Island of Misfit Toys, Take 6.3 - and an invitation to join in

[QuikSand]

It's been quite a while since I played an IMT career, and a good deal has changed since I did so. I also have fallen pretty well behind the curve in terms of gameplanning, but from what I hear the more recent FOF game is more welcoming of the concept of "plan around your talent" that seems fairly attractive to me for this sort of thing. Anyway, I'm thinking about giving it a whirl.

Anyhow, I have set up an empty cupboard career -- playing in the Solecismized NFL, a QuikSim through 2009, and starting right after the 2010 draft with the empty-roster Buffalo Bills.

I am intrigued enough by this idea that I thought I'd post the game files, and see if anyone else might be interested in playing along. I honestly don't know what pace I might be able to keep... but we'll see what happens.

Anyway... if you're interested in a different take on FOF, doing some different evaluation of players (a lower grade of guys than you're probably used to), and maybe some collaboration or at least discussion, I'd welcome you to download the files here, and offer your thoughts on what to do from here. I can volunteer that historically, in my IMT careers, the first year tends to put in place an awful lot of guys who stick around for a decade (usually for lack of preferred alternatives) - so year one tends to be pretty important.

If you'd rather just look in and comment, that's fine too, of course. I haven't had a ton of FOF time of late, and it's my hope that I can maybe learn a bit more about the new game with this effort.

[QuikSand]

Oh, for the uninitiated, the Island of Misfit Toys concept is to build a team completely around undrafted rookie free agents. No player will join this team other than as a rookie who went undrafted. As you might imagine, I have turned off GM firing for this career, as this is usually a pretty long haul toward respectability. In previous versions, I have won titles with IMT teams, but if often felt much more like an exercise in happenstance... landing a creeper or six at the right positions was the real way to get somewhere. That may still be the case, but one thing I always find in these IMT careers is that I learn something about the lower-level players -- especially since many of them are getting tons of playing time, unlike on a more conventional team. So, in case you were wondering what the concept is -- there you have it.

A few previous attempts at (or discussion of) the same concept:

FOF 2004 - Return to the Island of Misfit Toys - Front Office Football Central

FOF4 - Island of Misfit Toys - Front Office Football Central

[QuikSand]

Before I let the thought get away, I will plant a seed right away. Before I exited the draft screen, I sorted the remaining QB by Solecismic test score, expecting just to note the top handful of guys so I could go look them up -- as I fully expect this team to be a "try not to lose the game" style, at least initially. Anyway, the top of the heap was this guy...who turns out to have four blue combines to go along with that 38 test score.



So, left to my own devices... I'd probably say that this guy was a lock to creep at least a bit in camp, and I would be thinking he's the very likely opening day starter. I suspect most of those zero-looking bars are phony, but I haven't given thought to what he might eventually look like, based on those combines. He does have pretty reasonable sense rush skills (a true rating) so it's at least possible to be thinking about an offensive line with mostly run-blocking skills.

Just a quick thought...

[QuikSand]

Okay... let's see if we can start off with another "maybe you didn't know this" tidbit. Did you know that after the draft, your scout actually sees the current and future ratings, bar-by-bar, of every rookie? All *we* see is the blue (or orange) bars projecting some sort of distorted future projection... but the scout already sees what he thinks is really going on. Now, how do we get him to cough up some of that information?

Work with me here...

Do a Recommend of free agents, seasons 1 to 2, sorted by Current Special Teams rating. Actually, this will likely yield us some useful players anyway - a guy with serious ST skill will always be os at least some use, so why not start building cohesion here and now while we have open tryouts?

Anyway... check out the sorted list. FB Russell Small doesn't have the run blocking I look for in a FB, but he's at least a notch or two above Donaldson's 74 (including the 2nd yr guys is the way to anchor our information here), and that's pretty solid. but that's not really all that exciting -- his blue bar already suggested big potential in ST, so this would have been a target guy for that purpose anyway.

Now, look a few guys further down that sort. What about rookie TE Les Meek? He's sorted here as having a current ST between 63 and 74... but his blue bar is only something like 30-63. Maybe not a shock, but it's at least possible that this guy's "true" ST bar is something like 60/70 right now, and that blue bar is a phony underrating of his actual skill/potential.

This isn't the most jarring example I have ever seen, but it's a useful tool to sort through rookies. When I see a guy who has an *actual* rating that's demonstrably better than his supposed *future* (blue/orange) rating, I figure that guy might be hiding something good, and maybe he's worth a look.

On this team, I reckon both Small and Meek are worth a contract offer.

[QuikSand]

Curious case in OLB Ray Israelson. He has three bars of note, and they are all pretty good ones if we were to slot him at the weak side of a 3-4 front: PR Tech (68-100), PS Strength (48-78), and Punishing Hitter (63-98).

However, the scout doesn't even pick him up when sorting by current PR Tech, so he's no better than a 9/XX there right now. And that 4.70 dash doesn't really back up the pass rushing skill, either. On a normal team, probably not worth a real look... on this team, probably not mush downside, but I don't think this is a guy worth building our formation around. The 3-4 front might still make more sense, given the likely paucity of the talent we'll see at DL.

[QuikSand]

A few candidates for chemistry leaders -- one way this team has to get an edge is through chemistry, so landing some high-personality position leaders (with secure leadership ratings) would make sense here. These are the oldest guys we'll ever see on the team, so might as well make it count.

POS Player            Group Ldr Prs Rated Notes on Skills 
RB  Patrick Scott     10-11  98 100 24/35 Not terrible, endurance
LG  Roc McClain        1-2   97 100 12/35 Run blocker, 4.07 dash
WR  Edward Lee         1-2   96  95 11/28 Looks terrible
RB  Harry Maloney      9-10  96  77 19/28 minor ST, 3rd down skills
SS  Otis Robinson      3-4   94  93 10/26 some man coverage, KR
DE  Lonnie Coffey     11-12  93  86 17/37 PR Tech, endurance
LT  Raymond Hoover    10-11  93  81 12/28 Some Bl Str, not much
TE  Vernon Manning     1-2   90  98  8/18 some ST
WR  Renaldo Nastasi    5-6   90  97 12/22 medium BPR, some others
DE  Justin Godfrey     8-9   87  99 15/36 run D, 7.30 Ag, only 260 lbs
RB  Gary Michalewicz   1-2   86  83 11/12 nothing to see
CB  Gary Kawaguchi     5-6   85  85 11/21 some zone, 45 pos drill
  

[QuikSand]

It wouldn't be a ridiculous move to decide to pick up G McClain, WR Lee, and TE Manning as offensive position leaders (we'd have to position switch someone to RB/FB). That way we'd have all three group leader in sync, enabling two things:

1) it's just easier to remember to look for the 9-10 and 12-1 guys, and to avoid the (whoever) guys at all offensive positions

2) we can grab multi-affinity guys at QB who can triple up with that group

[QuikSand]

FB Small seems to have better current ratings in several areas than his blues would suggest...

[Izulde]

Intriguing concept to play with though I'd probably be horrible at it, especially since I haven't moved to latest 6.3b version

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Before I let the thought get away, I will plant a seed right away. Before I exited the draft screen, I sorted the remaining QB by Solecismic test score, expecting just to note the top handful of guys so I could go look them up -- as I fully expect this team to be a "try not to lose the game" style, at least initially. Anyway, the top of the heap was this guy...who turns out to have four blue combines to go along with that 38 test score.



