Snakebitten: A Real-Time MP FOF thread

[QuikSand]

DC BUREAU

As I open the game, the big question is on the position switch LB-to-S to anchor our DB chemistry. Did our ultra-vegan cayenne-cleanse program work its magic enough to pull it all together...?

Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Okay, then. He's set as our 7-8 group leader for the foreseeable future. Great.

We have, no joke, 14 guys on our roster in the secondary. I want to carry... idano... maybe 9? Where do we go with this?

Front Office Football Eight
D.C. United Roster, Scout Overview
   
  Player                #   Pos   Start Exp  Current Estimate Future Estimate  Cntrct 
Junker, Josiah          1527LCB         2    45               55               3 yrs. 
Peterson, Cesar         1523LCB         5    41               41               1 yr.  
Figures, Garrett        1529LCB         1    28               41               1 yr.  
Franz, Taylor           1520RCB         3    52               52               4 yrs. 
Nodin, Cris             1535RCB         5    42               42               3 yrs. 
Jeffrey, Colton         1547RCB         7    38               38               2 yrs. 
Boyer, Rondell          1546RCB         3    34               37               2 yrs. 
Reese, Miles            1642SS          7    50               50               2 yrs. 
Rodgers, Jared          1624FS          9    47               47               2 yrs. 
Sampson, Carter         1633FS          6    42               42               1 yr.  
Scott, Tom              1630FS          2    36               48               3 yrs. 
Arndt, Luke             1638FS          7    34               34               2 yrs. 
##Brittain, A.J.        1645FS          3    25               40               2 yrs. 
Cassell, Austin         1636FS          1    16               35               4 yrs. 
Trippi, Caiden          665 LS          4    21               21               2 yrs. 

Well, step by step, who's in now?

FS Arndt is the chem anchor, he has to stay. Ratings will drop, he's likely inactive forever now.

Who is too capable to cut? CB Junker (7-8 no chem), CB Franz (7-8 no chem), CB Jeffrey (8-9 48P), SS Reese (8-9 91 P), S Scott (8-9 31P). So, that's 6 guys who have to make it.

What is the case for each guy after that?

CB Peterson: ST, End, 51P, can play anywhere, bump 62
CB Figures: rookie could pop, ST 70/82
CB Nodin: Bump 86, Int 73, 96P, signed 3y, usable as CB2
CB Boyer: no voids, 92P, but needs starts
S Rodgers: Bump 67, Zone 37, no voids, End, 82P
S Sampson: 4y cohesion, Zone 77, Bump 70, 07P tho
S Brittain: cheap, has starts, 94P
S Cassell: Zone 24/74, PH 51, could pop?

Okay, I will keep the two rookies around, but UDFA Figures has the better shot of making the 53. Boyer and Sampson (!) get cut. Brittain stays for now, he could be Mr. 53 or Mr. 54, depending on my options for end-of-bench chem guys...I like cheap, strong, and re-signable for that job in this league.

[QuikSand]

...then I realize that DC was only at 60 players, no need to cut anyone for preseason. All for naught, but that's my thinking.

[QuikSand]

Busy day here. Nothing super-exciting to report.

LB Gardner's holdout costs him his job. Enjoy minsal, pal. We'll carry only 5 LB into this season - zero injuries but still dicey.

Starting rookies at both tackle positions. Just not pleased with the sack-a-game from our run-first RT, the guy I decided to commit to years ago. He'll sit and chem.

The pair of titanic receivers are in season 7. Doesn't feel right. We're likely a playoff team, I think, but the likelihood of them retiring ringless is looming really large now. Just not putting the shoulder into this that it takes, perhaps. Or the collective cumulative effect of the draft-solvers and gameplan-solvers lapping me... that could be it, also.

Prediction: Ravens go 11-5, #5 seed

[QuikSand]

DC BUREAU

So, cutdown day for the United/WFT...whatevs. RB2 was one to watch...undrafted rookie Coates bumped mightily in camp and he'll get his hundred touches or so. I had him in my to-be-drafted queue but didn't like his bar profile - I still don't but a +10 preseason move is enough to give him a look this year.

WR Damon Malone - looks like Father Time finally caught up in coverage. 40/40 now. There's, like, no way we could still feature him... right? Right? (Okay, I split things up pretty fairly, but Malone still in the featured slot role in 11 formation, which will bring him a lot of looks)

Okay, some veteran cuts here, too.

Hard to say how much having a really productive WR1 has been underneath it all here. He's a 40/40 now and should get 110-130 targets instead of his steady diet of 180-200. We have capable players to fill in, and the roster overall looks... pretty good.

Prediction: 11-5, #3 seed

[QuikSand]

BTW, the league scout is very fond of one of my Ravens' undrafted rookie pickups:

http://gml.fof-belco.com/playercard.php?playerid=98992

Interesting...

[QuikSand]

...we'll label him a territorial draft pick. He's from right down the road of here.

[QuikSand]

Ravens Reclaim Division, #1 Seed With 12-4 Season

I wanted to predict this would happen... glad it did.

GML: Baltimore Ravens 2125

Quick reacts:

QB Lyle...wow... would have guessed 42/18 was beyond him, yay
Passing attack of 7.54 ypa is league best - gotta be happy with that
Targets got really consolidated (more than expected) but ok...
#11 PVC posted career best 1544/11 on 174 targets, yes pls
TE Gilbertson target hog for 6.54 ypt... mmm ok i guess
Running game pretty meh, no shock given the OL we started
We don't win with the running game, though... Slaten 2.49 ypc lol

Defensively, PR% was 4th overall, so we got what we wanted there
Baump and Espinosa led the way, Turnbull 35 pressures but 6 sacks
PD% was, again, just not good enough - 52.1% for 24th, yucko
We held opponents to mere 5.52 ypa, I'm having trouble squaring that
So, overall pass rush and keep-it-short played out okay for Pass D
Hardly any interceptions - that's the missing piece there, okay then

Anyway, a legit elite pass-first, okay-at-the-rest team, as it should be

Very pleased, overall.

