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**arton86** · 03-01-2013, 06:35 AM

Re: The Blazin' Bees | A Front Office Football MP Dynasty

Meet the B-teaM

QB

#4 Randy Boone 68/68, 11th yr
11th year, 34 years old. Randy's at the top of his game. He's never even had a 4000-yard season in Utah's run-heavy attack, but make no mistake, the Bees rely on his cold-blooded efficiency. Randy delivers the wins, big time, and has never been better, coming off his first Super Bowl MVP and the most convincing title win of his career. Three rings in four years.

#14 Roderick Sikkenga 37/37, 8th yr
The current heir apparent. ex-UDFA Sik's been the understudy his entire career, and while no team is likely to pay for his services, we feel we have one of the best backup situations in the league with him around.

RB

#30 Ryan Green 44/44, 5th yr
Green wasn't expected to take the handoff of the torch at this position. A 5th-round backup for years, with an incoming round 1 rookie already charged with succeeding the team's recently retired franchise back. But he fended off the competition, and turned in a great season. He's not a carry-the-load guy, but was clearly the most reliable back in the new Utah committee.

#49 Michael Glenn 33/44, 2nd yr
Glenn's the 1st round RB that makes people say, "This is why nobody drafts RBs high anymore." He's fast, strong, and talented, but losing the job was a huge upset. He never earned a start as a rookie and averaged 3.58 ypc, fumbling 4 times. Glenn will need to prove it in his sophomore campaign.

FB

#43 Mario Evanswhite 60/60, 7th yr
Evanswhite was poached from the Washington Bombers as a young free agent, and took over the starting role after years of developing as a backup. He's an all-around, every-down fullback who blocks with aggression and is a solid outlet receiver.

#46 Kerry Duran 39/39, 9th yr
Duran caught our eye in the draft by running a 6.95 agility drill, which is the kind of result that turns heads for corners and receivers. A longtime starter, the 9-year vet has been relegated to reserve/ST duty, but has been an athletic, multi-talented fullback over the years. Utah carries two TEs because Duran's expected to answer that call when needed.

TEs

#34 Mario Bradford 60/60, 8th yr
Drafted in the same round as Duran - the 6th - one year later. Bradford started life as a fullback, but the Virginia Military product quickly made the move Duran was considered for and didn't. He's become a more than reliable cog in the short pass game, and one of the top road-grading TEs you'll find.

#85 Edwin Blades 49/55, 3rd yr
Blades was a top target for us in the '26 draft, and we traded high into the 2nd round to nab him. While Bradford does well in the short game, Bradford stretches the field like you wouldn't believe, and gives us a lethal 2-TE combo. Blades, in fact, is probably at this point, our best receiver. Period.

WRs

#89 Alvin Foley 49/49, 12th yr
Foley was the lynchpin of the Utah Air Attack for a full decade. He survived a gruesome ACL tear in 2026, though, and while he's made a comeback, it's hard to tell how much he has left in his tank. The good news for the Bees - we've shown we can win without him, even in the playoffs.

#80 Hunter Vandersommen 36/36, 11th yr
Vandy arrived in Utah via trade very early in his career, and over time developed into a #3 option. After Foley's injury, he got more chances, and wrested control of a starting spot in 2027. This guy is fast, but that's not just it. His rapport with Boone appears to be something special, and he's projected to continue in a starter role.

#81 Bryan Sidharta 55/55, 6th yr
Once upon a time, Foley had a lethal running mate in Colin Fletcher. Fletcher eventually fell out of favor with Utah brass, and was traded for the younger, slightly less explosive Sidharta. Sidharta was lost early in his first season to elbow surgery. And he lost his job to Vandersommen the next year. He has a big contract in hand, but he's not yet earned it.

#86 Ray Mansker 40/40, 6th yr
Mansker was considered a big reach as a 2.32 in 2023, and he's yet to establish himself. However, he's an extremely legitimate deep threat. One of our aces in the hole.

#87 Chester Haddix 47/47, 4th yr
Haddix turned out far better than we could have hoped for a 4th round pick. In addition to being an unexpectedly great kick returner, Haddix is a well-rounded WR that we're starting to develop a ton of confidence in.

#39 Wade Morton 34/40, 3rd yr
A former running back who made the move to the slot in the pros. Morton hasn't made the field much, but captivated coaches by dominating the hell out of every single preseason game he's been in.

#88 Shane Littlefield 35/35, 4th yr
The latest addition to Utah's WR derby. Littlefield is a total Vandersommen doppleganger, and with a weak draft pool, we were comfortable parting with a 3rd-round pick for him.

OL

#56 C Stephen Wells 65/65, 10th yr
As good a run stopper as they come.

#77 G Mo Giles 68/68, 6th yr
Total monster.

#79 G Jared Craig 42/42, 7th yr
A late round pass block specialist. Originally envisioned as a starter, but has had trouble keeping his job.

#74 G Mo Marchant 48/48, 6th yr
A more recent free agent acquisition whose better strength and run blocking ability has pushed him above Craig, although there's some rotation here.

#66 T/G Artie Samuels 52/53, 4th yr
OK, I just f'd up here. Samuels was an all-world left tackle we traded a future 1st + 2nd for, but I managed to switch him to guard and it's too late to go back. We'll be forced to play him out of position for now. He's still my best blind-side defense.

#73 T Geoff Keisel 63/63, 9th yr
Keisel was a guy we managed to trade for very little, and he's developed well over the years. He's more of a run blocker, so he's really the guy we should have moved to guard, if at all.

#70 T Max Reese 55/55, 3rd yr
We were expecting fairly little when we settled on this pick in the middle of round 2. Reese has turned out to be a fantastic pass blocker, though, and a huge steal for us.

K/P

#6 Courtney Ellison 62/62, 4th yr
We had the punter issue only semi-resolved for years before we brought in Ellison in Late Free Agency. Ellison has a huge leg...really knocks it out of the park. 48.2 average (not net) in '27.

#3 Troy Parrish 76/76, 7th yr
Parrish is just one of the top kicker's in the leg. Incredible combination of power and accuracy; weaker on the kickoffs. Now he's in a contract year.

DE

#99 Emmanuel Logan 59/59, 10th yr
Part 1 of the Denver Duo - players we nabbed via trade with our division rival Denver Grizzlies in 2021. Logan's in decline, but he's still our best pass rushing end.

#78 Rondell Tyler 53/53, 9th yr
Tyler is a 3-down run stopper with some pass rush ability, and a solid find in free agency recently.

#75 Ted Kau 29/46, 2nd yr
Last year's 1.17 pick. Nice size for a 3-4 end at 6'4, 286. Bull rush isn't really in his arsenal. At this stage....it looks like a badly blown pick.

#72 Byron LaPorte 25/50, 2nd yr
The Bees used the '27 draft to remake its DE corps. LaPorte was our 2nd rounder, but while he's stronger, he doesn't have the same pass rush potential as Kau.

DT

#76 Harris Wheeler 48/48, 7th yr
Wheeler was an unexpected Week 1 trade in 2027, solidifying a position that had been wiped out by age. Boston was desperate to get rid of him and Utah gave up only a 5th. Wheeler's been very steady, but came with an escalating contract that is becoming a concern.

