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

[Abe Sargent]

Right now we have 25 players on the roster.


Franchise Review:

4th worst franchise value
6th worst stadium
18th worst roster
3rd worst support
19th worst economy
5th lowest attendance by numbers, 6th worst by % of seats

We lost 50 million less last year than the previous GM lost in 2021. I want to continue to slash the deficit.

[Abe Sargent]

I have to hire a new scout, and I want to hire a new coach.


I make an offer to the Jaguars scout.

I make an offer to the Richmond head coach that I hired before. Cheap and solid.

After the first week, neither look like they will be coming to Cleveland.

I pull my offer for the Jags scout and make one for the Richmond scout.

I make an offer to a not great but satisfactory head coach.

Week 3 - Our scout goes elsewhere but we hire the new head coach, a reduction of about 9 million in salary annually.

I make an offer to a FA scout.

He accepts:

Head Coach:

Brent Kidwell, 52, 5 year contract, 4.4 million annually
Excellent: QB
Very Good: Av Inj, Off PC, Discipline, K
Good: Def PC, Y Talent, RB, WR, L Line, D Line
Fair: Motivation, DB, LB
Poor: None

3rd lowest paid Head Coach in the league


Lead Scout:

JC Kurko, 51, 5 year contract, 600k annually
Excellent: None
Very Good: Y Talent, K, O Line, RB, QB
Good: WR, LB
Fair: DB, Dline
Poor: None

2nd lowest paid Lead Scout in the league


I wanted to slash costs, this is the best place to do it.

[Abe Sargent]

We will be drafting #34 instead of #8-15 where we should be drafting. Yuck.


No franchise tag.


Free Agency:


I get some trade offers. One is a OG I drafted at Richmond at the 1/9 pick for Damon Alexander. No thanks.

3/11 for Sammie Robertson.


Actually, I never have gone back to look at my players after getting a new scout.

WR Bucky Shores looks better but he’s a FA.

LB Damon Alexander really fell in value.

RB Calvin Garrison is an odd change. He’s now has more short yardage, which is was not good at, but less breakaway, which he was better at.

DE Tito Washington has dropped.

DT Vipersmith dropped. I was thinking about making him an RFA offer, but not now.

C Nick Lamay dropped massively

I am 82 million under the cap.

[Abe Sargent]

Now that I’ve seen Alexander drop, I have to ask myself a basic question. Do I take the offer to trade him for the 1/9 offered by the Dolphins? I think so.

I got OG Brock Timlin, who I drafted when I was at Richmond.


Sigh. I need players all up and down the roster, and I have the 34th pick in each round to address my massive needs. This sucks.


There are some interesting FA. Tony Clements is available, but in his 17th year. At this point in his career, he’s good, but no better than my guy currently. There is a franchise QB available, however. Say hello to:

QB Ernest Mayes, 6th year, 94 accuracy, 97 power, 70’s and 80’s in the various passing ranges.

I make Mayes a major offer.

I trade CB TJ Wilbur to the Panthers for their 3/24 pick this year. Now I don‘t have 3 starting CBs vying for two spots getting paid three starting CB salaries.

I trade WR Sammie Robertson, who is in his 10th year and not that great, to Green Bay for their 4/11 pick next year.


I also make an offer to a really good DT in Stanley Allen, and a solid OT RJ Freedman.

Okay, let’s see who we can pull.


Week 1 QB Ernest Mayes signs with us!!!! LALALALA. Mayes was All Pro QB in 2020. He has only missed 4 games in the past 5 years.

Now, I need to unload Dunlap. He did fine, and I don’t mind having a really good backup QB but I need picks waaaay too much to keep him around.

I trade Shane to the Albuquerque Rail Runners for their 2nd, 5th and 7th picks this year. Since the Rail Runners let Clements go, this is a good pickup for them, and they get the 11th or 13th best QB in the league for a 2nd and some late picks, so they are happy, and I am happy with Mayes.

OT RJ Freedman signs with us week 5 and Bucky Shores went to Baltimore, btw.

Week 7 we sign DT Allen. All of our three targets come in. Excellent!

WTF? I’m looking over my roster and OT Freedman is getting paid 30 million a year? Bug? Did I mistype his contract offer?

Here’s the problem. I don’t normally expect to save/reload. My last save game is at the end of the first season. Now, I can reload it and replay it, but I don’t know if I’ll get the same scout, head coach, same trade offer for my LB, same players drop in value, same offers to Fas, etc.

Or I can play with a 30+ million contract to an OT annually.

I guess I have to suck it up. Ouch. That’s going to be an albatross.


I trade CB Sedrick Shell to the Lone Stars for their 63 pick in order to cut costs.

I cut LB Bo Shade.

Time to accelerate the Free Agency stuff.

[Abe Sargent]

We move to the draft.


I have a ton of needs. I’ll list just the starting needs:

FB
WR
WR
C
OG
OG
LB
LB
CB
S

And frankly, I could take OT, TE, LB, DE, S as well with starter quality.


The 2023 NFL Amateur Draft

Well, this is our chance to get a real impact player at the 1/9 spot. Here is who I like:

OG Donny Shepherd - Very green, very high potential
TE Charles Moseley - Good at everything, great at a few things
LB Roderick Karl - Strong and green
WR Andy Garner - Best WR on the board, but not worth a pick this high, imho.
WR Kenny Marshall - Also damn good
OT Richie Stanford - Run blocking specialist with great endurance and good pass blocking.


Actually, the more I look at him, the more I like Marshall.

Potentials:

86 catching
61 ypc
100 catch frequency
92 3rd down catching
81 carrying
66 endurance


That’s not bad at all. That’s very draftable.

Okay, I take him.

Time for us to pick again at 1/34. Who to take?

There’s a strong CB Mercury Greene on the board. I take him, but Garner was still there and I was considering him too.

2/27 pops up. There is a good OG there, green, but solid so I take him.

