Shiba Football Dynasty:FOF07 MP

[JMO]

Ok, inspired by some of the great dynasty threads on here(especially Quiksand's magnus opus) I'm going to give one a shot. I will try to update regularly if people are reading or not

I am the GM of the El Paso Pride, a franchise in the Shiba Football league which can be found at http://www.snowballhidalgo.com/forums/index.php

I took over the team in early free agency at the start of the league's second season. The previous owner(Iceman) had a very good preference draft as the team has good young players in many areas.

As soon as I took over the Pride I noticed a couple of things.

1 We have a good QB. From my other MP league I know it is very very hard without a good QB.

2 We have a young squad. Because of this I made it a priority to get mentors and older depth in FA.

3 We had a terrible D line. This is normally my specialty. In SP and MP I normally play 43 cover2 D and I love drafting for the line. This time I've decided to go a different way and switch to the 34. My motivation for this was simple. I have very few linemen I like and a some good big lbs. Assuming I could get a NT and a good DE who has good size I could make the switch.


Luckily there was the perfect end in the draft and to be honest my defensive switch was predicated on getting this guy. Here he is how he looks before camp. I havn't signed him yet and it looks like I'll have to give him the best 5 yr contract offer.



I had to move in total 2 seconds and a fourth to move up get him, so the pressure is on him.


Next time I will update my FA picks up, the rest of the draft, UDFA pick ups. After camp we will have a roster breakdown.

[JMO]

FA signings.


Well there was only 3 signings that will impact the team this year.

1 Irving Sheldon DT 6-5 331 lbs 49/49 (6)
A big guy to play at the NT spot. Might be a bit too tall for this spot but will eat space. His contract is one year with a very high bonus. He should only be about for one year. Not a great player but will fill a role this year when we had cap to spare.

2 Oliver Wilkinson ILB 6-2 261 lbs 52/52 (7)
Big guy who excels at run stopping and bump and run. Just another big body to man the 34. Only signed for one year. The main reason for this signing was insurance in case our olb Archie Hanson doesn't make a good transition to playing inside in the 34. He is too small to play wlb in the new system.

3 Sean Cunningham RT 6-8 338 lbs 40/42 (6)
Good tackle who can play right accross the line. Hes signed for two years and should see plenty of time with injuries and backing up at bot tackle spots. Type of O linemen I like, very versataile and big.

These were the main guys. I also signed mentors at T,DE,QB,C and alot of filler players. My team was very young so really experience was the key.

[JMO]

Trades

1 I made two trades to move up to 1.2 from 1.6. Originally I had two guys in mind and figured I would get one of them at 1.3. Once Fresno screwed me over by taking the unexpected guy, I had to move up to make sure. To move up one spot I swapped my 2nd for Austin' 3rd.

2 Then I sent

C Quinn Mathis(42/74) and Austin's third to Birmingham for their 1st rounder, the 19th pick in the first round.

The reasoning for this was that I have alot of money in my line. Whilst Mathis is cheap now, I could trade him for little cap hit and go a diff direction at center. Also at 5-11, 281 lbs hes a bit small at that spot.

3 I then moved the 1.19 pick for the top pick in the second and third rounds. I had about 6 guys I liked and I thought one would be at 2.1.

4 3.1 for slb Percy Place. A big guy who looks made to play WLB in the 34. Probably my fave non draft aqquisition of the off season. Knock wood.



5 5th and a 2nd(09) for Geoff Perez from Syracuse. Perez looks like an elite reciever going into his 7th year. He gives us 3 top wrs for the planned pass orientated Offense. Hes 6-0, 200 lbs and 64/64.

I also sent a 7th for Julio Flannery, a FB who is an elite pass blocker and great at picking up the blitz. This allows me to cut my other veteran fb who is probably too high a skill set and a m,atching salary for my team.

At the end of the draft sent my 6th and 7th next year for the 6.4 pick this year. This gives me two picks in a row in the 6th. Next on to the draft.

[JMO]

Draft Picks

1.2 Marco Howard

His screenshot is above. Really big end with great combine scores all round. He should be able to put pressure on the QB.

2.1


I got lucky as he was the last guy left on my list for this spot. A big end who will hopefully put on more wieght in camp. Hopefully will compliment Howard. Shows the weakness of our Dline that we spent our top two picks on ends.

6.4 Steve Parrish RB 6-0 227 lbs 25/41

Had a nice combine and looks like an all round back. Won;t be a great recieving back.

6.5 Rob Norris K 25/62

Needed a kicker and his bars were near maxed out. I didn't interview him and looks like I reached a little.

[JMO]

Ok I'm currently on the pre training camp stage with late free agency complete. I have 63 players on the roster at the moment, which gives me only a couple of decisions before preseason. I might sign a couple of guys to bring me up to 65 or so for camp. Here is the current roster.

I used 5the change tracker format as it easy to read even though it cuts out exp etc.


As can be seen my strengths are QB, WR, O line and LB. I'll go more in depth with the stars of each unit on my next update, as well as having a post camplook at my rookies and UDFAs.


3 guys are bulking up in camp and none are slimming down. The guys bulking up are

Irv Weisenbach DE
Joseph Ruegammer DE
Russell Greenberg FS(hes also switching positions from cb)

Greenberg is interesting. At 5-9 188 lbs he may be a little small and light for FS. He has potential at zone, play diagnosis, interceptions, kick returns, punt returns and special teams. He looks terrible at bump and run and run d. Hopefully he can become a ball hawking coverage guy. Really I hope the weight training doesn't mess up his special team and return play. If it does, hes cut.

[JMO]

Well camp worked out great. Had quite a few improvements and no losses in places I didn't expect.

Mr Greenberg will be cut as the camp didn't change him for the better. Sam Plummer my vet cb lost 5 points but seeing as it is his 10th year
I had to expect it.

My top pick had a slight gain which makes me feel better about the pick. Luckily my second pick came out with a massive 20 endurance which is better than I expected. Looks like it will be pretty easy to cut to 60 with

Greenberg CB
Esiason DE
sjostrand fs

going. In fact I might cut a few more and see who the other teams cut. I could pretty easily go to 53 right now.

[JMO]

Ok time for a roster breakdown. I'll do Qbs, backfield, recievers, o-line, d-line, linebackers and DBs. First up is Backfield.

Backfield

QBs

This is one area where I pretty much know where i am at. Here is a post camp screenshot of our starter and the hope of our franchise, shawn Renicke.



His intelligence is low which is a worry but he the potential to be good if not great.

Ken Richardson 11 yrs, 36/36 mentor
This guy was signed on a one year contract and was the best mentor I could find. If Renicke gets injured he should be able to do a decent job so he fills two roles at once.

Harold Burton 6 yrs 24/29

His bars look better than his overall, He looks good at long passing, timing, sense rush and third down passing. He will also be the team kick holder, which is handy to have in the third QB.

So no real dilemma here, just hope that Renicke improves and Richardson helps him progress quickly. barring injury this unit shouldn't change too much.

[JMO]

Running Backs

Carlos Shipley,3yrs exp, 37/50
Our starter and a guy I'm not tooenthused about. Fantastic elusiveness and hole rec. everything else hovers around the 20/30s. I may be a little biased about him as I tend to prefer guys who can carry it on third down. Hes my starter at the minute though.

Ralph Dawson, 6 yrs exp, 26/34
Has skills that I value, 3rd down catching and blitz pick up being his strong points. Hes got a chance at the number 2 spot.

Steve Parrish, R, 25/41
My 6th round rookie pick. May have been a reach and he didn't improve or decline in camp. Has great speed and is decent at all the main RB skills which is why I drafted him. Looks like a pure RB. His performance in preseason will be key but he should make the roster.

Morris Hutchins, 6 yrs exp, 31/31
Will be cut. Massive drop off in TC.

Billy England, R, 23/34
I liked him before camp as he looked like a good recieving back. He has good third down running and power, and maxed out elusiveness. He'll stick for preseason probably.

Fullbacks
Julio Flannery, 3yrs exp, 32/48
Has everything I want in a full back. Excellent pass blocking and blitz pick up. Thats all he'll need to do. To be honest I'm not sure how much he will be on the field but the 7th round pick(trade) and his low salary makes him worth it I think.





