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QuikSand · 12-06-2003, 09:34 AM

2004 preseason

Transitions and League Observations

Ordinarily, I plan to start my write up with a discussion about retirements and other transitions – but with this young league and my special circumstance, that seems unnecessary.

Front Office Decisions

I haven’t placed any limitations on myself in terms of acquiring talent – so I will try to bring aboard a solid staff, if possible.

I end up keeping on most of our staff from the initial season, largely because they are cheap (for now). We re-up with Head Coach Earnest Carlyle, as he seemed better than nearly anyone out there – even though he was pretty expensive to retain.

Here’s where we land with our staff, in brief:

Scout: Zack Bates, 67
EX: Young Talent
VG: QB,DL,LB
GD: PK
AV: WR,OL,DB
FR: RB

Head Coach: Earnest Carlyle, 53
EX: Injury Avoidance
VG: Discipline, Off PC
AV: Motivation, Def PC

Off Coord: Levon Moss, 44
VG: OL
GD: QB,RB,WR,PK,YT

Def Coord: Bucky Burbage, 62
EX: YT
GD: DB
AV: PK,DL,LB

Roster Review

I have no roster yet, so there’s nothing to review here. In the future, I’ll use this as a spot to discuss who’s up for a new contract and where we stand with the salary cap – that sort of thing.

Free Agency Planning

Not this year, but in future years I’ll lay out a strategy here. This year, we skip right through the whole 20 stage process.

Rookie Draft

Here’s where we start working. We have pick #26 in the rookie draft this year, due to a pretty solid 10-6 campaign last year under a rudderless ship. (Hats off to the coaching staff)

There’s not a single soul from Akron in the draft – which is fine, since none would be players I actually coached, anyway.

When pick #26 comes up, I have to take a while to look at college standout Ralph Harman from Oklahoma, who is atop the list of prospects at this point. He looks very good, but I see other draftable QBs available, and decide to go elsewhere. In fact, I decide to trade down from my first round perch, and see what I can get later in this draft. (I have some salary cap problems, due to overaggressive cutting in season one, also) I get Carolina’s 2nd and 4th round picks for our top selection, and slide down a few slots. Atlanta takes Ralph Harman with pick #28, incidentally.

I show my hometown bias with our very first selection, taking Ohio State safety standout Nicky Gonzalez in round two (using Carolina’s pick). he looks solid all around, and we’ll need some help in the secondary behind a presumably porous defensive front. With our later round two pick, I am lured in my the flashy, super-fast QB Bobby Silvers out of Oregon State. He runs a 4.43 40-yard dash – and that makes him faster than nearly all the receivers in the entire draft, and easily the fastest guy on our team. I don’t yet know what we’ll do this year – but Silvers is going to have to run around to stay alive anyway, considering the kind of line he’ll be behind.

Here’s how we round it out:

Code:

Amateur Draft Report:

Rnd 2 - Nicky Gonzalez, S, Ohio State
Rnd 2 - Bobby Silvers, QB, Oregon State
Rnd 3 - Richard Walker, OLB, Clemson
Rnd 4 - Paul Richmond, S, Nebraska
Rnd 4 - Steve Cash, ILB, Nebraska
Rnd 5 - T.J. Sims, CB, Iowa
Rnd 6 - Nathan O'Rourke, WR, Pittsburgh
Rnd 7 - Barry Westbrook, ILB, Clemson

Late Free Agency

I make the predictable moves to fill in the roster with undrafted rookie free agents, signing tons of guys to two-year deals for minimum salary. Nobody all that exciting – we’re going to be just awful on both the L and DL this year, that much is sure. (I didn’t do a great job targeting my draft picks at positions that would be tough to fill after the draft, like DE and OT)

So, lots of things happening – but not a lot to report. You’ll see the roster soon enough, and you’ll see all the genius acquisitions we managed to snag.