So, left to my own devices... I'd probably say that this guy was a lock to creep at least a bit in camp, and I would be thinking he's the very likely opening day starter. I suspect most of those zero-looking bars are phony, but I haven't given thought to what he might eventually look like, based on those combines. He does have pretty reasonable sense rush skills (a true rating) so it's at least possible to be thinking about an offensive line with mostly run-blocking skills.

Just a quick thought...

I look forward to reading and following.

And, I know that it is only cosmetic, but I still like to wonder about the backstory of the mildly talented Polish genius from El Paso who ended up playing for N.C. State. Only in America.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

And, I know that it is only cosmetic, but I still like to wonder about the backstory of the mildly talented Polish genius from El Paso who ended up playing for N.C. State. Only in America.

ping Izulde

[MIJB#19]

Probably the obvious cases here, but SLB Todd Linquist looks like an interesting pass rush technique prospect and RCB Keith Buford has interesting man-to-man skills. LCB T.J. Edwards has some interesting skills (interceptions, special teams). Maybe RB Jessie Ogu as a 3rd down RB? WR Jose Rivero has an interesting 40-time and agility combo.

[QuikSand]

With a quick look at the DB talent available (and knowing a bit about what to expect in any IMT career) I was thinking that maybe the way to go might be to make this a zone-first team, and to look at guys who have good position skill scores from the combine. Sorting rookie DBs by current interception skills yields a handful of guys who look to have decent ability there (always nice) and several safeties with position scores of 40+, supporting at least some combination of zone and interceptions.

[QuikSand]

Dealing with the limited talent pool that we are... do not forget the ability to switch positions. Many of my long-term IMT starters at CB were former safeties, DE were DT (or LB), and so forth. Some positions are really tough to fill in the customary fashion after the draft, don't forget to think outside the box.

[QuikSand]

Fair enough... I may have some time tonight or tomorrow morning, and will probably fill in the initial roster using mostly common sense. Anyone mentioned here will certainly get a roster spot. if I notice anything else interesting along the way, I will try to document my thinking as best I can.

I'm thinking that for year one - where the team will stink anyway - I won't worry too much about creating a serious gameplan. We'll just run a big vanilla and see what players might stand out as "build-around" types afterward.

[QuikSand]

A glance prior to training camp, after a few position switches.

Front Office Football 2007
Buffalo Bills Roster, Scout Overview
   
  Player                #   Pos   Start Exp  Current Estimate  Future Estimate Cntrct 
Capps, Thurman          10  QB          1    11                30                1 yr.
Stephenson, C.J.        7   QB          1    8                 40                1 yr.
Bethea, Mark            9   QB          1    7                 41                1 yr.
Wisniewski, Tracy       17  QB          1    4                 14                1 yr.
Latham, Artie           27  RB          1    31                45                1 yr.
Harmon, Herman          24  RB          1    28                52                1 yr.
Ogu, Jessie             21  RB          1    25                37                1 yr.
Huffman, Andy           47  RB          1    22                45                1 yr.
Small, Russell          40  FB          1    29                37                1 yr.
Brigham, Lorenzo        46  FB          1    22                53                1 yr.
Manning, Vernon         45  FB          1    7                 20                1 yr.
Mitting, Isaac          81  TE          1    21                44                1 yr.
Meek, Les               48  TE          1    17                30                1 yr.
Weintraub, Tito         84  TE          1    15                45                1 yr.
McQuilken, Winfred      80  FL          1    22                34                1 yr.
Spencer, O.J.           83  SE          1    19                53                1 yr.
Giles, Carlos           89  SE          1    16                51                1 yr.
Bates, Justin           88  SE          1    15                41                1 yr.
Pulido, Mel             86  SE          1    14                25                1 yr.
Lee, Edward             82  SE          1    11                30                1 yr.
Greene, Ed              53  C           1    21                50                1 yr.
Whalen, Phillip         56  C           1    8                 22                1 yr.
Musum, Ryan             67  LG          1    20                28                1 yr.
Rivers, Melvin          73  LG          1    13                38                1 yr.
McLain, Rod             60  LG          1    12                35                1 yr.
Cosgrove, Luther        77  RG          1    18                28                1 yr.
Beyer, Alex             76  LT          1    17                20                1 yr.
Serban, Dennis          70  LT          1    16                41                1 yr.
Holdhusen, Don          68  RT          1    19                54                1 yr.
Mickus, Jose            62  RT          1    15                37                1 yr.
Kitchen, Chester        63  RT          1    11                36                1 yr.
Cothran, Lamont         18  P           1    36                60                1 yr.
Federspiel, Jimmie      4   K           1    31                66                1 yr.
Reeves, Ralph           2   K           1    22                59                1 yr.
White, Lee              97  LDE         1    20                43                1 yr.
Baxter, J.T.            90  LDE         1    18                39                1 yr.
Pallansch, Monty        75  LDE         1    18                36                1 yr.
Sanaee, Bubba           98  RDE         1    21                36                1 yr.
Godfrey, Justin         79  RDE         1    15                38                1 yr.
Ballard, Kendall        96  LDT         1    14                44                1 yr.
Erickson, Michael       94  NT          1    16                50                1 yr.
Rivers, Marvin          58  SILB        1    17                47                1 yr.
Whitfield, Willie       52  SILB        1    13                34                1 yr.
Hanaki, Bert            91  WILB        1    22                44                1 yr.
Beyer, J.J.             93  SLB         1    17                38                1 yr.
Israelson, Ray          54  SLB         1    15                29                1 yr.
Linquist, Todd          55  WLB         1    17                46                1 yr.
Santulli, Ernest        92  WLB         1    10                29                1 yr.
Ford, Lincoln           28  LCB         1    16                62                1 yr.
Edwards, T.J.           25  LCB         1    12                44                1 yr.
Kawaguchi, Gary         33  LCB         1    10                20                1 yr.
Buford, Keith           23  RCB         1    22                52                1 yr.
Blanchard, Allen        20  RCB         1    14                30                1 yr.
Boyd, Kevin             43  SS          1    21                39                1 yr.
Tisdall, Rusty          49  SS          1    10                50                1 yr.
Robinson, Otis          42  SS          1    9                 25                1 yr.
Rutter, Quentin         26  FS          1    14                50                1 yr.
   
$$ - player is suspended, ## - player is inactive,  
** = player is injured, %% - player is on IR.  
   
Players Under Contract: 57
Inactive: 0
On Active Roster: 57
   
Salary Cap: $134,800,000
Cap Room: $67,230,000
Maximum for New Player: $67,550,000
Cap Room Lost (to old contracts): $49,410,000
   
Cap Room Lost Next Year (to old contracts): $0
Cap Room Required Next Year: $0

[QuikSand]

Won't be advancing until at least this evening... left the game files (pre-camp) on a thumb drive at home.

One note -- on this team, even a semi-credible SILB would have a shot at Defensive Rookie of the Year with the potential for maybe 120 tackles... but I'm not sure we're going to have anyone worth anything at all at ILB. Rivers looked like the best run stopper in the URFA class, but that's not saying much -- maybe a Run D rating of about 22 or so, I think. Not a big tackler in the secondary either, so I'm guessing we won't see any one guy with eye-popping numbers.

Also, SLB J.J. Beyer look pretty good, but he is impeding the D7 chemistry, so unless he has a great camp, he's likely getting cut.