[QuikSand]

DC Team Wins Division at 11-5, Hosts Dallas in Playoff Opener

Exactly as projected... good enough to take the division again, not good enough to really figure into the top tier, as we would have preferred.

GML: Washington Football Team 2125

So, my quick takeaways:

QB Clancy remains a high end, but not top tier, performer - no shock
His 6.84 ypa is okay, 34/19 is fine, overall rating 86.6 is fine
WR Malone still our top guy, and 8.55 ypt says that was okay, at least
Carrubba and Roach behind him were both lesser performers
We barely even tried to run the ball, 20-79 average per game, meh
Offense, overall, basically replacement level, or a click better, that's it

On D, pressure was top-ten, teamwide 22.4 PR% okay not great
LB Welch (slotted at DE) and DT Pascal led the way with 12, 10 sacks
Nobody else behind them really added much, Sinclair 7 sacks on 14 tackles
Overall good against the run, mediocre against the pass (not thrilled)
One day we'll outgrow non-chem LBs Duda and Welch, but not soon
Rotation at DB seemed okay, Junker Reese Franz came out w/top grades

Overall, this is a "pretty good" team - probably has been all along, but papered over by having a really good QB/WR1 battery overpowered in its effect. Run this season 100 times, and we'd get a few byes, a few miss-the-playoffs, but a lot of 9-11 win seasons, I think. "Pretty good"

First time in a while I'm comfortable saying the Baltimore team is the better of the two. More coherence there right now, having two stud receivers can do that, even if you don't max them out.

[QuikSand]

Fun tidbit from DC...

1		FL Jalen Snyder (WAS)	2,058.8	52-1195-3TD pr. 0-0-0TD kr, 0 spec tm tkl.
2		P Joshua Michels (CAR)	1,407.2	123 pnt, 6156 yds, 50.0 avg, 61in20.
3		FL Victor Winters (STL)	1,395.0	43-628-3TD pr. 0-0-0TD kr, 0 spec tm tkl.
4		RB Daryl Chandler (KCY)	1,391.3	36-435-3TD pr. 0-0-0TD kr, 27 spec tm tkl.
5		RB Sammy Torres (GBY)	1,357.5	44-822-2TD pr. 0-0-0TD kr, 0 spec tm tkl.

SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR CANDIDATES

[tzach]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

QB Lyle...wow... would have guessed 42/18 was beyond him, yay
Passing attack of 7.54 ypa is league best - gotta be happy with that
Targets got really consolidated (more than expected) but ok...

i probably should have kept him

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by tzach

i probably should have kept him

prolly

[QuikSand]

GML POSTSEASON RECAP

GAME RESULTS
Wild Card Round	BOX		Atlanta Falcons (Ben E Lou)	14-23	San Francisco 49ers (Juggernaut)		LOG
Wild Card Round	BOX		Buffalo Bills (hexagon)	0-26	Houston Texans (MattC)		LOG
Wild Card Round	BOX		Dallas Cowboys (FlexD)	21-30	Washington Football Team (KickStand)		LOG
Wild Card Round	BOX		Jacksonville Jaguars (finkellll)	16-13	New England Patriots (pyser)		LOG
Divisional Round	BOX		Houston Texans (MattC)	29-21	San Diego Chargers (Jops)		LOG
Divisional Round	BOX		Jacksonville Jaguars (finkellll)	7-29	Baltimore Ravens (QuikSand)		LOG
Divisional Round	BOX		San Francisco 49ers (Juggernaut)	28-13	Green Bay Packers (sawblade300)		LOG
Divisional Round	BOX		Washington Football Team (KickStand)	17-10	New Orleans Saints (AVAILABLE)		LOG
Conference Round	BOX		Houston Texans (MattC)	7-16	Baltimore Ravens (QuikSand)		LOG
Conference Round	BOX		San Francisco 49ers (Juggernaut)	12-9	Washington Football Team (KickStand)		LOG

The GM Challenge Bowl Result
Front Office Bowl	BOX		Baltimore Ravens (QuikSand)	17-23	San Francisco 49ers (Juggernaut)		LOG

[QuikSand]

Really hard to complain about my two teams earning draft picks 30 and 31.


That said... earning the first-ever QuikSand/KickStand bowl game would have been awfully sweet.


Very good season, falling just short of great in back to back weeks.

[QuikSand]

LOL my backup QB Archie Bridges is as dumb as a bag of hammers but he is my guy

[Chas in Cinti]

Nice season!

[QuikSand]

Yeah, we'll put it down as a "what could have been"

[QuikSand]

Ravens 2126 Offseason

Okay, so we won't sneak up on anyone now. We're legit, we hope.

Retirement losses unsurprising: CB Bernardino (CB2 and group leader) will be felt, but we had a plan for this in place... and RT Sheldon we had soured on (and semi-replaced) anyhow, we'll be okay without all those sacks allowed.