#90 Doug Hopkins 34/38, 5th yr
Hopkins arrived via trade in '26, and fell really far short of projections to date. The Bees gave him another chance with a new contract, at the veteran minimum.

ILB
#50 Dan Harper 71/71, 7th yr
Harper's a fun draft story. We gave up the world for this guy, when we hit up Matty, the St. Paul Bandits GM at 2.3, looking for a trade only to find we were both targeting the same guy. At the end of it all, we had given up all four of our 2nd rounders that year...but he's captained this defense as one of the game's best linebackers.

#58 Troy Conant 53/53, 8th yr
Unlike Harper, Conant was a cheap investment - an overlooked 4th rounder that has turned into a stifling run-stopper. He's a liability in coverage and doesn't see the field in Nickel sets.

#96 Terrell McDonald 35/35, 5th yr
We seem to make a living out of poaching Washington Bombers rookie free agents, and McDonald is the latest of the series. He's not great, but acceptably solid, and earns his keep here with his special teams value.

#98 Dixon Goldade 37/47, 3rd yr
Goldade's rising behind the scenes. Primarily a run stopper; his coverage ability is a bit lacking in our eyes, but we have few other young 'backers.

OLB

#95 Norbert Slaten 55/55, 10th yr
A versatile linebacker who's been a stud his entire career for Utah, whether it was blitzing off the edge, stopping the run, or blanketing TEs. Extension talks broke down late in 2027, and now he's franchised.

#57 Matthew O'Donnell 48/48, 8th yr
O'Donnell rode the bench for years behind Part 2 of the Denver Duo, the since-departed Carlos Melnick. Melnick was the best pass rusher the Bees had ever seen. Then O'Donnell finally gets his shot, and 17.0 sacks in his first year of starting says we have a new sherrif in town...

#54 Ike Arias 42/42, 3rd yr
Arias is a pass rush specialist drafted to succeed O'Donnell. He turned in 9.5 sacks in his sophomore campaign...as a backup.

CB

#41 Quinn Robinette 62/62, 8th yr
Hard to believe that Robin has spent the past two seasons declining. We made a big move up for him in the first round, much to the dismay of Yuma Aces GM JulioRiddols - who paid us back a year later by nabbing linebacker Riddick Schulz just ahead of us.

#35 Mitchell Prescott 72/72, 6th yr
Prescott was a safety we picked early in the first round and has never made the transition as well as we hoped. He's still got the look of a safety playing out of position at corner, but we've never really had anyone better.

#32 Stephen Easton 48/48, 7th yr
Easton was a 2nd rounder we really believed in, but hasn't been consistent in coverage. We don't mind as long as he continues to be the best punt returner the league has (possibly) ever seen.

#28 Bobby Plantilla 27/34, 2nd yr
Plantilla's our rising star. Here's a hard-hitting safety who made the transition to corner beautifully, turning in a 5-pick rookie campaign.

#21 Scottie Finley 33/34, 3rd yr
Finley was an unheralded 6th round pick whose star has also been quietly rising behind the scenes here.

#23 Grady Hett 30/44, 3rd yr
Hett's a guy who lays the wood, but we're not sold on his cover abilities yet. He's a 5th round pick who's shown enough promise to not lose his job, but hasn't shined in coverage like Plantilla or Finley.

S

#31 Brent Driscoll 57/57, 8th yr
Driscoll has been a run-stopping, pass-coverage asset over the years. He's the cover / run-support total package, and he has turned in an impeccably consistent career of doing both for the Bees.

#48 Wally Burgess 67/67, 4th yr
When Burgess kept slipping in round 1 of the '25 draft, we jumped all over that s---. Burgess is the quintessential cover safety. Total ballhawk, and covers like the best of them. He's going to need to bounce back from a rough '27, though.

#44 Lance Morris 47/47, 7th yr
UDFAs aren't supposed to be this good. Morris is the picture-perfect backup safety, a ballhawking threat with athleticism and cover ability who can play either strong or free.

#20 Chester Foster 33/33, 12th yr
Foster made a big statement about his loyalties by returning to the Bees on a 1-year, low-bonus, $1.61 million deal when other teams offered considerably more. A former starter and current rotational player with 233 special teams tackle to his name, as Utah's top gunner for many seasons.

#36 Butch McKinnon 27/48, 3rd yr
We've bent over backwards to keep Butch on the final roster as 5th safety, because he's got major run-stopping potential and we see him as a successor candidate for Brent Driscoll. What he needs to do is show a coverage dimension that he hasn't yet.

The draft so far...

This was not a good draft to be in. The weakest talent pool the league has probably ever seen - teams were falling over each other trying to get out.

1.20 G Ryan Thingvold
We moved up using a 1st and a 2nd to make this unfortunate selection, just before we accidentally stuck our own LT at guard. We'll have to roll with 5 guards for the forseeable future. Thingvold was literally the last guy we had anywhere close to a Round 1 grade on.

2.12 LB Tyrone Nelson
With our star 'backer of the past ten years franchised - and having big question marks due to age anyway - we looked for someone who could replace him as early as this year. Nelson.....is a serious project. But we see some solid coverage potential in him, which is most important. If he develops into a capable run stopper, that'll be a nice bonus. He won't be a great blitzer, but at least he can do it.

2.26 T Antonio Mitting
We had to secure the last guy with a round-2 grade here. Artie Samuels moving from LT to LG means that if we're going to carry 3 tackles, we can't afford to have two older guys there or even one average one. Mitting's not very strong, but he has terrific agility and wingspan. He might get bowled over on occasion, but he's not going to be a 6'6, 325 lb turnstile.

Remaining Picks

...with a trade just finalized, the Bees have moved out of the 3rd round. We still have the following selections to make:

4.10
4.32
6.28
6.32
7.23
7.28

Unfortunately, it's looking really dry. If we're unable to keep deferring to future years, we'll have to come up with a pool of longshots here, the kind that don't make rosters.

We don't even see anyone that could conceivably stick as an undrafted free agent. But once the rounds go by and the better players move off the board, things inevitably change...

**arton86** · 03-01-2013, 07:04 AM

Re: The Blazin' Bees | A Front Office Football MP Dynasty

Background on FOF

Player Ratings

Highly rated players are not common in FOF - the talent pool is really wide, and most players are average, bad, or really bad. As a rule of thumb...

60+ Premier player at the position.
50-60 Very good starter.
45-50 Solid to good player.
35-45 Mediocre to average
0-35 Below average to bum

If he's 70+ he's one of the elite players in the league. 80+ is very rare and it's extremely likely he was drafted at the top of the first round. 90+ is a generational talent. Extreme superstar stuff.

Although, lower rated players can still be deployed to devastating effect if they have the right set of skills. A guy who really excels in a few key things, for example, can be much more useful than jack-of-all trades average joe, even if they're both 30-rated.

Masking

All players in FOF start out masked to various degrees - that is, you don't really know what you have in them. Over the years, the layers get peeled away as they gradually unmask.