[MalcPow]

I really like following these things. I know when I'm looking at scrubs I sort by all the "true" physical ratings to find guys that might have something going on. Go through all the guys with high sense rush, big play receiving, blocking strength, pass rush strength, and punishing hitter. For upfront defenders, a pass rush strength and punishing hitter pairing is usually worth a look. For the DBs, a punishing hitter and another high bump or interception bar can be pretty interesting as well. And I definitely try to dig up an RB with a high breakaway and speed to the outside combo. Those guys have a tendency to creep as well.

[QuikSand]

Okay, finally had time to run a vanilla training camp with that batch of 57 players. Here's the back end:

Front Office Football 2007
Buffalo Bills Roster, Scout Overview
   
  Player                #   Pos   Start Exp  Current Estimate  Future Estimate Cntrct 
Capps, Thurman          10  QB          1    14                30                1 yr.
Stephenson, C.J.        7   QB          1    11                41                1 yr.
Bethea, Mark            9   QB          1    9                 37                1 yr.
Wisniewski, Tracy       17  QB          1    6                 19                1 yr.
Latham, Artie           27  RB          1    32                42                1 yr.
Harmon, Herman          24  RB          1    29                47                1 yr.
Ogu, Jessie             21  RB          1    26                35                1 yr.
Huffman, Andy           47  RB          1    21                39                1 yr.
Small, Russell          40  FB          1    31                36                1 yr.
Brigham, Lorenzo        46  FB          1    25                48                1 yr.
Manning, Vernon         45  FB          1    9                 20                1 yr.
Mitting, Isaac          81  TE          1    23                40                1 yr.
Meek, Les               48  TE          1    18                28                1 yr.
Weintraub, Tito         84  TE          1    17                39                1 yr.
McQuilken, Winfred      80  FL          1    24                32                1 yr.
Spencer, O.J.           83  SE          1    21                47                1 yr.
Giles, Carlos           89  SE          1    18                44                1 yr.
Bates, Justin           88  SE          1    17                35                1 yr.
Pulido, Mel             86  SE          1    16                26                1 yr.
Lee, Edward             82  SE          1    13                28                1 yr.
Greene, Ed              53  C           1    25                45                1 yr.
Whalen, Phillip         56  C           1    10                23                1 yr.
Musum, Ryan             67  LG          1    24                30                1 yr.
McLain, Rod             60  LG          1    16                35                1 yr.
Rivers, Melvin          73  LG          1    15                34                1 yr.
Cosgrove, Luther        77  RG          1    19                29                1 yr.
Beyer, Alex             76  LT          1    19                22                1 yr.
Serban, Dennis          70  LT          1    18                40                1 yr.
Holdhusen, Don          68  RT          1    21                47                1 yr.
Mickus, Jose            62  RT          1    17                32                1 yr.
Kitchen, Chester        63  RT          1    15                35                1 yr.
Cothran, Lamont         18  P           1    35                52                1 yr.
Federspiel, Jimmie      4   K           1    32                61                1 yr.
Reeves, Ralph           2   K           1    23                61                1 yr.
White, Lee              97  LDE         1    22                42                1 yr.
Pallansch, Monty        75  LDE         1    21                35                1 yr.
Baxter, J.T.            90  LDE         1    19                36                1 yr.
Sanaee, Bubba           98  RDE         1    23                35                1 yr.
Godfrey, Justin         79  RDE         1    18                36                1 yr.
Ballard, Kendall        96  LDT         1    18                42                1 yr.
Erickson, Michael       94  NT          1    16                42                1 yr.
Rivers, Marvin          58  SILB        1    21                43                1 yr.
Whitfield, Willie       52  SILB        1    16                31                1 yr.
Hanaki, Bert            91  WILB        1    25                40                1 yr.
Beyer, J.J.             93  SLB         1    19                35                1 yr.
Israelson, Ray          54  SLB         1    18                35                1 yr.
Linquist, Todd          55  WLB         1    20                38                1 yr.
Santulli, Ernest        92  WLB         1    13                30                1 yr.
Ford, Lincoln           28  LCB         1    19                52                1 yr.
Edwards, T.J.           25  LCB         1    14                38                1 yr.
Kawaguchi, Gary         33  LCB         1    12                21                1 yr.
Buford, Keith           23  RCB         1    25                44                1 yr.
Blanchard, Allen        20  RCB         1    16                26                1 yr.
Boyd, Kevin             43  SS          1    23                35                1 yr.
Robinson, Otis          42  SS          1    12                26                1 yr.
Tisdall, Rusty          49  SS          1    11                39                1 yr.
Rutter, Quentin         26  FS          1    18                47                1 yr.
   
$$ - player is suspended, ## - player is inactive,  
** = player is injured, %% - player is on IR.  
   
Players Under Contract: 57
Inactive: 0
On Active Roster: 57
   
Salary Cap: $134,800,000
Cap Room: $67,230,000
Maximum for New Player: $67,550,000
Cap Room Lost (to old contracts): $49,410,000
   
Cap Room Lost Next Year (to old contracts): $0
Cap Room Required Next Year: $0 

A +5 for Wisniewski is a really good sign. I don't have access to any of the change-tracking utilities at the moment, so I will piece together what I need - but the raw materials are above, at least.

[chesapeake]

I see a nice jump for SLB Israelson right off the bat (15/29 to 18/35).

[QuikSand]

A few quick notes just looking at the bars of these guys before starting with anything...

Wisniewski is clearly the guy to play at QB, but his bars tell us precious little about what style of offense he can run. He has 9 formations, with no real slant among them. Next year, expanding that may be a priority.

At RB, Latham looks passable, rest are usable but nobody is special

FB Small will likely be a long term asset, but not a serious run blocker

TE Mitting looks like the starter there, but a void in RR means he's just beef, no gravy

WR is a mixed bag, no surprise... no strong bias between short-yardage (GD) guys and downfield (BPR) guys, really... some of each to a degree

G McClain had the best dash combine of any OL, and looks like he may be a long term asset for us... some run blocking potential there, and his 35 held

LT Alex Beyer has the look of a high BStr guy whose other ratings may creep over time... even after a -2 camp

I fouled up defensive front more than I had realized, and have to cut two guys just to get things close to realigned.

Looks like SLB Israalson posted a +6 camp and has some real potential -- he was the punishing hitter + pass rush strength profile guy who seems to have panned out well... not much potential as a run stopper, though

DB group is a mishmash of bars, no real theme there either... several guys with solid looking Int bar, at least

[QuikSand]

Okay, I loaded up a gameplan titled "Balanced" (I'm assuming this was from the library published some while ago) and a vanilla 3-4 defense, and I ran season one. I have played enough IMT careers to know what to expect here... if this is news to you, you may want to sit down before continuing...

