FOF2k7: A Single Season Journey

[Dutch]

Introduction

The Buccaneers have had a string of 5 or 6 seasons of losing records to start off my SP dynasty. I land a great QB in the draft (using the unchallenging method of sucking bad enough to get the 1.1 pick). As he develops, I find myself with more cash than I know what to do with. So I spend it carelessly on a free agency splurge that brings us to the edge of greatness. With the help of some quality free agents to plug the gaps, we win the NFC Championship.

But luck, if we ever had any, runs out in the Solecismic Bowl. And we lose 24-10 to the Steelers. The next season we find ourselves wallowing in the depths of financial dire straights. We are so close that we need to keep this team together as best we can to make another push for the championship.

Our star 1.1 QB Allen Hall is now in his 5th year. He's also in the last year of his contract, and he's gonna ask for the world next year. So we decide to make a stand right now and win a championship. For QB Allen Hall, I think there is plenty of time to rebuild if neccessary, but for the sake of keeping the team together as is, there may only be one more chance.

I've got one season to make it happen.

[Dutch]

Global Options

Wall-Street Level
150 Injury Setting
House Rules: No restructuring player salary requests. (Free Agency exempt)
Current Year: 2014
Team: Tampa Bay

[Dutch]

Buccaneers Recent History

The Buccaneers, under the guidance of head coach Horace Dillon have fought their way out of perpetual crapiness into the ranks of the elite teams of the NFL. Back in his first season, 2009, the Bucs finished 6-10. In 2010, they dropped to 3-13, despite the addition of a promising young rookie quarterback named Allen Hall whom we drafted at the 1.1 pick. But the future looked bright because of Allen.

In both 2011 and 2012, the Bucs made the playoffs thanks in most part to QB Allen and our stud RB, former 1.9 pick Lewis Burnett. But in both wildcard matchups, the Bucs were on the losing end.

The good news was that QB Allen Hall was definitely the real deal.

[Dutch]

2013 Bucs Season in Review

Last year, the Bucs won key free agency battles as we went on a huge spending spree. We added a superstar cornerback (to give us two great 80+ CB’s) and a veteran SLB (70+ rating) were the big catches.

Due to our high draft picks, we added a couple of key players on the defensive line (2 stud DE’s, both with futures in the 80+ range). The 2013 team was built to win and hopes of an NFL Championship were on the mind.

And we did win, we walked through the playoffs into the 2013 Championship game, but couldn’t hang in the big Solecismic Bowl game which the AFC Champion Pittsburgh Steelers won by the score of 24-10.

[Dutch]

Challenges for 2014: A Preview

As we enter the new season, three serious issues need to be resolved to maintain our stance as contenders.

1.) Head Coach Horace Dillon and Defensive Coordinator Derek Amano are both up for new contracts. The threat of losing them to other teams is worrisome.

2.) Our star running back, Lewis Burnett, a former 1.9 draft pick is still 6 months away from recovering from a bad ACL tear that kept him out of the last half of last season and the running game is critical to what the Bucs want to do with their balanced attack.

3.) Cap space, with the big free agent battles won, now it’s time to pay the piper. The Bucs start off the 2014 season twenty million dollars over and need to restructure and cut players to maintain. To sum it up in a word – CAP HELL. See, I can't even manage my word usage. It’s that bad.

Oh, and speaking of CAP HELL, another issue is our star quarterback is now in the last year of his contract. This could be complicated next year, but we have no choice but to ignore it for now.

[Dutch]

STAFF HIRING STAGES

Motive: To resign my head coach and defensive coordinator.

Head Coach, Horace Dillon is E, G, G, A, E respectively in his key areas of concern. Not great, but not bad. He’s been with the team for five years and led us to the FOF Bowl last season, so I’d like to keep him around. He’s 55 years old. He’s requesting $6.4 million per season. I see I am able to offer $7.47 million, so I offer that for 5 years.

Defensive Coordinator, Derek Amano is G, E, E, A, G. He’s looking for $5.03 million per year. I can only offer $4.02 million per season, so that’s not looking good for my prospects of retaining his services.

We’ll see.

[Dutch]

Less drama than I anticipated, both my head coach and defensive coordinator both agree to stick around with the Bucs after the first round of coach signings. I guess the AI doesn't think to highly of them.

[Dutch]

PRE-FREE AGENCY STAGES

Motive – Ticket Prices, cut expensive vets, franchise designation, La Ligue Etrangere Solecismique.

TICKET PRICES
Since we did so well last season, I figured I’ll take advantage of it and make my fans pay. So a $5 price-hike across the board and another $5K on the luxury boxes should do the trick.

VETERAN CUTS
I'm not getting a clear picture at this point as to what I want to do with some of my pricier players, so I'll take it easy at this point and just cut the one guy who has severely diminished skills.

Free Safety Jerome Carter, who was entering his 6th season with the Bucs and 10th season overall is the lone cut at this point. His skills have diminished to the point where simply has no gas left in the tank. And a pretty bad shoulder injury last season apparently finished him off. His release will save the Bucs $2.5 million dollars this year with only a $400k cap hit this year and next.

FRANCHISE TAG
I will not use the Franchise Tag this year.

