Free Agency

Our top priorities are LB, LT, and DE, more or less in that order. We don’t have huge money to spend, but will try to address those needs as best we can.

LB Kurt Dodge is looking for only a very modest contract, so he’s going to be a real option for us at LB – even if he’d just become part of a four-man rotation in the starting lineup (I think he and Stephen May might end up splitting time at the strong side). I put in an offer to him to start off the process, as I expect to sit back and see if there’s a way to get Andrew Wallace’s demands to slide down a bit. Worst comes to worst, Dodge can help back up at DE if needed.

I check out the free agent market at LB, and I’m confident that even if we fail to lock up Andrew Wallace, we’ll be able to stay solid there for this season, within our budget.

I put in a three year offer to WR Cornelius Tilton, also – trying to keep out receiving corps intact for the coming season.

I don’t have any prospects at left tackle, though – we might find someone in the later stages, but there’s nobody we go right after in this market, which just looks weak.

I decide to target LB David Adamson on a four year offer – if he joins up he will give us a solid fourth LB (behind Dodge) and a standout special teamer – on a very affordable contract. Underused in Cincinnati, I think he can be a solid contributor for us across the state.


RB Terrance Barker is getting an offer from St. Louis, and I doubt that we will pursue him. He’s been a solid, but unspectacular backup, and we ought to be okay with a less expensive #2 man. Our other three targets look good – we have company for LB Adamson, but have the top offer on the table right now.

In week two, we re-sign WR Tilton and LB Dodge, but our LB Andrew Wallace gets a new offer from Washington – it’s time for us to decide what to do there. I put in a qualifying offer for him, but it’s below the Washington package – if we can get him for only $4m per season, great. If not, we’ll be okay.

In week three, LB David Adamson signs our offer sheet, and we have our first three players locked up, with Andrew Wallace still debating Washington. I decide to target RB Marshall Lee, who has had three straight 1,000-yard seasons, for three different teams. We’d like to lock him up as our solid #2, and he’d become our position leader as well. Looks like a good fit.

Marshall Lee finally signs in week 8, but LB Andrew Wallace remains undecided. Washington plunges a big rush of cash to QB Bubba Avila – maybe that will shake them from the trail of Wallace?

In week nine, I am surprised when LB Andrew Wallace decides to accept our fairly modest offer. For $4m per year, he will be back with us – and that really helps out our LB corps greatly. Big signing.

We have about $4 million left under the cap, and still have yet to address our concerns at either LT or DE – we’ll probably look for a late free agent at one, and a rookie at the other. I don’t find anyone in the late stages of the first 20 weeks – so we will head into the rookie draft, and see what we can pick up for now and later there.


2022 Rookie Draft

I’d like to find either a DE or a LT with our top pick, but we’ll have to be flexible. We don’t have a selection in round two, so it will be close to “one and done” this year – with very little capital to use to move up unless we get a really hot prospect falling to us.


I think DT Heap will turn out okay, but we’re looking a year ahead with that pick – anticipating that we will have to trade or release DT Drew Worsham after this season. Hopefully, Heap can start by then.

I don’t know if Baugh will turn out at LT – he has some skills, but I don’t know if he will end up being a usable player. I like WR Fender as a return man and possible WR reserve, and CB Musum has a nice skill set to back up for us.

Every single rookie rejects my first contract offer – that’s a first for me, by a wide margin. I don’t think I’ve had more than two hold outs ever before.


Late Free Agency

We pick up a number of undrafted rookie free agents, and then grab veteran DE Randall McCombs, who will be a rotation player for us – not a starter, I don’t think. He’s okay, but not an impact player by any stretch.

My final moves are internal – locking up new deals with RT Nathan Glaspie, and our reserve RB Daryl Sims. Sims still will have a role in the return game, even if veteran Marshall Lee beats him out for the 80-100 carries we generally give to our #2 running option.

Training Camp


I can’t recall the last time my top draft pick had such a good camp – DT Riddick Heap, newly signed to a five-year deal, jumped in both current and future ratings. He could end up being a serious grab for us – excellent!

Mixed news elsewhere – we pretty easily pare down to 53, and are ready for the season ahead.


Season Analysis

As we start up the season, our cohesion is very strong: 100/81-85-92-100/78. With Deion Brock winning the non-battle for the top QB spot, we have plenty of familiarity in the passing game, and our secondary, as always, is a tight bunch.

