-536-3889-28-13 (91.0 qbr) WR Harvey Bednarsh: 89-1139-6 (12.7 ypc), 58.9% caught, 10 drops WR Bill Clancy: 79-1080-6 (13.6 ypc), 62.6% caught, 7 drops WR Willie Trinidad: 72-859-8 (11.9 ypc), 62.0% caught, 8 drops The complete lack of a running game hurt the passing game - the best back had around 300 yards rushing at under 4 yards per carry. DE Ricky Borders: 39 tackles, 8 assists, 7.0 sacks DE Warren Mickens: 35 tackles, 9 assists, 6.5 sacks LB Joseph Butkus: 78 tackles, 17 assists, 2.0 sacks LB Kenyon Hadden: 59 tackles, 22 assists, 12.0 sacks S J.C. Spellman: 76 tackles, 26 assists, 2 interceptions (1 TD) S Jamie Gordon: 65 tackles, 20 assists, 11 interceptions Awards QB Derrick Mello and S Jamie Gordon were both voted to the AP 2nd team (it looks to have been a tough year to get into the All-Pro 1st team at safety if 11 picks doesn't make it!) Team Statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 2.5/Defence 3.4/League 3.8 Pass: Offence 7.0/Defence 6.5/League 6.5 Yards per game Offence: Rush 57.1 (36), Pass 267.7 (1) Defence: Rush 91.5 (6), Pass 230.5 (30) As I said above, the total lack of a running game hurt the offence. On the other side of the ball, things were fairly reasonable, although the pass defence could stand to improve a bit. A reasonable year - a good step forward from the last few, as the team now has a leader at QB again, and a solid core of players coming into their prime - but still work to do before this team can be called the best in the league with any accuracy. Martin |
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02-24-2001, 11:32 AM
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#26 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2044 season
Rounding up 2043: Herb: 87/65/84/74 - average 76 Finances: A $283.0m profit on revenues of $562.0m, the increase over 2042 mainly from a reduction in coaching costs and a low year for bonus payments. LB Toby Carpenter retired this year. Ex-Thunder Walker QB Mercury de los Santos was voted into the league Hall of Fame this year - not really surprising for the holder of all the major career passing records... No change at scout, but I notice a very solid coach has become available - I put in an offer in week 1, but get outbid in week 2. At this point, it becomes an easy decision to stay with coach Bradford for another year. Ticket prices: No change this year - the team is making a reasonable profit at the current prices. Richmond: 115/125/150/170/0/ 7500/325000/163000 Washington: 170/171/184/234/0/11100/497000/168000 The team goes into the offseason with 36 players signed and $43.1m cap room free. This year's unrestricted free agents are: RB Kenny Woodson - has lost a bit through injury, so won't be resigned TE Tim Brandon - a backup who'll want too much money T Glenn Beckham - a decent player who isn't very happy DE Rodney Starks CB Warren Jung - good against the run, but not good enough against the pass to be resigned CB Warren Sparlock - second year bust isn't worth resigning now With no players I want to bring back, the franchise tag goes unused this year. The Panthers make a trade offer at the start of free agency - DT Wayne Murray for a scrub S and their first round pick. Unfortunately, this fails the reality check - DT is a replaceable position, and he's in the last year of his contract. With a big hole in the roster at CB, I go after a solid corner who is about to come into his prime in Karl Madison, a guy who's played his first four years with the Falcons. My initial offer is $55.00m over 4 years, but he decides to stay in Hartford on a slightly more lucrative 3-year deal with the Falcons. When week 11 comes around, I make an offer to CB Kevin Villareal - $32.00m over 3 years - which he accepts in week 13. Not a great player, but a guy who can come in and do a competent job, which is better than the guys I currently have! This ends the action in free agency, but some roster moves were made before the draft: Renegotiated contracts: S J.C. Spellman: $21.75m over 3 years DT Wayne Murray: $45.00m over 4 years T Jesse Segalas: $24.60m over 3 years T Brandon Perkins: $29.25m over 3 years C