Diary of a FOWL addict

[Sef0r]

Originally Posted by Groo

That's what you get for outbidding me for Trevor Jackson I was sure $10M a year was PLENTY to get him... I was wrong. At least I got half my safety tandem in Hilliard.

Hahaha, well it will hurt me next season too as I have a lot of good players off contract and only about $15 mil next season.

[RedHawk00]

dont let the dynasty die... was actually thinking about joining fowl after the holidays because of this dynasty

[Sef0r]

Been extremely busy at work and just moved house.

Quick update, we are currently in the 2040 season.

Regular season
The Colts, only other human owner in my division won the division with a 13-3 record. The last game of the regular season had both of us pitted against each other tied @ 12-3, Colts obviously came away with the win and also got the BYE.

I was lucky enough to get a wildcard spot thanks to a bad season by the Ravens in the AFC north powerhouse. They went 9-7 and missed out on the playoffs for the first time in a long time.


Post season
I was put up against the Patriots in the wildcard game and beat them 50-24. I then had to face off against the Colts again, who after beating me twice during the regular season took away my chance at the conference game. They beat me 49-25 but eventually lost to Reno in the conference game 20-13.

Reno went on to face off against Atlanta and win it 41-35. Reno (owned by TheMeat) have done very well lately.

Season performance
Offensively I went into this season with 3 really good WRs and a pretty good 4th option. The plan was to still try and split the run and pass but go for more downfield throws.

QB Ross Hancock (3yr EXP) - outstanding year
380/531 (71.6%) for 4548 yards (11.97 YPC) - 54 TD, 15 INT, 119.5 QB Rating

WR Drew Jeffries (2yr EXP) - awesome year
83/120 catches for 1253 yards and 13 TD

WR Irv Morrish (3yr EXP) - another great year
81/117 catches for 1127 yards and 15 TDs

TE Tyrell Crafton (7yr EXP) - the vet knows how its done.
69/90 catches for 853 yards and 12 TDs

WR Rick Austin (3 yr EXP) - could have seen some more throws, good season.
48/69 catches for 534 yards and 8 TDs

Defensively I was still playing the 4-3 and will probably look to a 3-4 change this season if I cannot land the right personel.

DE Jonathan Blanchard (2yr EXP) - coming on strong now, monster year
38 TKL, 16.5 Sacks, 29 Hurries, 38 KD

DT Earnest Watson (8yr EXP) - continues dominant display of skills
56 TKL, 13.5 Sacks, 18 Hurries, 21 KD
As a point of reference, career so far...
476 TKL, 87 sacks, 23 Blkd, 137 Hurries, 188 QBKd.

MLB Fred Doyle (2 yr EXP) - continues to play solid in the middle.
107 TKL, 29 asst, 2 INT and 5 PD

LCB Larry Phillips (7yr EXP) - can't complain about his consistent performance.
1 INT, 14 PD (81.1 PD%)

RCB Tony Vance (6yr EXP) - average year for him
1 INT, 13 PD (77.5 PD%)

LCB Dexter Lane (2yr EXP) - Showing improvement, playing nickle so not bad.
5 INT, 4 PD (80.5 PD%)

SS Trevor Jackson (Rookie) - Pretty dissapointed with his pass defence
74 TKL, 29 asst (11.1 TKL%), 1 INT, 6 PD (78.8 PD%)

[Sef0r]

2040 Season

Day 5 - FA2:2 completed

I have missed updating the early part of the off-season because of work commitments and I try where I can to update my diary.

I have thought about it for the last 2 FOWL seasons but I have made the decision to move to a 3-4 defense. I've been watching Atlanta kill teams with their 4 sacks per game, 57.1% completion to opposing QBs...I mean with 57+ total sacks and tons of hurries I might as well give it a try.

I did try it in the PFL but didn't have the right pieces, which I think I can have now.

Part of that transition will be to try and see how well my DT Dodge will play at one of the DE positions. I just need to read up on the forums on which position the run stopping DE goes to as I don't want to put my other DE Blanchard into a position where he will not be a pure pass rusher. I believe the LDE is basically like a DT as the always blitzing WLB plays the DE role next to him, or maybe its the RDE - better get to reading.

The most important part of my transition was signed in this stage.

OLB Jason Pritchett has good pass rush strength and his combine suggests his RUN STOP and PR Technique are higher then what his bars show. I am of course more interested in whether he can perform.

I've always had problems drafting/signing rookie running backs so I tend to go after RBs who play well for other teams. I hit the nail on my RB Doug Whiting who I signed from the Rams. I've just recently signed a 2yr RB from the Raiders who on 254 running attempts for his AI controlled team with average OLinemen, he had 28 x 10+ runs, 55 x 1st down runs and a 4.61 average. It is worth taking a shot at seeing what he can do as Doug Whiting is expecting a huge pay rise (for RBs) in his current contract year - I still hold my ground at paying RBs too much.

