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07-31-2005, 04:56 PM
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#101 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2035 season
We open with a win at Seattle – a fine start amidst our own swirling doubts. I’m still not totally sold yet. We get to 3-1 in the early going, but the biggest surprise is that Seattle has started out 1-3, after being a powerhouse the last two seasons. Good news for our division, we hope. In the early going, our running game is going great guns – we lead the league in both yards rushing and yard per carry. We are steering an increasing amount of our rushes behind RG Singleton, with good results. We drop two in a row, and slide to 3-3 on the season. An injury to LB Daryl Jeffries has us very worried, but it looks like it will only sideline him a few weeks. We are 4-4 at the halfway point – here are the team stats: Code:
We are soft up the middle, not stopping the run at all. DT Wire has been injured, but not that effective even when he has played. The offense is playing surprisingly well, but we need help from the defense or we will not get above .500 this year. RB Bo Spry is down for the year now, as well, so we will have to rely on Jamison to carry the load – and there’s little indication that he is up to full time duty. Herb Cole is not much of a rusher, but he’s going to see some backfield time to spell Jamison. Two losses drop us to 4-6 and have our hopes sinking, and we drop two of our next there to ice the demise – we’re out of the playoff hunt at this point. We do a little shuffling of the roster, including giving the QB reins to Kendall Turner for a game and a half until he breaks his leg, and limp home to our first losing record in a few seasons. Code:
Well, by most indications, this was a disappointing season. The offense actually played better than expected, but ran out of steam later in the season as we lost talent. The defense never really played that well, and we just yielded too much up the gut. On balance, a tough year by the numbers. WRs Brannan and Woodson had solid seasons, mostly as they had little competition for passes thrown their way. Brannan has never had 121 passes to him, though Woodson’s targets were roughly on par. Code:
The line this year, after lots of turnover, was down – no shock there. Kenny Thomason held his own at LT, but is a shadow of his once-impressive self. 33 sacks allowed isn’t a disaster, but it’s a notch higher than when we have been at our best. Shifting the running game to the right side is different for me, but not a major issue overall – Singleton was a bit disappointing, actually, with his run-blocking under 30% for the year. He’s supposed to be the snowplow up there. DE Courtney Largent had a very solid year, and DT Kelvin Green proved effective as a situational pass rusher and reserve DL. Linebackers Jeffries and McConnell both played well, as long as I don’t think about their contracts I am happy with them. We have to do better than 11 interceptions – our defense lacks playmakers, and that is a real problem. We have four secondary starters who are all okay, but nobody is a superstar anchor player. We need someone to center the whole thing – someone behind LB Jeffries. Brock Pearson is a position leader, but is not the answer as a starter at safety for us. The Giants defeat Denver in the Superbowl, ending Houston’s streak after they lost in the AFC Championship game. In season awards, StL is shut out, deservedly so. So, a tough season… and perhaps a call for a different approach. I don’t think we can occupy a third of our salary cap with three players, and not feel the consequences. And I now have to wonder if perhaps I have taken the affinity idea too far – if we’re foregoing quality players just because we’d rather have any old guy with an affinity, we might be denying our team the edge it needs to be its best. Tough call. |
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07-31-2005, 10:26 PM
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#102 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Not Delaware - hurray!
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Good stuff, Quik. It's interesting to watch you struggle, trying to get this team over the top. As someone who has never excelled at FOF (since FOF2, anyway), it's "fun" to watch you have to dig deep to put together a good team to circumvent your difficult house rules (something I've never had to institute).
Good luck bouncing back after the 7-9 season! Keep this up, it's proving to be a very good read.
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08-01-2005, 07:40 AM
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#103 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Glad you are enjoying.
A general note to anyone reading... I feel like I am at a crossroads here, and am interested in any opinions. This past season, I feel like the team really got put into a box by the high demands of a few star players. I think the team would probably have fared better if I had let at least one guy go (LB McConnell, at least) and just spent that cap space on the best quality guys I could find. Intead, I chose to focus more on retaining our name players and filling in with affinity guys as best I could. The result was a disappointing season, overall. I also have been drafting almost exclusively affinity players, sometimes at the expense of better guys who would be neutral in that regard -- and I feel that reduction in quality young talent is having an effect as well. So, the question is... shoudl I back off some of these unwritten "rules" that I have been following, try to load up the team a bit more with better talent and less affinity... or should I essentialy "stay the course" and see if we can develop a championship team with this basic formula? I am open to either, really -- while my "play to win" instinct is regretting this past season, I also recognize that it truly is more fun to struggle than it is to crush the league (as things usually end up in these careers)... so maybe it's a better experience for me and you if I keep at it the way I am, more or less. In any event... I plan to start the next season some time today (if I get an opportunity) and will take any input under advisement. |
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08-01-2005, 08:15 AM
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#104 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: May 2001
Location: williamsburg, va
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My thoughts -
I think that the way you have played so far fits with what I perceive to be the 'spirit' of this challenge. The idea that you are going to have to pay a ton of money for one year to keep your key guys... Or sacrifice them and lose cohesion... unfortunately, I think we've seen that it is hard for you to really hurt your cohesion, even with this challenge... so, I like the fact that you are having to drop loads of cash on these key guys... For the affinity thing... it's kind of a neat little side-bar to me, but I could really go either way on it.. the only real draw I think it has for me is it ensures that it will be at least a little more challenging to put a team of quality guys together. I tend to lose interest in these things when the team runs away things...
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08-01-2005, 11:48 AM
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#105 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Looks like we are going to stick with the same plan, for the most part. My idea is to pay QB Fisk and LB Jeffries, and probably to let LB McConnell go if he gets an offer. We'll still try to work the affinity angle as a foundation to the team as well, but I might let in a few more non-affinity contributors where it makes some sense to do so.
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08-01-2005, 11:51 AM
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#106 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: May 2001
Location: williamsburg, va
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Sounds good.. of course it would be silly to sign guys for the sake of consistency and blow the team out of the water, but it's nice to see a couple of long-term stars stick around...
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08-01-2005, 12:11 PM
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#107 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2036 offseason
We once again start with the list of retirements – and are surprised to see nobody from our squad is there. That has been unusual. My front office is intact and remains under contract – so no changes there. Without much else to do, I put in a plan for a monstrous new stadium. I don’t really care too much about the facility, but it’s something to do, at least. |
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08-01-2005, 12:11 PM
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#108 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Free Agency Planning
We have our usual situation – most of the roster is up for a new contract, as usual. We don’t have any tumult among our position leaders, though, so nothing alarming there. I will mention the RB/FB group a moment – as this has been a continuing battle. RB Bo Spry has become our centerpiece running back, and has been effective. He is not a truly spectacular player – just has a few key ratings and seems to do a good enough job. He’s a solid 8th year player, and seems to be fine after an injury last season. With a leadership rating of 95, he’s a natural group leader. Trouble is – he conflicts with our established QB Dwight Fisk. So, for that reason, I don’t want him to be our group leader – meaning that I have to carry a player who will outshine Spry’s leadership and remain the RB/FB group leader. For the last three seasons, that role has fallen to Randy Munoz, a 9th year guy with 99 leadership. Munoz is essentially a no-talent player, though, and has yet to carry the ball even once for us. So, in essence, we are sacrificing a roster spot to carry Spry. Further, Munoz has a very low personality score (6), meaning that many of the players we bring in seeking affinity don’t even register on the charts – further wasting an opportunity. Without my allegiance to Bo Spry, we could probably have a nice network of cozy partners at the RB and FB slots. As it is, we have five players on the roster, and only one mild affinity. It’s a wasted opportunity – I will once again be looking for a better position leader, but will expect to have to settle once again for Munoz and his lackluster “leadership” efforts. One additional planning note – CB Orlando Kingsblood, following his solid rookie year, is hurt and listed as out for 17 weeks. He probably will have to go onto IR for us, but at the most will be a marginal contributor for us this season. So, we will be looking for help at CB once again, even though we like our two young guys there (Kingsblood and Aaron Shaw, who will be expecting a lucrative contract as a RFA this season). As usual, our top two target players will be QB Fisk and LB Jeffries. Last year, it cost us $22 million to pay those two guys – almost a third of the team’s entire salary cap. LB Clarence McConnell was another $6 million – he’s another guy we have kept around for years with good results. This year, retaining the top two will remain a priority – we are just too invested in them to let either one walk away. But if McConnell is again looking for big money, he is the guy we will be willing to let go. I don’t think we can afford to spend big money on a solid second linebacker – we have done pretty well with signing veterans who have played well enough for us there, and have a young player or two who can fill in as needed. A LIST: QB Dwight Fisk, LB Daryl Jeffries B LIST: DE Courtney Largent, CB Aaron Shaw, LB Shawn Reader, S Conrad Flannery, RT George Cates, WR Louis Woodson The B list above are the guys who we expect we might get some competition for, and for whom we would be willing to really bid. I have removed LB McConnell from the list this year – if he gets a rich offer, we expect to let him pursue it, and we’ll work to replace him if needed. Great news with Daryl Jeffries – his initial demand this year is under $6 million a year this season – meaning that even if we get into a bidding war, we can probably expect to re-up with him for around half of what he got last season. That’s a bonus for us. I wonder why that might be – why was his asking price (and the bidding level, all presumably generated by the same routine in the game) so different from year to year? He missed one game last season to injury, but had a very solid season and has suffered no erosion of ratings that I can see. Odd… but good fortune for us. A fairly affordable deal with Jeffries might help us re-sign CB Shaw, who will be expensive. Shaw is looking for over $7 million a season – we can wait him out, but I don’t expect him to end up being cheap. QB Fisk is looking for a solid deal – I put in an initial deal worth $8 million, about what he usually costs us. LB Clarence McConnell is looking for $6 million again – we’ll let him float for now. RT George Cates is going to be tougher than I had expected – after a solid starting season for us last year, he now is thinking he’s worth about $5 million a year – so my plans to bid for him are on hold for now, and we may again be looking for a cheap fill-in starter on the right side of the line. As always, we will have our eye on the affinity system – here is our planning grid, once again: Code:
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08-01-2005, 04:12 PM
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#109 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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INITIAL FA STAGES (Weeks 1-4)
Immediate re-signings: LB Daryl Jeffries, FB Allen Libin, WR Gino Brannan Re-signings, no competition: LB Shawn Reader, WR Cedric Massicott, WR Louis Woodson, S Brock Pearson, DE Courtney Largent Re-signings, with competition: S Conrad Flannery New players signed: LB Jimmie Keith Players signed away: LB Clarence McConnell, G George Cates Like last year, we have some interest expressed on some of our players. I don’t intend to give chase at $5 million for R George Cates or $6 million for LB Clarence McConnell, but we have a battle on our hands for S Conrad Flannery, who has been very effective for us the last two seasons. I put in our offer of $2.6 million – and we will hope to re-sign him, a solid starter and affinity guy for our secondary. It takes until week four, but he re-up with us. No surprise – San Francisco inks LB Clarence McConnell to a multi year deal worth over $6 million per season. He’s been a solid player for us, but I resigned myself early to losing him, rather than committing that much cash to the position. LB Jimmie Keith is a great addition for us – young (3rd year guy), experienced in a 3-4 system (listed as a WILB) and good both stopping the run and in bump coverage. Can’t come more custom-made for our defense than this guy. Losing McConnell will make depth at LB even more important than ever – Keith will be excellent for us, perhaps even as a starter alongside Jeffries, if we decide to slide LB Reader to play the strong side (pretty likely, I think). |
