2006 Season Preview
It is a time of cautious optimism for the Oregon Ice. Two of the team’s biggest stars in QB
Landon Hurst and RB
Roger Rubenstein are gone, but the secondary is much improved. Further, the team has a strong foundation in place, having two first, second, third and seventh round draft picks next season.
Unfortunately, the 2006 draft did not go particularly well for Oregon. None of the team’s rookies will start and the Ice’s first-round pick (21st overall), CB
Austin Mallard from North Carolina State, has been a bust so far (12/44). DE
Floyd Weatherly, selected in the fourth round out of Georgia Tech, will see playing time as a situational pass rusher.
“I have a good feeling about this year,” said GM
Jack “Grid” Iron. “Losing players of Landon and Roger’s caliber is never easy, but our defense should keep us in the game.”
Opening Day Roster
Player # Pos Start Exp Rating
Brown, Maurice 4 QB QB 7 60/60
Grady, Grant 6 QB 1 19/43
Holdman, Byron 9 QB 1 10/32
The pressure will be on starting QB
Maurice Brown, who takes over for 2003 CFL Bowl MVP
Landon Hurst. The Ice hope he can recapture the magic that helped him to 3,522 yards, 23 TD and 12 INT with Anchorage in 2003.
Player # Pos Start Exp Rating
Woodard, Teddy 39 RB RB 3 31/36
Fields, Marcus 45 RB 1 24/32
Funderburk, Lamont 37 RB 1 15/33
Woolery, Tracey 29 FB FB 7 58/58
Savoy, Emanuel 42 FB 9 56/56
With the departure of perennial superstar RB
Roger Rubenstein, the Ice backfield is in sad shape. Look for fullback Tracey Woolery to get a significant number of carries.
Player # Pos Start Exp Rating
Begin, Newton 89 TE TE 13 68/74
Williams, Murray 82 TE 9 35/42
Brunner, Matt 87 FL FL 9 63/63
Guevara, Ike 85 FL 1 18/33
Dillon, Kendrick 83 SE 8 33/35
Roy, Alden 86 SE SE 13 58/62
Hopper, Gerald 81 SE 1 15/37
The Ice are loaded with great pass catchers in TE
Newton Begin, WR
Matt Brunner and WR
Roy Alden.
Player # Pos Start Exp Rating
Ludwig, Korey 54 C C 9 68/70
Williams, Lino 57 C 6 28/42
Eaddy, Richard 75 LG LG 6 47/48
Wynn, Andre 73 LG 3 14/47
Dykstra, Karl 71 RG 11 36/39
Hilbert, Alonzo 67 RG RG 3 34/37
Carrier, Clifton 69 RG 2 18/40
Klein, Chris 68 LT LT 11 51/51
Covey, Stephen 72 RT RT 8 42/44
Stallings, Marvin 62 RT 3 23/43
This unit, anchored by C
Korey Ludwig, has outstanding pass blocking ability, but is weak in the running game.
Player # Pos Start Exp Rating
Shehee, Jay 7 P 3 95/95
Schanding, Craig 1 K 2 94/94
Two of the best kickers in the game, period.
Player # Pos Start Exp Rating
Bee, Todd 97 LDE 12 38/45
Flannery, Wendell 91 LDE RDE 2 25/43
Weatherly, Floyd 98 LDE 1 31/45
Wagner, Kenyon 79 LDE 1 25/36
Vanegas, Brian 76 RDE LDE 12 73/78
Byrne, Collin 56 RDE 6 31/38
Jones, Bryce 74 LDT 7 33/45
Shreve, Trevor 78 NT 6 34/44
Garcia, Albert 96 NT 13 47/48
Jimerson, Neville 93 NT NT 15 51/51
DE
Brian Vanegas had 15.5 sacks in 2003, but he might be getting a bit old, recording only 11.5 sacks of the last two seasons.
Player # Pos Start Exp Rating
Molloy, Damon 95 MLB WILB 15 58/61
Macaluso, Brian 53 MLB SILB 8 71/74
Sturgill, Elliot 94 SLB 10 37/40
Pinard, Jerrell 50 SLB SLB 10 60/64
Beane, Daniel 51 WLB WLB 7 67/71
Leftwich, Chris 90 WLB 8 45/45
Maciokas, Aaron 59 WLB 1 22/30
All of the starting linebackers are new to the team except Macaluso. This unit is particularly skilled against the run.
Player # Pos Start Exp Rating
Pilcher, Orlando 33 LCB LCB 11 72/72
Eaddy, Augustus 31 LCB 8 51/51
Mauro, Edward 40 RCB 8 27/32
Reagan, Tommy 30 RCB RCB 8 43/43
Mallard, Austin 41 RCB 1 12/44
Twombly, Alphonso 35 SS SS 8 76/76
Clarkson, Matthew 46 SS 11 50/50
Lerma, Donnell 26 FS FS 16 53/53
Huth, Rodney 23 FS 8 49/49
With the addition of LCB
Orlando Pilcher in the trade with Charleston, the Ice secondary is one of the best in the league.
Salary Cap Status
Salary Cap: $88,200,000
Cap Room: $5,520,000
Maximum for New Player: $5,770,000
Cap Room Lost (to old contracts): $7,330,000
Cap Room Lost Next Year (to old contracts): $5,470,000
Cap Room Required Next Year: $86,900,000
Schedule
The Ice have a tough schedule this year, with half of their games against teams that finished 2005 with a winning record. Five of the teams Oregon plays made the playoffs last season.
Moreover, start of the season could be particularly tough, as the team faces last year’s division champion, the Boise Stampede, twice in the first seven weeks, including the season opener on the road.
Here is the complete 2006 schedule:
Week 1 at Boise Stampede
Week 2 Shreveport Pride
Week 3 at Huntington Beach Capitalists
Week 4 El Paso Rockets
Week 5 at Tulsa Talons
Week 6 Fargo (ND) Boxcars
Week 7 Boise Stampede
Week 8 at Denver Dynomite
Week 9 Anchorage Renegades
Week 10 Bye Week
Week 11 at Seattle Thunderbirds
Week 12 New Orleans Breakers
Week 13 Arizona Outlaws
Week 14 at San Antonio Shooters
Week 15 at Anchorage Renegades
Week 16 at Memphis Express
Week 17 Seattle Thunderbirds
Author's Goals
Since 2006 is a transition year for the Ice, I have set some modest, and I believe attainable, goals.
My first goal is to just get to the playoffs. I don’t care if we do it via wildcard or division title.
My second goal is for my defense to finish the year in the top ten in points allowed per game.
My third, and final, goal is to see my starting QB Maurice Brown return to the form he had in 2003 when he threw for 3522 yards, 23 TD, and 12 INT. If he can do that, we should make the postseason and won’t have to shop for a new QB next year.