[Sef0r]

2040 Season

Day 6 - Training Camp completed

In preperation for my 3-4 conversion I was able to land some LBs and converted my stud DT Watson to the run stuffing RDE position. Watson took a big hit with the change, it didn't help he was a older player but he went from a 83/83 to a 67/67.

There isn't much else to report as I prepare for pre season, I haven't spent much money in the last 2 season as I try and keep together the squad I currently have.

Pre season stats to follow tomorrow if I can get some time.

[Groo]

Back to back 16-0 seasons... we need info on how you went about doing it.

[Sef0r]

When I can get me some time I will, been very happy with how the team has performed.

[iBomb1st]

Originally Posted by Groo

Back to back 16-0 seasons... we need info on how you went about doing it.

Back to back? Very impressive.

[Sef0r]

Well its been a while and since the 2040 season.
Since then my Texans have;

2041 - 16-0 (playoffs: Bowl Champ vs ATL)
2042 - 13-3 (playoffs: Bowl Champ vs ARI)
2043 - 14-2 (playoffs: Bowl Loss vs IND)
2044 - 14-2 (playoffs: Bowl Champ vs SFO)

We are simming the 2045 Regular Season tomorrow.

[Sef0r]

Season 2045 - DAY 9

REGULAR SEASON SIM

Since the 2040 season I've kept the core players together.
All stats I mention in writing are regular season only unless specified.

Quarterback

QB Ross Hancock, I've franchised him twice as he is asking for too much money at the moment. Given my cap situation with some expensive veterans I've had to resort to using the Franchise TAG. I've been very fortunate that he did not HOLDOUT.

Here is a look at my franchise QB.




Running backs

Not exactly a position where I have studs. I've got 2 very average RBs to share the load this season. I've found a stud RB costs too much. I've had a couple of good RBs that I sign up for small contracts but once their initial 3 year contract is up and they start asking for the world I cut them lose.

Fullbacks are also not a position where I will resign a guy who asks for too much money. I sign them to run block, if they catch cool, if not I don't care.

Wide Receivers

I've got 3 main WRs. Two are veterans who have performed really well for me and one I just got last season at a pretty cheap price - it helped that most teams who were exporting at that stage were strapped for cash.



Irv Morrish - 10th season
I have him signed until the end of next season. He has had a great career so far and is our main return specialist.

He has 10,221 career receiving yards, 3499 YAC, 121 TDs, 6 punt returns for TD, 3 kick returns for TD.

Drew Jeffries - 9th season
Just sign to an extension to play another 3 years. Jeffries has been a great performer and I hope he continues regardless of his rating drops since this last TC.

Jeffries has 9159 rec yards, 2835 YAC and 90 TDs.

Kurt Griffin - 2nd season
I was really lucky to sign him, some factors played into my luck. There were LOTS of stud WRs last season. Lots of the teams that made bids were successful with 3 years $45 mil deals so they weren't really in the market anymore.

I believe Griffin had the better season of most other stud WRs taken last season.

He finished with 71 catches, 1125 rec yards, 486 YAC and 9 TDs.




I will try and do a write up for the rest of my core players if I can.

Offensive linemen




Defensive linemen




Linebackers




Cornerbacks

[Subby]

I love that preview.

[iBomb1st]

Great presentation.

[Sef0r]

Season 2045 - Day 10
Post Season sim next

Here is the results of the 2045 regular season, which is just a prelude to the actual games between human owners. Note some of us (myself included) are lucky enough to face off again alot of AI teams.







Offensively we did pretty well, see the stats below. Below that are defensive stats too.

The RED dot represents players that had a dissapointing season given expectations.
The GREEN dot are for players that performed better then expected.



DEF

[Sef0r]

Post season up next. Looking forward to the sim in about an hour.

[Bako]

Wow! Didn't realize you picked the reports back up. As a visual person, it is really a great read. Awesome job.

[Sef0r]

Season 2045 - End of Season
Playoffs completed.

Well we played SFO again and got a beat down. Here are the results of the playoffs.

Off Season outlook in the next day or two.



Some notes.
I used my 2044 playoffs gameplan, which called for more passing. I did this because my running game wasn't as affective due to the lack of talent there. Also given my talent at WR it only made sense to do this. It didn't pay off in the BOWL game.

[Sef0r]

Season 2046 - Off Season thoughts

QB Ross Hancock
He will get the franchise tag again. Hopefully the 6 straight MPVs will not get to his head. Yes, he is deserving of a large contract extension but while he is in his prime and asking for $30 mil a year it makes it hard to keep players at other key positions.

