Montani Semper Liberi - An FOF2k4 Dynasty - COMPLETE!!!

[Abe Sargent]

Hello and welcome to another Anxiety dynasty! I haven't done one of these in quite a while. I mean a game dynasty, not my dream one or Operation: Big Ben. I find them to be a bit time-consuming and I often fail to continue them after a while. I can't stay with a dynasty for too long, because my personality desires new things to always happen. As such, I am doing this dynasty a bit differently. I am writing it all up at one time, on a document on my computer. Once I have decided to end the dynasty, I'll post it slowly over at FOFC, and you can enjoy it at the same pace as every other dynasty. However, that way there'll be an honest end to the dynasty.

If you like the dynasty as it is being posted, let me know. The more comments I get, the faster I'll post the remaining dynasty, and possibly the sooner I'll do a new dynasty!

Without further ado, allow me to present the Official West Virginia FOF 2k4 Dynasty: Montani Semper Liberi!!!

Here are the rules:

1. At the beginning of the dynasty, I'll have to try to sign and trade for as many WV players as possible. For purposes of this dynasty any player is considered a West Virginia player if they have a WV hometown OR played at a WV school. With two Div 1 schools and a small population, this should be quite a challenge.

2. After the first season, I will fail to sign and cut all remaining non-WV players. The first season stats will NOT be counted and records will not be held for the team for any non-WV players.

3. I will then sign in FA and draft all WV players. At the end of the offseason, I will be allowed to sign FAs to my depth chart to fill any open roster spots. Only minimum wage salaries will be accepted for these players, and they cannot have their contracts extended, or be resigned. They must be cut if a multiyear deal was signed at the end of the year.

4. Every year I will seek to increase the amount of WV players on the roster. At the end of any offseason in which I have open spots on the roster after making a good faith effort to find WV players for that spot, I will again be allowed to sign a minimum wage free agent for that spot.

5. I will do everything in my power to keep stars from WV on the roster as long as possible. NFL stars, not college ones


Full X-Factor is on. My name is Abe Sargent. I will use the updated alternate player file. I will not start with a draft, despite being tempted to do so (I could get my K, P, QB, etc that way). Wall Street Difficulty, and I'll even make GMs fireable. This could be a big blow up in my face, we'll see.


Additional rules:

I will seek to relocate my franchise to WV as soon as possible in the game.


To begin the game, I am choosing the itinerant team - the New Orleans (sorta) Saints.


-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

The Beginning:

I begin the game with injuries set to 100 and the cap increase from 25 to 55. Without looking at roster, I know that I have several targets.

Luckily, there is a kicker and a pair of punters that qualify as WV players that are all good in the NFL - Todd Sauerbrun, Chris Hanson and Mike Vanderjagt. The worse idea about my franchise is that you never get a good K or P, because so few good ones are created each year. I also have three starting QBs in the league from WV schools - Chad Pennington, Byron Leftwich and Marc Bulger. These are my targets for trade.

WR Nate Poole from Marshall, is my only Saint to qualify as a WV player. He's currently my receivers leader, but he's also inactive. Not that good. The first place I look for more players is free agency. Marshall has three players in the free agent pool - a pair of kickers and a strong safety. Without even looking for WVU players, I suspect that I am going to need to check my cap situation. I only have 3.5 mill under the cap, so I look around for cap relief. I need to make a move before signing a bunch of players.

Which QB is the best? In my game, Chad Pennington has better potential than the other two, but Marc Bulger is better currently. Either will suffice, with the preference for Pennington. I have Darren Howard to dangle. He's a great DE in the last year of his contract and a nice motor. He should free up some contract room. I offer Howard for Pennington straight up, but the computer says that they don't want to trade away a fan favorite. Fair enough. My offer of Howard for Bulger is rebuffed because the computer doesn't want to trade away a player with a large amount of future dead cap issues. I don't like that, but I really like the realism. Seriously, how many teams would be willing to trade away their starting QB even for a franchise caliber DE at the beginning of the preseason? Probably not that many.

I love Leftwich in real life, but he is not that good in this game (scouts have him rated 27/52). I look for other trades. I have needs for WV players in a lot of positions, so let's see what I can find.

Randy Moss and Jerry Porter are both nice wideouts. Anthony Becht is the best TE I think is out there. There are some O Linemen like John Wade and Rich Braham. Pacman Jones would likely be a nice CB prospect. DT John Thornton is good as well. I decide to work a trade with the Bengals. I want Rich Braham, John Thornton, and WR Chris Henry. I offer Deuce, but Cincinnati doesn't like his backloaded contract. I add SS Jay Bellamy to the deal, because the Bengals need a safety, but no dice. I move on.

I jot down all of the players from WV schools currently on rosters. I can't easily check hometowns for the entire NFL, but I can see colleges. I look for holes that I can fill. The only starting caliber LB in the league is WLB Barrett Green, now of the Giants. There are several wideout options (Troy Brown, Moss, Porter, Henry, and more). There are no Offensive Tackles, but there are plenty of interior linemen, especially guards. (I miss Solomon Page, he should still be in the league). There are also virtually no corners (ah, for the injury of Chris Fisher to have never taken place). No trading my OTs or CBs then.


-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Trade Number One:

I trade TE Boo Williams, C LeCharles Bentley and OG Jamar Nesbit to Tampa for C John Wade and TE Anthony Becht and a 7th round pick. Getting Becht was a key trade.

Trade Two:

OG Jonathan Mayberry and DT Jonathan Sullivan to the New York Giants for WLB Barrett Green and a 6th round pick. Again, getting Green was key.


I decide to go after Leftwich, but even the Jags are unwilling to trade their QB. The Jags at least have a good backup QB with Garrard, so this is a better trade. Again, they don't like trading away a player with a large amount of dead cap room.

The Raiders are not willing to trade away either fan favorite Moss or Fan Fav Porter. Sigh.


Trade Three:

OG Kendyl Jacox to the Patriots for WR Troy Brown, OG Bubba Chew and their 2nd round pick. With Porter and Moss out of commision, Brown is the next best receiver. Picking him up was essential to my plans. OG Chew is a back guard from WVU. The 2nd round pick is a nice trade bait for future players I may need to get.

Trade Four:

Pats 2nd round pick, DT Rodney Leisle to the Kansas City Chiefs for DE Gary Stills and DT John Browning. Leisle was a backup DT and I just got the draft pick, so losing it is no big deal. I get a pair of adequate starters in Stills and Browning.


Tennessee won't trade Pacman Jones because of the fan favorite factor. My options are becoming more limited. I can't trade for a starting QB and I can't trade for one of the star WRs and now I can't trade for the only halfway decent CB.



-Anxiety

[Swaggs]

I'll be watching closely.

I suspect the Raiders would have been a better team to begin with, though.

Is Amos around in your league?

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

I'll be watching closely.

I suspect the Raiders would have been a better team to begin with, though.

Is Amos around in your league?

We'll see, won't we.....




-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Here are the rest of our initial trades, all nicely documented for ya.


Trade Five:

WR Devery Henderson to Pittsburgh for SS Mike Logan. He'll be our starting SS.

Trade Six:

OLB Sedrick Hodge to the Colts for K Mike Vanderjagt and their 6th round pick. Excellent! I really wanted Mike, and I'm happy to have him on the team.

Trade Seven:

In a cost dumping measure, the Saints have traded DE Darren Howard to the Falcons for DT Antwan Lake. Lake is pretty poor, but the Saints needed to dump Howard's salary, and this was the best choice.

Trade Eight:

The Saints have traded OG Montrae Holland to the Eagles for three players - all backup style players - WR Jermaine Glassner, TE Mike Bartrum, and OG Steve Sciullo. None of these players are projected as starters, but you never know.


Trade Nine:

We trade SS Jay Bellamy, TEs Lamont Hall and Shad Meier, FB Mike Karney and our 5th round pick to the Bengals for C Rich Braham and WR Chris Henry. The Bengals have a highly coveted DT John Thornton, but for now, we're happy dumping a bunch of backups, a late round pick, and an adequate safety to the Bengals for a starter on the O Line and a backup receiver. I'll try for Thornton later.

I checked and the Broncos do not want to trade Sauerbrun because he is a fan favorite. Only Todd Sauerbrun. Chris Hanson, for the Jags, is rated very low, so I'll try a solution elsewhere for my punter.

Trade Ten: We trade SS Mel Mitchell to the Broncos for WR Darius Watts. Darius is another backup player.

Trade Eleven: We trade P Mitch Burger to the Cowboys for CB Lance Frazier and their third round pick. Frazier is another backup player.

Trade Twelve: We trade DE Will Smith to the Lions for WLB James Davis. With such a weak LB corps, Davis will likely start. We might move him to another position, though.

Trade Thirteen: CB Fred Thomas to the Rams for C Chris Massey. Massey is another backup, but I need to stockpile offensive linemen.