Roster reset:

Front Office Football Eight
Baltimore Ravens Roster, Scout Overview
   
  Player                #   Pos   Start Exp  Current Estimate Future Estimate  Cntrct 
Lyle, Austin            109 QB          7    45               45               4 yrs. 
Justin, Evan            114 QB          9    24               24               1 yr.  
Bridges, Archie         106 QB          2    17               29               3 yrs. 
Gilliland, Marco        105 QB          3    12               27               ---    
Allegretti, Jeffrey     233 RB          7    55               55               1 yr.  
Joyner, Donnie          223 RB          7    46               46               ---    
Slaten, Zach            229 RB          5    43               43               1 yr.  
Hillhouse, Kristopher   349 FB          8    58               58               2 yrs. 
Bryant, Nate            346 FB          7    14               14               1 yr.  
Gilbertson, Johnnie     440 TE          4    46               46               1 yr.  
Hartman, Marcus         484 TE          6    37               37               1 yr.  
Huffman, Alexander      481 TE          5    37               37               2 yrs. 
VanCaeyzeele, Parker    511 FL          8    66               66               1 yr.  
Webster, Christopher    512 FL          3    52               55               2 yrs. 
McCormick, Phil         583 FL          4    32               36               1 yr.  
Olman, J.J.             516 FL          4    27               38               ---    
Tatum, Tracy            517 FL          2    25               40               3 yrs. 
Behne, Warren           518 SE          8    82               82               1 yr.  
Collins, William        580 SE          8    34               34               ---    
Dupont, Ivan            582 SE          3    32               38               2 yrs. 
Hanley, Rodolfo         586 SE          6    24               27               ---    
Cook, Shaun             663 C           8    54               54               ---    
Emmons, Blaine          762 LG          4    85               85               1 yr.  
Gaines, Josh            775 LG          11   75               75               1 yr.  
Reeg, Logan             765 RG          6    17               17               ---    
Caver, T.J.             861 LT          2    45               57               3 yrs. 
Douglas, Kim            864 LT          9    7                7                1 yr.  
Garcia, Ricky           860 RT          2    32               43               3 yrs. 
Moore, Reggie           902 P           7    84               84               4 yrs. 
Thomas, Mario           1003K           12   85               85               ---    
Turnbull, Kevin         1191LDE         8    50               50               2 yrs. 
Espinosa, Joey          1193LDE         4    47               47               1 yr.  
Baump, Jackson          1198RDE         6    66               66               2 yrs. 
Bruce, Broderick        1194RDE         3    39               41               1 yr.  
Wilson, Derek           1292NT          9    47               47               1 yr.  
Truong, Giovanni        1290NT          2    28               40               3 yrs. 
Middleton, Tucker       1297NT          11   22               22               2 yrs. 
Crawford, Tyler         1354WILB        9    48               48               1 yr.  
Schenk, Rich            1356WILB        10   44               44               ---    
Sorota, Tyrus           1415SLB         11   52               52               ---    
Duran, John             1459WLB         5    39               39               1 yr.  
Lang, Wayne             1458WLB         2    38               49               3 yrs. 
Boyd, Ernest            1526LCB         7    62               62               2 yrs. 
Kindred, Matt           1532LCB         6    43               43               2 yrs. 
Atkins, Quentin         1537LCB         2    43               48               1 yr.  
Logan, Bennett          1534RCB         8    47               47               1 yr.  
Wiggins, Les            1542RCB         10   36               36               1 yr.  
Stone, Ken              1645SS          4    48               48               ---    
O'Neal, Dylan           1630FS          3    42               42               2 yrs. 
Spangler, Doug          1627FS          4    38               38               1 yr.  
Henson, Jordan          469 LS          2    20               20               1 yr.  
   
$$ - player is suspended, ## - player is inactive,  
** = player is injured, %% - player is on IR.  
   
Players Under Contract: 40
Inactive: 0
On Active Roster: 40
   
Salary Cap: $729,500,000
Cap Room: $168,410,000
Maximum for New Player: $142,690,000
Cap Room Lost (to old contracts): $1,160,000
   
Cap Room Lost Next Year (to old contracts): $0
Cap Room Required Next Year: $289,350,000

So... quick summary is: not much cap space to play with (receivers need renegs this year), not a ton of urgent "needs," as things ought to be for a team that is already where we want to be, mostly.

Will do the usual routine here, but I doubt I'll have a lot to document, really.

[QuikSand]

...it does strike me that this last season was the first time I have ever carried 4x QBs for chemistry. Is it possible that had something material to do with Lyle's performance spike? Seems unlikely, but... not completely far-fetched.

[QuikSand]