RB Carlos King
I had him as the 2nd RB but he ended being the better back. If I don't sign a better RB for this season I will likely give Carlos the start.

FB Alan Morris
I picked him up pre TC for $2 mil and he played well enough that I would like to keep him. Hope he doens't ask for more then $1 mil a year during FA1:1, otherwise I don't mind picking up another run blocking FB.

LT Dave Perryman
His combine suggested he would be a good pass blocker so I changed his position to LT and he got a nice bump in camp. I will not be resigning young stud RT Brenden Lynn because of his red flag and also because he is asking way too much. I will move veteran LT Champagne to RT in the final year of his contract. Perryman should hopefully work out to be the LT for at least the next 10 seasons.

CB Toby Callens
I got him for his high agility score and therefore the run stopper in my nickel defense. However, he played really well and got the starting spot in the playoffs and showed me, against top talent, that the regular season was no fluke. He will start this season.

[Sef0r]

Season 2046 - Day 1
Staff hiring stage

Nothing much to report here, kept coaching staff intact.

[Sef0r]

Season 2046 - Day 2
ticket/summer/franchise stage

I sent my rookie WLB Cory Mathis from last season to summer camp in the hopes that he can get better and be a sack machine this season.

As mentioned I tagged QB Ross Hancock again, his CAP hit is $17 mil.

[Sef0r]

Season 2046 - Day 3
FA1:1 stage

I will be making some cuts and some renegs to get some room for this nice draft class.

Here are the key players that will be getting some bids on the next stage.

[Sef0r]

HELP!!!

The pictures I'm using are JPEGS and I wanted to know if the pages are getting a bit heavy and much longer to load for those following?

Should I start saving my images as GIFS? There is an obviously quality difference while also cutting the file size by half.

Are we happy that I continue with JPEGS? I take it no one reading this is on dial up?

[Bako]

I have no issues with the JPEGS you are using.

[Sef0r]

Season 2046 - Day 4
FA2:1 stage completed

I made lots of contract offers and got a few rejections but those were expected as they were $8 mil deals going up against $30 mil deals.

I signed a C and project at WR. I will update after FA2 stages are completed with all my signings and a look at them before camp.

[Sef0r]

Season 2046 - Day 5 + Day 6
FA2:2 and FA2:3-5 completed

Overall during this FA2 stage I signed 10 players, all rookies. I do not have a full team so have had to make minimum offers to some rookie FAs to give me a valid roster for the pre season. I am signing scrubs that will unlikely see the field.

I will post pics of the rookies after camp and then the depth chart before the regular season.

[Sef0r]

Some interesting things that happened during FA2 stages, the most crucial stages of this league.

ATL (Ben)
Came in over the top and outbid 6 teams for the services of 4th year TE Cornell Blake - a 83/83 rated TE previously with the now Yoda-less Chiefs. He also secured himself a rookie TE rated 34/76 who ran a 4.65 forty and 7.30 agil.

With 3 very good WRs already on the roster ATL also landed what looks like a stud rookie WR rated 50/65 who ran 4.39 forty, 6.86 agil and has nice bars in BP, Courage and Adjust to ball.

ARI (Subby)
Landed two of the fastest rookie WRs in the draft class. Both ran 4.39 fortys and both were signed for measly $11.56, 3 year deals. While not in the same class as the WR that ATL landed, it now gives their 2nd year QB (signed last season for $49.55 mil over 3 years) to throw to. If anything they at least have a chance to stick together and gel for as long as ARI can afford them.

BAK (Bako)
With an already solid team in place, Bako went and spent about $10 mil over 3 years for 2 Punters...yes, TWO punters. Both are highly rated and give how important it is to have the other team start as close to their goalline as possible this is a smart thing to do. Bako also got a steal with a fast rookie WR (there were a lot in this class) who ran a 4.41 forty, costing him only $4 mil over 3 years.

IDA (Tasan)
Another team to take advantage of the abundance of WRs in the draft class. Tasan signed 2 nice looking rookie WRs to only a total of $31 mil for 3 years. One with no combine but nice bars with a 44/69 rating and the other with a 4.42 forty but a whooping 6.78 agil score - WOW, nice matching bars in GD/RR and END/SPT.

IND (wade moore)
My division rival has 3 big signings. A very nice looking WR only rated 33/53 but who ran a 4.38 forty and a 6.88 agil at a cost of $34 mil, 3 years. A stud corner rated 49/76 with a 4.40 forty at only $19 mil, 3 years. Then there is the one that scares me the most, a 45/60 RB who ran 4.46 forty, 24 bench, 30 sol score and 35 pos score. My defense it built to stop the pass. I will likely lose at least 1 (if not 2) of my games against IND this season.