Trade Fourteen: OLB James Allen to the Raiders for their 3rd Round selection.

I can't trade for Thornton, the Bengals simply won't release him. So I decide to harvest picks for the players that I can trade right now.

Trade Fifteen: Trade DE Charles Grant to the Ravens for their 2nd and 4th round picks.

Trade Sixteen: Trade FS Dwight Smith to the Jets for their 6th round pick. He's just a backup.

Trade Seventeen: Trade ILB Courtney Watson to the Redskins for their 2nd round pick.



-Anxiety

[Emiliano]

Anxiety dynasty: I'm on board! Gee, those are some tough rules. It's gonna be interesting.

[Abe Sargent]

Released: K John Carney
QB Kliff Kingsbury
TE Ernie Conwell
SE Donte' Stallworth
SE Talman Gardner
SE Michael Lewis
LDT Shaun Smith
LCB Jimmy WIlliams
SLB Roger Knight




I sign: FB Matt Sununu From Florida State (originally from Shenandoah Junction, WV)
FS Howie Strickland from West Virginia Wesleyan *
LG Darryl Nixon from WVU
RB Amos Zereoue from WVU. You might have heard of him
CB Aaron Beasley from WVU. You also might have heard of him.
SLB Grant Wiley from WVU.
LT Bart Ackerman from WVU
TE Kenny Grueneich from WVU
WILB Marvin Dotson from WVU


* Howie looks really good. Very raw now, but with great potential, he could be a starter in the future for a long time.


-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Emiliano

Anxiety dynasty: I'm on board! Gee, those are some tough rules. It's gonna be interesting.

Thanks!!! I hope you enjoy.


-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

I sign the following players to minimum deals in order to flesh out my roster:

P Toby Gowin


I move Marvin Dotson to MLB. I hop WLB James Davis over to SLB. Lastly, I move John Wade to Right Guard.


We go 1-3 in the preseason. I release some of the chaff on the team:

RB Antowain Smith
WLB Albert Fincher
SE Az-Zahir Hakim
C Kevin Houser


Here is our official roster heading into the season:

Front Office Football 2004
New Orleans Saints Roster, Scout Overview
   
  Player                #   Pos   Start Exp  Current Estimate  Future Estimate Cntrct 
Brooks, Aaron           2   QB    QB    6    49                54                3 yrs
Bouman, Todd            4   QB          5    10                28                2 yrs
McPherson, Adrian       5   QB          1    8                 35                3 yrs
McAllister, Deuce       26  RB    RB    5    66                70                7 yrs
McAfee, Fred            25  RB          14   44                44                1 yr.
Stecker, Aaron          27  RB          6    36                40                3 yrs
##Zereoue, Amos         42  RB          7    23                25                1 yr.
Czurylo, Brock          49  FB    FB    1    24                47                1 yr.
Sununu, Matt            36  FB          1    17                33                1 yr.
Becht, Anthony          86  TE    TE    6    53                54                5 yrs
Bartrum, Mike           7   TE          12   26                31                3 yrs
Grueneich, Kenny        6   TE          1    17                43                1 yr.
Horn, Joe               87  FL    FL    10   61                61                6 yrs
Glassner, Jermaine      15  FL          1    20                46                1 yr.
##Poole, Nate           89  FL          4    18                30                1 yr.
##Watts, Darius         8   FL          2    15                24                3 yrs
Brown, Troy             82  SE    SE    13   48                48                1 yr.
Henry, Chris            80  SE          1    12                37                4 yrs
Braham, Rich            58  C     C     11   60                60                2 yrs
Massey, Chris           54  C           4    18                34                1 yr.
Sciullo, Steve          63  LG    LG    3    25                38                1 yr.
Chew, Bubba             76  LG          1    13                40                1 yr.
##Nixon, Darryl         74  LG          1    13                39                1 yr.
Wade, John              51  RG    RG    8    28                39                2 yrs
Folau, Spencer          60  RG          9    20                26                2 yrs
Gandy, Wayne            72  LT    LT    12   42                43                4 yrs
Stinchcomb, Jon         78  LT    RT    3    23                31                2 yrs
Ackerman, Bart          64  LT          1    11                25                1 yr.
##Brown, Jammal         62  RT          1    28                70                4 yrs
Gowin, Toby             9   P           9    41                47                1 yr.
Vanderjagt, Mike        12  K           8    58                63                1 yr.
Stills, Gary            71  RDE   LDE   6    33                41                2 yrs
Whitehead, Willie       98  RDE         7    26                31                1 yr.
Bryant, Tony            92  RDE   RDE   7    18                24                2 yrs
Browning, John          77  LDT   LDT   9    39                39                4 yrs
Young, Brian            66  LDT         6    38                39                3 yrs
Lake, Antwan            90  LDT         4    14                23                1 yr.
Green, Howard           95  RDT   RDT   3    12                30                1 yr.
McKinnon, Ronald        59  MLB   MLB   10   33                34                1 yr.
##Dotson, Marvin        93  MLB         1    15                29                1 yr.
Davis, James            96  SLB   SLB   3    29                50                1 yr.
Wiley, Grant            91  SLB         2    14                31                1 yr.
Green, Barrett          97  WLB   WLB   6    50                53                4 yrs
Bockwoldt, Colby        57  WLB         2    21                38                2 yrs
McKenzie, Mike          43  LCB   LCB   7    48                48                2 yrs
Craft, Jason            21  RCB   RCB   7    39                42                3 yrs
Beasley, Aaron          34  RCB         10   26                26                1 yr.
Frazier, Lance          40  RCB         2    20                36                1 yr.
##Brown, Fakhir         35  RCB         7    12                18                1 yr.
Logan, Mike             31  SS    SS    8    49                52                2 yrs
Bullocks, Josh          29  FS    FS    1    39                83                3 yrs
##Gleason, Steve        37  FS          6    19                28                1 yr.
Strickland, Howie       48  FS          1    14                49                1 yr.

$$ - player is in starting lineup, ## - player is inactive.

Players Under Contract: 53
Inactive: 8
On Active Roster: 45

Salary Cap: $85,500,000
Cap Room: $15,180,000
Maximum for New Player: $15,420,000
Cap Room Lost (to old contracts): $12,210,000

Cap Room Lost Next Year (to old contracts): $20,500,000
Cap Room Required Next Year: $72,270,000

As can be seen, we have some strong areas. The best WVU starters are Becht, Barrett Green, and Braham. Vanderjagt and Logan are pretty good as well.



-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

We have plenty to do, so let's get started.

As I mentioned earlier, the first season is sort of a quick sim season. I only care about half my team, and the other half can rot for all I care. Let's go!

Let's take a look at our season's games


Front Office Football 2004
New Orleans Saints 2005 Regular Season Schedule

Week Opponent Result Attendance Weather
Week 1 SEATTLE SEAHAWKS W, 21-17 59,400 Sunny, 68
Week 2 SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS L, 7-17 59,400 Sunny, 68
Week 3 at St. Louis Rams L, 10-27 61,900 Sunny, 68
Week 4 at Arizona Cardinals L, 38-41 45,100 Sunny, 102
Week 5 TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS L, 15-38 58,600 Sunny, 68
Week 6 MINNESOTA VIKINGS L, 17-31 58,600 Sunny, 68
Week 7 at Oakland Raiders L, 19-31 52,200 Sunny, 59
Week 8 OPEN
Week 9 at San Diego Chargers L, 22-26 57,100 Sunny, 76
Week 10 KANSAS CITY CHIEFS L, 21-25 58,600 Sunny, 68
Week 11 DENVER BRONCOS W, 30-24 56,300 Sunny, 68
Week 12 at Atlanta Falcons L, 21-23 60,000 Sunny, 68
Week 13 CAROLINA PANTHERS L, 13-23 57,800 Sunny, 68
Week 14 at Dallas Cowboys L, 21-24 64,700 Sunny, 61
Week 15 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W, 20-14 63,700 Sunny, 81
Week 16 ATLANTA FALCONS W, 27-17 56,300 Sunny, 68
Week 17 at Carolina Panthers L, 21-27 69,200 Sunny, 46

Home Games in ALL CAPS

Season Tickets Sold: 56,000
Stadium Capacity: 72,700


We won the first game, and I was wondering if the entire experiment was going to fail due to a successful first season. Luckily, our team began to lose. You'll see, however, that we were close in a lot of games. Ah well, that's the way it goes.

Deuce McAllister was the player of the year, the Offensive MVP and the first team Running Back. And now he will go Who wants the reigning MVP? He rushed for 2038 yards. It's the best running total I've ever had in FOF2k4, and it came in a quick sim season. More sighing.

-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Troy Brown had 56 catches for 746 yards and 9 TDs.
Barrett Green led our team in tackles, which is no surprise, really.
SS Mike Logan grabbed four picks.
C Rich Braham had 49 KRB out of 130 KRO.

In the Super Bowl, my Marc Bulger led the Rams to a 31-28 victory over the TEXANS. Wow, is that ever an interesting result?