Front Office Football Eight
Team Statistics - Kick Returns
   
  Team   PR    Avg   KR    Avg   OppPR Avg   OppKR Avg  
D.C. Uni52     23.0  34    29.0  40    8.6   56    23.8    
Minnesot28     21.0  37    26.0  28    7.5   46    25.7    
Green Ba44     18.7  23    28.8  42    8.5   23    21.8    
Houston 50     17.0  32    29.5  43    7.7   21    20.2    
New Engl48     16.0  29    24.9  37    8.4   38    19.6    
Dallas C33     15.1  35    30.5  31    13.0  41    21.9    
St. Loui43     14.6  42    27.0  33    10.9  43    28.3    
Baltimor44     14.5  33    30.0  35    5.6   30    21.7    
Atlanta 35     14.0  30    24.5  33    10.0  47    22.6    
Kansas C36     12.1  39    24.0  40    16.6  55    27.1    
Arizona 33     11.3  40    24.4  36    13.5  34    21.9    
Denver B55     11.1  44    27.6  45    10.6  28    21.4    
Pittsbur45     10.9  38    25.3  52    9.6   32    28.2    
Indianap38     10.7  37    20.4  33    12.0  37    24.6    
Miami Do61     10.5  41    24.8  64    6.9   18    24.1    
Chicago 40     10.4  46    29.1  43    14.4  48    26.6    
New Orle47     9.0   35    22.4  57    11.0  20    22.4    
Clevelan39     8.8   30    22.4  42    12.5  40    25.3    
San Fran49     8.7   39    29.2  39    10.0  36    25.2    
Anaheim 34     8.6   42    19.4  49    11.3  40    24.3    
Seattle 35     8.5   31    25.8  54    12.3  38    27.6    
Cincinna54     8.5   32    24.8  35    10.0  35    26.3    
New York45     8.4   43    21.0  48    12.6  31    27.3    
Oakland 45     8.4   34    20.2  48    12.1  30    24.5    
New York47     8.4   36    19.1  51    11.5  43    22.7    
Tampa Ba50     7.4   33    26.7  45    10.2  32    24.2    
Buffalo 64     6.7   39    22.2  56    8.1   29    21.8    
Detroit 44     6.6   37    22.0  44    10.3  22    27.4    
Jacksonv37     6.4   42    19.9  46    14.1  62    26.0    
Philadel35     5.0   43    26.3  44    16.1  52    27.8    
San Dieg36     4.5   46    22.0  42    11.5  38    22.4    
Carolina51     3.9   28    21.6  62    9.6   25    27.1    
$$League1397   10.8  1170  24.6  1397  10.8  1170  24.6    
   
PR - Punts Returned, Avg - Yards per Punt Return, KR - Kickoffs Returned,  
Avg - Yards per Kick Return, OppPR - Punts Returned by Opponents,  
Avg - Yards per Punt Return, KR - Kickoffs Returned by Opponents,  
Avg - Yards per Kick Return.

Trying this to save time, vs my usual curated analysis.

Baltimore was very good across the range.
Washington/DC was great in punt returns, and above average elsewhere.

[QuikSand]

...this is going to be a rather tight budget year, that much is clear already. not sure whether that means I need to "get a lot from our rookie class" or "get the F out of the rookie class" but we're gonna be pinched. WR Behne is asking for a Brinks truck, oddly enough, after the years our two wideouts had, respectively, that's amusing. (Might reflect on my usage choices, as well)

Anyway, that $140m in cap space is mostly spoken for, I'll just say that much right now. K Thomas picked the wrong year to be sitting out there as a $20m free agent, I fear. LB Sorota... doubly so, for his $30m request.

Okay, LB is going to be tricky. Crawford (9th, 48/48) is good enough and has endurance to take a full time load. He won't extend cheaply, but we have him for this year - he's fine. Duran (5th, 39/39) a lesser player but mainly the same, a decent OLB starter. Lang (2nd, 38/49) is ready for a larger role and could play anywhere. These three are the only guys we have signed, and the other two from last year's roster both want to get paid more than I expect to be able to handle. Could get rather tricky, will be on the lookout for a cheap guy via FA or trade.

[QuikSand]

DC BUREAU

G Morris Mauriello is out only retirement, not a shock but I had been hoping he'd stay, as he'd be part of a good (chem) turn coming at OL maybe next season. Alas, not a major loss.

Roster reset:

Front Office Football Eight
D.C. United Roster, Scout Overview
   
  Player                #   Pos   Start Exp  Current Estimate Future Estimate  Cntrct 
Clancy, Rondell         109 QB          12   60               60               1 yr.  
Matlosz, Winston        102 QB          3    18               37               2 yrs. 
McInerney, Albert       234 RB          6    52               52               1 yr.  
Coates, Corbin          237 RB          2    41               45               ---    
Reed, Ruben             226 RB          4    34               35               ---    
Hackney, Brandon        344 FB          9    33               33               ---    
Rastok, Caiden          339 FB          6    26               31               1 yr.  
Wells, Weston           448 TE          3    47               47               2 yrs. 
Dawkins, Neil           441 TE          8    43               43               2 yrs. 
Corbett, Luis           487 TE          10   19               19               1 yr.  
Roach, Barry            522 FL          8    51               51               ---    
Everhart, William       580 FL          7    45               45               ---    
Snyder, Jalen           519 FL          5    44               44               1 yr.  
Malone, Damon           582 FL          11   43               43               ---    
Carrubba, David         504 SE          6    60               60               3 yrs. 
Robbins, Lester         589 SE          9    19               19               2 yrs. 
Fitzgerald, Anthony     660 C           9    75               75               3 yrs. 
Holsey, Branden         661 C           6    40               40               ---    
Randle, Neil            770 LG          9    51               51               1 yr.  
Lyons, Shane            873 LT          8    73               73               1 yr.  
Rodier, Donovan         874 LT          4    59               63               1 yr.  
Walsh, Leo              867 LT          6    19               19               1 yr.  
Poston, Marlon          878 RT          2    31               40               3 yrs. 
Kimsey, Miles           908 P           2    48               50               ---    
Wijaya, Joel            1003K           7    47               47               1 yr.  
Ogden, Thurman          1193LDE         7    46               46               ---    
Gillespie, Samuel       1197LDE         3    42               49               2 yrs. 
Pascal, Roderick        1290NT          12   55               55               ---    
Sweeney, Aiden          1291NT          4    52               52               1 yr.  
Ackerman, Julio         1294NT          2    29               46               3 yrs. 
Trammell, J.C.          1358SILB        8    53               53               2 yrs. 
Ruddick, Paul           1340SILB        3    49               49               2 yrs. 
O'Neill, Ronald         1354SILB        9    40               40               2 yrs. 
Duda, Terrance          1451SLB         10   74               74               1 yr.  
Welch, Max              1453SLB         7    67               67               2 yrs. 
Brew, Manuel            1459SLB         2    50               56               3 yrs. 
Kinney, Andrew          1495SLB         2    29               45               3 yrs. 
Jasper, Francisco       1456WLB         3    50               50               ---    
Sinclair, Alan          1449WLB         8    35               35               1 yr.  
Junker, Josiah          1527LCB         3    56               56               2 yrs. 
Peterson, Cesar         1523LCB         6    41               41               ---    
Figures, Garrett        1529LCB         2    31               42               ---    
Franz, Taylor           1520RCB         4    52               52               3 yrs. 
Nodin, Cris             1535RCB         6    42               42               2 yrs. 
Jeffrey, Colton         1547RCB         8    37               37               1 yr.  
Boyer, Rondell          1546RCB         4    37               37               1 yr.  
Reese, Miles            1642SS          8    47               47               1 yr.  
Scott, Tom              1630FS          3    54               54               2 yrs. 
Rodgers, Jared          1624FS          10   40               40               1 yr.  
Arndt, Luke             1638FS          8    27               27               1 yr.  
Brittain, A.J.          1645FS          4    25               40               1 yr.  
Trippi, Caiden          665 LS          5    21               21               1 yr.  
   