SUMMER LEAGUE
With the major injury to our star running back looming over the 2014 season, we decide to send his replacement from last season, 2nd year RB, Preston Dunn (3rd round draft pick) to the summer league. He’s 41/46 and improved a lot with the playing time last season. Let’s hope it does him some additional good, we may be counting on him. I'm a little concerned that it's a wasted trip since he is so well developed already but I'm not entirely sure if it helps only his current ratings or if it might give a boost to potential, so I'll send him.

[Dutch]

Free Agency and Interviews and Draft Preview

DRAFT PREVIEW
Since the Bucs won’t draft until 1.31, the truly exciting super studs at the top of the field are not very appealing, but there’s always plenty to check out in the draft. I’m not really looking for any starters due to the low picks, but I will focus on the best available player early in this year’s draft. More about that later.

INTERVIEWS
For the sake of this season, I will spread out my interviews evenly. 30 picks for offense and kickers, and 30 picks for defense and punters. Below is my generic way of breaking down how I’ll hand out interviews to the specific positions. I’ve bumped up need positions just slightly and lowered areas where I feel comfortable…but nothing drastic.

QB – 4
RB – 5
FB – 2
TE – 2
WR – 5
C – 1
OG – 5
OT – 5
K – 1
P – 1
DT – 5
DE – 4
OLB – 6
ILB – 3
CB – 5
S – 6

(NOTE: I actually had much planned for this section, but I did not save my draft results (human error or defective save button, I blame the computer) and lost a TON of written information on the individual position interviews. Because I had to restart the draft, my notes became obsolete. Grrr...)

[Dutch]

FREE AGENCY STAGE 1 : RENEGOTIATIONS

Even though I cut FS Jerome Carter, I’m still way deep in the hole on money. Hopefully, stage one will clear up some cap room without letting go of some expensive veterans. So I’ll start by trying to restructure deals.

KEY RENEGOTIATION

RG Carl Raymond – A former 2nd round pick in his 4th season, he’s already got a fat contract, but he’s willing to renegotiate all his years a bit cheaper if we add a 5th year to his 4 year deal. We agree, and that’ll save us roughly $1.8mil this season.

NOTE: I took a look at star QB Allen Hall’s (80/80) renegotiation request – He wants a 6 year 110 million dollar deal. I’m gonna have to make wholesale cuts to get him under the cap if I want to do anything about this year, so he will wait, perhaps an end of year deal can be struck, but I wouldn’t bank on it.

[Dutch]

Since I really couldn’t get any of my younger players to renegotiate to anything I found acceptable, the next choice was the chopping block. After re-working RG Carl Raymond and a few minor players, I decided it was time to go to the chopping block. I had some over-priced guys, so this shouldn’t actually be too painful.

KEY CUTS

TE Alex Smith (34/34) – The first guy to get the axe is the receivers leader and TE mentor. He’s in his 10th year and his ratings have been on the decline fast-track since a serious hamstring injury a few years ago. Saving for the team - $3,630,000.

DT Darnell Dockett (55/55) – Picked up just last season in the Bucs great free agent splurge….now his salary is too fat. It will hurt the Bucs though, as the savings net $4.99 million this year, but it’s also a cap hit of $4.13 million both this season and next. But he’s just not that special of a tackle and some younger guys can fill in just as well.

RT Jeremy Trueblood (49/49) – Entering his 9th season, he’s still a good option to start at tackle. But he provides the most bang for the release. $4.49 million saved at only the loss of $1.68 million this year and next.

[Dutch]

FREE AGENCY STAGE 2-12

Those were the first guys to get the axe to keep this championship club together (meaning my QB, 2 DE's, and 2 CB's). There may be more cuts later as we try to get from 32 players under contract up to 53. But that’s it for now and puts us $8.6 million under the cap. And because of the severe lack in actual cap room (over $7 million of that will go to rookies), the Bucs are forced to hang low on the free agent front.

[Dutch]

2014 DRAFT PREVIEW

NEEDS BY AREA POSITION

A quick assessment

Skill Positions: I am fairly set at all the skill positions except wide receiver. I’d love to get a good one for my QB, who only has veteran 9th year guy Colston Marques (58/58) as a fairly good receiver.

Offensive Line: With the cutting of RT Jeremy Trueblood, we could use another tackle, but 3rd round pick RT Michael Lane (27/40) should work out fair enough in a pinch.

P/K: Maybe a new punter if the opportunity arises. Our punter is a 2nd year (36/51). FWIW, our kicker is 2nd year (60/62) we drafted last year in the 5th round.

Defensive Line: Our bookend DE’s are pure studs. Both LDE Barry Sanders (58/80) and RDE Al Bergman (63/82) are both 1st round picks and both monsters opposing quarterbacks will have to deal with. We’re a bit softer in the middle where we have four average tackles battling it out for starting positions.

Linebackers: With only three on the roster, we need depth here for sure. Our best LB is SLB Derrick Johnson (69/69) who is no spring chicken, going into year number 10.

Defensive Backs: CB’s Dean Hongamen (84/84) and Joe “Speedy” Graham (83/83) are keys to our super defense. 7th round pick SS Lamont Law (63/63) has turned out to be a pleasant surprise and is a head-hunter in the defensive backfield.

