Running a team with bits and pieces at QB

[MartinD]

I've been playing a bit of SP FOF over the last few weeks - fairly standard 'home-grown' rules (can only sign players through the draft or as UDFAs, although I made some exceptions for in-season signings). I managed to get very lucky with an undrafted QB - a guy who I signed at something like 18/28, but maxed out in the low 60s - who has just retired after 15 seasons (5 bowls, multiple MVPs and 1st team QB awards, almost 45,000 yards passing with a QB rating over 100 - nothing out of the ordinary in terms of FOF QB stats, but pretty good for an undrafted guy who didn't start until a few games into his third season), which gave me an idea for a challenge/dynasty...

I'm going to take over another team at this point (going into the 2028 season, for what it's worth) - a quick look at the teams available suggests that Tennessee are a pretty good choice, as they have the worst record all-time at this point (119-215-2 - by comparison, the Colts team I was running were 243-91-2). It's also a little bonus that I'll be in the same division as the Colts team I was running - can see at close quarters just how long it will take the AI to bring them back to average (while I've left the Colts' cupboard a little bit bare at QB and RB, it's a pretty talented team apart from that, with a very good offensive line (got lucky with 4 second-round picks - 93-rated LT, 88-rated RG in particular...))

I'll be using a few 'house rules' - no interviews, can only sign rookies (either through the draft or as UDFAs - only exception is that I'll allow the signing of 2nd and 3rd year players as IR replacements, as there isn't much talent on the free agent list during the season) - but the main one is that I'm restricting myself to only be able to sign quarterbacks as undrafted free agents (i.e. I cannot draft a QB). This is intended to get around the quirk in the draft that sees the AI stop drafting QBs at some point in the second round until the fifth round (have managed to get some very good QBs in the third and fourth rounds because of this!) I'm also tempted to add in a restriction on RBs, as I find it fairly easy to pick up serviceable backs as UDFAs (although I tend to be able to get a reasonable running game out of marginal RBs most of the time, so my standards are possibly a bit lower than most in this area...)

[MartinD]

I'm not going to go 'empty cupboard' with this dynasty, so a look over the roster that I'm taking over...

Quarterback:
Richie Haukioja (8th year, 45/49)
Norm Barton (5th year, 49/58)
Tommy Burns (3rd year, 25/51)

The team's QB situation is a pretty good indicator of a bad team - all three guys are former first-round picks (Barton and Burns 5th overall, Haukioja 12th overall). Of course, I'm not keeping any of these guys.

To make the challenge a little bit harder, I'll be trading at least one of these guys to the Colts - Haukioja and Barton would be immediate starters there...

Running back:
Dwayne Lustgarten (7th year, 53/53)
Phil Young (4th year, 39/43)
Alfred Moyer (2nd year, 26/38)

Lustgarden is the obvious starter - more a receiving threat than a runner, though, and a veteran RB isn't exactly the sort of guy you want to build a team around. Young is a capable #2 back, but doesn't have the endurance you need out of a starter. Moyer is your standard late-round RB - while he has a chance of sticking around, I should be able to find an equivalent (or better) replacement in the UDFA pool.

The Titans don't have a FB or TE currently signed, and I won't be bringing back any of the guys who were on the roster last year.

Wide receiver:
Norbert Wolf (12th year, 41/41)
SE Alfred Hopson (4th year, 37/37)

The cupboard is pretty bare at receiver, too - only two guys on the roster, and neither is someone you want as a starter. Both are very likely to be on the roster, though - Wolf is a top-notch special-teamer, and Hopson is a respectable 4th/5th receiver (although will probably be a bit further up the depth chart this year...)

Offensive line
C Cornell Griffin (4th year, 88/90)
LG Jerald Schwab (4th year, 56/56)
LG Kelly Mathews (2nd year, 59/79)
RG Nicky Swayne (11th year, 49/49)
RG Jimmie Fletcher (6th year, 50/50)
LT Irv Burks (2nd year, 36/48)
RT Shawn Donovan (6th year, 47/47)
RT Leonard Rydze (2nd year, 35/43)

The strongest area on the team, particularly on the interior line - this list doesn't include two 4th-year restricted free agent centers, both rated in the high 40s with potential for future development. An upgrade at LT is probably the only improvement I'd be looking at here...

Kicking specialists:
K Ed St. John (16th year, 61/61)
K J.J. Davidson (3rd year, 33/56)

St. John isn't as good as the ratings suggest - his career accuracy is under 75%, and he isn't a great kickoff guy - and Davidson isn't going to make the team. Last year's punter is decent, but I suspect that I'll be going with new guys at both positions here.

Defensive line:
LDE George Borum (9th year, 38/38)
LDE Jake Stautner (4th year, 44/44)
LDT Broderick Alloy (8th year, 56/56)
RDT Heath Upshaw (6th year, 58/58)

The two DTs are solid players, and Stautner is a decent depth guy/stopgap starter, but this is an area that needs a lot of attention...

Linebacker:
MLB Brenden Kaminski (9th year, 53/53)
SLB Johnnie Bayne (4th year, 49/49)
SLB Gino Bell (3rd year, 40/51)

Three decent players, but absolutely no depth.

Defensive backs:
LCB Vernon Webster (8th year, 73/73)
SS Tony Broady (2nd year, 25/48)
FS Chad Booker (3rd year, 50/50)

Two decent starters, but that's pretty much it (I'd guess that Broady isn't going to get past mid-30s)


At this point, it's probably worth mentioning that the Titans are in a bit of bother with the cap - $8.55m of a $114.1m cap free at this point with only 28 players signed, with over $6m allocated for signing draft picks...

[MartinD]

While there is some talent on the roster, there are also a lot of holes... Before I can get around to dealing with the playing staff, I need to consider the coaching and scouting staff.

Our lead scout is Marlon Matthews - 50 years old, with a very good eye for quarterbacks, receivers and linebackers - not the best at evaluating linemen on either side of the ball, though. He's signed for 3 years, and is better than any of the alternatives available - no change required here.

Head Coach Robert Isola has been with the team for 6 years - while he's heading towards 'veteran' status (58 years old), he's still a very solid coach, and will be retained. (It does appear that he's been overpromoted a little bit, though - is probably a better defensive coordinator...)

