Diary of a FOWL addict

[Sef0r]

...and here in begins my attempt at highlighting my 2 weeks during each FOWL season. For those that don't know FOWL does not have a draft. Well it does, but the worst 255 players are drafted onto each team. As a team owner you DON'T do this, the commish (Ben) does this. You start ALL free agent bids from FA2 stages 1 to 5.

This is for Front Office Football 2007 sim game.

I've lost my QB of 15 seasons in Derrick Wiggins, who never rated over a 60 (to my scout) but had the numbers to show he was a star.

15 year career and this is what he had to show for it.

QB Derrick Wiggins
65.4% completion
53488 yards
463 TD
136 INT
98.7 QB rating
8 Pro Bowls and only 3 seasons ago got his championship ring.

In his last season just gone (after I resigned him for another 2 years, then deciding to retire on me) he had 70.9% completion, 3967 yards with 42 TD and 5 INT.

This diary is a story of not only how this league goes from day to day but essentially how the Houston Texans will continue to develop into a championship over the next, who knows how many seasons.

Let it begin. Next update will explain my past off season and my important signings leading into the future.

[Sef0r]

Before I carry on I thought I might give a little insight into how the league runs.

FOWL HOME

League 2 week seasonal schedule
Mon - Coach hiring (all 3 stages simmed)
Tue - summer league, tickets - NO FRANCHISE TAG
Wed - FA1:1-12, resigning RFA and renegs of any player any year in their contract. After this, Ben does the following - generates draft class until no QB or WR has an adjusted rating over 6.5. Than the draft is run with the 255 worst players drafted. You don't need to sign these players, they won't count against your roster.
Thu - FA2:1, time to start the bids for the stud rookies and any other player. RULE - must sign to a 3 year minimum contract.
Fri - FA2:2, continue the bids, evaluate if you have overpriced or undervalued a player based on what other teams have offer. Be careful, sometimes putting a feeler offer is risky as some stud rookies will sign in the very first week of post draft FA, other teams might bid high right out the gate.
Mon - FA2:3-5, stages 3, 4 and 5 are simmed altogether.
Tue - Training camp, last chance to get some players signed if you missed out on players in FA2:1-5. No contact RULE at this stage, you can sign anyone to ANY deal.
Wed - Pre Season - all 5 PS weeks are run (INJURIES OFF)
Thu - Regular Season - Full regular season run (INJURIES OFF)
Fri - Post Season - Full Post season run (INJURIES OFF)

[Sef0r]

Season - year 2037

Day 1 - coach hiring stage sim, all 3 stages are simmed.

Offered a 5 year maxed out deal to a offensive coordinator but missed out to another team. Ended up with a 70 year old who is good at everything except young player...meh.

Day 2 - ticket prices and summer league sim, NO FRANCHISE TAG.

Sent 2nd year QB Mo Bennet (20/44) to summer league.
I signed Mo in the Training camp sim last season to 1.02 mil, 2 yrs.
Surprised to see him at that stage, he was actually the number 1 QB in the draft file with the following combine.

Ht: 6' 1"
Wt: 205 lbs
College: Southern California
DOB: 10-22-2012
Formations: 10
Sole = 33, Bench = 14, Position drill = 84

Here is what his bars look like in the current stage.
He went up in camp by 4 current points and learnt an additional formation.

[Sef0r]

Team Overview

Here are the key current holdover players.

RB - Wes Dagen (30/30), 4th year.


Signed Dagen in PreTC stage for $1.00 mil, 2 yrs. BARGAIN
He has since produced over the last 3 seasons.
865 att, 3754 yards (4.34 avg), 12 TDs.


WR - Walter Broxon (51/51), 3rd year.


Combine - 19 (sole), 4.46 (40), 11 (bench), 7.02 (agil), 57 (PosDrl).

Signed Broxon to $35.70 mil, 3yrs ($33 mil bonus).
Hasn't really lit it up for me in his 1st year and did okay in his second.
2035 - 55 (111) receptions, 507 yards, 5 TD, 11 drop.
2036 - 32 (57) receptions, 432 yards, 4 TD, 2 drop.

C - Frank Farrell (42/42), 5th year. FA sign $12.00 mil, 4 yrs (3 renegs)

G - Myron Wooden (65/65), 4th year. FA sign PreTC $1.00 mil, 2 yrs (1 reneg)

G - Raymond Harden (63/63), 10th year. FA sign, $5.70 mil, 3 yrs (2 renegs)

LT - Gabe Houston (59/59), 3rd year. FA sign, $4.85 mil, 3 yrs (1 reneg)

RT - Emmitt Ybarra (59/59), 12th year, FA sign, $12.00 mil, 3 yrs (3 renegs)

DE - Donnell Humphrey (59/59), 8th year. FA sign, $65.00 mil, 5 yrs (3 renegs)

DT - Earnest Watson (77/77), 6th year. FA sign, $13.30 mil, 3 yrs (1 reneg). My best signing on the defensive line since I've played in this league. In 5 seasons he has 296 tackles, 51 sacks, 80 hurries, 110 QBKd with 3 PDs.

WLB - Michael Vance (42/42), 6th year. FA sign PreTC, $500k, 1 yr. (3 renegs). A very solid contributer to the line, given that I haven't had any stable LBs as most of my cash has gone to the Dline and DBs, he has tackled well and played very well in pass defense.

CB - Larry Phillips (63/63), 5th year. FA sign, $37.00 mil, 4 yrs (3 renegs). The best of my CBs since my other stud retired, in 4 seasons he has 10 INTs, 49 Defn with a 81.3 PDPct. Not bad, but not great.

That is basically my team, there are obviously others but these are my key players, not including the key off season signings from 2036.


Key signings from 2036 off season.

QB - Mo Bennet (see Day 2 sim above).

TE - Tyrell Crafton (63/63), 5th year. FA sign (from Seattle), $15.48 mil, 5 yrs.

WR - Irv Morrish (45/52), 2nd year. FA sign, $32.60 mil ($24 mil bonus), 3 yrs. My biggest signing, this guy had a moster combine but low bars. He caught 95 of 133 targets for 1185 yards and 16 TDs. He is also a returner, 24.5 avg kick return with 1 TD, also had a kick return in the playoffs. Moved up about 6/10 in camp.