I think this is my weakest area and that is partly by design. I don't value running backs amazingly high and well you have to save money somewhere. My scout is also poor at RBs d I'm not going to spend alot of money when I'm not even sure what I have. I'l give everybody a shot during preseason and the guy who runs best, gets the spot regardless of ratings. I'll be looking to fill out at RB with cheap FAs and low draft picks for the next few seasons unless some guy really pops out at me in the draft.

[path12]

Originally Posted by JMO

Billy England, R, 23/34
I liked him before camp as he looked like a good recieving back. He has good third down running and power, and maxed out elusiveness. He'll stick for preseason probably.

I was looking at him pretty closely in the late rounds/FA. Kind of glad I didn't bite.

[JMO]

Originally Posted by path12

I was looking at him pretty closely in the late rounds/FA. Kind of glad I didn't bite.

Yea he doesn't look the same player really at this point. Hell probably end up being a cut for the regulat season. Path12 for those who don't know is the Richmond GM at shiba football. He also took one of my fave guys in the draft, who promptly had a camp boom: Christian Woodling FS(was cb). Hope he breaks a leg joking of course.

[JMO]

I've just finished preseason week 1, our first game is next week. We made a few cuts, a few signings and one trade.

I made 8 cuts with no real notables except Russel Greenberg. I mentioned him before camp but he just didn't work out, losing alot of future potential.

I made 3 signings who are very unlikely to make the roster but are intriguing(sp). the only one likely to stick is..

Hugh Ferguson RB, 2 yrs, 25/36
His strengths are on the recieving side and may stick because of that.

I also made a trade with Kentucky. They had Courtney Jenkins on their trade block available for a 5th and thats what I paid. Kentucky are pretty stacked back there and he is a vet.



he looks like a safety to me and I will switch him over before the next sim. He should improve in the switch. I'm pretty happy with this trade so far.

[JMO]

For some reason my export didn't take so Jenkins hasn't switched positions yet. Its no biggie though as its only preseason and I had no injuries in the first game, which is great.

Exhibition Week 2, 2007


played in Providence, RI

80 degrees, rain, 11 mph wind

We won prettty handily in the end. It doesn't really mean anything til we get to preseason though. I'm still deciding whether to gameplan for preseason or wait for the regular season. I'll probably try the last 2 games of preseason and tweak it.

[JMO]

Wide Recievers

Here are our three biggies and the reason why we will be passing alot this year.





Trading for Perez may have been a mistake salary cap wise, depending on the contract I can sign him for. Hes on the last year of his contract right now. The way its working for my better players some of their contracts rise alot in their second year and then drop (in cap hit)..this is because of renegotiation i guess. I think I can fit him under though and get through next year.

There really isn't anything special about my other guys. I have a decent mentor in Jamie Stacell, a 5th year guy who is a solid no 4 and thats about it.

White and Parker both had big training camp rises especially in current Dev. Hopefully I can get all three main huys enough touches this year.


I nearly forgot about Tight Ends.

My main tight end is also a young star.



My other guy is a recieving tight end, not really what I want as a backup seeing as he will only be playing in running situations probably.

[JMO]

Exhibition Week 3, 2007


played in El Paso, TX

98 degrees, fair, 7 mph wind

Honolulu Hawaiians	0	3	7	7	-	17
El Paso Pride	10	0	7	3	-	20

Scoring Summary
1Q: 05:00 EP - Carlos White 16 pass from Shawn Rennicke (Rob Norris extra point)
1Q: 00:43 EP - Rob Norris 41 field goal
2Q: 05:36 HON - J.B. George 34 field goal
3Q: 12:48 HON - Kevin Newman 19 pass from Leland McElreath (J.B. George extra point)
3Q: 07:25 EP - Pat Osika 35 pass from Ken Richardson (Rob Norris extra point)
4Q: 07:48 EP - Rob Norris 19 field goal
4Q: 06:03 HON - Brant Gerhardt 29 fumble return (J.B. George extra point)

Team Statistics	HON	EP
Record	1-1	2-0
First Downs	8	19
- by Rushing	2	7
- by Passing	5	11
- by Penalty	1	1
Total Net Yards	209	348
- Offensive Plays	41	74
- Yards per Play	5.10	4.70
Net Rushing Yards	61	130
- Rushing Attempts	15	43
- Yards per Rush	4.07	3.02
Net Passing Yards	148	218
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	25 - 15 - 2	31 - 22 - 1
- Gross Passing Yards	155	218
- Sacks/Yards Lost	1/7	0/0
- Yards per Pass Play	5.69	7.03
Fumbles/Lost	0/0	1/1
3rd Down Conversions	1/9	10/19
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	9.9	5.4
4th Down Conversions	0/0	0/0
Penalties/Yards	9/59	4/40
Punt Returns/Yards	3/3	2/2
Kick Returns/Yards	5/114	3/67
Interception Ret./Yards	1/0	2/25
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	2	2
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	1/1	1/1
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 30	OWN 38
Time of Possession	20:19	39:41

Nothing major to report. No major injuries and a good performance. Will start trying a more pass orientated gameplan for the next game maybe.

[JMO]

Position Chnages

made a few position changes this week, mostly just lbs going to new spots for the 34.

Archie Hanson WLB-SILB..he seems to small to play outside blitzing alot, so I'll try him inside. Hes small but has good strength. I put him here because he had same experience as WLB. That meant I had to move

Steven Flynn SILB-WILB..to make room for Hanson and he has same experience at WILB. No change in ratings.

Oliver Wilkinson MLB-SILB..will compete with Hanson and also play outside on occasion.

Courtney Jenkins CB-SS..the guy I traded for from Kentucky..he got a nice ratings boost from the change. I'll post a screenshot in my next post.

[JMO]

So he made quite a big jump in present and future ratings just from the position change, one of the biggest I've seen personally.

I also did some one contract renotiation. Archie Hanson my inside linebacker resigned for 9.19m for 4 yrs, which seemed fair. The renegotiation cuts a million of my cap next year which is sweet. If I can get Perez signed for a reasonable salary I should have 29 players under the cap next year with about 9 million in space and a few guys who can be renegotiated. My vet CB Sam Plummer has a cap number of 7million next year with no bonus. He will be my main renegotiation or cut target(he'll be an 11 year vet next season)

Trade

I sent Marhsall Mena a second year DT (29/56) to Honolulu for a 4th. I didn't need him this year as he can't really play end and we are sewn up at NT. He'll lop 2 million of the cap next year(included in above calculations)

[JMO]

Offensive Line

Centers

Max Quesnel, 10 yrs, 32/32, mentor
Undersized pure pass blocker. As in he can only pass block. Ask him to do anything else ad he just looks confused.
Tyrus Davidson, 2 yrs, 22/52
Undersized guy again. I'm not sure what impact size has in the game but I am wary of small O and D linemen. I'll give him a shot to prove himself as hes signed cheap(minimum) for two years and has great pass blocking potential.

Gaurds
Kerry Weber, 2 yrs, 45/62 LG
Good pass blocker. He should be a good all rounder. Can play at center also which is a bonus and he could see time there this season.
Juan Swindler, 3 yrs, 63/82 RG
Absolute beast. My best player in future ratings and an integral part of the line.
Graham Joyner, 2 yrs, 25/42 LG
Good pass blocking potential. Will experiment with him at center this year also.

Tackles
Brock Jewtuch, 3 yrs, 55/78 LT
Switched to LT lost him some ratings but he played there last year and performed well. Probably my best player on offense. He allowed 5 sacks last year on 540 pass plays.
Kim Meier, 2 yrs, 44/69 RT
Good player on a very big contract(25.4 m for 5 yrs..signed by AI just before I took over). Normally I would go a little more economical on the riht side but he is a good player.
Sean Cunningham, 6 yrs, 44/44 RT
A player I really like. Big guy who may play inside for us also.
Kelly Sikenga, 6 yrs, 25/25 LT mentor
Picked him up in an attempt to get Jewtuch and Meier to their potential as soon as possible. He like Quesnel can only pass block. he is 54 rated pass blocker and pretty much 0 elsewhere.


This is a strong unit with a worrying amount of money invested in it. Swindler is on a great contract however(13 m, 5 yrs) which may save me here. I may end up playing Jewtuch, Swindler, Weber, Cunningham, Meier from left to right.

My emphasis for back ups now and for the percievable future is in pass blocking. Hopefully they can give my QB time to throw this season.