[Dutch]

DRAFT DAY ROUND 1

1.31 – There is a WR on the board, but he’s considered “very overrated”. So I shy away from him, plus he’s only 14% developed. Ugh… I’ll pass. But there is a SLB named Jared Richmond that is solid across the board (except for run defense, where he is average.) I didn’t actually interview this guy, but his combines are outstanding. I’ll pick him up as the 1st round closes.

His immediate ratings are 27/55. Meh…

BTW – After training camp the WR I was eye-balling but didn’t like was picked at 2.1 and was rated 31/57. An all-around decent receiver at that point. (EDIT: But over 50% developed after training camp. WTF?)

[Dutch]

DRAFT DAY ROUND 2

2.31 – DT looks like my next grab. There are two guys that look promising. Victor Fernandez (5.1 rating) and Nick Battle (5.0). Both seem well versed in run defense and pass rush technique. Things I like to see in DT’s. Victor is a little more well rounded, but his endurance is questionable. Nick Battle is lacking in not much of anything, except as a punishing hitter. Everything else is pretty even, even the combine.

I’ll go with Nick Battle with the endurance edge.

His immediate ratings are 25/65. That's more like it!

[Dutch]

DRAFT DAY ROUND 3

3.31 – I find an intriguing flanker named Henry Hopper. I did not interview him. But his blue bars are maxed out in avoid drops and getting downfield. He's “minned out” (possible zero’s) in route running and big-play receiving. Courage, adjust to ball, punt ret, kick return, and endurance are all around 75% and special teams is around 50%. His combines are fairly high compared to other WR’s still on the board. The scouts say there are 7 wr’s still on the board that are better than Henry Hopper. But he’s my guy. I take him at 3.31.

His immediate ratings are 25/51. Not bad, but will they hold?

[Dutch]

DRAFT DAY ROUND 4

4.31 – A RT that I eyed at 3.31, Blake Richmond is available. He looks to be a great run stopper and has decent footwork to be a good pass blocker. His big knock is he’s relatively weak and may have stamina issues. But I take him at 4.31.

His immediate ratings are 18/44. Not too good. There is another RT named Tyrell Rodgers I may take if he’s till available at 5.31.

[Dutch]

DRAFT DAY ROUND 5

5.31 – T Rodgers is taken about 10 picks before mine. But RT Levon Henry is available. Above average run and pass blocking skills, weak strength, but decent endurance. Poor combine makes him slip this far. But I am disappointed with RT Blake Richmond and want to roll the dice. I select RT Levon Henry at 5.31.

His immediate ratings are 20/53. Better than I expected.

[Dutch]

DRAFT DAY ROUND 6

6.31 – Not really on the lookout for anything in particular, I decided to look for any possible steals at the top of the draft board that perhaps the AI passed over. Cruising through the selections (primarily QB and RB) I come across RB Kevin James. He’s top heavy on scout ratings (his running skills are better developed than his receiving skills) which is always a good thing for a pure ground pounder and he excels at 3rd down running, hole recognition, and elusiveness. So I suspect he has the potential to be a pretty exciting back.

His immediate ratings are 30/46. About what I expected.

[Dutch]

DRAFT DAY ROUND 7

7.31 – The penultimate pick in the draft is a reach. QB Calvin Orlaskey. He’s got good solid ratings across the board except for deep passes and read defense. But his specialty is Deep Passes, so to me, it may just be enough to make up for his poor rating. His volatility is 91, which is perfect for such a late round pick. The beauty of it, is that if he’s a bust, nobody will enjoy his services. But he may just work out. We’ll see. So we reach here.

His immediate ratings are 20/58. We’ll take it.

[Dutch]

LATE FREE AGENCY STAGES

As the 2nd free agency period begins, I immediately head out to wrap up my rookies. My 1.31 and 2.31 I offer the longest/most expensive contracts and they sign. 3rd through 7th round picks get the short/expensive contracts. Not enough money one way or the other to worry about anybody holding out. So everybody will be signed heading into camp.

Small dilemma – I have $870k in cap room to play with and I have exactly 39 players under contract. Something’s got to give.

[Dutch]

LATE FREE AGENCY MOVES

Time for another round of cuts.

LCB Kelvin Winters (47/63) has been a great nickel back for us. But he’s oft injured and could save us just enough money to get some roster fillers to fill out the squad. But I’d hate to cut him. So I’ll shop him around and see what kind of value I can get in return.

The San Diego Chargers are the most interested team (99) and blows away the competition as far as interest is concerned. So I offer him up to the Bolts. (Bah, I forgot, I can’t do trades now.) So… Since I don’t have any money, and I really am not interested in cutting folks at this stage, I’ll wrap up free agency and take care of training camp before I readdress my need for players.

I decide to restructure LT Jerry Floyd (20/53) and LT Harold Jobe (51/51) contracts. This puts me at roughly $2.5m to spend on players. Since I really wanted to get some folks on my roster before training camp, this seemed like the right thing to do.

Minimum Wage Right now is $440k.

[Dutch]

SP AI Issue

Okay, this is a fairly decent sized weakness (still) of the SP experience. It’s better, but not great. In MP, some of the guys I’m about to pick up and some of the guys left should be nowhere near a free agent pool at this stage.