WR - Kim Calson (48/53), 2nd year. FA sign, $7.50mil, 3 yrs.
WR - Rick Austin (45/58), 2nd year. FA sign, $20.40 mil, 3 yrs.

Obviously I went after WRs last off season and it paid off. All 3 WRs above played really well, especially Irv Morrish.

[Sef0r]

2037 season draft class has been generated.

Here is just a preview.

[Sef0r]

Season 2037

Day 3 - FA1:1-12

I resigned some RFAs, specifically RB Wes Dagen.
Also interviewed some QBs to get their INT scores.
Made some renegs to try and free up some cap space, there are some good players in the rookie pool after the draft is run.

I have about $38.00 mil in cap space, not including the $15.00 mil I lost in bonuses from the retirement of QB Derrick Wiggins.

[Sef0r]

Season 2037

Day 4 - FA2:1

There is a nice rookie QB in free agency but I am fairly sure there will be a lot of $20 mil 3 yr offers to him. Some great rookies at the S and CB positions but these generally get the big offers so its hard deciding which one to try and focus my attention on, actually any of the core positions you kind of have to overpay sometimes just to get a good player. Some seasons you can get a great player for little money as no one wants to get into a bidding war with other teams...ends up with just 1 team bidding and sometimes getting them to sign their $3 mil, 3 yrs deal in the 1st stage of FA2.

Overall some nice players, will update tomorrow after this sim goes through to see if any of my offers were accepted, rejected or ongoing.

I have to try and build my team to beat the Colts who is managed by wade moore. The other teams, Jags and Titans in the division are currently unmanaged. The league is probably at half strength at the moment, any new people joining won't find it too hard to build a new team given that they get practically all their salary cap.

The main group of owners who are consistently exporting for the sims are...

Ben E Lou - Falcons
Subby - Cardinals
Quicksand - Ravens
gstelmack - Panthers
Julio Riddols - Bengals
cthomer5000 - Lions
Sef0r (w00p...ME) - Texans
wade moore - Colts
Yoda - Chiefs
digamma - Patriots
Tasan - Saints
Alan T - Giants
Suicane - Eagles
TheMeat - Steelers
TTSW - 49ers

There are some insane bidding wars that go on and its fun because you might put a huge offer in for someone that no one else appear to be able to match and on stage 3-5 of the FA2 sim you drop your offer to the minimum after finding everyone has withdrawn their offer.

The other thing I like about this league, $1 mil salary increase every year and no more. This makes roster management difficult and pretty hard to build a team full of studs so it forces you to choose where to put most of your cap. For me it generally goes to the Oline and Dline before any other position.

[Sef0r]

Season 2037

Day 5 - FA2:2

I lost out on P Marty Hutchins. I offered a $3.69 mil, 3 yr deal. He accepted the offer from my division foe Colts (wade moore) for $4.57 mil, 3 yr deal.

I have offers to two C, 2 ILB, DE, DT, G, K, S, CB, QB and WR.
I had a huge $60+ mil 3 yr deal to the WR and was really hoping he would reject all other offers (the next highest being for $30 mil) but alas, my offer is pending, making it a nice battle for the WR.

I am leading in all of them except for one C and the CB. In fact, the Colts just signed one of my CB's I released and has a pretty big offer for the combine stud CB I am currently looking at.

Not much else to say just in case those in the FOWL just happen to look at this thread. Will update tomorrow if I get any signings, might have to evaluate again where my offers are at.

[Sef0r]

Day 5 - cont...

Made a lot of adjustments to offers, found some players other teams were going for that I missed from the draft export. Only 12 teams exported for this sim but when I uploaded this latest export there are currently 12 with another 2 I know generally upload real close to sim time.

[Sef0r]

Day 5 - continued...

Just waiting on the sim to run, had to be delayed. Doesn't matter since the next sim isn't until my tuesday (I live in New Zealand), which is America's monday.

Some big key signings by other teams.

Arizona signs CB Wade Bramsnaes (51/75) for $69.00 mil (3 yrs) - 4 other teams made bids for this player.
Combine, Sole (37), 40 (4.34), Agil (7.22) Pos Drill (54).
Look at what his pre TC bars look like.


Baltimore signs DE Bryan Prior (46/74) for $23.00 mil (3 yrs) - only 1 other team made a bid.
Combine, Sole (21), 40 (4.73), Bench (31), Agil (7.00 - WOW).
Pre TC look


Last season Champions Reno Steelers signs S Albert Long (48/81) for $45.00 (3 yrs) - 5 other teams big for Long, all very high bids but I guess the bonus was the difference.
Combine, Sole (29), 40 (4.35), Agil (7.00) Pos Drill (52).
Pre TC look


49ers sign S Bryan Gardner (33/57) for only $3.00 mil (3 yrs) - no one else bid on him and in fact I forgot to and was going to offer at least $5.00 mil. His bars might not look stud like, but his combines were, well within the great player level.
Combine, Sole (22), 40 (4.34), Agil (7.03) Pos Drill (44).
Pre TC look

[Sef0r]

Season 2037

Day 6 - FA2:3-5

Well FA2:2 was simmed and completed, ended up only signing a P and DT. Will have to make some significant changes to my other offers and decide who I really want...

This simmed will be run on Monday. I am rethinking some of my offers, I do have a fairly good team in a division with at 4 least practically winnable games. Basically, not much to see here until after this sim is run.

[Sef0r]

Season 2037

Day 7 - FA2:3-5 completed, next sim = Training Camp

Well I got my WR but at a very steep price, thought there would be more of a late bidding war with some surprise offers but nope...seeing the Pre TC bars give me some idea why some may have been put off by him, they probably know how to read it more than me.

My key signings before TC

WR Drew Jeffries (21/47) signed $87.22 mil (3 yrs), incl $60.03 mil BONUS.
Combine = Sole (27), 40 Time (4.41), Bench (16), Agil (6.74), Pos Drill (61).
Pre TC bars


QB Ross Hancock (18/71), signed $12.00 mil (3 yrs) incl $6.00 mil BONUS.
Combine = Sole (36), 40 time (4.68), Bench (14), Pos Drill (79).
Pre TC bars


DT Shane Dodge (37/52), signed $3.60 mil (3 yrs) incl $1.74 mil BONUS.
Combine = Sole (25), 40 time (4.88), Bench (31), Agil (7.65).
Pre TC bars


I will update results of TC after tonight's sim is run.