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08-01-2005, 04:12 PM
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#110 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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MIDDLE FA STAGES (Weeks 5-15)
Re-signings, no competition: QB Dwight Fisk, DE Van Rivera, TE Bennie Havran, QB O.J. Edge, TE Maurice Barber Re-signings, with competition: New players signed: TE Wes Jenkins Players signed away: QB Fisk sat on my offer for a while, but eventually signed, with no competing offers out there. It’s a $7m deal, split evenly between salary and bonus (my new norm for big money contracts). TE Wes Jenkins is something of a novelty signing – we’re trying a backdoor here. He’s a decent tight end, and a 12th year guy with 85 leadership. If he could switch to FB and assume leadership in that group, he would gain an affinity with Bo Spry and he’d probably free up a dead roster spot at that position group. If he can’t make that switch, or he doesn’t become our position leader at FB, then he’s of no value to us, and we’ll let him go. We give him a look at FB – but he does not assume the leadership role, and we dismiss him. Sorry, pal, good luck on the FA market. We have a crisis that I didn’t even recognize until now – potentially very serious. C Jon Wallace, our six-year veteran leader along the OL, is listed as “Angry” and will not even listen to a contract with us. Big problem – we have massive affinities based on him being our position leader. Time to move quickly to replace him – hopefully with a guy who will foster a similar structure. Ouch! I have a potential plan. 11th year guard Brock Wyden is a solid player, but is injured – he won’t get any fat offers this year, and if he took over as our position leader, we’d remains status quo. His personality isn’t as strong as Wallace’s, but we’d retain all the affinities. So, that is one option – sign Wyden, probably put him on IR, and maintain our affinities. I am quite certain that Wyden would become our position leader, so I think this is a good backup plan. It’s also at least possible that we just tear down this offensive line, and basically start over. We could use RG Shaun Singleton (currently the only non-affinity guy we’re pretty committed to) as the base player, bring in a new leader who will work with him, and go from there. It’s a possibility – Wallace is a 16th year guy anyway, so this isn’t really that far-fetched, a change was gong to come eventually, anyhow. |
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08-01-2005, 04:12 PM
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#111 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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FINAL FA STAGES (Weeks 16-20)
Re-signings, no competition: DL Kelvin Green, DT Orlando Lowe Re-signings, with competition: New players signed: C Drew Bullock, G Reuben Sulfstead, T Walt Woods Players signed away: C Drew Bullock is a guy who will become our new OL position leader – I decide that going with injured Brock Wyden is not the way to go. Bullock is a starting-caliber center, a mentor at the position, and will get along just great with his neighbor to the right, Shaun Singleton. He will make our affinity structure a blank slate – but my first analysis tells me that this is our expected situation for the OL: Code:
He ought to work out okay with our QBs, and he will have enough personality to develop some strong affinities with guys we work in around him. So – a new project is underway, as we are going to reshape our entire offensive line now. Who’s out? Nobody has a conflict with Bullock, but guys who aren’t starting caliber and are not affinity guys will probably not be re-signed, and that is most everyone. Who’s in? We scour the FA market for passable offensive linemen who will get along well with Bullock, to at least build an affinity groundwork. The first candidate is LG Reuben Sulfstead, a 6th year run-blocker who looks solid enough, and ought to be solid for our interior, and will no doubt get along swimmingly with Bullock. Third year LT Walt Woods looks like a decent, though not awe-inspiring, addition to the left side, and may be our default starter there. Right tackle looks pretty bleak – so we don’t have any pursuits there as of now. We get in late offers to defensive linemen Green and Lowe, both of whom are solid reserves for us, and secure my general level of comfort with the defensive front before the draft. With the anticipated “changing of the guard” at OL, here is our revised affinity chart – just in time for guiding our rookie selections in the upcoming draft. Code:
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08-01-2005, 04:12 PM
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#112 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Rookie Draft
At this point, we have zero healthy players at CB signed to contracts. I remain optimistic that we will return Aaron Shaw to the starting lineup this year, but he might not be around long term is he’s looking for big money, so CB may well be a priority this year. Signing promising young players has worked pretty well for us, as it’s fairly tough to get quality free agents here without paying a lot. WR is another emerging need, as we have been thin there lately, and could really benefit from one more quality target for Fisk. And with the new look offensive line, now would be a good time to try to find contributors who would fit that system well. Right tackle seems to be the pressing need right now, but help anywhere would be useful. We have our top own picks at #13 this year, so we will have some opportunities to get solid contributors there. I don’t expect much from our extra fourth round pick, but it might be a trading chit. I LOVE a safety in this draft, Joey Beecroft. Problem is, he is rated the #2 overall prospect, and can’t possibly fall more than a few picks. He looks like a sure thing, a standout player—and possibly a candidate to move to CB, as he has all the coverage skills, including a maxed-out rating for bump coverage. Is this a guy we’d be willing to deal up to get? There are, actually, quite a number of top rookies in this draft who happen to fit our affinity schemes (Beecroft among them) so I’m thinking that a move up several spots might be ideal. To move up to Atlanta’s slot at #6, for instance, we’d need to give them three picks from this year and next – a price which doesn’t seem unreasonable to me. I’d certainly do it to get Beecroft, and I’d look at it seriously for WR Calvin Wayne (45/77), DE Kevin Finley (48/68), or DL Lenny Wedge (42/70) – all of whom would project to be affinity guys for us. When Atlanta is on the clock, DB Beecroft is still there. The defensive linemen are both gone, and so is WR Wayne. Atlanta takes another defensive end, and I feel I have to pull the trigger and get Beecroft, who just looks perfect for us. We give San francisco three fourth round picks (two from this year and one next year) to move up six slots, and we secure the rights to the promising young defensive back. Our scout rates Beecroft at 60/84 (and that is without any return skills), and he has the best combine rating of any safety in three of four areas (he’s ranked fifth in his test score). This guy looks like a home run. At 205 pounds, he might switch well to play cornerback, but at either position, he looks like the playmaker we have been craving. Once he is added to our roster, our scout adjusts his sights – 59/85 is the new grade, a good sign. His projected switch at CB is at 91%… I will need to give that some thought, but my first inclination is to slot him at strong safety, where he will be in coverage but also involved in the run defense. I also suspect he will be a more affordable long term signee at S than at CB. Code:
I am not looking for help at FB, but a superstar-caliber guy is sitting thee in round two, and it’s very tough to pass him up. He’d be an affinity guy at either FB or TE, and he looks like a monster addition at either spot. My need positions are still WR and DB, but I can’t find a top candidate for those spots here, so I bite the bullet and take Roger Barrett (59/81). At 240 lbs, there’s little chance that he converts to play RB, but he might be good enough to get carries for us. The second best fullback goes with a pick only about six or eight slots later – reaffirming that Barrett would not have lasted much longer in this draft. I was right not to trade down. In round three, I am looking at the top-rated tackle Bo Myre (3/53) but despite his solid combine scores as the quickest lineman in the draft, I am very put off by his current ability summary. Honestly… 3? He can’t possibly be worth a damn right now, and how long would it take him to develop into a player we could use? Maybe three years – his whole rookie contract? I don’t think he is the right buy for us, but I will be intrigued to watch him down the line. My top choice left at WR is still down the list, so we take the best fit remaining at CB, in Luther Schofer (14/50). My guess is that Schofer develops into a guy we can use as a #3 or #4 cornerback in our system, decent ratings in bump and interceptions, plus a big hitter. WR Leo Doyle (15/40) is probably deceiving me, but looks like a nice pickup for us in the late rounds – affinity receiver, with some actual skill right where I’d want it for a reserve player. I don’t know that he will change our overall feelings about the position (not enough depth) but he’ll be one more guy to use there, hopefully. DL Howard Logan projects as a pass rusher – we may move him to DE, and see if he can earn a slot out there, as a situational reserve. S Andy Reeves is probably just an affinity fill-in, though he does have an eye for the interception, which is valuable at safety. On another note – here is an electoral update: Code:
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08-01-2005, 05:01 PM
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#113 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Ouch. Having to rework your offensive line like that is going to put a small hurt on your chemistry.
So are you going to stay in St. Louis or move elsewhere now that the stadium got voted down? 
__________________
2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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08-01-2005, 06:51 PM
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#114 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Quote:
True... but it proved to be pretty entertaining (for me) to go through. I liked it enough, I might just do the same thing at another position next season. Running backs, anyone? |
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08-02-2005, 06:14 AM
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#115 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Late Free Agency
I need to think about our plan for the offensive line. Right now, I have four guys signed who are definitely starters (or at least in the mix) for the year ahead. They are (with their current scout ratings): LT Woods (37) – LG Sulfsted (48) – C Bullock (46) – RG Singleton (65) So, we basically need to add a starter at right tackle, and at least one or two decent guys who could be backups as needed. I think guys like LT Kenny Thomason and LG Stanley Sutton might get a look for at least a reserve spot, since they have played well for us, but my fill-ins will be affinity guys, even from the URFA ranks if need be. I put in a few offers, and we will accumulate a few young players – hoping that we get some good news from training camp. CB Shaun Faine looks like a decent enough young corner, and though he is best at zone coverage, I want him for his all-around skills. He’s cheap, also, which doesn’t hurt. We do have some money to spend, though. We have 38 signed players (and one rookie holdout), and $29 million in cap space. I figure CB Aaron Shaw will set us back about $4 million, but we’ll still have some space to make a move or two. CB seems like a logical place to spend some money, even on a one-year guy to start, if there is a candidate. The best fit I can find at CB is veteran Lincoln Horner, a 13th year guy who we approach for $2.5 million. I expect he can start for us this season across from Shaw, but I don’t think he’s a guy we would plan around long term. He has a career PDPct of 19.4 – not spectacular, but his best coverage is bump, so he might even better that figure with us. He has been very dependable – so that helps. CB Aaron Shaw finally accepts our offer – but it sets us back $6.6 million, even more than he was asking for (per year) for a long term deal. He will become a free agent next season, and I expect it will be tough to sign him again. CB will continue to be a need area, I suspect, especially since we’ve basically committed to keeping rookie Joey Beecroft at safety instead. I am a bit worried about RB Bo Spry – I think he had a skills dropoff after the draft, and so I decide we need to bring in a couple new faces at the RB position, to give us some options. We might use our rookie FB in the rushing game a bit, too – but in case Spry is done, we’ll have options with versatile veteran Morris Lovejoy and intriguing fifth year man Dave Burns. This could mark the ushering-in of a new dawn at RB, if Spry is no longer the foundation player for us. We didn’t make a big free agent splash at wide receiver either, but I have hopes for converted rookie RB Darrin Donovan, who could have potential to help us with our depth, at least. We head into training camp with 68 committed players. We will hope for good results from the training camp… perhaps a breakout player on the OL? - - - Training Camp Code:
I am hoping for good news form the rookies – and a +1 from rookie safety Joey Beecroft is great news indeed. He will be a star for us, I’m sure of it. No other big news from the rookie class, though we did get a veteran bump from projected starting LG Reuben Sulfsted, which is good to see. I have apparently made a miscalculation somewhere, as QB O.J. Edge does not get along with our new OL leader Drew Bullock. I am pretty committed to avoiding personality conflicts, so I decide to let Edge go. We sign venerable Victor Hopson, a 16th year veteran with over 46,000 yards passing to his credit, to serve as a backup to Dwight Fisk. Young Kendall Turner may still be our #2 choice if that comes to pass, but Hopson won’t embarrass us. He’s a double affinity guy to boot. At WR, Leo Doyle looks like a marginal reserve, but URFA Darrin Donovan might have some potential. I expect both will make the roster, but I think Donovan might see more playing time. neither will really alter our overall dearth of quality talent there, though, Dwight Fisk has reason to be unnerved. Also, it seems I booted my affinity analysis for the OL, accidentally mis-slotting my new position leader. It’s not a crisis, but it means that we picked up a guy or two thinking they would be affinity contributors when they are, in fact, in the same sign as Bullock. So, sorry to Jessie Mankey and Sammie Singleton, but we won’t be needing your services after all. In the process of whittling down the roster, one thing becomes painfully clear – RB Bo Spry is in real jeopardy of not making the team. He has been solid for us for years, but after last season’s injury, he has degraded a full notch or so, and now even his handful of solid ratings are pretty marginal. Dave Burns is clearly more equipped to be our primary ball carrier – even undrafted rookie Seth McCue might be better than Spry. I hold off – but am willing to pull the trigger unless something changes my mind in preseason. In the preseason, we try to get a god look at our squad. I am understandably very concerned about the offensive line, after such a quick transition, but the best we can do is suit them up and send them out there. We retain two starters – LT Kenny Thomason will be playing at either LT or RT, while RG Shaun Singleton ought to be our main bulldozer up front for the inside running game. We wrap up the preseason with four players on IR, and need to make four more cuts to get down to 53. We are carrying five running backs and two fullbacks – and this is a pinch spot. I decide that the guy to go will be… Seth McCue. Bo Spry rushed for nearly 5 yards a carry in the preseason (refusing to get hurt, I might add) and earned the right to come back and keep his job, for now. I also release FB Allen Libin, whose role is clearly going to be assumed by top rookie Barrett. Among our other final cuts is CB Lonnie Gonzalez – longtime guy for us, but just doesn’t put up the stats that I’d want to see. For the non-affinity contributor, we are looking for more, and Shawn Faine is cheaper and on paper, a better player. As we ready for the season – here is our final cut of the roster. I will once again show the affinity structure, which has undergone some changes this year, to be sure: Code:
We have 38 affinities on the team, which is at or near a high mark for us. Essentially, we have a few star players, and a few needed contributors who remain on the team without the benefit of affinity, everyone else gets along great. (I expect next year, we will have a project with the RB group to manage) For the season ahead – I don’t know quite what to expect. With the massive change at the OL, I am expecting that our offense will suffer overall. We might be no better than average on that side of things. Last year, our defense was disappointing, and while I like some moves we made, it’s tough to argue that we are head and shoulders better. DT Wire is developed more, and we are excited about safety Beecroft stepping in, but I’m still not thrilled about our CB group, nor do I think we are going to have a terribly effective pas rush overall. Our roster rating is 70, right about average. Our cohesion has changed, though: 100-81-87-62, as we have dropped dramatically toward the bottom with out OL after the intentional turnover. Is this a team capable of a winning record? Probably, but I wouldn’t stake too much on it… One more thing. Defensive rookie of the year, Joey Beecroft. Write it down. |
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08-02-2005, 06:14 AM
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#116 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2036 season
We start off right with a win at San Fran, with Fisk throwing for 4 TDs and Bo Spry, back in as our starting halfback, toting it for 93 yards. Morris Lovejoy is settling in as our utility back, and picks up 65 yards as a part-time everything. Spry breaks his hand in the opener, though, so we will have to shuffle the RB grouping around. (If he had this injury in preseason, he probably would have landed on IR) I the opener, we also have lost CB Lincoln Horner for the year – the guy we signed to be the one-year stopgap at CB for us. This looks like a career-ending injury for him – boy, we wish we still had Lonnie Gonzalez around. Rookie CB Luther Schofer is going to see the field a lot this year, as he is now slotted as our main nickelback. After a 3-0 start, Dwight Fisk gets dinged up a bit. He hobbles out to start against Detroit, but they beat us as our offense stalls badly. We get to 5-1 on the season, but we lose RB Lovejoy for the year. Fortunately, we are getting good productivity out of Bo Spry, Dave Burns, and Roger Barrett – so we still have plenty of weapons from the backfield. We execute more or less the perfect game of football in week 7, beating Minnesota 34-3. The running game clicks, Fisk is 20 of 23, and we smother the Vikes with our defense. It’s unreal – I came into this season thinking it might be a lost cause, but here we are at 7-1 looking like a very tough team to beat! Arizona does just that, though, in week 8, and pulls even with us for the division lead. Here are our midway stats: Code:
We are still a bit suspect on defense by the numbers, but we aren’t giving up a lot of points, largely since our offense has been playing pretty well. These don’t look like the stats of a mighty champion, though – we may have a bit of regression to the mean ahead. We run the streak out to 10-2, and position ourselves as a serious playoff contender, with the best record in football. A bout of the flu strikes while we visit Miami and we lose a tough game there, but the next loss to Arizona I much tougher – we slip back into a tie with them for the division lead. We suffer a third straight loss at home, and are suddenly in free fall. I don’t even know what to think. We get a much-needed win in our finale over Seattle, but our earlier perch all the way atop the conference standings is long gone, as we settle for the #5 seed, a familiar slot for us. It does seem strange, though to end up still tied for the league’s best record, and be a #5 seed. Ugh. Code:
So, from QB Fisk we get another solid but not spectacular season. After two glorious years in 2031-32, he has reverted to being a good, but not great QB. I think the loss of a top target receiver has really hurt him – we need to make that a higher priority. Bo Spry ground out yardage, but the 3.38 yards per carry simply doesn’t get it done. We will have to re-evaluate the RB group for next year, and Spry’s future is in some doubt. Dave Burns was capable as the reserve RB, suggesting that it’s not all the fault of the new-look O-line. FB Barrett was much more involved in the offense than any FB we have had – and to good effect. Nice pickup for us there. WR Brannan and Woodson again led the way in the passing game, though we did more underneath this year than in prior seasons. Darrin Donovan was an intriguing third receiver target – productive, but not a mismatch for opposing defense, either. As for the offensive line: Code:
Only 17 sacks allowed – that is crazy! Shaun Singleton has become a star-caliber lineman for us, and this group put together a season every bit as good as our far more veteran and cohesive line from the last few seasons. We will continue to work on this unit, but the early returns are more than encouraging. On defense, Daryl Jeffries was again the obvious leader, but with a bit more help from a secondary that played better this season. CB Faine turned out to be a very solid starter, coming to us cheaply off the free agent rolls. Our four starting DBs each had double digit passes defensed – a nice statistic to watch, I think. Our pass rush was off pretty significantly, but that seemed to be plenty offset by the improved work from the secondary. Overall – the defense put together a very solid season for us, a big improvement on last season. How good is this team? I have no idea, but there’s reason for Rams fans to be watching the playoffs again… |
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08-02-2005, 06:29 AM
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#117 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2036 Postseason Summary
Well, everyone has to play – it’s the playoffs after all. So, we trot our Fisk, Jeffries, Wire, and everyone capable of suiting up. We’ll try our best to limp through a week, and see if we can’t get healthier with the sweet medicine of victory! Wild Card Round: St. Louis (11-5) at Tampa Bay (10-6) – We are favored by 3 on the road here, and if we can slow down their running game, I like our chances. We get a comfortable win with a lot of oddball big plays – a kickoff return TD from Tommy Henson, a fumble recovered for a TD by LT Kenny Thomason, and an interception return for TD by rookie Joey Beecroft – his third pick of the afternoon. St. Louis 28, Tama Bay 13. Divisional Playoff: St. Louis (12-5) at Philadelphia (11-5) – The Eagles are powered by a mammoth offensive line and a solid defense, and are two point favorites in this game. We are much healthier than last week, and hope to bring our best game here. Philly gets an early lead with a long TD drive, and stays in command throughout, winning it 21-14 and moving to the conference title game. Philly goes on to beat Houston in the Superbowl. G Shaun Singleton gets honors as the first team right guard – a great recognition for him. He is our only mention on the awards list. Good season, a bit better than I had expected, and certainly gives us hope that we are able to go through some significant changes and still put together a good effort. We’ll continue with the OL project-in-progress, and will have a few young players who will be tough to keep together this coming year… |
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08-02-2005, 07:04 AM
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#118 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: May 2001
Location: williamsburg, va
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First comment...
This has to be just about the most run-oriented team I have ever seen you run, which is intrigueing to me... especially considering the lack of productivity out of Spry.. I'm definately a little baffled that he did not lose his starting job though...
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08-02-2005, 07:10 AM
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#119 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Loyalty is a funny thing, isn't it?
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08-02-2005, 08:13 AM
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#120 | ||
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lolzcat
Join Date: May 2001
Location: williamsburg, va
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Quote:
Gotcha  .
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08-02-2005, 11:27 AM
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#121 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2037 offseason
Time for a check of our record thus far: Code:
Our only retirement is QB Victor Hopson, who was essentially a last-minute fill-in last season – not a guy we had any plans around. We submit a stadium plan in a new city – and will stealthily seek to work out a new deal to house this club. We can barely draw here in St. Louis, so the move seems warranted. More on that later, when we see the results. Our coaching trio are all up for new contracts – so this could end up being a transition year. Our hiring limits, set by ownership, might prevent us from returning our guys. Turns out everyone re-signs, and we remain intact. No worries. |
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08-02-2005, 11:28 AM
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#122 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Free Agency Planning
Okay, last year we re-assembled the offensive line around new leader C Drew Bullock and impressive young guard Shaun Singleton. This year, Singleton is a restricted free agent – I generally sign my rookies from round two and up to 3 year deals, specifically so we can get this chance to re-sign them in an unfettered fashion. Singleton will not come cheaply – the bidding starts at $6 million – but we expect to get him back when it’s all said and done. Thinking ahead, it might also be wise to be looking for a veteran OL who could take over the OL leadership once we lose Bullock, who is already in his 14th season. We’ll have to grapple with this sooner or later – if we can lock up a decent guy now, that would save me the trouble down the road. This may be the year for a rebuild of the RB/FB position group. RB Bo Spry is wearing down, and may not be re-signable. If he leaves, it opens us wide for change. RB Dave Burns was a solid ball carrier for us last season, and might get a look for a job going forward, but decent veteran running backs just aren’t hard to come by in a veteran league, so I’m not too worried there. Burns is a mentor and has fairly high leadership – so it’s possible he becomes the guy we decide to hang onto. FB Roger Barrett is a keeper, and that might guide our affinity planning at this position as well. Once again, we will move aggressively to retain our centerpiece players, QB Dwight Fisk and LB Daryl Jeffries. I also feel like we need to retain our best CB, who will have his first open market year this year. Past that, I don’t want to get into any bidding wars – we will try to retain some continuity, but I’m open to losing incidental players if it happens. A LIST: QB Dwight Fisk, LB Daryl Jeffries B LIST: CB Aaron Shaw, G Shaun Singleton (RFA), S Conrad Flannery, LB Shawn Reader, WR Louis Woodson My best guess is that we will end up cap-strapped this season, especially if we end up spending $10 million on CB Shaw and G Singleton, as I expect it might require… |
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08-02-2005, 11:28 AM
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#123 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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INITIAL FA STAGES (Weeks 1-4)
Immediate re-signings: Re-signings, no competition: DE Courtney Largent, C Drew Bullock Re-signings, with competition: LB Daryl Jeffries New players signed: Players signed away: We get some early competition for LB Daryl Jeffries, but his asking price is under $5 million, and I expect we will be okay with our $5m bid. Baltimore is leading the early bidding on both him and (in week two) QB Fisk, but I believe my offers will keep both key players. Jeffries signs with us in week three, but Fisk is still considering his offer from the Ravens. We do lock up two group leaders in Largent and Bullock, securing our chemistry structures along both sides of the trenches. But not as much action here as we are used to seeing… we are in competition for CB Aaron Shaw and S Conrad Flannery after a couple of weeks, and these situations remain unresolved. |
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08-02-2005, 11:28 AM
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#124 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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MIDDLE FA STAGES (Weeks 5-15)