Front Office Football 2007
2010 Summary for Buffalo Bills
   
Year                2010                                      
Record              1-15                                      
Winning Pct.        .062                                      
All-Time            7-25                                      
Winning Pct.        .218                                      
Playoffs            0-0                                       
Playoff Visits      0                                         
Bowl Wins           0                                         
Head Coach          Sam Frederick                             
Record              1-15                                      
Winning Pct.        .062                                      
Off. Coord.         J. Gooding                                
Def. Coord.         A. Newton                                 
   
Buffalo Bills           Team      Rank  
Rushes per Game         21.3      32          
Rushing Yards           89.1      31          
Yards Per Carry         4.19      17          
Pass Attempts           33.3      13          
Completions             17.5      29          
Completion Pct.         52.5      32          
Passing Yards           167.6     32          
Yards Per Attempt       5.03      32          
Yards Per Catch         9.58      29 (T)      
Total Yardage Gained    233.9     32          
3rd Down Conversions    36.7      21          
Points Per Game         7.5       32          
Pass Rush Pct.          13.8      32          
Pass Defense Pct.       19.9      32          
Turnovers               35        28          
Turnover Margin         -21       32          
   
Opponents               Team      Rank  
Rushes per Game         35.5      32          
Rushing Yards           158.6     32          
Yards Per Carry         4.47      27          
Pass Attempts           25.3      1           
Completions             17.9      1           
Completion Pct.         70.9      32          
Passing Yards           218.8     15          
Yards Per Attempt       8.64      32          
Yards Per Catch         12.20     32          
Total Yardage Gained    372.3     32          
3rd Down Conversions    46.1      31          
Points Per Game         31.1      32          
Pass Rush Pct.          23.0      30          
Pass Defense Pct.       74.3      32          
Turnovers               14        32          
   
Week  Team  Versus        Oppnt  
1     0     at NYJ        37      
2     10    GBY           35      
3     7     at JAX        34      
4     6     CLE           23      
5     0     at MIA        24      
6     10    at PIT        31      
7     11    at BAL        37      
8     3     NYJ           30      
9     3     CIN           37      
10    14    at NED        19      
12    24    at DET        23      
13    6     KCY           36      
14    7     MIN           40      
15    10    NED           34      
16    0     at CHI        27      
17    9     MIA           30      
   
Passing                 Pos   Att   Comp  Yards Y/Att TD    Int   Rate  
17 T. Wisniewski        QB    415   225   2175  5.24  4     21    51.2    
10 T. Capps             QB    118   55    506   4.29  3     2     60.2    
**Team                  ---   533   280   2681  5.03  7     23    53.2    
$$Opp                   ---   405   287   3500  8.64  23    4     112.0   
   
Rushing                 Pos   Att   Yards Y/Att TD    Fum  
27 A. Latham            RB    205   773   3.77  2     4        
24 H. Harmon            RB    102   531   5.21  0     4       
**Team                  ---   340   1426  4.19  2     31      
$$Opp                   ---   568   2538  4.47  27    19      
   
Receiving               Pos   Targ  Catch Yards Y/Ctc Y/Tar Drop  TD  
83 O. Spencer           WR    128   63    646   10.25 5.05  15    2       
89 C. Giles             WR    116   59    605   10.25 5.22  12    2       
80 W. McQuilken         WR    83    37    430   11.62 5.18  7     1       
86 M. Pulido            WR    62    35    411   11.74 6.63  3     1       
27 A. Latham            RB    43    24    190   7.92  4.42  1     0       
84 T. Weintraub         TE    24    16    126   7.88  5.25  2     1       
   
Defense                 Pos   Tack  Asst  Sack  Hurr  Ints  Defn  PDPct  
58 M. Rivers            ILB   94    34    0.0   1     1     1     72.9    
54 R. Israelson         OLB   79    22    3.0   1     0     6     70.5    
43 K. Boyd              S     78    39    1.0   0     0     2     76.0    
91 B. Hanaki            ILB   76    18    0.0   0     0     0     65.3    
55 T. Linquist          OLB   43    18    4.0   8     0     2     79.1    
52 W. Whitfield         ILB   42    9     0.0   0     0     1     73.0    
26 Q. Rutter            S     38    15    0.0   1     0     1     71.6    
49 R. Tisdall           S     35    15    0.0   0     0     1     73.7    
94 M. Erickson          DT    33    6     1.0   1     0     0     81.3    
25 T. Edwards           CB    32    11    0.0   1     1     3     77.2    
98 B. Sanaee            DE    31    12    1.0   2     0     2     82.7    
96 K. Ballard           DT    31    15    2.5   4     0     0     79.5    
33 G. Kawaguchi         CB    31    12    0.0   0     0     1     72.8    
97 L. White             DE    30    10    0.5   4     0     0     81.5    
23 K. Buford            CB    28    8     0.0   0     1     2     75.3    
92 E. Santulli          OLB   27    17    0.5   5     0     0     77.9    
28 L. Ford              CB    27    11    0.0   0     0     2     72.1    
90 J. Baxter            DE    21    4     0.5   5     0     0     81.6    
20 A. Blanchard         CB    18    5     0.0   0     1     3     79.4     

[QuikSand]

Since the summary doesn't include this stuff...

Front Office Football 2007
Blocking Statistics
   
  Player              Pos Team  GP GS KRB  KRO  BPct  Pnck SkA  PPly SPct  
Musum, Ryan           G   BUF   16 16 21   58   36.2  0    8    504  1.6    
Beyer, Alex           T   BUF   16 16 18   42   42.9  0    13   479  2.7    
Greene, Ed            C   BUF   16 16 17   52   32.7  0    4    484  0.8    
Holdhusen, Don        T   BUF   16 16 10   37   27.0  0    14   486  2.9    
McLain, Rod           G   BUF   16 16 8    37   21.6  0    5    421  1.2    
Rivers, Melvin        G   BUF   16 0  8    21   38.1  0    5    249  2.0    
Kitchen, Chester      T   BUF   16 0  6    15   40.0  0    3    209  1.4    
Whalen, Phillip       C   BUF   16 0  5    13   38.5  0    2    103  1.9    
Small, Russell        FB  BUF   16 11 3    15   20.0  0    0    266  0.0    
Brigham, Lorenzo      FB  BUF   16 0  3    10   30.0  0    0    119  0.0    
Mitting, Isaac        TE  BUF   9  9  3    4    75.0  0    0    210  0.0    
Meek, Les             TE  BUF   16 0  0    3    0.0   0    0    135  0.0    
Weintraub, Tito       TE  BUF   16 7  0    6    0.0   0    0    242  0.0    
   
  Player              Pos Team  RPly OPct  
Musum, Ryan           G   BUF   297  19.5    
Beyer, Alex           T   BUF   286  14.7    
Greene, Ed            C   BUF   276  18.8    
Holdhusen, Don        T   BUF   291  12.7    
McLain, Rod           G   BUF   226  16.4    
Rivers, Melvin        G   BUF   157  13.4    
Kitchen, Chester      T   BUF   103  14.6    
Whalen, Phillip       C   BUF   64   20.3    
Small, Russell        FB  BUF   184  8.2     
Brigham, Lorenzo      FB  BUF   65   15.4    
Mitting, Isaac        TE  BUF   113  3.5     
Meek, Les             TE  BUF   65   4.6     
Weintraub, Tito       TE  BUF   178  3.4     
   
KRB - Key Run Blocks, KRO - Key Run Block Opportunities, BPct - Key Run  
Block Percentage, Pnck = Pancake Blocks, SkA - Sacks Allowed, PPly - Passing  
Plays on Field, SPct - Sack Allowed Percentage, RPly - Rushing Plays on Field,  
OPct - Block Opportunity Percentage.   