[Sef0r]

There are obviously other signings but will post those after training camp, will only really show their ratings unless one of the players I signed really moves in camp. The posts where I upload pictures are the ones of key players and interesting ones to following.

All 3 players posted above are interesting mostly because I want them to be impact players but also to see how their bars progress throughout their career, or at least for as long as they are on my roster.

The QB I kind of made a late offer and upped the asking price and I beat out 2 other teams, the SF and NO. Both had upped their previous offers and 1 had a higher offer and I can only assume the Bonus made the difference.
He will start if by chance he grows in camp, otherwise I will go with Mo Bennet.

[Alan T]

I actually competed strongly against you for Jefferies, but just didn't have the cash to go further. I think despite his bars he'll be a solid creeper. If he isn't, then I guess I'm glad I couldn't go higher with my offer

[Sef0r]

Hahaha, funny you should post. My reference to owners being scared off was specifically pointed to your WR Perry Battle, who had monster combine but low bars.

For anyone else following, Perry Battle had a rediculous agility rating and I think his 40 was in the 4.36? range. He is currently rated 38/38. Note, I initially went after him until I saw the other team's offers.

Its not to say he has had a bad career, its just that his YAC has been fairly low for someone I expected to have really high YAC. Maybe its the way you use him, lots of medium to long passes instead of the short passes.

[Sef0r]

Season 2037

Day 8 - TC complete, Pre Season is upon us.

There are some things to be thankful for in this league. Ben, the commish, runs change tracker on all teams. Not just that, he does this after any Pre TC signings. The only way to see how those pre TC players rose or fell in TC was to note down their numbers when you signed them. This would be painful especially if you missed out on a lot of players during FA2 stages and had to sign half your team.

The other good thing is you can sign players to ANY deal at this stage before TC, I signed some Mentors to 1 year deals to help with my QBs, WRs and DBs. I have lots of OL and DL mentors.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Alan T

I actually competed strongly against you for Jefferies, but just didn't have the cash to go further. I think despite his bars he'll be a solid creeper. If he isn't, then I guess I'm glad I couldn't go higher with my offer

Told you I thought he would do ok!

[Sef0r]

Day 8 - cont...

I will get into my team specific TC movement later, for now here are the top 10 TC booms and busts - courtesy of Ben's scout.

Top 10 camp BOOMS

Name	Team	Pos	Exp		'37 Pre TC Cur	'37 Pre TC Fut	'37 Pre Wk 1 Cur	'37 Pre Wk 1 Fut	Overall Current	Overall Future
Keith Young	New York Giants	LG	6		56	56	67	67	11	11
Devin Jefferson	Kansas City Chiefs	SS	4		17	37	24	44	7	7
James Holbert	Baltimore Ravens	RB	1		42	58	47	65	5	7
Drew Jeffries	Houston Texans	SE	1		24	50	29	57	5	7
William Paredes	Houston Texans	FS	1		28	53	34	59	6	6
Marty Hutchins	Indianapolis Colts	P	1		55	70	60	76	5	6
Robert Conway	Arizona Cardinals	RCB	2		69	69	74	74	5	5
Jorge Haddad	Indianapolis Colts	SLB	1		19	25	23	30	4	5
Lenny Gallagher	Atlanta Falcons	TE	1		37	59	44	63	7	4
Kent Abrams	Baltimore Ravens	SS	1		31	49	36	53	5	4

Top 10 camp BUSTS

Name	Team	Pos	Exp		'37 Pre TC Cur	'37 Pre TC Fut	'37 Pre Wk 1 Cur	'37 Pre Wk 1 Fut	Overall Current	Overall Future
Gabe Mathews	Reno Stealers	SS	8		81	81	65	65	-16	-16
Duane Hoppe	San Diego Chargers	RDT	10		53	53	38	38	-15	-15
R.J. Hock	Atlanta Falcons	WLB	9		60	60	47	47	-13	-13
Donovan Stafford	Detroit Lions	LDT	10		38	38	25	25	-13	-13
Walt Kemp	Reno Stealers	K	3		31	42	24	29	-7	-13
Emmanuel Faylor	Cleveland Browns	LDT	10		27	27	15	15	-12	-12
Jim McGovern	Arizona Cardinals	LG	4		16	27	10	15	-6	-12
Terrell Arnold	Reno Stealers	C	1		22	64	23	52	1	-12
Ed Lester	Carolina Panthers	RG	11		60	60	49	49	-11	-11
Kirk Swift	Detroit Lions	MLB	8		39	39	28	28	-11	-11

[Sef0r]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Told you I thought he would do ok!

...sure

[Sef0r]

Day 8 cont...

And now for my full team camp movement. More updates to follow.