Now the Rams will never let the Super Bowl MVP come to New Orleans.

We advance into next year. I score a 47 overall (just a 5 for on the field performance)

I submit the lousiest stadium plan ever. A massive stadium with countless boxes, seats, and club offerings. I only offer to pay a fourth of the construction cost. I expect the issue to fail miserably.



-Anxiety

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Anxiety

Troy Brown had 56 catches for 746 yards and 9 TDs.
Barrett Green led our team in tackles, which is no surprise, really.
SS Mike Logan grabbed four picks.
C Rich Braham had 49 KRB out of 130 KRO.

In the Super Bowl, my Marc Bulger led the Rams to a 31-28 victory over the TEXANS. Wow, is that ever an interesting result?

Now the Rams will never let the Super Bowl MVP come to New Orleans.

We advance into next year. I score a 47 overall (just a 5 for on the field performance)

I submit the lousiest stadium plan ever. A massive stadium with countless boxes, seats, and club offerings. I only offer to pay a fourth of the construction cost. I expect the issue to fail miserably.



-Anxiety

Now watch, it'll succeed, just to screw with your dynasty

[Abe Sargent]

Here is our status report:

We are in the middle of the NFL pack at the value of our stadium. We are at the top of the bottom third of the NFL for roster strength. Our fan support is the third weakest. Our economy is the absolute weakest in the league. We have the 24rd highest franchise value. Eight teams are below us in value.

We begin free agency....


I have several players that I need to resign. Chief among them are Vanderjagt and Troy Brown. I make them both offers, as well as SLB James Davis.

[Abe Sargent]

I now need to trade or release my remaining players who aren't WV players. Here we go.

Trade - We trade OT Jammal Brown, the Saints first round draft pick last year, to the Vikings for RDE Darrion Smith and their 2nd rounder next year. Smith is a pretty good DE from Charleston, WV, even if he played at Ohio State, which we will try not to hold against him. I immediately move Smtih to LDE.

Trade - We trade FS Josh Bullocks, the Saints second round draft selection last year, to the Cardinals for their 2nd round pick in 2008.

Trade - We trade RB Deuce McAllister to the 49ers for their 2nd round pick in 2008 and their 7th round next year (2k7).


We release: QB Todd Boumon
QB Adrian McPherson
RG Spencer Folau
WLB Colby Bockwoldt
RDE Tony Bryant
LT Jon Stinchcomb
RCB Jason Craft
QB Aaron Brooks
WR Joe Horn
LT Wayne Gandy
LCB Mike McKenzie
LDT Brian Young

We cannot release RB Aaron Stecker because he is injured. We'll do so later.



-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Now watch, it'll succeed, just to screw with your dynasty

Welcome to the dynasty. I always have a problem knowing how to respond when I already know the whole thing and its obviously ended. That means either:

a). I won the super bowl with an entirely WV team
b). I got fired
c). I got bored


I hope that you'll be with us until the end to see what happens.



-Anxiety

[Emiliano]

Originally Posted by Anxiety

I submit the lousiest stadium plan ever. A massive stadium with countless boxes, seats, and club offerings. I only offer to pay a fourth of the construction cost. I expect the issue to fail miserably.

Oh BTW Anxiety, where do you exactly plan to relocate?

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Emiliano

Oh BTW Anxiety, where do you exactly plan to relocate?

WV. It's the only place that makes sense


-Anxiety

[Emiliano]

Originally Posted by Anxiety

WV. It's the only place that makes sense

Oh yeah, I knew that ... I meant, do you already have a city in mind? I don't really know the state of WV, so I was curious about the city... Also, do you plan to change the team nickname?

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Emiliano

Oh yeah, I knew that ... I meant, do you already have a city in mind? I don't really know the state of WV, so I was curious about the city... Also, do you plan to change the team nickname?

The only city in WV in the game is Huntington, which is rather odd since it is not the largest city in the state. Charleston would have been a better choice, imho. I always change a team's mascot name when they move, so year, Saints would be gone.


-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Some Additional Moves


I extend the contracts:

C Rich Braham by two years (he was in his last year)
SS Mike Logan by two yeras (he was in his last year)
RG John Wade by two years (he was also in his last year)


I go ahead and sign my restricted free agents now, so that I'll know where my spaces are. I sign:

FS Howie Strickland
LG Darryl Nixon
MLB Marvin Dotson
LG Steve Sciullo
SLB Grant Wiley
RCB Lance Frazier
FB Matt Sununu
LT Bart Ackerman
TE Kenny Grueneich
FL Jermaine Glassner
LG Bubba Chew


I still can't trade for John Thornton. The Bengals don't want to trade their only DT. I'll wait and see if they sign some. The Raiders Wideouts (Porter and Moss) are still unavailable, as are all three QBs and Sauerbrun. In the draft, there's a first round grade player from WVU, but no QBs or Punters that are WV players. I decide to trade for Chris Hanson despite poor skills because he's really my only option at this point.

Unfortunately, it is not easy to get Hanson out of J'ville's hands, and I don't think he's worth what hey are asking (a third rounder). I decide to wait for a bit and try for a minimum wage type Punter.


-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Some Free Agency Actions:

The first round of Free Agency is pretty simple. No WV players became available, so I am trying to resign a few of my players, like Vanderjagt and Brown. I don't expect too much competition.

After week one, Troy Brown signs with us. After week three, Venderjagt follows suit. Alright, we are back in business.

I do have several other players that are available, but nothing major. I don't expect any remaining FA WV players to go in this round of FA, but we'll see.

As predicted, no other WV players have any motion. Before the draft, I deicde to try for Thornton again from the Bengals.


I need to trade a few picks. I have too many for the players that are available. I'll need my third overall for the WVU player. After that, there's an okay WR that I might be allowed to use a second on. A quartet of corners and an OT from WVU round out my selections in the mid to late rounds. From Marshall, only a late mid round DE represents. It looks like I have a first, second, a fourth, a fifth, and a bunch of sixths and sevenths to use. I need to trade extra thirds, seconds, and fourths. I don't have my fifth, but I am sure someone will drop. I decide to further peruse WV players by looking at hometown. Maybe some stud or second round choice will avail itself my ways



-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

There a good FB from WV - Kent Hughes from Charleston, WV who played at Baylor. There's a FS named Jay Benedict from Glen Dale, WV who played at Notre Dame. There's RCB Jeffrey Payton from Berkeley Springs, WV who played at Elon. SE Dexter Hutchins is from Wheeling, WV and played at Washington. LDT Ted Gador played at Univ of So Cal although he is from Griffithsville, WV. SS Gary Tanner is from Kingwood, WV and played ball at good old Wake Forest. Other options include SE Edwin Lovelace (Spencer, WV - Miami of Florida), RDE Billy Lemon (War, WV - Notre Dame), WLB Jake Taggert (Elkins, WV - UK), and possiby even SLB Jimmy Perry (Morgantown, WV - Ohio State).

This is a good crop, with several second and third round graded players. I should be able to get several starters from this crew. (Jimmy Perry, the last guy I listed, was a 15/31 overall player by my scout - that's how far down the list i went...)

Unfortunately, there were no Punters or QBs on that list. Sigh.

My plan is just to draft, and as I get to a position where there are no real viable WV players, try to trade out of the spot. I really want this studly DE from WVU, and I know that good d-lineman go early, especially well-developed ones like this guy. I take a look at the two teams drafting before me - Denver and the Giants. The Giants have DE listed at their top overall need. There are no other DEs at the top of the board. Do I try and trade up? Denver doesn't want a second and my first, and I have no players to trade. I decide to just hope for the best. The Giants are stonewalling me too, although I wouldn't pull a Gmen trade until after Denver drafted anyway, just in case.



-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Denver is up and they take...DE Jerome Weaver, from WVU. It wasn't even one of their needs. Blast them! I now have high first round pick and no player to use it on. Grrr.


BREAKING NEWS - Draft Day Trade - The Saints trade their third overall pick to the Giants for their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd picks next year and their 2nd in 2008.


Let's try again next year. Hopefully, none of the players I am watching will go off the board (I doubt it).


In the second round, I grab WR Rob Sellers from WVU. S Jay Benedict from Notre Dame follows. RCB Jeffrey Payton finishes our second round picks.

In the third I take FB Kent Hughes, DE Warren Stargell, and I trade my remaining pick to teh Cards for their 4th and 7th in 2k8.

In the fourth I nab SS Gary Tanner and WR Edwin Lovelace.

In the sixth I take CB Graham Ventura, CB Tyrone Azumah, and I trade my remaining two 6th round choices to the Ravens for their 6th round selections in each of the next two years.

In the seventh I take SLB Jake Taggert and OT Curtis Shiel


In the Stadium Vote, the referendum failed by a vote of 55 against to 45 for. That was close. If we had offered anything resembling a good deal, it could have actually passed. Whew!