NED (Nix)
A new owner from last season who built a strong team but unfortunately finished 3-13 last season has come out strong this off season. Along with an already impressive team of youngsters he adds another stud RB to his attack. Signing a rookie RB rated 66/78 who ran a 4.41 forty, 16 bench and 7.08 agil score - only costing him $22 mil over 3 years. Pretty cheap in this RB light league. If Nix can work out the gameplanning for the 1 day regular season sim he should be able to win his division and get into the playoffs. Of course, with the type of team he has, studs in a lot of places, it will be interesting to see how long he can keep them together.

REN (The Meat)
My PFL league rival has himself a nice team and will need to do well this season after missing out the playoffs last season for the first time in 9 seasons. It hurts that he lost his star QB last season (missed franchise stage) and ended up with my former QB (who only played 2 seasons before Hancock came along) who played well but not well enough. His big signing in my eyes is rookie QB Colin Matias who while only rated a 14/50 has very nice bars, is about 35% developed and a 40 sole score, 12 bench and 80 position score. Only cost him $13 mil over 3 years. This was a big deal because ATL didn't have the money as they were offering him $60 mil over 3 years.

[Bako]

Originally Posted by Sef0r

Some interesting things that happened during FA2 stages, the most crucial stages of this league.

BAK (Bako)
With an already solid team in place, Bako went and spent about $10 mil over 3 years for 2 Punters...yes, TWO punters. Both are highly rated and give how important it is to have the other team start as close to their goalline as possible this is a smart thing to do. Bako also got a steal with a fast rookie WR (there were a lot in this class) who ran a 4.41 forty, costing him only $4 mil over 3 years.

The two punter thing was an accident, but once I had them both, I figured I'd wait till after camp to see which one looked better before deciding which one to keep. Thankfully our roster is set and it didn't keep us from getting any of the players we were coveting.

[Sef0r]

Originally Posted by Bako

The two punter thing was an accident, but once I had them both, I figured I'd wait till after camp to see which one looked better before deciding which one to keep. Thankfully our roster is set and it didn't keep us from getting any of the players we were coveting.

Yeah I figured it was, it happens alot though as you never know who else out there is bidding on them.

[Sef0r]

Season 2046 - Day 7
Training camp completed

Here are my rookies before and after training camp. Their full pictures will be posted in the regular season depth chart look, assuming any of them get starting spots.

[Sef0r]

Season 2046 - Day 8
Pre Season completed

With the Preseason completed here is a quick look at the Green Page before I move onto the depth chart.

[Sef0r]

Season 2046 - Day 8 (Cont...)

Now a look at the depth chart. The number next to the players name represents their experience.


The backfield
Newly signed RB Hernandez gets the start with his nice pre season performance. He is fortunate to be running behind the talent on the Oline along with FB Morris. Hancock is the unquestioned starter.




Offensive Line
2nd year LT Perryman gets the start in place of veteran Champagne who in his last season with the Texans will play on the right side.
The gaurds have been in place and are solid with rookie C Farley to try and keep things together.




Receiving Corp
My newrookie TE Patterson gets the start here and will hopefully be a nice safety valve for Hancock.
My triple threats at WR will once again lead the pack. With passing cohesion at 100 I don't see how these 3 won't light it up.
I've got at least 2 more years barring a retirement from Morrish or Jeffries of having one of the best WR combos in the league. Other teams have got their WRs now but they will take a few seasons to gel with their QB.



Defensive Line
Veteran Blanchard proved to me last season that you need a stud at the LDE position. With starting DE Witman dropped in favour of run stopping DE Tilson, NT Stoermer needs to step up and help in stopping the running game this league seems to be heading torward - unless you are SFO




Linebacking Corp
SILB Howard is underrated and plays alot better then his ratings show. I think his high punishing hitter and run stopper has a lot to do with it. WLB Mathis can only improve in his pass rushing and here is hoping for 15+ sacks this season.




Defensive backs
My safeties are getting old with Paredes probably only having 1 more year after this season, if he retires I will be in a bind as I don't want to start a rookie next season and I haven't signed one to replace him. Cohesion is important.
LCB Barckert is in his last season and will look for a big pay rise next season, I expect he will get 8 INTs with 1+ PDs.
RCB Callens has continued to surprise me as he slowly keeps creeping, and rookie Porter has done enough in the preseason to warrant giving him the starting nickle spot.

[Sef0r]

Season 2046 - Day 9
Regular Season complete

Not much time to write up something so just took a snapshot of my team's finish - have to get my export for WOOF in and lots of choices to make before regular season starts.

We went 15-1 with the loss coming from the Colts.

[Sef0r]

We lost in the Conference Championship game to Reno, who went on to face Atlanta in the BOWL game where ATL came away with the victory.

Sadly that was also the last game of the FOWL league where Ben is the commish. We are now on a break while we try and figure out how things are going to go now that Ben is not going to run the league.