Our roster rates third best – with Washington and Pittsburgh rated 100 and 88 ahead of our 80 rating. We’re ready to go – and to do battle with Pittsburgh for the division title and beyond.

2022 Regular Season


Week 1: Baltimore at Cleveland

We get off to a nice start, landing a 34-17 win. Gus Stewart and Deion Brock are both sharp, as we hit the ground running. CB Randy Furr has three interceptions, including one returned for a TD – great game for him.

Week 2: Cleveland (1-0) at Atlanta (0-1)

Our offense doesn’t really click here, but we get a 16-10 win on the road, in part due to CB Randy Furr’s touchdown punt return – his second score in two weeks.

Week 3: Indianapolis (1-1) at Cleveland (2-0)

Bang, 45-14, big win. Deion Brock has 4 TDs before yielding to Glenn Dixon (who goes 5-5 with a TD himself). Great effort – we are really rolling along.

Week 4: Cleveland (3-0) at Buffalo (1-2)

A 32-21 win, pretty solid – especially seeing that two of the Bills’ scores came on return TDs. Good win, but we suffer losses ion our passing game – injuries to TE Sellers and WR Pendleton.


Week 5: Pittsburgh (3-1) at Cleveland (4-0)

Obviously, a huge battle. We can gain a nice edge with a win here. I’d like to see Don Pritchett step up and make some big plays here – we’re depleted in our receiving corps, and he has been fairly quiet thus far – a few big plays, but not a consistent presence.

We get our win, mostly behind tough running from Gus Stewart. Pritchett has 6 catches in a solid effort, but our line really earned this one, I think.

Week 6: Miami (4-1) at Cleveland (5-0)

Miami pounds us inside, as we have something of a letdown game after beating Pittsburgh, and they run their way to a solid 19-7 win. Now, Baltimore – who have run off four wins since their opening day defeat at our hands – are only a half game back in our division, at 4-1.

Week 7: New York Jets (4-2) at Cleveland (5-1)

We rebound well, with another very good win – Gus Stewart has another excellent game, and posts 161 yards rushing. He has 701 yards in 7 games – a nice clip, on par with his best efforts.

Week 8: Cleveland (6-1) at New England (3-4)

Another triple-digit day from game MVP Gus Stewart leads the winning effort, but the big news is Deion Brock – he goes down with an injury, and will have to miss a week or two. Glenn Dixon looks ready to go, though – he plays very well in wrapping this one up for us.

We need a backup QB for a week or two – and old friend James Houston fits the bill just fine – he’ll back up Dixon as needed. The highlight on his 11-year career sheet remains his Superbowl MVP, earned while playing for us in 2016, after being our starter for half that season.


At the halfway point through this season – I feel that we are playing great football, looking very solid. Here are the numbers to back that up:


We’re top sin rushing the ball, and nearly tops in stopping the run. Our only statistical weakness seems to be in stopping the pass – but so far it hasn’t really hurt us. Most points scored, fewest points allowed – very solid effort. This team looks good.

One interesting thing – we only have 11 sacks as a team, placing us last in the league. It doesn’t seem to be a problem, but I don’t see any reason why that ought to be so. We’ll keep an eye on it – we have talent, I don’t know why we aren’t getting to the QB.

Week 9: Cleveland (7-1) at Baltimore (6-1)

Huge game, obviously – we’re even in the loss column. Winner takes a solid lead in the division, with Pittsburgh sitting back at 4-3 right now.

Behind Glenn Dixon, we trash the Ravens 37-3, leaving little doubt. We now get a week off, which ought to get Deion Brock healthy and ready to go.

Week 11: Cincinnati (3-6) at Cleveland (8-1)

For the third straight week, Deion Brock is out – and listed as being back in about a week. We’ll stick with young Glenn Dixon, who is improving and has been stellar this year. We post another 200+ yard rushing day, and pound the Bengals 30-3. That makes four games in a row with 30+ points scored, and 9 of 11 on the season.

Week 12: New Orleans (6-4) at Cleveland (9-1)

Another good solid win, 24-9, as we continue our march onward. We look to be in god shape for the division title and a bye week, unless we run off the rails from here. Glenn Dixon has served us well, and now Deion Brock will resume the starting role for us.

Week 13: Cleveland (10-1) at San Diego (5-6)

This turns out to be tougher than we expected, and we need overtime to best the Chargers, 27-24. Gus Stewart and Deion Brock are both solid, and TE Karl Sellers returns to form after coming back from his injury – and posts 91 yards in the air for us.

