2015 preseason
How can a team coming off a 15-1 record feel like they are in trouble?
Transitions and League Observations
We have one retirement – RB Roderick Arsenault, mentor to our young RB Gus Stewart, simply can’t play any longer. Tough loss – he was a nice #2 and having a mentor there was a seemingly good addition for Stewart, but clearly the workload belongs to our young star.
Front Office Decisions
We have openings with both coordinator spots, and if I felt like they could meaningfully affect things with our team’s results, I might make a big change there. I put in bids to renew with each of our coordinators.
Houston moves quickly to sign OC Levon Moss as their own OC – paying him an absurd $5.14 million to take that role. I look at the overall league, though, and see that the top OCs are being paid about the same as the top coaches – that just seems odd to me. Alas, I have lost Moss, and need a replacement.
After losing out on a second OC, I have to settle for a caretaker:
Offensive Coordinator Willie Schiffer, 73
VG: OL
GD: RB
AV: PK, Young Talent
FR: QB,WR
We sign him to a one year deal, and will pursue another coordinator for next season, I reckon.
We remain very profitable – turning over $70 million in profit again this year. We’re having almost no trouble with this side of things. No challenge here – even though our ticket prices are below the league average.
Roster Review
As we begin the FA process, here is a rundown of our players on board now – with their current scout assessment of the players:
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Clancy, Marco 8 QB 7 70 70 ---
Houston, James 7 QB 5 60 60 2 yrs
Gordon, Howie 3 QB 5 38 52 ---
Brock, Deion 2 QB 3 33 50 1 yr.
Clancy cost us $12 million last year, and for what? A 77.7 QB rating. I can’t see how he’s worth the huge money he still demands, especially with his proclivity to get injured. I expect to let him go elsewhere, and to go with Houston and Brock for this season, trying to get our offense more error-free. (Houston’s debacle in last season’s playoffs doesn’t help this decision, I recognize)
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Stewart, Gus 39 RB 2 76 82 4 yrs
Newman, Daniel 27 RB 12 38 39 1 yr.
Aguilera, Danny 30 RB 5 33 33 ---
Battle, Jeremy 25 RB 3 22 27 1 yr.
Gus Stewart was everything we had hoped for last season. Danny Aguilera has assumed the RB leadership role, and things are settled in fine here. Ideally, we might want to land one more qualify straight-ahead runner, since both Newman and Aguilera are somewhat better suited as receiving scatback type duty.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Pritchett, Eric 45 FB 4 64 64 ---
Goodwin, Ian 23 FB 7 51 52 ---
Norton, Devin 6 TE 7 77 77 1 yr.
Chambliss, Todd 85 TE 2 27 48 1 yr.
Eric Pritchett is a do-everything fullback, but last year I think he had a classic “negative impact” season for us. The 84 passes throws to him netted only 390 yards – less than 5 yards per attempt. E rushed 45 times – but for only 3.0 yards per carry. Certainly those touches would have been more productive had they gone to Gus Stewart, or even another RB. I long for the days of my block-and-disappear FB.
Devin Norton has posted two great seasons for us – we hope he can stay healthy, and perhaps hit the 1,000-yard mark this year. FB Ian Goodwin filed in pretty well at TE last year when needed – he might stick around too.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Blair, Zach 81 FL 7 49 49 1 yr.
Tilton, Cornelius 83 FL 3 38 38 1 yr.
Ellard, Jimmy 87 FL 10 22 22 ---
Barton, Ben 32 FL 2 21 39 1 yr.
Witcher, Frankie 37 FL 2 13 32 1 yr.
Causey, Marvin 86 SE 6 55 55 1 yr.