Training Camp

Here are the results from a vanilla training camp:

Code:

Player	#	Pos   Start	Exp	CEst           FEst	CEst	FEst	CChg	FChg
Silvers, Bobby	16	QB	1	23	63	23	62	0	-1
Janes, Harold	2	QB	1	20	45	22	41	2	-4
Simmons, Arnold	14	QB	1	19	42	21	38	2	-4
Branch, Jonathan	15	QB	1	13	36	16	38	3	2
Hoffman, Dixon	25	RB	1	35	47	37	47	2	0
Shea, Ian	44	RB	1	35	41	36	40	1	-1
Stewart, Harvey	26	RB	1	32	44	33	44	1	0
Cash, Van	30	RB	1	29	36	31	38	2	2
Newman, Daniel	40	RB	1	29	47	30	48	1	1
Rebensdorf, Kerry	43	RB	1	30	37	30	35	0	-2
Okeafor, Ted	32	FB	1	24	33	24	31	0	-2
McCarthy, Dana	38	FB	1	20	34	22	35	2	1
Gaylord, Albert	84	TE	1	18	37	20	38	2	1
Roebuck, Will	18	TE	1	18	37	19	33	1	-4
O'Rourke, Nathan	88	FL	1	30	39	33	42	3	3
Horner, Jerome	80	FL	1	19	37	22	37	3	0
Ivory, Nick	81	FL	1	18	34	20	37	2	3
McConnell, Oliver	86	FL	1	15	37	16	33	1	-4
Clewell, Skip	89	FL	1	15	36	15	32	0	-4
Ferguson, Cary	83	SE	1	19	34	20	30	1	-4
Garcia, Zack	58	C	1	14	34	16	31	2	-3
Hodges, Korey	53	C	1	11	34	13	31	2	-3
Fisher, Donny	67	RG	1	11	19	12	20	1	1
Spruce, Frankie	65	LG	1	8	11	9	12	1	1
Maloney, Rodney	77	RG	1	10	16	11	18	1	2
Zaiser, Julio	69	LT	1	10	22	11	23	1	1
Wampler, Preston	74	RT	1	12	22	14	23	2	1
Daniels, Victor	75	RT	1	11	27	13	27	2	0
Cochrane, Paul	9	P	1	31	38	33	36	2	-2
Sirmon, Arnie	12	K	1	23	48	26	48	3	0
Caldwell, Ricardo	91	LDE	1	14	20	16	22	2	2
Floyd, Dustin	76	LDE	1	13	16	14	17	1	1
Snook, Lincoln	79	RDE	1	12	18	12	18	0	0
Ogden, Gary	73	LDT	1	15	21	16	21	1	0
Rutter, Rob	72	NT	1	14	21	14	21	0	0
McConnell, Greg	94	NT	1	13	23	14	23	1	0
Goodwin, Cedric	92	SILB	1	28	46	31	51	3	5
Westbrook, Barry	97	SILB	1	13	41	15	36	2	-5
Cash, Steve	95	WILB	1	12	44	14	38	2	-6
Clanton, Cole	98	SLB	1	21	38	23	38	2	0
Davidson, William	57	SLB	1	18	28	19	27	1	-1
Bruton, Harry	54	SLB	1	16	32	17	28	1	-4
Styles, Geoff	56	SLB	1	16	36	17	32	1	-4
Walker, Richard	96	WLB	1	22	45	23	42	1	-3
Jepson, Ken	90	WLB	1	17	38	19	36	2	-2
Sims, T.J.	35	LCB	1	21	38	22	35	1	-3
Lofton, Allen	22	RCB	1	16	34	17	34	1	0
Terrell, Jorge	42	RCB	1	14	26	14	26	0	0
Richmond, Paul	34	SS	1	30	47	32	45	2	-2
Dawson, Julio	28	SS	1	22	39	25	40	3	1
Gonzalez, Nicky	33	FS	1	37	64	37	64	0	0
Dotson, Johnny	37	FS	1	21	40	26	45	5	5
Craig, Patrick	23	FS	1	20	31	21	31	1	0

Pretty good news with Bobby Silvers, whose tiny drop in future potential suggests a smooth future. I get him signed after his holdout, and see that he looks like a typical “athletical” QB type – he will run a lot, try to make plays, and he will definitely make a lot of mistakes. We’ll see on him long term.

Safety Nicky Gonzalez looks good, but perhaps not quite as stellar as we had hoped. I wanted an anchor for the defense with him, and instead we got a solid starter, it looks like. He still ought to have a great season ahead – he’ll probably get 100 tackles without much problem.

I tinker a bit with my secondary – we will slide S Johnny Dotson over to play corner, where he will be a starter for us, I fear. I tinker a bit more, but we’re basically ready to go into our first (lost) season.

Season Analysis

Down the road, I am going to try to keep track of things like cohesion, team chemistry, and so forth here. For now, suffice it to say that most of this team is very temporary, and I don’t want to overanalyze the dozens of players who won’t be here in two seasons.