Name	Pos	Exp	'37 Pre TC Cur	'37 Pre TC Fut	'37 Pre Wk 1 Cur	'37 Pre Wk 1 Fut	Overall Current	Overall Future
Mo Bennett	QB	2	19	35	23	36	4	1
Justin Harris	QB	5	42	42	43	43	1	1
Dave Sanders	QB	3	26	35	30	35	4	0
Ross Hancock	QB	1	18	66	24	59	6	-7
Irv Griffin	RB	2	42	48	43	48	1	0
Darrell Russett	RB	2	53	58	55	58	2	0
Wes Dagen	RB	4	33	33	32	32	-1	-1
Mack Horner	FB	2	44	45	48	48	4	3
Andrew Alford	TE	7	38	38	38	38	0	0
Tyrell Crafton	TE	5	66	66	66	66	0	0
Phil Guenther	TE	2	43	52	47	52	4	0
Walter Broxon	FL	3	48	48	49	49	1	1
Kim Carlson	FL	2	49	53	53	53	4	0
Irv Morrish	FL	2	53	61	57	61	4	0
Drew Jeffries	SE	1	24	50	29	57	5	7
Rick Austin	SE	2	44	56	48	56	4	0
Adrian Craig	SE	1	22	38	24	38	2	0
Roy Lenon	C	1	22	34	24	37	2	3
Frank Farrell	C	5	53	53	53	53	0	0
Myron Wooden	LG	4	63	63	63	63	0	0
George Mikell	RG	1	23	59	28	63	5	4
J.C. Sanders	RG	10	45	45	45	45	0	0
Raymond Harden	RG	10	58	58	56	56	-2	-2
Gabe Houston	LT	3	55	55	57	57	2	2
Drew Killian	RT	2	40	53	46	53	6	0
Emmitt Ybarra	RT	12	57	57	56	56	-1	-1
Emmanuel Beaman	P	1	59	62	59	61	0	-1
Jerald Freitas	P	1	50	56	50	52	0	-4
Cole Hatcher	K	1	46	55	48	56	2	1
Horace Dimick	K	5	76	76	76	76	0	0
Ray Washington	LDE	3	41	41	43	43	2	2
Donnell Humphrey	LDE	8	59	59	59	59	0	0
Michael Farley	LDE	1	27	51	30	48	3	-3
Lamar Owens	RDE	1	2	5	2	6	0	1
Terrance Joseph	RDE	1	28	52	32	51	4	-1
Billy Newhart	RDE	6	54	54	47	47	-7	-7
Shane Dodge	LDT	1	38	55	42	57	4	2
George Valadez	LDT	11	64	64	59	59	-5	-5
Earnest Watson	RDT	6	80	80	80	80	0	0
Ellis Franz	MLB	1	14	36	17	37	3	1
Randall Dobler	MLB	1	17	26	20	27	3	1
Myron Alexander	MLB	3	47	47	47	47	0	0
Michael Vance	WLB	6	41	41	42	42	1	1
Adrian Urbina	WLB	2	25	40	29	39	4	-1
Grady LaBounty	WLB	1	20	48	23	46	3	-2
Devin Roberson	LCB	5	51	51	52	52	1	1
Larry Phillips	LCB	5	69	69	69	69	0	0
Tony Vance	RCB	4	67	67	67	67	0	0
Edwin Tanner	SS	2	34	49	39	49	5	0
Sam Snyder	SS	3	55	55	55	55	0	0
William Paredes	FS	1	28	53	34	59	6	6
Darrell Hammond	FS	5	41	41	43	43	2	2
Derek Buckley	FS	7	59	59	59	59	0	0

[Sef0r]

Day 8 - cont...preparing for Pre Season

Offense

Who to start at QB?
I had some positive movement from both 2nd year QB Mo Bennett and rookie QB Ross Hancock. I will split as best I can play between both players, with Bennett getting the start. If neither of these can do sufficient enough in the pre season I will look at starting 5th year FA pick up QB Justin Harris who I signed from the Giants. He looks decent and knows a lot of formations. Dave Sanders is out of the battle and will likely get released.


Will Wes Dagen continue to start with his 32/32 rating?
I will start RB Darrell Russett (60/60) and see how he goes but most likely Wes wil keep his job. No question who starts at FB, Mack Horner is my run blocker. I avoid trying to get the FB too involved in the passing game.

Some many receivers, what to do, what to do.
Pretty simple really, the TEs combination will continue from last season with Tyrell Crafton starting and 2nd year Phil Guenther backing him up.

With 3rd year WR Walter Broxon playing worse than I thought and not deserving of an extension he will be my 5th WR. Last years starter Irv Morrish will obviously start and I will have to make a decision on who will be the 2nd and 3rd slot WR.

Offensive line, important position indeed.
Starters from last season will keep their jobs with the exception of the RT position where I will give 2nd year T Drew Killian a chance to make my decision to resign 12th year veteran Emmit Ybarra easier. My new starting LT Gabe Houston had been a backup to 13th year LT Wally Reis who I opted not to resign.

I have been having problems deciding on what to do with older players, especially players that are at the 10 year mark. I try my best to get their replacement onto the team at least 2 seasons before their contract runs out. Cohesion is really important here, especially for my run game.


Defense to follow later.

[Sef0r]

Day 8 - cont...

I have two Ps and two Ks. One of the Ps I signed during the 3 year minimum signing period and he went up in camp - Jerald Freitas (52/54) will be kept out of the pre season while I see what happens for Emmanuel Beaman (60/63). It has been really hard finding a replacement Punter, I had one who lead the league for a few seasons but then his money demands got high...wish I had paid him that money now. For the last 3 + seasons I've had replacement punters give me these numbers.

2036 - 36.0 avg yards, 26 In20
2035 - 35.5 avg yards, 40 In20
2034 - 33.2 avg yards, 18 In20
2033 - 37.0 avg yards, 28 In20

My previous Punter? Jeff Crockett - look at these awesome numbers.

2032 - 39.3 avg yards, 39 In20
2031 - 38.6 avg yards, 31 In20
2030 - 38.3 avg yards, 28 In20
2029 - 39.4 avg yards, 29 In20
2028 - 41.1 avg yards, 31 In20
2027 - 40.7 avg yards, 34 In20
2026 - 40.1 avg yards, 33 In20

As for my two Kickers, well I have Horace Dimick who I signed to a 1 year deal before TC who had a great season, kicking 92.1% of his FGs and was a great Kickoff specialist too. Then over the last 2 seasons, after I resigned him to $14.53 mil over 5 years, he plays crap. Still got good kickoffs but his accuracy has been down, less then 75% in the last 2 seasons. Because of this I will give rookie kicker Cole Hatcher (49/56) a chance to take the job off Dimick. I will be looking at his Kickoff distance and how well teams can return them. In this league its important to have other teams start around the 20, there are some good kick returners out there and some of my losses have come from teams averaging good kickoff returns.

DE and DT are pretty much set as I will likely stick with the starters from last season.

Donnell Humphrey and Billy Newhart will man the DE roles, but I will give Ray Washington the chance to take the role off Newhart after his rise in camp and Newhart's subsequent camp drop of -7/-7.