For instance, players in the free agent pool after free agency and 2nd free agency.

QB Matt Leinart 9th year (76/85)
TE Ben Troupe 11th year (67/67)
P Ryan Plakcenmeier 9th year (63/63)
LDT Travis Johnson 10th year (56/56)
LDE Jake Brutley Rookie (9/55)
RB O.J. Pleasant Rookie (18/53)
CB Derrick Straight 11th year (53/53)

[Dutch]

I pick up some guys that fill needs and don’t just go for the big names left in the pool.

TE Pete Garber-R (19/58)
MLB Doug Davis-R (13/43)
MLB Nolan Lau-R (15/37)
WLB Tony Whitfield-5th year (45/45)

This gets me up to 43 players and I’m about run out of money again. So it’s off to training camp and I’ll fill the rest of the holes later.

[Dutch]

TRAINING CAMP STAGE

I don't have any secrets about training camp, pretty balanced load across the board. I try to make sure I have at least two hours each for my running and passing game, plus two hours for defense. One area I like to reserve three hours for is filmroom time for my QB's, but QB Allen Hall is in great shape, so I keep this at two hours and fill in the spare time in team meetings and chemistry building. And after training camp is run, we can check out our rookies.

1.31 SLB Jared Richmond 27/55 --> 29/58 (+2/+3)
2.31 DT Nick Battle 25/65 --> 27/59 (+2/-6)
3.31 FL Henry Hopper 25/51 --> 25/46 (--/-5)
4.31 RT Blake Richmond 18/44 --> 23/43 (+5/-1)
5.31 RT Levon Henry 20/53 --> 21/47 (+1/-6)
6.31 RB Kevin James 30/46 --> 31/46 (+1/--)
7.31 QB Calvin Orlaskey 20/58 --> 19/47 (-1/-11)

Overall, it looks like my draft was pretty unsat, but, considering I'm still trying to get a good grasp on drafting in FOF2k7, I'll take it for what it's worth, a learning experience. And for that, I’m not to unhappy about it. And besides, I'm pretty happy about the SLB and DT, they will help out nicely in the long run, it seems.

BTW: Quarterbacks are probably the biggest teases in FOF2k7. Don't know about you, but I see a ton of QB's that look great before training camp and come out of it looking like shit. Maybe I could handle training camp a bit differently to stave off the massive future potential drops....or maybe most rookie QB's are just that, teases.

[Narcizo]

I've never noticed anything like that AI situation with the latest patch - although I honestly think Leinart is the only real anomaly there. The AI puts very little value on players in the 9th year onwards (apart from QBs) so that would explain that. I think you'll find that the rookies you listed will take huge hits to their potential were you to sign them. They will be typical scouted wonders.

Coming from a background of writing detailed FM dynasties I really like the more in-depth approach you're using here.

Edit Finding a decent quarterback in the lower rounds is a tough proposition. Scouts seem to get all weak at the knees about any quarterback they clap eyes on and they invariably turn out to be rubbish. I would say that your draft is pretty average, certainly not a huge failure (if at all). The linebacker looks like he might be great, of which I'm hugely jealous as I have still yet to draft a linebacker who ends up with potential over 55. It takes a bit of adjustment getting used to the draft in 2007.

[Dutch]

PRE FOOTBALL ROSTER UPDATES

Okay, I’m still at 43 players. I want to readdress filling out my roster with some players. My first order of business is to readdress the trading of CB Kelvin Winters. Sadly, his ratings have dropped somewhat. He’s now only 43/57. That’s a -4/-6 drop after training camp. Ratings are really shooting all over the chart during training camp, very interesting and exciting phase of the game for sure. But not necessarily good for me this time around.

San Diego is still interested (100) and New England has joined them (100). So despite the ratings hit, he still seems marketable. In any event, San Diego was 8-8 last season while New England was 11-5. I have no idea who will be better this year, but I’ll gamble and say that New England will drop off this year. So instead of dealing with San Diego, I’ll deal with the Pats.

They take him for a 4th round pick. I was robbed! But oh well, that frees up some cash for me.

(I also start off asking for a 1st round pick, then a 2nd, then a 3rd, then a 4th....blah, blah, blah. I wonder if I were to have started off offering a 3rd if the AI would behave differently and given me a better deal. If not, this is just an exercise in button clicking. Never tested this, probably will one day. But with MP all the rage, it's tough to worry to much about the SP engine in times like these.)

So now I can grab some more filler.

SS Ronald Rounds – 5th year – 39/44
CB Dwight Davidson – 6th year – 21/46
CB Lamont Enos – 5th year – 34/44

That gets me to 45 players. Damn, I should have signed some cheaper guys, I guess.

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by Narcizo

I've never noticed anything like that AI situation with the latest patch - although I honestly think Leinart is the only real anomaly there. The AI puts very little value on players in the 9th year onwards (apart from QBs) so that would explain that. I think you'll find that the rookies you listed will take huge hits to their potential were you to sign them. They will be typical scouted wonders.

Coming from a background of writing detailed FM dynasties I really like the more in-depth approach you're using here.

