Minnesota Vikings-- The Barbaric Age

[Lonweld]

First off this is my first attempt at writing for ANY sports game so please be gentle I just joined this board not too long ago and found a wealth of info-thank you everyone! I got the special edition of this/madden09 when it came out but just recently dusted it off for no reason other then COD black ops was getting boring. Have played 3 or four careers, all lasting 1-3 years. Am going for a long one this time.

I chose the Vikings for no apparent reason, just something different I suppose. Made my own coach like always. Offensive playbook is College Attack. Defense is 4-6. I haven't tried either of these before so this should be fun!

Alright the first thing I discovered was that my staff sux. Will definitely make some changes there. I also noticed while I do have SOME talent, there is not a lot of it nor is there a supporting cast. So I have a LOT of work to do!

FA Signing Period

DE Ogunleye (bears) I traded 08 2nd and 09 2nd for him. Probably too much, but I desperately need playmakers so hopefully this will work out.

FS E Wilson was my only other pickup before the draft. I'm in cap trouble so I'm taking it easy for the moment.

DRAFT
Because of what I started with and my prior trade, I only have a 4,5,6,7 to play with So, though Im ashamed to admit it, I simmed the draft and this is what I ended up with:

4 QB-A Woodson (kentucky)
5 WR-K. Burton (kentucky)
6 HB-Marcus Thomas (UTEP)
7 HB-Mike Hart (michigan)

[Lonweld]

PRESEASON

Only through a couple practices and what do you know, my starting C (Matt Birk) breaks his leg, and is out for 3-4 months. CRAP! Well, remembering some other posts on here, I tried to trade him...... Jacksonville took him off my hands for an 09 4th and a 10 7th... Oh and btw Birk is in the last season of his contract! I thought that worked out pretty good for me!


As i'm simming through the preseason games (yes too unimportant for me to care), I notice a huge hole in the middle of my defense. I ended up trading for MLB Demico Ryans (houston) for that 09 4th and 10 2nd. I'm thinking this will work out pretty well for me, he's young and he's a stud.

I simmed all the preseason games, though I do run through the practices ect manually. Picked up a few FA's to fill some holes, and noticed my GM did a dang good job of inviting unknowns to training camp. Found a few I will keep.

Anyway, I went 0-4. It's preseason, all I care is younglings get playing time. My promise to the owner was a .500 season, which was -2 impact on my approval. (Big whoop, will make that up in the first game).


Philosophy

QB- Speed
HB- Balanced
FB- Balanced
WR- Tall/Redzone
TE- Blocking
T/G/C- Run BLocking Specialist
DT- Run Stopper
DE- Undersized Speed Rusher
OLB- 3-4 blitzer
MLB- Power/Blitzer
CB- Cover 2
FS- Centerfielder
SS- Prototype

Final Roster

Name-Overall(Potential)
QB
T. Jackson - 81(88)
A. Woodson- 76(88)
J. Garfield- 69(80)

HB
A. Peterson- 89(93)
C. Taylor- 81(81)
M. Hart- 64(83)
M. Thomas- 65(72)

FB
J. Johnson- 80(81)
O. Hoyte- 76(79)

WR
S. Rice- 82(88)
K. Burton- 75(84)
A. Erickson- 73(84)
B. Wade- 71(71)
A. Allison- 66(76)

TE
J. Kleinsasser- 78(78)
V. Shianco- 72(73)
J. Collins- 62(66)

T
B. McKinnie- 88(88)
M. Johnson- 75(78)
R. Cook- 75(78)
C. Johnson- 63(65)

G
S. Hutchinson- 92(93)
A. Hicks- 76(76)
A. Herrera- 74(74)
D. Daniels- 72(74)

C
N. Marshall- 79(85)
C. Bober- 76(76)

DE
A. Ogunleye- 86(86)
J. Allen- 93(93)
B. Robinson- 78(81)
E. James- 75(77)

DT
K. Williams- 90(91)
P. Williams- 88(88)
L. Tripplett- 72(72)
F. Evans- 69(72)

OLB
C. Greenway- 76(81)
B. Leber- 75(75)
C. Bookwoldt- 73(73)
V. Circiu- 67(68)

MLB
D. Ryans- 86(88)
E. Henderson- 77(78)
R. Clemons- 75(81)

CB
A. Winfield- 87(87)
C. Griffin- 83(92)
J. Hunt- 70(84)
E. Frampton- 65(71)
M. McCauley- 64(73)

FS
E. Wilson- 89(89)
S. McClain- 69(75)

SS
D. Sharper- 83(84)
R. Hilliard- 78(83)

K
Ryan Longwell- 91(91)

P
C. Kluwe- 85(89)

Strengths- D-line, Secondary
Weaknesses- OLB, OL, TE

[Skarecrow]

You skipped draft day? Hey, to each their own, but draft day is my favorite day of the year. I'll spend two-three playing sessions just preparing for and then executing "perfect" drafts.

A request if you don't mind: I know it's a lot of paperwork (not so bad if the computer is near the xbox/ps3), but any chance we could get a list of players (or at least starters) and maybe some overall ratings on them so we know who is doing what?

I love me a good dynasty thread.


Edit: I'm curious what your plans are for Woodson. He can grow into an excellent QB, but you pretty much have to commit to him early and get him a metric ton of playing time to develop him. He develops like complete crap unless he's on the field a lot. I picked him up and had to let him go when his contract was up without him ever really doing anything, because he wanted a ton of money and had only gained like 3 or 4 points overall due to lack of field time.

[EaglesfaninNC]

Quote: Originally Posted by Skarecrow

You skipped draft day? Hey, to each their own, but draft day is my favorite day of the year. I'll spend two-three playing sessions just preparing for and then executing "perfect" drafts.

I like to only do Draft Day once as that makes it more realistic, you don't know if a team is going to reach for a guy or if someones gonna slip. Makes you go all Falcons for Julio Jones sometimes, and sometimes a guy falls to you that you didn't expect.

And you seem to like making a lot of trades for other players, most dynasties go the other way and attempt to hoard draft picks so this is interesting. You also don't seem to value 2nd round picks very much do you?

[Lonweld]

Keeps saying "waiting for moderator to approve post" but I did manage to edit one up top so you can see my roster. I don't know what my plans are for woodson, but if you say he needs a lot of playing time then I better figure that out quick

Eaglesfan- I knew I had some huge holes that needed immediate filling, so I traded a bit. Normally I do hoard picks.

[Skarecrow]

Quote: Originally Posted by Lonweld

I knew I had some huge holes that needed immediate filling, so I traded a bit. Normally I do hoard picks.

Wow you do have some pretty big holes. Looks interesting.

Do you know yet what draft path you've got? You said you've finished the pre-season games, usually the draft preview and first draft class update shows up not long after pre-season game #4.

[Purplepower_NC]

I took the Vikings, and could not get out of the first round of the playoffs in 3 seasons. You might want to look at gettting rid of Petterson, he just can't stay healthy in this game. Every year he got hurt. I hated doing it, but after 3 years of him playing in about a half of each game, it got old.

[Lonweld]

Quote: Originally Posted by Skarecrow

Wow you do have some pretty big holes. Looks interesting. Do you know yet what draft path you've got? You said you've finished the pre-season games, usually the draft preview and first draft class update shows up not long after pre-season game #4.

Yes I'm in the sweetney path. Totally random, I just let fate decide.