Earnest Watson is the obvious starter on one of the DT spots, along with 11th year veteran George Valadez's. My new rookie DT Shane Dodge went up in camp and will start in the Pre Season, has to play lights out to take the starting spot. However given it is Valadez's last season (won't resign him in the fear that a retirement will hit my cap, don't want that with the big money I spent on WR Jeffries) I am sure I can hold him back until next season.

My linebackers have been a bit of an issue. With the exception of signing WLB Michael Vance 5 seasons ago to a 1 year minimal contract and having him play very well, the door has been rotating for the other LB positions. Since I play a lot of Nickle to counter the majority of passing teams in the league I don't worry too much about the other OLB but MLB is very important. I signed Randall Dobler (20/27) and will start him ahead of 3rd year starter Myron Alexander. Alexander is average at tackling and pass coverage. I like my OLBs to be able to cover given the talent at TE on some teams and my MLB to be a tackling machine, especially if they can tackle for loss.

My DBs will remain the same from last season.
CB Larry Phillips and Tony Vance will hold down the starting positions with last years free agent pickup Devin Roberson in the nickle position. Not hard to decide the type of CBs you want on your team, high bars everywhere is obviously a good idea but most important to me is M2M, BNR, Run stop and INT. As for Safety, my SS has to be really good at run support with my FS good at M2M, Zone and INT with good play diagnosis to boot.

Third year starter S Sam Snyder and 7th year veteran Derek Buckley will start. Rookie S William Paredes will start at FS in the pre season to get some playing time to eventually replace Derek Buckley in a few seasons - of course, he could end up being a bust so you always have to be on the look out for talent at positions with aging players.

Bring on the pre season.

[Sef0r]

Season 2037

Day 9 - Regular season sim - Pre Season complete

Well its not hard to pick the starting QB from the stats below. I miscalculated playing time and Mo Bennet didn't end up playing more than 2 or 3 series a game, but he was efficient. Hancock on the other hand showed that he was a rookie.
Mo Bennet will get the starting job this season and the competition will open up again next season should be play badly.

QB Mo Bennet
31/34 for 246 yards and 2 TDs

QB Ross Hancock
62/87 for 601 yards, 2 TDs and 5 INTs


RB Wes Dagen will keep his starting spot with Darrell Russett backing him up. My only FB will obviously be starting there.

TEs remain the same, veteran Tyrell Crafton starting over the 2nd year player Phil Guenther. Both will get alot of looks in the passing game given Mo Bennet only knowing 12 formations, 3 with 2TE sets.

WR Irv Morrish caught 20 of 31 balls for 219 yards, he will start at the FL position. Rookie Drew Jeffries caught 15 of 20 balls for 132 yards and 1 TD. Of my other two WRs, Rick Austin caught 12 of 16 balls for 124 yards while Kim Carlson caught 8 of 10 balls for 61 yards.

Rookie Jeffries will not start and will play in the slot, Austin will start at the SE position with Carlson - being a good 3rd down receiver - playing in the 4th receiver spot. Broxon, who will unlikely be resigned in the off season will play 5th WR.

My Oline will be as it was last season, the new players played okay but the veterans will continue to start as cohesion need not take a hit with the new QB at the helm.

K Cole Hatcher will take over the kicking. He cannot be any worse then Dimick and releasing Dimick gives me room to extend some of my other players before they become FAs.

Hatcher's pre season stats
8/11 (3 misses between 40 - 49 yards)

His kickoff distances were pretty goo, nothing below 61 yards.
65, 72, 71, 61, 70, 67, 69, 65, 62, 62, 69, 71, 61, 62, 67, 71, 74, 78, 64,

P Emmanuel Beaman averaged 34.55 punt yards in the 4 games and will sit the season while I give the other rookie P Jerald Freitas the starting spot - obviously not knowing if he will be any better than Beaman but its worth the risk, 35 odd yards of punting with 20 punts and only 7 inside the 20. Which isn't so bad but his averages were not skewed by the In20 punts, they were just bad punts.


Defence to follow later...

[Sef0r]

Day 9 - cont...

As noted in the pre season preview the DEF will basically remain the same with the exception of DEs Washington and Joseph who both played well enough to earn themselves a starting spot in RDE Nickle spot (Joseph) and the LDE Dime spot (Washington) with Humphrey starting in all formations at DE.

DT Dodge played very well in the pre season that he has taken over the Nickle LDT spot from veteran Valadez. Dodge's ability to get to the QB will help in getting those very important QB incompletions. Obviously this team is not very good against the run, our top 10 run DEF the last 2 seasons has more to do with teams passing more because we had a power house OFF.

Rookie OLB LaBounty played really well in the pre season and will start alongside Vance. MLB Myron Alexander will take back his starting spot with rookie MLB Dobler having a pretty bad pre season. So many running plays to be involved in and very little tackles to show for it, especially in the MLB position.

DBs will remain the same, no competition there.

[Sef0r]

My 2037 Schedule

week 1 @ Colts - Tough division matchup against a rebuilding team, Wade has signed himself some great OL and will no doubt run, run, run. This can go either way.

week 2 @ Seahawks - CPU controlled team with only 1 great WR left over from the previous owner. Everyone else, like most CPU teams are signed to 1 year deals. Thats not to say they will be a bad team, there is a lot of talent in the FA market for most of the CPU teams left over. Should be an easy win here.

week 3 @ Patriots - CPU controlled team with some good talent left over from previous owner. Recent activity saw them sign WR Renaldo Cole (72/72) and a good, but not great QB. This should be a WIN for my team.

week 4 @ Chargers - CPU controlled team with 99% of roster signed before Pre Season. Would be surprised if this was close, my team should take this home.

week 5 vs Raiders - CPU controlled, last activity in 2035, still some decent talent and definitely in the right places, QB, TE, OL and S. This could be close but being a home game I should win this.

week 6 @ Chiefs - Yoda's team, great RB, great TE, great OL, great DE on a average looking DL, good looking LBs but fairly weak secondary. The last of a QB only scares me because it means Yoda has no doubt built himself a running team and my team doesn't have run defenders outside of my SS and OLB. I am leaning torward the Chiefs taking this one.

week 7 vs Broncos - CPU controlled team, all 1 year deals signed before pre season. Win here...they are playing at my house.

week 8 @ Titans - CPU controlled team, all 1 year deals signed before pre season. Important division Win for my team.