We drated eleven WV players, several of whom will likely start for us.

We are given the worst draft grade with a C-.

8 of our players sign their initial contract offer. The holdouts are 6th, 7th and 3rd round picks.

I head into the second round of free agency and I need to resign several of my players from, last year.



-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

I head into the second round of free agency and I need to resign several of my players from, last year.

I make offers to:

RB Amos Zereoue
FL Nate Poole
C Chris Massey
LDT Antwan Lake
RCB Aaron Beasley

In FA, I make an offer to undrafted FA RCB Chris Alcala from Shepherd College (In the Eastern Panhandle of WV). I also offer a roster spot to MLB Jim Jorgenson, from Man, WV (Went to Lousiana State).


I make an offer to my first FA for a minimum wage contract - QB Brad Johnson.

After the first week, Brad signs. No one else is being chased. By week 6 all of our offers have been accepted. I then make offers to various people to flesh out our roster.

I make offers to:

RB Kevan Barlow
RB Michael Bennett
RB Larry Johnson
QB Jon Kitna
QB Jay Fiedler
LT Ross Verba
RT Jon Runyan
MLB Mike Barrow

What a list of has beens and never-weres!

They all sign the following week. I then make offers to:

LDT Matthias Askew
RDT Lional Dalton
RDE Ndukwe Kalu
P Ricky Bittner

They sign, and our roster is complete. The remaining rookies join us, and we head into camp.

[Abe Sargent]

Let's take a look at our rookies:

Undrafted RCB Chris Alcala did not break well in kick returning like we had hoped. As such, his value to us is very small. I expect him to be a cut after the pre-season. It's a shame, because he's the only player I've seen from Shepherd running around, and I would have liked to have a player from that school.

Our three starting rookies are FS Jay Benedict, who may be the best player we drafted, and has some significant potential despite being quite raw. FB Kent Hughes looks like he'll be our FB longtime. 6th round pickup RCB Graham Ventura is very green but has risen slightly in value.

FL Rob Sellers busted hard from his second round draft spot. He's the big disappointment in the draft, because I was hoping that we'd have a good starting receiver across from Troy Brown.

RCB Jeffrey Payton is very raw, but I'd consider moving him to start if he does well in the preseason.

None of the other players are worth mentioning. Their roles are strictly backup and filler.

[Abe Sargent]

We went 1-3 in the preseason, beating Pittsburgh and losing two more by a field goal each

I decide to move Payton to LCB and he'll start.

I need to cut four players to pare down to what we need. I decide to toss RB Aaron Stecker on IR since I still can't cut him and he doesn't follow any of our rules.

I cut: RCB Chris Alcala
FL Darius Watts
MLB Jim Jorgenson

Let's take a look at the final roster:

Front Office Football 2004
New Orleans Saints Roster, Scout Overview
   
  Player                #   Pos   Start Exp  Current Estimate  Future Estimate Cntrct 
Johnson, Brad           14  QB    QB    13   36                36                1 yr.
Kitna, Jon              1   QB          10   33                34                2 yrs
Fiedler, Jay            19  QB          9    31                31                2 yrs
Barlow, Kevan           28  RB    RB    6    50                51                2 yrs
Bennett, Michael        45  RB          6    49                49                2 yrs
Johnson, Larry          25  RB          4    42                45                2 yrs
**Stecker, Aaron        27  RB          7    38                41                2 yrs
##Zereoue, Amos         42  RB          8    22                24                1 yr.
Hughes, Kent            20  FB    FB    1    28                53                4 yrs
Sununu, Matt            36  FB          2    20                36                1 yr.
Becht, Anthony          86  TE    TE    7    54                54                4 yrs
Bartrum, Mike           7   TE          13   22                27                2 yrs
Grueneich, Kenny        6   TE          2    18                39                1 yr.
Glassner, Jermaine      15  FL    FL    2    25                43                3 yrs
##Poole, Nate           89  FL          5    15                25                1 yr.
Sellers, Rob            87  FL          1    13                30                4 yrs
Brown, Troy             82  SE    SE    14   48                48                2 yrs
Henry, Chris            80  SE          2    16                34                3 yrs
##Lovelace, Edwin       88  SE          1    11                30                4 yrs
Braham, Rich            58  C     C     12   59                59                3 yrs
Massey, Chris           54  C           5    19                33                2 yrs
Sciullo, Steve          63  LG    LG    4    31                37                2 yrs
Chew, Bubba             76  LG          2    14                34                1 yr.
Nixon, Darryl           74  LG          2    14                33                1 yr.
Wade, John              51  RG    RG    9    33                40                3 yrs
Verba, Ross             75  LT    LT    10   30                32                1 yr.
##Ackerman, Bart        64  LT          2    12                25                1 yr.
Runyan, Jon             73  RT    RT    11   30                30                1 yr.
Shiel, Curtis           61  RT          1    21                33                3 yrs
Bittner, Ricky          3   P           1    46                51                1 yr.
Vanderjagt, Mike        12  K           9    59                64                3 yrs
Scott, Darrion          70  LDE   LDE   3    39                62                3 yrs
Stargell, Warren        78  LDE         1    24                36                3 yrs
Stills, Gary            71  RDE   RDE   7    36                40                1 yr.
Kalu, Ndukwe            79  RDE         10   32                44                2 yrs
Browning, John          77  LDT   LDT   10   39                39                3 yrs
Askew, Matthias         72  LDT         3    34                46                2 yrs
##Lake, Antwan          90  LDT         5    15                23                3 yrs
Dalton, Lional          99  RDT   RDT   9    31                31                1 yr.
Barrow, Mike            92  MLB   MLB   14   35                40                2 yrs
Dotson, Marvin          93  MLB         2    16                29                1 yr.
Davis, James            96  SLB   SLB   4    37                49                1 yr.
##Wiley, Grant          91  SLB         3    15                31                2 yrs
Green, Barrett          97  WLB   WLB   7    49                52                3 yrs
Taggart, Jake           56  WLB         1    19                35                3 yrs
Ventura, Graham         47  LCB         1    17                39                3 yrs
Payton, Jeffrey         43  LCB   LCB   1    14                48                4 yrs
##Azumah, Tyrone        29  LCB         1    12                35                3 yrs
Frazier, Lance          40  RCB   RCB   3    27                35                3 yrs
Beasley, Aaron          34  RCB         11   26                26                2 yrs
Logan, Mike             31  SS    SS    9    47                51                3 yrs
Tanner, Gary            26  SS          1    21                45                4 yrs
Benedict, Jay           38  FS    FS    1    27                55                4 yrs
Strickland, Howie       48  FS          2    18                45                2 yrs
   
$$ - player is in starting lineup, ## - player is inactive.  
   
Players Under Contract: 54
Inactive: 7
On Active Roster: 46
   
Salary Cap: $90,300,000
Cap Room: $16,440,000
Maximum for New Player: $16,740,000
Cap Room Lost (to old contracts): $31,430,000
   
Cap Room Lost Next Year (to old contracts): $21,730,000
Cap Room Required Next Year: $66,550,000

[Abe Sargent]

Let's take a closer look at our starters:

QB Brad Johnson - Just a filler QB until we can trade or acquire a WV QB.
RB Kevan Barlow - We'll continue to need RB filler starters until a decent RB is added to the league player pool.
FB Kent Hughes - He's a rookie, and he's good enough to start in the NFL. One of our few quality players and a new rookie.
TE Anthony Becht - Another quality starting WV player. Anthony is a solid TE and should be on our team for a while.
FL Jermaine Glassner - An undrafted free agent whom we acquired from the Eagles last year, Jermaine is not a good receiver, but he''s our best second option.
SE Troy Brown - Troy is our only real receiver.
C Rich Braham - Outside of Vanderjagt, Braham is our best player. He might even be better than Vanderjagt himself.
LG Steve Sciullo - Another pickup from the Eagles trade and another poor starter.
RG John Wade - He's, um, okay. Not sterling or anything.
LT Ross Verba - A placeholder until a WV player who can start enters the league.
RT Jon Runyan - See above
P Rickey Bittner - An undrafted FA punter who's not that bad, actually. He has a great leg.
K Mike Vanderjagt - Either our best or second best player.
LDE Darrion Scott - A recent trade from the Vikings brought Scott to us., and we really like him. He's young, in just his third year, and we think he has serious potential.
RDE Gary Stills - Stills is getting hte nod over N. Kalu becuase he is better now and we like him. It's nice to have choices, but we would have liked to have had the first round choice starting here.
LDT John Browning - Barely adequate
RDT Lional Dalton - A placeholder until we manage to trade for John Thornton. Add Thornton and the first round pick we should have gotten and our D Line would have been very good.
MLB Mike Barrow - There are no good MLB WV players.
SLB James Davis - A decent enough starter whom we acquired from the Lions. Acceptable.
WLB Barrett Green - Our best linebacker. Barrett led our team in tackles last year.
LCB Jeffrey Payton - One of three rookie starters, Jeffrey was already raw when we moved him to LCB, and then he lost even more experience. We expect a serious learning curve here, but he could grow into a decent enough starter.
RCB Lance Frazier - A trade with the Cowboys brought Frazier here last year, when he was a our dimeback. Now we'll see what he can do without a safety net. Good luck, Lance.
SS Mike Logan - Our best secondary player, but he could be eclipsed by the potential of our new starting FS.
FS Jay Benedict - As of right now, Jay appears to be our best rookie from this class. He is the third rookie start on our team. Go Jay!