This is a predictable process. The first training camp and first offseason movement will let you know what direction, and to what degree, a guy is unmasking.

A guy who starts out 30 rated can unmask into the 70s. And vice versa.

Age and random volatility boom/bust hits (in various degrees) can still affect a player at any training camp, though. It's the great equalizer.

Outlook

FOF, like the NFL, is a pass-dominated game. Should you be allowed to accumulate incredible playmakers at WR and pair it up with a QB, you can put on a serious show of fireworks. As a result, WR especially, is a position people put a premium on.

The early days of the Utah run were built around a pair of very good (but not quite superstar) receivers. We're facing a very different outlook today, but we like this style of play a lot. Strong in the trenches, and a myriad of overlooked, but athletic guys playing WR and TE. You can get by with guys in the OL.......welll, sorta. Maybe if they're all pass blockers. But put together 5 monsters, and you'll be extremely difficult to deal with.

It's going to be hard for this team to hang with some of the most explosive sets of receivers in the league, but if there's anyone who can do it, it's the star QB that's been with the team for eleven seasons.

Only trouble? He's in the last year of his deal. And he wants $$$. Boy does he want $$$.

**arton86** · 03-02-2013, 05:20 PM

Re: The Blazin' Bees | A Front Office Football MP Dynasty

The Boone Dagger
Present day

Bees QB Randy Boone has always been a company man.

Not super hyped out of college, the Bees were one of the few teams to be hot after him, and (probably) the only one that wanted to move as high as the top few picks to get him.

And he's been grateful, taking Brady-esque deals over the years. His two major contract extensions with the Bees since his rookie signing in 2018 - the first in '21, the second in '24 - have been extraordinarily friendly, and he accepted restructures on both of them at a time when his market value was considerably higher.

This time, though, Randy means business. If the Bees don't extend him, they will be forced to use the franchise tag - which will likely be cheaper than an extension, but considerably offensive. He's seeking over $100 million on a 4-year deal.

The Plan
Although the Bees are flushed with cap space momentarily, it will almost entirely vanish if Boone signs the kind of deal he wants. Early estimates indicate as much as $18 million in additional hits over his current cap cost.

GM Toby Moran, who's practiced fairly stringent financial discipline over the last five or so years, has been quoted as saying, "We have to prepare for the possibility that we will be completely uncompetitive in all free agent markets this year, including among the rookies."

The ideal situation for Utah would be a franchise tag in '29 that pushes off the deal by one year, and making that one the last probable contract of his career. A deal made now likely means one more end-of-career contract for the quarterback.

If a deal isn't done by the early July deadline before training camp starts, however, the Bees risk a costly contract holdout that likely would result in significantly higher compensation to keep their man.

It's long been thought that the miserly Utah franchise would play hardball even with their six-time Super Bowl quarterback. It's not know, however, if they can afford to do so.

**arton86** · 03-03-2013, 07:39 PM

Re: The Blazin' Bees | A Front Office Football MP Dynasty

Boone deal heats up, then fizzles
Present Day

Contract negotiations with Randy Boone heated up over draft weekend, with the team coming up with an offer that reportedly included as much as $60 million guaranteed over the next four years, but the sides parted without reaching a deal.

There's some suggestion, however, that the parties are not too far away.

"Randy's a trooper", said his agent, Peter Schaffer, who also represents six other Bees. "He's extremely loyal and he trusts that the franchise will do right by him, eventually. He's not the kind of player who would ever hold out of any training camp or even optional OTAs, even if I advised him to."

"Which I did, by the way," he added.

With the Boone camp all but giving up their considerable leverage and negotiating position, the doors appear open for Utah to use its cap space -- 6th most in the league -- to lock down its other long-term vets.

The team will now have the option of using the tag on Boone in the offseason, although that projects to be expensive. This year's QB tag comes in a cool $17.52 million, and the top quarterback's salary in 2029 will increase 20% to over $26 million.

Instead, it's more likely that the team will use the generous amount of in-season negotiating time now afforded to it, to get a deal done now for their star quarterback, and reserve a possible franchise tag for the end of his career, when it becomes less an insulting necessity and more a sensible reward.

**arton86** · 03-05-2013, 03:15 AM

Re: The Blazin' Bees | A Front Office Football MP Dynasty

The 2028 Draft Continues
Present day

4.10 | P Patrick Schwartz, Northwestern
The Bees were rumored to have lukewarm interest in Luther Lyon, a quarterback who was selected earlier in round 3 by South Maryland. They made a surprise of it by waiting until 4.10, and then making Schwartz the second punter selected in this draft.

Schwartz has a phenomenal leg, and it's a matter of whether his pro Special Teams coaches can work on those mechanics a touch more. We were waiting for the other shoe to drop, and it did not too long after, with the Boston Fighting Irish trading for incumbent Utah punter Courtney Ellison with their 2029 6th round selection.

Ellison is now replaced after just two seasons in Utah, spectacular as they were (as far as punters seasons go).

4.32 | DE Omar McWilliams, Colgate
With 1st- and 2nd- round investments at defensive end in the previous year's draft, Utah went the DE route again, demonstrating their commitment — or perhaps desperation — in fortifying a rapidly aging d-line.

McWilliams is a small school prospect with speed and stature. He's pretty athletic for a 6'7, 290-lb guy, and at that size, he might be poised for a move to nose in the Utah 3-4 - a position currently lacking in top and depth.

6.28 | RB Josh Clovis, Eastern Michigan
The Bees were without a 5th rounder this year, having shipped it north to the Anchorage Gladiators for two late selections last year (neither made the team).

In Clovis, the Bees have a solid inside runner with soft hands who might be asked to move to the slot - although his overall receiving abilities might not be good enough for the move. However, the Front Office was quite high on this small-school runner at his natural position too. Got a little feeling this might be a steal, this late...

6.32 | CB Adam O'Neill, Purdue
O'Neill wasn't exactly big time at a school like Purdue, but he's the solid 4-year starter that isn't necessarily known for his athleticism. He had a pretty rough showing at the combine, but his headhunting ways in coverage led the Bees to gamble on adding another 'enforcer' to their secondary.

O'Neill frequently struggled in coverage, though, and probably won't be considered for run support. It remains to be seen if he has any sort of talent in defending OSFL receivers one-on-one.

The 7th Round

When everyone else winds down, the Utah talent acquisition machine heats up. For a draft bereft of early or mid-level talent, we sure had a lot of prospects catch our eye at the end, and worked the draft phones to acquire a bevy of 7th round picks at low cost.

Originally, Utah held the 7.23 and 7.28 selections.

By sending a 7th from 2029 (which originally belonged to San Francisco), the Bees picked up 7.14 - which they turned over to Columbus for the 7.29 and 7.32.

The Bees then sent a 6th in 2029 (from Portland) to Punxsutawney for the 7.27, and Punxsutawney's 2029 7th.

In the end, Utah secured five targets before they could be bid on as undrafted free agents.