We do have a true veteran defensive coordinator, though - Cory Schlesinger is 72, and has been with the team for 7 years. Even though he should be at home enjoying his pension, he's still got what it takes to be a good DC, particularly when dealing with the guys in the front seven.

The team is looking for a new offensive coordinator, as last year's incumbent is out of contract - Shawn Alder is a respectable OC, and would be worth bringing back, but I'll have a good look to see if there are any better options. I end up making an offer to the Houston OC Gabe Kaiser - 44 years old, with a very good reputation for bringing younger players through - but my offer is well beaten by the Eagles, who are willing to pay over $5m per year for an offensive coordinator. My next option, Chicago OC Mo Turner, resigns with the Bears. With options limited and time running out, I play it safe, and go with Ricky Bobo, a guy who doesn't have any pro experience, but appears to be a steady all-round offensive coordinator.

While the Titans have a pretty good stadium, it's been around for a while (almost 40 years) and needs a bit of attention. I put in a simple renovation plan (parking lot and stadium turf only), but expect the request to fail - with a team this bad, it isn't a surprise to see that 'public support for projects' is None...

With only 5 second-year players on the roster, the options for sending someone to Europe for seasoning are rather limited - the only option that makes sense is LG Kelly Mathews. There's no-one on the roster who justifies the use of the franchise tag.


I receive a trade offer at the start of free agency - St. Louis offer a young scrub LB and a 6th-round pick for RT Shawn Donovan. Donovan is a decent player - capable of starting, although not a guy you want to rely on too much - but is ultimately replacable, so I accept the trade (and cut the LB).

The QB clearout is started when I send QBs Haukioja and Barton to Indianapolis, with an exchange of 7th-round picks added in so that the Colts send something back my way. Burns, who appears to be a waste of a top-5 pick even if I didn't cut him, is released to clear the roster of drafted QBs.

I resign restricted free agent C Conrad Billings, cut K J.J. Davidson, and head into free agency. While I can only resign my own free agents, there is one guy who is worth trying to bring back - SE Lee Rodriguez (5th year, 52/52) is offered $14.4m over 4 years, and resigns with the Titans.

This leaves the team with 25 players signed (plus 8 draftees to come) and $13.10m of cap free - suspect that I'll have to clear out a bit of space at some point in the near future...

[MartinD]

Into the draft, and the Titans hold their allocated picks in the first six rounds (starting with 1.11, through to 6.6), plus 6.21 and 7.28. Team needs are pretty much everything expect interior offensive line...

There are quite a few options available at 1.11:
WR Cory Reeves: Three red combines (including 4.38 dash and 6.90 agility), but bars don't look all that great
WR Ron Fortin: Five blue combines (including 4.40 dash and 6.95 agility), and can return punts
WR Jerome Wells: very similar combines to Reeves (2 red, 2 blue - 4.41 dash, 6.89 agility), and slightly better bars
LT Teddy Weber: Combines aren't outstanding (3 blues), and a bit undersized (6'4", 286lbs), but looks like a 10-year starter.
OLB A.J. Finn: Strong (25 reps) and agile (6.97) with huge bars, but undersized (6'0", 220lbs)

While Finn is probably the best player in this group, I think that receiver is the way to go here - the problem is working out which one... Reeves looks like a creeper, but the other guys have very similar combines with better bars. I decide to go with the red combines, and take Reeves - initial ratings (28/47) are about as expected, but I'd hope that he ends up a fair bit better than that.

Finn does look like the best of these players - was taken by San Francisco at 1.14, and has initial ratings of 42/79 - Weber (26/66) went to St. Louis at 1.23. Wells (1.30 - 24/50) and Fortin (2.4 - 27/45) went quite a bit later than I expected.

With the draft at 2.10, the Titans were back on the clock - at this point, I'm usually looking for someone who projects as a solid starter, and there were a few possibilities (although mostly with a weak area or two...):
RB Joey Wayne: I don't normally go for RBs this early, but this guy has very interesting combines - red dash (4.44) and a couple of blues
TE Billy McMurtry: Not a big need position, as there are usually decent TEs available later in the draft, but looks like a solid all-round player
WR Blaine Middleton: Interesting bars, but may not have the combines to back them up
LT Dave Jenkins: Starter-level potential, but lacks endurance - not a good thing for a starting OL in my eyes...
RT Charlie Randle: Good technique, but not the strongest
LDE Carlton Tumbleson: Missed the combine, but the best DE prospect on the board (although may be better suited to DT further down the line)
MLB Wayne Rayburn: Big LB who may be better suited at DE - just lacks pass-rush ability...
WLB Doug Foster: Three-down LB, as long as you're not looking for a pass-rusher
CB Kennedy Holton: Nice bars, but not the combines to back them up

None of the offensive skill-position guys come across as 'can't miss' picks, and feel like luxury picks at this point. I'm not sold on either of the OTs - not sure that they're going to be significantly better than the guys we already have - which leaves the defensive players. 'Biggest need' isn't really an issue here, as we basically have needs all the way through the defence. Tumbleson is probably the best of the guys I've listed, but is a bigger risk (as a no-combine guy and with relatively high volatility) - think that he's worth the gamble here, though. He comes in at 23/63, which is possibly a little low, but not unreasonable for 19% developed.

The other guys on the list start moving immediately:
2.11 - T Dave Jenkins (22/57) to Detroit - a little surprised that he's not rated higher
2.12 - WR Blaine Middleton (20/59) to Washington - good pass, as the 20 current and 31% developed suggest that he won't get close to that potential
2.23 - MLB Wayne Rayburn (28/50) to Cleveland - about where I expected, and should be a starter in time (although may not be more than a 2-down guy)
2.24 - CB Kennedy Holton (29/53) to Denver - might fall a little short of that potential, but should be a good nickelback and special teamer at the least
3.3 - OLB Doug Foster (24/61) to Houston - the ratings suggest a fair bit of fake green, so a good miss
3.4 - RT Charlie Randle (19/57) to New York - probably about right, given the low bench combine - should be a decent player in time

Back on the clock at 3.9, and a few guys I was considering for 2.10 are still there - I'm not sure that RB is the way to go, as there are a couple of guys I think I'll be able to get later. TE McMurtry does look like a good pick here - decent blocker, but probably a better receiver (4.65 dash (blue) and 7.36 agility (red) are good signs), and a good TE is one way of making an average QB look better. I go with McMurtry, and the initial rating of 26/65 suggests that this was a decent pick - he's a bit raw (21% developed) at the moment.