This is, um, our team. This is the first year that the WV factor is in full effect. Before we start the season, I make another go at Thornton and Hanson. I offer the Bengals the Giants first round pick next year for Thornton, an 8 year old DT, and they still say no. Sheesh. No dice for Hanson either, unfortunately.

[Abe Sargent]

Let's head into the season!

Week One - We lose to Tampa by bunches. Mike Vanderjagt scored all of our points. The player of the game? Aaron Brooks, QB of the Bucs. I kid you not, you can't make this stuff up. Brooks tossed four TDs against us. Lance Frazier picked him off once. LB Davis sacked him. Troy Brown grabbed 70 yards on 6 receptions. Not an aupicious beginning by any means. DT Dalton and CB Beasley are out for a while.

Week Two - We barely lose to Pittsburgh, 25-27. WR Jermaine Glassner caught a pair of scores on four catches for 79 yards. Chris Henry grabbed 7 balls of his own and a TD. Lance Frazier forced a fumble. Vanderjagt grabbed a pair of FGs. We missed two two point conversions. If we had just taken the one point conversions, then the game would have gone to overtime. The game was 24-3 with 2 minutes left to play inthe htird quarter, and then we went on a scoring spree that was just shy of winning the game. DE Gary Stills is out for a few weeks.

Week Three - We defeat the 49ers 31-23. Kitna comes in for an injured Brad Jay and looks good (as does Barlow). Who cares about them, they are spot players. Troy Brown grabbed 111 yards of balls along with a TD. OG Sciullo had a trio of KRB. OG John Wade is out for a week or two. DT Dalon is back, although nobody cares.

Week Four - We barely edge the Jets in a boring 10-7 game. Becht caught a TD and Vanderjagt kicked a FG. Kitna continued to start. Brown caught another 99 yards of balls. Mike Logan grabbed a pick. N Kalu had 2.5 sacks spelling for the injured Stills (but we don't care). Braham grabbed a quartet of KRB. DE Darrion Scott had a forced fumble and a sack. QB Brad Johnson will start again next week, but the temptation is there to keep Kitna playing since he's won two games. If B Jay can win this week, he'll keep the starting job. CB Lance Frazier is out for a week or two.

[Abe Sargent]

The Second Quarter of the Season:

Week Five - We lose at undefeated Phily 10-30. Troy caught a TD and had 70 yards on the day. Brad Jay didn't toss a pick, so that was good. He just couldn't complete many passes. The running game was bottled up as well. DE Darrion Scott notched another forced fumble. RG Wade is back in the saddle next week. Lance Frazier is probable, and we'll start him. DT Dalton reinjured his foot and he's doubtful, so we will rest him.

Week Six - BYE

Week Seven - CB Frazier and DE Stills are back. We were hoping for a win by hosting the 0-6 Redskins, but they came into New Orleans and left a winner after we managed a paltry six points. Becht was our leading receiver with a mighty 50 yards. However, SLB Davis grabbed NINETEEN tackles on the day. Goodness! The only turnover we got on the day was a special teams fumble forced by backup C Chris Massey. Beasley and Dalton have been upgraded to probable and will play next week. LCB Payton is out for a few weeks.

Week Eight - Dallas takes us out 20-17. We were up 17-3 at the half and then got shut out in the second half. LB Davis got a pick. Players not from WV scored points, so I really don't want to mention them. (Silly Barlow with his two TDs and goot receiving stats and 100+ yard rushing day). Braham and Wade each had a trio of KRB. FL Glassner is doubtful and will sit for at least a week.

Week Nine - We lose to the Panthers 24-30. Becht grabbed a TD and Brown pulled in another. Chris Henry, subbing for the injured Glassner, exploded for 144 yards receiving on 8 catches. Beasley pulled in a pick. WLB Barrett Green, backup DT Matthias Askew, and backup SS Gary Tanner each had a forced fumble. I'll keep Glassner out for another game. He's questionable, but with Henry's game, there's no apparent rush to play him.


-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Quarter the Third:

Week Ten - The 7-1 Bucs defeat us 23-14 in Tampa. That's not embarassing. Rookie bust Rob Sellers grabbed a TD pass off a 25 yard catch. DE Stills had a sack and a forced fumble on the day. Rookie and 6th round pick CB Graham Ventura has a pair of forced fumbles and was our defesive star of the game. Ventura has been starting while Payton sat with injury. Payton will remain inactive for at least one more week. SLB Davis is out for a few weeks. FL Glassner is back in the rotation as the starter.

Week Eleven - We barely lose in Atlanta 30-27. Jermaine Glassner pulled in a TD on his return (the rest of the scores were by non-WV players). Troy Brown had 112 yards receiving on 7 catches. Braham had a quartet of KRB. CB Payton will be back this week. Davis remains out and will be joined by CB Graham Ventura.

Week Twelve - We ambushed the 7-3 Browns in New Orleans with a 22-10 victory. Vanderjagt kicked many FGs. Becht grabbed a TD pass as well. Brown added another 72 yards to his total. Braham added a trio of KRB. Backup FS Howie Strickland from West Virginia Wesleyan forced a fumble. He's a special teams hoss, so that was probably a special teams play. (seriously, the guy is 87/98 special teams rated) I'll keep Davis and Ventura out for another week at least.

Week Thirteen - Playing for pride at 3-8, we'd just like to keep our team out of double digits losses. A 7-9 season, or even 8-8 would be respectable. That's my goal. Hopefully the 4-7 Bears won't be a major barrier to my plans. Unfortunately, we lose going away 10-27. Jermaine returned a fumble 60 yards on a special teams play for our lone TD. WHo forced that fumble? DE Gary Stills. Brown had 83 yards receiving. OG Sciullo had three KRB. Green had 15 tackles on the day plus a sack. LB Davis will play this week, but Ventura reamains inactive since he is listed as questionable.


-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Let's Finish up the Woeful Season:

Week Fourteen - We defeat the similarly hapless three win Ravens 14-13 to go to four wins on the season. Rob Sellers, the draft bust hauled in a TD catch. Brown added 78 yards. SS Mike Logan forced a fumble and grabbed a pick along with dimeback Tyrone Azumah who picked off a pass as well. Tyrone was activated in place of Ventura who was injured and doesn't normally suit up. He did well today, though. DE Darrion Scott forced a fumble as well. CB Ventura will be our nickelback again this upcoming week

Week Fifteen - At 4-9, we have to defeat the remaining three teams to finish an acceptable 7-9 on the season. Between us and destiny is the 7-6 Panthers. We lose 20-23. Chris Henry pulled in another TD pass. Brown and rookie bust Sellers each had 85+ yards. Mike Logan grabbed himself another pick while Barrett Green forced another fumble. Braham got another three KRB. After the game, our team is diagnosed with the flu. 14 of our players are listed as questionable. Additionally, CB Lance Frazier is out for the rest ouf the season with a torn patellar tendon. OT Jon Runyan is doubtful and will sit. I'll play the influenzed players.

Week Sixteen - We lose, as eexpected, to the Bengals 7-20. Troy Brown caught a pass and took it 62 yards home for a TD. He finished the game with 89 yards. SS Mike Logan forced another fumble. Mike has come on strong these last few weeks.

Week Seventeen - We lose to five win Atlana 10-7. FB Kent Hughes caught our only TD on the day. Troy Brown caught 82 yards of passes. CB Ventura, starting for injured Frazier forced a fumble. OG Sciullo got another three KRB.

Pittsburgh defeats Philly in an all Pennsylvania Super Bowl 25-14.



-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Reflection on the Season:

None of our players won awards this year.

Official Saints Players of the Year (as selected by me)

Rookie of the Year: FS Jay Benedict. Jay had a comfortable year as the starter. We would have liked to see him dominate in coverage more, but his physical presence against the run surprised us.

Special Teams Player of the Year: K Mike Vanderjagt. Mike keeps us in games when no one else can. He's a special player.

Defensive Player of the Year: SLB James Davis. Despite missing three games due to injury, James led the team in passes defensed, which is great for a linebacker. He got four sacks, which is hard to do from the strongside. He also was third on the team in tackles, showing a strong presence in taking down the ballcarrier.

Offensive Player of the Year: WR Troy Brown. Troy had a great year with tons of catches and yards (for this team with this passing offense). With an anemic passing game and a poor receiver corps, opposing teams still could not prevent Troy from getting 84 catches and over 1100 yards.