Bart Greene is no Garner but he’s alright and we take him at 2/34.

I then start to BAP the draft.




Draft Recap:

1/9 - WR Kenny Marshall, Clemson
1/34 - CB Mercury Greene, Temple
2/27 - OG Chad Chadwick, U Mass - Lowell
2/34 - WR Bart Greene, Virginia Tech
3/24 - DT Peter Berry, Syracuse
3/34 - FB Sam Albriktsen, Notre Dame
4/11 - OG Curtis Mayes, Minnesota
4/34 - RB Lorenzo Verdin, Arizona State
5/27 - C Tracy Wolfe, Florida
5/34 - S Jose Stephens, Arizona State
6/3 - OT Monty Hutchins, Kentucky
6/34 - LB Heath Ellison, Arizona State
7/27 - OG Melvin Diaz-Infante, Middle Tennessee State
7/34 - QB Sam Marshall, Iona

[Abe Sargent]

I have just 37 players on my roster. Time for some shopping.

I cut OG Brock Timlin.

HEHEHEHEH. I got a trade offer for OT RJ Freedman. 1st rounder from the San Antonio.

Normally I wouldn’t even touch this. But, this gives me a chance to unload the player with the broken contract. The hit is nasty - 45 million next year. That’s 11 more than otherwise. Nasty.

Nah, I’ma stick with my guy.

I sign some UFA:

RB Mitchell Kuiper, Mississippi
RB Oscar Fox, Valdosta State
CB Raymond Lofton, Navy
CB Mercury Davis, Miami, Florida (Two Mercurys!)
CB Spencer Bovee, Memphis
S Corey Hodge, UCLA
S Jonathan Money, Virginia State
LB Todd Dodge, Kansas
LB Mitchell Meyer, Indiana
TE Shaun Shelton, Western State
WR Alex Valerio, Maryland

Okay, we have 47 players, let’s go to camp, see how my rookies shake out, and then sign some players as patches.

[Abe Sargent]

Camp Time!


I get four trade offers post camp. C Nick Lamay for a 4th, CB Clifton Murphy for a 5th, WR Kenny Marshall for a 2nd, and a 1st for OT RJ Freedman. Again.

We sold just 24,100 season tickets



Let’s look at my drafted rooks:


WR Kenny Marshall - 37/82. Looks good so far.
CB Mercury Greene - 20/77. Also quite green.
QB Sam Marshall - 20/70 - Broke open. He was just in the 50s when I drafted him, boomed. Awesome!
RB Lorenzo Verdin - 31/68 - A solid backup
WR Bart Greene - 36/67
DT Peter Berry - 19/66
OG Curtis Mayes - 22/65
FB Sam Albriktsen - 22/63
LB Heath Ellison - 12/56
S Jose Stevens - 25/54
OT Monty Hutchins - 12/53
C Tracy Wolfe - 13/50
OG Melvin Diaz-Infante - 16-35 - Bust, but drafted as a backup
OG Chad Chadwick - 6/22 - Major, major bust. Ouch.


I drafted three starting caliber OGs and two busted.

Sam Marshall is a pleasant surprise. I’m glad I don’t have any first round busts.

[Abe Sargent]

We can see the players who did not get resigned as RFAs. One is Grady Pender. Ouch. Great, potential HOF RB, and I can sign him for a year if I want.

I sign him for one year, 4.2 million

I also sign LB Roosevelt McWilliams who was not brought back by Richmond for a year.

I sign UFA DE Stan Rogers from North Texas, DE Donnie Atherton from Georgia Southern and Norm Cook, TE, from Notre Dame.

I sign OG Ernest Moss, for a year as a patch. I drafted him while at Richmond as well.


I cut RB Oscar Fox.


I sign UFA FB Craig Snodgrass of Rice.



Okay, let’s begin to massage my roster.

[Abe Sargent]

2023 Cleveland Browns Starters:

QB Ernest Mayes - 6th year vet, fully developed, and ready to rock.
RB Grady Pender - I drafted him, he’s awesome, and I have no intention of letting him go (Can you say franchise tag Boys and Girls?)
FB Sam Albriktsen - He’s alright
TE Ronnie Meadows - Sophomore, not as good as my scout last year thought him.
WR Bart Stewart - More developed than one of my rookies
WR Kenny Marshall - Great looking rookie
C Nick Lamay - Enhhh
OG Ernest Moss - One of my draftees now brought in as a patch
OG Curtis Mayes - Rookie starts, another pass rush specialist
OT RJ Freedman - Expensive, All pro last three years of 7 year career, former 1/7 pick.
OT JJ Boddy - Adequate
P Leo Rayburn - Yay!
K Charles Rasmussen - Yay!
DE BJ Farr - He’s okay.
DE Tito Washington - Potential dropped
DT Donny Poole - Had a solid season last year
DT Stanley Allen - Really good at a rare position to be this good.
LB Roosevelt McWilliams - Will start at MLB position.
LB Reuben Kerr - Sucky
LB Nate Wallace - Sucky too
CB Clifton Murphy - Starting again. Needs to do better than last year.
CB Mercury Greene - Rookies is starting.
S Aaron Harrell - Enchh
S Jose Stevens - Don’t make the mistake of thinking he’s anything more than a desperation start


KR/PR - CB Mercury Davis and WR Grimshaw


This roster can make some noise. Especially Pender and Mayes and Marshall. I m very happy with QB, RB and WR on this team.

[Abe Sargent]

What does the league think of our team?

2nd best QB in the league. Oh yes.
THE best RB in the league. Oh yes.
3rd worst FB
18th best TE
2nd worst WR
17th worst C
4th worst OG
4th best OT
2nd best P
3rd best K
16th best DE
2nd best DT
17th worst LB
4th worst CB
19th best S (Which means 18th worst)



We still have improvements we need to make. Some of my rookies need to develop. But there is potential in this squad. Very serious potential.


Schedule - First 3 of 4 at home. 4 of 5 away. 4 of 5 at home. Last two on the road.