RB Wayne goes off the board at 3.13 to Kansas City, and his initial rating of 28/44 suggests that he isn't going to be more than a replacement-level back.

I'm tempted to go a couple of other ways at 4.8, but go with DT Adam Joyner - while he's likely to be a part-time player at best (as he's a liability in run defence), he does have serious potential as a pass-rush specialist. Unfortunately, he's too big for a successful shift to DE, but the initial rating of 30/50 is very promising...

With four picks down, I'm getting a bit concerned that I haven't addressed the holes in the defensive backfield yet, but I don't see much value in the DBs available. There is an undersized LB available, though - OLB Pete Goldade is 5'9" and 224lbs and not much of a run defender, but looks to be a very solid player other than that (and has decent combines - 4.52 dash (red), 28 sol (blue) and 24 strength (blue). Even though I suspect that there's a bit of fake green in his bars, I think that he's worth taking at this point - 29/55 (at WLB) suggests that it was worth taking the risk.

Pick 6.6 goes on RT Marty Wynn - decent bars and the combines to back them up (30 strength reps, 7.48 agility (red) and 8'8" jump (blue)) is a good combination at this point, and an initial rating of 21/48 (which increases to 21/49 on a switch to LT) looks about right.

MLB Lawrence McGregor is a guy I noticed earlier on in the draft, although more with the potential to be switched to DE - he's a big LB (261lbs) with decent run defence and pass rush tech/strength bars. The initial rating of 17/48 (with 47% developed) isn't a good sign, but the switch to DE goes fairly well (17/55, at 21% developed) - while he probably won't reach that potential, he may end up being a respectable player.

Pick 7.28 is used on an offensive guard with the intention of switching him to RT - Rufus Wharton didn't attend the combine, but has good enough bars to justify a late-round flyer. His initial rating of 28/46 at RG drops to 22/46 at RT (at 13% developed), but that's not bad for a 7th-round pick.


At the end of the draft, we find out that our stadium proposal has been rejected by a margin of more than 2 to 1 - not really a shock...

Next up is what is probably going to end up being the most important part of the year for us - late free agency, and the opportunity to sign undrafted free agents...

[MartinD]

First up at the start of late free agency is getting the rookies signed - I manage a 50% success rate, with Reeves, Tumbleson, McMurtry and Goldade refusing the initial offers. (Knowing that the team isn't in a great cap position did mean that I tried to be a cheapskate, though, with the low-ball offers, so this didn't really come as a shock...)

This leaves the team with $11.38m of cap space free, but four fairly expensive rookie contracts to sign. With only 29 players on the roster at this point (and rookies making a minimum of $290k), I'll probably need $6m or so in addition to the space that contracts for the four drafted rookies will use. There's enough space to sign undrafted rookies to fill out a roster of 53 at the moment, though, so I'll leave any potential cuts until later.

I end up going through my usual process in late free agency, and signing quite a few guys I think have a decent chance of making the roster. (Rookies will be offered 2-year deals at minsal + 20k bonus unless otherwise stated.) I'll just list the QBs, as the list be pretty long otherwise!

QB J.C. Farley (18/37) - deep-ball thrower, which might work with a run-first offence (draw the defence in with the run, then throw the long ball...)
QB Richard Tubbs (16/42) - more balanced passer, but I don't think he has as much talent as Farley
QB Daniel Sisco (12/29) - balanced ratings, but probably not a guy for the long term
QB Marty Morton (10/26) - short-passing bias, which is closer to my normal style of offence
QB Darryl Stanfield (7/38) - best high-potential guy I saw (in that there may be a chance that he gets somewhere close to that 38, if given a chance)

I also pulled the trigger on switching Pete Goldade from OLB (29/55) to SS (10/49) - will see how that works out in the long run...

Once I've finished signing rookie free agents, I check our cap position - not quite enough room to sign the four drafted rookies who are still unsigned, but I don't need a lot of space, so I release SLB Gino Bell, who wasn't happy at the end of last season, and is unlikely to get much playing time this year. This frees up almost $1m, which gives me enough space to get everyone signed.

A few position changes and some weight adjustment later, and we head to camp...

[MartinD]

Going through the post-camp roster...

(Changes from pre-camp ratings are given - these are based on my scout's view, rather than the ratings before the player was signed.)

Quarterback:

Richard Tubbs    23/45 (+7/-1)
J.C. Farley      22/36 (+3/-3)
Daniel Sisco     15/31 (+4/+1)
Marty Morton     12/26 (+2/0 )
Darryl Stanfield 11/38 (+3/0 )

Could have been a lot worse... The starting job will go to either Tubbs or Farley, but Sisco will get a look in preseason as well. Stanfield will be the fourth QB (and probably the third active QB on gamedays), as he's a very competent kick holder.

Running back:

Dwayne Lustgarden (7th) 53/53 ( 0/0 )
Phil Young (4th)        41/41 (+2/-2)
Stan Ingram (1st)       34/44 ( 0/-2)
Bucky Hanks (1st)       28/32 (+1/+1)
Alfred Moyer (2nd)      27/37 (+2/0 )

Nice to see Lustgarden hold his ratings - he's not really a main back, though (more a third-down back and return man), so I may use him mostly on passing downs, with Young and Ingram as the early-down RBs.

Fullback:

Desmond Hartman (1st)  27/49 (+2/-9)
Will Adams (1st)       27/53 (+5/-4)

The relative camp performances suggests that Adams will be the one FB retained in the 53-man roster, but Hartman has a much better balance of skills - not an easy decision, even with that -9...

Tight end:

Billy McMurtry (1st)   31/63 (+5/-2)
Kim Coons (1st)        29/49 (+2/-4)
Antoine Finkes (1st)   24/46 (+2/-5)
Dixon Pritchett (1st)  23/43 (+2/-5)

McMurtry is the obvious starter - his skillset appears to suit a short passing offence best (in that he's a better receiver than blocker, and moves very well for a tight end). It's hard to separate the other three - none has any stand-out skills to cement their place on the team.