Team MVP: WR Troy Brown. With all of the double coverages thrown his way, and with all of the problems we have on defense, Troy Brown is always there to be a safety net for the offense. He is truly our most valuable player.





I finish the year with a 52 overall score. 2 for team performance up to 80 for profit/loss and a laughable 85 for roster strength.


-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Stats:


Rushing - who cares, they're all non WV players

Passing - see above

Receiving - I'll just post these, because I like one player in particular:

Front Office Football 2004
Receiving Statistics
   
  Player              Pos Team  GP GS Targ Ctch Yards Avg   YAC   Lg   TD  
Brown, Troy           WR  NOS   16 14 145  84   1164  13.8  203   62   4      
Glassner, Jermaine    WR  NOS   14 13 82   42   529   12.5  70    31   3      
Becht, Anthony        TE  NOS   16 16 53   38   316   8.3   91    20   3      
Henry, Chris          WR  NOS   16 3  62   38   583   15.3  100   50   3      
Sellers, Rob          WR  NOS   16 2  65   36   432   12.0  55    34   2      
Barlow, Kevan         RB  NOS   16 16 34   23   160   6.9   104   28   2      
Hughes, Kent          FB  NOS   16 14 26   21   94    4.4   57    13   1      
Bennett, Michael      RB  NOS   13 0  6    5    53    10.6  30    17   0      
Johnson, Larry        RB  NOS   16 0  6    4    33    8.2   2     14   1      
Bartrum, Mike         TE  NOS   16 0  4    2    14    7.0   6     11   0      
Grueneich, Kenny      TE  NOS   16 2  3    2    23    11.5  0     12   0      
Sununu, Matt          FB  NOS   16 0  3    1    6     6.0   0     6    0      
Poole, Nate           WR  NOS   2  0  1    0    0     0.0   0     0    0      

I really like Troy's contributions this year. 1164 yards is pretty darn good. 200 yards after catch shows the old man still has some moves. Note that Glassner missed two games, and just didn't look that good. We really needed Rob Sellers to not have busted. Rob is here fifth on our reveiving chart, behind three wideouts and aTE. Chris Henry proved a realiable enough third wideout. I was really please with his performance. Pulling in 38 balls for 583 yards and a trio of TDs is a solid performance, especially considering his poor skills. He definately overachieved this season.


Now let's take a look at the defense:

Front Office Football 2004
Defensive Statistics
   
  Player              Pos Team  GP GS Tckl Asst Sack Blkd Hurr  
Barrow, Mike          ILB NOS   16 15 124  44   1.0  0    2      
Green, Barrett        OLB NOS   16 13 98   25   1.0  0    0      
Davis, James          OLB NOS   13 13 74   31   4.0  0    1      
Logan, Mike           S   NOS   16 16 63   25   0.0  0    1      
Benedict, Jay         S   NOS   16 16 61   31   0.0  0    0      
Browning, John        DT  NOS   16 16 50   24   1.5  2    11     
Ventura, Graham       CB  NOS   13 9  42   16   0.0  0    0      
Kalu, Ndukwe          DE  NOS   16 14 41   8    6.5  2    6      
Scott, Darrion        DE  NOS   16 16 39   10   4.0  1    10     
Dalton, Lional        DT  NOS   14 14 38   9    1.0  2    0      
Frazier, Lance        CB  NOS   13 13 33   5    0.0  0    0      
Strickland, Howie     S   NOS   16 0  30   5    0.0  0    0      
Payton, Jeffrey       CB  NOS   13 12 30   7    0.0  0    0      
Beasley, Aaron        CB  NOS   11 1  21   12   0.0  0    2      
Askew, Matthias       DT  NOS   16 2  19   11   2.5  2    12     
Tanner, Gary          S   NOS   16 0  17   8    1.0  0    2      
Stills, Gary          DE  NOS   13 2  15   5    3.0  4    3      
Azumah, Tyrone        CB  NOS   9  1  15   5    0.0  0    0      

I cut out the bottom feeders and just look at these players. Ignore Barrow, Dalton and Kalu, since they are non WV players. James Davis had good numbers on the year in just 13 games. I was very content with his performance. I would have liked more production out of Darrion Scott in the sack department. He started out the seaon hot, but cooled down. That can happen a lot with DEs, but I still wanted more consistency. Matthias Askew, despite being a backup DT, had great stats. 2.5 sacks, 2 blocked passes and 12 hurries from a backup DT? That's a pretty good player right there. He did much better as the third DT than Dalton did as the starter. If UI can;t trade for Thornton, I may promote Askew to starter and see what he can do.


Next up is coverage:

Front Office Football 2004
Pass Coverage Statistics
   
  Player              Pos Team  GP GS Ints IRYd TD   Defn Cght PPly PDPct  
Logan, Mike           S   NOS   16 16 3    43   0    6    27   428   19.8   
Beasley, Aaron        CB  NOS   11 1  1    13   0    1    12   119   18.5   
Davis, James          OLB NOS   13 13 1    0    0    9    30   380   19.4   
Frazier, Lance        CB  NOS   13 13 1    0    0    6    29   303   18.7   
Azumah, Tyrone        CB  NOS   9  1  1    0    0    2    8    135   20.0   
Barrow, Mike          ILB NOS   16 15 0    0    0    3    42   379   17.2   
Green, Barrett        OLB NOS   16 13 0    0    0    2    31   343   17.7   
Scott, Darrion        DE  NOS   16 16 0    0    0    0    3    399   19.8   
Wiley, Grant          OLB NOS   5  0  0    0    0    2    0    19    26.3   
Dotson, Marvin        ILB NOS   16 0  0    0    0    1    5    52    18.3   
Strickland, Howie     S   NOS   16 0  0    0    0    0    9    72    16.3   
Payton, Jeffrey       CB  NOS   13 12 0    0    0    3    22   300   18.4   
Ventura, Graham       CB  NOS   13 9  0    0    0    1    30   299   17.2   
Tanner, Gary          S   NOS   16 0  0    0    0    3    8    144   19.6   
Benedict, Jay         S   NOS   16 16 0    0    0    4    30   454   18.6   

As espected, Mike Logan is the winner here. We only had 7 picks on the year. I really like James Davis in coverage. He led our team in passes defensed.


In blocking, I'll not show you the stats. It's pretty simple. Braham had 26 KRB. Sciullo had 23. Nobody else is worth mentioning. (Except John Wade and his 14 allowed sacks.)



-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Today is an important day. Today we go to West Virginia and try to finance a new stadium. The only WV city in the game is Huntington. (Why not Charleston? I don't know).


Let's take a look at Huntington:

Cincinnati is 132 miles away.
Pop is 320k
Growth is 0.3%
Avg Income is $23,800
Poverty Level is 21.2%
Entertainment competition is low (34th percentile)
Trend-setting city is low (39th percentile)
Desire for new team is medium (50th percentile)

Will this city take me and my WV plan? Who knows, but I hope so.

I contract a new stadium:

Outdoor/Natural Grass

Capacity - 60000
Club Seats - 10000
Boxes - 300


Total Cost - 408 million

I offer to pay half. Will they okay the plans?



-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Our Current Status:

Financial Report:

We made 32 mill last year.


Franchise Value

We have a middle of the pack stadium, 3rd worst roster, 2nd worst support, 5th worst economy, 2nd lowest value. This is a drop in most areas from last year.



-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Entering Free Agency:

We have 31 players under contract. I release RB Aaron Stecker. Backup TE Mike Bartrum retired. MLB Mike Barrow also retired, in case you care, since I don't (damn non-WV players).

I take a quick look at the draft. I have the top two picks, ours at number two and the Giants at number one. The good news is that there is a QB from WVU who looks like an actual starter!!! He's probably not a high draft pick, (like, first round caliber) but he's a good second round choice. He';s the third QB on the board, so there's some hope I could take him with the first pick in the second round.

I take a quick look at the first round worthy candidates to see if any are from WV cities. THERE HE IS. First round, top pick worthy RT from Hamlin,WV!!!!! Nice. There's also a mid first round LDT from Charleston, WV. If I take the DT and the OT, I won't need to try and trade the boat for Thornton anymore and I fill a massive hole on my roster.


I head into free agency looking for one of my WV good players. Maybe Bulger or Chris Hanson will be available. Unfortunately, there is no such player available from WVU, but Hanson is available. I try to bring him in. I also make an offer to bring in LB Davis, who hit unrestrictedness. I make an offer for Stills and Zereoue while I'm busy.

All four players sign with me. I extend Troy Brown's contract by a year, DT Matthias Askew by a year, FS Howie Strickland by a year, OG Steve Sciullo by four years,



-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

My First Round Exploits:


I head to the draft, and take a look for players:

I go ahead and draft my two players before the draft begins. I take OT Jamal Coady who is an obvious pick. LDT Bart Thomas is good, so I grab him with the second overall pick. I then finish up free agency round one.