BTW does anybody know a good image hosting site? The one I use has been crapping out alot lately.

[JMO]

Exhibition Week 4, 2007


played in El Paso, TX

84 degrees, fair, 6 mph wind

Albany Argonauts	7	17	6	7	-	37
El Paso Pride	7	10	7	7	-	31

Scoring Summary
1Q: 07:33 EP - Julio Flannery 5 run (Rob Norris extra point)
1Q: 02:07 ALB - Henry Wuerffel 3 run (Dean Vaughn extra point)
2Q: 10:53 EP - Rob Norris 31 field goal
2Q: 07:16 EP - Tracy Donaldson 19 pass from Ken Richardson (Rob Norris extra point)
2Q: 04:47 ALB - Brock Oliver 44 pass from Jimmie Burnim (Dean Vaughn extra point)
2Q: 01:41 ALB - Patrick Veland 18 pass from Jimmie Burnim (Dean Vaughn extra point)
2Q: 00:18 ALB - Dean Vaughn 24 field goal
3Q: 14:25 EP - Tracy Donaldson 16 pass from Ken Richardson (Rob Norris extra point)
3Q: 04:35 ALB - Brent McKenzie 2 pass from Ted Parrish (Dean Vaughn extra point failed)
4Q: 07:14 ALB - Henry Wuerffel 2 run (Dean Vaughn extra point)
4Q: 04:54 EP - Carlos Shipley 8 pass from Ken Richardson (Rob Norris extra point)

Team Statistics	ALB	EP
Record	2-1	2-1
First Downs	22	21
- by Rushing	8	7
- by Passing	12	13
- by Penalty	2	1
Total Net Yards	356	305
- Offensive Plays	65	65
- Yards per Play	5.48	4.69
Net Rushing Yards	98	104
- Rushing Attempts	32	24
- Yards per Rush	3.06	4.33
Net Passing Yards	258	201
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	31 - 22 - 1	37 - 24 - 1
- Gross Passing Yards	274	231
- Sacks/Yards Lost	2/16	4/30
- Yards per Pass Play	7.82	4.90
Fumbles/Lost	1/1	0/0
3rd Down Conversions	9/14	6/14
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	6.0	7.4
4th Down Conversions	0/0	1/2
Penalties/Yards	9/51	6/67
Punt Returns/Yards	3/20	0/0
Kick Returns/Yards	3/75	5/101
Interception Ret./Yards	1/11	1/0
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	6	4
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	4/1	3/1
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 38	OWN 30
Time of Possession	30:34	29:26

Really high octane game that we just lose. We had one major injury in this game when our SLB Meehan went down for seven weeks. Our passing attack looked pretty good and Flannery our FB did ok at RB.

[JMO]

Defensive Line

Trying to get these done before the start of the season.

Nose Tackles
Irving Sheldon, 6 yrs, 48/48
On a very big contract for one year, just to ensure we had a competent guy at this spot. Hes big, over 330 lbs and should eat space.
Vince Studer, 4 yrs, 40/54
Had a big current boost in TC and is probably the future at this spot. Hes a good run stuffer and will get alot of playing time this season.
Darryl Susaka, 2 yrs, 21/47
Our third guy and may spend alot of time inactive(hopefully). Could be Struders back up next season. Has good size.

Ends
Marco Howard, R, 44/66
Amazing combine and TC bump promise big things. I hope he can deliver. Has size, speed and skills to live in the backfield.
Irv Weisenbach, R, 43/55
Nicely developed, he is a good all rounders ratings wise. Both rookies will start.
Joseph Ruegammer,2 yrs, 23/48
The only holdover at end from last year, had a good year statistically. He put on some weight in camp and is now at 282 lbs. We'll see how he does in the new system.
Quwntin Dawkins, 10 yrs, 19/19, mentor
Hes big and a mentor. Thats about it. After the cuts before regular season I may be able to find a better guy, which is not something u want to be saying.

[JMO]

Linebackers

Inside Linebackers

Archie Hanson, 2 yrs, 42/62, SILB
Defensive rookie of the year last year, although that was at the WLB spot in the 43. He was switched inside due to his size. He has excellent pass rush strength and technique. Which should make him perfect for the WLB in 34, I just can't play a 5,11' guy at WLB..it seems very unrealistic. Hes a good run stopper also and should fit this spot well.

Steven Flynn, 2 yrs, 43/72 WILB
Another great all round backer who also excels at special teams. Will play all along the line if there are injuries. He should be a good run stopper as he develops.

Oliver Wilkinson, 7 yrs, 49/56, SILB
Great bump and run, and run D. He wil back up/share playing time with Hanson. He will also play as SLB sometimes as he is good in coverage.

Lester Gilroy, 5yrs, 40/40, WILB
Back up at both spots inside and can play outside as well. Has good size.His strength is run D.

Outside Linebackers

Monty Meehan, 4 yrs, 49/62 SLB
Currently injured for seven weeks with a broken wrist. Has excellent size as well as coverage skills. Good fit for SLB in a 34 I think. One of the reasons I switched.
Percy Place, 6 yrs, 42/52 SLB
Is listed as SLB but will probably play on the other side. I can't switch his positons as at 275 lbs he will only switch to end or ILB. He should be one of my main pass rush threats.
Carlos Kreb, 2 yrs, 14/34 WLB
All he can do is pass rush and I'm not even sure if he can do that. He'll stick because I have so little depth.


I could do with a mentor to throw into the mix here..as well as some depth on the outside. I have 4 good guys inside so they should be able to rotate out and help. I'll scour cuts at the start of the season for an upgrade on Carlos. His pass rush skills are intriguing though.

[JMO]

Exhibition Week 5, 2007


played in Sacramento, CA

67 degrees, fair, 3 mph wind

El Paso Pride	10	3	0	0	-	13
Sacramento Swarm	7	7	3	3	-	20

Scoring Summary
1Q: 13:38 EP - Rob Norris 24 field goal
1Q: 08:10 SAC - Richie Ruzzin 3 pass from Raymond Flowers (Warren Olsson extra point)
1Q: 05:53 EP - Tracy Donaldson 7 pass from Shawn Rennicke (Rob Norris extra point)
2Q: 14:11 EP - Rob Norris 28 field goal
2Q: 02:32 SAC - Quinn Blackburn 26 pass from Irving Olivier (Warren Olsson extra point)
3Q: 03:12 SAC - Warren Olsson 39 field goal
4Q: 04:18 SAC - Warren Olsson 47 field goal

Team Statistics	EP	SAC
Record	2-2	3-1
First Downs	11	15
- by Rushing	3	5
- by Passing	6	9
- by Penalty	2	1
Total Net Yards	184	267
- Offensive Plays	59	68
- Yards per Play	3.12	3.93
Net Rushing Yards	52	130
- Rushing Attempts	23	36
- Yards per Rush	2.26	3.61
Net Passing Yards	132	137
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	33 - 15 - 0	28 - 17 - 0
- Gross Passing Yards	156	160
- Sacks/Yards Lost	3/24	4/23
- Yards per Pass Play	3.67	4.28
Fumbles/Lost	2/2	2/2
3rd Down Conversions	2/14	6/16
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	11.1	7.1
4th Down Conversions	0/2	0/0
Penalties/Yards	7/54	5/46
Punt Returns/Yards	2/19	5/28
Kick Returns/Yards	5/110	1/20
Interception Ret./Yards	0/0	0/0
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	3	2
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	1/2	1/0
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 32	OWN 38
Time of Possession	24:31	35:29

We go 2-2 in preseason after being thoroughly dominated in the final pre season game. I didn't send my export in for this this one, due to time zone confusion and me being very drunk the night before. We came out of pre season with only one guy out with injury and that is for 6 weeks. Because of that I'd say the preseason counts as a success. Now on to the regular season.

[JMO]

Secondary

Cornerbacks

Sam Plummer, 10 yrs, 76/76, RCB
He was aqquuired in a trade with Austin my divison rivals before my arrival as GM. Will play Left corner even though he is listed on the right. His contract is my get out clause next summer for renenotiation or for a cut. He has two years left, roughly 6 mil this year and 7 mil next year.

Luther Money, 3 yrs, 40/51 LCB
Has pretty much no ability in the zone but is excellent everywhere else. Had a good year on limited time last year. This was mainly due to injury. Will probably start him on the right side.

