[sdoug78]

Just finished year 1 and draft. I had written up all the playoffs and Super Bowl with stats etc but didn't save and lost it so this is the shortened version. The highly fancied Seahawks led by MVP R.Wilson who had 50 tds on the year lost out and the Super Bowl was between the Texans and Falcons.

The Texans without the injured JJ Watts were down 20-3 late in the 2nd but scored on a long watched by an untouched D.Hopkins to make it 20-10 at the half. The Texans D weren't able to assert any real pressure on the league leading passer Ryan until the early 3rd when the first sack of the game put him out for 2 qtrs and the rest of the game. M.Schaub found it hard to get anything going and really struggled with his movement in the pocket, something Ryan had made look easy to keep out of trouble. The Teams were putting him under pressure and picking up sacks with regularity.

Game on i thought, and it looked that way until D.Hopkins with 5 catches for 104 yds caught a quick slant and was hit hard, going down with broken ribs. After that the Teams were never really in it and the Falcons won 33-22.

Moving onto my Redskins and the draft, i had a number of positions to address. Most notably the Oline having had a few released at the end of their contracts and starters at LG and C of only 72 & 73, CB to replace Norman, WR to replace Doctson and a No2 TE for the retiring V.Davis as well as a backup HB, QB and 3 OLine positions. We had traded J.Norman to the Bills earlier in the season for their 1st round pick which ended up being the number 3 pick in the draft, J.Doctson also left for a round 3 pick and OLB P.Mcphee went to the Steelers in preseason for their round 4 and 5 picks. giving us a total of 11 picks including two 1st rounders.

All season i had been debating what to do at the QB position, Smith hadn't really cut it during the season and regularly missed game time with injuries. But the problem is his contract, although we would have loved to cut or trade him the penalty of $21m was just too high for us to eat, so i made the decision to keep him another year and look to bring another star QB to work with him in season 3 before getting rid of him in season 4 when the penalty will be a reasonable amount.

In making that decision, we chose to trade down our no 3 pick and was offered a great deal by the Ravens, their 1st rnd 13 pick, 3rd and 4th rounders as well, giving us a massive 13 picks.

I have limited myself to only scouting the first 2 traits of prospects apart from 10 each year to try and make drafting a little more difficult and give a higher possibility of drafting an early round bust!

In free agency we picked up a replacement no1 CB for J.Norman, Tramon Williams 83 over and quick dev and a back up RG. We also resigned FS Clinton-Dix, OLB P.Smith and WR J.Crowder to new long term deals.

We had a far better draft than i could ever have wanted.

Rnd 1 pick 9 - MLB T.Ball 78 over quick dev (we play a base 3-4 def so he will slot straight in as our no.2 behind Z.Brown, there were 3 MLB's all projected to go early in the 1st rnd that i would have been happy to take but we got our top target.

Rnd 1 pick 13 - we went OLine with a LG 79 0vr and quick dev

Rnd 2 pick 9 - TE 80 over and star dev (he was one of the draft stories as having a rare talent, too good to miss when he fell to us)

Rnd 3 pick 1 possibly the Redskins pick of the century was our backup QB. Projected to go in the 1st Rnd and with good scouting and decent combine we thought he would be our reliable back up. He was a 78 over with star dev and comes in as an instant challenger for the no1 role, and fits our scheme perfectly. We could be stuck with the highest paid backup in history with Smith if we can't afford to release him at the end of the year lol.

Rnd 3 pick 9 WR 77 over norm dev

Rnd 3 pick 13 we went Centre 73 one but with star dev and also fits our scheme, he will slot straight in as the no1 ahead of Roullier. he was projected in the early 4th so we reached a bit but he looked solid in the combine and scouting.

Rnd 4 we had 2 picks and needed some support out wide still so went WR a 77 also 77ovr but with quick dev and a HB to replace AP who regressed a lot at the end of last season and didn't justify bringing back on such a high wage demand. The HB is 76 over with star dev, and also provides great back up to C.Thompson as a pass catcher out the back field.

Rnd 5 we also had 2 picks so went another CB and back up RT, 72 and 74 over respectively, both norm dev.

Rnd 6 we went MLB for depth and Rnd 7 took a punter who was one of the draft stories, he was 77 over with quick dev giving us a decision to make.

Cant wait to start the net season and see all the rookies in action, i think in the 3rd season the Skins could be one of the teams to beat. We have some big players in their contract year so it could be the decider, financially we might struggle to keep them. HB C.Thompson will be hit free agency, while we will look to keep RG Scherff, LE Ioannidis and are undecided on SS Swearinger but think all 3 will cost too much to keep. May look to trade Swearinger if the season doesn't start so well and try and bring in some high end picks for net draft.

I was really pleased to see the cpu drafting better the i ever have before, there were no Qb's picked by teams in the first few rounds that didn't need them, and although some of the choices were a little questionable the teams drafted mostly in their positions of need.