Edit Finding a decent quarterback in the lower rounds is a tough proposition. Scouts seem to get all weak at the knees about any quarterback they clap eyes on and they invariably turn out to be rubbish. I would say that your draft is pretty average, certainly not a huge failure (if at all). The linebacker looks like he might be great, of which I'm hugely jealous as I have still yet to draft a linebacker who ends up with potential over 55. It takes a bit of adjustment getting used to the draft in 2007.

Matt Leinhart was picked up on a 1 year deal for 1.2 million dollars (at some point after free agency and before the regular season start). Much less than he's worth--obviously. And I think you're right, he was the only glaringly appalling player to slip through both free agency periods. I think a team did put an offer on him but then pulled it back or failed to have the cash and then nobody else put an offer on him...so that may just be a loop-hole that the extra-expensive players hit every once in a while.

EDIT: Also, thanks for the note about this being detailed. But I was thinking this was rather under-developed compared to some FOF dynasties. And ultimately it will be much shorter.

[Dutch]

MORE ROSTER RESTRUCTURING

Next up is to see if any of my players had problems in training camp and were “exposed” with bad ratings drops.

QB Britt Houston, a former 4th round pick in his 3rd year dropped to 20/34. He never really was much, but he’s the 4th QB and no longer needed. So he’s gone.

RT Michael Lane dropped to 22/27. That's 13 points of potential since I figured he would cover for my cutting of RT Jeremy Trueblood. Yikes. So he’s history. That saves $1m in cap space. Hell yeah!

So now I can pick up a few more guys. I actually start with a 9th year punter named Ryan Plackenmeier (62/62). This is a significant upgrade at punter, and he costs me $880k. But I immediately cut my current punter Nate Montgomery (35/51) which saves me $810k. So a pretty good investment of $70k if you ask me.

Next up, more roster fillers.

RG Everett Foley – 5th year - (33/49)
C Lawrence Harrison – Rookie – (9/40) affinity with our offensive line leader is a bonus.
FB Eugene Durham – Rookie (15/42)
TE Dusty Chandler – 7th year – (36/48)

That brings me up to 47 players. Is there any other dead weight I can cut loose before I head into the pre-season? LT Lee Mustard (29/39) is taking up $1m in cap space. I’ll drop him.

This affords me

SS James Kinney – 2nd year – (21/35)
FS Claude O’Donnell – Rookie – (8/25)

That gets me to 48 players. That’s enough--barely. Like I said, my cap space was killing me, but if I want to make another run at the championship, I felt it was imperative to keep this squad together as best I could. And I've already done enough damage.

Let’s get to the pre-season games and see what I can do with this squad.

[Dutch]

NOTE: I’ll go over my starting rosters and compare them to last year’s after the pre-season.

[Dutch]

PRE-SEASON GAME #1

I win my first exhibition game 26-7 on the back of an outstanding performance from none other than 7th round tease QB Calvin Orlaskey. He went 24 of 39 with 229 yards passing, 1 TD, and no picks. 2nd year RB Preston Dunn (fresh from Summer League) and now 40/44 (that's -1/-- in current ratings since before he went to summer camp) carried much of the workload, 16 carries for 74 yards and 1 TD. Rookie RB Kevin James also had a decent first outing, 7 carries for 31 yards. 2nd year WR Junior McDonald was Orlaskey’s big target; 10 receptions for 100 yards on the day.

But trying to go with a 48-man roster was apparently a pipe dream. My star free agent signee a year ago--8th year CB Joe “Speedy” Graham (79/79) -- went down with a strained abductor muscle and is now out for 7 weeks. And to add insult to injury, my personal favorite SS Lamont Law (63/63) went down with a strained calf muscle and will miss two weeks. Not a big deal, but it forces me to sign roster help. And with just $230k under the cap, I need to look to restructure deals.

I find difficulty in restructuring deals, so I decide to cut RB3 Vince Newman (26/29) from the squad. That frees up $950k. I then go out and sign RB Antonio Florey to be RB3. He’s 28/37 at a price tag of $600k. This move also gives us the room to pick up a rookie LCB Brett Hutton (8/21). He’s pretty bad, but at least he’s got decent punt returning skills (55/62), so he might be of some value afterall.

[Dutch]

PRE-SEASON GAME #2

In the 2nd pre-season game, we are knocked flat on our butts by Jacksonville. They win 17-3 and we were pretty impotent. Rookie QB Calvin Orlaskey throws the ball 53 times, only completes 20 of them, for a paltry 157 yards. Veteran WR Marques Colston comes in as WR3 and catches 4 passes for 70 yards, but that doesn't tip the balance by nearly enough. RB Preston Dunn looks mortal as he collects just 28 yards on 10 carries. Rookie running back Kevin James only gets two carries all game. But one is a 27 yard scamper. A rare bright spot on the day.

[Dutch]

PRE-SEASON GAME #3

In the 3rd pre-season game, we are crushed by the Pittsburgh Steelers (yeah the same team we just lost the Solecismic Bowl to). They run up the score 33-10. Calvin Orlaskey begins to show off why he’s a 7th round pick. 15 of 40 for 130 yards and 3 picks. Ugly. RB Preston Dunn bounces back and has a productive 12 carry day for 65 yards and the Bucs lone TD.