$$ - player is suspended, ## - player is inactive,  
** = player is injured, %% - player is on IR.  
   
Players Under Contract: 39
Inactive: 0
On Active Roster: 39
   
Salary Cap: $729,500,000
Cap Room: $246,680,000
Maximum for New Player: $220,750,000
Cap Room Lost (to old contracts): $5,110,000
   
Cap Room Lost Next Year (to old contracts): $0
Cap Room Required Next Year: $202,650,000

Yes, at some point I might catch up to the real world, and go with WFT. In no hurry to do so, locally.

Anyway - bottom line is more cap space, fewer pressing obligations (I think, on first glance), and I think this team could be looking to make a move here or there.

[QuikSand]

...man every bubble guy on this DC roster wants $9m, killin me

[QuikSand]

Ravens manage to reneg two stars (WR Behne, G Emmons) and that's going to have to suffice for an update on what is usually a busy stage. We're just going to be cap-strapped this offseason, trying to hold things together.

Posting a "picks for sale" thread presently.

[QuikSand]

DC BUREAU

We spent some real money - extending QB Clancy, and signing something old and something new:

	Washington Football Team	KickStand	RDT Malachi Carlisle	5 years, $245,000,000 (Bonus: $205.0M. Salary: $8.0M, $8.0M, $8.0M, $8.0M, $8.0M.)	78	78
	Washington Football Team	KickStand	FL Damon Malone	2 years, $28,000,000 (Bonus: $16.0M. Salary: $6.0M, $6.0M.)	40	40

Looks like the best rejected offer for DT Carlisle was $63m/yr, so we'll have to guess hit this one about right by way of more bonus money. Hard to say when the numbers work out that way - the other offer might have been ansurdly backloaded, etc. Anyway, we got out guy, big run stopper for the middle for the next five seasons.

[QuikSand]

Back to back draft picks, I won't belabor the heartbreak in DC on a near miss of a great fit...




Washington: KickStand takes DT Bubba Sherman with the 1.30 pick.

Run Defense		45<->71
Pass Rush Technique		44<->71
Pass Rush Strength		72<->99
Man-to-Man Defense		16<->42
Zone Defense		7<->34
Bump-and-Run Defense		32<->59
Play Diagnosis		33<->60
Punishing Hitter		48<->75
Endurance		36<->63
Special Teams		51<->78

HT	WT	RAW	ADJ	DASH	SOL	BENCH	AGI	BRJU	POS	%DEV
75	317	5.9	6.4	5.03	29	36	7.70	98	-	61

Baltimore: QuikSand takes S Ian Gallagher with the 1.31 pick.

Run Defense		11<->38
Man-to-Man Defense		56<->83
Zone Defense		60<->87
Bump-and-Run Defense		48<->74
Play Diagnosis		34<->61
Punishing Hitter		73<->100
Interceptions		45<->72
Punt Returning		0<->27
Kick Returning		0<->27
Endurance		43<->70
Special Teams		45<->72

HT	WT	RAW	ADJ	DASH	SOL	BENCH	AGI	BRJU	POS	%DEV
75	221	5.3	5.0	4.45	26	20	7.19	96	53	44

[QuikSand]

Free agency: DE Loadout and WR PVC both re-sign, no surprise but glad to have it done and in hand. Baump was a capout, to give us some breathing room for this year, PVC was a legit extension.

We signed an end-of-roster affinity OT, that's all this stage for the Ravens.

[QuikSand]

DC BUREAU

Glad to see we re-signed WR Roach. My bad in shorting him playing time in the penultimate year of his last contract - meaning he was pissed last year and unwilling to extend directly. He's clearly worth more to us (cohesion, chem) than a random team, but we were at risk of losing him even while our longtime WR1 is fading before our eyes a la Larry Fitzgerald. Anyhow, Roach got offered $17m/yr and $10m/yr elsewhere, but took our offer of 2/38. Feeling pretty good about hitting the market correctly there.

A new signing, who may prove to be important in time: DT Jessie Hopper. He has skills to play some at DT/DE but his main role will be to secure our D7 chem leadership in the 3-4 group, for continuity. Ear-pinner LB Sinclair is currently in the way of him taking the lead, we'll see how to best resolve that in time. But I can comfortably draft 5-6 and 10-11 guys there knowing that architecture will remain in place for the foreseeable future.

[QuikSand]

Draft update, late 2nd:




Washington: KickStand takes TE Blake Calloway with the 2.30 pick.

