San Diego Chargers Total Rebuild

[football65]

Hey all! I've been getting a little bored with Madden amongst other games, so all the rumors about Norv Turner being fired led me to my idea of making a total rebuild CC with the Chargers.

I've decided that I wanted as much difficulty as possible, so I let go of all star players, which was kinda hard to convince myself to do. I love Rivers, Gates, Weddle, etc., but I just had to do it. I'm just about to sim through the first season (I'll be simming everything, to test how good of a team I've really built), and here's how my starting lineup looks like:
QB: Josh Johnson (70 OVR)
HB: Ronnie Hillman (69 OVR)
FB: Naufahu Tahi (76 OVR)
WR: Danario Alexander (81 OVR, best player on team), Vincent Brown (72 OVR), Eddie Royal (73 OVR) are my top 3 receivers
TE: Ladarius Green (67 OVR)
OL (from left to right): Kevin Haslam (64 OVR), Johnnie Troutman (63 OVR), Colin Baxter (67 OVR), Stephen Schiling (66 OVR), Reggie Wells (74 OVR)
DL (from left to right): Vaughn Martin (81 OVR), Cam Thomas (79 OVR), Kendall Reyes (78 OVR)
LB (from left to right): Melvin Ingram (77 OVR), Demorrio Williams (79 OVR), Jonas Mouton (74 OVR), Shawne Merriman (75 OVR)
CB: Marcus Gilchrist (72 OVR), Shareece Wright (72 OVR)
FS: Darrell Stuckey (70 OVR)
SS: Brandon Taylor (68 OVR)
K: Nick Novak (76 OVR)
P: Matt Turk (77 OVR)

I picked up a lot of guys off FA, and traded for Ronnie Hillman and Shawne Merriman because of their connections to San Diego.

Most of the players I released were picked up right away. Making the headlines were: Philip Rivers signed with the Chiefs, Eric Weddle signed with the Raiders, and Antonio Gates signed with the Rams.
The only players not picked up by another team were Aubrayo Franklin and Randy McMichael.

I should also mention that I'm running a vertical offense with an attacking 3-4 defense, which is pretty much the same scheme the Chargers already use.

I have the Cassius Note (HB from Cincinnati) draft, and I plan to rebuild through the draft, rather than going out and signing big name FA's. My draft plan for this year is focused on my offensive line, so it's similar to how teams in the NFL build their teams. I'm doing this instead of finding my franchise QB, basically because I don't want to "ruin" my QB.

Can't wait to keep this updated, I'm hoping to have a lot of fun with this!

[dingleberryfinn]

I'd sure been tempted to see if I could have gotten Tebow for Rivers
in the interim.

[football65]

UPDATE: Season One

I ended with a final record of 4-12, a pretty poor season overall.
Manning, Brady, Brees, and Randy Moss ended up moving up in the record books. Chris Johnson had his season end in Week 5.

PLAYOFF TEAMS:
AFC:
1. Colts 2. Steelers 3. Broncos 4. Browns 5. Bills 6. Ravens
NFC:
1. 49ers 2. Saints 3. Giants 4. Packets 5. Lions 6. Falcons

AWARDS:
MVP: Drew Brees
Coach of the Year: Dusty McDonald
AFC OPOY: Peyton Manning
NFC OPOY: Drew Brees
AFC DPOY: DJ Williams
NFC DPOY: Sean Lee
AFC OROY: Andrew Luck
NFC OROY: Russell Wilson (RGIII came in second)
AFC DROY: Dont'a Hightower
NFC DROY: Bobbby Wagner

PLAYOFFS:
Adrian Peterson gets injured
Chad Masters retires
Marvin Lewis fired
Kody Meyer hid an injury in the Senior Bowl
Steelers beat the 49ers 24-17 in the Super Bowl

OFFSEASON:
Kurt Warner and Brian Billick return to the NFL
Tom Brady, James Harrison, Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Donovan McNabb, and Terrell Owens retire
Mike Scifres, Matt Prater, Randy Starks and Lousaka Polite get franchise tagged
Branden Albert, Eric Weddle, and Antonio Gates resign
Aaron Curry, Ronde Barber, Osi Umenyiora, and Cedric Benson deny contract extensions
Patriots hire Brian Billick as Head Coach
Saints hire Corey Jason as Head Coach
Bengals hire Arthur Bey as Head Coach
Bears hire Jeremy Stott as Head Coach