Wide receiver:

Norbert Wolf (12th)     37/37 (-4/-4)
Cory Reeves (1st)       31/45 (+4/-2)
Jeff Clements (1st)     26/39 (+3/-2)
Terry Cortez (1st)      23/36 ( 0/-4)
Leroy Serrano (1st)     22/41 (+4/0 )
Marc Gorski (1st)       16/47 (+2/-7)

Lee Rodruigez (5th)     52/52 ( 0/0 )
Alfred Hopson (4th)     38/38 ( 0/0 )
Marco Christy (1st)     23/29 (+1/-2)
Troy Crockett (1st)     19/47 (+3/-5)

Reeves is an obvious disappointment, but I made the mistake of going with the player in the biggest impact position rather than the best player available. I'll probably only carry 6 receivers into the regular season, so the younger guys are playing for a limited number of spots (looking like 6 guys for 2 spots at this point...)

Offensive line:

C Cornell Griffin (4th)  88/88 (+1/-1)
C Conrad Billings (4th)  49/49 (+2/-6)
C Darryl Burks (1st)     28/49 (+3/-6)

G Kelly Mathews (2nd)    71/78 (+7/-1)
G Jerald Schwab (4th)    57/57 (+1/+1)
G Jimmie Fletcher (6th)  50/50 (+1/+1)
G Nicky Swayne (11th)    44/44 (-5/-5)

T Irv Burks (2nd)        40/48 (+4/0 )
T Marty Wynn (1st)       26/48 (+5/-1)
T Leonard Rydze (2nd)    37/42 (+5/0 )
T Toby Kaplan (1st)      25/40 (+2/-2)
T Rufus Wharton (1st)    23/42 (+1/-4)

The strongest part of the roster - a lot of talent and depth on the interior line in particular. I'll probably carry 10 O-linemen on the 53-man roster (2/4/4), which means that Burks and one of Kaplan and Wharton won't make it to the regular season.

Kicking specialists:

P Peter Clinton (1st)     40/52 (+1/+3)
P Scottie Bernstein (1st) 39/43 (+1/-1)

K Ed St. John (16th)      57/57 (-4/-4)
K Edwin Garrison (1st)    34/45 (-4/-7)
K Johnny Smith (1st)      33/44 ( 0/-5)

While kicker is pretty clear-cut, punter isn't as clear as the numbers above would suggest - Clinton is all leg and no finesse, while Bernstein is more balanced. I suspect that both guys will get a chance to impress in preseason.

Defensive end:

Jake Stautner (4th)       45/45 (+1/+1)
George Borum (9th)        28/28 (-10/-10)
Rich Lewis (1st)          21/43 (+4/-2)
Carlton Tumbleson (1st)   25/56 (+2/-7)
Lawrence McGregor (1st)   19/50 (+2/-5)

Pretty simple here - Borum isn't a mentor, so won't make the 53-man roster.

Defensive tackle:

Broderick Alloy (8th)  56/56 (+1/+1)
Gino Lawler (1st)      21/33 (+2/-3)
Heath Upshaw (6th)     58/58 ( 0/0 )
Adam Joyner (1st)      33/50 (+3/0 )

I doubt that I'll be making any changes here, although Lawler is likely to be inactive most weeks. Joyner will get a decent amount of playing time in nickel/dime sets.

Linebackers:

MLB Brenden Kaminski (9th)  36/36 (-17/-17)
MLB Tony Springer (1st)     17/38 (+3/0 )

SLB Johnnie Bayne (4th)     49/49 ( 0/0 )
SLB Oliver Williamson (1st) 28/45 (+2/-6)

WLB Antoine Mason (1st)     21/43 (+3/-5)
WLB Marvin Hatcher (1st)    17/36 (+3/-2)

It shows just how weak the linebacking corps is when Kaminski is still seen as a starter after falling off a cliff in training camp...

Cornerbacks:

Vernon Webster (8th)   72/72 ( 0/0 )
Stan Spencer (1st)     25/36 (+3/-3)
Joey Sweeney (1st)     24/33 (+1/-5)
Ricardo Emmons (1st)   17/44 (+3/-5)
Marvin Petterson (1st) 22/44 (+3/-5)
Lincoln Barlow (1st)   21/39 (+3/-3)
Spencer Bombard (1st)  17/40 (+3/-2)

I get the feeling that our coverage scheme may be along the lines of 'Webster takes their top guy, double coverage on the other side'... Difficult to say which of the rookies is going to miss out at this point, but I'm looking at 6 guys for 4 spots here.

Safeties:

Tony Broady (2nd)    27/45 (+3/+1)
Robbie Rankin (1st)  19/42 (+3/0)
Leland Witt (1st)    18/41 (+3/-1)
Pete Goldade (1st)   11/42 (+1/-7)
Chad Booker (3rd)    48/48 ( 0/0 )
Jessie Adame (1st)   23/41 (+2/-6)
Bennie Oliver (1st)  20/44 (+1/-7)

I'll admit that the experiment with Goldade didn't work, although I don't know how much better he would have been if I had left him at LB. I'm looking to keep 4 safeties, and only Broady and Booker are guaranteed a spot.


Almost inevitably, our roster rating (2) is at the low end of the scale, although we do have some company down there, with the Jaguars also looking pretty weak.

If I'm being honest, I suspect that 3 or 4 wins is about as much as I can expect from the team - I think that there's enough talent on the offensive side to put up some points, but the defence looks very weak.

[MartinD]

Preseason was used for a bit of experimentation on the offensive side of the ball - as the two best QBs on the roster have very different skillsets (Farley doesn't have much touch, but can throw the longer passes reasonably well, while Tubbs is a better all-rounder), I went with a relatively balanced gameplan in the first two games (with Tubbs starting), and a run-heavy scheme in the other two, with more long passes (with Farley starting). All three QBs (including Sisco, who's likely to be the #2 QB as he fits reasonably well into either scheme) got a fair bit of playing time.

The results were inconclusive (as should be expected from such a small sample size) - although the offence didn't look all that good in either scheme, I think that the run and deep pass scheme is a better fit for our offensive personnel (particularly the offensive line), so I'll start the season with that scheme and Farley under center.