Tyrell Lathrop: $25.80m over 3 years TE Troy Rojas: $18.15m over 3 years S Jamie Gordon: $29.60m over 4 years This leaves the team with 37 players signed and $21.13m of a $231.6m cap free - this should be enough for the draft and signing undrafted rookies afterwards. Main needs going into the draft are CB and RB, but the team is in reasonable shape - best player available is a fairly workable way to do this draft. No real standouts at the bottom of the first round, so I take a solid DE on the BPA argument, especially as this is a position that tends to be difficult to get. A planned release at G next year means that getting a replacement is a good idea, so I pick up a good pass-blocker in the second round. A backup for the big plugger for the middle of the defensive line is always a good thing, and I take advantage of a deep draft for defensive tackles in the third round to pick one up. 1 - Gerald Crane, DE - best player available, and should start in a year or two 2 - Vincent Frohbieter, G - a starter-quality player, but will be given a year or two to mature 3 - Roman Barker, DT - solid backup, and possible redliner 4 - Walt Hill, RB - too good to miss out on here 5 - Mike Deighton, DT - good player with redliner prospects 6 - Antoine Hawkins, WR - quality 4th receivers usually don't last this long 7 - George Stowe, TE - a good backup with soft hands I accept a trade offer from St. Louis, sending DE Ricky Borders to the Rams in exchange for their first-round pick next year plus a reasonable WR. No busts or breakouts during camp, so the team heads into preseason in good shape. Preseason: 3-1, with a few minor injuries. Dallas jumped out in front early, but the Walkers kept them in sight, and moved ahead for the first time in the game on a Castillo field goal in the final seconds to clinch a 23-21 win. The home opener saw the Walkers always in control against Portland, and the Richmond crowd saw the team pick up a 31-23 win. After two close games, the defence allowed the team to take it easy for once, shutting Washington down in a 34-10 win which saw WR Clancy catch 3 TD passes. A strong defensive performance secured a win after the bye week, as the Walkers beat Philadelphia 25-13. The offence misfired all day, but Castillo put the ball through the uprights when it mattered. Some big offensive plays early on put the Walkers out in front in New York in a big divisional matchup with the Giants, and Richmond managed to hold on for a 37-34 win to extend their streak. The winning run ended at 5 as the Cowboys put in a professional performance at the Municipal Stadium to win 20-10. The Cardinals pinched the victory in week 8 with a last-second TD to record a 36-35 win in the desert. A home game against the struggling Ice Weasels gave the Walkers a chance to get back to winning ways, and they took it with a resounding 41-14 win, with Mello hooking up with Clancy on two long TD passes. A trip to Philadelphia proved too tough for the Walkers, although they almost came back from 23-0 down to pinch a win, the final score 26-20. A game against the division-leading Redskins in week 11 went down to the wire, but Washington just managed to hold out for a 24-23 win as the Walkers missed a field goal in the last two minutes. The week 12 game against New England threatened to be close as well, but the Walkers came through with 10 late points to win 27-17. Another tough away game also went down to the gun, and again the Walkers pulled through, the Saints falling 23-17 on three Castillo field goals and two long Mello TD passes. A tight defensive game in week 14 saw the Walkers come out with a huge divisional win, the Cardinals being edged 14-13 to put the Walkers in a strong position for a wild card, and in contention for the division if the Redskins were to falter. Another ugly win, this time over New York by a score of 24-17, kept up the momentum. Minnesota were next to come close but lose, the Walkers holding the Vikings scoreless in a 19-14 win. A win in Miami would seal the division, and set up home field advantage through the playoffs, and the team came up with the goods, rolling over the Dolphins 38-14.