Re-signings, no competition: RB Dave Burns, LG Reuben Sulfsted Re-signings, with competition: QB Dwight Fisk, S Conrad Flannery, CB Aaron Shaw, WR Louis Woodson New players signed: CB Derrick Bush Players signed away: TE Maurice Barber, RB Morris Lovejoy QB Dwight Fisk finally agrees to our offer, so we have our two central players back, and their total cost remains pretty reasonable. S Conrad Flannery also accepts our offer, but at $3.8 million, he’s more pricey than I had planned. TE Maurice Barber signs a deal with Buffalo, who is also pursuing WR Louis Woodson. We cannot afford to lose Woodson, our most talented receiver, so I make a solid bid and retain him. CB Aaron Shaw finally decides to accept our contract of $6.6 million, and turns down a long term deal with Jacksonville to do it. We are spending money, but it’s in the places where we expected to have to spend it. No real problems yet. I am positively elated with the signing of CB Derrick Bush, who looks like an absolutely perfect fit for us. 7th year guy, he’s expert in bump coverage (98 rating) that we run, and he drops right into our affinity scheme. Wow. At a position where we have been scrambling a bit for decent guys, this guy walked right off the drawing board for us, and is basically playing for peanuts. We re-sign RB Dave Burns, and I am leaning strongly toward building around him as a long-term guy. He’s good enough to b either a #1 or #2 option at RB, he is a mentor, and if we get him into the position leadership role, he will have a good bond with young FB Roger Barrett. That sounds good to me – his weakness is his low personality score (19) which might make for some weak chemistry, and his vulnerable leadership score (76) which might preclude some veteran players who would wrest the leadership from him. In any event – we are now looking at the running backs group with Burns in mind as the presumed leader – which means that Spry and Munoz will both be off the team this year. RB Morris Lovejoy got a solid offer from Tampa – I like the idea of a versatile utility running back, but after his season-long injury last year, I didn’t know if we could count on him – we may look to draft a RB for that sort of duty. |
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08-02-2005, 11:28 AM
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#125 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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FINAL FA STAGES (Weeks 16-20)
Re-signings, no competition: WR Gino Brannan, WR Cedric Massicott, WR Tommy Henson, TE Bennie Havran, LB Adam Bauer Re-signings, with competition: New players signed: WR Ron Sarmiento Players signed away: WR Ron Sarmiento is a decent receiver – we outbid Seattle for him, and he might manage to earn the backup split end job, essentially the #4 receiver. The contract is bonus-free, and if we get younger at WR, he might be a casualty as well – he does not represent a significant move at the position, just some insurance. The rest of our re-signings are just routine guys who don’t have another option, and come back to us once again. We head toward the rookie draft with 28 player signed, and $24.8 million in usable cap space (after deducting the $3m or so we expect to pay our rookie class). We do expect to have to spend to re-sign G Singleton and LB Reader, and there will be a few more who get a bit over a million – but I think our cap situation will be manageable this season on balance. |
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08-02-2005, 12:02 PM
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#126 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Rookie Draft
Dwight Fisk is craving an impact receiver, but at pick #28, I don’t know if we’re likely to see anyone who will make a big, immediate difference. That would be our ideal scenario, though, to get a pass-catching target right off the bat. Heath McIntyre, Jr. (24/54) looks like a solid prospect but did not impress at the combines. RB Earl Smallwood might convert to WR effectively, or he might be able to contribute as a utility back/slot receiver for us – but he isn’t a first round selection in my view, either. In addition to WR, we would welcome a quality addition to our OL, especially at tackle. I think DE would be another target position, as we are seeing Courtney Largent and Van Rivera enter their waning years, and we could stand to have someone locked up long term there. As our pick approaches, I don’t see anyone to really be enthused about – certainly not a trade-up situation. The best fits for us at DL and WR are both reaches and are both unsupported by combine scores, making me nervous anyway. I am surprised to see RB Earl Smallwood selected at pick #21 – I was thinking he might make a nice second round pick for us, but no dice there. More evidence this is a weak draft. From #28, we trade down into the middle of round two, and will be looking for a bargain guy to slide to us there. I get exactly the guy I was hoping to get here – WR McIntyre comes aboard at a much more reasonable slot here, and will certainly get a shot to contribute for us right away. Our scout adjusts his view of McIntyre down by 5 points immediately after the selection, so I am a bit worried that he will be a real bust/ He does, however, at least have some return skills, so he should not be a total loss, even if he doesn’t provide a great boost to the receiving corps. Code:
I trade out of our late round two pick, and we will have two extra second rounders next season – hopefully in a better draft overall. Third round pick William Borders (26/59) will get a shot at tight end, where we have lost a veteran and need a young addition. I deal my last two picks to move up into round four, and we select an intriguing DB Tommy Holmes (25/49) who might have some upside potential and was likely to go before our fifth rounder. Not much to see here – in a weak draft, we largely move our capital into next season. And what we got with our three picks doesn’t look like a real impact right away, in any event. On the electoral front: Code:
We are clearly a team that is unwanted. We might give Memphis another shot (with a less luxurious stadium plan), or we might try to locate a city even more desperate for home team sports. |
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08-02-2005, 12:02 PM
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#127 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Late Free Agency
Time to bring the team together. We have 32 players signed, including all three rookies. Young Heath McIntyre is the son of a HOF linebacker, a guy who, coincidentally, played his last season in St. Louis for the Rams. I’m not sure that his son will live up to that billing, but we’ll be hoping for the best from him – we really could use a shot in the arm of the passing game. C Jackie Wooden is a very solid veteran lineman, a 16th year powerful run blocker, and so far, unpursued. he’s looking for a little more than $2 million a year – I put in an offer to try to sneak him for a bit less. My hope would be to start him at C, and then use our position leader Bullock as the top reserve at all three interior positions. At the moment, we only have two backs signed for our backfield – RB Dave Burns, and FB Roger Barrett. We must have at least two more guys, and I am somewhat unimpressed by the legion of undrafted rookies. One option will be to yank FB/TE William Borders back to play FB, as I am pretty enthusiastic about undrafted tight end Irv Peterson, who at 289 pounds has tremendous blocking strength, but clearly wants nothing to do with the FB spot. C Jackie Wooden immediately accepts our offer, giving us a nice added force on the O-line. We also sign LB Shawn Reader to a new deal, as he was probably our best remaining unrestricted guy. I go ahead and re-position FB Borders as a fullback, and intend to offer Portly Irv Peterson a roster spot at tight end. It’s intriguing to think about a 300 pound pass target. Our deal with G Shaun Singleton totals $6.5 million. Wow. Once again, he is less willing to work out a one year deal than he would be to take a long term deal with bonus money. Regardless, we lock him up, and prepare him for a lot of work ahead. As we close down the late FA period, and have most of our restricted free agents re-signed, the last troubling guy is LT Walt Woods. He wants a multi-year deal at $2.1m per season – which isn’t ridiculous. But he just isn’t listening to my one year offers at all. Not even at $3 million. Losing him could easily leave us with Dwight Lambeau starting on the left side, and that doesn’t seem adequate to me – so I reluctantly put in an offer to extend Kenny Thomason (again) and suspect he will start at LT for us one more season – not really what I had in mind, honestly. We head into training camp with 60 players signed – a perfect complement for the upcoming preseason. We waive goodbye to RB Bo Spry and LT Walt Woods. |
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08-02-2005, 12:02 PM
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#128 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Training Camp
I shift our emphasis in camp a bit more toward the run, as it looks like our line is geared that way once again. We will run a pretty balanced offense, I suspect, but the power running game will be pretty prominent, as we ought to be pretty strong right up the middle. Without a key addition at WR, it will be tough to really pitch the ball around all that much – we will probably again depend on the usual suspects for the receiving game. Code:
We get lousy news from our top draftees – all lost ground in training camp, boding poorly for down the road. The best news is from fringe players – like S Bo Gaines, who even after his great camp still looks very marginal. TE Portly Irv Peterson rewarded my faith, and bumped a little bit – he ought to be fine as a backup tight end for us. We have an intriguing trade offer in – a first round pick for backup QB Kendall Turner. I like Turner, and think he has a future – he is developing much like Dwight Fisk did when he was young. A first rounder, though, is a lot to pass up. I haven’t given much though to trades in this career, largely because almost none of our players are eligible to be traded – but this is too good to pass up, and we accept the deal. Part of the reason we do the trade is that Grant Griswold is a decent, double-affinity QB on the free agent wire, and I feel that he would probably be okay as our backup this year. Turner is, of course, on a one year deal – we’ll see if Philadelphia elects to sign him to a long-term deal, or if he reappears in the free agent market next offseason. (Anyone betting on the former here?) We did get a nice veteran bump-up from WR Tommy Henson, making him a factor in our considerations as well. He has been an effective return man, but a little-used option at WR for us, but this year he became a position mentor, and got this rating bump. He, Darrin Donovan, and Heath McIntyre are all competing to do largely the same jobs – none is likely to become a monster from the third WR spot, but I think Henson might have that job to start the year. Code:
The local fans are a disgrace, and we are in an urgent need to relocate this team, for all that’s right in fake sports. In the preseason, we will trot out our usual gang of youngsters and projects, and will be watching the RB “battle” closely. Somebody has to make the team – Lavelli and Street probably have the inside track. If Lavelli can prove he’s good enough to get some carries, he probably wins the #2 RB job. Street has an affinity and can play some special teams, but seems spotty in his ratings – he will get some chances as well. Grant Griswold looks pretty decent in our preseason debut, and running backs Robert Lavelli and Dan Hawkins both run well for us. After the four games, I think we are going to carry two rookie running backs, and I think both Lavelli and Street will make the team, unless I have more trouble making cuts than I expect. Our preseason losses are S Brock Pearson (IR with broken leg) and LB Jon Guarino (IR with hammy) – and I am worried about our defensive depth, especially up front. LB Reader will miss several weeks with an elbow problem – it looks like we might be going to Dan Maltman as a starter. I’m enthusiastic about him, and maybe it’s his time to shine. Here is the roster as we head into the first regular season game, including the starting lineups indicated. Code:
Our affinity count remains high – 36 this year. We have a few phantom affinities due to low personality scores, and a couple of spots where we just haven’t landed quality affinity guys yet (OT) but on balance, I’m pleased with the structure we have here. A forecast for this season? I guess more of the same. I hope the defense can remain as strong as last season – injuries might play a big role, but the secondary’s play will be critical. We need more pass rush, and will hope that a more visible role from Kelvin Green can help there – we will jumble the lineup if needed. On offense, the rushing duties will fall to Burns and Barrett – I doubt we get a 1,000 yard back, but our goal is to rush for 2,000 yards, whoever does it. Our roster rating is 62, again about in the middle. Carolina is tops, and San Fran is tops in our division. Cohesion stands at 100-81-99-72, which is a mixed bag but still improving. My best guess is that this is, once again, a playoff-caliber team, but not a major title threat. Maybe another 10-win season and a decent playoff berth is where the bidding starts. Past that would be a pleasant surprise. |
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08-02-2005, 12:02 PM
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#129 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2037 season
We start off at 2-2, with no major injuries contributing to our situation. RB Burns is getting the lion’s share of the carries, and I decide to tweak the setting to get Barrett more involved. Gino Brannan continues to be Fisk’s top receiving target, despite visibly declining ratings. Our defense is playing just brilliantly so far, and now Shawn Reader is back to help out the defensive front. After another loss, we suffer a serious injury – Daryl Jeffries, out for the year with a serious hamstring pull. This is bad news – he has been our heart and soul on defense, and this is the first extended period we will be without him. It’s listed as a 19-week injury, definitely an IR case. We sign old friend Emmanuel Chustz for the balance of the season – he will probably get some fill-in time as a key reserve, much needed. We get a few wins, and reach the midpoint at a respectable 5-3. Here are the team stats halfway through: Code:
We are basically playing a little bit above average in most respects, and we are once again very tough defending against the pass. I’d like to see our run stopping improve a bit, but overall it’s very tough to argue with these numbers. If we get some turnovers to swing our way, we could get on a nice little roll. I was worried about my position leader C Drew Bullock getting angry for essentially being benched – but he has barely had time to notice, since he has been starting pretty much every week for someone’s injury. He’s fine. Dwight Fisk has his first really big game beating Atlanta, as he goes to Henson (6-81, 1TD) and Donovan (4-134, 2TD) more than ever. Good game, maybe a sign of things to come? But in the following week, it’s Fisk who gets hurt. He will miss a few games, as our winning streak dries up in a hurry. At 6-4, we are two games behind Seattle in the division, and are trying to stay alive in the wild card race. Good time for a bye week, for certain. We suffer two close losses with Grant Griswold at the helm – and right now, it’s very tough to look back on the deal that sent away our solid backup QB prospect. Griswold hasn’t exactly been falling down like Chevy Chase out there, but 5 TDs and 5 interceptions in three weeks isn’t the ratio that this team needs to win. They have all been close losses, too – suggesting that just a little edge might have turned one or more of them. We need Fisk back, and now. Behind Fisk, we get a win in Houston – no mean feat. That makes us 7-6, and again in the hunt. Dave Burns lights things up with over 200 yards from scrimmage – and after 11 games, he is already approaching 1,000 yards for the year. He has gotten a bit more than 60% of the carries for us, and has played pretty well in his first season as the main ball carrier. A loss to Seattle (who has been crashing) drops us to 7-7, and all but eliminates us from the division race. We need to run off two wins to get in this time – 9-7 might do the trick, but 8-8 certainly will not. So, we pound Tennessee, and get win #8. A win at home against San Francisco would give us a shot – but it depends on other games. We hold up our end of the deal with the win, but Minnesota wins their last game, and we end up on the outside of a four-way tie for 6th in the division – meaning we and Carolina go home, while Minnesota and Washington go play. Ugh. Code:
So, a review of the numbers. The offense maintained its solid effort all year – even with the down spell, we ended up top ten rushing and passing, a nice benchmark. We easily hit our target of 2,000 rushing yards – got there in 14 games. Dave Burns furthers the notion that the RB position on this team is simply plug-and-play… anyone can do fine, it seems. It’s nice not to have to spend any money on a key position like that. Roger Barrett approaches 1,000 total yards, despite not getting quite the piece of the rushing pie that I had expected/promised. Among our receivers, Gino Brannan was still top dog, but his days are numbered. He was one of the first free agents we signed on this team – a decent-enough guy for a one year deal, and he just stuck around – forever. Now, he’s a 14th year veteran, and is showing his age. He still has the high “route running” rating, but the rest is slipping, and I half expect a retirement. Darrin Donovan is ready to take over the starting flanker job, but I will be open to a wholesale change at the position as well – that could be our next affinity-rebuilding project. Small kudos to Portly Irv Peterson, who may well be on his way to becoming our starting TE with a decent year filling in for a twice-injured Bennie Havran. Could happen… As for the offensive line: Code:
We see another solid effort from the line – with essentially a six-man rotation in play. A lot more sacks yielded this year, for some reason – Lambeau let through his share (and then some) but everyone was disappointing, save Jackie Wooden and Drew Bullock – who had perhaps his best season, as a perpetual fill-in starter at four different positions. On defense, it seems we did rejuvenate the pass rush a bit with Kelvin green taking over for a rapidly-aging Courtney Largent at DE. Green posted a solid 7.2 PRPct, his best since his glory days with us in 2032-33. However, it does look like both Courtney Largent and Van Rivera are basically done – neither one was at all productive for us this season, and both are showing their wear. Gerald Wire is emerging as a major force for our front, now contributing in the pass rush as well. I expect a huge season next year from him. With a jumble at LB, we got a notable season from young LB Dan Maltman – he is not a major run stopper, but is outstanding in coverage, and was solid in the pass rush. He might not give back the Sam job after this season. (Becoming a personal favorite of mine – I like that name “Maltman” too) Jimmie Keith played very well, and might have to suit up for an even bigger role for us down the line – he’s a long-term keeper for this team, too. We were tough to pass against, but again we did not really stir up many picks and make big plays. That is the missing element from this bend-don’t-break defense we seem to have – we need a few guys who break your back. S Joey Beecroft is fully developed as a star for us, and he can be that guy soon – for now, the group at CB is doing rather well, I’ll admit, as we have gotten some real luck with free agents who have fit perfectly for us. A minsal Derrick Bush and his 14 passes defensed was like mana from heaven. So – a slightly disappointing season, made so by the close call in the playoff hunt. But we are about where I thought we would be – in the upper half of the league, but not in the top tier of serious contenders. Seattle goes to the Superbowl, and loses their third in five seasons, this time to Buffalo. Our lone rep on the Pro Bowl team is, once again, G Shaun Singleton, who is named to the second team. We wrap up the season with big questions surrounding LB Daryl Jeffries – who has been with us since the beginning, but who remains seriously injured as we finish here. |
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08-02-2005, 01:01 PM
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#130 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Fascinating. I got fired.
I’m glad I have a chance to ignore it… but I’m shocked. No warnings, no probationary period, just “get out!” We never drew many fans – I wonder if that is somehow a function of the number and quality of players that are actually signed on my team as we begin each new season? (I don’t recall ever having such attendance problems in any career – and that would be this biggest difference in this particular one) In any event, I trudge onward… |
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08-02-2005, 03:16 PM
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#131 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: May 2001
Location: williamsburg, va
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Are you telling me that you will not accept a firing?
__________________
Text Sports Network - Bringing you statistical information for several FOF MP leagues in one convenient site Quote:
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08-02-2005, 04:12 PM
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#132 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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So now what are you going to do? Try the Affinity Project with the next team you get hired?
__________________
2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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08-03-2005, 07:47 AM
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#133 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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In the game, there is an "out" where you can choose to essentially ignore being fired. That is what I have chosen to do here -- as I am convinced that my firing is a curious result of the empty rosters we are starting every year with, which I think underlies the team's ticket sales for some reason.
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08-03-2005, 07:51 AM
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#134 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2038 offseason
Our usual routine as we kick off the new year is to check the retirement list for departures. We’ll get to that in a moment. Now, we need to check on the status of LB Daryl Jeffries – our very first draft pick, and our foundation defensive player. Coming off an awful injury – here is the transition from last year to this year: Code:
He is all recovered, with no immediate ill effects. He may prove to be more injury-prone now, but at least he is the same guy we have counted on for 11 seasons. Good news. Retirements? We have three. C Jackie Wooden was a venerable signing, we knew we’d get only one or maybe two seasons from him – but he is one and out after all. LB Adam Bauer was essentially a solid run-stopper, and we used him as a backup to our inside LBs, and a sometime-starter at the weak OLB slot. Never great, but he did one thing well. His last seven seasons were spent in St. Louis. WR Cedric Massicott was on the team these last three years for one main reason – he’s an anchor for affinity. Now he’s gone, and it might bring about a major upheaval at the position group. At the moment, this makes Tommy Henson our position leader (and mentor), and we have three affinities with him. That may be the way to go, or we could look at bringing in a new face with a leadership role in mind, and build around him. I’m open either way. LB Orlando McNeil, incidentally, has been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Of his 15 seasons, he spent three (his last) with us, playing solidly as an inside linebacker mostly. 1,277 tackles in 14 seasons and a career TkPct of 15.8 – yep, that’s a HOF career all right. Another short-time Ram QB Vince Winslett is also inducted – he played here for only a half season, but had a long and fruitful career as well, playing for 9 different teams. A couple of years ago, I missed the inductions of short-time Rams CB Karl Hulton and RB Bernard McDonald as well. I think it is time for a change at head coach. I resolve to stick with my policy of hiring only “new” staff members (no experience) and my best bet seems to be Joe Martinez, 58. His strong suits are avoid injuries (VG) and defensive playcalling (VG) – we will make do with less on the offensive side (though he is seemingly better than our outgoing coach). Terry Stevens leaves us with a record of 73-46-1, five playoff appearances in seven seasons, and a legacy of playoff whimpers. We will hope for the best wit Joe Martinez, who accepts our offer and comes aboard. |
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08-03-2005, 07:52 AM
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#135 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Free Agency Preparation
Okay, we have some work to do with this team. The offensive line needs more building – especially at both tackles. We need to add quality, affinity, or preferably both. We also lost our position leader at WR, and are adrift there. A possible candidate to take the helm is incumbent Tommy Henson (6th year, 97 leadership). However, he lacks affinity with any of the guys I consider “keys” to this team – WR Louis Woodson, WR Gino Brannan, and WR Darrin Donovan are all going to be on this team – and Henson links to none of them. (He is the same sign as Woodson) We would get a bigger hit if we could bring aboard a veteran leader from the Scorpio group (months 10-11) who would generate affinity with at least a couple more guys than that. Code:
So, with that group – where could we strike it rich? A Scorpio (10-11) gains affinities with five guys, potentially, and that’s what we built this group around. We could just focus on the guys who have secured a long term slot with us, though – right now, I’d say that might be Henson, Donovan, and Peterson. The best match for those guys would be a Pisces (2-3) who would gain two affinities, and wouldn’t conflict with anyone on the team currently. He’d have to outdo Henson for the leadership role, so this would have to be an established (veteran) player with high leadership. Is there such a guy out there? In short – nope. So, what if we keep Henson installed as the leader? We can count on the affinities with our two young draft picks, McIntyre and Doyle for this year. Doyle probably leaves after this season, and McIntyre after two years – neither seems to be a long term keeper other than the affinity connection. So, we’d be building for an affinity future, basically – we’d be looking for guys who work with Henson (who could stay on the team for a long time) and gain affinity by attrition. Gino Brannan can’t have more than one or two more years left – assuming he stays with us, which isn’t even certain. And Louis Woodson has the benefit of incumbency, but is not a spectacular star in his own right. Looking over the grid above, I don’t see a better strategy than to build things around Henson. And I don’t see any player in free agency who would make a lot more sense – Henson has moderate skills so he will remain cheap, he’s already a mentor, and he has solid return skills – it’s tough to complain about a guy like that wedging into your long range planning. Pop in one more bonus – he gets along great with Dwight Fisk, too. Gravy. We have another affinity situation on our hands. DE Courtney Largent is unhappy about his benching from last season (understandably, I’ll admit) and is not interested in re-signing with us. There is some chance that he might sign after training camp – but for right now, I have to assume that he is leaving us for good. Where will that leave us along the front seven, where we have affinities with nearly everyone? In hot water, simply put. I can’t even tell who would become the new position leader – possibly DT Gerald Wire (4th year, 99 leadership) or more likely LB Shawn Reader (13th year, 71 leadership). Either guy is a Capricorn (12-1) and would have no affinity with the many other Capricorns in the group. Clearly, the key is to maintain the system we have by replacing Largent as leader (if necessary) with another guy from the same sign as him – a Libra (9-10). Who is out there who could do the trick? I have one candidate, and this comes after a rigorous search. WLB Joel Fecht is an 8th year player, with an 84 rating for leadership. My guess is that he gets the nod over Wire/Reader, but I can’t be too certain. I think our best bet is to cross our fingers, and hope that we can smooth things over with Courtney Largent following training camp, assuming nobody signs him before then. But we have rough seas ahead once he goes, and that can’t possibly take all that long to happen. Our revised affinity chart now reads thusly: Code:
Okay, back to the regular thought process, so rudely interrupted… We have a now-familiar list of priority players for the team in place – as out A list gets older, their contract demands are falling, and that has lessened our burden of carrying them both each year a bit. A LIST: QB Dwight Fisk, LB Daryl Jeffries B LIST: G Shaun Singleton, CB Aaron Shaw, S Conrad Flannery, LB Shawn Reader, CB Derrick Bush, LB Jimmie Keith In my mind, the weak link here might be S Flannery, who has been getting interest from elsewhere in recent years. I like him, he plays pretty well, but he is a big part of the reason why we don’t have a lot of big plays in our secondary – maybe a more interception-prone player at free safety would bring our turnover rates back up? If CB Aaron Shaw again seeks monster money, he could end up departing, too – though I really think he is the key to the whole secondary right now, which has proven to be a strength two years running. |
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08-03-2005, 07:52 AM
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#136 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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INITIAL FA STAGES (Weeks 1-4)