7.23 | G Mercury Garcia, Arizona
7.27 | S Wayne Bouman, Indiana
7.28 | FB Michael King, Ohio State
7.29 | G Colin Cassidy, Syracuse
7.32 | WR Juan Connelly, Stanford

These are all extreme longshots to make the roster, but you never know when you might stumble upon a gem. Connelly is of particular interest. He didn't attend the combine, but had solid speed and great production in two years of starting for the Tree. We saw him as a playmaker with pretty solid upside, and not someone we wanted to let loose into UDFA waters.

Utah did a similar thing in the previous draft, and nobody stuck except 7.32 guard Jerald Henry, a midseason promotion due to injury. Could history repeat itself?

With the draft concluded, the crazy UDFA season begins...teams around the league are blowing up phones to be the first one in on their targets. Now that all 224 draftees are off the board, even the creme de la crap starts looking like the turd de la shine.

**arton86** · 03-05-2013, 02:16 PM

Re: The Blazin' Bees | A Front Office Football MP Dynasty

[Archives] — A New Era in Utah
2019 (9 seasons ago)

Decorated veteran Ellis Wynn's career in Utah has drawn to a close, and it's marked a significant changing of the guard for the Bees.

Since arriving via free agency three seasons ago, Wynn has enjoyed one of the league's most enviable WR corps. Danny Viola and Chester Quinteros are two of the league's best ever, and after Viola's retirement in 2016 he was promptly replaced by first round deep threat Alvin Foley.

But while Wynn posted gaudy numbers, he was never able to duplicate the playoff success of his one-and-done predecessor Aaron Barrett, who led the Wildcard Bees to an improbable conference final appearance in 2015. Utah, under Wynn, had one first round exit and didn't make the playoffs in either of his final two seasons.

Wynn isn't the only significant change for the Bees. As he passes the torch to the heretofore mothballed Randy Boone — last season's first round selection — the Bees also bid farewell to running back Quinn Hanson, the team's first-rounder from 2012. Hanson never quite lived up to his billing, and his release comes as a cap-saving measure; the team relieves itself finally of the $29 million, 6-year extension Hanson received in 2015.

Last but not least, Chester Quinteros retires along with Wynn, and one year after Viola. He takes with him 12,711 career receiving yards, most of them accrued with Utah, and all of a sudden the once-vaunted Utah pass attack will be undergoing a total makeover.

It's now in the hands of the 2nd-year-man, Randy Boone, and the new top dog at receiver, Alvin Foley. The Bees have turned to free agency to fortify the remainder, with highly paid TE Dennis Hawley (arrived in 2018) coming off a successful year of starting, and the enormously paid Marvin Daluiso, a stretch-the-field receiver who this year arrives from Morgantown with a mostly guaranteed 5 year, $35.68 million deal.

That's the kind of deal that gets people fired, if it doesn't work out.

**arton86** · 03-05-2013, 03:19 PM

Re: The Blazin' Bees | A Front Office Football MP Dynasty

[Archives] — 10-6 and a playoff return
2019 (9 seasons ago)

It wasn't pretty, but the Bees found a way to win.

Randy Boone set a UTA record in his first year starting, but unfortunately, it was only in passes attempted. 325/556, 58.5%, 3248 yards, 13 TDs, 14 INTs, and only a 72.4 rating. For every flash of brilliance, he took two lumps.

— sidenote: he would never be allowed to come close to the same number of attempts again.

Without Quinn Hanson, the Bees turned to a makeshift committee. Leo Felts, a mediocre but fairly reliable free agency acquisition, and 2nd-round-rookie Glen Plummer complemented each other nicely. The speed back, second-year Ken Schacht, was unable to follow up on his rookie promise and never found a place in the regular rotation. Plummer added some good work as a kick returner, which was half the reason the Bees selected him at the bottom of the 2nd round.

Receiver Alvin Foley's hands have always been a question mark, and 16 drops didn't help the 3rd year's case. The supposed new leader of the Utah receiving corps finished with just 761 yards.

Most disappointing was the regression of tight end Dennis Hawley, who averaged just under 4 yards per 78 targets and finished with 311 receiving yards. In contrast, career backup Nate Barlow caught 23 of the 29 passes thrown his way, and had 237. That's some yikes level efficiency from Hawley.

It was pass rush that lifted the offensively inept Bees to the playoffs, though. Ian Subramanian exploded onto the scene after two solid, but ho-hum years as an edge rusher in Utah's 3-4. Sub touched off a longstanding Utah tradition in their weakside linebackers with 14.5 sacks, a Bees record that would not easily fall.

Wildcard Exit
The Bees drew the Memphis Admirals, a spread gun team that featured scrambling quarterbacks and lots of passing.

The Admirals were a little too much for the Bees, however, and the defense did little to stop their attack. Boone posted up yards in a hurry, keeping Utah in the game and making it a shootout, but finished with 2 picks and just a 53% completion rate.

Memphis 30, Utah 27.

The playoff victory drought since 2015 is now at four seasons.

**arton86** · 03-05-2013, 07:44 PM

Re: The Blazin' Bees | A Front Office Football MP Dynasty

Utah Bees Stats - 2019
Passing	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	YDS/G	LONG	TD	INT	RAT
QB Randy Boone	325/556	3248	5.84	203	86	13	14	72.4
Rushing	ATT	YDS	AVG	LONG	10+	TD	YDS/G	FUM
RB Leo Felts	205	901	4.40	48	22	2	56.3	2
RB Glen Plummer	92	454	4.93	55	14	8	28.4	3
RB Ken Schacht	56	184	3.29	16	5	2	20.4	1
QB Randy Boone	33	152	4.61	17	4	1	9.5	5
Receiving	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	20+	YDS/G	YAC
WR Alvin Foley	106-59	761	7.18	4	51	14	54.4	329
WR Marvin Daluiso	92-54	657	7.14	2	62	10	41.1	252
WR Lonnie Doleman	91-51	532	5.85	3	44	6	33.3	158
TE Dennis Hawley	78-43	311	3.99	2	39	2	19.4	83
WR Zach Owens	53-24	287	5.42	0	49	4	22.1	78
WR Al Poston	30-17	138	4.60	0	19	0	10.6	51
TE Nate Barlow	29-23	237	8.17	1	86	1	14.8	124
RB Leo Felts	24-13	64	2.67	0	19	0	4.0	31
FB Sammie Clinton	20-16	120	6.00	0	33	1	7.5	88
RB Ken Schacht	19-14	84	4.42	1	26	1	9.3	40
RB Glen Plummer	14-11	57	4.07	0	14	0	3.6	19
	Tackles			Sacks		Interceptions
Defense	SOLO	AST	TOT	SACK	HURRY	PD	INT	TD
SILB Howard Cote		33	106	0	1	7-50	4
SLB Norbert Slaten		26	70	1.5	3	12-32	1
SS Michael Lyon		38	67	0	0	9-31	1
WLB Ian Subramanian		21	51	14.5	29	2-11	0
FS Daniel Springer		21	50	0	0	7-38	2
NT Don Ilardi		15	36	4.5	8	0-3	0
CB Mitch Holloman		8	33	0	0	4-29	2
CB Chuck Horton		8	33	0	0	1-24	2
CB Robert Chapman		7	31	0	0	3-22	0
CB Travis Carr		10	28	0	0	5-13	0
DE Robbie Kerr		9	28	5.5	10	0-2	0
WILB Colin Riekens		13	27	0	0	0-5	0
DE Tito Terrell		6	23	2.0	6	0-3	0
NT Ryan Bryant		9	22	2.0	4	0-3	0
SLB Cole Vinson		5	22	1.0	0	2-12	0
DE Joseph Mallow		2	19	4.0	11	0-1	0
OLB Kendall Robinson		4	18	1.0	0	0-9	0
CB James Vince		8	18	0	0	2-16	0
ILB Bobby Schwartz		6	17	0	0	1-7	0
DE Walt Rushe		7	15	3.0	3	0-2	0
CB Richie Ingram		2	14	0	0	2-12	2
S Chester Foster		8	14	0	0	1-7	0
CB Kevin Cate		1	7	0	0	0-5	2
NT Billy Johns		4	6	2.0	0	1-0	0
	Kickoffs					Punts
Returning	ATT	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD	RET	AVG	TD
S Irving Braham						34	12.6	1
RB Glen Plummer	30	844	28.1		0
	Field Goals				Extra Points
Kicking	FGM	FGA	PCT	LONG	XPM	XPA	PCT	40+ ATT
K Vinny Philcox	33	40	82.5	50	27	27	100.0	9
Punting	PUNTS	YDS	LONG	AVG	NET	BP	IN20	TB
P Matt Russ	101	4518	65	44.7	39.7		32