(The Titans finished preseason at 0-4, unsurprisingly, although a couple of the games were relatively close.)

I'm seeing this as more of a roster-building dynasty, so I'm not going to go into all that much detail on the games. That's probably a good thing for this season, as we started 0-7, including two losses to fellow strugglers Jacksonville, before somehow managing to win a game (on the road, to boot!) as 17-point underdogs in San Diego...

At this point, I notice that QB Sisco is disgruntled - this suggests that he may be a bit better than his ratings suggest (at this point, Sisco, who has been the #2 QB and has done fairly well on his two appearances (22/33-209-2TD-0INT), is rated 15/31 with only one bar (scramble frequency) above 25, while Farley (25/36) has done a decent job as the starter (120/191-1311-2-4)). With nothing to lose, I put Sisco in as the starter for our week 11 game, and he starts the rest of the way.

It probably doesn't come as a shock that we finish with a 2-14 record (winning against a decent Detroit team in week 16 as well as the surprise victory over a playoff-bound Chargers team. The summary makes for somewhat depressing reading (starting with being last in points scored (13.8) and 29th in points conceded (25.1) - 30th in yards gained (293.8) with a very young offence isn't too bad, though, or ending up 22nd on yards conceded (345.2)).

A few individual stats:
QB J.C. Farley (11 games, 8 starts): 129/205-1398-2TD-4Int (QB rating 78.0)
QB Daniel Sisco (9 games, 7 starts): 107/174-1191-7TD-5Int (QB rating 83.3)

RB Dwayne Lustgarden: 252-944-4 rushing (3.75 yards per carry), 24-193-2 receiving (8.04 yards per catch)

LG Kelly Mathews (14 games): 42/101 KRBs (41.6%), 11 pancakes, 3 sacks allowed

I didn't see anyone worth highlighting on defence - while some guys had good numbers (SLB Bayne with 98 tackles, DE Stautner with 7.0 sacks), they weren't really all-round players.

After going through the roster to offer extensions to a couple of guys (although a lack of cap room limited the offers I could make - in particular, I couldn't afford extensions for DT Alloy and CB Webster), I watched the playoffs - quite a few surprises (with only one home team winning in both the wild card and divisional rounds), with Chicago ending up as champions.

The awards list for the season contained one Titan - almost inevitably, this was LG Kelly Mathews, who made the First Team.

So the first season is over - not a lot of success, but there are a few building blocks in place.

[MartinD]

Two Titans retired during the offseason - WR Norbert Wolf and K Ed. St John. Both were guys I wasn't looking to bring back, so this doesn't cause me any problems (although it does mean that I'll be looking for a kicker...)

Head coach Robert Isola also retired during the offseason - a bit of a surprise, given that he hasn't reached 60 yet, but it does mean that we're going to be active in staff hiring. The two coordinators are under contract, although I will need to replace 73 year old DC Cory Schlesinger in the near future.

There are two pretty talented young head coaching candidates available - Cedric Snipes is 33, and is A/A/G/G/VG in the five 'head coach' attributes (in order - motivation, discipline, offensive playcalling, defensive playcalling, injury avoidance), which isn't particularly good right now, but there's a lot of room for growth. The other option is Wesley Chapman (35, VG/G/G/G/G) - wants a bit more money, but appears to be the better choice. I put in an offer to Chapman - while the team isn't in the best position finanically (being unsuccessful on the field over a number of years will do that!), I think that he's worth the extra money.

I consider making other changes - ideally, I want to bring in a younger defensive coordinator, but don't see anyone who's better than Schlesinger. On the offensive side, however, Josh DeBoer is available - A/G/VG/VG/VG on the positions, G on young talent, which is a decent upgrade on my current OC, so I put in an offer.

Both Chapman and DeBoer sign straight away, giving us a slightly better staff than we had last year.

As we ended up being a bit too close to the cap last year, a few of our more talented players have been allowed to reach free agency:
C Cornell Griffin (5th year, 88/88)
DT Broderick Alloy (9th year, 56/56)
LCB Vernon Webster (9th year, 72/72)

Cap space isn't an issue now (as we have over $40m of a $114.6m cap available, even allowing for signing our draft picks), so even the CB franchise number of $6.5m is not a problem. Alloy isn't really an option, as DT tends to be a position where finding decent starters is relatively easy. Center is also a pretty easy position to fill, but Griffin is a really good young player. Webster, on the other hand, is getting towards the end of his career, but he's the only cornerback we have who is better than replacement level.

I decide to tag Griffin, with the intention of signing him to a longer-term deal - while Webster is more valuable to the team right now, we're not in a position where we're expected to win a lot of games (at the moment at least - possibly in a couple of seasons...)

There's a lot of choice for selecting the player who spends his summer in Europe, but most of our 2nd-year players are either unlikely to get significant playing time, or will struggle to make the team. There are also a few guys who are far enough along in their development to make some extra seasoning unneccesary. While looking through the possible candidates, I notice that DE Tumbleson appears to be developing into more of a run-stopper than I thought he would be - he's an oversized DE as it is (6'8", 295), and may well be better off as a defensive tackle. I make the switch (his rating goes from 32/56 to 29/56), and send him overseas to get used to playing inside.

(I did consider sending one of the QBs, but the three main guys (Tubbs, Farley and Sisco) are already past halfway in terms of development, and Stanfield, who needs the extra practice time, is unlikely to get any playing time.)

Into free agency, and I start by offering a long-term contract to our franchise player - C Cornell Griffin signs for the next 4 years for a total of $24.00m. S Chad Booker also signs a deal - $2.55m over 3 years.

Free agency 'proper' starts with a large offer to CB Vernon Webster - $21.3m over 3 years. Denver's money talks, though, and he heads to the Mile High city for $23.75m over 3 years. I decided not to pursue DT Broderick Alloy, who leaves to play for the Jets - the little matter of $10m over 3 years helped him to make up his mind, I suspect...

Late on in free agency, I decide to put offers out to RB Phil Young and SE Alfred Hopson - neither are going to be starters, but both are players who can do a job (Hopson is a very useful punt returner and respectable backup receiver, while Young is a steady backup RB who doesn't fumble much).

[Young Drachma]

Love the detail!