A tough 38-31 win over the Redskins in the divisional round was lost to a crash, so the game had to be replayed. The Walkers made no mistake the second time round, though, with a thumping 54-10 win on four Mello TD passes, a defensive TD and a couple of TD runs. This set up the NFC Championship Game against the Saints. Mello threw a second quarter TD to put the Walkers ahead, but New Orleans took control after that, and ended the game 17-7 winners. Statistics QB Derrick Mello: 334-573-4496-35-11 (95.6 qbr) RB Walt Hill: 209-879-3 (4.2 ypc) WR Bill Clancy: 84-1416-15 (16.8 ypc), 52.5% caught, 14 drops WR Willie Trinidad: 83-1264-8 (15.2 ypc), 61.0% caught, 6 drops A solid year for the offence, although the lack of a significant threat at third receiver hurt a bit. DE Gerald Crane: 42 tackles, 3 assists, 13.0 sacks DE Warren Mickens: (12 games) 18 tackles, 6 assists, 10.0 sacks LB Kenyon Hadden: 77 tackles, 23 assists, 2.0 sacks LB Joseph Butkus: 71 tackles, 21 assists, 7.5 sacks S Jamie Gordon: 82 tackles, 30 assists, 1 interception A good year for the defensive line, especially the rookie DE Crane, but the secondary struggled all year, with three of the four starters missing several games through injury. Awards WRs Bill Clancy and Willie Trinidad were voted to the AP 1st team, with QB Derrick Mello making the 2nd team. Team statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 3.8/Defence 3.7/League 3.7 Pass: Offence 7.8/Defence 6.6/League 6.6 Yards per game Offence: Rush 99.4 (21), Pass 281.0 (1) Defence: Rush 90.5 (6), Pass 229.6 (23) While the defence was no better than average, the offence put up some good numbers to pull the team into the higher levels of the league. Martin |
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02-24-2001, 11:33 AM
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#27 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2045 season
Rounding up 2044 Herb: 90/77/77/75 - average 79 Finances: A profit of $248.6m on revenues of $563.1m - pretty steady, though the high signing bonuses last year didn't help. No retirements this year - none were expected, although a couple of players are getting on a bit. B.J. Nix, the long-serving scout, is finally starting to slip, so I look to replace him with Erk Houston, a good but not great scout - an initial offer of $600,000 for 5 years is accepted straight away. I also look to get a new coach in, as Eric Bradford is starting to lose it - Jerald Wolf is my target, a coach with a good reputation for game-day skills, but not as good a developmental coach. An $11m per year deal is enough to secure him - a big increase in coaching costs, but worth it for a solid coach. Ticket prices: No change once again. Richmond: 115/125/150/170/0/ 7500/325000/163000 Washington: 169/171/184/234/0/11200/501000/168000 The team goes into the offseason with 36 players signed and $26.7m of a $237.2m cap free. Four unrestricted free agents, with LB Ron Mudgett getting the franchise tag. G Kendrick Stephenson goes to the Bucs in week 4 of free agency - a good player, but I have sufficient backup to feel I can let him go. This is the only action the team takes in free agency - there isn't enough cap room to justify going after a quality player. Onto the draft, and the team picks 34th, with an additional pick in the middle of the first round after a trade last year. Needs this year are similar to those last year - RB and CB are the big needs, with depth a concern in most areas. A starting-quality cornerback drops to pick 21, so this decision is easy. Several good players are still available at the bottom of the first round, but I take a DE who should be able to start in a year or so. With the linebackers getting on a bit in years, the second round pick is used on a good young LB who I was looking at with the second first-rounder. A solid backup S is the third round pick. Rnd 1 - Quinn Jenkins, DE - another solid DE who should be able to play straight away Rnd 1 - A.J. Carper, CB - not the best corner I've seen, but a very good addition to a weak area on the team Rnd 2 - Jay Dowell, LB - starting-quality LB straight away, and good potential Rnd 3 - Isaac Peete, S - good value here - a starter in a year or two Rnd 4 - Paul Hodges, C - a backup who is starter-quality Rnd 5 - Anthony Slocumb, K - too good to pass up