HEADLINE OFFSEASON SIGNINGS:
Tarvaris Jackson signs with Vikings
Brent Grimes signs with Bengals
Greg Jennings signs with Raiders
Philip Rivers signs with Jaguars
Ovie Mughelli signs with Browns
Jason Campbell signs with Cardinals
Kurt Warner signs with Browns

CHARGERS OFFSEASON NEWS:
Shawne Merriman only player to get resigned
Sign Donald Butler and Corey Luiget

CHARGERS DRAFT NEWS:
After ending up 4-12, we end up gaining the 2nd overall pick in the draft. I find myself still looking primarily towards building my offensive line early, starting with LT Chandler Bertrand (Proj 2nd overall). The three Colorado LBs look very interesting, but I feel I need to focus more on my offense than my defense for this draft, as my front seven are (collectively) the highest rated part of my team.
It doesn't seem to be a good year for Offensive Linemen depth in the draft. There are no LG's in the draft higher than a D OVR, but I believe I can find a steal of a C in the sixth round in Shaaheen Thomas. My second round pick appears to be Ja'Quan Jackson, who I'm hoping will still be there when I pick in the second round.
I'm in need of draft picks, so I might consider trading down from the second overall pick if I feel I can still find my guy later on. A little risky, but we'll see how that works. Overall, my draft plan is: OL for rounds 1 and 2, and best player available from there.

DRAFT RESULTS:
1. Chandler Bertrand, LT 82 OVR
2. Ja'Quan Jackson, RG 83 OVR
3. Kendrum Monroe, RT 73 OVR
4. Jake Fontenot, TE 57 OVR (Really blew it here)
5. Shaaheen Thomas, C 82 OVR
5. Cassius Note, HB 74 OVR (Traded next year's 5th and 6th rounder)
5. Tyree Banks, WR 72 OVR (Traded 6th rounder and next years 7th)
7. Martinez Lett, FB 80 OVR
Overall a very decent draft, very disappointed with Fontenot but it shouldn't break me. I'm refusing to look at draft guides; I want to experience the whole boom or bust of players, just like in the NFL. Also realizing that I shouldn't have traded away so many picks, so hopefully I can find a way to break even with that.

HALL OF FAME 2013:
Tom Brady, Ed Reed, Ray Lewis

Can't wait to keep you all updated with next season!

[football65]

UPDATE: Season Two

So the season didn't go quite as expected. We ended up going 6-10, which was an improvement, although not much of one. We got the 8th overall pick in this year's draft, but that wouldn't stop me from the giant wave of trades that I would make.

Cassius Note was a storyline player from last year's draft that was projected to go top ten before dropping to the fifth round due to injury. He had a monster season (1200+ yards, 9 TD), but ultimately I decided to let go of him. I had scouted King Collins (99 Speed), and decided I couldn't let that slide.

I ended up trading Note to the Raiders for a top 5 pick, which I continued to trade back. The draft ended up going very well and I expect to go deep this year.

DRAFT RESULTS:
1. King Collins, HB (85 OVR)
1. Justice Jones, MLB (81 OVR)
1. Giovanni Flewellyn, TE (85 OVR)
1. Donterius Bailey, QB (82 OVR)
2. Phillip Bernard, CB (84 OVR)
4. DaVonte Drake, LG (78 OVR)
4. Torrian Simeon, ROLB (71 OVR)
5. K'Sean Dossous, CB (80 OVR)
6. Deonte Rogers, SS (75 OVR)
7. Eric Regner, K (61 OVR)

I ended up getting a good chunk of my later round picks from the Patriots, who apparently (luckily) really wanted Eddie Royal. I also lost Danario Williams in the process.

HALL OF FAME 2014:
Tony Gonzalez and Charles Woodson

Overall, I think my team is ready for the next step. Can't wait to play into Season 3!

[Potvin63]

Tough to rebuild this way and I use the Chargers in an online CC that's in year 2 and I'm basically in the bottom 5 of the league talent wise and at 0-4 am looking at another top pick after drafting 2nd overall last year.

The one thing I noticed in your rebuild is having four 1st round draft picks, which is unheard of. I'm not sure if a team has ever had more than 2 in real life. I also find the talent that's available in later rounds, in terms of overall ratings, to be a bit ridiculous. There generally aren't many 80 and above rated players lurking past round three though it does happen on occasion.

Good luck going forward, I'll keep reading the updates.

[Gronk4M13]

Nice! Things are looking up for your Bolts.

[one5beast]

San Diego Aztecs?

[StizzyOG]

Nice thread, but I think franchise and rebuilding team posts belongs in the dynasty section.

But year 3 are you going to post box scores and post game analysis?