Players currently on the Utah roster (as of 2028) listed in bold.

Team statistics
Rushing offense 110.1 ypg (21st)
Passing offense 203.0 ypg (19th)
Run defense 106.8 ypc (11th)
Pass defense 227.6 ypc (19th)
Total offense 18.9 ppg (14th), 306.6 ypg (22nd)
Total defense 16.8 ppg (7th), 318.2 ypg (11th)
Pass rush allowed 16 sacks (3rd), 57 hurries (8th), 15.2 PR% (1st)
Pass rush enforced 41 sacks (5th), 75 hurries (10th), 22.1 PR% (T-10th)
Punt returns 45 PR (12.4 avg, 5th), 51 PR against (2.5 avg, 1st)
Kick returns 46 KR (26.4 avg, 10th), 56 KR against (18.9 avg, 5th)

**arton86** · 03-06-2013, 12:17 AM

Re: The Blazin' Bees | A Front Office Football MP Dynasty

[Archives] — Boom and Fizzle
The 2020 season (8 seasons ago)

The Bees responded to their 2019 shortcomings with two big moves in the early offseason. The first was the trade of 8th-year right end Dennis Hawley, about whose ugly production the team had had just about enough of.

The second was the second FA splash signing of a running back in a consecutive years, with Darrell Boulware taking over at RB.

Utah then pulled off a trifecta in the draft - the incredibly gifted WR Colin Fletcher in round 1, highly touted and surprise slipper DT Lance Orbik in round 2, and booming rookie Kirk Marsh, who established himself as a hot commodity and zone cover corner.

The Bees then went on a regular season tear that few saw coming, backed by the superhuman efforts of a QB that was all of a sudden no longer the deer in the headlights. Boone fairly put the league on notice with his stunning efficiency. Alvin Foley, even recently maligned, turned into Boone's breakout star, and Nate Barlow, a former Utah 7th rounder who inherited the vacancy left by departed TE Dennis Hawley, exploded onto the scene in what turned out to be late in his own career.

Week 16 vs Columbus

The action came to a head in Week 16, as the 9-5 Bees fought for a playoff spot by welcoming the terrible Columbus Catfish to town.

Long before Boone would establish himself as one of the premier passers of the league, there was Bobby Tubbs. Helmsman of the Columbus Machine.

Tubbs was drafted late in the 2nd round, and boy, did he take that as a personal snub. After winning 12 games and throwing for over 4000 yards as a rookie, Tubbs produced a 16-0 record in his sophomore campaign and led the Catfish to the next four bowl games, winning two. Columbus had long been the most feared and devastating force of evil in the league, and Tubbs, their greatest agent of destruction.

Tubbs brought with him receivers of legend, and a pass attack that, well, it was said no mortal man could stop. Yet on the Utah sidelines stood Randy Boone, and a little-known corner named Kevin Cate, whose last name is womanly enough to count as a technicality.

The top two Utah corners, you see, had gone down with injury. Utah would roll with the most ragtag secondary it has ever had the displeasure of fielding, against the mightiest aerial assault in the history of its league, in its prime.

The clash was epic, pyrrhic, and utterly demonstrative.

Bobby Tubbs completed 13 of his 36 passes that day (36.1%) for 130 yards and two interceptions, and his younger counterpart lit up the vaunted Columbus secondary to the tune of 11 yards per attempt. The Bees steamrolled the Catfish, 38-13.

But Randy Boone sustained a back injury early in the second half - by which time the game had been decided - that would end his 2020 season.

And that is when Utah fans were introduced to the scrambling dervish known as Wendell Longhenry.

The Playoffs

Longhenry sucked ***.

And the Bees exited the playoffs with a bitter, stinging defeat, and the knowledge that they had absolutely nothing, no remotely adequate backup plan, for if their (newly minted status) star quarterback should go down.