[QuikSand]

While I have the draft app up, here are some notes to myself and anyone reading:

Dash: RB Stan Dillon 4.48, WR Gus Owens 4.47 has some bars, QB Carlos Schmigdall 4.53, C Everett Coffey 5.07, T Ethan Covington 5.02 big bar, LT Butch Penn 5.02, DE Joey Owens bar, ILB Damon Behrendt, MLB Jason Greenwood, OLB Carl Mustian 4.58, CB Edward Brodie 4.46

Sole Test: QB Harry Gosselin 40, S Antonio Lynch 39 3 blue combines, RT Alex Nixon

Strength: G Horace Andrews 37 (three reds!), RG Brad Lowery

Agility: CB Xavier Marx 6.92!,

BJump: DE Xavier Sebek, RB Oliver Bromley, WR Willie Crawford

PSpec: CB Leon Ethridge 52, TE Peter Fredrickson

[QuikSand]

Here's the latest incremental file, to bring you up to date -- into late free agency in 2011. (You need both this file and the one from the first post in this thread)

2011 files

[QuikSand]

At this point, there's a range of things to be done.

-Need to decide who among our young returning players is worth a new contract.

-Need to decide what to do with team chemistry, especially at the D7 where I inadvertently mucked things up significantly (making our SILB position a fairly tough decision).

-Need to scour for new players to add and bring along to camp

-Need to think about a gameplan to use that may fit this team better than the vanillas from year one... I'm wide open on both sides of the ball.

[QuikSand]

Okay, then. Basically, here's my thinking going forward:

-If this team is ever going to be winning, it will be because we have some combination of true quality breakout players, sufficient solid enough role players around them, and then a whole lot of cohesion and chemistry. Basically, if we can land 2-4 impact players a year (impact meaning "guys who might actually get playing time on a real roster") and then otherwise build for chemistry... that's on the path toward a winning season in perhaps 8-10 years from now.

So, in order to have cohesion and chemistry high through that period, I need to lock up a number of players -- pretty much regardless of their skill level -- pretty soon.

That is, I figure, the real path to a winning team here. I'm sifting through the initial roster now, handing out new contracts and probably finding 20 guys who will still be on this roster in 2020.

[rjolley]

What do you do with your draft picks, QS?

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by rjolley

What do you do with your draft picks, QS?

Arizona gets all of them. It's usually semi-interesting to see what a franchise does by having a top pick (often 1.1) and a double draft just handed to them every season. Usually they end up in big cap trouble before they really get good. I'll try to keep track in the thread.

[MIJB#19]

RB Jeremy Swift (bench press 25), sounds like that power inside (>64) is for real, the third down running (>62) could be lower than advertised, but that combo can be interesting.

RB Gus Gellings (10/15, punt returner, semi-decent receiving skills) might be worth a shot at WR, but the punt returning (>59) alone makes him interesting.

DT Corey Chapman has okay speed (5.00 is decent for a DT) and power (31 bench reps), which seems to be in-line with the advertised blue. He'll be a big liability on running plays (no run defense, so-so play diagnosis). Not sure he can be moved to DE, though.

A 52 position drill for a CB? That's pretty huge. Some of the return skills are bogus (at least the kick returning), but the solecismic score, 40-time and position drill are good enough. And Ethridge is even an affinity match. Must get player.

You probably didn't miss S Kim Alexander and his 48 position drill score.

TE Louie Cooper also interests me as a player with long snapping skills and additionally some run blocking, getting downfield and big-play bars, with some combine scores that support his case a bit (4.73 dash, 7.51 agility, 9'7" broad jump).

And then there's combine skipping SLB Shannon Wynn, with an 80+ special teams bar, 70ish punishing hitter.

[QuikSand]

Thanks... everyone on that list will get an invite to camp, for certain.

[QuikSand]

Pre-camp ratings:

Front Office Football 2007
Buffalo Bills Roster, Scout Overview
   
  Player                #   Pos   Start Exp  Current Estimate  Future Estimate Cntrct 
Stephenson, C.J.        7   QB          2    11                41                1 yr.
Duran, Tommie           6   QB          1    11                24                1 yr.
Wisniewski, Tracy       17  QB          2    8                 21                1 yr.
Latham, Artie           27  RB          2    34                39                1 yr.
Harmon, Herman          24  RB          2    30                45                1 yr.
Swift, Jeremy           34  RB          1    27                52                1 yr.
Dillon, Stan            36  RB          1    25                34                1 yr.
Ogu, Jessie             21  RB          2    25                32                1 yr.
Small, Russell          40  FB          2    33                35                1 yr.
Brigham, Lorenzo        46  FB          2    25                45                1 yr.
Woodson, Charles        29  FB          1    22                54                1 yr.
Manning, Vernon         45  FB          2    10                20                1 yr.
Rackley, D.J.           85  TE          1    25                52                1 yr.
Mitting, Isaac          81  TE          2    24                37                1 yr.
Lowery, Riddick         44  TE          1    22                55                1 yr.
Fredrickson, Peter      41  TE          1    20                46                1 yr.
Baillargeon, Riddick    87  TE          1    17                50                1 yr.
Cooper, Louie           11  TE          1    17                32                1 yr.
McQuilken, Winfred      80  FL          2    28                30                1 yr.
Spencer, O.J.           83  FL          2    23                43                1 yr.
Owens, Gus              13  FL          1    19                43                2 yrs
Gellings, Gus           37  FL          1    14                31                1 yr.
Giles, Carlos           89  SE          2    21                39                1 yr.
Pulido, Mel             86  SE          2    18                26                1 yr.
Lee, Edward             82  SE          2    12                26                1 yr.
Greene, Ed              53  C           2    27                43                1 yr.
McKenzie, Shannon       57  C           1    13                53                2 yrs
Musum, Ryan             67  LG          2    28                31                1 yr.
McLain, Rod             60  LG          2    23                35                1 yr.
Lowery, Brad            72  RG          1    20                46                2 yrs
Beyer, Alex             76  LT          2    22                24                1 yr.
Nygaard, Gino           64  LT          1    20                30                2 yrs
Covington, Ethan        71  RT          1    4                 40                1 yr.
Springer, Curtis        14  P           1    29                64                2 yrs
Federspiel, Jimmie      4   K           2    38                56                1 yr.
Chapman, Corey          99  LDE         1    21                34                2 yrs
Barlow, Walt            78  LDE         1    20                40                2 yrs
Sanaee, Bubba           98  RDE         2    25                34                1 yr.
Godfrey, Justin         79  RDE         2    19                34                1 yr.
Ballard, Kendall        96  LDT         2    22                41                1 yr.
Grebene, Clarence       74  NT          1    21                27                1 yr.
Brownlee, Ben           93  SILB        1    22                35                2 yrs
Whitfield, Willie       52  SILB        2    19                29                1 yr.
Hanaki, Bert            91  WILB        2    27                37                1 yr.
Borders, Timothy        50  WILB        1    12                53                1 yr.
Israelson, Ray          54  SLB         2    25                38                1 yr.
Wynn, Shannon           51  SLB         1    19                41                2 yrs
Salerno, Quentin        95  SLB         1    15                39                1 yr.
Linquist, Todd          55  WLB         2    21                35                1 yr.
Ford, Lincoln           28  LCB         2    24                46                1 yr.
Marx, Xavier            31  LCB         1    21                43                2 yrs
Edwards, T.J.           25  LCB         2    15                34                1 yr.
Kawaguchi, Gary         33  LCB         2    15                22                1 yr.
Buford, Keith           23  RCB         2    30                40                1 yr.
Ethridge, Leon          22  RCB         1    19                58                1 yr.
Blanchard, Allen        20  RCB         2    16                24                1 yr.
Dillon, Walt            38  RCB         1    7                 23                1 yr.
Boyd, Kevin             43  SS          2    28                32                1 yr.
Alexander, Kim          39  SS          1    19                52                1 yr.
Robinson, Otis          42  SS          2    14                27                1 yr.
Wooden, Kenyon          32  SS          1    12                38                1 yr.
Rutter, Quentin         26  FS          2    26                45                1 yr.
Lynch, Antonio          30  FS          1    12                36                2 yrs
Finley, Julio           47  FS          1    11                30                1 yr.
   