12-06-2003, 09:34 AM	#3
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	2004 preseason Transitions and League Observations Ordinarily, I plan to start my write up with a discussion about retirements and other transitions – but with this young league and my special circumstance, that seems unnecessary. Front Office Decisions I haven’t placed any limitations on myself in terms of acquiring talent – so I will try to bring aboard a solid staff, if possible. I end up keeping on most of our staff from the initial season, largely because they are cheap (for now). We re-up with Head Coach Earnest Carlyle, as he seemed better than nearly anyone out there – even though he was pretty expensive to retain. Here’s where we land with our staff, in brief: Scout: Zack Bates, 67 EX: Young Talent VG: QB,DL,LB GD: PK AV: WR,OL,DB FR: RB Head Coach: Earnest Carlyle, 53 EX: Injury Avoidance VG: Discipline, Off PC AV: Motivation, Def PC Off Coord: Levon Moss, 44 VG: OL GD: QB,RB,WR,PK,YT Def Coord: Bucky Burbage, 62 EX: YT GD: DB AV: PK,DL,LB Roster Review I have no roster yet, so there’s nothing to review here. In the future, I’ll use this as a spot to discuss who’s up for a new contract and where we stand with the salary cap – that sort of thing. Free Agency Planning Not this year, but in future years I’ll lay out a strategy here. This year, we skip right through the whole 20 stage process. Rookie Draft Here’s where we start working. We have pick #26 in the rookie draft this year, due to a pretty solid 10-6 campaign last year under a rudderless ship. (Hats off to the coaching staff) There’s not a single soul from Akron in the draft – which is fine, since none would be players I actually coached, anyway. When pick #26 comes up, I have to take a while to look at college standout Ralph Harman from Oklahoma, who is atop the list of prospects at this point. He looks very good, but I see other draftable QBs available, and decide to go elsewhere. In fact, I decide to trade down from my first round perch, and see what I can get later in this draft. (I have some salary cap problems, due to overaggressive cutting in season one, also) I get Carolina’s 2nd and 4th round picks for our top selection, and slide down a few slots. Atlanta takes Ralph Harman with pick #28, incidentally. I show my hometown bias with our very first selection, taking Ohio State safety standout Nicky Gonzalez in round two (using Carolina’s pick). he looks solid all around, and we’ll need some help in the secondary behind a presumably porous defensive front. With our later round two pick, I am lured in my the flashy, super-fast QB Bobby Silvers out of Oregon State. He runs a 4.43 40-yard dash – and that makes him faster than nearly all the receivers in the entire draft, and easily the fastest guy on our team. I don’t yet know what we’ll do this year – but Silvers is going to have to run around to stay alive anyway, considering the kind of line he’ll be behind. Here’s how we round it out: Code: Amateur Draft Report: Rnd 2 - Nicky Gonzalez, S, Ohio State Rnd 2 - Bobby Silvers, QB, Oregon State Rnd 3 - Richard Walker, OLB, Clemson Rnd 4 - Paul Richmond, S, Nebraska Rnd 4 - Steve Cash, ILB, Nebraska Rnd 5 - T.J. Sims, CB, Iowa Rnd 6 - Nathan O'Rourke, WR, Pittsburgh Rnd 7 - Barry Westbrook, ILB, Clemson Late Free Agency I make the predictable moves to fill in the roster with undrafted rookie free agents, signing tons of guys to two-year deals for minimum salary. Nobody all that exciting – we’re going to be just awful on both the L and DL this year, that much is sure. (I didn’t do a great