Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

Well, I doubt they'll be starting him. I thought it was quite intuitive on the AI's part since Stanton is a mobile (in the pocket) QB just like Romo. I'm assuming it's no coincidence either that the other team interested was the Denver Broncos who use a similar QB in Cutler.

19 days until the draft...we've scouted a TON of guys now and my draft board is filling up. As a teaser, this is the CB Waddle, QB Zazzalli draft. PLEASE NO SPOILERS!!!! I DO NOT WANT TO KNOW A THING! THANK YOU!

I signed C Justin Hartwig. He's 30 and wanted a 5 year deal which I was NOT happy about, but I did it anyway. He's an 81 with good blocking ratings (all 80+). I'm interested in a few C's in the draft but if none of them end up a Lion, Hartwig can play. $2M signing bonus makes it possible to cut him after next year if I end up not needing him. I have quite a bit of dead cap room right now, as epected, having cut a ton of "typical Lions." Nothing insermountable but it's cutting into my cap space a bit for this year. Small price to pay to have things sorted out for 2010.

We also signed RG Toniu Fonoti who will fill a similar roll as to what Hartwig is doing. Fonoti signed for 2 years at $3M. Again, more than I waned but I am very big (no pun intended for Fonoti, WOW!) on the OL and if I end up paying a backup G $3M, fine. His bonus is $1M and again, if need be I could always cut him and "save" $2M.

19 more days to go! FYI, the highest rated player, that I'd be interested in drafting, is

Spoiler

DE Vernon Caldwell out of Oregon State. There are better players, and while I'm a believer in drafting best available player, I do have my limits; best available must be within reason of a team need as well (or soon to be team need). I have QB Zazzali 2nd, even though he's a better player IMO, and I really like LT Traylor (forget his first name). To be honest, I doubt any of these will fall to 13 and this may be one of the rare times I look to trade up in the draft...time will tell. I have 2 2nd's but really don't want to lose them as I have plenty of other holes to fill! FYI, I've identified USC QB, Morgan Barnes, as a huge bust (well at least for as high as he's supposed to be drafted).

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

Signed RE Gbaja Biamila who has a finesse move rating over 90. He signed for $2M but without a bonus. Like a few other FA's I've signed this offseason, he has a job unless we pluck something else in the draft. Either way, he's a nice player to have around.

Schedule was revealed and the Lions play on Monday Night Football in Seattle, a Sunday night game against the Bengals, and host the Vikings on Thanksgiving.

The draft is in 11 days!

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

I just cut LOLB Chike Okeafor who had a $6M cap hit (no bonus since I traded for him). I liked him but he'll never start over Boley and $6M is crazy for backup OLB obviously.

I cut him in hopes of signing WR Santana Moss as a WR3 and return specialist. He ended up going to Seattle for $2.5M which was more than I was willing to spend on a 3rd WR (could have kept McDonald for that price).

Something will turn up in regards to a kick-returner; they are easy to find.

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

5 days until the draft and the owner, Mr. Bored, has given me a few new goals for the season:

1) Find "the" sleeper in the draft...ok...

2) Don't draft a bust in the 1st round (no one with a potential lower than 85)

From looking at my draft board, this is really forcing my hand to try and trade up...time will tell. Hopefully the teams ahead of me starting picking positions I have little or no interest in!

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

Eve of the draft...

FREE AGENCY RECAP
Additions 20
Losses 30
Roster size 50
Cap room $8.2M (nice chuck to lost bonuses from scrubs I cut)

Those #'s are a bit skewed because it's counting players I cut even during preseason 2008. It's also counting players I signed during the season.

Here's something interesting:
Free Agents Lost (look how many are NOT on an NFL team now)
CB Travis Fisher (MIA)
WR Mike Furrey
RB Aveion Cason
DE Jared Devries
C Andy McCollum
RT George Foster
C LeCharles Bentley
OLB Alex Lewis
CB Keith Smith (OAK)
RB Brian Calhoun
RG Scotty Tate
LT Jordan Black
DT Landon Cohen
CB Stanley Wilson (SEA)
OLB Rocky Boiman
TE Dan Campbell
C Dominic Raiola
OLB Chike Okeafor
QB Zack Curtis (I plan on resigning)
RT Shane Olivea (PIT)
OLB Shawn Barber
DT Ted Washington (MIN)
QB Dan Orlovsky (NYJ)
DE Corey Smith
WR Shaun McDonald (NE)
LT Damion Cook
OLB Ryan Nece
RB Rudi Johnson (CAR)
TE Brandon Manumaleuna
K Matt Prater (DEN)

Amazing how bad the Lions really are/were.

We have the least amount of cap room...a lot of dead cap space too as I mentioned. All in all, I'm happy with where the team is headed. I'll post some juicy draft stuff here in a bit and then I'm off to go grab some dinner for the wife and me. (she's having a very rough/late day at work!)