Immediate re-signings: G Reuben Sulfsted, Re-signings, no competition: DT Ethan Parker, QB Dwight Fisk Re-signings, with competition: G Shaun Singleton, LB Daryl Jeffries New players signed: T Walt Woods, WR Curtis Wingo, DT Albert O’Connell Players signed away: We have immediate battles for G Shaun Singleton and CB Aaron Shaw – both guys are looking for over $5 million. S Conrad Flannery is also being pursued – and I decide to try to wait him out for now, knowing that this might be our farewell. Singleton re-signs with us in week two, but a bidding battle erupts over Flannery. In week three, QB Fisk and LB Jeffries both sign. Good news, they only cost us about $11 million between the two of them. LT Walt Woods, after his one-year sojourn to Minnesota, returns as a key FA acquisition for us. A 5th year tackle, he has solid and balanced skills, and we hope he can settle the position for us. I don’t mind paying him a few million a year if he can stick around and play well there – so we hope this is the beginning of something good. Tackle was a major need area – and he is perfect for us. DT Albert O’Connell is a fourth year player, who looks like another solid reserve for us. Good pass rushing ability – he’ll probably get time at DE if we need him. We’ve been searching for a few seasons for a guy who might make an impact at WR for us – and maybe we have found him in 5th year man Curtis Wingo. He may be ideally suited to work as our slot receiver – high ratings in third down catching and avoid drops suggest a sure-handed target to work in traffic. He has posted about 700 yards in each of the last two seasons. A good fit for our new look receiving corps. Incidentally, QB Kendall Turner is sitting in the free agent pool, folowing a solid season as Philly’s starter. He wants $10 million a year – and nobody seems interested right now, shockingly enough. |
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08-03-2005, 07:52 AM
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#137 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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MIDDLE FA STAGES (Weeks 5-15)
Re-signings, no competition: RB Dave Burns, S Brock Pearson, WR Tommy Henson Re-signings, with competition: New players signed: RT Nate Collier Players signed away: DE Van Rivera, K Charles Wallace, S Juan Samuels, LB Emmanuel Chustz As S Conrad Flannery is getting several offers, I decide to hedge my bets, and put in a $3.4 million offer for him – all salary. If I need the cap space, I can cut him later, but this allows us to at least hold on to him, rather than let him walk and later discover that we could have afforded him. When I bump the offer to $3.8, he grumbles and thinks it over… but it takes him a long time to decide what to do… New signing RT Nate Collier figures to be our other bookend tackle, a 4th year natural right tackle who (like Walt Woods, signed a few weeks earlier) also has decent, balanced skills. Last season, he posted a solid year for the Lions – and we move in and grab him, adding another solid affinity player to our OL foundation. Bingo. DE Van Rivera gets a pretty nice offer from Arizona, and I expect this is our goodbye. He is declining in skills, and I am comfortable with the cadre of younger players we have who can handle the DE duties as need be. Only 5.5 sacks in the last three years – it’s time for him to move on. CB Shawn Faine gets an offer from Philadelphia, but he isn’t too expensive, and we get in a fair tender of our own to secure him. No affinity, but he delivers on the field. We lose our kicker – Charles Wallace has been fine, but is easily replaceable, and I wasn’t going to bid over $1.2 million for him. Best of luck in San Fran, pally. We lock up new deals with position leaders RB Dave Burns and S Brock Pearson – both cheap deals, easy to work out. WR Tommy Henson follow suit the following week. Denver gets S Juan Samuels, a marginal guy who we can pretty easily replace. LB Chustz takes an offer also – he was a nice fill-in last year midseason, but isn’t a long termer either. In week 10, after waiting and waiting, CB Aaron Shaw announces he’s returning to the Rams, for our $5.8 million offer. That leaves S Flannery as the biggest unknown hanging out there. We respond to Washington’s bid for WR Louis Woodson, and get him inked to a new deal as well. Meanwhile, Conrad Flannery sits and waits… and waits… Last edited by QuikSand : 08-03-2005 at 08:00 AM. |
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08-03-2005, 08:00 AM
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#138 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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FINAL FA STAGES (Weeks 16-20)
Re-signings, no competition: C Drew Bullock Re-signings, with competition: New players signed: Players signed away: Setting aside the costs of our rookie class, we have about $24m to spend. I think our cap situation is going to be okay this year – the toughest guy among the RFAs will probably be LB Maltman, but getting him done ought to be within reason, he’s not exactly a star player yet. Our biggest ticket players remaining are probably CB Derrick Bush ($2m?), LB Shawn Reader ($2m?), and LB Jimmie Keith ($3m?). I don’t foresee a problem affording all three of them, even if we do spend on S Flannery – I think we are doing okay this year after all. C Drew Bullock is the last of our position leaders to re-up. No competition, we just waited him out a bit. In week 16, after a seemingly interminable period of pondering, safety Conrad Flannery decides what to do – he takes our all-salary offer after all. It’s good to return our starting cadre of DBs, assuming we get Bush as well, and we will hope to reassemble one of the league’s top secondaries for another year. I have my eye on G Stephen Rodstrom, a decent reserve-caliber guard who could probably suit up as a backup for us. He is, however, a key player for us – probably next year. He will assume the leadership for our O-line position, and maintain all our affinities. If we sign him right now, we would become our leader – and he doesn’t have as strong a personality as Drew Bullock. So, we basically want to tuck him away, and hopefully we won’t need him for another year or two. Fortunately, he does not attract an offer in the FA period, so we don’t have to worry about him getting locked into a long term contract elsewhere – as we may need him. That gets us to the rookie draft. We have 26 players signed, nine picks in this draft (including two firsts and three seconds) and enough cash to re-sign all our critical components. Now looks like a chance to do some real building. |
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08-03-2005, 04:46 PM
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#139 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Rookie Draft
We have two pretty dire need positions – wide receiver and defensive end. Both have been needs for a while, both have gone mostly unfilled. We have a few DTs who can play some DE, but really lack a quality DE who is a natural at the position. At WR, Dwight Fisk has been suffering with mediocre guys for a long time – he could really use a feature target. With a lot of equity in this draft, we ought to be able to move up if needed to land the guy(s) who solve our problems. A few guys I highlight before the draft – affinity guys who would probably make good picks for us (and when I’d expect them to be taken): DE Walt Male (37/80) – very solid, will go in first few picks CB Sammy McGarrity (35/65) – possible breakout, well suited, middle first round WR Kendall Groll (29/60) – might be shaky, probably late first/early second round OLB Lewis Quinn (14/63) – run stopper, moves inside, probably late first/early second round DT Rod Schwartz (23/54) – run stopper, good agility, can move to DE, second round CB Earnest Sutton (23/58) – decent, but weak combine, second round DE Blake Lucas (10/46) – run stopper but undeveloped, second round RG Rico Foley (25/59) – well developed pass blocker, second round S Myron Begian (17/42) – decent skills match, special teamer, middle rounds DT Ross Coffey (17/39) – speculative pass rusher, will move to DE, middle rounds LG Thomas Crichton (8/53) – future run blocker, bad combine, middle rounds RB Stan Frint (18/37) – potential as RB or WR, versatile skills, late rounds After all that sorting through, it seems to me we have a choice to make. We either are going to end up with a bunch of so-so affinity guys with our early picks, or we will abandon the affinity idea and just get the best players we can. Or, option three seems to be to move up and try to draft DE Walt Male, one of the very top players and a perfect fit. Is he worth three picks to go get? Perhaps he is… I test the waters – seeing what it would take to move up to pick 3 overall. I’m not even certain that Male would be there for us at 3, but this is just a fishing expedition. I try our two first rounders (18 and 23) along with a second rounder – they won’t budge. What to do? And the more I look, the more convinced I become that Male will not last past pick number two – there is a QB I Expect to go at the top, but the other top listed players are OL and I don’t see anyone jumping off the page – Male looks like the #2 prospect to me, so Atlanta probably doesn’t even get us high enough. The only guy who really excited me from the list of affinity targets (above) is CB McGarrity, and candidly we are already so deep at CB it’s tough to justify spending the pick there. I am convinced that taking DE Male is the way to go – now we have to figure out how to do it. I put together a pretty big offer, in my mind – two firsts, two seconds, and a third – and Cleveland tells us to get lost. I don’t think we will get this deal done at this point – so we may be looking to deal out of this draft and into next year’s, as I don’t see five early picks for us here, and moving way up just seems too tough. Well, I was right about one thing – DE Male didn’t last past #2. The QB did not go with the first pick, an offensive tackle did, but DE Male did get taken by Cleveland after all, those bastards. Bah, it was a funny name for a football star anyway. CB Sammie McGarrity gets taken with pick #11, so there goes my main interest in this draft. I don’t think there is a quality affinity guy worth taking in the first round now – we’ll either go BPA or deal into next year. With out pick at #16, the best-looking affinity prospect on the board is WR Kendall Groll, and I am thoroughly unconvinced that he will live up to billing. I reach the obvious conclusion, and make a big deal with Chicago – sending them our two first rounders to get their firsts for the next two seasons. So much for the big draft splash this year – now we will sit back and focus on fill-in players. When we get into round two, WR Kendall Groll continues to fall, and I begin to take note. I eventually swing a deal with Oakland to move into their early second round pick, and grab the WR – I don’t know if he will be an impact player, but he’s got a shot to be better than most of the guys we have. Code:
After eight more picks, we are up for selections at 2(16) and 2(18). We missed out on DL Schwartz, but run-stopping LB Lewis Quinn is still there, and near the top of the prospects list at this point. I can’t spend the next pick, so we trade down a round and pick up a fourth next year. In round three, we grab T Stanley Woodard (23/43), a pretty well-developed run blocking lineman. DL Ross Coffey is a speculative pass rusher who we will try at DE, and DB Myron Begian is a decent reserve with reasonable potential. RB Corwin Frederickson is yet another utility guy, with some nice receiving skills. |
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08-03-2005, 04:46 PM
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#140 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Late Free Agency
With all our draftees signed, we have 32 players on hand. We need to assemble the rest of the team here. We have a massive boom in 12th year DT Orlando Dole, a guy we had been basically ready to let go of. Suddenly, he is a monster! We put in an offer to re-sign him… and are eager to see him take the field. We scatter around offers to our remaining free agents, signing our restricted young players and re-upping with desired veterans. We also land a couple veterans, including a new backup QB Tyrone Currie, a couple journeyman reserve linemen, and venerable CB Preston Contreras – who gave us one good season a few years ago, but is in his final stages, we suspect. We also land sixth year safety George Melaragni, a guy who could see the field as a key reserve and special teamer. With some depth issues at DE< I also pursue DE Philip Ahn. Ahn looks like a dominant run stopper, but he has never lived up to his apparent ratings. If ever there was a case study suggesting that “weight does matter” in this game, Ahn would be that guy – he’s only 251 pounds, but is rated 60/66 in run defense. Play him at defensive tackle, and you get… well, you get what you’d expect from a 25 pound defensive tackle. At this point, our toughest decision is probably with WR Gino Brannan. He has played more games for the Rams than anyone (including the 20-some years we simmed before I took over) and while he is declining, he does still have the highest current “route running” rating of anyone on the team. Last year, I felt like he was overtaken for the starting flanker job by young Darrin Donovan. This year, Brannan has declined again, and we have drafted a potential replacement for him at the flanker job in Kendall Groll, plus we have signed a solid free agent in Curtis Wingo. If we keep him on the roster, I don’t think we even put Brannan onto the depth chart. It’s time to cut the cord – though this will cost us in cohesion, I recognize. We don’t make an offer to him. So, we will head into training camp with 60 players signed, after a few more rookie signees come aboard. My plan is to re-sign DE Courtney Largent right after training camp – he will not accept a deal right now, and we will lose our continuity there, but he is downright essential to us as a position leader right now. If he will not sign after camp, we will be in panic mode. But we’ll jump off that bridge when we come to it… he’s got to retire some day, after all. |
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08-03-2005, 04:46 PM
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#141 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Training Camp
Without any true “big splash” rookies, and (in my mind) little hope for any big breakouts, this is a less fascinating training camp than we have gotten used to. Alas, here is the summary: Code:
Nothing much to see here among our draftees – WR Kendall Groll took a nosedive (as I had feared he would) and LB Quinn did much the same – looks like a pretty empty draft class for us after all. Meanwhile, DE Walt Male looks like a powerful and impressive prospect – we probably would have been better off trading the whole draft to move up and get him in some conspicuous Ditka-esque fashion. Alas. I do one quick check, and confirm that DT Gerald Wire has temporarily assumed the D7 leadership role on our team in Largent’s absence. Good to know for now. But, gladly, we work out a new deal with DE Courtney Largent, and reinstate him as our position leader. (It’s admittedly pretty cool to sign a guy and see a note listing the fifteen guys who will have affinities with him if he signs…) Back to the rookies – the biggest news in camp are the two waiver wire quarterbacks, both of whom had great training camps. Artie McDaniel looks a lot like Kendall Turner – decent skills to start out with, some initial growth in training camp, and with playing time he’ll probably develop pretty nicely. (Seattle has signed Turner this year, incidentally, which might be interesting) McDaniel does have a pretty good rating in avoiding interceptions and has some potential elsewhere – I think he might end up being pretty good. The other breakout QB on hand is a double affinity guy, Kenyon Palm. He is a different type of player – some very high ratings in the “lower tier” (sense rush 98, scramble frequency 93, two-minute offense 10/83) but he is all but empty in the “upper tier” (most of his pass distance ratings are under 40 potential). I have had surprising luck with guys like this in the past, and I do not dismiss the possibility that he might turn out to be the better of these two intriguing young quarterbacks. For now, 7th year man Tyron Currie has the backup job, but we will keep both of these youngsters active and under Fisk’s mentorship – and we will certainly hope that one or both continues to develop into a possible future starter. Remember, Fisk himself was an undrafted rookie who started out much the same way – good rookie camp, earned some playing time, and took off from there. By the way – observe the mighty development of one Orlando Lowe, who now looks like a positively dominant (note, that is the adjective “dominant” rather than the verb “dominate” … it really isn’t that tough) pass rusher and defensive lineman. I was very worried about our defensive line and pass rush – now suddenly we just gained a superstar player here. He probably won’t last (big money next year, I’d guess) but for now, this is a windfall. Cut-downs are going to be pretty hard on this team, I can tell already. A few preseason injuries might make that easier, but I still expect some tough calls. We end up with two easy IR placements, DE Jamison and S Pearson (for the second straight year). LT Kurt Fattell is hurt for a few weeks, but honestly I think he is too important to our OL – as potentially our #6 man, to let him go onto IR. I will look for cutdowns, but might have to revisit this decision. My final list of cuts: RB Fredrickson, DE Logan, WR Doyle, DT Moore, RB Street. Not easy to get down to 53 (well, 55) but we are there, and will keep our OL depth on tap for later, in case we need someone to help out (fairly likely, if past is prologue). Here is the opening day roster: Code:
I thought the contract view might be interesting, since I usually just offer up the affinity stuff here, and that can’t possibly be interesting any longer. We are, of course, once again chock full of affinities, with a total of only ten players on the roster without a chemistry bonus (including the kicker and punter, of course). This year, I feel like we had one of our best offseasons ever, the empty draft notwithstanding. I feel like we added players in most of our need areas, we had a huge veteran breakout at a key deficiency slot, and I feel like our overall defensive depth is the best it has ever been. I love our moves on the offensive line – we are back to full strength and full affinity there, after only a couple of years of transition, and we have a core of four guys (guards Singleton and Sulfsted, tackles Woods, Collier, and Fattel) who could conceivably stay together for ten years – and all fit under the same affinity group. With all that, I am hoping for a step forward this season. Dwight Fisk and Daryl Jeffries are both in their 12th season – we don’t have an endless amount of time with them. I would like to win a title for those two guys while they are still key players – and this might be our best shot ever at doing so. I have been pretty content to keep at it with a “pretty good” team – but we want to strike while the iron is hot – and I believe it is. Roster rating of 83 backs me up – we look deeper and better than before. Our cohesion is down a bit with some key losses and hiccups, but at it’s still 100-81-96-94, not a disaster at all. In fact, we lost a little edge on offense, but I’m surprised we stayed so high even after letting Gino Brannan leave. We are looking for a division title, a bye week, and a serious run in the playoffs. Big talk for a team who has never even seen a conference championship game, eh? |
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08-03-2005, 04:47 PM
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#142 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2038 season
Our opener is a 10-7 loss to Seattle – exactly the wrong foot to get out on. A 6-3 win in the next week starts us thinking – are we going to be like this all year? Single digit scores? What gives? In the early going, at 3-1, our pass defense is again tight as a drum, and our rushing game is sharp. At the halfway point, we are 6-2, looking pretty good, but trailing in the division by two games – t Arizona, for heaven’s sake! Code:
So far, so good – we have shuffled the defensive line to cover injuries, and remain the top run stoppers in the league. Our pass defense took a hit in a couple of games, but we are still solid there, I think. We are moving the ball on offense, and the passing game is picking up steam as the season goes on. Fisk has two new receiving targets, and is getting fond of both Groll and Wingo. We only have 4 interceptions, though – what does it take to make some plays back there, guys? In week 10, we win at home over Arizona, giving them their first loss of the season, and getting back into the division hunt. But we lose to Seattle, and the setback is difficult there. Even worse, Dwight Fisk is dinged up – we will go with our backup for one week, but if things don’t go well, we may push him back into service. We get a win over San Diego behind Tyrone Currie and good work from FB Barrett (100 total yards, 3 TDs), and that certainly helps – but Fisk is still listed as doubtful. Another win behind Currie, and Fisk is cleared to go – but we are still two games behind 11-1 Arizona at this point. All we can do is keep winning, and hope to see the Cards collapse a bit. If we beat them again, we will have the head-to-head tiebreaker, of course, and we get to play them, in Tempe, in our season finale – high drama, potentially. The Cards oblige us, and they lose to Oakland – so we are now in striking distance. We pave San Fran and see a new twist – we are 11-3, and now in a three-way tie for the division. While we hold the tiebreaker over Arizona, we neglected to keep our eyes on Seattle, who has already swept us to gain the edge on us. Since they just beat the Cards, they have the edge overall in the toughest division race in recent memory. All three teams will make the playoffs, but there’s a big drop from #1 seed to #5 or #6, to be sure. In Week 16, QB Dwight Fisk again has an injured thumb, but he has to play, plain and simple. We suffer a terrible loss to Oakland at home, which eliminates our division title chances. Now, the best we can hope for is the #5 seed, so this final game against Arizona is basically meaningless to us. Ugly loss there. In the finale, I send out rookie QB Palm to lead the team (since the consequence is basically zero, and Fisk remains questionable) – and we come away with a big road victory. We had nothing to gain, they had everything to lose, and we got it done. Where was this when we were facing Oakland last week? * sigh * What’s even worse is that Seattle lost their last game, too, so a win against the damned Raiders would have given us the #1 seed, too. Ugh. Code:
Okay – where do we start? QB Dwight Fisk battled injuries for about half this season, and seems to have a lingering thumb problem. We really could use a week off. By the numbers, not a bad season – incidentally, he has yet to have a single year where he completed fewer than 60% of his passes. That is a remarkable stat, to me, but maybe it’s hard to put it into context. In his one game, Kenyon Palm completed 16 of 23 for 224 yards and one score for a 115 rating, all in a win over Arizona. Not bad, kid… good to see. Our running game was solid once again – even as Dave Burns is starting to show some signs of wear and tear (ratings decline, I think). Career high in rushing yards, of course, and a very successful season for a guy whom absolutely nobody wants at all. FB Barrett got his 1,000 yards (just barely) in a very effective season as our second running option. We did run from the FB position a bit more this year – but I think I intend to back off that, as I think it generates clunky runs up the gut – better, I reckon, to use the FB out of the HB slot. Six guys caught 400 yards in passes – none managed 700. Balance, I guess. Woodson was hurt for about three games, so that dinged his numbers, but I am encouraged by Groll in particular – if he hangs on to a few more balls thrown his way (and as he develops, he ought to) he could end up being very productive for us. He may work out to be just fine for us after all, despite my initial reservations. Code:
The line stayed pretty healthy this season, and we got very, very good protection in the passing game again – 17 sacks is a low for this franchise, and I am basically elated. Actually, this is probably the best set of OL stats we have gotten from this team – and I had thought we reached a high water mark about five or six seasons ago. From this group, other than Bullock, the other four starters are all young enough to have many years ahead, too. Signing G Rodstrom or someone else to take the leadership role, will be the key – this group is all set to rally around on cornerstone guy. We will, of course, just hope that Bullock (and his very high personality rating) returns for another season… or two! So – the offense gets pretty high marks. It is amusing to think how good this team might be if we had invested in a few quality skill players, eh? Drop a star RB and a stud WR on this team – they might end up with 2,000 and 1,500 yards, respectively, and Fisk might be an all-pro every year. On defense, we have to be pleased, in the top tier in both stopping the run and the pass. We don’t cause many turnovers, a nagging grievance of mine, but it’s really hard to fault this group overall. We had three defensive tackles starting at the DE/DT slots all season, with a fourth (O’Connell) rotating in for injuries. It worked okay – Lowe (6.7), Green (5.7), O’Connell (8.5), and Wire (5.6) were all effective in rushing the passer. But what got into Dan Maltman? 10.5 sacks? Crazy stuff – he is turning into a very nice player for us, and I really did not see it coming at all. His run defense rating (his weak spot) is now up to a passable 49 – definitely on the rise, as it was down in the 20s when he was a rookie (with no evident growth potential then). He is now definitely locked in as a starter, as long as his salary demands don’t skyrocket. Daryl Jeffries keeps it together as our main man inside, leading the team in tackles for the 10th time in his 12 years. He also doesn’t get enough credit for his good work in coverage, as he posts about 10 passes defensed in a typical year. In the secondary – CB Shaw, CB Bush, and S Beecroft all had PDPct rating over 20, even though nobody posted more than three picks. Jut good solid defense again. S Conrad Flannery was the relative weak spot, though he wasn’t awful. Among the stingiest pass defenses in the league for the third straight season – not bad at all. Here we go into the playoffs – QB Fisk and DL Lowe are both hurt, but Fisk will play (Lowe probably has to sit out a game). We’ll hope for the best, but the long road hurts our chances of the season I wanted to have here. |
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08-03-2005, 04:48 PM
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#143 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Postseaon Summary
Wild Card Game: St. Louis (12-4) at Washington (9-7) – We are four point favorites on the road, and unless Fisk falls apart, I feel good about a win here. Fisk is nursing that thumb, which looks like it might not be healing. Regardless, we stifle the Redskins offense all day, and get out of town with a solid 20-7 win, capped with an interception TD by Shawn Faine – and we are on to the divisional playoffs. Divisional Playoffs: St. Louis (13-4) at Tampa Bay (13-3) – This is no picnic, after battling through our tough division, to face the Bucs at their place. While I like our line, you have to LOVE theirs, which is a collection of all stars, seemingly. We probably need to pass to get past them – and Fisk is still listed as questionable. We don’t get a lot on the ground, but we don’t abandon it either – and with two scoring drives in the second quarter, we actually take control. We hang 20 on the Bucs, and our defense comes to play – we take a 20-10 win to secure our berth in the NFC Championship. At last. Conference Championship: St. Louis (14-4) at Seattle (13-4) – They beat us twice this year already – now it’s our third chance, and the one that really counts. Fisk is upgraded to probable – great news. LB Dan Maltman is out with an ankle – done for the year. We will need a good game to win this one on the road – but it’s within our grasp. Seattle, behind QB Marc Swann (old friend), executes a nearly flawless game – no turnovers, hardly any penalties, and they just click click click. We end up trailing early, we can’t get anything going, and we end up far outclassed here, losing 28-7. Seattle moves on, and we go home – end of story. We also suffer another injury, as LG Reuben Sulfstead tears up his ankle ligament – and this looks like a bad one. The OL continuity idea might have suffered a blow there, I fear. In the Superbowl, Seattle faces Houston again – who beat them in both 2033 and 2034. The Seahawks finally get theirs this time, and head into the rafters with a 38-31 win. G Shaun Singleton, our main man in the middle, is named to his third straight pro bowl – but this time he is not our only rep, as FB Roger Barrett goes as the second teamer. Well – our best season yet, and I thought it would be. Have to be disappointed that we came so close to earning that top seed, which has proven to be awfully elusive for us. Looking ahead, I just want to keep as much of this team together as we can, as I think we are smack in the middle of our “window of opportunity,” and would hate to see it slip by. Last edited by QuikSand : 08-03-2005 at 04:48 PM. |
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08-04-2005, 08:11 AM
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#144 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: May 2001
Location: williamsburg, va
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I really think if you could get a true stud at WR, that would seal a championship... good performance, nice to see what you got out of the rookie, but he is not a superstar by any means..