We go 3-1 in the preseason.

[Abe Sargent]

Week 1 - We win vs. the Saints 24-10. Grady Pender is NFL Offensive Player of the Week and Game MVP with 26 carries, 131 yards and 3 Tds. An auspicious debut. Mayes was 25 of 35 for 326 and 0:1 in his debut. McWilliams notched 13 solo tackles. Picks by Stevens and Money. 5 KRB by rookie Moss.

Week 2 - We defeat the Rams 23-15. Pender is Game MVP with 98 yards on 24 carries and a TD. Mayes was 16 of 24 for 210 and 2:0. He hit Pender and Greene for scores. Marshall notched 105 yards receiving on 5 catches.

Week 3 - We CRUSH the Bengals 40-7. Ernest Mayes is Game MVP with 25 of 36, 259, 4:0. He hit Valerio, Pender and Marshall twice. Murphy and Harrell had picks. Pender had 103 yards on 26 carries.

My C is doubtful.

Week 4 - We emerge victorious from our game with Pittsburgh, 14-6. Pender is once again Game MVP with 94 yards on 28 carries, 2 Tds.

[Abe Sargent]

Week 5 - We crush the Jaguars 40-18. RAR! Pender is again NFL Offensive Player of the Week with 221 yards on 30 carries, 3 rushing Tds. Marshall grabbed a TD pass TD too. Davis, Stevens, Money each with picks.

We have several significant injuries. DE BJ Farr is out with a torn calf muscle for months. I IR him. I sign DE Brook Woods for the rest of the season as a patch. DE Stan Rogers is also out and I IR him. I sign UFA Neal Bryant of Texas Christian for backup purposes.

Week 6 - We defeat the Ravens 38-21. Corey Hodge is Game MVP with a 51 yard INT RET TD. Bovee and Greene also had picks. Pender had 104 yards in 28 carries. Mayes was 22 of 35 for 255 and 2:2. He hit Stewart and Marshall. Stewart had 110 yards on 7 catches. FB Albriktsen rushes for a score. Pender also caught a 2 pt conversion.

OG Ernest Moss is doubtful

Week 7 - BYE


Week 8 - We lose to the Steelers 23-29. 36 rushes for 111 yards by Pender. Mayes rushed for a score and tossed another to Valerio. Freedman had 5 KRB.


Week 9 - We defeat the Jaguars easily - 30-7. Pender is Game Mvp with 2 8carries, 126 yards, 1 rushing TD, a receiving TD. Mayes rushed for our third TD on the game. Stevens grabbed a pick.

[Abe Sargent]

Week 10 - We lose 13-34 on the road against the Raiders. Pender was held to 13 carries, 75 yards and a score. No sacks or picks.

Week 11 - We crush the Ravens 35-7 to get back into the swing of things. Pender is Game MVP with 95 yards on 26 carries and 2 TDs, Garrison added a rushing score in backup duty. Mayes hit Meadows.

Week 12 - Another victory over the Bengals, 31-16. Pender is again NFL Offensive Player of the Week with 154 yards on 27 carries and a rushing TD, 100 yards receiving on 3 catches and a receiving TD. Mayes also rushed for a score and hit Greene. CB Greene had a pick. We were again sackless.

Week 13 We again emerge victorious against the Falcons 21-16. Pender is Game MVP with 127 yards on 17 carries, 89 yards on 6 catches and a TD catch. Mayes is 21 of 37 for 226 and 3:0. He hits Penders the one time for a score and Marshall twice. Harrell had a pick.

[Abe Sargent]

Week 14 - We crush the then 8-4 Titans 34-3. Lorenzo Verdin is Game MVP with two TD runs of 43 and 41 yards and 13 carries for 127 yards. Pender was knocked around a bit, still had a rushing TD. Mayes hit Marshall for another score. Harrell had another pick.

Week 15 - We destroy the Chargers 51-13. Pender is Game MVP with 97 yards, 16 carries, 2 TD, 97 receiving yards. Mayes hit Marshall for three TD passes on 5 catches for 54 yards. Stevens, Bovee, and Davis all had picks. Mercury Davis returned his pick for a score. Ouch.

We are currently the #2 seed with Albuquerque at 13-1 and us at 12-2. We won the division weeks ago.


Week 16 - We edge the Patriots 34-31. Pender is Game MVP with 130 yards, 23 rushes, 3 rushing Tds, 38 yards receiving on 4 catches. Mayes hit Greene for a score. Poole has 2 sacks. DT Allen has a pick and a sack.


Unless Pender has 304 rushing yards, he will not bee getting 2000 this season.


Week 17 - We defeat the Titans 23-14. DT Donny Poole is doubtful. Roosevelt McWilliams is Game MVP with a pick and 11 tackles. Get this Pender is held to 28 yards on 20 carries (we only had 2 KRB on the day). Someone actually stopped him. Woods had 2 sacks. Picks were had by Stevens, Mercury Greene, Harrell, Ellison. Mayes was 23 of 36 for 2:3, 313 yards, hit Marshall and Stewart for score.s Stewart had 117 yards on 6 catches.

[Abe Sargent]

We have a 1st round bye and the #2 seed overall.


2023 AFC Playoffs:


Wild Card Weekend


Jets over Colts 24-18

Lone Stars over Titans 20-17


Divisional Weekend:


We host the Lone Stars while Albuquerque hosts the Jets.


We win 31-17.


Mayes was Game MVP with 7 rushes for 50 yards and a TD, 22 of 36, 254 yards, 3:0 rating, hit Marshall, Stewart and TE Meadows. Marshall had 146 yards on 10 catches. Stevens grabbed a pick.

Albuquerque won 41-10. (Richmond won as well)

[Abe Sargent]

AFC Championship

The #1 seed, 15-1 Albuquerque Rail Runners host


The #2 seed, 14-2 Cleveland Browns


In Grady Pender we trust.