Antoine Brennan, 2 yrs, 32/58 RCB
Should be our nickel guy this year, and move to right corner back when Plummer leaves. Is competent in every coverage skill but won't make many picks.

Dale Laxton, 3 yrs, 32/48, RCB
Was originally sent to Austin as part of the Plummer deal. He left Austin as a RFA so I signed him after the draft. He had a good stats on very limited time last year. Is a good 4th guy.

Adam Singer, R, 26/42 RCB
Probably will be cut but I'm including him as not sure. He is skilled at bump & run mainly. will make interceptions and has good size. He will battle it out with the next guy for a roster spot.
Wally Gagne, 10 yrs, 25/25 RCB mentor

Had a big camp fall off. Either he or Singer will be cut. He will probably be inactive and I am unsure how mentors who aren't active or any good will help. Tempted to cut both of them as my first 4 guys are pretty solid.

Safeties

Courtney Jenkins, 7 yrs, 51/63 SS
Got him in a trade with Kentucky. He is a converted CB. Excellent run stopper and zone guy. No real weaknesses except B&R were he is terrible.

Randall Meadows, 2 yrs, 44/58 FS
He made 6 picks last year and this is his strentgh. He will get burned occasionally but he will make plays. He played at SS last year mainly but will be moved back to FS this year after the Jenkins signing.

Lincoln Sullivan, 3 yrs, 46/57 FS
Great at picks, run d and bump and run, but has no zone ability at all. He'll play back up at FS.

Kelly Connell, R, 25/43 FS
Undrafted guy with great size(6'2 227 lbs). He has decent all round coverage skill. His best rating is in interceptions which is in the 60s.

I'm happy enough with this unit. Plummer can play S as well which helps otherwise we would be a bit susceptible to inuries at SS. Jenkins couls be a key get if his position change works out. Ifthe passing attack works as plans these guys the nickle back will be on the field alot this year.

[JMO]

Cuts

Time to trim the roster down to 53. I only have one hard decision here. Choosing between Wally Gagne a mentor CB, or Adam Singer an undrafted rookie CB. If it was just man against man I would dump Wally as I don't think he will contribute on the field. But I have 4 good enough CBs so keeping Singer is a luxury I can't afford. Although I'll probably have to keep one of those 4 guys inactive so Wally can be active and contribute as a mentor.(I may be off base on the idea that mentors have to be active). I'm going to wait until after the mid week sim to make this decision and have a look at who other teams release.

So I am at 54 right now with the other releasees beings..Billy England(RB who isn't good enough in his specialised skills..blitz pick up/recieving to stick), Bernie Robbins(WR mentor who just isn't any good..i have another mentor), Joseph sellers(one dimensionsal pass rushing WLB..I have another guy of the same type who is better), and two ends who are big and nothing else.

[JMO]

Final roster

I made a few cuts as well as a new signing. I picked up a new kicker(Steven Patton) as my 6th round pick is looking like a bust. I got a bit lucky as this guy looks like he is pretty accurate and my scout says hes better than he thought with a closer look.

Anyway here is the final roster.

I finally chose to cut Singer instead of Gagne just to keep the mentor. singer should find a team and I wish him luck.

[JMO]

Position Battles

Running Backs

Carlos Shipley is the main guy here but he could very easily lose his starting job. I'm going to start off with a committee and move from there. My scout is poor at RBs so i find it hard to trust ratings on my RBs. Hugh Ferguson my RB recieving back was kept on the squad solely because he led the league in ST tackles last year even though my scout says he wouldn't be one of my best ST guys. I'll put him at gunner and see what happens.

SILB

Hanson and wilkerson would have been a big battle but Meehan got injured at SLB. Wilkerson will move there for the start of the season and they will resume their fight after that.

RCB

Money and brennan are both good players, but money is currently rated better as well as having better coverage ratings. He'll get the start.

[JMO]

Week 1 preview: Little Rock Outlaws

El Paso travel to Little Rock to play division rivals Outlaws. We could have stormy weather and Little rock are favored by 6 in the spread.

Little Rock went 8-8 last year and won our division which says something about our division. They were better than that record though and one of the leagues best Ds last year. Two of their wins came against us last year and they held us to 17 points over the two games.

We do have an advantage right off the bat in this game in that they have 2 starters out and a couple of other guys that would figure in the proceedings. I have one guy out.

Their QB(Nathan Armstrong) plays better than his ratings or else his ratings have fallen off a bit, hes an 11 year vet. He completes 64% with decent yds per attempt and a nice TD/INT ratio. A good QB always worries me, but as I have never played 34 before and am just not a good gameplanner, I'll let the ai work him out.

Their star guy, Bryant Codie is at running back. He had a decent year last year but nothing special. Our league though does seem to have low RB averages. He was great in the playoffs last year. He will be our main challenge on D.

On d they have a few stars. Ball hawking safety Timothy Palumbo had 7 picks last year but will be playing with a slight injury this week. They also have a strong MLB and good DEs(their best DE is out for this game which is unlucky for them). Defense is their strength, with quality guys pretty much everywhere.

I think I need to get a lead and make them play outside their zone. A tough first game, that could mean something down the line.

[Green Caesar]

Originally Posted by JMO

Week 1 preview: Little Rock Outlaws

El Paso travel to Little Rock to play division rivals Outlaws. We could have stormy weather and Little rock are favored by 6 in the spread.

I think I need to get a lead and make them play outside their zone. A tough first game, that could mean something down the line.

Hopefully we don't start off slow like we did last season. The key to Little Rock's success is health. If we can keep the main pieces healthy, we will have a good season. Good luck, JMO ... I think you will need it.

[JMO]

Week 1, 2007


played in Little Rock, AR

80 degrees, stormy, 23 mph wind

El Paso Pride	7	7	14	7	-	35
Little Rock Outlaws	3	3	0	7	-	13

Scoring Summary
1Q: 02:51 LR - Ralph Garrison 44 field goal
1Q: 01:25 EP - Jack Parker 40 pass from Shawn Rennicke (Steven Patton extra point)
2Q: 07:01 EP - Carlos White 43 pass from Shawn Rennicke (Steven Patton extra point)
2Q: 00:11 LR - Ralph Garrison 41 field goal
3Q: 06:38 EP - Carlos White 28 pass from Shawn Rennicke (Steven Patton extra point)
3Q: 03:33 EP - Carlos White 24 pass from Shawn Rennicke (Steven Patton extra point)
4Q: 11:41 LR - Butch Guillen 2 pass from Kerry Conaty (Ralph Garrison extra point)
4Q: 05:53 EP - Ralph Dawson 4 run (Steven Patton extra point)

Team Statistics	EP	LR
Record	1-0	0-1
First Downs	16	20
- by Rushing	6	3
- by Passing	8	15
- by Penalty	2	2
Total Net Yards	337	370
- Offensive Plays	57	82
- Yards per Play	5.91	4.51
Net Rushing Yards	108	67
- Rushing Attempts	27	25
- Yards per Rush	4.00	2.68
Net Passing Yards	229	303
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	28 - 16 - 0	55 - 33 - 2
- Gross Passing Yards	240	314
- Sacks/Yards Lost	2/11	2/11
- Yards per Pass Play	7.63	5.32
Fumbles/Lost	0/0	7/4
3rd Down Conversions	3/12	6/20
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	8.8	6.1
4th Down Conversions	1/1	3/4
Penalties/Yards	9/65	6/41
Punt Returns/Yards	3/30	4/15
Kick Returns/Yards	3/72	4/88
Interception Ret./Yards	2/0	0/0
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	1	2
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	1/0	1/0
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 40	OWN 26
Time of Possession	27:27	32:33

A great result against a tough opponent. We forced 7 fumbles in this game which was fantastic especially with the two interceptions on top. A 6-0 turnover ratio should always be enough.

The average third down yardage to go is slightly worrying, maybe I'm going long to much. Might change that next week to mix in more short stuff on first down. With a better spot on 2nd down teams may be more susceptible to the long pass than they are now. I'm probably over thinking this though.