here - great leg Rnd 6 - Bobby Levy, G - solid backup lineman Rnd 7 - Joel Murray, RB - best RB available, but won't be anything more than a backup Drafting Jenkins allows me to accept a trade offer from Philadelphia for DE Warren Mickens - a solid player, but slowed by injury. This gives me a fourth-round pick next year. I resign a couple of players after the draft: LB Andy Mudgett: $33.20m over 4 years LB Troy Reynolds: $15.05m over 3 years T John Solymos: $4.99m over 2 years FB Marcus Winters: $13.65m over 3 years A couple of renegotiated contracts: WR Willie Trinidad: $49.35m over 4 years WR Bill Clancy: $46.80m over 4 years Preseason: 4-0, with a few players out for a few weeks. The 15-1 regular season record included a big 44-16 win in Tampa Bay, who were 11-0 going into the game. The Bucs collapsed after this, only managing to win one more game the rest of the way. The divisional round saw New Orleans travel to Richmond, and the Walkers made short work of the Saints, holding them scoreless until the middle of the fourth quarter. By that time, QB Mello had thrown three TD passes to put the Walkers well ahead, the game finishing 31-3. Tampa Bay recovered enough to come through the divisional round, and were the opposition for the Walkers in the NFC Championship Game. The Bucs kept it tighter this time, but the Walkers still jumped out into a 17-3 halftime lead on two Mello TD passes. A late TD made the score more respectable, but two Slocumb field goals made the final score 23-10 Richmond. After a long absence, the Walkers were back in the Bowl! The two best teams in the league would match up in the Super Bowl in 2045 - the Thunder Walkers were the best team in the league by almost any measure, but the Black Squirrels are the class of the AFC, finishing with a 13-3 record in the regular season. Richmond jumped out on top early, with Mello finding TE Rojas for a first quarter TD. The Squirrels missed an opportunity late in the first quarter when they drove the length of the field only to miss a field goal, leaving the score 7-0 Walkers at the end of the first quarter. Derrick Mello put the game away in the second and third quarters - despite throwing two interceptions, the QB threw three TD passes to RB Hill, WR Clancy and WR Bednarsh to take Richmond out of sight at 28-0. Colorado Springs got on the board with a late field goal, but a Murray TD run and Slocumb field goal rounded out a comprehensive 38-3 Thunder Walkers win. Despite his two interceptions, QB Derrick Mello was voted as the Super Bowl MVP for his performance - 19 of 26 for 286 yards and four touchdowns. Statistics QB Derrick Mello: 297-473-4124-33-8 (106.8 qbr) RB Walt Hill: (9 games) 114-417-2 (3.6 ypc) RB Joel Murray: 76-310-5 (4.0 ypc) WR Harvey Bednarsh: 100-1447-12 (14.4 ypc), 63.6% caught, 7 drops WR Willie Trinidad: 68-1189-10 (17.4 ypc), 61.8% caught, 9 drops WR Bill Clancy: 72-924-6 (12.8 ypc), 63.7% caught, 5 drops TE Troy Rojas: 56-576-4 (10.2 ypc), 69.1% caught, 1 drop A very productive year for the offence, with QB Derrick Mello coming of age as a starting QB in his fourth year. DE Bucky Moore: 13 tackles, 4 assists, 7.5 sacks LB Steve Pearson: (13 games) 61 tackles, 20 assists, 2.0 sacks LB Jay Dowell: 49 tackles, 18 assists, 8.0 sacks S J.C. Spellman: 76 tackles, 24 assists, 2 interceptions CB Teddy Martinson: 32 tackles, 11 assists, 8 interceptions Difficult to pick out highlights, as the defence was never really settled with players being shifted around on a regular basis to allow for injuries (especially on the defensive line). The play of CB Martinson was a big bonus, and rookie CB Carper also played well. Awards QB Derrick Mello was voted the NFL MVP as well as the Super Bowl MVP, and (unsurprisingly) was the AP 1st team QB. He was joined on the 1st team by TE Troy Rojas, WR Harvey Bednarsh and CB Teddy Martinson. WR Willie Trinidad was the only Thunder Walker on the AP 2nd team. Team Statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 3.4/Defence 3.6/League 3.8 Pass: Offence 8.4/Defence 6.9/League 6.7 Yards per game Offence: Rush 98.9 (23), Pass 307.6 (1) Defence: Rush 85.8 (3), Pass 248.9 (36) The running game wasn't particularly productive, but it opened up holes for the passing game to exploit. Defensively, the numbers don't look good, but the team was well in front in most games, and other teams ran up big passing numbers trying to catch up. A very successful season, building on 2044, which was in turn an improvement on the previous few seasons. The team appears to be headed in the right direction under a strong young QB - always a good state of affairs! Martin |
