My first complete season I went undefeated.
My owner, fans, everyone loves me. But for the upcoming season, that may change as I am not finished rebuilding my beloved Bucs.
I signed no free agents during the FA period before the draft. I am a big believer in the draft and young talent, using F/A only as stopgaps or tradebait.
I still have a few high money players I want to get rid of. Nothing against Gaines Adams, but he has not shown me anything justifying his contract.
Ok, draft time. My personal favorite time of the year.=)
If you followed my first thread, you know my 2009 draft picks looked like this:
1st round - None
2nd round - None
3rd round - 1
4th round - 2
5th round - 2
6th round - 0
7th round - 2
In the hands of lesser trade crazy gamers, this could pose a dreary draft. But not here, hehehe.
I get the English draft class.
I run the steelers offensive playbook with the Bucs cover 2 defense.
I value Durability and Learning as much as Overall and Potential. I will take a lower Potential player with a high Learning rating anyday.
I work the following draft magic:
1st round Pick #4 overall from da bears for:
LG A. Davis
RE G. Adams
2nd Round pick - 38 overall.
**It bites when you eat a HUGE contract like Gaines has, but if you avoid the signing bonuses and stay out of the top 10-15 of each draft, you can manage purging contracts.
I then trade the 4th overall pick to the Saints for:
1st round Pick #18 AND #19 overall. **How they got 17 and 18, I would like to know=p
I have my eye on Florida Gator LT J.Jackson. I was going to wait until 18, but I was afraid he would be gone, so as they say, if there is someone you WANT...go get em. That's what I did.
I trade
18th overall, a 2009 2nd rounder and a 2010 2nd round pick to:
The Bengals for the 14th overall pick. I leap to grab my cornerstone LT.=)
I considered trading down with my 19 overall pick, but there was a nasty SS on the board. Hearing him compared to John Lynch with his hard hits and run stopping support was all the prodding I needed.
1st round 19th pick - SS W. Barkley from Florida.
Ok, so now I have *hopefully a cornerstone Offense and Defense member of my choosing.
Always keeping an eye out for elite talent, I see a linebacker I scouted still on the board in the mid 20s. Adam had called him a Urlacher clone, and he scouted with great learning and potential.
I was able to take Tennessee's spot at 24 in the 1st round for:
2010 1st round pick and 2010 4th round pick. I snagged
MLB Mack "Truck" Johnson from the very same college Urlacher attended, New Mexico.
My second round pick, I traded to Miami for their
2009 3rd round pick (79),4th round (111) and a 2010 7th rounder.
In the 3rd round, I traded my pick to Tennessee for their
3rd round (85), 4th round (129) 7th round, and their 2010 7th rounder.
I made many more trades, but they were far less significant. My draft picks looked like this:
Round/
Pick Pos Name Salary/Years Bonus Ovr Pot Learn
1/14 LT J.Jackson 11.65/5 2.50 91 97 92 Franchise LT
1/19 SS W.Barkley 9.15/5 2.00 87 92 87 Possible Franchise SS
1/24 MLB M.Jackson 9.57/5 2.00 85 90 97 Franchise MLB??
4/7 LOLB D.Knox 1.42/3 0 80 91 81 Sniff sniff. Smells like Knox can be a franchise LOLB in my 4-3 defense.
4/8 RG P.Boma 1.56/3 0 90 94 88
4/15 DT P.Lopez 1.21/3 0 81 86 90
4/17 QB J.Scott 940/3 0 76 94 86 Franchise QB, thank you very much.
4/18 HB L.James 1.06/3 0 83 95 80 Able replacement when McFadden asks for a new contract.
4/27 WR J.Bellows 1.00/3 0 82 94 85 Heard it said he is a smaller Terrell Owens clone. If so, Helllllloooo Franchise WR.
So, if things pan out, it is very possible I drafted my franchise QB,RB,LT,WR,MLB,LOLB and SS all in one draft, and most of them picked after the 4th round.
I picked 8 more draftees but I see them as nothing more than roster spot holders until I can upgrade them.
I always go for the cheapest possible contracts and I avoid signing bonus and incentive money like the plague. It makes trades possible while not destroying your cap.
My 2010 season roster looks like this:
Pos Name Ovr
QB - J.Scott - 76
A.Woodson - 86
HB - D.McFadden - 91
L.James - 83
FB- J.Hester - 79
TE- J.Finley - 74
WR- J.Bellows - 82
E.Doucet - 85
H.Douglas - 73
K.Burton - 77
LT- J.Jackson - 91
J.Boston *F/A-77
D.Penn - 76
LG- A.Sears - 88
RG- D.Joseph - 90
P.Boma - 90
D.Buenning - 86
C- J.Goodwin -77
K.Lichtensteiger - 77
RT- J.Greco - 86
Defense
LE D.Harvey - 90
C.Ortiz - 74
RE C.Campbell -91
G.White - 77
T.Bake - 80
DT D.Moore - 86
P.Lopez - 81
M.Patterson - 81
LOLB D.Knox - 80
J.Dizon - 78 *F/A
X.Adibi - 76
MLB M.Jackson - 85
P.Wheeler - 82
ROLB ***See J.Dizon
CB B.Flowers - 83
P.Lee - 77
D.Tribble - 67 *Trade
T.Burt - 64
J.Wayne - 58
FS K.Johnson - 80
W.Allen - 70
SS W.Barkley - 87
S.Piscitelli - 75
Only a solid center and a nickleback or 2 are of a concern to me. Ah, add a new tight tend to that list. Jermichael Finley makes some crazy one handed circus catches, but he misses a lot of plays with piddly injuries. Dehydration - out for 3 plays..junk like that.
**Noteable Trades I Made So Far**
2008 4th round **If I remember right** OLB C.Avril to Cards for:
2010 1st round draft pick
2009 F/A Signee OLB V.Ghoulston to SF for:
2010 2nd round and 5th round draft picks=p
MLB B. Rudd to Rams for:
2010 3rd Round draft pick
RT J. Trueblood to Steelers for:
2010 3rd round and 7th round draft picks
FS T. Jackson to Chiefs for:
2010 1st round draft picks
For the 2010 draft I have *at this time =p:
1st round - 2
2nd round - 1
3rd round - 3
4th round - 4
5th round - 3
6th round - 0
7th round - 3
Keeping a revolving door, especially with players with 1 year contracts, will keep the Bucs a dynasty for years to come...............I hope.=p
Thanks for reading,
Peace=)