Run Blocking		51<->80
Pass Blocking		36<->64
Blocking Strength		0<->28
Avoid Drops		30<->58
Getting Downfield		33<->61
Route Running		52<->80
Third Down Catching		51<->79
Big-Play Receiving		47<->76
Courage		31<->59
Adjust to Ball		65<->94
Endurance		72<->100
Special Teams		20<->48

HT	WT	RAW	ADJ	DASH	SOL	BENCH	AGI	BRJU	POS	%DEV
72	244	4.8	4.2	4.68	31	17	7.77	105	43	44

My scouts graded him VU, it's a need position, so we reached a bit I guess. He was #300-something on the big board, though that's weighted by position and TE is a low weight... so, who knows. My quest to get legit production from the TE1/TE2 roles continues.




Baltimore: QuikSand takes T Levon Linquist with the 2.31 pick.

Run Blocking		18<->46
Pass Blocking		60<->88
Blocking Strength		38<->67
Endurance		52<->80

HT	WT	RAW	ADJ	DASH	SOL	BENCH	AGI	BRJU	POS	%DEV
77	318	5.4	5.9	5.31	39	29	7.41	103	-	43

Not in love here, but he's one of those best good fit available picks - needed more contributors along the OL, he could get the start at RT right away if he shows up looking good. Combines and bars both look fine (that 5.31 is over the old threshold, I don't know if that matters these days) and his chem fit should be strong.

[QuikSand]

[QuikSand]

Shit, a whole write up on our round 3 and 4 picks turned into dust

[QuikSand]

Anyway, quick roundup of free agency movement:

Stages 8-9 are an unusually disappointing stage for the Ravens, we got outbid on multiple targets (I'm still feeling a bit cap strapped, so had less ammo than usual)... RB Joyner was my mental RB2, but he and another target guy at LB opted for AI Seattle...three more defensive role-players picked other offers...so it goes. We did re-sign WR Collins, a centerpiece for our chemistry system, and C Cook, for whom we did have competition. So, continuity there, that's good.

I think I have decided to not re-sign TE Gilbertson. He'll start again this year, probably churn out his usual 7-ish ypt, and be in the all-pro conversation. But I'm not sure he's a $30m must-have. Letting him walk will give me enough breathing room to perhaps field a credible LB corps this season, since the rookie class has offered me virtually nothing there.

[QuikSand]

DC BUREAU

Free agency update here is boring - we tried to bring in a RB but missed, we managed to bring in a veteran S but I doubt he makes the team, and we did re-up for one bonus-free year with a favorite of mine, CB Cesar Peterson - a low-skills but versatile DB who fits our system well and plays special teams. I'll find some snaps for him here and there, despite being fairly deep at DB now.

We have spent down much of our cap space, but there are paper players in there - the new DB, our non-affinity TE making $24m - meaning I have more space than meets the eye, really. I'm regretting missing out on the stud C in free agency a few stages ago - landing him, even at $55m, would have made me happier with this roster, I'm convinced.

Anyway, no crisis here. Things basically on target.

[QuikSand]

...oh, I guess it's noteworthy that my longtime DT leader Pascal took another offer. I honestly wasn't sure whether I decided not to offer him, or just assumed he'd go unwanted. Either way, I have a chemistry plan for the D7 group, and recently signed a serious full-time DT, so Pascal wasn't a priority. He would have given us some cohesion up front, to be sure, but I think we will be okay without him and his $26m price tag.

Green Bay gives him a 2yr deal (12th year guy with fading ratings) and he gives them... well, a little bit of affinity fluff (four guys total connect with him). Maybe that was part of the thinking there?

[QuikSand]

So, after waiting out early free agency, feeling cap strapped, I decide to make what moves I can upon depleted demands for a couple targets:

	Baltimore Ravens	QuikSand	TE Archie O'Donnell	2 years, $6,720,000 (Bonus: $20K. Salary: $3.1M, $3.6M.)	24	32
	Baltimore Ravens	QuikSand	SLB Tyrus Sorota	1 year, $14,600,000 (Bonus: $9.3M. Salary: $5.3M.)	58	58
	Baltimore Ravens	QuikSand	K Mario Thomas	2 years, $24,560,000 (Bonus: $14.0M. Salary: $5.3M, $5.3M.)	82	82

Glad to have LB Sorota back for one more year, we just needed a legit presence at LB and he was the clear choice for talent, cohesion, chemistry all wrapped together. If I have to do a few capouts or whatever to make the cap work this year, so be it.


Basically same goes for the kicker Marlo "That Girl" Thomas. Best guy out there, and my theoretical special teams push experiment now continues.


The twist? I basically made these moves by deciding I would not extend TE Gilbertson. He responds with a holdout, natch. That will take some noodling, because I most definitely do not have an easy path to meeting his demands.

[QuikSand]

By the way, here's the BenBot assessment of the BAL draft... ranked mid-pack, better than usual for us:

18

BAL

QuikSand

1(31) SS Ian Gallagher 33/51 2(31) RT Levon Linquist 32/53 3(31) LG Robaire Newsom 28/51 7(31) RB Bob Marischen 30/42 5(31) FL Shaun Weigle 27/42 4(31) LCB Donny Kasnia 30/35 6(31) SLB Chester Christie 17/44

1(31) SS Ian Gallagher 33/51 2(31) RT Levon Linquist 32/53 3(31) LG Robaire Newsom 28/51 7(31) RB Bob Marischen 30/42 5(31) FL Shaun Weigle 27/42 4(31) LCB Donny Kasnia 30/35 6(31) SLB Chester Christie 17/44

63.9

On sneak peek, I basically agree with the rankings above - Gallagher looks like he will be a solid DB, probably a CB1/2 for us. The two OL both look like standard good-enough contributors, not stars, but both inclined to help in the passing game. DB Kasnia, I hope, will be a preseason boom and work his way into our plans.