Lots of good performances in this game. On offense Carlos White came up with 3 tds. On D Courtney Jenkins our new SS, had 9 tackles, an assist and a forced fumble.

edit forgot to give love to special teams guys. Hugh Ferguson has rewarded my faith in him and lack of faith in my scouts ability to read RBs, by getting 3 ST tackles and forcing a fumble. He'll be my gunner for the forseeable future. He also may get a shot at RB 3 as Steve Parrish didn't look too good in this game. For now Dawson will move to the 2 spot.

[JMO]

Injury Report

Antoine brennan our RCB is out for 7 weeks. We have good cover there so its a good place to lose a guy. Monty Meehan our best SLB is now doubtful with a broken wrist. He'll play as he is by far our best player at this spot. Other than that nothing major, so we're pretty lucky so far.

Other News

Looking at the FA after roster cuts, there are a few guys I like the look of. More news on that after the next midweek sim. Yes I'm excited too.

Other than that I'm pleased with where we are at right now.

[Green Caesar]

Good gameplan. You stopped our rushing attack and forced us to pass.
Hard to be competitive when you have six turnovers.

[JMO]

Week 2: Birmingham Hammers

Birmingham come to El Paso this week, into the Lion's Den(Yes thats what I'm calling it). Its predicted to be a nice day with perfect football conditions.

Birmingham lost their last game by a margin mainly due to their rookie QB hockenhull, not having a good game. Looking at their roster they have a pretty good team, so if Hockenhull can get it together they could be hard to beat.

Their main strength like mine is at wide reciever. They have two excellent players there in Steve Arnold and Donny Stallings. They will be my main concern for this game. Stallings had a hundred yard game last week. On D they have a pair of excellent ends in Harvey Hardy(his brothers solve mysteries) and Randall Keith. they have a star at CB also in Leroy Hoy who is one of the premier corners in the league.

I'm hoping we can get a win here, as it would give us a great start. With Birmingham starting a rookie QB, we should do it. The point spread favors us by 4 and it should be tight.

[JMO]

Roster Changes

I signed three guys in the midweek sims and made some cuts based on that. Singer the CB who I dropped before is now back on the roster. Like the flip flopper I am I decided to drop Wally Gagne my mentor CB instead. gagne is not a good player, and i believe that for a mentor to dramatically help he needs to be good. I'd rather keep the spot for a guy who can become something and be on the active roster.

I also picked up an undersized DT(Benton) who I'm going to switch to DE. He'll back up the RDE spot if the position switch works out. I'm cutting Steven Turnbull a big LB who doesn;t really have a spot on our lb rotation.

The last signing is on our O-line where we picked up a G, Juan Morrisson. He could be a great pass blocker and his future could lie at center. He'll replace Toth, our G who doesn't have the specialist pass blocking potential I'm lookign for in young back ups.

[JMO]

Week 2, 2007


played in El Paso, TX

60 degrees, fair, 18 mph wind

Birmingham Vulcans	3	3	0	0	-	6
El Paso Pride	0	7	14	10	-	31

Scoring Summary
1Q: 05:45 BIR - Melvin Andrews 18 field goal
2Q: 09:28 BIR - Melvin Andrews 21 field goal
2Q: 00:30 EP - Irv Weisenbach 29 fumble return (Steven Patton extra point)
3Q: 07:13 EP - Monty Meehan 36 fumble return (Steven Patton extra point)
3Q: 00:12 EP - Carlos White 4 pass from Shawn Rennicke (Steven Patton extra point)
4Q: 13:17 EP - Steven Patton 46 field goal
4Q: 09:07 EP - Carlos White 14 pass from Shawn Rennicke (Steven Patton extra point)

Team Statistics	BIR	EP
Record	0-2	2-0
First Downs	15	15
- by Rushing	9	5
- by Passing	6	10
- by Penalty	0	0
Total Net Yards	297	251
- Offensive Plays	65	49
- Yards per Play	4.57	5.12
Net Rushing Yards	199	66
- Rushing Attempts	38	24
- Yards per Rush	5.24	2.75
Net Passing Yards	98	185
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	22 - 15 - 0	22 - 13 - 2
- Gross Passing Yards	122	203
- Sacks/Yards Lost	5/24	3/18
- Yards per Pass Play	3.63	7.40
Fumbles/Lost	5/5	2/1
3rd Down Conversions	4/13	3/10
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	8.9	8.3
4th Down Conversions	0/1	0/0
Penalties/Yards	0/0	1/10
Punt Returns/Yards	0/0	2/18
Kick Returns/Yards	5/108	2/45
Interception Ret./Yards	2/16	0/0
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	2	3
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	0/2	2/0
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 25	OWN 39
Time of Possession	32:57	27:03

We won this game but it wasn't half as convincing as the scoreline would suggest. Birmingham ran over us at will all day and were ahead 6-0 until just before half time when rookie weisenbach took a fumble back for a td. We forced 5 fumbles and recovered all of them which is pretty lucky.

12 forced fumbles in 2 games is alot. Last year we had 7 recovered for the year total. I don't expect it to continue based on that. The field position and tds from the fumble recoveries won us the game. Renicke threw two picks, one of which was in the endzone. Our passing offense looked good as Birmingham seemingly couldn't stop us moving through the air. We just need to run the ball better and stop the run.

A good win that puts us at 2-0 going into week 3.

The big performers in this game were(WR) Carlos White who had 73 yds and 2 tds. He had 5 tds for the year now and the game mvp, WLB Percy Place who had 3 sacks in 6 pass plays. Astonishing work from him.

btw is there a stat in the team statistics for forced fumbles..it only seems to cover fumbles recovered. Being a football outsiders guy, I'd like to figure out teams 'fumble luck'.

[JMO]

Injury Report

Our CB Antoine Brennan is still our only guy out at the moment. We do has a flu outbreak on our hands with 11 guys affected. they can all play but it will make a difference in marginal calls. Monty Meehan didn't play very well with his broken wrist last week so I may rotate him in off the bench next week.


Position Battles

At RB nobody is playing well after two games. Shipley is doing enough to hold his spot so far.

At CB Laxton our nickel guy has been playing well. he has 3 forced fumbles and 2 sacks so far. It looks like he is the blitz guy in the nickel. Remind me to try a big S at nickel corner next off season. Luther money our RCB isn't playing so well with no passes defensed so far. He'll stick for one more game.

At Lb with 7 guys rotating, everybody is getting playing time. Percy Place locked down the WLB spot with his performance this week.

Except for RB there is no real concerns. I just don't like any of my RBs. With our passing attack we should be running in favorable positions quite a bit. Somebody needs to step up.

[JMO]

Week 3: Greenville Silver Aces

We travel to Greenville this week to play the silveraces who are 1-1 on the season. The spread favors us by 3. We have a flu outbreak at the moment which I'm hoping we can get through.

Greenville are a solid team who went 8-8 last year(good enough for third place in a very tough NC east division). There a pretty young team who start a 2nd year QB who ratings wise isn't anything special. Hes been ok on the field though. That might have something to do with their O line where they have good young talent at the tackle spots as well a vet presence at centre in Schoonover.

On D they have stars from LBs back. kestner and Brigdges are stars at OLB and Jenkins and Covington are their secondary stars. Other than their main CB, they don't have alot at CB.

Greenville should be a tough game when you take in the flu outbreak, their D stars and their O-line. There is no way I keep up my turnover ratio. I'll try to make it my wr2/3 vs their cb2/3 and see what happens.

[JMO]

Week 3, 2007


played in Greenville, SC

74 degrees, fair, 7 mph wind

El Paso Pride	0	7	0	0	-	7
Greenville Silver Aces	7	0	6	0	-	13

Scoring Summary
1Q: 06:42 GRN - Nolan Walker 1 pass from Nolan Tewkesbury (Eric Skjerven extra point)
2Q: 03:56 EP - Ralph Dawson 2 run (Steven Patton extra point)
3Q: 10:01 GRN - Eric Skjerven 39 field goal
3Q: 01:04 GRN - Eric Skjerven 39 field goal

Team Statistics	EP	GRN
Record	2-1	2-1
First Downs	14	17
- by Rushing	2	6
- by Passing	9	10
- by Penalty	3	1
Total Net Yards	206	273
- Offensive Plays	52	58
- Yards per Play	3.96	4.71
Net Rushing Yards	31	119
- Rushing Attempts	21	31
- Yards per Rush	1.48	3.84
Net Passing Yards	175	154
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	30 - 19 - 0	24 - 18 - 0
- Gross Passing Yards	180	171
- Sacks/Yards Lost	1/5	3/17
- Yards per Pass Play	5.65	5.70
Fumbles/Lost	2/0	3/0
3rd Down Conversions	2/11	3/11
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	8.9	8.5
4th Down Conversions	0/1	0/0
Penalties/Yards	5/50	11/68
Punt Returns/Yards	4/53	4/21
Kick Returns/Yards	3/74	1/17
Interception Ret./Yards	0/0	0/0
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	1	4
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	1/0	1/2
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 29	OWN 22
Time of Possession	27:24	32:36

Well we lost a game. I'm not sure if it was down to the flu or my gameplan. Our passing game didn't look very convinving and our run game was absolutely terrible. I'm not sure what to do to improve it, but there will be some changes inside. Their QB tewkeberry had a very efficient game and looked like a good QB.