Incidentally, with four games to play, we can all but write off any 1,000 yard receiving season aspirations – Don Pritchett, who has remained healthy all year, still only has 599 yards on the year, so it just doesn’t seem to be in the cards. We have migrated toward the run a bit this season, it seems, without even altering the game plan. Tough to argue with the results, though.

Week 14: Cleveland (11-1) at Carolina (4-8)

Another solid win, 23-13, and we stay on a pretty nice roll. But we still have two out of three remaining games on the road – so we need to stay solid.

Week 15: Cleveland (12-1) at Cincinnati (6-7)

Another solid road win, 19-7, with another c-note from Gus Stewart and another solid performance from our defense. We have now locked up every possible goal from the regular season – we are 13-1, and we will be comfortably ahead of everyone in the conference for the #1 seed.

Week 16: Tampa Bay (9-5) at Cleveland (13-1)

With Deion Brock nursing a minor injury, I will have Glenn Dixon in for the next couple of games. It will be good for him anyway.

Even with the pressure off, we look great. A 26-0 win over a solid playoff-bound team looks awfully good to me. Dixon is absolutely superb in an essentially mistake-free game (25/33, 301 yards, no interceptions) and our defense is obviously lights out.

Week 17: Cleveland (14-1) at Pittsburgh (9-6)

All expectations were that this would be a huge game for us – but instead, we’re five games ahead of our expected rivals. A win for the Steelers keeps their playoff hopes alive, but they would need help – a loss by either Baltimore or Miami.

It’s not as dominating a win as we have had this year, but we don win 28-23, and deal the Steelers’ fate outside the playoffs. Gus Stewart finishes very strong with a 188-yard game, and we hand 270 rushing yards in total on them. Solid numbers.


To the extent you can encapsulate the season with just this information – we were an unusually dominant team. 50+ point scored more than anyone else, and 60+ point fewer allowed than anyone else. Very impressive numbers. Let’s see the rest…


Close to the best season yet for Gus Stewart – even as he is suffering some modest ratings decline. His 5.3 yards per carry is tops among major ball carriers in the league, and his total yardage is just about the same as he posted in his triple-award winning 2020 season. Unbelievable, for a 9th year running back. He’s less than 500 yards behind the career rushing leader – and has played fewer than 10 seasons. Wow.

Glenn Dixon threw three picks against Pittsburgh – spoiling a season passer rating over 120. Both he and Deion Brock were excellent this season, though, with final passer ratings over 100. That certainly helps fuel a standout team.

Defensively – we ranked second in yards per carry allowed, and yards per pass allowed. Not bad at all. We didn’t rack up big sack totals, or turnovers, but we are just plain tough to move the ball against. This is a very nice team we have here.

2022 Postseason

Well, the one blemish on our record for this season was against Miami – and here they come again, visiting us for our first playoff game of the postseason.

AFC Divisional Playoff: Miami (11-6) at Cleveland (15-1)

The Dolphins got a great season out of second year running back Corwin Hutton, and have a nice young pair of receivers to complement him in the offense behind a titanic line. Their defensive front is very solid – we will probably need to find the softer spots in the secondary and outside. We are only made 5 point favorites at home – Miami is a very solid team.

On our first possession, we march with great ease through the Miami defense, and top the drive off with a short TD pass from Brock to Stewart – very impressive. Miami starts with a three and out, netting a negative two yards in their three plays. Again, very impressive – for us.

We are ahead 10-0 after a short drive, when Miami hits on a 58-yard pass and catch, and they get right back into the game, after showing no early signs of life. We extend our lead with a long drive for a short FG, but 13-7 isn’t that towering a lead for the yard edge we have. Miami drives, and actually takes thee lead on us with another nice TD pass – it’s 14-13 in a game we feel like we’re dominating. But our defense has allowed a few big plays, and that makes a huge difference. That score holds up through the second quarter, and into the halftime break.

Hutton squirts for 32 yards to convert a third and long for Miami, and they add a FG to their slim margin. We come back with a long drive, that nets another FG, and closes the gap back to one point, as the third quarter winds down. We’re back and forth, and we get the ball back at our 18 yard line with about nine minutes left – we’re entering the final stages of this one, and we really lack much momentum.