Utah Bees Stats - 2020
Passing	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	YDS/G	LONG	TD	INT	RAT
QB Randy Boone	281/465	3581	7.70	238.7	80	32	4	103.9
QB Wendell Longhenry	23/37	259	7.00		42	1	3	58.3
Rushing	ATT	YDS	AVG	LONG	10+	TD	YDS/G	FUM
RB Darrell Boulware	163	715	4.39	51	23	6	47.8	1
RB Glen Plummer	65	263	4.05	23	10	1	16.4	3
RB Leo Felts	65	250	3.85	14	4	1	17.9	2
RB Ken Schacht	52	205	3.94	17	6	2	12.8	5
QB Randy Boone	28	160	5.71	45	2	1	10.7	1
QB Wendell Longhenry	9	29	3.22	11	1	0		0
Receiving	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	20+	YDS/G	YAC
WR Alvin Foley	108-70	1181	10.94	11	76	20	73.8	582
TE Nate Barlow	79-58	837	10.59	7	44	18	52.3	389
WR Marvin Daluiso	80-46	642	8.03	3	80	11	40.1	320
WR Colin Fletcher	68-38	392	5.76	3	37	5	24.5	122
RB Ken Schacht	27-18	161	5.96	1	39	4	10.1	103
FB Kerry Duran	27-13	83	3.07	1	18	0	5.2	19
TE Rich Esquivel	19-12	167	8.79	0	35	4	10.4	43
WR Hunter Vandersommen	23-11	142	6.17	4	33	2	15.8	67
	Tackles			Sacks		Interceptions
Defense	SOLO	AST	TOT	SACK	HURRY	PD	INT	TD
ILB Howard Cote		46	103	0.5	0	11-44	0
SS Blaine Johnston		29	100	0	0	9-30	1
SLB Norbert Slaten		25	69	2.0	3	10-42	1
FS Chester Foster		19	65	0	0	9-37	0
WLB Ian Subramanian		14	64	13.0	35	5-20	1
WILB Horace Vance		13	51	0	0	1-15	0
CB Chuck Horton		12	47	0	0	9-34	0
CB Robert Chapman		12	44	0	0	6-38	0
CB Kirk Marsh		16	37	0	0	4-33	0
CB Joseph Testa		8	33	0	0	2-27	0
DE Joseph Mallow		7	14	4.5	3	0-2	0
S Lester Stoddard		9	31	0	0	2-14	0
DE Lionel Cook		10	29	1.5	12	0-4	0
OLB Bennie Austin		8	27	1.0	0	0-16	0
DE Robbie Kerr		7	27	0.5	18	0-7	0
CB Kevin Cate		7	27	0	0	0-28	2
NT Billy Johns		6	29	1.5	4	0-5	0
NT Lance Orbik		7	19	1.5	0	0-2	0
	Kickoffs					Punts
Returning	ATT	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD	RET	AVG	TD
S Donnie Berlat	11	282	25.6			22	8.1	0
WR Colin Fletcher						13	16.2	1
RB Glen Plummer	39	1213	31.1		2
	Field Goals				Extra Points
Kicking	FGM	FGA	PCT	LONG	XPM	XPA	PCT	40+ ATT
K Vinny Philcox	17	23	73.9	46	47	48	97.9	8
Punting	PUNTS	YDS	LONG	AVG	NET	BP	IN20	TB
P Matt Russ	98	4615	64	47.1	43.0		40

By now, the Bees' playoff victory drought stands at five seasons.

**arton86** · 03-06-2013, 03:18 PM

Re: The Blazin' Bees | A Front Office Football MP Dynasty

The 2020 season was also significant in two other ways, although one of them would be unknown for quite some time.

Ernie James, the franchise's coach since 2011, was fired after the 2019 playoff exit and Randy Boone's inaugural campaign. The very early Bees (before my time in the league) were at the top of the AFC for a run from 2007 to 2010, but once James arrived, that all changed.

James consistently underachieved with a fairly talented roster - a perennial just-above-500 coach who never had a seriously bad season, but never asserted his team in the division, either.

His replacement, Mike Tarr, would oversee the blossoming of his young franchise quarterback and become one of the winningest coaches in Utah history.

Meanwhile, by Year 2 of the Daluiso Experiment — the heavily guaranteed 5-year deal handed to free agent receiver Marvin Daluiso in 2019 — the Bees Front Office were already tiring of him.

He was turning in solid #2 type numbers, while being paid #1 type money, with no way for the Bees to get out of it until 2021 at the earliest. So it was good fortune when the Portland Phantoms put Hunter Vandersommen on their trade block.

Selected in the third round in 2018, Vandersommen was one of a number of receivers the Bees coveted in the draft recently, and missed on. After a drop-filled 2019, Vandersommen had run out of chances fast in Portland, and the asking price was merely a 6th.

The Bees weren't sure what they had in him for a while, but over the next two years groomed him alongside a number of other young WR prospects on the team.

When Alvin Foley's 8-year streak of leading the team in receiving yards ended in 2027, it was Vandersommen that took up the mantle and replaced him at the top spot.

**arton86** · 03-09-2013, 09:54 PM

Re: The Blazin' Bees | A Front Office Football MP Dynasty

2028 Training Camp Report | Utah Bees
Present day

We interrupt this trip down historical flashback lane with your regularly scheduled programming...

Vandersommen absent

Missing from the 70-man roster in the final week of training camp, as teams prepare to set preseason rosters, is last season's leading receiver for the Bees, Hunter Vandersommen.

It's not the first time Vandersommen has missed time in Utah. Midseason last year, he was kept inactive for three games due to undisclosed personal reasons. This time, however, he's holding out.

Although he's now in his 11th year, Vandersommen filled in admirably for the injured Alvin Foley early last season, and even kept rival Bryan Sidharta off the field after Foley's return. He's been a key figure in each of Utah's last three playoff runs, and to date, has only been paid at the literal veteran minimum.

It's been argued that Vandersommen has merely been thriving in the Utah system; another example of a marginally talented receiver being put to maximal use. But if Utah wants to retain those services, perhaps it's time to reward a lengthy career of solid production.

Scouting Report: Ruh-roh RB roes
n.b. in game, Green dropped 9 points in OVR this camp, from 44/44 to 35/35.

Last season's breakout star, Ryan Green, has by all accounts had a phenomenally bad camp.

"Coaches are quite surprised at how much it seems he's lost a step," writes SI.com's Peter Bling. "He's showed up at camp overweight, lacking in concentration, struggling in all the drills. It just reeks of complacency."

The 5th-year back was quiet for two seasons before emerging in 2026 as the team's #2 runner, and then taking over the top spot in '27 following Earnest Giang's retirement.

Green's ascension to the starting role was a surprise after Utah's drafting of a RB in round 1 that year, but he averaged nearly 5 yards a carry and demonstrated a high level of ball security. In '26 and '27 combined, Green carried 325 times for 1570 yards (4.83 avg) and 10 TDs.

"Right now Utah coaches are just looking around, wondering what happened," says ESPN Radio's Jim Wome Is Bwuwning. "I think they expected him to really take his game to the next level, but it's been just the opposite. He's really fallen apart in their eyes and it's come as an unpleasant shock. This team didn't invest at all in RB this offseason, when they had plenty of opportunity to."

Michael Glenn - last year's round 1 pick at RB - hasn't taken hold of the job yet, and it's still anyone's game. Even still, Green is looking like the odd man out in the league's worst (by talent) RB situation. For a guy who was just a few weeks ago considered a rising star, that's one precipitous drop in fortunes.

Don't be left in the dust...

Life moves fast in the OSFL. Everyone knows that only stands for Not For Long...er,...Only So F'n Long? .... Point is, teams won't wait. While the Bees have less starpower at RB than every other team in the league, what they do have is a group of hungry, younger backs eager to take any spot that opens up.

Apart from their first-round second-year....

Gilbert Money 26/26, the 3rd-year speedster from Cal. He's the fastest back on the team by a considerable distance, but has yet to flash it on the field. There's a reason he went undrafted.

Seth Meier 31/39, a 6th round pick by Chicago last year and cut early in the season. Meier is new to the Bees and a total unknown.

Trent Adams 30/38, an undrafted free agent rookie for Utah this year, highlighted on several occasions by reporters attending practice for being a regular on the #1 ST coverage teams. The Bees cut two RBs considered prized ST assets just before camp this year, a strong sign of their confidence in Adams.

Josh Clovis 28/39, a 6th round pick for Utah this year. The OSFL Network's Mike Mayflop assessed him as 'similar body type, similar skillset, similar draft position' to Green. Could the Bees feel they have a doppleganger in place for their declining starter?