Some good things come out of this game. We only picked up one injury to a non starter. We have 6 or 7 guys back from the flu and Howard our no 1 draft choice picked up 5 tackles a sack and a hurry in this game. opefully a ghood sign for the future.

Well done to Greenville who thoroughly deserved their victory.

[JMO]

Week 4: Salt Lake City

Salt Lake visit us this week, with perfect weather forecasted. We're favored by 4 in this one. We are both 2-1 going in to this game so someone falls back to even record after this.

Ratings wise their QB Clancy looks good and he can air it out. His completion percentage(66%) and average attempt(7.7) are very good and it is these numbers that I usually judge QBs on. They also have a nice RB in Darrin Bryant who is averaging 4.73 a carry at this point in the year. They have stud Tackles at both ends and a good interior. Basically a team that is built the right way.

On D they are stacked in the secondary which is a bad matchup for us. Two very good corners in King and Albert Taylor. They also have studs at both safety spots in Higdon and Blackwell. Blackwell is in his second year and well on his way to being one of the premier safeties in the league. Their stud OTS are mirrored by two stud DEs. One of them Butler is an absolute animal and will be a great test for Jewtuch.

This should be tight as I believe they are probably the best team we've played this year in terms of match ups. They have a good QB, line, running game and a nice pass rush and secondary. Basicaly what makes a good team. Hopefully we can get our running game going and our OTs can live p to their billing. Its going to be a toughie.

[JMO]

Week 4, 2007


played in El Paso, TX

55 degrees, fair, 9 mph wind

Salt Lake City Saints	7	3	0	0	-	10
El Paso Pride	0	3	3	7	-	13

Scoring Summary
1Q: 03:02 SLC - Darrin Bryant 5 run (Martin Bernstein extra point)
2Q: 14:15 EP - Steven Patton 47 field goal
2Q: 00:17 SLC - Martin Bernstein 48 field goal
3Q: 11:02 EP - Steven Patton 35 field goal
4Q: 00:53 EP - Geoff Perez 15 pass from Shawn Rennicke (Steven Patton extra point)

Team Statistics	SLC	EP
Record	2-2	3-1
First Downs	21	15
- by Rushing	8	6
- by Passing	12	8
- by Penalty	1	1
Total Net Yards	301	243
- Offensive Plays	71	59
- Yards per Play	4.24	4.12
Net Rushing Yards	94	101
- Rushing Attempts	31	31
- Yards per Rush	3.03	3.26
Net Passing Yards	207	142
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	40 - 23 - 2	26 - 15 - 0
- Gross Passing Yards	207	154
- Sacks/Yards Lost	0/0	2/12
- Yards per Pass Play	5.18	5.07
Fumbles/Lost	2/1	0/0
3rd Down Conversions	10/16	2/13
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	5.8	6.8
4th Down Conversions	0/0	2/2
Penalties/Yards	4/34	2/10
Punt Returns/Yards	2/15	1/12
Kick Returns/Yards	3/69	2/67
Interception Ret./Yards	0/0	2/0
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	2	2
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	1/0	1/1
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 24	OWN 31
Time of Possession	32:20	27:40

We won this game because of a few great individual plays. Monty Meehan manages to cause a fumble on on a first and goal with our backs against our line. Geoff Perez turned a short pass into a td when we needed it at the end. No fumbles/no interceptions combined with 2 4th down conversion and that critical forced fumble swung us the game. We played terrible though so I'm thankful for the win but looking for a drastic improvement next week.

[JMO]

Week 5 Review: tuscon Bobcats

Playing at Tuscon, the weather looks good. We're favored by 6 for this game.

Tuscon have an excellent recieving core which will be very difficult to neutralize. Their QB, is a rookie who is playing way above his ratings. He has completed 61% of his passes for almost 8 yds an almost which is fantastic. He has 7 tds to 2 interceptions on the year. Nice numbers for a rook. Hes helped by aforementioned recievers and TE, as well as last years offensive player of the year, RB Irving Arceo. They also have a decent O line. Most of their talent seems to be focused on offense which is a bit of a change for us.

On D they have a few stars including a safety I really like called Isaac Pipkin. He's a real specalist in zone,rund and ints and a guy I'd like on my team.

This week I'm going to go closer to the AI gameplans as mine just arent working out. I'll probably just change the pass% and some formation stuff.

We have Sam Plummer our main CB out this week which could really hurt our pass D against their studs. He'll be missed.

[JMO]

Week 5, 2007


played in Tucson, AZ

60 degrees, fair, 2 mph wind

El Paso Pride	0	0	7	0	-	7
Tucson Bobcats	0	3	7	7	-	17

Scoring Summary
2Q: 09:58 TUC - Chester Kudlacz 44 field goal
3Q: 14:41 EP - Steven Flynn 27 interception return (Dexter Horste extra point)
3Q: 04:26 TUC - Kirk Irons 24 pass from Antoine Campbell (Chester Kudlacz extra point)
4Q: 10:48 TUC - Greg Waldron 17 pass from Antoine Campbell (Chester Kudlacz extra point)

Team Statistics	EP	TUC
Record	3-2	2-3
First Downs	17	18
- by Rushing	5	4
- by Passing	10	13
- by Penalty	2	1
Total Net Yards	290	341
- Offensive Plays	77	59
- Yards per Play	3.77	5.78
Net Rushing Yards	99	84
- Rushing Attempts	25	25
- Yards per Rush	3.96	3.36
Net Passing Yards	191	257
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	50 - 22 - 3	33 - 20 - 1
- Gross Passing Yards	205	263
- Sacks/Yards Lost	2/14	1/6
- Yards per Pass Play	3.67	7.56
Fumbles/Lost	1/1	0/0
3rd Down Conversions	5/18	1/11
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	8.0	10.4
4th Down Conversions	2/3	0/0
Penalties/Yards	6/55	9/65
Punt Returns/Yards	3/20	1/-2
Kick Returns/Yards	3/104	2/35
Interception Ret./Yards	1/27	3/26
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	1	1
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	0/0	1/0
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 31	OWN 29
Time of Possession	30:38	29:22

The opposite of our earlier games as we were let down by turnovers this week. Tuscon's young QB looked impressive in the win. We had a good ST teams performance and a pretty good game from our D. Our Offense has been our weakest unit this year imo. Unless we are winning the turnover margin by a stretch we aren't imposing ourselves in game. Time for them to step up next week.

[JMO]

Week 6 : Las Vegas Silverbacks

We travel to sin city this week and are favored by 5 in the spread. Judging by our last performance I'm not filled with hope. LV are a team on the rise and had a couple of nice draft picks in the last draft. Their 4th round pick QB Talley is having a decent year so far. Their two first rounders went to defensive linemen were they have potential to be one of the top Dline units in the league. So another test for my Oline especially in the run game which has faltered.

Las Vegas has alot of talent on D. They have studs in all the units with two great players at safety. On O they have nice bookend tackles and are good inside also. Their main concentration of talent seems to be along the lines which isn't a bad way to go. Once they get a good QB they will be a force. The jury is still out on Talley.

The trade deadline is coming up this week and a few teams are trying to shift good players. I'm going to pass this time as I havn't really got the draft picks to spare. I'll keep an eye on where they go next time as there are some really good vets up for grabs. I'll stick with my roster at the minute.