[QuikSand]

Post-camp:

Front Office Football 2007
Buffalo Bills Roster, Scout Overview
   
  Player                #   Pos   Start Exp  Current Estimate  Future Estimate Cntrct 
Stephenson, C.J.        7   QB          2    13                41                1 yr.
Duran, Tommie           6   QB          1    13                26                1 yr.
Wisniewski, Tracy       17  QB          2    10                21                1 yr.
Latham, Artie           27  RB          2    35                35                1 yr.
Harmon, Herman          24  RB          2    32                44                1 yr.
Swift, Jeremy           34  RB          1    28                45                1 yr.
Ogu, Jessie             21  RB          2    27                32                1 yr.
Dillon, Stan            36  RB          1    27                34                1 yr.
Small, Russell          40  FB          2    36                36                1 yr.
Brigham, Lorenzo        46  FB          2    29                45                1 yr.
Woodson, Charles        29  FB          1    24                47                1 yr.
Manning, Vernon         45  FB          2    11                21                1 yr.
Rackley, D.J.           85  TE          1    29                47                1 yr.
Mitting, Isaac          81  TE          2    26                36                1 yr.
Fredrickson, Peter      41  TE          1    25                50                1 yr.
Lowery, Riddick         44  TE          1    24                47                1 yr.
Baillargeon, Riddick    87  TE          1    19                41                1 yr.
Cooper, Louie           11  TE          1    19                32                1 yr.
McQuilken, Winfred      80  FL          2    29                29                1 yr.
Spencer, O.J.           83  FL          2    26                44                1 yr.
Owens, Gus              13  FL          1    21                40                2 yrs
Gellings, Gus           37  FL          1    16                29                1 yr.
Giles, Carlos           89  SE          2    23                39                1 yr.
Pulido, Mel             86  SE          2    21                28                1 yr.
Lee, Edward             82  SE          2    15                27                1 yr.
Greene, Ed              53  C           2    30                43                1 yr.
McKenzie, Shannon       57  C           1    17                53                2 yrs
Musum, Ryan             67  LG          2    30                31                1 yr.
McLain, Rod             60  LG          2    27                35                1 yr.
Lowery, Brad            72  RG          1    22                41                2 yrs
Beyer, Alex             76  LT          2    22                24                1 yr.
Nygaard, Gino           64  LT          1    21                30                2 yrs
Covington, Ethan        71  RT          1    6                 40                1 yr.
Springer, Curtis        14  P           1    30                55                2 yrs
Federspiel, Jimmie      4   K           2    39                57                1 yr.
Barlow, Walt            78  LDE         1    22                37                2 yrs
Chapman, Corey          99  LDE         1    22                31                2 yrs
Sanaee, Bubba           98  RDE         2    27                34                1 yr.
Godfrey, Justin         79  RDE         2    23                34                1 yr.
Ballard, Kendall        96  LDT         2    26                41                1 yr.
Grebene, Clarence       74  NT          1    22                29                1 yr.
Brownlee, Ben           93  SILB        1    25                36                2 yrs
Whitfield, Willie       52  SILB        2    22                30                1 yr.
Hanaki, Bert            91  WILB        2    31                38                1 yr.
Borders, Timothy        50  WILB        1    14                48                1 yr.
Israelson, Ray          54  SLB         2    28                38                1 yr.
Wynn, Shannon           51  SLB         1    21                37                2 yrs
Salerno, Quentin        95  SLB         1    17                34                1 yr.
Linquist, Todd          55  WLB         2    24                35                1 yr.
Ford, Lincoln           28  LCB         2    27                46                1 yr.
Marx, Xavier            31  LCB         1    24                40                2 yrs
Edwards, T.J.           25  LCB         2    17                34                1 yr.
Kawaguchi, Gary         33  LCB         2    16                22                1 yr.
Buford, Keith           23  RCB         2    31                31                1 yr.
Ethridge, Leon          22  RCB         1    21                47                1 yr.
Blanchard, Allen        20  RCB         2    18                24                1 yr.
Dillon, Walt            38  RCB         1    8                 22                1 yr.
Boyd, Kevin             43  SS          2    30                30                1 yr.
Alexander, Kim          39  SS          1    21                46                1 yr.
Robinson, Otis          42  SS          2    17                28                1 yr.
Wooden, Kenyon          32  SS          1    15                35                1 yr.
Rutter, Quentin         26  FS          2    31                46                1 yr.
Lynch, Antonio          30  FS          1    15                38                2 yrs
Finley, Julio           47  FS          1    13                26                1 yr.
   
$$ - player is suspended, ## - player is inactive,  
** = player is injured, %% - player is on IR.  
   
Players Under Contract: 64
Inactive: 0
On Active Roster: 64
   
Salary Cap: $141,600,000
Cap Room: $116,560,000
Front Office Football 2007
Maximum for New Player: $116,900,000
Cap Room Lost (to old contracts): $0
   
Cap Room Lost Next Year (to old contracts): $0
Cap Room Required Next Year: $4,950,000

[QuikSand]

Buffalo Bills Player Report

(IMTBUF2011c - IMTBUF2011d)