[Dutch]

PRE-SEASON GAME #4

What a difference a QB makes. We start stud QB Allen Hall to try and shake some of the rust off. He completes 29 of 40 passes for 309 yards and one interception. And apparently that picks up everybody’s game. RB Preston Dunn has 118 yards rushing on 19 attempts and 2 touchdowns along with 50 receiving yards.

QB Jared Allen (80/80) still has some seasonal rust expected for opening day, but not a critical level, so playing him in the 4th game did the trick. FWIW--Calvin Orlaskey (20/47) just beats out 4th year QB Dave Reeves (18/47) for the backup QB spot.

Congratulations to Calvin for that, but it seems he more or less just backed into the #2 spot vs anything other method of getting to that point.

[Dutch]

REGULAR SEASON PREVIEW

Starting Roster

Skill Positions
QB: Allen Hall (80/80) – 5th year
RB: Preston Dunn (41/44) – 2nd year
FB: Bernie Rubini (61/61) – 7th year
TE: Adrian Woodbury (60/60) – 6th year
FL: Marques Colston (52/52) – 9th year
SE: Henry Hopper (25/46) – ROOKIE

Offensive Line
LT: Harold Jobe (53/53) – 6th year
LG: Carl Raymond (67/67) – 4th year
C: Rusty Butler (59/59) – 6th year
RG: Dan Buenning (57/57) – 10th year
RT: Levon Henry (22/47) – ROOKIE

Defensive Line
LDE: Barry Sanders (61/81) – 4th year
LDT: Trevor Roberts (48/48) – 2nd year
RDT: Nick Battle (29/59) – ROOKIE
RDE: Al Bergman (70/82) – 3rd year

Linebackers
MLB: Derrick Johnson (70/70) – 10th year - SLB out of position
SLB: Jared Richmond (32/58) – ROOKIE
WLB: Jose Richard (46/46) – 8th year

Secondary
LCB: Dean Hongemen (84/84) – 6th year
RCB: Joe “Speedy” Graham (79/79 – 8th year (Injured)
SS: Lamont Law (63/63) – 5th year
FS: Ronald Rounds (40/44) – 5th year

Overall, this is a pretty decent crew and not to much change from last season with the exception of losing RB Lewis Burnett from this starting crew. However, despite the loss of Burnett, the entire season definitely rests with the play of QB Allen Hall. The defense looks more than capable to win a few ballgames from time to time as well. It should be an exciting season, especially with regards to watching the injury list.

Cap room is tight and doesn’t get any better next season, this may be a win now or die season for us. Next year will be ugly. With just 26 players under contract right now, it looks like we only will get about 15 million to spend. And QB Allen Hall will eat up as much of that as humanly possible as a free agent next season.

[Dutch]

BUCCANEER NOTES

Injuries at the start of the season are few, only a couple of dinged up players. But the two big players missing on opening day are:

8th year star RB Lewis Burnett (58/58) skills are declining and he’s still 4 months away from recovering from his ACL tear and is in very real danger of going on the DL. I'd call it imminent. His replacement is RB Preston Dunn (41/44). He’s no L. Burnett, but can be exciting to watch and should be a capable replacement if nothing else. But not having Burnett in the lineup is still going to hurt and will force us to tip the scales in favor of the passing game a bit to compensate.

8th year star CB Joe “Speedy” Graham (79/79). He’s listed as questionable now and is almost ready to return, but not yet. His backup is Dwight Davison (22/46).

[Dutch]

2014 POWER RATINGS

The pre-season poll is finalized and none other than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sit atop the list.

The Top 10 teams

1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 100
2. Baltimore Ravens 84
3. New York Giants 84
4. Pittsburgh Steelers 84
5. Detroit Lions 81
6. Green Bay Packers 81
7. Indianapolis Colts 81
8. Philadelphia Eagles 81
9. Buffalo Bills 76
10. Miami Dolphins 76

[JeffW]

Not to burst your bubble, but Nick Battle is going to crash and burn. :x

Also, you forgot Bruce Matthews in the GEFL vid!

[Narcizo]

Originally Posted by Dutch

Matt Leinhart was picked up on a 1 year deal for 1.2 million dollars (at some point after free agency and before the regular season start). Much less than he's worth--obviously. And I think you're right, he was the only glaringly appalling player to slip through both free agency periods.

I wonder if he'd been perma-franchised by (presumably) Arizona and it finally got to the stage where they couldn't afford his wages (as they increased by 120% every year) QB perma-franchising is one of the annoying problems in SP.

Otherwise, has he had a history of injuries?

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by JeffW

Not to burst your bubble, but Nick Battle is going to crash and burn. :x

Also, you forgot Bruce Matthews in the GEFL vid!

LOL, obviously I'm gonna have to root for Battle, but yeah, he's questionable as far as long-term survivability. But he still looks good on the roster for a 2.31 draft pick.

I want to say that I researched Matthews but couldn't find enough pics of him??? Oh well, funny you should mention it...I'm messing around with 1985 now.

Originally Posted by Narcizo

I wonder if he'd been perma-franchised by (presumably) Arizona and it finally got to the stage where they couldn't afford his wages (as they increased by 120% every year) QB perma-franchising is one of the annoying problems in SP.

Otherwise, has he had a history of injuries?