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02-25-2001, 06:31 AM
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#28 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Richmond Thunder Walkers - 2046 season
Rounding up 2045: Herb: 100/79/80/75 - average 83 Finances: A $303.1m profit on revenues of $668.9m - the additional home games a Super Bowl run provides made a big difference to the money side of things, offsetting a big increase in coaching costs. No retirements this year, and no action in the Hall of Fame either. No changes at coach or scout - the incumbents are doing a good job, and coach Wolf seems to have a good grasp of how the offence ticks. Ticket prices: No change once again - the Richmond faithful have never had it so good... Richmond: 115/125/150/170/0/ 7500/325000/163000 Washington: 169/171/184/234/0/11200/501000/168000 A lot of unrestricted free agents this year: FB Reggie Roth WR Harvey Bednarsh G Artie Woodard P Courtney Turk LB Joseph Butkus LB Kenyon Hadden LB Devin Scherer CB Teddy Martinson Cornerback is the position the team needs most, so Martinson is franchised. Richmond go into the free agency period with 31 players signed and $62.8m of a $242.8m cap free - room to go after a big free agent if required. Colorado Springs offer a trade for DT Wayne Murray - I gladly accept another pick at the bottom of the first round for a veteran player who's coming off a big injury. I put in offers of $31.31m over 3 years for LB Kenyon Hadden and $7.30m over 2 years for P Courtney Turk in week 1, not expecting them to be enough. Hadden thinks about it for a couple of weeks, so I reduce the offer to match his demands - $29.47m in week 3. He gets the hint, and signs in week 5. Turk gets the same treatment in week 5 - his offer goes down to $6.75m. Guys seem to notice when their offers go down, as Turk accepts the reduced deal in week 6. I put in an offer of $30.00m over 3 years to Dallas LB Kevin Zimmerman in week 5, which was accepted immediately, despite other teams offering more money. Zimmerman is a solid all-round LB with a talent for getting to the QB which has gone unused in Dallas's scheme - the Cowboys may have a shock coming when they play Richmond this year! WR Harvey Bednarsh signs for Pittsburgh in week 6, with Artie Woodard going to the Giants at the same time. FB Reggie Roth signs for the Saints in week 8. A late move in free agency sees the Walkers make an offer of $7.75m over 2 years to LB Jimmie Lake, a first round pick last year, and $22.87m over 3 years to WR Deron Downs - these offers were both accepted straight away, giving the Walkers a bit more depth going into the draft. A couple of players were signed after the end of free agency: LB Steve Pearson: $7.26m over 1 year CB Teddy Martinson: $34.20m over 3 years This leaves the Walkers with 37 players signed and $25.1m cap room free. With no real needs going into the draft (mainly depth in several positions, notably QB and on the defensive line), the Walkers went out to get the Best Player Available. A good LB was the first pick, with one of the many solid RBs in the draft taken in round 2. The second second round pick goes on a backup QB, with depth at DE targeted in the third round. 1 - Carl Sanders, LB - good in coverage, and should be reasonable against the run as well 2 - Brant Reilly, QB - accurate passer will be a good second QB for the team 2 - Dustin Wheatley, RB - good hands back is a nice fit for the team 3 - Jumbo Hickman, DE - won't be a great player, but will contribute as part of the rotation 4 - Jason McDowall, C - solid backup for the offensive line 4 - Harry Monroe, DT - decent depth on the defensive line 5 - T.J. Floyd, RB - seriously good value here - not dissimilar to Wheatley 6 - Darrin Allen, WR - useful 5th receiver with return skills 7 - Corwin Holdhusen, QB - a reasonable backup with the last draft pick of the challenge At this point, I resigned second TE George Stowe for 3 years at $12.43m. Preseason: 3-1, with only a couple of minor injuries.