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

Signed QB Chris Redman, 1 year $1.8M with no bonus. Overpaid a bit but I like his skill set and it allows me to keep a rookie, assuming we draft one, on the bench all season long. If something else turns up, we can always cut him.

Here is our roster/depth chart as it currently stands:

QB J. Delhomme 77/77
QB C. Redman73/73 or ROOKIE (GM requests 85+)
QB C. Redman or ROOKIE or D. Henson 65/65
HB K. Smith 81/90
HB ROOKIE
HB M. Moore 69/69
FB J. Felton 77/79
FB A.Bell 67/72
WR C. Johnson 88/94
WR R. Williams 87/88
WR E. Skaggs 69/81
WR ROOKIE
WR K. Moore 64/74
TE A. Crumpler 86/86
TE FREE AGENT (Mark Bruener hopefully...he's old but a great blocker and I love running out of the 2 TE set)
TE M. Gaines 65/65 or C. Fitzsimmons 62/62
LT ROOKIE (GM requests 85+)
LT L. Petitgout 82/82
LG B. Claxton 84/84
LG
C J. Hartwig 81/81 or ROOKIE
C J. Hartwig or K. Williams 76/81
RG ROOKIE
RG K. Finley 79/81 or T. Fonoti 79/79 or S. Peterman 78/79 or M. Ramirez 72/77
RT G. Cherilus 85/85
RT

LDE D. White 83/83
LDE I. Alama-Francis 80/84 (will convert from RDE is the plan)
RDE ROOKIE or K. Gbaja Biamila 82/82
RDE ROOKIE or K. Gbaja Biamila or C. Avril 79/81
DT D. Moore 86/88
DT T. Tyler 85/86
DT C. Redding 80/80
DT A. Fluellen 81/81 or DT S. Cody 75/76 (most likely keep Fluellen)
LOLB M. Boley 86/87
LOLB A. Craig 81/88
MLB L. Foote 83/83 or ROOKIE
MLB L. Foote or J. Dizon 75/77 or D. Jordan 79/83
MLB J. Dizon or D. Jordan
ROLB E. Sims 82/83
ROLB D. Bing 80/84 (actually a SS I like to use at LB...he started at LOLB a bit last year)
CB N. Asomugha 92/92
CB L. Bodden 86/90
CB B. Kelly 81/81
CB N. Glover 77/85 or A. Phillips 74/74 or R. Robinson 75/76
CB N. Glover or A. Phillips or R. Robinson
FS D. Smith 82/82
FS M. Ford 79/83
SS G. Alexander 82/83
SS D. Bullocks 79/79
K A. Serna 84/92
P N. Harris 90/90

Draft needs/wants: QB, RB, WR, LT, C, DE, MLB

Draft picks and positions I'd like to address (names to come later and I only need 1 at each position so double positions listed simply mean I'd settle for that round):
1.13 QB, LT, DE, MLB
2.45 QB, RB, LT, C, DE, MLB
2.48 QB, RB, LT, C, DE, MLB
3.77 QB, RB, WR, LT, C
5.141 RB, WR, etc.
7.205 RB, WR, etc.
7.208 RB, WR, etc.

Picks next year (for possible trade up):
1st
2nd
3rd
3rd (Chiefs
3rd (Panthers)
4th
5th (Cowboys)

Next up, after dinner etc., I'll list my draft board as it currently stands and my draft plan of action!

[Mike2001]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

I thought they'd want a better back up that has played in some games, so far the roster looks alot better

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

COMPREHENSIVE AND DETAILED DRAFT BOARD (Top 15):

Spoiler

1. RE Vernon Caldwell - Oregon State
100% scouted, 90 overall, 92 potential
Comparison: Demarcus Ware
Projected 1.8 (Bengals)

2. QB Mike Zazzali - Arizona
100% scouted, 94 overall, 94 potential
Comparison: Daunte Culpepper
Projected 1.1 (Eagles...I think they traded before season started)

3. MLB Gino King - West Virginia
100% scouted, 89 overall, 93 potential
Comparison: Ray Lewis
Projected 1.16 (Chiefs)

4. LT Marquay Traylor - Tennessee
100% scouted, 91 overall, 87 potential
Comparison: Ryan Clady
Projected 1.3 (Texans)

5. LE Robert Thornton - Rutgers
100% scouted, 84 overall, 89 potential
Comparison: Trevor Pryce
Projected: 2.34 (Dolphins)

6. QB Chris Essex - Connecticut
100% scouted, 88 overall, 86 potential
Comparison: Ben Roethlisberger
Projected 1.9 (Cardinals)
------------------------------------------------
7. RE Antonio Perez - Miami
100% scouted, 85 overall, 83 potential
Comparison: Jevon Kearse
Projected 1.31 (Eagles)