week 10 vs Colts - I face wade again and it might swing in my favour being at Texas stadium this time.

week 11 @ Jaguars - CPU controlled team, all 1 year deals (except 1 left over LT) signed before pre season. Important division Win for my team.

week 12 vs 49ers - This niners team is nothing like its NFL counterpart, it is built and has been very well managed. Used up most of its cap room and has a RB at 82/82, a really good WR, an awesome OL, monster DEs with good DTs who totalled 34+ sacks in 2036, monster MLB and a secondary with its only weakness at the SS posiiton, but who cares. Going to be very hard to beat.


week 13 vs Steelers - This is The Meat's team and they won the Championship last season, beating me in the conference finals in OT to make it there. Solid team, I wont be going into overtime this season.

week 14 vs Rams - CPU controlled team, all 1 year deals signed before pre season. Important division Win for my team.

week 15 vs Jaguars - another division WIN here, CPU controlled team...should be another win.

week 16 @ Cardinals - Subby's team, great DEF, average looking OFF. Their QB who's rated 42/42 to my scout passed a lot last season and got 41 TDs and 20 INTs. This is a passing team, exactly what my DEF is built to stop. Still, its all in the gameplanning...50/50 on who takes this one out.

week 17 vs Titans - another matchup and again should be a walkover for my team.

With the above taken into consideration I would expect to go 10-6. I cannot expect to get into the playoffs with a wildcard berth given the exceptional teams in the AFC north with Steelers, Bengals and Ravens likely to all go 12-4 this season.

[Sef0r]

Season 2037

Day 10 - Post Season sim, Regular Season COMPLETED.

We won the division with a 11-5 record and QB Mo Bennet played very well.

He made 2nd QB in the AFC Pro bowl team.

CMP	ATT	CMP%	Yards	YPC	TD	INT	1st Downs	Sacked	QB Rating
355	509	69.70%	3621	10.2	39	9	248	31	108

For full stats click here

With relation to my predictions above I got most right with the exception of:

week 5 vs Raiders - Ended up losing by 3 points
week 6 @ Chiefs - They definitely ran it and it was a low scorer, but I was able to pull it off and win 17-13.
week 11 @ Jaguars - I lost to a CPU controlled team by 3 points, it was a low scorer.
week 13 vs Steelers - I beat the Champs by 10 points, I guess home field advantage does have its..."advantages"
week 16 @ Cardinals - 50/50 split my a$$, instead I got my a$$ handed to me, 38-10.

I was helped by the Colts going 8-8 and not doing too well on offence with the exception of their running back Toby Lucas.

I need to give my passing game some more chances as I cannot rely on my running game anymore, but do I risk it in the playoffs?
The team I am most likely to face is the Ravens who play a CPU controlled Bills team (who went 6-10) and won their CPU controlled division. The Ravens have a stingy DEF with 2 CBs who defended 23 and 24 passes between them and a monster DE who had 15.5 sacks with 44 hurries and 31 Knockdowns. Their pass defence has allowed only 50.8% completion to QBs.

We will see...

[Sef0r]

Season 2037 comes to an end

Well, thats another season in the bag. The Steelers defeat the Saints and win their 2nd championship in a row. From the box score the Steelers DL really put pressure on the Saints QB, forcing 8 incompletions through DL pressure, 4 INTs and 4 sacks. The Meat has built himself a good team but has lost his QB to retirement.

No retirements from my team, I am rebuilding and have a young team anyway.

The Lions are leaving Detroit and moving to Anchorage this season, to play in a brand new stadium. Welcome the Anchorage Lions....

[Groo]

It's very interesting how this league works. I hope you keep it going for several seasons... This seems to be a lot of fun!

[Sef0r]

Originally Posted by Groo

It's very interesting how this league works. I hope you keep it going for several seasons... This seems to be a lot of fun!

I will do my best to keep this going for as long as I am a member of this league. I hope others get a fair idea of how it all works and want to join in the fun. This is as least a preview of how it works, to calm any nerves about asking to join.

[Sef0r]

Upon further review - 2037 Season

I've looked over stats and have a plan in place for the upcoming offseason...

QB Mo Bennet

I liked his performance, he had 10 POG nominations and won 9 of them. He gets the start in 2038 pre season and I will evaluate Hancock aswell to see if he has improved his play.

Bennett's stats against Human controlled teams: 128/189 (67.7%) for 1349 yards, 11 TD, 6 INT
Bennett's stats against CPU controlled teams: 226/320 (70%) for 2272 yards, 28 TD, 3 INT


Not too impressed with my RBs, but this is what I get for not attempting to sign a stud who will take 85% of the load, instead trying to share it between 2 RBs. Will I change? Don't know, probably not given that most of my money has gone torwards WRs, OL and DL.

RB Wes Dagen had a 3.98 YPC avg and of the 259 runs, 34 (13%) were for 1st downs with 25 (9.6%) of those going for more than 10 yards.

RB Darrell Russett had a 3.83 YPC avg and of the 152 runs, 17 (11%) were for 1st downs with 10 (6.5%) of those at 10+ yards.

My FB position will never really have any long term player unless they are cheap. I put very little value in the FB position as my only main concern is getting someone in there who can RUN block.

TEs in the type of offence I try to run is are very important, I don't leave them in to block and instead have them out to be the safety valve for the QB.

6th year TE Tyrell Crafton is still playing well and has 3 years remaining on his contract. Caught 70% of his targets for a 10.38 YPC avg and 8 TDs. 3rd year TE Phil Guenther didn't do too well, catching 63% for 9.42 YPC and 2 TDs.

I have 4 very good WRs, which kind of makes one wonder why I don't throw more....oh yeah, not enough formations for my QB yet

My OL is okay, I have two Gs with 11 years experience and only 1 year left on their contracts. They will not be resigned, I have a 2nd year G who I hope to develop into my next starting G. My two Ts will probably end up being the starters but it won't stop me from looking, both gave up too many sacks in the time they played, especially my starting LT Gabe Houston.

I have two Ps, still trying to find one. My starter averaged 37.4 yards, best stat though was his 47% inside the 20.