I enter the draft and hope beyond hope that my QB is there at pick 33. At pick 16, the top two QBs are taken, and I doubt that my QB will still be there at pick 33. I dial up the Tennessee GM and ask for a trade up to 17. I offer Tennessee my second round, pick 33 and Arizona's second next year for pick 17, and they accept. I draft QB Broderick Wynn, from WVU and sigh a sigh of relief. Whew!



-Anxiety

[Swaggs]

I'm liking this.

What are the nickname candidates for the post-WV move?

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

I'm liking this.

What are the nickname candidates for the post-WV move?

I used to have an Expansion team from 2k1 that was set up by the game in Huntington and I jumped from KC to it and called it the Highlanders. It would probably have the inside loop on being the name of this team as well, but of course, we'll have to see.....


-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

The rest of the Draft:


I take a look at the players that are, in my opinion draftable, when my pick comes up at pick 34 overall.

WVU Players:

DE Herman Burnett 24/43
DE Drew Forbes 12/37

Nobody else from WVU is worth taking. There are no players from Marshall or any small WV school.


Players from WV but went to other schools:

RCB Wendell McGregor 8/53
FL Edwin Pilcher 22/51
RDT Howard Thomason 18/37

That's it. The previous draft had some good depth, but this one does not.


At pick 33, by the way, Tennessee took the fourth best QB on the board. If they were that desperate for a QB, then they would have taken mine, so I'm glad that I made the trade. I want to tag RCB McGregor in the second round but I look. McGregor is the seventh best CB on the board, but Pilcher is the third best WR. Although we have McGregor as better than Pilcher, there's a chance at least that he'll still be around come the third round. Plus, we need another receiver. I take Pilcher.

In the third, McGregor is still available at pick one, so I take him. After that, there's nobody I think will get drafted for a while. I don't need any of these positions that much anyways. I trade my normal third round pick to the Giants for their third pick in 2009. I trade my mid-round third round pick to the Eagles for the same deal, same pick, same year.

In the fourth round, I look to see if DE Burnett is still available. He's not, but I don't consider that a major loss or anything. I grab DE Forbes instead.

In the fifth, I trade my pick to the Ravens for their fifth round selection in 2k9 as well.

In the sixth, I grab Howard with one pick and trade the other, well, you know the drill. I trade with the Bears.

I trade one of my 7th rounders to the Giants for their 7th next year. The other is traded to the Seahawks for their 2k9 draft pick.


I end up with three first round selections, and I am very happy about that.


-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

After the draft, I get our stadium and.....




























Our franchise vote failed. 55.5 percent of the public voted against it. Sigh.



-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

We received the lowest possible grade for drafting again with a C-.

Everybody but the QB signs on the initial pass. I look at signing some of my RFAs. I currently have the second and fourth players on the Green Page.

RFAs:

LT Bart Ackerman
LG Bubba Chew
MLB Marvin Dotson
TE Kenny Grueneich
LG Darryl Nixon
FB Matt Sununu


I'm letting UFA Nate Poole go, he's not really that good.

I make offers to:

Undrafted Rookie LT Jonathan Leggett - a WV player

And the following un-WV players:

QB David Greene
Undrafted Rookie QB Grady Blackston
RB T.J. Duckett
RB Ryan Moats
RB Tiki Barber
TE Kris Wilson
MLB Randall Godfrey
RT Ephraim Salaam, who is a Mentor to OTs and should be nice for my new OT


All of them sign. It's almost time for camp. QB Wynn signs for camp. He'd better, I need to get him in camp and throwing.



-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

After camp, I take another look at the Green Page. Since more rookies have signed, my DT and OT have fallen. OT Coady is the fourth player, DT Thomas is the 10th (out of 20), and QB Wynn is the 18th.

Let's take a look at my rookies:

Pick The First - OT Jamal Coady, from Hamlin, WV via Louisiana Tech. Very strong and tons of endurance. He's very raw in regards blocking, but he is full of potential. (14/80, 20/100, 88, 80). Jamal is instantly the best player on our team. He was one of the top five players on the board when we took him. There was a brokenly good RB above him (RB was rated 81/83 already) and a great safety and punter, then our guy. He was absolutely worth the pick and I love him. Expect Coady to be our OT until retirement.

Pick The Second - DT Bart Thomas from Charleston, WV went to Wake Forest before entering the draft. He was the second DT on the board and the twelveth player on the board. We definitely took him early, but we got a WV player, so I'm happy. I no longer need to chase DT John Thornton. Bart is very raw with Run D, but it's his area of greatest potential (22/95). Everything else has potential or actual skills in the 50's and 60s except for a 36 endurance. He's a solid DT who will likely be a fixture for us for years.

Pick The Third - QB Broderick Wynn from WVU!!! He's busted slighty from a 59 overall to a 54 overall. He has no ability for the long ball (0), he's lousy at sensing the rush (5) or reading the defense (0/13). That means I need a good O Line and receivers that can get open. On the other hand, he's a good scrambler, has solid potential for avoiding picks 30/63), short and medium passes (28/77, 25/73), great accuracy potential (33/83) and timing (40/72) and two minute offense (33/73). Deep Passes are okay (20/62), avoid fumbles is acceptable (17/57), poor screen passes (6/31), and adequate third down passing (32/54).

Pick The Fourth - FL Edwin Pilcher from West Union, WV via Iowa. Our second round pick has strength with courage, avoid fumbles (potential in the 80s), special teams, ball adjustment, avoid drops, route running (potential between 64 and 70 for each), adequate getting downfield and endurance (pots in the 50s) and poor big-play receiving at 43.

Pick The Fifth - RCB Wendell McGregor from Huntington, WV via Arizona State. Wendell is very raw but may be a good backup or iffy starter.

Pick the Sixth - DE Drew Forbes is nothing other than a career backup

Pick the Seventh - DT Howard Thomason is also career backup material. Because of his high run defense potential, he could eventually be an okay backup and emergency starter.


-Anxiety


P.S. - This comment is made by me looking back at this dynasty after completion. I believe that the best draft decision I made is in this draft. I just wanted to highlight that!

[Swaggs]

I would tell you to get Wynn a mentor, but I guess since the dynasty is already complete, that would be rather pointless.

Anyway, I hope he becomes "the man" for you at QB.

[Tellistto]

I'm following along, very good stuff so far. I like your rules, makes it more interesting, and was probably a very easy game to get into for you. Looks like a fairly solid draft there, especially in the top two rounds.


Tell

[Abe Sargent]

Second year CB Jeffrey Payton busted from a 48 potential to a 32 potential. Ick.

I hop John Browning to RDT.

We go 2-2 during this preseason, defeating the Jets and Dolphins. CB Tyrone Azumah is out for the season with a broken hand. I toss him on IR.

I release:

LT Bart Ackerman
DT Antwan Lake


Here is our opening day roster

Front Office Football 2004
New Orleans Saints Roster, Scout Overview
   
  Player                #   Pos   Start Exp  Current Estimate  Future Estimate Cntrct 
Greene, David           1   QB          3    23                46                1 yr.
Wynn, Broderick         17  QB    QB    1    22                54                4 yrs
Blackston, Grady        18  QB          1    19                44                1 yr.
Duckett, T.J.           23  RB    RB    6    45                49                1 yr.
Moats, Ryan             37  RB          3    42                43                3 yrs
Barber, Tiki            32  RB          11   39                40                2 yrs
##Zereoue, Amos         42  RB          9    20                21                1 yr.
Hughes, Kent            20  FB    FB    2    35                50                3 yrs
Sununu, Matt            36  FB          3    23                37                1 yr.
Becht, Anthony          86  TE    TE    8    54                55                3 yrs
Wilson, Kris            81  TE          4    39                46                2 yrs
Grueneich, Kenny        6   TE          3    19                38                2 yrs
Glassner, Jermaine      15  FL          3    30                41                2 yrs
Pilcher, Edwin          83  FL    FL    1    27                53                4 yrs
##Sellers, Rob          87  FL          2    16                27                3 yrs
Brown, Troy             82  SE    SE    15   39                39                2 yrs
Henry, Chris            80  SE          3    19                32                2 yrs
##Lovelace, Edwin       88  SE          2    11                25                3 yrs
Braham, Rich            58  C     C     13   59                59                2 yrs
Massey, Chris           54  C           6    20                32                1 yr.
Sciullo, Steve          63  LG    LG    5    37                38                5 yrs
Chew, Bubba             76  LG          3    15                30                1 yr.
##Nixon, Darryl         74  LG          3    15                26                1 yr.
Wade, John              51  RG    RG    10   33                39                2 yrs
Leggett, Jonathan       62  LT    LT    1    15                31                1 yr.
Coady, Jamal            60  RT    RT    1    41                86                5 yrs
Shiel, Curtis           61  RT          2    28                34                2 yrs
##Salaam, Ephraim       68  RT          10   13                14                1 yr.
Hanson, Chris           13  P           7    31                31                2 yrs
Vanderjagt, Mike        12  K           10   59                64                2 yrs
Scott, Darrion          70  LDE   LDE   4    47                62                2 yrs
Stargell, Warren        78  LDE         2    25                35                2 yrs
Stills, Gary            71  RDE   RDE   8    39                39                1 yr.
##Forbes, Drew          94  RDE         1    11                28                4 yrs
Askew, Matthias         72  LDT         4    39                46                2 yrs
Thomas, Bart            95  LDT   LDT   1    32                66                5 yrs
Browning, John          77  RDT   RDT   11   40                40                2 yrs
Thomason, Howard        79  RDT         1    20                33                3 yrs
Godfrey, Randall        55  MLB   MLB   12   35                36                1 yr.
Dotson, Marvin          93  MLB         3    19                30                1 yr.
Davis, James            96  SLB   SLB   5    44                49                3 yrs
##Wiley, Grant          91  SLB         4    17                31                1 yr.
Green, Barrett          97  WLB   WLB   8    49                51                2 yrs
Taggart, Jake           56  WLB         2    21                35                2 yrs
Ventura, Graham         47  LCB   LCB   2    23                38                2 yrs
**Azumah, Tyrone        29  LCB         2    16                37                2 yrs
Payton, Jeffrey         43  LCB         2    13                32                3 yrs
Frazier, Lance          40  RCB   RCB   4    36                36                2 yrs
##Beasley, Aaron        34  RCB         12   22                22                1 yr.
McGregor, Wendell       27  RCB         1    10                44                4 yrs
Logan, Mike             31  SS    SS    10   45                49                2 yrs
Tanner, Gary            26  SS          2    26                42                3 yrs
Benedict, Jay           38  FS    FS    2    41                53                3 yrs
Strickland, Howie       48  FS          3    20                42                2 yrs
   