8. QB Jon Heatley - USF
100% scouted, 83 overall, 83 potential
Comparison: Ingle Martin
Projected 2.47 (Rams)

9. RG Tyler Fordham - UCLA
92% scouted, 89 overall, ?? potential
Comparison: John Welbourn
Projected 2.53 (Seahawks)

10. DT Tim White - Wisconsin
65% scouted, 88 overall, ?? potential
Comparison: ?????
Projected 1.25 (Cowboys)

11. DT Lorenzo Spragan - Florida St.
79% scouted, 85 overall, ?? potential
Comparison: Ryan Sims
Projected 1.6 (Raiders)

12. MLB Arnold Alexander - Florida St.
92% scouted, 84 overall, ?? potential
Comparison: E.J. Henderson
Projected 2.41 (Cardinals)

13. C Franklin McLemore - Alabama
65% scouted, 91 overall, ?? potential
Comparison: ?????
Projected 2.58 (Jaguars)

14. RG Sean Fogerty - Ohio St.
92% scouted, 82 overall, ?? potential
Comparison: Geoff Hangartner
Projected: Past 2nd round

15. RT Terrell Strickland - Ohio St.
92% scouted, 84 overall, ?? potential
Comparison: George Foster
Projected: Past 2nd round

I drew a line to separate what my owner would consider a "bust" if I were to pick that player in the 1st round. I'm feeling fairly confident that at least one of those six may be available at pick 13. If not, I'll try even harder to move up. I plan on trying to move up if/when I can if the situation presents itself. Personally, I'd love to get Caldwell or Traylor as they would both satisfy needs. The QB's would too but I just don't like picking "franchise QB's" like that. I believe with the right system just about anyone can succeed if they have the right makeup (my online gaming claim to fame was taking the Atlanta Falcons to the NFC Championship game with David Klingler as my QB (lol in a Sierra FPS FBPRO '98 league ;-) )

There is a WR I'm hoping to grab late who impressed me at one of the workouts we visited...

WR Charlie Donaldson - Virginia Tech
79% scouted, 68 overall, ?? potential
Comparison: LeRon McCoy
Projected: Past 2nd round
21 years old 6'4" 213 lbs
+++Big Play Ability
++Elusiveness
+Agility
CTH 74
AWR 54
ELU 96
JMV 89
SPM 91
SPC 64
SPD 90
AGL 96
ACL 93
JMP 88

For where Donaldson will likely fall, he would be a steal as a slot WR to compete with Skaggs.

[Mike2001]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

i think gino king would be a good player to take

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

Well, day 1 of the NFL draft is in the bag. We ended up trading up twice believe it or not while not really giving up too much. I kept most of my picks and traded players I wouldn't lose much sleep over losing. Most were good players but nothing that can't be replaced by any means:

Spoiler

We traded up to pick #4, trading our #13 plus P Nick Harris and Mewelde Moore. A punter is 100% replaceable, even one rated a 90 overall, and Washington was the first team who took a trade I was interested in making.

The first three picks were:
1. Jets - QB Zazzali (traded up)

2. Dolphins - CB Waddle (3 way player ala Charles Woodson...well, seems more like a Deion Sanders really w/ his attitude)

3. Texans - QB Chris Essex (was very worried I'd lose my guy here as they refused to trade with me)

4. Lions - LT Marquay Traylor

This pick satisfied one of my GM requirements and having looked at the other LT's in the draft, Traylor was the ONLY guy I'd consider to be a franchise LT. As much as I wanted DE Vernon Caldwell, I felt there were other DE's I'd be happy with in the 2nd and even 3rd round. Caldwell went 10th to the Browns.

I kept trying to trade up and trade down the entire draft just to see what was out there. Next up, our hope was to land a DE and G with my 2 2nd round picks. Soon after that the Bears took DE Antonio Perez at 2.36. One last DE I liked and try as I might, I could not get the AI to work out a deal to move up. Of course, a few picks later DE Robert Thornton went 2.39 to the Bills. The Bills also snagged a real nice looking CB named Jamaal Frazier. I flirted with taking him on a wimb but I have no need for a CB at all really...not by any stretch of the imagination.

Finally it was our turn to pick and we went with the top guy on our board at the time, G Tyler Fordham (UCLA). He has some very promising #'s but he was compared to a very mediocre NFL G. Time will tell if I can break the curse of the Lions wasting their 2nd round picks. I also had my eyes on QB Warren who I was REALLY hoping would find a way to fall to round 3. With a higher rated QB still undrafted ahead of him I'd figure I'd wait to make a move...however, with the very next pick Warren went 2.49 to the Redskins.