[MartinD]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Love the detail!

Thanks! I find that writing a report like this helps me to pick up the little things that I often miss if I'm just playing, as I'll take a lot more time to check up on things. The flip side of this, of course, is that it takes me a bit longer to play, so it's more likely that I don't have enough time to justify opening the game up... (This does happen a fair bit - I play golf year-round, and run pretty regularly (am about to start a training program for a couple of marathons in the spring...))

[MartinD]

With free agency out of the way, we move on to the draft. We pick 1st in each round (including the first overall pick, obviously!), with no additional picks.

Team needs are multiple and pressing, as you would expect - it's probably easier to list the positions that don't need as much attention! (Interior offensive line and running back are the only positions where I don't feel we need to add a starter-quality player, and quarterback isn't an option in any case, as per the house rules for this game.)

Looking at the draft board, my first impression is that there's a lot of red on there - quite a lot of very good combine scores. The guy at the top is RT Charles Rayburn, who has 5 red combine scores out of the 5 possible for an offensive lineman. I'm more interested in the skill-position players, though - RB Howie Guerrero looks like a potential top-5 back (4 red combines, including a 4.34 40), and there are two very impressive wide receivers in Harry Anastasiades (4 red combines, including 6.73 agility) and Louie Loeffler (4 red combines, including a 4.32 40). While there are some very good defensive players available, I don't think that they offer the same value as the offensive guys.

While Rayburn is likely to be able to convert to LT, and would be the cornerstone for what is already a very good offensive line, the chance to add a star receiver or back can't be passed up. Guerrero is a guy you can build an offence around, but I'm not particularly keen on using early-round draft picks on running backs, mostly because they tend to have short careers. There isn't a lot to choose between the two receivers in terms of combines, but Anastasiades has better bars, so I go with Harry the Greek - 54/70 is a little lower than I was hoping for, but is still a guy who will start from day 1 and make our offence a lot better right away.

Guerrero (62/75) goes to Tampa Bay with the second pick, while I'll be seeing a lot of Charles Rayburn (41/79) over the next few years, as he gets picked third overall by Jacksonville. Loeffler (35/54, although I expect that he'll end up quite a bit higher than that) sticks around for quite a bit longer than I had anticipated, eventually being picked 17th by New England.

The choice isn't quite as straightforward at the top of the second round as it was to open the draft - there are a lot of different directions that I could go with this pick:

WR Alonzo Rayburn - yes, I know that I already have two first-round receivers on the roster, but this guy has two red and two blue combines (including 4.45 40 and 6.86 agility drill)
C Jason Perez - a position I don't really need, but Perez would be able to shift out to guard at least
NT O.J. Buckley - don't really need another DT, but a guy who looks like a solid 3-down lineman
LDT Tony Cerqua - undersized DT who would get moved to DE - not the strongest, but projects as a good pass-rusher who can play the run reasonably well
MLB Jose Freeman - may be a 2-down guy, but looks like a guy who would start immediately
SILB Henry Sanyika - best combines of any of the ILBs left (by a fair distance), but undersized and may not be a good run defender
SLB Reggie Suggs - OLB/DE tweener, good combines (4 blues), bars aren't the best
SLB Kenneth Davidson - raw and very undersized (5'9", 216), but projects as a great run-stuffer who can play against the pass
RCB Jared Schroeder - great bars, average combines - only really on the list because CB is a big need
FS Clay Buffington - would be converted to corner (5'10", 196) - raw prospect who has 'solid starter' potential, and the combines to back it up

I can't really afford to use this pick to add further strength to one of the team's better areas, which eliminates Rayburn, Perez and Buckley. Schroeder feels like a reach at this point - if I'm going DB, I'm much more comfortable with Buffington. Suggs is likely to be a good player, but I don't think that he's going to end up as even a mid-level starter - solid backup and star special-teamer, maybe, but probably not a guy I want to start. Davidson would be the pick if he was bigger - while I don't deny that he's talented, the lack of size puts me off. While I know that MLB is a big need, Freeman and Sanyika feel like slight reaches at this point, particularly as I have other solid options. Cerqua would be an immediate starter, but I'm not sure about his upside - that means that I'm going with Buffington, who comes in with a 21/52 rating (at 17% developed), which goes to 23/60 (at 14%, on 95% ratings) on a switch to left cornerback.

The other guys on my list have their names called pretty quickly after the Titans pick:
2.2 Tampa Bay take CB Jared Schroeder (36/70) - looks like I missed out here...
2.4 Philadelphia take MLB Jose Freeman (23/58) - at 41% developed, so not a great pick here
2.6 New Orleans take DT Tony Cerqua (28/39) - didn't think that he'd be rated as low as this...
2.7 Buffalo take SLB Kenneth Davidson (21/62) - has a chance to be pretty good
2.10 Cleveland take WR Alonzo Rayburn (21/56) - 19% developed, so may end up being decent
2.12 Carolina take C Jason Perez (40/61) - should be pretty good, but not a need position for me
2.16 New England take OLB Reggie Suggs (28/40) - about where I thought he would be at this point - will probably end up being better, though

There are still two guys left from my previous list at the top of the third round - NT Buckley and ILB Sanyika. Buckley is a big defensive tackle (6'4", 318) with decent bars and reasonable combines (2 blues plus agility just outside of the blue range) - while he's relatively raw (22%), he's probably going to end up as at least a solid guy to have in the DT rotation. Sanyika is small for a linebacker (6'0", 225), but has decent bars and good combines (1 red, 3 blue) for the most part - unfortunately, he appears to be a bit lacking in the most important attribute for a linebacker, run defence.

Other possibilities at this point:
RB Ronnie Goodwin - no-combine back may be a nice project for a conversion to receiver - suspect that he'll be available later on
SE Mike Willett - 4.42 40, 7.01 agility are a nice combination - bars are possibly a little high, but appears good value at this point
LG Alex Dunn - not a need position, but bars and 38 strength reps suggest good value at this point
RT Peter Rayford - nice balanced bars, but not backed up by combines - 99 volatility is also a concern
RT Curtis Arevalo - very poor bars, but three red combines (solecismic, agility, broad jump) - likely creeper
SLB Winston Kaplan - not a good run defender, but solid in all other areas - 3 blue combine scores - may also be big enough to move to DE (6'2", 246)
RCB Donald Soriano - top cornerback left on the board, 4.41 40 suggests that he should be decent in coverage
RCB Derek Randle - appears to be more of a third corner and return man than a guy you want to be starting - combines suggest that he won't be all that good in coverage

The needs that I most want to try to address with the remainder of the draft are offensive tackle, defensive end, linebacker and defensive backfield. I don't see much value in the defensive ends remaining on the board (which is why I'm looking at small DTs and big LBs for potential position switches).

