Free Agency
I plan to start the FA process without any bids in on my own free agents. CB Enochs is the only guy I expect to return, and I plan to wait him out as best I can.
I’ll make roster cuts if I have to, but we don’t plan to make any earth-shattering moves anyway.
Our first approach is to SLB Steven May, a solid, well-rounded backer who can contribute on special teams and at any LB position. We lock him up immediately.
However, Buffalo – the defending champions – move to grab our left tackle Conrad Craig. 6yrs, $64 million later, he is delivered to the Bills. Big signing – big loss for us, of course. San Diego is moving in on DT Tommy Allen, and we expect to see him go as well.
RG Moe Somerville is our next target – a potential impact player for the OL, and we might be able to run right in behind him very effectively. As we wait for Somerville to respond, though, I see that Denver is after CB Ty Enochs. At the moment, I cannot afford both contracts. I decide to release LB Curtis Sinclair, who has essentially been replaced by Steven May. I get in an offer to Enochs, and both he and Somerville accept in week four.
I love FB Preston Beers, and he’s very affordable too. He takes a couple of weeks to think on it, but we lock him up next. I now have no money to spend on free agents at all – I need to look around a bit and see where we might be able to prune some costs down.
I release WR Van Harmon – not quite as sharp after last year’s injury. I also let go of QB Kerry Donaldson, who had slid to 4th on the depth chart. I also do a “cap out” renegotiation with WR Don Pritchett, which clears out a little space for this year. That gets us up to the point where we can offer a $2 million contract – or more likely, a couple cheaper ones.
DT Leo Alston is a pure run stopper, and might be fine as a reserve for us. He accepts a pretty marginal deal, and I like what he can do for us off the bench. CB Randy Furr has great man coverage skills, and rings a bell with my system – he takes a two year offer.
I go after C Earl O’Donnell, in large part because I have a trade offer outstanding for my current backup center, Colin Munn. We trade Munn (getting only a 7th rounder) and sign O’Donnell, whom I believe is better.
It looks like we’re done with free agency for now, at least – and we still have a gaping hole at left tackle. We will probably try to bring in a rookie, but our backup plan is probably to use Irv Wilson there, who filled in at RT last season. Not a strong option.
2021 Rookie Draft
Code:
Amateur Draft Report:
Rnd 2 - Stanley Mascorella, CB, West Virginia
Rnd 4 - Peter Bass, K, Ohio State
Rnd 5 - Lonnie Hammond, T, Kansas State
Rnd 6 - Dwayne Parker, WR, Washington
Rnd 7 - Mitch Charlton, RB, Valparaiso
Rnd 7 - Bart Aneigh, G, Elizabeth City St.
At the end of round two, there doesn’t seem to be a solid tackle to draft and plug right in – so I look for the best player available. I’ve had lousy luck with cornerbacks in the draft, but spend our top pick on Anthony Mascorella, who seems to be a great fit. Man coverage is his strong suit, good with getting interceptions, good punt returner, and a special teams standout. Sounds great.
I like getting local standouts, and K Peter Bass ought to be great for us, and is a Buckeye to boot. Solid.
I don’t know what we might get from T Lonnie Hammond – he’s strong, so is G Bart Anleigh, and we will just watch to see if they can develop pro skills.
Late Free Agency
I have to make a cut just to get our tam up to a full 53 players and under the salary cap. I decide to let go of CB Amos Coltharp – our most recent CB draft flop. That clears the way for Stanley Mascorella, probably our next.
I’m not thrilled about it, but I have to release QB James Houston as well. He couldn’t stay healthy last year, and with young Glenn Dixon coming on, Houston couldn’t justify over $2m in cap space.
We fill in with undrafted rookies, and head on into the season. I think we’re going to need a miracle at left tackle – hopefully Lonnie Hammond or one of the rookie URFAs can show signs of life, but I don’t have another plan right now.