DL wise my two DTs were good at getting to the QB, both combined for 12.5 sacks, 37 hurries and 56 QB Knockdowns. My best DE Humphrey had a good season but is coming to the end of his life, though I am pretty sure he will give me another 3 seasons at a high level. The 2 rookie DEs I got went up in camp and also during the season...lets see how they do in the upcoming TC.

LBs, Vance is still the man and I think I've found my MLB in Alexander...will have to resign my 4th year vet. With some owners going the route of the running game I will need to try and invest money into a beast MLB. If one becomes available I may need think about paying more than the normal money to get one.

DBs, thats what I get for the cohesion being at 57...may need to get me a stud at the CB position, there are some teams who have played well against good teams because of a great DL studs at the CB position.

[Sef0r]

2038 Season

Day 1 - Coach hiring sim to be completed.

I need a OFF coach aswell as a scout, offers have been put in and my sim has been exported.

[Sef0r]

2038 Season

Day 2 - Ticket prices and summer league

With Day 1 complete I got my scout back on a 5 year contract, didn't want to have to figure out where my ratings changed. Got a new OFF Co ordinator, very good in all areas.

No changes to ticket prices.
Sent QB Hancock to summer league. Lets see if he keeps his future rating.

[Sef0r]

2038 Season

Day 3 - FA1:1-12

Summer league completed, QB Hancock dropped 2 future points. Not good, but I guess to be expected.

BUT HOLY COW, WR Irv Morrish moves up to 70/70. Upon trying to resign him he is now asking for $71 mil over 5 years extension. Yup, he's worth it and I will pay him this season while that is still considered cheap. If I sign him when he is an RFA...probably go up, at a guess.

One of my favourite sims. I get to see the draft class, run extractor and look at the players through StelmackSoft draft analyzer. Offer my RFA contracts and try and resign some more expensive players to smaller contracts.

Look at this draft class.

[Groo]

Wow... lot of red!

Any chance you can share your Draft Analyzer settings? I just can't figure out what I should be using.

[Sef0r]

Originally Posted by Groo

Wow... lot of red!

Any chance you can share your Draft Analyzer settings? I just can't figure out what I should be using.

I don't use any settings, I leave everything at default.
The latest version has the predicted bars of the players based on their combine. I use it as a guide, its not 100% accurate especially with volatility but its good enough. I also use it to make sure i don't miss out on a player that I marked down. Once the draft is run all players fall into the FA pool and sometimes gets missed in all the hoopla of searching for high rated players instead of the players you were interested in the draft file.

Thats how I got my QB Mo Bennet, when the 2nd FA period ended and I was looking for some left over players for the training camp sim I looked at the draft file and looked him up, he was still there. He was probably missed with his ratings being so low and he wouldn't have shown up when searched unless you were looking for high timing QB.

[Sef0r]

2038 Season

Day 4 - FA2:1, draft completed and the top rookies are now in the FA pool.

I resigned some of my players, thankfully Mo Bennet accepted his deal, 3 years $8+ mil.

DT Earnest Watson has begun his holdout and I am not worried, definitely will be resigning this stud.

Here is a snapshot of the rookies in the FA pool, I've sorted by Non-Kickers and by current ratings.




I've made some offers, looking at the team caps list I have the 2nd most cap money for a human controlled team. This is also an indication to others and how much you get to spend if you were to join and take over a team. Its great to be able to start from scratch - I have been seriously considering taking over the Packers (my fav team) but I've put so much effort into the Texans, and you also get attached to players that you sign - its hard to change teams.

[Sef0r]

2038 Season

Day 5 - FA2:2 (FA2:1 just completed)

Gutted. The Vikings swoop in and take both S and CBs I was targetting.

I was able to land monster LT Emmitt Champagne who will keep those nasty DEs off my QB. My scout rates him as a 81/88.




My other offers are still pending along with other team's offers.
For obvious reasons I will not go into where my money will be going in the next stage.

[Sef0r]

All is not lost when you miss out on players.

What you find during this stage of Free Agency is that most teams put multiple offers for the same position in the hopes of signing at least one of those players, or if all goes wrong they end up signing 3 RBs to large contracts. If they do sign one of the 3 to 4 players at the same position they are after and one of them happen to be one of the players you are targetting - I am not worried even if their offer is larger. Generally, and hopefully, the owner of that team will retract the offer to the other players as they won't need them anymore and you can battle it out with the other owners going after that player.

[Sef0r]

2038 Season

Day 6 - FA2:3-5 (FA2:2 completed)

The Cardinals beat me on an offer to the 3rd safety on my important S list.
S Jose Caldwell (there are so many mexican's playing this game now) signed a 3 year $37.50 mil deal. Jose's combine - Sole (40), Forty (4.46), Bench (17), Agility (7.06), Pos Drill (52). Rating (50/70).

I was able to sign 2 rookies though...

G Doug Fair (24/32), $5.40 mil, 3 years.
Combine - Sole (38), Forty (5.07), Bench (34) , Agility (7.65).
A nice gaurd that has great strength and that the draft analyzer shows as gaining lots in RUN and PASS blocking.


DE Jonathan Blanchard (27/68), $48.00 mil, 3 years ($30 mil BONUS)
Combine - Sole (45), Forty (4.55), Bench (34) , Agility (7.16).
I beat 4 teams for this DE, 2 of them had serious offers over $30 mil. I overbid but wanted to see what will happen to him next season. If he makes a big enough jump in camp then obviously it will be hard to not start him.

Look at what his Pre TC bars look like



Still have some good players available...looking forward to the next sim.

[Sef0r]

2038 Season

Day 7 - Training Camp (FA2:3-5 stage completed)

The free agency 2 period has concluded with the Vikings making some huge signings, specifically RB Donny Bradford signed to the following deal.

2038

Minnesota

Late FA3

Signed as free agent: 3yrs, $120,440,000.

He is rated a 72/84 by my scout.

I signed the following players that I think will be good players in the future.

FS Les Brennan

2038

Houston

Late FA3

Signed as free agent: 3yrs, $7,570,000.

CB Dexter Lane

2038

Houston

Late FA3

Signed as free agent: 3yrs, $34,000,000.

ILB Fred Doyle - yes, I finally decided to spend money on a LB.