[QuikSand]

DC BUREAU

Signed a solid veteran guard, good addition for us. Latitude to let T Lyons walk - we've been using him at LG anyway, after his one season at LT allowing 19 sacks.

LB/Edge Max Welch is holding out, I will try to pay him for only two years, but he could be a cut (in this weird one-shot system, holdouts are very tough to manage). I'm deep enough along the D7, I wanted to get past Welch and Duda before long anyhow... so I'm not into the 4yr deal he's demanding.

Our rookie draft is rated 30th... yeah, I know, I know.

30

WAS

KickStand

1(30) NT Bubba Sherman 47/59 2(30) TE Blake Calloway 23/46 3(30) SE Arturo Schultz 23/40 6(30) K Mike Lyons 47/59 4(30) SLB Terrell Houston 17/42 5(30) RCB Jared Garrett 22/43

1(30) NT Bubba Sherman 47/59 2(30) TE Blake Calloway 23/46 3(30) SE Arturo Schultz 23/40 6(30) K Mike Lyons 47/59 4(30) SLB Terrell Houston 17/42 5(30) RCB Jared Garrett 22/43

55.8

My sneak peek suggests DL Sherman will be pretty good, perhaps more inside than outside... TE Calloway will at least compete for a receiving rotation slot... Edge LB Houston is not what we had hoped for... and the rest are a mixed bag but nothing special.

[QuikSand]

yeah i know who cares

[QuikSand]

Well, the Ravens are trying to trade for an all-pro caliber LB. There are some warning signs that this might be on thin ice, but if not we should have a formal announcement that he's aboard, and our Sam troubles are suddenly behind us. Stay tuned...

[QuikSand]

The BAL stud LB trade doesn't look like it will happen, I can't quite sort out what went wrong, but I think our trade partner might not have sorted out all the nuts and bolts of the salary cap. So it goes.

[QuikSand]

Baltimore transactions in late free agency:

WILB Rich Schenk	Late FA Stage 1	re-signed as an unrestricted free agent
LT Lorenzo Arnold	Late FA Stage 1	turned down a contract offer: 2yrs, $7,690,000.
QB Marco Gilliland	Late FA Stage 1	re-signed as an unrestricted free agent
RB Dixon Gant	Late FA Stage 1	turned down a contract offer: 2yrs, $5,540,000.
LG Jermaine Joseph	Late FA Stage 1	signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $5,500,000.
RDT Walt Gordon	Late FA Stage 1	signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $5,060,000.
LDT Larry Cossaboom	Late FA Stage 1	signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $5,500,000.
RDT Jim Douthett	Late FA Stage 1	signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $5,500,000.
RCB Matthew Sprague	Late FA Stage 1	signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $5,060,000.
LDT Brandon Turner	Late FA Stage 2	signed as an unrestricted free agent from Dallas: 5yrs, $48,000,000.
QB J.R. Ricci	Late FA Stage 2	signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $5,060,000.
NT Brady Prescott	Late FA Stage 3	signed as an unrestricted free agent from Green Bay: 1yrs, $4,500,000.
FB Lionel Arndt	Late FA Stage 3	signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $5,520,000.

Schenk re-signs for continuity and run-stopping at LB, good.

But the big move here is landing DT Turner. 5th year guy, high endurance, skills-wise fits in as a long term asset in the base package and rotating elsewhere -- but for us, he's a chemistry build-around guy. 97 Leadership, 95 Personality. We'll defer to him as our leader for the next 6-8 years, hopefully. He's in the 8-9 group, but it turns out that the main load of our D7 happen to be in the 7-8 group...so this is as close to harmless as imaginable. Big move for us.

Who's trapped in the 8-9 nowhere land? DE Espinosa, LB Sorota, and LB Lang. I like all three, but no major problems here. Sorota surely in his last season anyway. Espinosa may or may not make it past this year - he's basically just a pass rusher, and we have been able to just "find" guys who fit that role easily enough. Lang projects as a good-enough starter at WLB, but not a centrally important guy, despite our lack of depth there. We'll survive, with or without him.

After releasing former D7 leader Middleton, we might have the cap space to extend TE Gilbertson. I don't think he is truly "worth it" but the crunch year is this year, not next year, and if we could squeeze him in this season then paying him too much next season won't hurt as much. It's back in play, I'll say that much for right now.

[QuikSand]

DC BUREAU

WLB Alan Sinclair	Late FA Stage 1	has begun a contract holdout
SLB Max Welch	Late FA Stage 1	has begun a contract holdout
WLB Alan Sinclair	Late FA Stage 1	released
SLB Max Welch	Late FA Stage 1	turned down a contract offer: 2yrs, $36,000,000.
RB Broderick Sutton	Late FA Stage 1	signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $5,060,000.
TE Jonathan Cunningham	Late FA Stage 2	turned down a contract offer: 3yrs, $16,500,000.
SILB Tre Hjerppe	Late FA Stage 2	signed as an unrestricted free agent from Cleveland: 3yrs, $15,000,000.
WLB Brett Maloney	Late FA Stage 2	signed as an unrestricted free agent from Arizona: 2yrs, $22,000,000.
QB Chris Stachelski	Late FA Stage 2	signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $6,720,000.
RG Diego Compton	Late FA Stage 2	turned down a contract offer: 2yrs, $6,720,000.
WLB Francisco Jasper	Late FA Stage 2	re-signed as an unrestricted free agent
P Jim Fisher	Late FA Stage 2	signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $6,280,000.
LCB Garrett Figures	Late FA Stage 2	re-signed as an unrestricted free agent
TE Lee Lester	Late FA Stage 2	signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $5,500,000.
MLB Richie Cassidy	Late FA Stage 2	signed as a free agent: 2yrs, $8,000,000.
RB Ruben Reed	Late FA Stage 3	re-signed as an unrestricted free agent
P Miles Kimsey	Late FA Stage 3	re-signed as an unrestricted free agent