We win 13-10.


Pender is knocked out during the game and only has 11 carries for 34 yards. Marshall is Game MVP with 121 yards, 10 grabs, and a score. OT Freedman had 4 KRB. It was a sloppy day.


Richmond won as well.

[Abe Sargent]

The 2023 Super Bowl


Richmond Rattlesnakes, #2 seed 13-3

vs.

Cleveland Browns, #2 seed, 14-2


It is billed as my own dynasty versus my new one, Grady Pender’s old team against his new one (and Roosevelt’s too), and the Battle of Braham’s Teams (simialry to the AFC Championship which had me go against Albuquerque.


Here we go. Once again, in Grady Pender we trust, even though he’s probable.


We win 29-19

QB Ernest Mayes is the Super Bowl MVP

24 of 37, 280 yards 1:2, rushed for a TD.
Grady Pender, 16 rushes, 46 yards, 2 Tds and a 2 pt conversion run
WR Greene with a score
Woods with 2.5 sacks

[Abe Sargent]

Season Awards:

NFL MVP - RB Grady Pender
NFL Offensive Player of the Year - RB Grady Pender
Defensive Rookie of the Year - S Jose Stevens
Super Bowl MVP - QB Ernest Mayes

All Pro 1st Team - RB Grady Pender, K Charles Rasmussen
All Pro 2nd Team - TE Ronnie Meadows, P Leo Rayburn, LB Roosevelt McWilliams


Other players of mine to get nods:

OT Tyrone Rathbone of Albuquerque finally got one, 2nd Team.
C Ray Hampton, 1st Team, Lone Stars
C Marty Brennan, 2nd Team, Rail Runners
CB Rufus McGowan, 2nd Team, Richmond

[Abe Sargent]

All of my players currently in the league with league awards (Players drafted my moi)


OT Tyrone Rathbone, Rail, 1 honor
C Ray Hampton, Lone, 1 honor
C Marty Brennan, Rail, 5 honors
CB Rufus McGowan, Rattle, 1 honor
LB Roosevelt McWilliams, Cleve, 1 honor
TE Ronnie Meadows, Cleve, 1 honor
RB Grady Pender, Cleve, 5 honors
S Jose Stevens, Cleve, 1 honor
RB Calvin Garrison, Cleve, 1 honor
QB Tony Clements, Rail, 4 honors
RB Heath Shepherd, Rail, 16 honors
FB Warren Dole, Rail, 2 honors
WR Donald Wagner, Rail, 2 honors (All Pro in 2011 and 2022, 11 years apart)
WR Jerome Baker, Rail, 3 honors
OG Scott Pintsak, Rail, 1 honor
LB Quinn Burroughs, Rail, 2 honors
CB Leon Morabito, Rail, 5 honors
RB Ralph Barrett, Rattle, 6 honors
C Jesse Tate, Rattle, 2 honors
DE Jackie Greene, Rattle, 1 honor
S Eric Carlson, Saints, 5 honors
TE Mitchell Spence, Falcons, 1 honor
S Travis Westbrook, Bucs, 2 honors
DE Andrew Kadanoff, Pats, 3 honors

There might be a couple more out there I forget about. I suspect we’ll see a few retire this year.

[Abe Sargent]

Team Stats:

4th most rushing yards, 7th best ypc
16th most passing yards, tied for 2nd best yards per pass/completion
Allowed 9th most rushing yards, 4th most yards per rush
Allowed fewest passing yards, fewest yards per pass/completion
Got 44 sacks, 6th most in NFL, allowed 39, 18th most
Led league massively with +21 TO margin


Some good stuff there. I am particularly proud of our passing defense.

[Abe Sargent]

Individual Stats:

QB Ernest Mayes, 63.8%, 3444 yards, 24:8 ratio, 97.9 rating. 2nd highest rating among qualifiers. 2nd highest % percentage. Sacked 36 times, fumbled 5 times, 242 yards rushing, 3 rush TD.

That was a downright great year.

RB Grady Pender, 1724 yards, 4.5 ypc, 20 TD, 842 yards receiving, 5 rec TD. 5 fumbles, 3 recovered.

Again, just a fine year, and that receiving is marvelous.

WR Bart Stewart, 74 catches, 929 yard,s 2 TD
WR Kenny Marshall, 70 catches, 813 yard,s 11 TD (Tied for 3rd most TD in league)


PR Mercury Davis was 4th most PR RET AVG and had a PR TD.

K Rasmussen - 32 outta 37, league leading. Long of 56
P Rayburn - 11th best PR average, 50 of 85 punts in 20 which is simply staggeringly good.

LB Roosevelt McWilliams 3rd in the league in tackles, solo, with 111. 1 sack. 1 pick. 8 pasdef (led team)
DE Brock Woods - Brought in as patch, 11 starts, 8 sacks
DE Tito Washington, 6.5 sacks
DT Stanley Allen, 5.5 sacks
DT Danny Poole, 5 sacks
LB Nate Wallace, 4 sacks

S Jose Stevens, 5 picks, 4 pasdef. After laughing at him, led team in picks and got DRotY. That’s funny.
S Aaron Harrell, 4 picks, 7 pasdef
CB Clifton Murphy - 1 pick this year, 1 last. Time to move him.
CB Mercury Greene - 3 picks, 5 pasdef

[Abe Sargent]

Team Awards:

Offensive Player of the Year: RB Grady Pender - He just took over games, and had the first 100 yard receiving AND rushing game I’ve ever had, almost had 1000+ yard season both as receiver and as rusher. This is a no brainer.
Defensive Player of the Year: LB Roosevelt McWilliams - I hate going with MLB two years in a row, especially since both McWilliams and Pender were patches (that I drafted), but McWilliams’s stats speak for themselves.
Special Teams Player of the Year: P Leo Rayburn - Wow. 50 outta 85 punt inside the 20. That is a blistering statistic. That is a game winning statistic. If I chose a Player of the Year for my team, I’d have to think hard about Rayburn for it. You don’t need a high PR average when you are coffin cornering your punts like that.
Rookie of the Year: S Jose Stevens - I know I gave him a hard time, but DRotY honors, team leading 5 picks, says he did a good thing this year.
Heart Award: DE Brock Woods - Came in as a patch with just 11 starts and led my team in tackles. I‘m letting him go this year but he did fine for me, just fine.