2038

Houston

Late FA3

Signed as free agent: 3yrs, $24,000,000.

I am looking forward to, like every other season of course, how the players will move in Training Camp.

[Sef0r]

We have a new owner, Groo has joined this season and taken over the New York Jets. He will be active next season as he has missed out the main signing stages but boy will he have a lot of money to spend next season. About $160+ mil.

Wish we could get more, it sure would make he FA stages more interesting.

[Sef0r]

2038 Season

Day 8 - Pre Season (Training Camp completed)

A fairly quiet camp by some of my veterans and a nice jump by some rookies. I ended up releasing my starting LT Gabe from last season, no point keeping him at the cost he was asking after I had just signed my new 4th year LT Champagne (84/84).

2nd year QB Ross Hancock jumps up +5/+1 (30/60) and has earned himself the start in the pre season to see if he will unseat 3rd year starter Mo Bennet who jumped up +3/+1 (29/36). If Hancock's play is night and day over last season's pre season he will start the regular season. Otherwise I have no problems starting Mo again.

Rookie LG Doug Fair jumps +5/+11 (29/43) which I expected given his strong combine. He won't start, probably not for a few seasons.

RT Drew Killian goes up +5/+5 (60/60) and solidifies his starting spot at RT....of course it helps that I have not been able to sign another starting caliber tackle.

My big DE signing of rookie Blanchard does not pay off right away as he only jumped +5/+4 (32/72) and I will use him in the Nickle spot in pre season and hopefully one of the other 3 DEs do enough to make it easy for me to choose who will start. I've never had a problem starting a lower rated player over a higher rated player.

There was some nice movement by the young players in my secondary and I am happy keeping this unit together for some time to come, I've got them young and it helps now given that I wont be able to sign any major player next season.

[Sef0r]

2038 Season

Day 9 - Regular Season sim (Pre season COMPLETED)

A little late in my diary entry, worked late.

Ross Hancock has done enough to earn himself the starting spot at QB.
Combine monster DE Blanchard gets start at Nickle DE with 2nd year Joseph in the Dime D.

I have a new starting SS, Edwin Tanner, a 3rd year player played the run well in the SS position and will start there. He was a creeper and was the 4th rated S in the 2036 rookie class.

I'm starting a new K and P in the hopes of improving on my kickoffs and punt average.

Regular season sim is starting soon, no update for most of tomorrow, may have to do a bulk update to cover regular season and if I make it, the playoffs also.

[Sef0r]

2038 Season

Day 10 - Post Season (Regular season completed)

Next season I will start day 1 as Day 0 to save on confusion - yes, I am confusing myself.

I won my division and got 1st round bye. Hancock did not dissapoint.

In the playoffs and made it to the Bowl game against Atlanta and got my ass handed to me - 24-6.

Adjustments for next season will be really just trying to get some cap space to sign my WRs who will ask for a lot of mula....I mean ALOT.

Pretty sad diary entry this week, been pretty busy.

Summary of how we done can be found here

[Sef0r]

2039 Season

Day 0 to Day 1 - Staff hiring complete

I didn't hire anyone, already have my staff from last season.

I went through my roster and realised that I had to sign 3 WRs who I suspect will be asking for a lot of cash. Because of this I had to release a lot of players, especially QB Mo Bennet who I'm sure someone can use - assuming they know he is available being that he may not show when being searched for with his 38/38 rating.

I've sent DE Jonathan Blanchard (49/72) to summer camp. He has jumped +17 current points since Pre Season. Lets hope there is more current unmasking and no future drops for my (now) 2nd year DE.

Next up, renegotiation time with my players, have to free up some cap space to sign some key players.

[Sef0r]

2039 Season

Day 2 - FA1:1-12 completed

I forgot to post the draft class from this year but its pretty average anyway and the new players will no doubt be taken by the 4 new owners who joined the league recently.

I was able to resign all my players except for my starting S Edwin Tanner. My RB has decided to hold out, RB Doug Whiting (51/51) ran for 1149 yards on 263 carries and 5 TDs. He is asking for a 5 year, $20 mil extension to the current 2 year, $2 mil contract. I don't like paying RBs...

[Sef0r]

2039 Season

Day 3 - FA2:1 completed

Surprisingly not as much activity as I thought there would be, but I guess to be expected given it is Thanksgiving in the States.

Only signed a low rated SLB, he had the combine but we will see if he has the camp to grow.

[Sef0r]

2039 Season

Day 4 - Completed FA2:2

I was able go get a new safety who I hope will be the difference maker both in the air and ground support. At the same time I got a TE who had a good combine and looks okay Pre TC.

S Trevor Jackson - take a look at the other offers that were made.

2039	Houston	Late FA2	Signed as free agent: 3yrs, $32,640,000.
2039	Atlanta	Late FA2	Turned down a contract offer: 3yrs, $15,080,000.
2039	Baltimore	Late FA2	Turned down a contract offer: 3yrs, $10,800,000.
2039	New Jersey	Late FA2	Turned down a contract offer: 3yrs, $30,000,000.
2039	San Francisco	Late FA2	Turned down a contract offer: 3yrs, $18,000,000.
2039	Portland	Late FA2	Turned down a contract offer: 3yrs, $28,000,000.

TE Gary Berry

2039	Houston	Late FA2	Signed as free agent: 3yrs, $4,580,000.
2039	Cincinnati	Late FA2	Turned down a contract offer: 3yrs, $2,700,000.

[Sef0r]

2039 Season

Day 5 - Completed FA2:3-5

Had to withdraw all offers, I only have $2.52 mil left over and 6 positions required to fill the minimum roster requirements.

I will have to make some 1 year minimum offers and hope that CPU and other human teams don't offer average contracts.

[Groo]

Originally Posted by Sef0r

2039 Season

Day 5 - Completed FA2:3-5

Had to withdraw all offers, I only have $2.52 mil left over and 6 positions required to fill the minimum roster requirements.

I will have to make some 1 year minimum offers and hope that CPU and other human teams don't offer average contracts.

That's what you get for outbidding me for Trevor Jackson I was sure $10M a year was PLENTY to get him... I was wrong. At least I got half my safety tandem in Hilliard.