In a tough NFC, 11-5 was only good for a home game in the wild card round - San Francisco and Tampa Bay both finished 13-3. New Orleans were the opponents in the wild card round, and a defensive struggle saw the Walkers come out on top 13-7. This set up a divisional round game in San Francisco. Having lost to the 49ers in San Francisco in the regular season, the Walkers were out for revenge in this game, and a fast start saw Clancy get on the end of a Mello pass for a 42-yard TD, with Slocumb adding a field goal late in the first quarter to make it 10-0. The 49ers get it back to 10-7 on a short TD run, but two Slocumb field goals in the last minute of the half made it 16-7 Walkers with 30 minutes to play. The teams exchanged field goals early in the second half before the 49ers closed the gap to two points with a fourth quarter TD. Mello put the game away just inside the two minute warning, though, by finding Hawkins in the endzone to make the final score 26-17, and sending the Walkers through to the NFC Championship Game in Tampa Bay. The Bucs are a team that the Walkers have a good record against in recent times, but it's always tough to beat a team in their own stadium. Tampa Bay jumped out into an early 10-0 lead, but Hawkins scored on a short Mello pass to close the gap to 3 at the half. A Winters TD catch put Richmond ahead, but the Bucs replied with a TD of their own to retake the lead. Mello wasn't finished, though, as he hit Willie Trinidad on a long pass to put the Thunder Walkers ahead for good, with Hawkins and Wheatley scoring late TDs to make the game safe, the score ending 35-17. Richmond advance to defend their Super Bowl title in Buffalo. The Bills get home field advantage in the big game thanks to their 12-4 record in winning the AFC East, and they took an early lead on a short pass from their star QB Roman Giles. Derrick Mello tied the game at 7 on a TD pass to Hawkins late in the first quarter, then the defences took control. Neither team made much progress until late in the third quarter, when the Walkers drove from their own 2 into the Bills endzone in 14 plays, with Mello hitting backup WR Downs for the go-ahead score. The Richmond defence then shut Buffalo down, with the Bills not making it past the Walkers' 40 the rest of the game. A scrappy game, but the Walkers repeat as Super Bowl Champions. WR Antoine Hawkins was voted the game's MVP for his 8 catches and the all-important TD. Statistics QB Derrick Mello: (13 games) 258-408-3541-30-9 (qbr 106.2) FB Marcus Winters: 101-456-4 (4.5 ypc), 17-160-1 receiving RB Walt Hill: (9 games) 98-436-1 (4.4 ypc) WR Willie Trinidad: 88-1398-13 (15.8 ypc), 61.9% caught, 9 drops WR Bill Clancy: 94-1379-13 (14.6 ypc), 59.1% caught, 9 drops WR Antoine Hawkins: 73-815-6 (11.1 ypc), 64.0% caught, 5 drops A solid year for the offence, with Winters being more involved and Hawkins stepping up as the third receiver. DT Patrick Connaroe: 24 tackles, 9 assists, 7.0 sacks DE Gerald Crane: 23 tackles, 13 assists, 7.0 sacks DE Quinn Jenkins: 47 tackles, 11 assists, 6.5 sacks LB Steve Pearson: 76 tackles, 24 assists, 2.0 sacks, 2 interceptions LB Kevin Zimmerman: 40 tackles, 24 assists, 7.0 sacks S J.C. Spellman: 84 tackles, 23 assists, 1 interception S Jamie Gordon: 49 tackles, 18 assists, 4 interceptions (1 TD) CB Teddy Martinson: 44 tackles, 16 assists, 6 interceptions (1 TD) A solid if unspectacular year for the defence - they were burned a few times, but came up with enough big stops to make up for it. Awards Apart from Super Bowl MVP Hawkins, several Thunder Walkers made the end of season awards list - AP 1st teamers were FB Marcus Winters, WR Willie Trinidad, WR Bill Clancy, C Tyrell Lathrop, K Anthony Slocumb and CB Teddy Martinson. QB Derrick Mello, harshly penalised for missing a couple of games through injury mid-season, only made the AP 2nd team despite being the best QB in the league by a distance. Team Statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 3.6/Defence 4.2/League 3.8 Pass: Offence 7.6/Defence 6.9/League 6.5 Yards per game Offence: Rush 107.0 (22), Pass 292.3 (1) Defence: Rush 101.0 (13), Pass 236.6 (31) The numbers aren't anything special, especially on the defensive side of the ball, but the team got the job done. A good way to finish the challenge - two straight Super Bowls, showing that this team can win it all without Mercury de los Santos. Derrick Mello isn't as productive as the Mexican Montana, but is a very efficient QB who makes very few mistakes - this is a very useful combination, as his 100+ QBR performances in the last two seasons have shown. Rounding up the 2046 season Herb: 100/78/66/74 - average 79 Finances: A profit of $184.0m on revenues of $542.4m - a big drop, mainly due to the lack of home playoff games in 2046 compared to 2045. Martin |
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