I'm going to pass on Goodwin and Arevalo (will probably be available at 5.1 or 6.1), and Willett and Dunn (either would be a luxury pick at this point, although I think that both are worth taking here). Rayford is too big a risk for a guy who probably isn't all that much better than my current starter. Randle feels like a bit of a reach here, although I suspect he'll be off the board by the time we get to the top of the 4th. Sanyika plays a need position, but the potential lack of run defence is a big issue for me.

That leaves Buckley, Kaplan and Soriano. Buckley is the top-rated DT left - while this isn't addressing a need position directly, I have at least one DT who can play outside if needs be. Kaplan is a bit of a risk at this point - I like the bars and the combines, but the LB to DE switch can be a bit dicey. Soriano definitely appears to be an upgrade at corner (although that isn't saying much, given that I have four guys who were undrafted rookies last year as #2-#5 at the moment!) This is a tricky one - I'm fairly sure that Buckley is best value at this point, but Soriano is the guy who best fills a need. It's unlikely that we're going to be all that competitive this season whatever happens, so I go with the value pick - Buckley comes in at 24/47, which appears reasonable for a guy at 22% developed.

Players coming off the board in the third round:
3.2 Tampa Bay take T Peter Rayford (23/55) - good pass, as the 55 looks pretty unlikely at 34% developed
3.5 New Orleans take CB Donald Soriano (28/55) - another guy who probably won't reach that potential (49% developed)
3.7 New York take CB Derek Randle (29/51) - a little better than I thought - early 3rd is probably about right for him
3.12 Carolina take WR Mike Willett (29/60) - very nice pick for a team in dire need of a receiver - looks like a solid starter-level guy in time
3.14 Pittsburgh take G Alex Dunn (26/57) - should end up being pretty good - solid value here

At the top of the fourth, ILB Sanyika, RB Goodwin, RT Arevalo and SLB Kaplan are still available. While I do have a few doubts about him, I'm very surprised that Sanyika is still on the board at this point - given that he should be a solid third-down linebacker at least, he's worth taking at this point. 17/40 (at 27%) is a little disappointing, but probably about right given how his bars look (and the likely low run defence bar). While I need a middle linebacker, I think that Sanyika is a better fit for the weak side - the switch bumps his rating up a little to 17/42 (at 23% developed).

I suspect that I might be able to get all three of Goodwin, Arevalo and Kaplan with my three remaining picks with a bit of luck. All three are a few spots from the top of the main draft board for their position - while I think that there's more chance of Arevalo being picked, I go with Kaplan at 5.1, as I think that I need to have Kaplan more than Arevalo (in that my backup OTs are better than my backup LBs at this point). 20/43 (at 32%) is about what I expected, and a switch to MLB changes that to 20/47 (at 27%). I suspect that I'll ask him to gain weight in training camp, then see if he can move to defensive end - his bars (and combines) suggest that there may be quite a bit of upside to this.

Arevalo is still on the board at 6.1 - 10/27 (22%) is pretty much what his bars were suggesting, but it will be interesting to see how he looks after training camp. Very few teams take running backs late in this draft, so Goodwin becomes our last pick at 7.1 - 30/44 (53%) suggests that he may be a respectable third down back, but the switch to receiver appears to go reasonably well - 22/53 (26%), with bars that suggest that he could end up being a useful possession receiver.

All of the rookies sign their initial offers, leaving us with 54 players signed and the little matter of $36m of cap space free...

The usual trawl through the rookie free agents unearths a few guys who have a good chance of making the 53-man roster and contributing during the season, and this year's crop of QBs...

Floyd Cassidy (14/36 - 44%) - unlikely to reach that 36, but reasonable combines and a decent skill-set
Dan Majka (9/36 - 7%) - will take a lot of developing, but 35 solecismic and nice intangibles suggest that he's worth bringing in
J.C. Kadavy (12/29 - 36%) - probably not a long-term prospect with a 20 solecismic score, but there's enough there for me to want to take a closer look

I'm not sure that any of these guys are going to be long-term options in terms of challenging for the starting QB position, but there may be a decent backup or kick holder in there...

[MartinD]

After going through training camp, the roster looks like this:

Quarterback

Kadavy, J.C.           (1st) 15/30 (+2/-1)
Stanfield, Darryl      (2nd) 14/39 (+3/+1)
Majka, Dan             (1st) 12/35 (+3/-4)
Cassidy, Floyd         (1st) 18/36 (+3/0 )
Sisco, Daniel          (2nd) 20/31 (+2/0 )
Tubbs, Richard         (2nd) 25/42 (+3/0 )
Farley, J.C.           (2nd) 29/36 (+5/+1)

A few interesting moves here (the +1s for Stanfield and Farley are nice, and the -4 for Majka means that he's gone), but the one that catches my eye most is the lack of movement from Sisco.

Running back

Ingram, Stan           (2nd) 37/42 (+3/0 )
Hanks, Bucky           (2nd) 31/32 (+2/0 )
Lustgarten, Dwayne     (8th) 53/53 ( 0/0 )
Young, Phil            (5th) 32/32 (-10/-10)

That changes up the order a bit - looks like Ingram and Lustgarden as the main backs, with Hanks and Young in a battle to see who's the third RB active.

Fullback

Adams, Will            (2nd) 37/50 (+4/0 )

Didn't see much point in bringing in a rookie free agent as a challenger - Adams appears to be pretty set as our guy here.

Tight end

Norton, Ronald         (1st) 28/47 (+2/-4)
Finkes, Antoine        (2nd) 28/43 (+4/0 )
Hartman, Desmond       (2nd) 32/47 (+3/0 )
McMurtry, Billy        (2nd) 49/62 (+6/0 )

I'll only be carrying three tight ends on the 53-man roster, so it's likely to come down to Norton or Finkes.