The LB Sinclair holdout is a snap - he's in the way of group chemistry and picks that exact moment to hold out. See ya, thanks for the pass rushing, good luck on ya! (Narrator voice: he will not find work)

LB Welch is tougher - I put in an extension, he turned it down. I have counted on him as a build-around pass rusher. He wants nearly $50m a year - I don't know what to do, really.

Well...LB Tre Hjerppe (huh?) is aboard to potentially fill that role. Now I see the method to my Friday madness, three days later. Not an affnity, but a guy who could pin 'em back and rush the passer. For $5m a year. Okay, then, that gives me the flexibility to play hardball with Welch after all.

LB Jasper was a nice after-draft find two years ago, this year he's on a 1yr deal to "prove it" again. He might not be in our long term plans, with a chem problem looming (he would take the lead at some point, and that doesn't work from where we stand now). So, short term plans right here... LB Trammell and Maloney are the alternatives for the role we had in mind for Jasper.

Ok, that's it for "excitement" in this stage. The Pass rushing crew is the biggest unsettled segment of the roster, I reckon.

[QuikSand]

Ravens after camp only have 63 players on the roster... so the real push on TE Gilbertson, still holding out, isn't until next stage. I have a backup plan for all those TE targets - it's a cloud of FB Hillhouse, three-bar guy Huffman, and special teams ace Hartman. My guess is they would do okay, but not great, with the 150+ targets they'd end up with.

[QuikSand]

DC BUREAU

We're at a full 70 players, so work to do here.

I'm trying to click in a third QB for chemistry, that dream will live on after 60, we'll see about 53.

At RB, I will give McInerney another year, and Coates with him. Last year they were basically the whole show. I've got four hangers on looking for that RB3 role and maybe a clearer shot next year after we decline to re-sign McInerney. What matters in a running back? Indeed, Dr Freud, what do women want?

At TE, in keeping with my track record, it's a near tossup for TE2 between our 2nd round rookie and some guy we grabbed off the trash heap after the draft. UDFA Lee Lester is a local guy from U of Md, plays special teams, and is better for chemistry. The rookie with the $4m plus signing bonus might be a trivially better receiver. Right now, faith in them is high enough we discard our non-affinity stopgap.

WR group looks okay - Malone is fading, and likely takes another punishing ratings hit in preseason. Carubba and Roach are okay at WR1/WR2, but we won't have that build-around target any longer. That will sting a bit. Rookie Schultz will make the team but never be a serious factor, I think.

...

LB Max Welch reported to camp - good news for us. So, we likely get him for his two remaining years, that's ideal. That will push Hjerppe out of a job. Circle of life and all that.

Lots of tidying up. Cutdown to 53 will be tricky here, a few tough calls at LB, DB especially.

[QuikSand]

Well, TE Gilbertson comes back after training camp and reports. So, we potentially do have him in the mix - I guess I'm glad I didn't cut him in the purge to 60, which was in play.

The quick perusal of the rookie class, including UDFAs, yields only three easy cuts. Not a bad crop, but that means I need to find cuts elsewhere to get to 53. Some work ahead. Busy day, not sure when I'll get to that.

out for now

[QuikSand]

Ravens cutdown... ok, TE Gilbertson will get most of his usual workload. Fine.

CB Kasnia gets cut - ratings are going to be fine (he was +5 in preseason) but a Pers 2 means no chem, and for a marginal skills guy, no dice here.

Yeah, file sent. I'm tired AF.

[QuikSand]

Ravens should win 11-12 games again, I'd hope.

[QuikSand]

DC BUREAU

Well, the duel between my two rookie TEs is still not settled - they both bomb in preseason and look dreadful. Great.

Meh. File is in. Still tired.

Should go 10-6 this year, I'm worried about the lack of good receiving targets. Might be on legit decline here.

[QuikSand]

[QuikSand]

Regular season in the books...

...so, if I told you that my two teams would total only 18 wins this season, you'd probably say - okay, disappointing, but it happens. Maybe they both fell onto modestly hard times a bit and went 9-7 or something? Like...that's within the range of reasonable outcomes.

Or, it could have been this...

[QuikSand]

RAVENS STARE INTO ABYSS, WITH 4-12 WASHOUT SEASON


Summary page here: GML: Baltimore Ravens 2126



So, I'm taking a quick look to see what happened... I did my file after a long day, wasn't in the best shape to prep it, and felt like I likely messed up special teams... but how bad could it have been?


The last round of releases look right, so it wasn't the AI stepping in and cutting all mu affinity gimps, that was my first thought. Nope, I cut down to 53 and got everyone in line, it seems.


So, did I leave in a preseason QB as the starter? I have had that happen in my weaker moments, for a week one surprise. Nope, Lyle the whole way, and he was... at least okay, with an 87.8 rating - not all star stuff but fine.


We were +4 on turnovers. Defense was unimpressive but not atrocious. Run game was weak but that's common for us.



WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?