[Abe Sargent]

Players Leaving of Note:

RB Grady Pender
DE Brock Woods
LB Roosevelt McWilliams
S Aaron Harrell
LB Nate Wallace
WR Bart Stewart
OG Ernest Moss

[Abe Sargent]

Here we go


Team Performance - 100
Value - 18
Profit - 29
Difficulty - 84

Year End Score - 45


Hall of Fame -

Leroy Bowlin - 84%, spent a long time with the Lone Stars, CB, Miss State, 2 honors, 38 picks
Sebastian Janikowski - 85%
Roy Cobb - 80%, CB, Temple, 1 honor, 30 picks

Lone Stars inducted CB Jack Huntley to their ring
Albuquerque inducted DT Ross Meadows


Retirees include Clements, Morabito, WR Donald Wagner. I’m sure Clements will be HoF, don’t know about Morabito but probably, and I doubt it for Wagner.

[Abe Sargent]

Franchise:

6th lowest value
7th worst stadium
12th best roster
3rd worst support
18th worst economy
3rd lowest attendance by #, 7th by %


We saved a few million more than last year.


I easily franchise Pender

[Abe Sargent]

I get a nice offer for WR Marshall, the 1/5 pick, and a TE I drafted 10 or 11 years ago, Leland Matthews, but not that good.

No thanks. I like Marshall.


I trade OT JJ Boddy to the Rams for their 2 and 6 picks this year, I need to clean up some cap and some bad players.


I trade CB Clifton Murphy to the Bills for their 7/2 pick. Again, cleaning off cap room and getting rid of an older starter that was never very good.

Neither my K nor my P are wanting to reupp for a long term contract and I can only franchise one next year.


I make two FA Offers. One each to DE Woods and K Levon Quinn.

I also watch McWilliams.

[Abe Sargent]

You’ll recall that I am having my people auto-sign rookies for me. They signed QB Sam Marshall to just a two year deal. You’ll recall that he boomed in camp and looks pretty good now. Starter level. If I didn’t have my QB, I’d grow him into my starter and build around him. His only weaknesses are screen and deep. Before he leaves, I want to recoup some value, so I call up some GMs about Marshall. Someone will give him a home I hope.

I trade him to Albuquerque after they let th guy I traded them last year walk away. I get the 1/34 pick for him. He’s really good though:


Sam Marshall, Potentials:

Screen: 45
Short: 92
Medium: 78
Long; 94
Deep: 47
3rd Down: 38
Accuracy: 83
Power: 84
Scramble: 73
Carrying 39

That’s a solid QB prospect. Can’t diss that and really worth the 1.34 pick because you aren’t getting the top 2-5 Qbs in the draft, so getting a guaranteed starter potential QB is strong for 1/34 for a team that needs playoffs.

[Abe Sargent]

I sign Pender to a four year mega deal worth a lot of money. He makes more than my QB does.

I trade DT Donny Poole to the Broncos for their 6th rounder

I trade BJ Farr, DE, to the Cardinals for their 1/33 pick this year. -Just trimming more fat.

28 players under contract right now.

I cut DT Irving Enbysk

With too many good RB I offer up Calvin Garrison to the Redskins for their 1/21 pick. We all saw Garrison do really well his rookie year, he’s just no Grady Pender. Pender has grown into the best RB I’ve even had in FOF2k1. Better than Aaron Witt, better than Heath Shepherd, better than Ralph Barrett, better than Troy Santoro, and better than anyone else I’ve ever had in previous games.

I simply love Grady Pender and I am going to keep him very, very, very long term. No way I am using Garrison, even though he’s pretty good and already has one All League honor with a league leading rushing yards his rookie season, if you’ll recall.

So now I am at 26 players.

Week 1 - McWilliams signed with Baltimore

Week 2 - K Levon Quinn signs with us. I cut Rasmussen. I play hard ball if you are not willing to reup.

Week 10 - DE Brock Woods signs with us and rejoins us for a whole campaign.

I am 44 million under the cap and ready for some good stuff to come later. I hope.




Starters I Need:
C, OG, OT, DE, LB, CB, S (or two)



Okay, let’s accelerate to the draft.

[Abe Sargent]

The 2024 NFL Amateur Draft


I have 4 1sts so let’s see if I can get some top notch talent.

The 21st pick arrives. Here is who I like:

Several Tes
DE Bert Curtain, bad endurance, very green, 65, 87 pots
CB Mark Alston - Okay and a great returner
C Clarence Tomczak - Top Notch C, very developed
DT Conrad Hastings - Very green, tons of potential (94, 76 pots)
LB Les Gerhardt - Poor pass rush, good everything else, very green


I did not list DT as an area of need because I have the very green Peter Berry from last year’s draft when I BAPed him. He has potentials of 63 and 71, with an endurance of 63, which is quite good. I’d be very happy to play him and grow into him. However, it’s obvious that Hastings is the best player at this pick. Hastings may be better, but it is not a position of need. Is Hastings so much better that I’d rather upgrade a bit at DT as opposed to getting a real starter at another position?

In the end I go with need. I take DE Bert Curtain.

Now my three picks at the end of Round 1 arrive. I just want to grab good players for my team. C Tomzcak was taken at 30. CB Alston went 23. DT Hastings went 27.

TE Rusty Cortez is strong, but not spectacular in any stat. TE Herman Deal is probably better.
WR Roger Keane - a strong WR
OG Bruce Holliday is okay
S Justin Sotiroff is alright too
C Bo Austin

All look good.