[JMO]

Week 6, 2007


played in Las Vegas, NV

90 degrees, fair, 2 mph wind

El Paso Pride	3	7	0	10	-	20
Las Vegas Silverbacks	7	10	0	7	-	24

Scoring Summary
1Q: 11:34 LV - Zack O'Donnell 6 pass from Leon Sersland (Jay Sklenicka extra point)
1Q: 08:37 EP - Rob Norris 43 field goal
2Q: 12:44 LV - Morris Fleming 7 pass from Leon Sersland (Jay Sklenicka extra point)
2Q: 06:25 EP - Carlos White 3 pass from Shawn Rennicke (Rob Norris extra point)
2Q: 00:48 LV - Jay Sklenicka 27 field goal
4Q: 12:59 EP - Rob Norris 27 field goal
4Q: 08:47 LV - Zack O'Donnell 9 pass from Leon Sersland (Jay Sklenicka extra point)
4Q: 05:36 EP - Jack Parker 29 pass from Shawn Rennicke (Rob Norris extra point)

Team Statistics	EP	LV
Record	3-3	3-3
First Downs	21	22
- by Rushing	6	8
- by Passing	12	13
- by Penalty	3	1
Total Net Yards	361	395
- Offensive Plays	55	63
- Yards per Play	6.56	6.27
Net Rushing Yards	133	183
- Rushing Attempts	19	37
- Yards per Rush	7.00	4.95
Net Passing Yards	228	212
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	35 - 19 - 3	25 - 21 - 0
- Gross Passing Yards	234	219
- Sacks/Yards Lost	1/6	1/7
- Yards per Pass Play	6.33	8.15
Fumbles/Lost	0/0	1/0
3rd Down Conversions	5/10	7/13
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	8.7	8.6
4th Down Conversions	0/0	0/0
Penalties/Yards	4/27	10/80
Punt Returns/Yards	3/7	0/0
Kick Returns/Yards	4/97	3/80
Interception Ret./Yards	0/0	3/12
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	2	4
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	1/1	3/1
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 22	OWN 25
Time of Possession	25:58	34:02

3 picks from Renicke really killed us this week. I'm worried about that but what is really annoying me is the pass D. We cannot stop teams passing on us. a succession of decent but not great guys have destroyed us which isn't a good omen if we play a really good QB. We had a chance to win this game when Renicke threw a pick at the one. He had a terrible game and that is starting to become a slight trend with him. Las Vegas went with their god QB, which made them a much better team than with the rookie. They played well and should have won by more. 3-3 now, time to regroup and win a few.

[JMO]

Week 7: Austin Chargers

We play in our division and at Austin this week. Its exciting to be back in division play and this next few weeks should be vital. This is how our division looks right now.



SA has crept us on us as we were bleeding points the last few weeks. Our matchups on week 11 and 15 should be important. As will be our week 17 rematch with Austin.

Ok well back to this week. Austin are a young team with talent on O line especially. Their young QB is interesting, and was a guy i liked during the draft. He's had a good start to the season for a rookie. Their best rookie and probably number one player is Alex Ruff a stud left tackle. My fave player on their team is Jermaine Randle CB. He defends alot of passes and is 6passes with 10 caught on the season already. He doesn't need alot of interceptions to bump his pass d %.

I have 3 injuries at CB this week. Sam Plummer who has been missed will be out at least another week. Laxton is injured again with the same injury as Plummer(seperated shoulder). Luther Money our number 2 CB has a sprained ankle but will play. Plummer is a big miss and I hope he can be back next week.

Austin have a pretty clean injury slate this week with a few guy who should play despite injuries. Austin are a young team who I should have a chance to beat. The way we have ben playing though I think once again we are being flattered by the point spread. This week we are favored by 5.

[JMO]

Week 7, 2007


played in Austin, TX

81 degrees, fair, 2 mph wind

El Paso Pride	13	10	7	3	-	33
Austin Chargers	7	7	0	14	-	28

Scoring Summary
1Q: 10:18 EP - Rob Norris 24 field goal
1Q: 07:08 AUS - Cornelius Mickens 17 pass from Lester McNeil (Vinny Trudeau extra point)
1Q: 03:40 EP - Rob Norris 33 field goal
1Q: 02:10 EP - Steve Parrish 3 run (Rob Norris extra point)
2Q: 06:22 EP - Hugh Ferguson 9 pass from Shawn Rennicke (Rob Norris extra point)
2Q: 03:13 AUS - Ron Stone 53 pass from Lester McNeil (Vinny Trudeau extra point)
2Q: 00:23 EP - Rob Norris 49 field goal
3Q: 15:00 EP - Carlos White 95 kickoff return (Rob Norris extra point)
4Q: 13:33 EP - Rob Norris 36 field goal
4Q: 09:04 AUS - Justin Maloney 6 pass from Lester McNeil (Vinny Trudeau extra point)
4Q: 02:19 AUS - Jose Chae 29 pass from Lester McNeil (Vinny Trudeau extra point)

Team Statistics	EP	AUS
Record	4-3	1-5
First Downs	19	19
- by Rushing	9	2
- by Passing	10	16
- by Penalty	0	1
Total Net Yards	363	362
- Offensive Plays	62	61
- Yards per Play	5.85	5.93
Net Rushing Yards	181	39
- Rushing Attempts	39	17
- Yards per Rush	4.64	2.29
Net Passing Yards	182	323
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	23 - 15 - 1	40 - 29 - 1
- Gross Passing Yards	182	348
- Sacks/Yards Lost	0/0	4/25
- Yards per Pass Play	7.91	7.34
Fumbles/Lost	1/1	1/0
3rd Down Conversions	5/12	5/14
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	6.3	10.4
4th Down Conversions	0/0	1/2
Penalties/Yards	3/20	8/45
Punt Returns/Yards	4/33	2/13
Kick Returns/Yards	2/106	5/119
Interception Ret./Yards	1/42	1/20
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	4	2
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	1/3	2/0
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 37	OWN 25
Time of Possession	32:53	27:07

We squeak a victory after looking like we were in control.

Drive Charts

El Paso Pride Quar Began Poss From Plays Yards Result 1 13:46 3:34 OWN 49 6 44 Field Goal 1 7:03 3:31 OWN 20 6 64 Field Goal 1 2:10 0:06 OPP 3 1 3 Touchdown 2 14:53 3:46 OWN 18 6 19 Punt 2 9:02 2:49 OPP 49 7 49 Touchdown 2 2:59 2:43 OWN 20 9 48 Field Goal 3 12:18 1:46 OWN 47 4 30 Interception 3 8:37 2:13 OWN 20 6 30 Punt 3 2:33 4:07 OWN 46 7 35 Field Goal 4 8:59 4:48 OWN 20 7 27 Punt 4 2:04 0:28 OWN 24 2 15 Fumble 4 0:33 0:33 OWN 33 1 -1 Game

Austin Chargers Quar Began Poss From Plays Yards Result 1 15:00 1:14 OWN 20 3 0 Punt 1 10:12 3:09 OWN 39 6 61 Touchdown 1 3:32 1:22 OWN 18 3 -1 Interception 1 2:04 2:11 OWN 32 3 6 Punt 2 11:07 2:05 OWN 19 3 1 Punt 2 6:13 3:14 OWN 12 8 88 Touchdown 2 0:16 0:16 OWN 43 1 0 Half 3 14:46 2:28 OWN 9 3 8 Punt 3 10:32 1:55 OWN 30 3 5 Punt 3 6:24 3:51 OWN 4 6 10 Punt 4 13:26 4:27 OWN 24 8 76 Touchdown 4 4:11 2:07 OWN 15 8 85 Touchdown 4 1:36 1:03 OPP 39 6 6 Downs

I was freaking out near the end when they we fumbled. Thankfully for the sirst time that day our pass d held up and we could stop them. We only got one TD in 4 visits to their redzone and that inefficiency could have been our downfall. Carlos White looks like hes growing into a great returner with a TD return, his first of the year. A game we could have lost but an important in division win. Pass D continues to worry me as yet another rookie QB gets game MVP honors against us. Will tinker with our nickel D for the next game.