Passes to Sellers and Pendleton get us out to the 44 yard line with a first down. We pick up another first down on a dump-off to FB Beers, who just gets enough for the new set of downs. A nice run by Stewart gets us 12, but then we get called for a hold – and face first and 20. We get to third and six, but cannot convert – and we line up for a huge field goal attempt from 47 yards. Bass nails it, and we take the 19-17 lead.

From their 33, Miami gets a fresh start – but we force them to fourth and seven right away. With 2:48 on the clock, they have to punt, and hope they can stop us. We have a near-disaster on a backfield fumble, but FB Beers lands on the loose ball. Regardless, Miami will get their last chance – they take over at their 44, with 2:02 remaining, but only one timeout.

We hold them, but then… we hold them. A defensive holding penalty turns fourth and ten into first and ten. At our 44, they have a 3rd and 2 to go – then DE Finch breaks through and gets a huge sacks on their QB Gammon, who fumbles the ball away. DE McCombs, Finch’s counterpart, jumps on it, and we take over. We should be in great shape.

We run a couple of simple run plays… and unbelievably, Gus Stewart loses the ball amidst the tearing grasps from the Miami defenders. Miami gets one more chance – starting out near midfield, and just under a minute to play. Stewart takes his seat on the sidelines, and silently prays for the defense to pull this one out of the fire.

Miami completes a 14 yard pass to get to our 38 – they are within range for a long field goal already. They stop the clock with a spiked ball, with 23 seconds left. Stewart is pacing, anxiously. Miami wastes no time at all – they tee up and try the 55 yard kick…

It’s good!

Miami takes the 20-19 lead, with 18 seconds left on the clock, and now the Browns need some sort of miracle to pull this one out. The kickoff goes for a touchback – meaning it must happen from scrimmage. We get three tries, and see a pass dropped by Pendleton, one tipped away by a defender, and finally… the last play of the game sees a desperate outlet valve pass get dropped by Gus Stewart.

We walk off the field with our heads hung low… Gus Stewart lowest of all.


Season Wrap-up

Miami loses to the Jets in the AFC Championship game, and it’s the Jets who get to face New Orleans in the Superbowl. Ugh. The Saints get the 10-7 win, and we are left to wonder about what might have gone down as our greatest team.


Not too surprisingly, our awards center on our running game, which was our most prolific ever. Beyer and Somerville paved the way inside for a fabulous season from Gus Stewart – earning another triple award set for the season.

Where do we go from here? Clearly this is a team with a lot of capability – I don’t have any reason to shoot lower than a return to the very top right away. We have some singular financial issues in the way of that goal, and might have to make a tough decision at QB – but overall, we’re in pretty good shape.

2023 preseason

After a great regular season, we fizzled out in the postseason, and disappointed. We remain a very powerful team, and expect to be a top contender once again this year.


Transitions and League Observations

We have one retirement – rather unexpeceted. DT Donavan Capstraw, a decent reserve lineman for us, has retired after his sixth season.

RB Rob Dillon, the career rushing leader, has finally retired, also. That gives our man Gus Stewart an excellent chance to take the title this season – he’s around 500 yards behind, and Stewart has yet to miss a game for us in his nine year career.


Front Office Decisions

Earnest Carlisle, our Offensive Coordinator, is up for a new deal – and we will endeavor to retain him. Our front office is getting a bit long in the tooth (he is 68) but they are still pretty solid for now. We work out a new two year deal with him, and are done with out front office moves.


Roster Review

Here is the nutshell of where we start out:


So, 18 players with $11 million – tough spot. It gets worse, when you realize that we have nobody signed at the single most expensive spot on the roster, quarterback. We’ll look at each position group.


I would love to bring back both Brock and Dixon. I don’t expect many bidders for Brock (he doesn’t have the ratings that attract a lot of attention) and Dixon is restricted. Ideally, we might be able to lock up both of them in the later FA stages, and stay solid for the next few years there. Dixon certainly seems like the future – but Brock has been very, very solid for us. James Houston is worth considering for emergency duty at most – but adds a nice historic flavor.


Oh, one more expensive position to fill – running back. Gus Stewart is out of contract, too. Marshall Lee was rather disappointing last season, and Daryl Sims is a nice utility back – but we don’t have a play at RB without Stewart. So rack up a few dollars here, too, I suspect.


We’re solid here – Karl Sellers is now a bona fide injury risk, but he remains very productive when playing. Preston Beers is a good fit for my offense, a solid starter for us.