A few minutes later, it was our turn to pick again. I was deciding between the highest rated player on our board at the time, MLB Arnold Alexander (Florida St.), RB Moe Bryan, who I really liked during the visit to Miami (he's compared to Derrick Ward but has a very quick and shifty skill set), or that CB I mentioned earlier Frazier. A few other positions popped into my head, mostly C and SS, but those positions seem pretty easy to find decent talent at in this game so I held off. I also didn't want to draft 3 OL with my first three picks. Very happy to get two guys but 3 is a bit much!

We ended up selected Arnold Alexander. We have a ton of depth at MLB now but no real long term solution and I was very impressed with his skill set and his comparison to E.J. Henderson which would be a great value pick to get in the 2nd round.

After that, I kept contacting teams who were interested in trading down. Finally, I got the Patriots to bite on a low-ball offer in my opinion:

2.60 for MLB Jordan Dizon (basically a 4th MLB although he played very well for me) and DT Andre Fluellen (4th string DT although rated an 81). This was a no brainer deal for me and it allowed me to pick up my RB2 I was in desparate need of, RB Moe Bryan from Miami.

Other draft tidbits:

MLB Gino King went 16th to the Chiefs.

Dolphins also snagged QB Jon Heatley at 2.34.

Eagles snagged one of the DE's I was hoping to snag in the 3rd round at 2.63 (Pat Bridges). There's one more guy left, a Jevon Kearse type of player named Artis Drexler out of Alcorn State. I'm hoping I can snag him in the 3rd round.

I do not have a 4th round pick but in the 5th I'll be hoping to snag a potential sleeper QB out of Cornell (my GM has the small school scouting special skill and he compared him to Drew Brees) who I know very little about. I might wait until later on the QB (one of my 2 7th's) because he is only rated a 1 lol.

I still have my eyes on a WR I loved during a college visit/workout, Charlie Donaldson out of Virginia Tech. I will look to snag him the same way I'm trying with the QB.

Who knows what I'll do with the last 7th round I have, probably just try and skim for a sleeper my GM knows something about at just about any position.

Draft day #2 tomorrow after work hopefully!

[Mike2001]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

I think you had a good draft and i think you'll get your de you want. i had been checkin regularly to see if you had gotten a chance to update i was jonesing to read a update.

[Mike Lowe]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

Well I finished the draft and am now 24 hours away from our first preseason game. Here is how the rest of the draft played out:

3rd round: LE Artis Drexler (Jevon Kearse mold)
5th: round: LOLB Howard Knight (Terrell Suggs mold)
7th round: WR M. Owen (Devin Hester mold)
7th round: QB Preyear (Drew Brees mold)
UDRFA: The only one worth mentioning really is that Kellen Winslow TE I mentioned before...we'll see how he pans out.

I didn't realize that the "don't draft a bust" rule took into account your 2nd round picks!!!! I had 3 of them after all was said and done and I'm sure at least one of them wont have an 85 potential. Lame!

I've had to really get creative with the cap to get these guys signed as I have a TON of dead cap space this year (I'm smart about it but there was no way around it really and it will be worth it after this year). I ended up having to cut LT Petitgout and RG Fonoti. They would have been $2M backups so not a huge loss there (that was my plan anyhow if I got 2 OL early). I might try and resign Petitgout if I can get some cap relief.

I signed a 3rd string running back, Marcus Thompson (UTEP). He's a 62/77 right now.

Early returns on the draft picks:

LT Traylor will be a starter and a good one. Same with RG Fordham.

RB Moe Bryan will be a great 2nd option out of the backfield.

LE Drexler might be strickly a pass rusher...he's hovering arounf the mid-high 70's.

LOLB Howard looks good, low to mid 80's on his early returns. Definitely has a knack for getting to the QB.

WR Owen is moving up the depth chart...doesn't have great hands but the guy is very fast/quick.

QB Preyear has gone from a 1 overall to a 65 already...very excited to see what happens with him. If he pans out, god bless my GM and his ability to pluck talent at small schools!

[Mike2001]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

great draft i'm liking your qb and rb you got cant wait to see how preseason goes

[Mike Lowe]

No huge update but I'm halfway through the preseason having gotten totally killed week 1 in philly and then coming back to smoke buffalo at home.

Delhomme looked awful week 1 but had 3 tds in one half against the Bills. Redman has played well both games. WR Marquise Owen looks very fast and elusive so far and I'm designing some WR5 plays specifically for him. RB2 Moe Bryan is off to a slow start.

Defense is playing better, forcing some turnovers finally. Coaching staff upgrades are beginning to show as well.

QB Preyear continues to progress and is rated higher than Henson now. I think he's a 69 now????

[Mike2001]

Re: Sick of it all...Lions Dynasty Thread

are you goin to keep henson I'd cut him he is just a waste on the roster, looks like redman might challenge for the starting qb position if he keeps it up. looks like you might of found a sleeper at wr