job targeting my draft picks at positions that would be tough to fill after the draft, like DE and OT) So, lots of things happening – but not a lot to report. You’ll see the roster soon enough, and you’ll see all the genius acquisitions we managed to snag. Training Camp Here are the results from a vanilla training camp: Code: Player # Pos Start Exp CEst FEst CEst FEst CChg FChg Silvers, Bobby 16 QB 1 23 63 23 62 0 -1 Janes, Harold 2 QB 1 20 45 22 41 2 -4 Simmons, Arnold 14 QB 1 19 42 21 38 2 -4 Branch, Jonathan 15 QB 1 13 36 16 38 3 2 Hoffman, Dixon 25 RB 1 35 47 37 47 2 0 Shea, Ian 44 RB 1 35 41 36 40 1 -1 Stewart, Harvey 26 RB 1 32 44 33 44 1 0 Cash, Van 30 RB 1 29 36 31 38 2 2 Newman, Daniel 40 RB 1 29 47 30 48 1 1 Rebensdorf, Kerry 43 RB 1 30 37 30 35 0 -2 Okeafor, Ted 32 FB 1 24 33 24 31 0 -2 McCarthy, Dana 38 FB 1 20 34 22 35 2 1 Gaylord, Albert 84 TE 1 18 37 20 38 2 1 Roebuck, Will 18 TE 1 18 37 19 33 1 -4 O'Rourke, Nathan 88 FL 1 30 39 33 42 3 3 Horner, Jerome 80 FL 1 19 37 22 37 3 0 Ivory, Nick 81 FL 1 18 34 20 37 2 3 McConnell, Oliver 86 FL 1 15 37 16 33 1 -4 Clewell, Skip 89 FL 1 15 36 15 32 0 -4 Ferguson, Cary 83 SE 1 19 34 20 30 1 -4 Garcia, Zack 58 C 1 14 34 16 31 2 -3 Hodges, Korey 53 C 1 11 34 13 31 2 -3 Fisher, Donny 67 RG 1 11 19 12 20 1 1 Spruce, Frankie 65 LG 1 8 11 9 12 1 1 Maloney, Rodney 77 RG 1 10 16 11 18 1 2 Zaiser, Julio 69 LT 1 10 22 11 23 1 1 Wampler, Preston 74 RT 1 12 22 14 23 2 1 Daniels, Victor 75 RT 1 11 27 13 27 2 0 Cochrane, Paul 9 P 1 31 38 33 36 2 -2 Sirmon, Arnie 12 K 1 23 48 26 48 3 0 Caldwell, Ricardo 91 LDE 1 14 20 16 22 2 2 Floyd, Dustin 76 LDE 1 13 16 14 17 1 1 Snook, Lincoln 79 RDE 1 12 18 12 18 0 0 Ogden, Gary 73 LDT 1 15 21 16 21 1 0 Rutter, Rob 72 NT 1 14 21 14 21 0 0 McConnell, Greg 94 NT 1 13 23 14 23 1 0 Goodwin, Cedric 92 SILB 1 28 46 31 51 3 5 Westbrook, Barry 97 SILB 1 13 41 15 36 2 -5 Cash, Steve 95 WILB 1 12 44 14 38 2 -6 Clanton, Cole 98 SLB 1 21 38 23 38 2 0 Davidson, William 57 SLB 1 18 28 19 27 1 -1 Bruton, Harry 54 SLB 1 16 32 17 28 1 -4 Styles, Geoff 56 SLB 1 16 36 17 32 1 -4 Walker, Richard 96 WLB 1 22 45 23 42 1 -3 Jepson, Ken 90 WLB 1 17 38 19 36 2 -2 Sims, T.J. 35 LCB 1 21 38 22 35 1 -3 Lofton, Allen 22 RCB 1 16 34 17 34 1 0 Terrell, Jorge 42 RCB 1 14 26 14 26 0 0 Richmond, Paul 34 SS 1 30 47 32 45 2 -2 Dawson, Julio 28 SS 1 22 39 25 40 3 1 Gonzalez, Nicky 33 FS 1 37 64 37 64 0 0 Dotson, Johnny 37 FS 1 21 40 26 45 5 5 Craig, Patrick 23 FS 1 20 31 21 31 1 0 Pretty good news with Bobby Silvers, whose tiny drop in future potential suggests a smooth future. I get him signed after his holdout, and see that he looks like a typical “athletical” QB type – he will run a lot, try to make plays, and he will definitely make a lot of mistakes. We’ll see on him long term. Safety Nicky Gonzalez looks good, but perhaps not quite as stellar as we had hoped. I wanted an anchor for the defense with him, and instead we got a solid starter, it looks like. He still ought to have a great season ahead – he’ll probably get 100 tackles without much problem. I tinker a bit with my secondary – we will slide S Johnny Dotson over to play corner, where he will be a starter for us, I fear. I tinker a bit more, but we’re basically ready to go into our first (lost) season. Season Analysis Down the road, I am going to try to keep track of things like cohesion, team chemistry, and so forth here. For now, suffice it to say that most of this team is very temporary, and I don’t want to overanalyze the dozens of players who won’t be here in two seasons. Last edited by QuikSand : 12-06-2003 at 09:36 AM.