Ted Pendleton has been pretty solid for us, but we have options here. Parker is a decent guy, good enough to start. And Gino Foug seemed to make some plays last year in part time duty. I’d like to return everyone, but money will be the issue here.


Last contract year for both all-star linemen Beyer and Sommerville. We might end up blowing this group up after this season. For now, though, we are in okay shape – but still looking for a real answer at tackle. Irv Wilson is an option, but I’d much prefer to land a real, solid, true left tackle.


Both are solid, no complaints.


On the surface, we are set with four solid starters. The reality is that DT Drew Worsham –a very steady and productive player, is an obvious target for a cut. He’ll make over $10 million this year, and we are going to need that cap space, period. We can probably get by with Alston as a starter (pure run stopper), but will need to add at least one productive player here somehow.


Last year we struggled, but ended up with several guys signed. This year it will be Michl who will be tough to land – I suspect we will see him head elsewhere. Wallace, May, and Adamson will be okay as a starting trio, with Dodge as a reserve and pass rusher. We need depth, but can probably afford to lose Michl.



We need to have bodies to put out there at CB – I like Randy Furr, and we’ll see if he can come back cheaply. Enochs can still start, but the two young guys really are not capable of playing much. At safety, nobody will pursue Kirk Weed, and I expect I can bring him back very cheaply for another season or two. We ought to be okay, if we can just land one decent corner for modest money.


So – resolve things with Gus Stewart and at least one quarterback. These are high profile decisions, to be sure. We’ll limp through on the defensive front, and will try to get somewhere on the offensive line.

Free Agency

As I prepare for the free agency period, my first move is to release DT Drew Worsham. That clears up about ten million in cap space for us – and that’s what we need to make this offseason work properly. We’ll have to replace Worsham (who was very, very solid) but we ought to be okay with this much cap room to work with.

I start out the process with three offers to my own players:

QB Deion Brock looks like he might be very affordable - $10m or so over 4 yrs.
RB Gus Stewart will be costly – my offer is $24m for 3 yrs.
CB Randy Furr looks affordable, to my surprise - $4m for 3 yrs.

DT Marshall Porter is my first free agent target. He’s excellent against the run, and has been pretty stable with his health. He would be a suitable replacement for the departed Drew Worsham – and would keep us in pretty good shape across the defensive line.

The big issue down the line is going to be QB Glenn Dixon. He is looking for a very big contract – ramping up to over $10 million per season by its end.


In the very first week of free agency, Arizona snaps up my star LB Gino Michl. Good addition for them, but costly – about $6m per year.

Our pursuits all go well – and by week five we have everyone signed. Gus Stewart is the last to come aboard, but we lock him up.

T Irv Wilson and WR Ted Pendleton both are signed away – to no surprise. We’ll work to replace Pendleton, who was a solid complementary player for us. Tackle will be tough, though.

DT Dusty Laudenback is a solid and promising defensive player, and comes cheaply for a three year deal. Nice addition for us.

S Herman Washington looks pretty solid – a possible starter for us, after Kirk Weed (still unsigned) departs. Maybe even sooner – he’s probably more ready to play right now than the declining Weed is.

RB Greg Tatum will be our next attempt to secure a solid, productive #2 running back. He’s not a utility man, just a straight-ahead runner, with a 1,000-yards season just two years ago for St. Louis.

LB Lewis Wynn will give us some extra depth at LB, and will probably become a gunner for us on special teams – solid cheap pickup.


So far, I have to be pretty pleased – plus, we have a good deal of space left under our cap for whatever we need to do. At QB, we have Deion Brock locked up for four years, which makes the re-signing of young Glenn Dixon a little bit puzzling. Do we pay big money for a young guy who looks pretty good, while we have a very solid veteran ready to play for the foreseeable future? Do we sign Dixon and start him ahead of Brock? Do we sign Dixon and then try to deal him (next year, perhaps)? Options are wide open.

We have $3.5 million in usable cap space, and 42 signed players (plus 7 draft picks coming in). That leaves us with 4 holes to fill. I decide to wait until after the rookie draft, see what we pick up there, and then spend the rest of our budget at our remaining need areas. I’m still open to using nearly all the remaining cap space on QB Glenn Dixon, too – if I’m pleased with what we can find among the rookie class for this season.


2023 Rookie Draft

My main target area is LT – I’d love to grab a solid starter there with our top pick. I’ll also be looking for useful players at ILB and CB, especially if we can’t get a high quality tackle as hoped. Landing a nice reserve-quality TE/FB would be helpful, too, somewhere in the draft.