In 2013 he was franchised and he held out for a while (his only franchise tag). No major injuries. He's a stud, now playing with the Giants and will bench 11th year QB Eli Manning (69/69) who the Giants are paying 26 million dollars this year to sit on the bench. He's still got two years on his deal. Oh well, it's not my team.

[Dutch]

REGULAR SEASON GAME #1
Carolina (#22) @ Tampa Bay (#1) (-13)

INJURIES
OUT - RB Lewis Burnett (58/58) (ACL-17 weeks)
QUESTIONABLE - LCB Joe "Speedy" Graham (79/79) (Abductor Muscle-2 weeks)

[Dutch]

STARTING LINEUP - OFFENSE

OFFENSE

QB Allen Hall (80/80) will make his 70th career start today in the Bucs home opener. His career QB rating is 84.2. He's thrown for 82 TD's and 41 INT in his first four years of play.

WR's Marques Colston (52/52) and Junior McDonald (44/44) will line up at SE and FL respectively.

RB Preston Dunn (41/44) will get the start in RB Burnett's stead. I'm really excited to see what he can do, and am hoping to see some difference in his ratings due to the Summer League attendance.

TE Adrian Woodbury (60/60) is an outstanding blocker and had a breakout season last year (his first as a Buc) hauling in 56 catches for 495 yards and 6 TD's.

FB Bernie Rubini (61/61) is great as pass blocking and recognizing blitz packages. He's also a great asset in short yardage situations and will substitute for Dunn in 3rd and short and passing situations (he’s got softer hands than Dunn).

++++++++++

The offensive line is still in pretty good shape, returning 4 starters from last seasons squad. They are missing RT Jeremy Trueblood, the salary cap casualty earlier this season.

LT Harold Jobe (53/53), a former 1st round pick is a solid pass blocking tackle for QB Allen Harris. He’s not terribly strong or good at run blocking, but he’s adequate.

LG Carl Raymond (67/67) is exceptional at both run and pass blocking, average strength and endurance.

C Rusty Butler (59/59) is solid mainstain in the Buccaneers line. It’s his 6th year with the Bucs and he has no weaknesses, a jack of all trades when it comes to lineman.

RG Dan Buenning (57/57) may not be as dominant as he once was, but he still an exceptional good blocking guard in all aspects. As a 10-year veteran, he will play every game like it’s his last.

RT Levon Henry (22/47) and fellow rookie RT Blake Richmond (23/43) will platoon on the right side of the line. This is by far the biggest weak link in this years club. I had expected that cutting RT Jeremy Trueblood wouldn’t be too detrimental, so it’s up to these two to make that work out for me.

[Dutch]

STARTING LINEUP - DEFENSE

DEFENSE

On the defensive front, things are remarkably better. Definitely not a collection of average guys, unlike the offense, here the average guy is the exception, not the norm.

Two defensive ends of pro-bowl stature bookend the line.

LDE Barry Sanders (61/81) is in his fourth year. He’s across the board good when it comes to potential. He still hasn’t reached it, and recorded a career high 8-sacks last season and 20 QB hurries.

RDE Al Bergman (70/82) is a 3rd year player. He’s also got great scout ratings. Although only acquiring 4.5 sacks last season, he should continue to be troubling for all opposing offenses.

LDT Trevor Roberts (48/48) is last years 1.24 draft pick. His specialty is his pass rush technique. He’s not as good against the run as we had hoped, but can really bring it against the pass. Or so we think. He only participated in a handful of plays last season and we hope he’s ready to go as a starter this year.

RDT Nick Battle (29/59) is our 2.31 draft pick. He’s stepping right into the starter’s role. We think he’ll do just fine. At least, he looks good on paper.

A new face at linebacker shakes things up a bit.

MLB – We have a big void at middle linebacker this year. Instead of putting one of the two roster fillers in the position, it’s a no brainer to slide 10th year man Derrick Johnson (70/70) over to plug the gap. He’s by far the teams best tackler and think he will do well in this new role.

SLB – Moving DJ to the middle opens up the possibility of rookie 1st rounder Jared Richmond (32/58) to step right into his natural position. We’ll definitely be following his progress there.

WLB – Journeyman Jose Richard (46/46) will start in standard 4-3 configurations, with hard hitting WLB Tony Whitfield (45/45) chomping at the bit on the sidelines hoping for playing time.

The Real Success Story of the Buccaneers – The Secondary

LCB – In 2009, the Buccaneers picked up CB Dean Hongemen (84/84) at the 1.4 spot. They couldn’t have asked for anything better. Dean is an all-around CB with outstanding skills everywhere. Last season he recorded a career best 21 pass defenses. This will be his sixth year.

RCB – Here we find Joe “Speedy” Graham (79/79) who snagged 7 picks last year and a career best 29 pass defensed. Definitely a pick your poison when it comes to throwing to your 1st or 2nd WR’s. Speedy is entering his 8th year. BTW - He gets his nickname from the initial start of this league where he ran the fastest 40 time.

SS Lamont Law (63/63) is my personal favorite. A former 7th round pick, he has worked out spectacularly. Besides safety, he also did the lions share of punt and kick returns and was very successful a both.