Training Camp
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp CE FE CE FE ChgC ChgF
Brock, Deion 2 QB 9 56 56 56 56 0 0
Dixon, Glenn 19 QB 2 31 64 34 64 3 0
Starks, Will 6 QB 1 5 44 7 40 2 -4
Stewart, Gus 39 RB 8 75 75 75 75 0 0
Barker, Terrance 44 RB 7 52 52 52 52 0 0
Sims, Daryl 37 RB 3 28 35 29 35 1 0
Charlton, Mitch 42 RB 1 21 33 21 31 0 -2
Beers, Preston 48 FB 3 43 51 45 51 2 0
McConnell, Joseph 38 FB 11 40 40 40 40 0 0
Sellers, Karl 80 TE 6 80 80 80 80 0 0
Bleeck, Rod 86 TE 1 23 40 25 33 2 -7
Kemp, Britt 46 TE 1 16 34 17 29 1 -5
Tilton, Cornelius 83 FL 9 39 39 39 39 0 0
Parker, Dwayne 88 FL 1 31 49 32 48 1 -1
Pritchett, Don 89 SE 4 65 65 65 65 0 0
Pendleton, Ted 82 SE 5 49 49 50 50 1 1
Foug, Gino 85 SE 1 19 30 23 36 4 6
Woodard, Russell 81 SE 1 15 25 17 27 2 2
Beyer, Jackie 57 C 2 50 63 54 63 4 0
O'Donnell, Earl 54 C 3 45 52 48 52 3 0
Thornton, Mickey 53 LG 11 32 32 32 32 0 0
Somerville, Moe 68 RG 5 43 67 50 67 7 0
Cunningham, Ted 56 RG 3 33 52 35 52 2 0
Aneigh, Bart 73 RG 1 19 28 21 28 2 0
Hammond, Lonnie 74 LT 1 19 25 20 25 1 0
Lowe, Cory 60 LT 1 11 17 12 18 1 1
Argelan, George 61 LT 1 9 16 9 15 0 -1
Wilson, Irv 66 RT 4 40 43 43 43 3 0
Glaspie, Nathan 78 RT 9 38 38 38 38 0 0
Bass, Peter 14 K 1 49 75 51 74 2 -1
Quinn, Kim 71 LDE 7 59 59 59 59 0 0
Lane, Blake 70 LDE 7 29 29 30 30 1 1
McKenzie, Emmitt 79 LDE 2 26 32 27 32 1 0
Perez, Joey 75 LDE 1 22 27 22 27 0 0
Cepeda, Hunter 98 LDE 1 17 31 18 31 1 0
Finch, Zach 77 RDE 2 50 73 54 73 4 0
Worsham, Drew 92 LDT 7 77 77 77 77 0 0
Capstraw, Donovan 95 LDT 5 45 45 45 45 0 0
Alston, Leo 90 LDT 10 37 40 37 40 0 0
Cash, Floyd 76 RDT 1 21 31 22 32 1 1
Michl, Gino 59 WILB 6 66 66 66 66 0 0
Wallace, Andrew 55 MLB 10 56 56 56 56 0 0
Gunn, Brandon 52 MLB 6 42 52 45 52 3 0
May, Steven 50 SLB 8 59 63 62 63 3 0
Dodge, Kurt 91 SLB 11 47 47 47 47 0 0
Wilkerson, Russell 97 SLB 2 28 35 30 35 2 0
Hou, Hardy 72 SLB 1 12 29 13 30 1 1
Regalado, Darrin 58 WLB 13 35 35 35 35 0 0
Enochs, Ty 28 LCB 7 49 49 49 49 0 0
Furr, Randy 32 LCB 9 46 47 46 47 0 0
Diaz, Monty 34 LCB 10 45 45 45 45 0 0
Cottle, Bucky 40 LCB 13 38 38 38 38 0 0
Mascorella, Stanley 47 RCB 1 8 53 10 46 2 -7
Weed, Kirk 24 SS 13 46 46 46 46 0 0
Eskridge, Kenneth 20 FS 10 69 69 69 69 0 0
Helmuth, Pat 35 FS 4 30 52 32 52 2 0
Well, CB Stanley Mascorella looks like he’ll be solid on special teams – jury’s till out on whether he can play any defense. No really “big news” among our rookie crop – WR Gino Foug might make the team, but nobody really blew our doors off.
Season Analysis
Settling in for the season, we have a look at our usual indeces. We are again a leader in teamwide cohesion – with ratings 97-90-91-100(77). Our overall roster rating has slipped to a 73 – ranked 8th overall, with Buffalo and Tennessee atop the list. Indication are that this team is slipping a bit, and I can’t really disagree with that assessment.
We have most of our major players back, and ought to be solid. I don’t know whether we have the tools to make a title run, but I expect that we’ll get another solid effort – especially if Deion brock can stay in the saddle. Tightest season capwise we have had yet – and it might show in the final analysis. We go into the season with a major roster void (left tackle) and I don’t recall having a problem of this magnitude in many years.
We’ll shoot to regain the division title – anything past that would be gravy.