**arton86** · 03-10-2013, 05:32 PM

Re: The Blazin' Bees | A Front Office Football MP Dynasty

On eve of exhibition season, trades commence
Present day (2028)

The annual Hall of Fame Game will herald the return of professional football play in 2028 and kick off another OSFL season.

As the deadline to finalize 60-man exhibition rosters draws near, so too, ends the trade lull, as teams feverishly scramble for the pieces that will make their teams competitors.

Utah's AC West rivals Phoenix - already coming off an impressive draft haul of playmakers - has added 8th-year Dakota receiver Pat 'Jelly' Donaghy, in a move that gives Phoenix the best receiving corps in the division. It's been a long time since anybody apart from Utah or Denver has fielded a competitive team in the AC West, but Donaghy and Phoenix's 1.2 overall, WR Stanley Morrison, figure to change all that.

The Bees, busy as ever, announced two trades of their own.

Ryan Green to Columbus

From one Dynasty Empire to another. The Bees part ways with Green, who started fourteen games last season at running back, and swap upcoming seventh-round picks with the NC's Columbus Catfish.

That's slim to no return on the 5th-year back, but it sends a strong message: don't let a little success make you take yourself for granted; at least, not in this organization.

Bees add DE Stegman

In sending its 2029 2nd- and 4th-round picks to the Boston Fighting Irish, the Bees have added 5th-year defensive end Brady Stegman to their ranks.

In doing so, the Bees are investing to secure the future of their pass rush. The team's top two pass rushers are in their 8th and 10th years, respectively, and while 2nd-year OLB Ike Arias has demonstrated some impressive ability, he doesn't have the same speed as the man to which he is heir apparent, 30-year-old Matthew O'Donnell.

Top defensive end Emmanuel Logan has seen his production start to decline, and will be entering his 10th season. Utah has last year's 1st rounder, Ted Kau, waiting in the wings, but he strongly underwhelmed as a rookie.

With one of the league's most impressive and deep secondaries, and an offense that is still as capable as any with Boone at the helm, the Bees' front office are clearly judging pass rush to be a missing link, the kind without which the team won't be able to compete at an elite level.

This represents the highest draft stock the team has given up for a player since 2022, when the Bees determined RB to be that kind of missing link and acquired Earnest Giang for their next 1st round selection. Utah is once again lacking in RB firepower, but are taking care of their defense, as they did in 2021 — the year which, for all of Giang's considerable achievements, laid the entire groundwork for Utah's ensuing run of dominance.

**arton86** · 03-11-2013, 05:38 PM

Re: The Blazin' Bees | A Front Office Football MP Dynasty

2021 | The Calm before the Storm
seven seasons ago

[Archive] Los '21 Bees, Preseason Report!

2021 Reset: The Bees begin their offseason with an extension for lead scout Calvin Myers (aged 49) and the hiring of Alfred Johnstone (aged 52) as the new defensive coordinator. The late-season clinic put on against Columbus wasn't enough to make up for another dismally below-average season, and somebody had to take the fall...

Now the Bees have more draft picks than they know what to do with, and a lot of players on the roster already. Look for some moving-the-pieces around, in both draft assets and players...

Thus began the unassuming 2021 offseason, kicked off quietly by a Bees management that looked to sit back and stay out of the action. Plans quickly changed, and several short weeks later, UTA is capping off its most frenetic FA season in recent memory, draft picks and tradees in tow, and preparing for the Late FA period and '21 camp.

It was a very different FA1 than usual in Utah, one which saw the Bees go after two star veterans early and hard: Memphis QB Britt Meyer and Port City WR James Harden. After Randy Boone was knocked out for the playoffs in Week 16 of last season, the Bees made finding a quality backup a top offseason priority.

As a consequence, the Bees found themselves repeatedly knocked out of the bidding for the middle-of-the line, stopgap starting options they usually stocked their roster with in free agency. Harden and Meyer in fact, would mark the last time the Bees spent heavily in free agency for quite some time.

Offseason signings: (20) WR James Harden (PC), CB Vinny Preston (PXT), ILB Dexter Hoover (ANC), OLB Lamont Heim, OLB Conrad Luthye, DT Jerald Berrios, WR Myron Jarvis (DEN), CB Dana Darchi (PXT), TE Ellis Harden (KAL), K Damon Scott, QB Patrick Whalen, C Lamar Hymes, RB Bobby Kudlacz (DEN), QB Britt Meyer (MEM), C Damon Moss (LA), DE Kyle Gaudet (STP), WR Brock Rosalez, RB Irving Dotson (BKL), DE Nathan Newton, DT Trent Collins

Contract extensions: (3) QB Randy Boone, C Stephen Wells, DE Robbie Kerr

Re-signed: (13) TE Cary Ross, WR Hunter Vandersommen, OLB Bennie Austin, G Mo Fujimoto, T Zack Everett, DE Lionel Cook, DT Billy Johns, ILB Horace Vance, OLB Charles Jamison, CB Benjamin Chmelik, CB Jason Tapp, OG Moe Palmer, S Lester Stoddard

Released: (2) C Ray Owens, RB Bobby Kudlacz

Lost in FA: (2) CB Robert Chapman (MEM), CB Joseph Testa (LV)

Upcoming! ...Coming up in the next post, our flashback continues with coverage of the 2021 Football Season in review. After that, we'll follow up with some current-year preseason reports, with the Bees' first exhibition game of 2028 in the books!

**arton86** · 03-11-2013, 07:56 PM

Re: The Blazin' Bees | A Front Office Football MP Dynasty

Last flop of the beest in slumber
[archives — 2021] 10-6 & out of the playoffs

In 2021, Utah turned in one of the more statistically impressive seasons in the league, only to come up short. The #1 scoring team and #3 least-scored-on-team in the AC conference fell short on tiebreakers, bringing the franchise streak of years without a playoff victory to six.

For the better part of the last decade, Utah had played the role of the storied franchise mired in mediocrity. Flowing with talent and tradition, but coming and going with the cyclical tides within its own division. Winning enough to draft low, but never enough to pose a threat. Even its 2015 string of two playoff victories was an overachieving bit of luck — at least in hindsight, few could say different.

Sure, Utah's play had improved considerably across the board, but in the end, it appeared the same old story...a team stuck in Tier 2.