Elizondo, Harold 84 SE 12 48 48 ---
We have huge turnover coming ahead at WR, but right now we return a pretty decent bunch. Blair was hobbled a bit last year, but still posted nearly 800 yards receiving. Cornelius Tilton continues to be solid off the bench for us. Marvin Causey was steady, but is just not a real playmaker at split end for us. While I like the group we have here, it would be very nice to add a true playmakers – probably would help both our QB and our RB on the offense.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Pond, Ellis 57 C 5 49 60 2 yrs
Gunn, Grant 51 C 5 36 36 ---
Weber, Jesse 59 C 2 18 38 2 yrs
Thornton, Mickey 53 LG 5 58 59 1 yr.
Lyon, Edwin 64 LG 2 30 46 1 yr.
Granville, Jermaine 75 LG 3 24 38 ---
Gruber, Lincoln 63 RG 11 51 51 ---
**Heinlein, Bennie 71 LT 11 55 56 ---
Ford, Deion 69 LT 2 17 32 2 yrs
Thornton, Donnie 73 RT 9 61 61 1 yr.
We suffered serious injuries last year, and had to patch up a lot. I’ll try to get some more depth this season. T Bennie Heinlein is listed as out for 12 more weeks, so getting a starter at LT is a top priority. I think getting one more quality OL (maybe at guard?) would be wise, too. We ended up with some scrubs in there last season.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Creighton, Lamont 9 P 5 57 57 2 yrs
Crain, Mo 15 K 2 96 96 2 yrs
I’m very happy with both of these guys. Mo Crain wasn’t perfect last year, but I expect his numbers to continue to improve.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Garner, Henry 77 LDE 8 50 50 ---
Fox, Jimmy 93 LDE 9 49 50 2 yrs
Lynn, Neal 90 LDE 3 43 53 2 yrs
Limon, Lincoln 95 LDE 12 36 36 ---
Coleman, Skip 99 LDE 11 36 36 ---
Cascadden, Gary 72 LDT 9 70 71 3 yrs
Bailey, Zach 96 LDT 4 52 68 1 yr.
Oliveira, Willie 76 LDT 11 45 46 1 yr.
Mathers, Billy 79 LDT 3 22 32 ---
Defensive line injuries – just every year we get roughed up here quite badly. We’re actually okay with our three returning DT, but need another body or two at DE. Re-signing either Garner or Limon would be okay, but we just need to add playable guys along here one way or another.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Lake, Ed 91 SILB 8 29 37 1 yr.
Davis, Curtis 55 MLB 10 69 69 ---
Perez, K.C. 56 MLB 9 62 63 1 yr.
Frederick, Clarence 58 SLB 6 42 50 2 yrs
Meyer, Herb 50 SLB 3 27 48 1 yr.
Sinclair, Curtis 94 SLB 2 24 55 2 yrs
Regalado, Darrin 52 WLB 7 51 51 2 yrs
Stuff, Blake 49 WLB 2 36 60 2 yrs
Ed Lake is gone as a player – after his serious injury last year, he is practically worthless. LB Curtis Davis has been unbelievable for us at the strong side spot that I can hardly imagine going on without him. He’s looking for $5 million a year – so this will be a big decision for us.
Perez has settled in as our MLB starter, and Frederick and Regalado are quality pass rushers – but not really great linebackers. Blake Stuff seems like a decent reserve backer, but not a real starter, I don’t think.
Work to be done here – re-signing Davis would be a huge step.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Wickliff, Calvin 28 LCB 11 43 43 ---
Freeman, Jamie 44 LCB 5 40 48 1 yr.
Douglas, Darrell 26 RCB 5 61 61 1 yr.
Callens, Zack 34 RCB 12 40 40 2 yrs
Weed, Kirk 24 SS 7 58 58 1 yr.
Eskridge, Kenneth 20 FS 4 78 78 2 yrs
Ellery, Deron 46 FS 8 58 58 1 yr.
We did okay with Douglas and Callens starting at CB last year – both are man-up specialists, and fit our system well. Eskridge and Weed are solid at safety, and I’m fine with them too.
Ellery is the position leader, and we have two conflicts back here – he may have to go, just to try to maintain esprit de corps.