After the 1st, I simply BAP the draft.





Draft Recap:

1/21 - DE Bert Curtain, Florida State
1/33 - TE Herman Deal, Iowa
1/34 - OG Bruce Holliday, Mississippi
1/36 - S Justin Sotiroff, St. Mary’s
2/13 - C Bo Austin, Oklahoma
2/36 - LB Corey Davidson, Florida
3 - DT Colin Kirkpatrick, Washington State
4 - QB Zach Stokes, Baylor
5 - WR Vince Benson, Penn State - KR
6/13 - LB Jamal Greer, Arizona
6/19 - S Ernest Brownlee, Northwestern
6/36 - CB Damon Richardson, Washington State
7/2 - RB Eric Parmalee, Clemson
7/36 - TE Lamar Hitchcock, Northeastern

Not a great draft I don’t feel.


I feel like I could have drafted this draft much better.

[Abe Sargent]

I trade DE Tito Washington to the Bills for their 2ns rounder next year and C Nick Lemay to the Giants for their 5th next year.


UFA Offers:

WR Nate Blades, Northwestern
S Corwin Nolen, Oklahoma State
CB Deron Hartman, Vanderbilt
CB Junior Cavoretto, Arkansas
CB Irving Twyner, Georgia Tech
LB Irv Kirk, Rice
DE Walter Miller, Villanova
DE Luke Finch, California
DT Rod Frederick, Ohio State
OT Jon Gerhardt, Illinois
QB Rob Chism, Texas Tech



I go to camp with 50 players under contract.

[Abe Sargent]

We sold 26,000 tickets


I get two trade offers. None come close to appealing to me, like the 1st rounder for DT Allen, when DT are so rare.

Post camp I sign UFA FB Percy Hicks of Virginia Tech. I cut OG Chad Chadwick.

I sign LB Norbert Hancock to be a patch for a year.

With that signing, I am now with 51 players and 6.8 million under the cap.

TE Rodney Meadows’ contract ends at the end of this year and it costs way too much to resign him. I trade him to the Titans for their 6th next year. This is why I wanted to draft Herman Deal.

I sign UFA TE Renaldo Patterson of Marshall.


I have my ideal # of players at each position and I sit at 51 players on my roster:

QB: 3
RB: 3
FB: 2
TE: 3
WR: 5
C: 2
OG: 4
OT: 4
K/P: 2
DE: 4
DT: 4
LB: 6
CB: 5
S: 4


I am at these target numbers and I could just roll with this if I wanted.

[Abe Sargent]

I have a severe hole at CB, and I’m about to do something I have never done before.


I feel like we are really close so I make a major deal.

I send my 1st round pick next year to the Rattlesnakes for CB Rufus McGowan. One of my own drafted players, CB, has one All Pro year, 6th year veteran. This gives me a lights out corner and helps shore up my team. It’s not the sort of thing I usually like to do, but I feel in this one case it is warranted.

[Abe Sargent]

The 2024 Cleveland Browns

QB Ernest Mayes - Yup.
RB Grady Pender - Yup
FB Sam Albriktsen - He’s solid
TE Herman Deal - What I like about him is that 100 potential in catch frequency
WR Kenny Marshall - I really like him
WR Bart Greene - Barely edged out UFA WR Nate Blades
OT RJ Freedman - Let’s get more production from the overly expensive Freedman.
OG Bruce Holliday - A solid rookie although a bit underwhelming for a 1st rounder
C Bo Austin - Perfectly serviceable, nothing more than that. In some years, would have been a 4th rounder
OG Curtis Mayes - Returns for second year
OT Raymond Velasquez - Sigh. You have to be weak somewhere I guess.
P Leo Rayburn - Love him, final year of contract
K Levon Quinn - Very good
DE Brock Woods - A really good DE, can he do well full time for us? Only major FA signing (unless you count Quinn).
DT Stanley Allen - House
DT Peter Berry - Developed much from his rookie year and looks like a solid starter
DE Bert Curtain - Very green. Very.
SLB Corey Davidson - Very green rookie but will start.
MLB Norbert Hancock - Another patch
WLB Reuben Kerr - Solid, final year of contract and will not renew
CB Rufus McGowan - Oh yes. Instantly battles with Allen and Woods for title of Best Defender.
CB Mercury Greene - Had an alright rookie season, now let’s step it up
S Jose Stevens - Surprised me, now gets a chance to keep his job
S Justin Sotiroff - Another rookie who is just good, not special or amazing or strong

KR/PR S Corwin Nolen, WR Vince Benson


This is a pretty good roster. Concerns - OT, S, S. Next year - MLB, WLB.

[Abe Sargent]

What does the league think?



Tied for Best QB with Arizona and Carolina (all have 100)
THE Best RB
7th best FB
4th worst TE
8th best WR
4th worst C
4th worst OG
11th best OT
THE Best P
3rd best K
14th best DE
9th best DT
12th worst LB
5th best CB
6th worst S


I’m all over the map

[Autumn]

How did that draft class end up looking?

[Abe Sargent]

Let’s look at my drafted rooks:



DE Bert Curtain - 10/78
TE Herman Deal - 32/76
LB Corey Davidson - 14/71
S Justin Sotiroff - 26/69
OG Bruce Holliday - 22/67
C Bo Austin - 21/67
DT Colin Fitzpatrick - 12/60
TE Lamar Hitchcock - 19/59
CB Damon Richardson - 13/58

S Ernest Brownlee - 20/53
LB Jamal Greer - 12/53
WR Vince Benson - 40/40
QB Zach Stokes - 8/39 - Busted somewhet
RB Eric Parmalee - 29/29

I really, really like UFA WR Nate Blades, who boomed in camp to 53/53

[Abe Sargent]

Schedule:

3 of first 4 on road, 4 of next 5 at home, 4 of next 5 away, final two at home. Week 16 we play the Rail Runners.


We finish the pre-season 3-1 and with several injuries of various degrees of significance.