This "not quite there" quality of the team is quite gripping.... Each year I find myself thinking "we're finally there" and we don't quite make it.. it's entertaining ...
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08-04-2005, 08:54 AM
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#145 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Glad you are still entertained... I know I have been. I don't know if perhaps I am subconsciously "holding back" with this team to some degree -- maybe if I pushed for top talent more than affinities and so forth, we could have a title or two already. But I am enjoying the limitations of the affinity system as a sort of "house rule" and this has, ultimately, become one of my more balanced careers, I think. I like how this team stays pretty good, but has troubles of some sort most every year -- it seems more realistic to me than being right in the title hunt year in and year out.
In any event... more to come. |
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08-04-2005, 08:54 AM
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#146 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2039 offseason
We have two retirements, one is no surprise at all, the other is a big shock. DE Courtney Largent retires after a 16 year career, playing his last nine years with us. He posted 105 career sacks, including 57 with our Rams. Solid player, great leader – we have a whole collection of guys who have played here, in part, because they got to play with Courtney Largent. Safety George Melarangi was an odd name to see here – an 8th year guy, we brought him in as a good for our system, but he didn’t play much. he might have had a real shot at a starting job this season – but walked away from football instead. Oh, well. Who is missing from this list? Center Drew Bullock, that’s who! Bullock is back for a 17th season, and that means we get a chance to return our whole OL structure from last year. Regrettably, LG Reuben Sulfstead has suffered badly from his injury in the playoffs – and he probably won’t fit any longer as our starter. That stinks. But the whole group gets along swimmingly – and that will continue into this season. LB Dan Maltman, our other guy who ended last season with a bad injury, looks okay – down one point, but not a major drop. We hope he continues to be on the rise as an emerging star player for us. We are currently without a scout – which is a little bit interesting. Our incumbent scout has retired, leaving us empty at the position. Just for yuks, I’ll take a look at the before/after of our roster ratings – to see how my incoming scout changes things. The new scout, Kurt Jones, is rated as “average” in most categories – but “good” with DL and “very good” with LB. (Best we could do after losing out in the bidding for one other guy, and within my rules to only use fresh staffers) My plan was to try to keep an eye on this to detect any “bump” in ratings due to better scouting – but there is no adjustment, at least not immediately upon my hiring my scout. So, perhaps I’m not yet seeing players through his eyes. It turns out that the new look at my players kicks in right after we start the free agency process – seems that is a “pivot point” in the game as it generates the rookie class, and apparently makes other updates as well. Here is the snapshot of the transition: Code:
Wow. A lot of negative numbers there – but guys just scattered all over the place. I think some of it is guys making developmental leaps (look at our two young quarterbacks – who grew the most of anyone) There are also some big negatives for young players – guys like WR Kendall Groll and LB Lewis Quinn, young players who had initial camp drops, both took a big hit here. interesting – I still don’t know whether that “before” view was essentially still through my old scout’s eyes (as I suspect), or something else – but this proved to be pretty interesting to see. What do I make of a guy like WR Heath McIintyre? He had a –10 drop here, and looks like a pretty marginal player anyway. I don’t think that his apparent red/green bars actually moved commensurately with the –10 adjustment, though… so I am puzzled here. On the other hand, the two young quarterbacks both DID see a big jump in their red bars. Both of these guys are going to be good – only question left is how good, and how well we can bring them along. And just in case you noticed – yes, I did actually change his name to “Portly Irv.” I’m here for fun, I’m not a robot you know. |
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08-04-2005, 08:55 AM
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#147 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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INITIAL FA STAGES (Weeks 1-4)
Immediate re-signings: Re-signings, no competition: LB Jimmie Keith, S Brock Pearson, RB Dave Burns, WR Tommy Henson, LB Daryl Jeffries, DT Albert O’Connell, QB Dwight Fisk Re-signings, with competition: New players signed: CB Kyle Knight Players signed away: DT Orlando Lowe, CB Shawn Faine Week one is no good for us – nobody signs, and we are already in trouble with several players. G Shaun Singleton is being offered $6 million a year by Atlanta, LB Jeffries $4 million a year by Dallas, and CB Aaron Shaw $7 million a year by San Diego. I don’t think we can match all these offers – the checkbook is going to run out at some point. CB Aaron Shaw won’t even listen to a $7.5 million one year offer – and so my plan to spend on him might have to take a backseat. I don’t see any other way, really. DT Orlando Lowe abruptly accepts a fat three year deal from Tampa Bay – I am not that surprised. He broke out last year to become a huge ratings freak – but had some injury troubles. Best of luck. * cough * juiced * cough * CB Shawn Faine is another departure, also no surprise. Solid player, but once he started seeking bigger money, he’s out of our price range. S Conrad Flannery has a big offer in from Jacksonville – over $4 million a season. Solid starter, affinity guy, but is he worth outbidding them for? His last three seasons have all been below 20.0 PDPct, and he has a total of 5 picks in his five seasons with us – I am thinking he is expendable. Though I have to be worried about our secondary, which has been a team strength, and we are just watching it get whittled away. I decide not to bid on Flannery. We do, in weeks 3 and 4, see LB Jeffries and QB Fisk both re-sign… and we will only be paying those two a total of $8 million this year – well down from the $22 million high water mark years ago. Jeffries is declining a bit, but Fisk is still holding on to his great ratings. I sense real trouble ahead at the CB position, with both of my starters Shaw and Bush seeking big money – so I am pleased to see a pretty solid coverman Kyle Knight available in free agency, and not demanding too much loot. An $800K deal for a guy who could actually start for us at CB is a great bargain. |
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08-04-2005, 08:56 AM
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#148 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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MIDDLE FA STAGES (Weeks 5-15)
Re-signings, no competition: C Drew Bullock, LB Jon Guarino, C Kirk Fecht, LB Dan Maltman, CB Preston Contreras, CB Orlando Kingsblood Re-signings, with competition: CB Aaron Shaw, G Shaun Singleton, T Nate Collier, T Walt Woods New players signed: WR Dwayne Patter Players signed away: WR Louis Woodson, S Conrad Flannery, P Erik Horton, WR Curtis Wingo CB Aaron Shaw is still mulling over his options through four weeks – and I hope he continues to do so, perhaps outlasting the bids he has in front of him. I try again to make a one year offer, and he at least includes our $7.2 million tender on his consideration list, though it pales next to the 6 and 7 year offers he has on the table from other teams. Denver surprises me as they move quickly and sign WR Louis Woodson – it’s not even a fat deal ($1m for one year) but he accepted before I could get in an offer of my own. Yet another solid (but non-affinity) guy who departs this year – in what is looking like a year of some real erosion. As expected, S Conrad Flannery accepts his deal from Jacksonville, and he leaves for greener pastures as well. My guess is that leaves the battle for the starting FS job between Brock Pearson and one of our reserve cornerbacks – perhaps Orlando Kingsblood. In fact, I think Kingsblood is probably the frontrunner, based on his run stopping skills. I am very, very surprised when CB Aaron Shaw accepts our $7.2 million offer. He turned down big signing bonuses to stay – but landing him will certainly help to stabilize the secondary. G Shawn Singleton is next – and he, too, will have a good stabilizing influence. My next surprise, though, is losing WR Curtis Wingo. He wasn’t asking for much, but I once again waited too long, and he signed to go play with Louis Woodson in Denver. Ouch. We suddenly are going to have a lot of work to do with our receiving corps, just after I felt like we had made some real strides in putting that back together – I had been slotting Wingo for a long term future with us. There are costs involved when I am trying to wait these guys out, in order to save $100K here or there. Ugh. I am suddenly motivated to get out offers to a number of our remaining decent (but not star) players, and we re-sign several in short order. Nobody else was after C Fecht, CB Contreras, LB Guarino, or CB Kingsblood – but we wrap them all up nonetheless. LB Dan Maltman gets a solid deal for $2.8 million and takes it quickly – I didn’t want to see him get an offer and bolt unannounced, either. The big worry now is T Walt Woods – he is a pretty solid player, and at left tackle, the demands can tend to jump a bit. Last year he signed for less than $2 million, but now he’s looking for $5 million a year. I have been waiting him out, but now Buffalo has an offer in to his liking – six years, nearly $29 million total. If he signs that, he’s probably gone for good. I mull over our options – including Kurt Fattel and young Stanley Woodard, both left tackles who will be on the team this year (probably). Neither is as solid as Woods, though – and I like to have two solid left tackles anyway. Plus, we may end up needing one of those guys to play left guard this year, anyway. I decide to pay Woods – and get in an offer worth $5 million to try to lure him back. It takes until week 12, but he eventually re-signs on the one year deal. T Nate Collier also accepts our deal, though he had another offer on the table. Our one year tender wins out, but he will make $1.5m, a step up from last season as well. WR Dwayne Patter is a decent sixth year split end, and looks like he could step in and become our starter at that slot. Not a huge playmaker, but a solid guy who should fit in well, I think. If we had to slot them now, I’d probably have Groll as the flanker, Patter as the split end, and Donovan as the slot receiver. This may once again be an area we watch closely in the draft. |
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08-04-2005, 08:57 AM
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#149 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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FINAL FA STAGES (Weeks 16-20)
Re-signings, no competition: DT Kelvin Green Re-signings, with competition: New players signed: Players signed away: LB Lamar Benton As we close in on the rookie draft, we have had a few more departures than expected – so the team is taking on a bit of a different look. We still only have one true defensive end signed, and Ross Coffey is unlikely to merit playing time – so there are two active roster slots to consider. DTs Kelvin Green and Albert O’Connell will probably play at DE, but we do need a couple guys to be in active roles while actually slotted at DE. I like 9th year DE Lonnie Vance, but will hope to wait him out and sign him at less than the $1.5m or so he demands right now. DE Dwayne Zawlinski is another possibility, a decent run stopper slotted at DE, and will probably sign for under a million later on. With a few veteran options, I will sit back and wait things out – and look for help in the rookie class as usual. There’s a free agent cornerback who could be our next great find for the team – former first round pick Bryan Alexander is a 5th year guy my scout rates 56/60. He has solid skills in our coverage scheme, and looks like a pretty big hitter. I’m thinking he could become a starting CB, or perhaps free safety. He is looking for about $3 million a year – if we wait him out and that drops a bit, he could make a great addition, if we can afford him. On hold. LB Lamar Benton was a guy I figured to sign cheaply in the late free agency period – but I waited too long, and he took an offer from Green Bay. Not a superior player, but a nice reserve – another stupid loss. Really, the last guy we have left out there vulnerable to a bid is CB Derrick Bush. He’s asking for over $3m a year – and nobody has come knocking yet. This seems like an obvious case for waiting him out – but I’ll be upset if a cheap bidder sneaks in and grabs him, as I currently still want him as a starter. We head into the rookie draft sitting on 30 players under contract - a bit more than usual at this stage. We have nine picks in this draft, including the #4 overall, courtesy of a lousy year for the Bears. We have about $14.5 million in space on top of what we need to sign our rookies – so we ought to have enough flexibility to work things out with CB Bush, sign one or two veteran defensive ends, and work out deals with restricted free agents like FB Barrett, WR Donovan, and our young blossoming quarterbacks. |
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08-04-2005, 09:44 AM
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#150 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Fairfax, VA
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One of the interesting things about this approach to me is the amount of effort you need to spend in free agency. I'm curious if you've noticed any other issues in free agency other than the weakness of the computer AI in going after your free agents.
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