Name	Pos	Team	IMTBUF2011c Current	IMTBUF2011c Future	IMTBUF2011d Current	IMTBUF2011d Future	Overall Current Change	Overall Future Change
Duran, Tommie	QB	Buffalo	11	24	13 (2)	26 (2)	2	2
Stephenson, C.J.	QB	Buffalo	11	41	13 (2)	41 (0)	2	0
Wisniewski, Tracy	QB	Buffalo	8	21	10 (2)	21 (0)	2	0
Dillon, Stan	RB	Buffalo	25	34	27 (2)	34 (0)	2	0
Harmon, Herman	RB	Buffalo	30	45	32 (2)	44 (-1)	2	-1
Latham, Artie	RB	Buffalo	34	39	35 (1)	35 (-4)	1	-4
Ogu, Jessie	RB	Buffalo	25	32	27 (2)	32 (0)	2	0
Swift, Jeremy	RB	Buffalo	27	52	28 (1)	45 (-7)	1	-7
Brigham, Lorenzo	FB	Buffalo	25	45	29 (4)	45 (0)	4	0
Manning, Vernon	FB	Buffalo	10	20	11 (1)	21 (1)	1	1
Small, Russell	FB	Buffalo	33	35	36 (3)	36 (1)	3	1
Woodson, Charles	FB	Buffalo	22	54	24 (2)	47 (-7)	2	-7
Baillargeon, Riddick	TE	Buffalo	17	50	19 (2)	41 (-9)	2	-9
Cooper, Louie	TE	Buffalo	17	32	19 (2)	32 (0)	2	0
Fredrickson, Peter	TE	Buffalo	20	46	25 (5)	50 (4)	5	4
Lowery, Riddick	TE	Buffalo	22	55	24 (2)	47 (-8)	2	-8
Mitting, Isaac	TE	Buffalo	24	37	26 (2)	36 (-1)	2	-1
Rackley, D.J.	TE	Buffalo	25	52	29 (4)	47 (-5)	4	-5
Gellings, Gus	FL	Buffalo	14	31	16 (2)	29 (-2)	2	-2
McQuilken, Winfred	FL	Buffalo	28	30	29 (1)	29 (-1)	1	-1
Owens, Gus	FL	Buffalo	19	43	21 (2)	40 (-3)	2	-3
Spencer, O.J.	FL	Buffalo	23	43	26 (3)	44 (1)	3	1
Giles, Carlos	SE	Buffalo	21	39	23 (2)	39 (0)	2	0
Lee, Edward	SE	Buffalo	12	26	15 (3)	27 (1)	3	1
Pulido, Mel	SE	Buffalo	18	26	21 (3)	28 (2)	3	2
Greene, Ed	C	Buffalo	27	43	30 (3)	43 (0)	3	0
McKenzie, Shannon	C	Buffalo	13	53	17 (4)	53 (0)	4	0
McLain, Rod	LG	Buffalo	23	35	27 (4)	35 (0)	4	0
Musum, Ryan	LG	Buffalo	28	31	30 (2)	31 (0)	2	0
Lowery, Brad	RG	Buffalo	20	46	22 (2)	41 (-5)	2	-5
Beyer, Alex	LT	Buffalo	22	24	22 (0)	24 (0)	0	0
Nygaard, Gino	LT	Buffalo	20	30	21 (1)	30 (0)	1	0
Covington, Ethan	RT	Buffalo	4	40	6 (2)	40 (0)	2	0
Federspiel, Jimmie	K	Buffalo	38	56	39 (1)	57 (1)	1	1
Springer, Curtis	P	Buffalo	29	64	30 (1)	55 (-9)	1	-9
Barlow, Walt	LDE	Buffalo	20	40	22 (2)	37 (-3)	2	-3
Chapman, Corey	LDE	Buffalo	21	34	22 (1)	31 (-3)	1	-3
Ballard, Kendall	LDT	Buffalo	22	41	26 (4)	41 (0)	4	0
Grebene, Clarence	NT	Buffalo	21	27	22 (1)	29 (2)	1	2
Godfrey, Justin	RDE	Buffalo	19	34	23 (4)	34 (0)	4	0
Sanaee, Bubba	RDE	Buffalo	25	34	27 (2)	34 (0)	2	0
Israelson, Ray	SLB	Buffalo	25	38	28 (3)	38 (0)	3	0
Salerno, Quentin	SLB	Buffalo	15	39	17 (2)	34 (-5)	2	-5
Wynn, Shannon	SLB	Buffalo	19	41	21 (2)	37 (-4)	2	-4
Brownlee, Ben	SILB	Buffalo	22	35	25 (3)	36 (1)	3	1
Whitfield, Willie	SILB	Buffalo	19	29	22 (3)	30 (1)	3	1
Borders, Timothy	WILB	Buffalo	12	53	14 (2)	48 (-5)	2	-5
Hanaki, Bert	WILB	Buffalo	27	37	31 (4)	38 (1)	4	1
Linquist, Todd	WLB	Buffalo	21	35	24 (3)	35 (0)	3	0
Edwards, T.J.	LCB	Buffalo	15	34	17 (2)	34 (0)	2	0
Ford, Lincoln	LCB	Buffalo	24	46	27 (3)	46 (0)	3	0
Kawaguchi, Gary	LCB	Buffalo	15	22	16 (1)	22 (0)	1	0
Marx, Xavier	LCB	Buffalo	21	43	24 (3)	40 (-3)	3	-3
Blanchard, Allen	RCB	Buffalo	16	24	18 (2)	24 (0)	2	0
Buford, Keith	RCB	Buffalo	30	40	31 (1)	31 (-9)	1	-9
Dillon, Walt	RCB	Buffalo	7	23	8 (1)	22 (-1)	1	-1
Ethridge, Leon	RCB	Buffalo	19	58	21 (2)	47 (-11)	2	-11
Alexander, Kim	SS	Buffalo	19	52	21 (2)	46 (-6)	2	-6
Boyd, Kevin	SS	Buffalo	28	32	30 (2)	30 (-2)	2	-2
Robinson, Otis	SS	Buffalo	14	27	17 (3)	28 (1)	3	1
Wooden, Kenyon	SS	Buffalo	12	38	15 (3)	35 (-3)	3	-3
Finley, Julio	FS	Buffalo	11	30	13 (2)	26 (-4)	2	-4
Lynch, Antonio	FS	Buffalo	12	36	15 (3)	38 (2)	3	2
Rutter, Quentin	FS	Buffalo	26	45	31 (5)	46 (1)	5	1

[QuikSand]

So, I reckon everyone who bumped in camp gets a spot going forward... right? QB might be interesting now... I like the look of Duran a bit.

[Dutch]

I'm curious what happens to Wisniewski. Unfortunately, he's got to play for us to see how he pans out in the end and it might be a whole lotta playing time for nothing...tough call.

[MIJB#19]

Scratching my head here, all but one of my suggestions took huge hits. Especially CB Ethredge's hit is very disappointing and unexpected; -11, ouch...

[QuikSand]

MIJB, my general experience is that while there will be guys with good-looking bars who slide through the whole draft, and there will be guys with some great combines who slide through...it's very rare to find guys with both who do. My usual expectation here is to find *either* low bar creepers (guys like Wisnieswki) or good-bar guys who slide but remain worthwhile.

A guy like Ethridge, even after a -11 camp,might still be worth keeping around, at least for now. Here's a look at him post-camp:



With those reds in zone, int, and ST... I see a guy who could be very solid as a nickel back for the long haul, even.

[QuikSand]

At the start of the 2011 season, I decide to release RB Latham, for several reasons. My plan now is to go with Harmon as the main duty guy (63 power, 89 elus, decent receiving skills) and Swift (99 power, 68 3rd down) as the backup and short yardage guy. With two power-first backs, and better inside run blockers than our tackles, I will plan to push more runs between the tackles than I usually would.

In time, maybe this team becomes one Al Davis would like.

[QuikSand]

After a 1-5 start, Wisniewski has a 47 rating, and I think it's time to calm things down on offense, and just try to play it safer. I rein in the passing game, and we will try to move the chains on offense without doing much aggressively.

In four games with a play-it-safe approach, we post a total of 20 points (3-0-14-3) and I decide it's time to try something new.

So, for the final six games, i tweak some key settings -- and we will try to pass 75% of the time on 1st and 10, and then run 80% of the time on second and long. We'll try to benefit from doing the unexpected.

[QuikSand]

Basically, nothing to see here in terms of the team accomplishing anything. Pretty much as expected.