[JMO]

No preview this week. I find them a little boring, so I'm going to replace them with other things, like player profiles and stories from around the league. I was favored by 1 in the spread for this game, our second meeting with division rivaks Little Rock. We spanked them last time



Week 8, 2007


played in El Paso, TX

58 degrees, fair, 13 mph wind

Little Rock Outlaws	3	0	0	20	-	23
El Paso Pride	17	3	7	7	-	34

Scoring Summary
1Q: 15:00 EP - Carlos White 78 kickoff return (Rob Norris extra point)
1Q: 11:57 EP - Rob Norris 34 field goal
1Q: 03:46 LR - Ralph Garrison 20 field goal
1Q: 00:18 EP - Leon Weadock 14 pass from Shawn Rennicke (Rob Norris extra point)
2Q: 04:20 EP - Rob Norris 31 field goal
3Q: 10:47 EP - Carlos White 23 pass from Shawn Rennicke (Rob Norris extra point)
4Q: 14:36 LR - Andy Hatcher 3 pass from Nathan Armstrong (Nathan Armstrong pass for conversion failed)
4Q: 12:31 LR - Dave Phillips 68 fumble return (Andy Hatcher run for conversion failed)
4Q: 09:41 EP - Jack Parker 26 pass from Shawn Rennicke (Rob Norris extra point)
4Q: 07:43 LR - Mark Harmon 12 pass from Nathan Armstrong (Nathan Armstrong pass to Andy Hatcher for conversion)

Team Statistics	LR	EP
Record	3-4	5-3
First Downs	22	16
- by Rushing	3	4
- by Passing	16	11
- by Penalty	3	1
Total Net Yards	361	349
- Offensive Plays	72	53
- Yards per Play	5.01	6.58
Net Rushing Yards	70	136
- Rushing Attempts	21	32
- Yards per Rush	3.33	4.25
Net Passing Yards	291	213
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	49 - 28 - 2	21 - 15 - 0
- Gross Passing Yards	306	213
- Sacks/Yards Lost	2/15	0/0
- Yards per Pass Play	5.71	10.14
Fumbles/Lost	3/2	3/2
3rd Down Conversions	5/15	5/11
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	8.6	6.9
4th Down Conversions	2/2	0/0
Penalties/Yards	11/70	10/73
Punt Returns/Yards	2/4	2/21
Kick Returns/Yards	6/139	5/186
Interception Ret./Yards	0/0	2/11
2pt Conversions	3/1	0/0
Red Zone Visits	4	3
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	2/1	1/2
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 30	OWN 35
Time of Possession	29:14	30:46

Well Carlos white does it again as he is rapidly becoming my favorite player on the offense. Special teams has really helped out this year so far. Kelly Connell our UDFA S has had 9 ST tackles in the last 2 games, which could help him stick long term if he keeps it up. Special teams ace Hugh Ferguson caught a TD pass this week which is great...hes a player who contributes in lots of ways.

Our pass attack was efficient and Renicke didn't throw any picks. Our running attack did well, which is a real turnaround from the start of the year. The best thing about this game was that our Pass D whilst not being sensational got some stops and our line got pressure.

Very happy with the 2 division wins in a row, although I have yet to play the other division team San Antonio. I have a feeling those games might decide alot.

[JMO]

Midseason Report

8 games in and its time to have a look at where we are at. Here are the standings. We are in the NC South.



So we have a decent run at home field from here as well as a clear advantage in our division, especially over Little Rock. Splitting the games against San An would help us.

In the AC last years champs, Columbus look dominant. They are led by a stellar Q, Clay rhodes and have some real playmakers on D.

[JMO]

So first of al here is the team summary and then we will go a little more in depth on each section of the team.





Offense

On offense we havn't been as good as I would have hoped. This is at least partly to do with my pathetic gameplanning. For a few games i tried to make aggressive changes and I over did it and grossly overused certain formations. Lets go through each aspect of the offense.

Passing O

Renicke has good games and terrible games. I'm not fully confident in him yet but he looks like our guy, which he has to be considering his contract. Our recievers have done ok yardage wise. We havn't been passing it alot considering the talent we have here, and we aren't terribly efficient.

Carlos white is the star here, with 7 tds, a few of which have been short passes converted into medium or long gains. The contract he is on is fantastic, at 3.8 mil for 3 yrs. If he continues at this clip I see a holdout coming down the line.

On the other side Jack Parker has compiled the most yardage and 3 tds. Hes also progressed quite well and should be teamed with White for a long time.

Our other main guy, ratings wise is Geoff Perez. The trade for him is starting to look like a mistake as he just can't get the playing time. His one td was a short pass turned into a 15 yd td which won us a very close game against Salt Lake City. So he hasn't been too bad. At the minute, the plan is to franchise him(hes our only main guy on his last year) and trade/cut/keep him for one more year.


Our O line hasn't been as stellar as their ratings suggest, although they are on pace to beat last years figures. A few players are playing out of position though.


Rushing Offense

this has improved as the season has went on. We're better going around the ends as opposed to up the middle. I try to keep it balanced to stop people loading up on me. We could not run the ball at the start of the season.

The depth chart had shaken out with Shipley, Parrish, Ferguson being the order. Dawson was unlucky to be injured and have his spot stolen by Parrish who has done ok for a 6th rounder. Parrish and Shipley spilt carries almost and Ferguson contributes on ST(10tck,1FF,1TD) and in the passing game(1 TD, 2 3rdD con).

Defense

Our defense has been caught out by its own success to a degree. We cause alot of turnovers, especially fumbles. These turnovers lead to shortened fields, defensive Tds and generally less time on the fields for our offense and gives us leads. This causes the opposition to pass, which so far is our weakest area on D. We've caused 22 fumbles and recovers 12 which means on D we've been a little fumble lucky so far.

We've given up the most pass yard again and we are in the top 5 comletion percentage allowed. In particular we are getting burned long alot. This has been compunded and partly caused by injuries in the secondary and in our lb crew. Here is the current injury report..



I can't blame that entirely as we shtill should be able to get some stops with playersplaying hurt, as well as get help from our lbs. Thankfully the mini LB injury spree has cleared up and they are starting to stop some plays. I've been tinkering with my nickel coverage(which is on the field alot at the moment) and I think we're starting to get a better balance.

One drawback with the amount of passing on us, is that our LBs are getting disgruntled over playing time.
We have had decent pass rush although it could improve. Rookies Marco Howard and Irv weisenbach have steadily improved as the year has gone on. They are looking like solid picks at end.


Rushing D

Our Rushing D has done quite well so far with our opponents rushing for 3.8 a carry. We havn't been dominant here by any means. We are causing alot of fumbles though and I feel much more comfortable facing the rush than the pass.

Our star here and on D generally has been Courtney Jenkins. Hes been a tackle machine as well as being good in pass D, with a couple of inteceptions. Hes also forced a fumble and bagged a sack. The only downside to getting him, is that Meadows our FS who played at SS last year seems to be a natural SS./ he hasn't played terribly well at FS so far. Right now he might be moved to nickel corner(seems to suit a hard hitting safety in the 34) and Lincoln Sullivan will get a start or 2 at FS.

[JMO]

Special Teams

In Single player I normally develop a soft spot for my fave special teams guy. That guy buried on the depth chart who racks up the tackles in ST and forces a fumble just when you need it. So far the Pride have been good on all aspects of ST.

We are average on punt length and this is something I'll want to upgrade in the offseason. Every edge is important and being able to pin your opponent back is an underrated edge.

In place kicking we have went through few kickers. At the start of the year we had Steven Patton but he wasn't really getting the job done in terms of distance. We then tried out rookie Horste for a few games but he had the same problem. We finally went back to our 6th round pick and the guy we should have stuck with from the start, Rob Norris. Hes made all his kicks so far and has good distance on kick offs. Getting rid of the other guys cleared up some space on the roster also.

Our tackle leaders are Kelly Connell and hugh Ferguson who have 9 and 10 tackles respectively. Kelly has only been a gunner for a few weeks so he might turn into a standout at this spot.

In the return game we are getting a big edge at the moment. At the start of the year Sam Plummer our ace CB was getting the punt returns and he had a nice average of 11.2 per return. He'll go back on them when hes fully recovered. In the mean time Carlos White has took over punt returns as well as continuing to shine on kick returns.

He has 2 KR TDs as well as a healthy 34.3 yd average. This gives us great field position alot of the time. He isn't so great on punt returns although he seems to find a seam alot.

At the moment we are aveaging roughly 9 yds more on KR than our opponents and 4 yds on punt returns. In real life that would amount to our team playing with 'swagger' as ST are routinely ignored in analysis.