My prediction for this team is 12-4 and #2 seed.


Week 1 - Our first game is a victory over the Cardinals 31-21. Pender had 2 Tds but just 61 yards on 20 carries. Marshall had 6 catches for 101 yards. Backup TE Patterson caught a TD. Woods had a pair of sacks. Mercury Greene had a pick.

Week 2 - We lose to the Redskins 35-28. WR Vince Benson is out. Pender was Game MVP with 121 yards on 27 catches, 130 yards receiving, on 9 catches. Marshall had 2 TD catches. Blades got a TD. Woods had 3.5 sacks.

Week 3 - We defeatify the Bengals 26-7. DE Bert Curtain was Game MVP with a 66 yard INT RET TD. Crazy. Everybody likes to see big guys run. Pender held to 61 yards and Mayes held to 167 yards passing. Backup Deal caught a TD. Woods got another 2.5 sacks.

Week 4 - We defeat the Jags 24-3. Pender of NFL Offensive Player of the Week with 120 yards rushing with 25 rushes, 70 yards receiving on 5 catches. WR Greene, Blades and FB Albriktsen all caught Tds. DE Bert Curtain was Game MVP with 3.5 sacks. Woods had 2 more. S Jose Stevens had a pick.

[Abe Sargent]

Week 5 - 24-14 over the Titans. TE Deal is knocked to questionable as is LB Kerr. Pender was Game MVP with 84 yards, 20 carries, 1 TD, 69 yards off 6 catches. Blades and Greene get TDs. CB Greene and S Sotiroff got picks.

Week 6 - We defeat the Steelers 12-3. Our new K went 4 of 4 for the day. Game Mvp is Pender with 77 yards on 21 carries, 78 yards receiving on 5 catches. LB Davidson had 2 sacks.

Week 7 - BYE

Week 8 - We defeat the Jags 30-6. Pender is again Game Mvp with 128 yards, 30 carries, 2 TD. Mayes had a poor game. Woods had 2 sacks. DE Curtain picked up a fumbled and ran it in for a score.

Week 9 - We barely manage to keep the Titans at bay 13-10. Pender is NFL Offensive Player of the Week and Game MVP with 126 yards, 26 carries, 1 TD, 72 yards receiving on 7 catches. Stevens had another pick. C Bo Austin had a blistering EIGHT KRB. Wow.

Halfway through the season, Pender is almost on track for a 1000/1000 yard season with 1000 yards for each catching and rushing. 770 rushing yards and 496 receiving yards.

[Abe Sargent]

Week 10 - San Diego falls before us 32-14. DT Allen is knocked to doubtful and DT Kirkpatrick will start in his stead. Pender is NFL Offensive Player of the Week and Game MVP with 179 yards on 32 carries, 3 rushing TD, 53 yards receiving. Blades caught a TD too. Finch had 3 sacks. CB McGowan has his first pick. OT Freedman had 4 KRB.


Week 11 - We defeat the Steelers 24-7. Pender is NFL Offensive Player of the Week and Game MVP, again, with 171 rushing yards, 36 rushes, 1 TD, 47 yards receiving. Mayes rushed for a TD. DT Kirkpatrick recovered a fumbled and rushing it 6 yards into the end zone. McGowan had another pick.


Week 12 - We defeat the Bengals 20-9. Pender is Game MVP with just 60 yards on 25 carries, 37 yards receiving and a receiving TD. Mayes had another rushing TD> Twyner had a pick. Freedman had 4 KRB.


Week 13 - Over Austin 30-6. DT Allen is back from his injury. Pender, Game MVP, 142 yards, 1 TD, 1 rec TD, Deal caught another score. Richardson with a pick.

[Abe Sargent]

Week 14 - 31-21 over the Ravens. Backup CB Junior Cavoretto is Game MVP with INT RET TD. Sotiroff and Brownlee add picks. Pender was dinged and did not play much. Verdin had 104 yards rushing on 23 carries. Marshall and Verdin got TD catches.

Week 15 - We lose 26-28 and have a ton of injuries probable an questionable from San Antonio. CB Mercury Greene had a 61 yard FumREC TD. Grimshaw had a 91 yard KO RET TD. Pender held to 56 yards on 19 carries and 92 yards receiving on 8 catches. Mayes was knocked out.

Week 16 - We defeat the Rail Runners 28-10. Pender is Game MVP with 118 yards, 31 rushes, 27 rec yards and a rec TD. Greene and Patterson also had TD. Stevens with a pick.

Pender will not be getting the 1000/1000 badge this season unless he has like 200 receiving yards in his last game.

Week 17 - We win 21-16 over the Ravens. Game MVP is CB Mercury Greene with a INT RET TD> Pender adds 94 rushing yards and 2 rushing Tds. Stevens had a pick too. Finch adds 2.5 sacks. C Austin grabs 5 KRB.

[Abe Sargent]

We have the #1 seed.


2024 AFC Playoffs:



Wild Card Weekend:

Cincinnati crushes Baltimore 35-10

Patriots of Broncos 45-17

(Richmond lost)



Divisional Round:

We host the Bengals, whom we swept during the regular season.


An ugly win - 12-3, for us. I’ll skip the stats but S Sotikoff and OT Freedman distinguished themselves.s



Chiefs upend the Patriots 37-17.

[Abe Sargent]

AFC Championship

#1 seed 14-2 Cleveland Browns host

#2 seed 12-4 Kansas City Chiefs


We establish dominance - 58-10.

Pender is Game MVP - 104 rushing yards, 24 carries, 3 rushing TD, 121 yards receiving, 9 catches, 2 receiving TD.

That is a crazy statline

Marshall had 153 yards and a TD too. Stevens and McGowan had picks.

[Abe Sargent]

The 2024 Super Bowl

Your #1 AFC Champion 14-2 Cleveland Browns

vs.