FS Ronald Rounds (40/44) is in his 5th year and this is his first season with the Bucs. It’s also the first career start. Scouts think he’ll do best in run support, but also has soft hands if he finds himself in position to make a play. Definitely the odd-man out in sharing accolades in this backfield, but we won’t mind if he does some great things to get himself noticed out there.

[Dutch]

CAROLINA @ TAMPA BAY RECAP

Game-time change: With "Speedy" Graham inactive, I have moved Lamont Enos (34/44) into the starting role opposite CB Hongemen.

CAROLINA @ TAMPA BAY RECAP

Tampa, FL– The Bucs and Panthers both started the opening game of the season a bit sluggish on offense, but the Buccaneers commandeered a 10-0 that included a great catch and run by TE Adrian Woodberry (60/60) for a touchdown.

Despite that early success, the Buccaneers and QB Allen Hall (80/80) couldn’t get anything going and still appeared a bit rusty from the long off-season (19-41 for 197 yards, 1 TD and 2 INTs). Slowly but surely, the Panthers whittled away at the lead and then took it for themselves; never looking back and upsetting the NFC Champs 16-10.

Carolina pounded the football with RB Luther Singleton (61/61) 30 times for 142 yards and a TD. The TD came with just 30 seconds to go in the first half and stunned the packed Buccaneer Stadium crowd, who up to that point was enjoying a 10-0 lead. Tampa’s own running back was largely ineffective today against the Panthers defense. RB Preston Dunn (41/44) rushed 13 times for 38 yards.

Despite the loss and the big rushing day by the Panthers, the defense could take solace in playing a near perfect game against Panthers signal caller Rodregis Raynor (27/42) who had a horrid stat line. 10 of 31 for 97 yards and 3 INTs. SS Lamont Law (63/63) came away with 2 picks, and rookie Jared Richmond (32/58) came away with another.

The loss puts the Tampa Bay Buccaneers record at 0-1. 1st round pick SLB Jared Richmond pulled a calf muscle that left him on the sideline at the end of the game wrapped up in ice. The injury is serious enough that doctors suggest he’ll be out roughly a month.

[Dutch]

CAROLINA @ TAMPA BAY BOX SCORE

WEEK 1: Carolina 16 @ Tampa Bay 10

[Dutch]

POST GAME COMMENTS

Not the way we wanted to start. But those are the breaks. Really dissapointed that my running game didn't get going, but with QB Allen Hall ready to go without any rust, he may open up the running lanes by having better success passing.

And losing LB Jared Richmond for a month is a real bummer.

[Dutch]

UP NEXT
REGULAR SEASON GAME #2
Tampa Bay 0-1 (#1) (-3) @ Baltimore 1-0 (#2)

INJURIES

OUT - RB Lewis Burnett (58/58) (ACL-16 weeks)

OUT - SLB Jared Richmond (32/58) (Calf Muscle - 5 Weeks)

QUESTIONABLE - LCB Joe "Speedy" Graham (79/79) (Abductor Muscle-3 weeks)

PROBABLE - LCB Dean Hongemen (84/84) (Broken Finger - 1 week)

[Dutch]

LINEUP CARD

QB Allen Hall (80/80)
RB Preston Dunn (41/44) (2nd String)
FB Bernie Rubini (61/61)
TE Adrian Woodbury (60/60)
FL Marques Colston (52/52)
SE Junior McDonald (44/44)

LT Harold Jobe (53/53)
LG Dan Buenning (57/57)
OC Rusty Butler (59/59)
RG Carl Raymond (67/67)
RT Levon Henry - R (22/47)

LDE Barry Sanders (62/81)
LDT Trevor Roberts (48/48)
RDT Nick Battle - R (29/59)
RDE Al Bergman (71/82)

SLB Derrick Johnson (70/70)
MLB Tony Whitfield (45/45) (2nd String)
WLB Jose Richard (46/46)

LCB Dean Hongemen (84/84)
RCB Lamont Enos (35/44) (2nd String)
SS Lamont Law (63/63)
FS Ronald Rounds (41/44)

[Dutch]

TAMPA BAY @ BALTIMORE RECAP

Baltimore, MD – The Buccaneers went on the road to Baltimore and captured a 27-13 victory. QB Jared Allen (80/80) played well and threw for 247 yards and 2 touchdowns against what is considered to be a pretty good Baltimore Ravens defense. Veteran flanker, Marques Colston (52/52) stepped up as Allen's go to guy and hauled in 5 catches for 117 yards, with 4 big catches over 20 yards.

RB Preston Dunn (41/44) remains a big sluggish (19 carries for 72 yards, 1 TD, 1 FUM) but was adequate while rookie 6th rounder Kevin James (31/46) helped carry the load with his own effort; 7 carries for 29 yards.

WLB Jose Richard (46/46) was all over the field (so it seemed) and was busy collecting 13 tackles to lead the team when they weren’t in a Nickel/Dime package, but was picked on by the Ravens passing attack and generally exposed in those situations (giving up 5 catches to opposing receivers). LB Tony Whitfield (45/45) filled in for the role of MLB successfully and accumulated 7 tackles and a sack. Dean Hongemen (84/84) lead the team in pass defenses with 3.

Starting SS Lamont Law (63/63) injured his foot and will be sidelined 1-2 weeks.

[Dutch]

BOX SCORE

Week #2