The guy I want in this draft is T Harvey James, ranked #9 overall by weighted ratings. Looks like a superb pas blocker, just what we want on the left side. If he goes early, then it’s a real drop to the next tackle – Juan Steel might be a second-rounder, but not worthy of the top of the draft, I don’t think.

Harvey James goes at #11 to Carolina – there go our hopes of landing him in round one. I decide to use our first pick on Luke Culhane, a speedy defensive back out of Oregon who looks like he has the skills to play either safety or corner. Plus, he has a great built-in nickname, which always works for me. “Cool Hand” it is.

By the end of round two, there’s nobody worth pursuing hotly at tackle – so we will just have to make do there, once again.


WR Taylor is a speed burner type, a kick returner, but probably not a prolific receiver. Good complement to Pritchett, I hope – future starter, I think.

LB Lindsay is a quick and agile ‘backer, who has good run-stopping skills. DE Rice has loads of potential – a longshot to pay off. LT Wright might help fill a hole is we really need it. RB Sloane looked like the best player available there, and FB Naeole might be bumped to play tight end – he has the size to do that, I think.


Late Free Agency

Great news – QB Glenn Dixon is interested in re-signing with us, and it shows in his contract demands, which have become MUCH more reasonable. I work out a five year deal with him – that will take him through Deion Brock’s contract and then one year beyond. Outstanding news – I really wanted to keep both guys around.

With all our rookies except Culhane (whom we have now slotted at cornerback) signed, we have 48 players under contract, and $4.3 million in cap space.

WR Mickey Shelton is a pretty solid player, a 12th year veteran who could add an awful lot to our squad. Our receiving corps is pretty enthused about his addition – we think he will become a mentor and leader for us, not to mention a very solid reserve player. Great signing.

New deals with S Kirk Weed and CB Monty Diaz ought to keep our secondary pretty stable – both are solid veterans who can still play. Weed is losing a step rapidly, but can still help us – and he didn’t get any other offers, so he comes cheaply.

I pursue T Marc Michels, a decent 3rd year player who might have to start for us this season. He’s been a little stubborn, wanting more than he is really worth, but he’s a lot cheaper than the creaky veterans who were our other option. C Justin nelson will probably become out utility backup lineman, getting a little playing time across the board as injuries arise.

Finally, as we need help on the defensive line, we offer a new one year deal to Jerome Jaramillo. The one-dimensional pass rusher was solid for us for three years from 2017-19, and has the rare skill among D-linemen: he stays healthy. I expect to use him as our left side DE in passing situations – and he might well add six or eight sacks for us, while playing for peanuts.

My toughest roster cut is WR Cornelius Tilton – he’s been with us for 11 years, but has really slipped in his ability, and spent most of last season on the inactive list. Sine we have signed another leader and mentor to our receiver group, Tilton can’t justify his $1.2 million salary. Regrettably, I still cannot get DB Luke Culhane signed before training camp, which was the point.


Training Camp


Well, Luke Culhane lost a good bit of his glimmer in training camp – but we will still try to sign him. I have just had dreadful results when drafting defensive backs early – safety Kenneth Eskridge panned out great, but I’ve missed in the first two rounds much more than I have hit.

At LT, it looks like a giant mess – but rookie Kim Wynn looked sharp in camp, and might get a bone fide look at the position. But I’m not really thrilled with any of my options there – it’s still a need area.

QB Lenny Fulton, an undrafted rookie pick up, looks like he has pretty nice potential – might be yet another decent young QB we bring into the league and then watch him go play for someone else for a long career.


Season Analysis

Our cohesion remains a major asset – we are top five in every category: 100(84)-85-93-100(66). Our secondary is becoming absurd – we are WAY ahead of anyone else in terms of cohesion there. Culhane will get some playing time, but needs to be broken in with all these veterans back there.

We have the second highest roster rating of 88, behind only St. Louis. Rivals Pittsburgh and Miami are both pretty well placed – so they ought to be in the mix again. Baltimore rates a 44 – perhaps dropping off a bit from last year’s playoff run team.

We have to be thinking about winning it all. We win it all two years ago, and have gathered four rings in the last eight seasons. Last year, we were a very dominant team, but got stung in the playoffs. This season, we return most of the important cogs in that machine – and will be looking for a top seed once again. No quarter!

Fun times.