Your #4 NFC Champion 10-6 Tampa Bay Buccaneers



In Grady we trust


40-0

Us


The first Super Bowl shut out ever


Super Bowl MVP - Grady Pender - 30 rushes ,154 yards, 2 rushing TDs, 68 receiving yards, 6 catches, 1 rec TD

WR Marshall had 118 yards on 6 grabs

Mayes 21 of 28, 290 yards, 1:2

CB McGowan pick INT RET TD

Stevens and Twyner gained picks

K Levon Quinn 4 of 4 FG

[Abe Sargent]

Season Awards:


NFL MVP - Grady Pender
NFL Offensive Player of the Year - Grady Pender
Super Bowl MVP - Grady Pender
All-Pro 1st Team - RB Grady Pender, OT RJ Freedman, P Leo Rayburn, K Levon Quinn, DE Brock Woods
All-Pro 2nd Team - DE Bert Curtin, CB Rufus McGowan


Well, let’s see. Who else got awards of significance?


LB Roosevelt McWilliams, Baltimore - 2nd Team
S Eric Carlson, Saints - 2nd Team
C Jesse Tate, Richmond - 1st Team
OT Tyrone Rathbone, ALQ - 1st Team
LB Quinn Burroughs, ALQ - 1st Team
FB Zach Taylor, Den - 1st Team
WR Danny Parrish, Richmond - 2nd Team


Not bad.

Here’s my rule. If you get All Pro, then you should get Rookie of the Year unless the other person also had All Pro, so I’d have given Curtin DRotY too. Hey, Curtin got All Pro and was VERY green this year, so that‘s good stuff. Glad I traded for McGowan too. Not like that 1/36 pick I gave up will do all that much and I got an All-Pro corner for it. Totally worth it.

Pender with the Quadfecta. Good job.

[Abe Sargent]

Team Stats:

3rd most rushing yards, tied for 11th best ypc
14th lowest passing yardage, tied for 5th most yards per pass/completion
8th best rushing defense by yards, 10th worst ypc though
16th worst passing defense by yards, 16th best yards per
We got 61 sacks, 10 more than the next team. We allowed just 31, tied for second fewest. That’s a sack differential of +30, which is just crazy good.
+16 TO difference

Sacks - wow. Good O Line in terms of passing defense AND great sacks. Nicely done.

[Abe Sargent]

Individual Stats:

QB Ernest Mayes, 63.5%, 3153 yards, 19:9, 92.7 QB Rating.

I think we may want to increase Mayes next year in the game plan. Perhaps we are using Pender too much, if that makes sense.

RB Grady Pender - 1592 yards, 3.9 ypc, 13 rush TD, 68 grabs, 841 yards, 3 rec TD. Led the team in receptions and receiving yards. Led league in rushing yards, 3rd in rushing TD.

WR Marshall - 59, 831, 3
WR Blades - 43, 574, 4
WR Greene - 48, 525, 3
TE Deal - 15, 144, 2 (Yuck)

WR Grimshaw had KR TD, 3rd highest PR Avg, 11th in KR avg.

K Levon Quinn - 34 of 40, long of 52
P Leo Rayburn - 13th best Punt Avg, 42 of 94 in 20

DE Brock Woods - 18.5 sacks - 2nd most in league
DE Bert Curtain - 8 sacks
DT Allen - 6 sacks
DE Finch - 5.5 sacks
DT Kirkpatrick - 5.5 sacks
LB Davidson - 4 sacks
LB Hancock - 3.5 sacks

Look at all of those sacks!

CB Rufus McGowan led the team in solo tackles with 80, plus a sack, 10 pasdef, 2 picks. Pasdefe and tackles led team.
S Stevens led team with 4 picks, 4 pasdef
LB Hancock and CB Greene each had 7 pasdef

C Bo Austin - 34 KRB, tied for 4th most in league of all O Line players. 7 sacks allowed
OT RJ Freedman - 30 KRB, 5 sacks allowed
Everybody had at least 19 KRB, so that was solid.

Mayes only fumbled it away 3 times, and Pender only twice.

[Abe Sargent]

Team Awards:

Offensive Player of the Year: RB Grady Pender. Rushed 407 times. Led the league in rushing yards and the team in receiving yards. 2434 total yards from scrimmage and 16 total TDs and just fumbled it away twice despite 475 touches. Awesome.
Defensive Player of the Year: DE Brock Woods. 2nd most sacks in league and was simply a difference maker for our team. Glad I signed him!
Special Teams Player of the Year: K Levon Quinn. Quinn bounced around from team to team until he found a home with us and had his first All Pro season in his 8th year as a pro. I’m happy to have him and he slid right in and replaced Rasmussen with ease.
Rookie of the Year: DE Bert Curtain. He got All Pro as a rookie and despite being really green. He had picks and sacks. I can’t wait to see what he does next year for an encore.
Heart Award: WR Nate Blades - UFA WR who had more yards receiving than the 16 game starter Greene, a former 2nd round draft pick. Now that’s something.

[Abe Sargent]

Players Leaving This Year of Note:

P Leo Rayburn
LB Reuben Kerr
LB Norbert Hancock
LB Heath Ellison
WR Nate Blades

[Abe Sargent]

Records:

Most Passing TDs in a Career - Tony Clements with 377
Most Rushing Yards - Heath Shepherd, 15199
Most Rush TD - Shepherd with 151
Most Rec Yards - Marvin Graham with 16133
Most Rec TD - Graham with 108



Most Rushing Attempts in a Season - 407, Grady Pender this year
Most Rush Yards, Season - 1923, Heath Shepherd, 2015
Most Rush TD, Season - 22, Shepherd, 2016
Most Receptions, Season - 142, Marvin Graham, 2008
Most Rec yards, Season - 2114, Graham, 2008
Most Rec TD, Season - 16, Graham, 2008
Most FG, Season - 44, Olindo Mare, 2011
Most Tackles, Season - 150, Conrad O’Neal, 2010


All set by me

[flere-imsaho]

Holy Crap!