Front Office Football 2007
2011 Summary for Buffalo Bills
   
Year                2011                                      
Record              2-14                                      
Winning Pct.        .125                                      
All-Time            9-39                                      
Winning Pct.        .187                                      
Playoffs            0-0                                       
Playoff Visits      0                                         
Bowl Wins           0                                         
Head Coach          Sam Frederick                             
Record              3-29                                      
Winning Pct.        .093                                      
Off. Coord.         J. Gooding                                
Def. Coord.         A. Newton                                 
   
Buffalo Bills           Team      Rank  
Rushes per Game         20.1      32          
Rushing Yards           62.6      32          
Yards Per Carry         3.11      32          
Pass Attempts           34.2      11          
Completions             16.4      30          
Completion Pct.         47.9      32          
Passing Yards           158.4     31          
Yards Per Attempt       4.63      32          
Yards Per Catch         9.68      31          
Total Yardage Gained    203.0     32          
3rd Down Conversions    27.9      32          
Points Per Game         7.7       32          
Pass Rush Pct.          13.3      32          
Pass Defense Pct.       36.6      32          
Turnovers               36        30 (T)      
Turnover Margin         -14       30          
   
Opponents               Team      Rank  
Rushes per Game         38.8      32          
Rushing Yards           166.9     32          
Yards Per Carry         4.31      25          
Pass Attempts           27.7      3           
Completions             19.3      12 (T)      
Completion Pct.         69.8      32          
Passing Yards           205.1     7           
Yards Per Attempt       7.41      27          
Yards Per Catch         10.62     7           
Total Yardage Gained    366.5     32          
3rd Down Conversions    38.5      25          
Points Per Game         25.9      32          
Pass Rush Pct.          26.2      32          
Pass Defense Pct.       84.8      32          
Turnovers               22        24 (T)      
   
Week  Team  Versus        Oppnt  
1     14    at NED        34      
2     7     PHI           20      
3     19    at CLE        16      
4     13    at MIA        24      
5     7     at DEN        29      
6     7     OAK           33      
8     3     SDO           29      
9     0     NYJ           23      
10    14    at KCY        30      
11    3     NED           18      
12    3     at DAL        31      
13    3     JAX           30      
14    10    WAS           7       
15    3     MIA           29      
16    10    at NYK        33      
17    7     at NYJ        29      
   
Passing                 Pos   Att   Comp  Yards Y/Att TD    Int   Rate  
17 T. Wisniewski        QB    419   204   1999  4.77  7     17    51.2    
6 T. Duran              QB    124   56    511   4.12  0     9     26.7    
**Team                  ---   547   262   2535  4.63  7     26    45.7    
$$Opp                   ---   443   309   3281  7.41  21    10    97.5    
   
Rushing                 Pos   Att   Yards Y/Att TD    Fum  
24 H. Harmon            RB    135   390   2.89  1     1       
Front Office Football 2007
34 J. Swift             RB    93    319   3.43  2     4       
21 J. Ogu               RB    35    129   3.69  0     0       
**Team                  ---   322   1002  3.11  4     29      
$$Opp                   ---   620   2670  4.31  15    21      
   
Receiving               Pos   Targ  Catch Yards Y/Ctc Y/Tar Drop  TD  
89 C. Giles             WR    123   59    715   12.12 5.81  6     1       
83 O. Spencer           WR    97    45    445   9.89  4.59  1     3       
13 G. Owens             WR    76    37    442   11.95 5.82  3     0       
41 P. Fredrickson       TE    42    23    130   5.65  3.10  3     0       
86 M. Pulido            WR    47    22    210   9.55  4.47  5     0       
   
Defense                 Pos   Tack  Asst  Sack  Hurr  Ints  Defn  PDPct  
91 B. Hanaki            ILB   104   42    1.0   1     0     0     71.9    
54 R. Israelson         OLB   92    19    4.0   1     1     6     72.4    
93 B. Brownlee          ILB   88    37    0.0   0     2     3     73.9    
43 K. Boyd              S     74    34    0.0   0     1     4     77.4    
52 W. Whitfield         ILB   61    15    0.0   1     0     2     75.1    
55 T. Linquist          OLB   43    16    0.0   9     0     1     79.9    
74 C. Grebene           DT    37    21    4.0   6     0     0     82.1    
30 A. Lynch             S     36    12    0.0   0     0     6     80.3    
28 L. Ford              CB    35    7     0.0   0     0     4     76.8    
31 X. Marx              CB    35    7     0.0   0     0     5     75.3    
39 K. Alexander         S     35    10    0.0   0     3     1     81.2    
23 K. Buford            CB    32    7     0.0   0     0     8     80.3    
96 K. Ballard           DT    31    7     0.5   1     0     0     79.7    
78 W. Barlow            DE    30    14    1.0   7     0     0     79.8    
79 J. Godfrey           DE    29    10    0.0   3     0     0     80.4    
51 S. Wynn              OLB   28    10    1.5   2     0     3     76.5    
99 C. Chapman           DE    24    16    0.0   4     0     0     81.1    
20 A. Blanchard         CB    22    8     0.0   0     2     1     76.3    
33 G. Kawaguchi         CB    17    6     0.0   0     0     1     76.3    

[QuikSand]

Tough to say what the stats tell us about DT Grebene, but he had a +2 rookie camp, a pretty good statistical season (9.2 T%, 4.7 PR%) and now scouts at 25/29.

[QuikSand]

I will advance to the next post-draft stage, and post a new file shortly.

[QuikSand]

Notes from the post-draft screen:

QB Winston Cooley - 86 PSpec and 4.37 dash!!! but three greens
C Raymond Booth - 5.04 dash and max run blocking bar
WR Bucky Pexna - 6.96 agil
S Richie Alexander - 47 Sole, 45 PSpec

[Young Drachma]

Interesting stuff, as usual. I've always found this concept interesting and naturally, I'm not nearly good enough at FOF to attempt it, but I'm thinking a baseball variation could be in the offing.

[QuikSand]

Here's a new file... contents to be added to those from the previous ones.

http://www.sevenshuffles.com/QuikSand/imtbuf_2012.zip

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

MIJB, my general experience is that while there will be guys with good-looking bars who slide through the whole draft, and there will be guys with some great combines who slide through...it's very rare to find guys with both who do. My usual expectation here is to find *either* low bar creepers (guys like Wisnieswki) or good-bar guys who slide but remain worthwhile.

A guy like Ethridge, even after a -11 camp,might still be worth keeping around, at least for now. Here's a look at him post-camp:

image here

With those reds in zone, int, and ST... I see a guy who could be very solid as a nickel back for the long haul, even.

I hear ya. It was just a bit moaning about me giving some so-so advice.

I'll grab the new file and make another set of well educated guesses on guys who seem to be semi-decent but will still likely lose potential after camp.

[MIJB#19]

Some somewhat-obvious suggestions:
RB Michael Barker, 50+ for hole recognition and speed to outside in experience.
WR James Gillespie, returnman (and basically nothing but).
K Scottie Kirchhof, could be a top-notch kickoff specialist, if you're into using a roster spot for that.
DE Leo Gerken, run defense potential, punishing hitter.
DT Edgar Hoffman and Mark Terrell, 40-time under 5.00.
DT R.J. Tuholski, 22/29 and only 48% developed, decent strength and agility.
WILB Andy Fitzgerald, decent 40-yd dash.
MLB Jamie Fletcher and SLB Glen Clausen, strange set of bars, very developed for a rookie.
WLB Scott Rust, run defense, zone defense, speicla teams.
RCB Juan Sawyer, punt returning, interceptions, broad jump score.
LT Earl Linquist and LG Colin Huntley, pass blockers with good agility scores.
SS Roy Harrison, 43 position drill.
LDE Derek Alcott.

[QuikSand]

Okay, took a huge slate of stiffs into training camp this year. I think at the end of season three, we can start filling in the roster puzzle a bit -- basically reaching some conclusions on what guys on the roster then are long term keepers, and what slots we feel we have more or less in hand.

[QuikSand]

One interesting twist... QB Tommie Duran, our #2 last year who got around 100 passes in reserve, is already "angry" and unwilling to sign for a year two. I plan to re-sign him after camp if possible, staying at least broadly within my own rules... but will try to avoid such a situation again. In my history, guys who inexplicably are pissed off about playing time are often better than their visible ratings suggest. Interesting tidbit, we'll see if he gets grabbed in free agency before we can reclaim him.