Utah Bees Stats - 2021
Passing	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	YDS/G	LONG	TD	INT	RAT
QB Randy Boone	287/456	3416	7.49	227.7	77	30	9	99.4
QB Britt Meyer	22/40	322	8.05	250	48	2	1	87.7
Rushing	ATT	YDS	AVG	LONG	10+	TD	YDS/G	FUM
RB Ken Schacht	162	752	4.64	53	16	3	53.7	5
RB Darrell Boulware	168	657	3.91	36	23	3	41.1	2
RB Herman Woods	53	217	4.09	21	7	2	18.1	1
RB Glen Plummer	51	194	3.80	21	8	0	12.1	3
QB Randy Boone	34	127	3.74	9	0	2	8.5	2
Receiving	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	20+	YDS/G	YAC
WR Alvin Foley	99-62	778	7.86	8	37	14		270
TE Nate Barlow	81-52	680	8.40	5	48	13		286
WR James Harden	68-47	761	11.19	8	77	10		436
WR Colin Fletcher	71-34	514	7.24	5	49	10		112
WR Marvin Daluiso	54-29	333	6.17	1	43	5		27
RB Ken Schacht	34-26	210	6.18	2	40	2		124
TE Mario Bradford	29-18	153	5.28	0	24	2		23
FB Kerry Duran	16-14	74	4.63	1	14	0		37
TE Rich Esquivel	13-9	57	4.38	1	17	0		24
RB Darrell Boulware	8-7	61	7.63	0	18	0		23
RB Herman Woods	7-5	39	5.57	0	16	0		18
WR Hunter Vandersommen	11-3	62	5.64	1	41	1		38
	Tackles			Sacks		Interceptions
Defense	SOLO	AST	TOT	SACK	HURRY	PD	INT	TD
ILB Howard Cote		34	106	0	1	13-64	0
SS Blaine Johnston		24	68	0	0	6-27	0
SLB Norbert Slaten		21	65	0.5	3	12-23	0
FS Chester Foster		15	55	0	0	13-30	2
CB Quinn Robinette		14	48	0.5	0	14-37	5	1
CB Chuck Horton		11	46	0	0	4-29	2
WLB Ian Subramanian		13	41	4.0	10	2-17	2
DE Emmanuel Logan		22	37	6.0	10	0-5	0
SS Brent Driscoll		11	35	0	0	5-16	1
DE Robbie Kerr		16	33	3.5	20	1-0	0
ILB Horace Vance		14	31	0	1	1-11	0
WLB Carlos Melnick		6	30	9.0	16	1-6	0
CB Kevin Cate		13	30	0	0	8-23	0
CB Vinny Preston		5	27	0	0	1-18	0
DT Billy Johns		12	22	1.5	7	1-2	0
DT Billy Joe Dennis		8	17	1.0	3	0-4	0
ILB Troy Conant		9	17	0	0	1-6	0
DT Jerald Berrios		2	13	1.0	3	-	-
DT Britt Fisher		7	11	3.5	3	-	-
CB Jason Tapp		5	6	0	0	1-5	0
DE Junior Bello		1	3	0.5	1	0-1	0
S Donnie Berlat		4	15	0	0	0-9	2
	Kickoffs					Punts
Returning	ATT	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD	RET	AVG	TD
WR Colin Fletcher						29	9.3	0
RB Glen Plummer	32	712	22.3		0
	Field Goals				Extra Points
Kicking	FGM	FGA	PCT	LONG	XPM	XPA	PCT	40+ ATT
K Damon Scott	26	35	74.3	56	44	44	100.0	18
Punting	PUNTS	YDS	LONG	AVG	NET	BP	IN20	TB
P Matt Russ	87	3890	63	44.7	39.1		35

Bold indicates still on roster in 2028

Meyer, Harden prove their worth

Out of the entire FA pool, there were two players the Bees identified early on as their only high-priority targets, and the managed to secure both with aggressive early offers.

QB Britt Meyer was already a big name, entering his tenth year. He had skills, but his only previous starting shot went down in flames. He signed on for 2 years, $10.35 million in Utah, and surprised the league by pushing Randy Boone pretty hard in training camp.

When Boone went down, Meyer turned in a terrific one-game audition for an OSFL starting gig, and parlayed that into an offseason trade to Morgantown, where he started the remaining 5 years of his career as one of the league's better passers. The two 2nd rounders that came Utah's way made Meyer a very solid investment.

WR James Harden was a talented, deep threat, eighth-year receiver who had spent his career in Port City as a WR3. He signed on in Utah for a 2-year, $14-million deal, and basked in the opportunity to play with one of the league's most efficient QBs.

Harden became one of Boone's favorite targets, and eventually wrested a starting job away from 2nd-year Colin Fletcher, whom the Bees had heavily invested in as their future.

Harden would be shipped off to Memphis as part of the Bees' efforts in changing their offensive line schemes the following year. He was a disastrous malcontent there, but caught on in Camden for two more highly productive years as a deep threat for another one of the league's most efficient QBs - Casey Baumgartner, who in many ways, is the guy Randy Boone models himself after.

Diamonds in the ashes

Though the 2021 season went down in flames, it was a pivotal launching point for the Utah franchise. The Bees hit on six out of their seven draft picks, knocking this one out of the park like no draft before — or since.

1.21 - CB Quinn Robinette - the Bees' first shutdown corner in years. Still starting to this day. In his prime, one of the top players in the league.

2.20 - SS Brent Driscoll - still starting to this day; reliable and consistent.

3.23 - DT Junior Bello - kicked out to 3-4 DE. Traded to Punxsutawney in '27 in a move that the team heavily regrets. One of the league's top pass rushers.

4.10 - LB Troy Conant - Still starting to this day.

4.17 - RB Herman Woods - A breakaway threat at RB. Ken Schacht started the trend of highly productive speed backs in Utah in '21, and Woods carried on that tradition for a number of years.

5.24 - T Gene Sinclair - Still with the team today, and has over the years filled a valued backup swing tackle role with the team. Started in the entire 2025 bowl run, due to injuries.

6.21 - FB Mario Bradford - Became a huge draft steal and one of the league's top block/catch TEs. Still starting to this day.

7.27 - S Vinny Hurnblad - Never made the team. Can't have it all.

And then, there was the Great Denver Exodus of 2021. The Grizzlies had brought in new management, were moving to a 4-3, and ready to unload some young talent. The Bees had spare draft picks on hand.

2.22 (trade) DE Emmanuel Logan (3rd year) - still starting to this day. Top DE his entire career in Utah.

3.21+4th (trade) WLB Carlos Melnick (3rd year) - the Bees had a Sackmaster-General already, but Ian Subramanian unexpectedly saw his production drop in '21. Melnick began the takeover late in the season, and amassed 9 sacks in limited time. He never looked back.

After struggling on defense in 2020, Utah turned around and invested six top 106 picks on defense — four in draft, two in trade, and came away with six career starters and an elite 6th-round TE. Relatively few of these guys started right away.

But in time, the '21 group would become the backbone of the Utah Machine.

The Rise of the West

2021 also marked the beginning of a momentous shift in power. The AC West, like Utah, had for years been a cyclical, consistently mediocre division. Every year was another team's turn at the top. Phoenix had won the division in 2020, and made a nice playoff run to boot.

But parity was ending. The Riders of Phoenix were fading away, and the Denver juggernaut was rising. The Denver Grizzlies had assembled the kind of roster that could steamroll anything in its path, and that's exactly what they proceeded to do.

The rest of the class of the AC were undergoing a period of upheaval, as stars retired or neared the ends of their careers. The Wussy West all of a sudden had a team in Denver few others in the conference could hope to stand up against.

Unfortunately for Denver, they were about to be 1-upped before their reign could even begin.

Upcoming! ...the 2022 season and the end of the 6-year playoff victory drought in the Utah desert; and continuing coverage of the ongoing '28 present-day preseason, in either order.

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