$$ - player is in starting lineup, ## - player is inactive.  
   
Players Under Contract: 54
Inactive: 8
On Active Roster: 45
   
Salary Cap: $95,100,000
Cap Room: $12,070,000
Maximum for New Player: $12,340,000
Cap Room Lost (to old contracts): $22,010,000
   
Cap Room Lost Next Year (to old contracts): $0
Cap Room Required Next Year: $61,680,000

-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Let's take a quick look at our starters:

QB Broderick Wynn - The rookie will start. He'll likely play for us for some time, at least. If he scrubs out, I can eventually get one of the big three (Pennington, Bulger, Leftwich) via free agency.
RB TJ Duckett - Not a WV player, so I don't care.
FB Kent Hughes - A solid FB who is getting better.
TE Anthony Becht - A fine TE for our team.
FL Edwin Pilsher - The rookie gets the nod for starting. He's raw, but maybe he can come through.
SE Troy Brown - He's slowing down. I don't expect a season like last year. I just want him to be good enough until we can get one of the big two in FA (Moss, Porter) or receivers develop or a nice star caliber receiver comes up through the draft.
C Rich Braham - He had a great year two years ago but a down year last year. He's putting on years, so I hope last year was a temporary blip.
LG Steve Sciullo - Steve really outplayed his skills last year, and we rewarded him with a long term contract. If he continues to produce at the same, adequate rate, he can stay until a better Guard comes along - which may not happen for a while.
RG John Wade - Has yet to have a good season with us.
LT Jonathan Leggett - An undrated rookie getting the start for us? Let's hope he's the next Steve Sciullo.
RT Jamal Coady - Oh yes, oh yes, the king has come.
P Chris Hanson - Not a good punter. We'll likely replace him at the first sign of a better WV punter.
K Mike Vanderjagt - A good kicker.
LDE Darrion Scott - I'd like to see Scott have a better year.
RDE Gary Stills - Without Kalu outperforming him on the roster, can Stills keep up?
LDT Bart Thomas - Hello Mr. Anchor, how are you doing today?
RDT John Browning - Acceptable.
MLB Randall Godfrey - He's washed up, but I hope...ah...who cares...silly not WV players.
SLB James Davis - Another overachiever. He's been real good for us at SLB, and I can only hope that continues.
WLB Barrett Green - Mr. Green, a tacklin machine, he's very keen, to get real mean, and kick your ass!
LCB Graham Ventura - Hi, I'm a sixth round draft pick last year who is starting because McGregor is too raw and Payton busted
RCB Lance Frazier - He needs to play up to his name. Seriously, an old west sherriff name like Lance Frazier needs to be a tackling machine like Barrett Green and Mean Joe Greene.....
SS Mike Logan - Best man in the secondary, but look out because here comes...
FS Jay Benedict - Second year player with an eye to getting better.


We are down to just two non WV starters. Excellent! Let's play some football with our pissed off fan base and our rookie QB and our us against them mentality. Say that as rhyme:

Our pissed off fan base
and our rookie QB
and our us against them
mentality

That's a nice beat to it.


-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Let's Begin:

Week One - We barely lose to the Panthers, 21-24. Broderick Wynn threw his first TD pass in the NFL to Jermaine Glassner. Wynn's NFL debut? 14 of 27 for 137 yards, 1 TD, no picks, never sacked. That's not too bad, actually. CB Lance Frazier picked off Delhomme. We forced five fumbles (rookie backup DT Thomason forced two, DT Browning, DE Stills and DE Scott each forced out one) Both Braham and Wade got a trio of KRB for some random RB who isn't a WV player so I wont mention him No injuries to report.

Week Two - Tennessee crushes us 27-3. Rookie QB Boy tossed up four picks and passed for 52 yards. SLB Davis picked off the Titans twice. OG Wade grabbed another trio of KRB. This was a poor game. Our running game was stimied, our passing game was Harrington-esque, and our defense was okay, but not good enough to win the game. No new injures, well, actually we have a few dings and such, but nothing that will keep anybody from playing.

Week Three - The Bears defeat us 20-3. Maybe it’s just me, but I would like to score more than three points a game. This time, Wynn did not toss a pick, he just didn't connect on many passes, going 15 of 27 for 148 yards. Troy Brown accounted for 82 of those yards and five of those receptions. We need to get more from our passing game. A rookie QB, scrapheap RBs, a swiss cheese line that has holes and rocks, barely adequate receivers - this is not a good offense. We have a better defense than offense. Our offense is going to be worse with rookie WR Ed Filcher out for a month with a strained abducter muscle. Bust WR Rob Sellers has been activated.

Week Four - The Rams slide by us 19-13. The Rams continue undefeated. Troy Brown caught a Wynn pass, The Player of the Game was a WV player, but it was Marc Bulger for the Rams and not one of my guys. WR Rob Sellers showed some game with 76 yards recieving and led the team today. C Braham is out for a week or three.

[Abe Sargent]

The Second Quarter of the Season:

Week Five - BYE

Week Six - The first quarter of the season was awful, and I hope for improvement this quarter. We scrub out to a one win San Francisco team, giving them their second victory of the season. Wynn rushed for a score. He was picked off twice, sacked three times, fumbled three times and had his highest yardage total yet with 236 yards passing. I prefer him when he's throwing for 147 and a TD but not getting sacked, fumbling, or tossing picks. Troy Brown pulled in another 87 yards. Mike Logan came down with his first interception of the season. OG Wade, OG Sciullo and backup C Massey all had three KRB this week. I leave Braham on the bench for this next week because Massey did a good job in relief.

Week Seven - 17-14 and we barely lose to the Seahawks. Wynn only threw one pick this game. Still had another three fumbles, though. I swear, if I drafted the next Tony Banks of the NFL, I'm throwing myself off a bridge. DE Darrion Scott looked nice with apair of forced fumbles. Braham will be back next week. Pilcher will remain out, despite being questionable. FB Hughes is out for a few weeks.

Week Eight - Okay Wynn, I want you to knock it off. Play a good game, to prove you have it in you. We defeat the Panthers 20-15. Wynn hit a running back twice for two scores. Wynn - 15 of 22 for 151 yards, 2 TDs, 1 pick, 1 sack, no fumbles. See, that's a line I'll take. OG Wade had a trio of KRB. SS Mike Logan is with a second pick. The Player of the Game was WLB Barrett Green. 8 solo tackles, 1 assist, and a sack. That's his first PotG in his tenure here with me. Congrats Barrett! LG Steve Sciullo is out for a few weeks. WR Pilcher is back.

Week Nine - We lost to the equally one win Bucs 24-27. Pilcher caught his first NFL TD. Some bum rushed for over 100 yards and rushed for a pair of scores as well. Wynn had a pair of picks, 222 yards, and was sacked once. OT and rookie sensation Coady had his first 3+ KRB day. OG Chew had 3 as well spelling for Sciullo. Backup DT Matthia Askew had a THREE sack game. He gets my game ball. Jay Benedict is out for a month will a pulled elbow tendon. FB Hughes is


-Anxiety