Wide receiver

Warren, Dixon          (1st) 23/38 (+2/-4)
Weadock, Bryan         (1st) 23/43 (+2/-4)
Pallansch, Thurman     (1st) 22/47 (+1/-9)
Raymond, Jeffrey       (1st) 17/41 (+2/-4)
Clements, Jeff         (2nd) 32/37 (+2/-1)
Anastasiades, Harry    (1st) 59/70 (+5/0 )
Serrano, Leroy         (2nd) 33/41 (+3/-1)
Reeves, Cory           (2nd) 42/42 (+4/-1)
Whitlock, Julio        (1st) 25/51 (+5/-6)
Goodwin, Ronnie        (1st) 26/51 (+4/-2)
Rodriguez, Lee         (6th) 53/53 ( 0/0 )
Hopson, Alfred         (5th) 39/39 ( 0/0 )

I brought in quite a few rookie free agent receivers, as there were quite a few guys I thought had a chance of making the team. It's likely I'll go with 6 on the roster - Anastasiades, Rodriguez, Reeves and Hopson are extremely likely to be the top 4, so I suspect that I'll see how things go in preseason before deciding which guys to go with.

Offensive line

Billings, Conrad       (5th) 51/51 ( 0/0 )
Griffin, Cornell       (5th) 86/86 (-1/-1)
Schwab, Jerald         (5th) 58/58 (+1/+1)
Mathews, Kelly         (3rd) 83/83 (+5/+5)
Beito, Tommie          (1st) 24/43 (+2/-1)
Fletcher, Jimmie       (7th) 49/49 ( 0/0 )
Wynn, Marty            (2nd) 30/48 (+4/0 )
Burks, Irv             (3rd) 49/49 (+5/+1)
Rydze, Leonard         (3rd) 42/42 (+4/+1)
Arevalo, Curtis        (1st) 14/32 (+4/+5)
Wharton, Rufus         (2nd) 25/40 (+2/0 )

The bump for Mathews is a bonus, and it's nice to see the bit of unmasking on Arevalo - other than this, the O-line appears to be a reasonably settled group.

Punters

Antonik, Jon           (1st) 45/52 (-2/-4)
Clinton, Peter         (2nd) 48/52 (+1/-1)

I'll probably look at both in preseason, but can see Clinton keeping his spot - both are similar in style (big leg, little finesse), so Antonik's poor camp will probably count against him.

Kickers

Emerson, Orlando       (1st) 34/51 (-1/-8)
Moses, Dominic         (1st) 30/53 (+1/-7)

I can see me having a look at the rookie free agents who are still out there...

Defensive end

Stautner, Jake         (5th) 43/43 ( 0/0 )
Lewis, Rich            (2nd) 26/42 (+4/+1)
McGregor, Lawrence     (2nd) 23/47 (+3/0 )
Williams, Ernest       (1st) 28/33 (+2/+1)

Probably the players that will be on the roster for week 1 - not a strong area, but this wasn't a draft with a lot of depth at defensive end.

Defensive tackle

Upshaw, Heath          (7th) 57/57 ( 0/0 )
Buckley, O.J.          (1st) 27/47 (+3/0 )
Lawler, Gino           (2nd) 23/32 (+2/-1)
Tumbleson, Carlton     (2nd) 36/54 (+7/0 )
Joyner, Adam           (2nd) 41/50 (+3/0 )

Pretty straightforward here - Lawler is the odd man out.

Linebacker

Kaminski, Brenden     (10th) 33/33 (-3/-3)
Kaplan, Winston        (1st) 24/46 (+4/-1)
Shepherd, Neil         (1st) 16/40 (+2/-3)
Bayne, Johnnie         (5th) 48/48 ( 0/0 )
Williamson, Oliver     (2nd) 30/42 (+2/0 )
Mason, Antoine         (2nd) 25/41 (+2/0 )
Hatcher, Marvin        (2nd) 21/35 (+3/0 )
Sanyika, Henry         (1st) 20/38 (+3/-4)
Lemieux, Jared         (1st) 20/46 (+2/-8)

Kaminski and Kaplan will man the middle, and it's likely to be Bayne and Williamson on the strong side. Weak-side is pretty much up for grabs, although the two rookies appear to be up against it after camp...

Cornerbacks

Buffington, Clay       (1st) 26/57 (+3/-3)
Spencer, Stan          (2nd) 31/35 (+4/0 )
Emmons, Ricardo        (2nd) 23/42 (+4/0 )
Wagner, Dominic        (1st) 20/42 (+1/-5)
Bombard, Spencer       (2nd) 24/38 (+3/0 )
Pettersson, Marvin     (2nd) 27/41 (+2/0 )

There's likely to be one cut here, and it's probably going to be Wagner.

Safety

Broady, Tony           (3rd) 29/36 (-1/-3)
Rankin, Robbie         (2nd) 27/41 (+4/0 )
Booker, Chad           (4th) 48/48 ( 0/0 )
Adame, Jessie          (2nd) 24/38 (+3/0 )
Poly, Jamal            (1st) 20/39 (+3/-3)

No guarantees here other than Booker will make the team - suspect that it will end up being 'pick 3 from 4'.


It's a stronger roster than last year, for sure - still short of talent in a few positions, certainly, but heading in the right direction.

[MartinD]

The big question going into preseason is, inevitably, the quarterback position. Farley was the starter for the first half of last season, and played reasonably well - his skill-set does limit the types of offence that he'll be effective in, though. Sisco put up better numbers than Farley in his starts, and is a good bit more versatile, but simply doesn't have the same upside. Tubbs didn't get much chance to play last year, as we went with the run-first offence, but is the best fit of the QBs on the roster if we go with a more balanced offence this season.

The two guys who didn't play last season are probably #4 and #5 on the depth chart at this point - Stanfield is a long-term developmental project, and probably won't be any better than backup level, while Cassidy appears to be a less-developed version of Farley.

Of course, this is based on what happened last year, when we were very short of talent at the offensive skill positions - adding Anstasiades to our receiving corps should make a big difference, as he appears to be a true #1 receiver. This should hopefully open up the passing game, as I'd expect Rodriguez, Reeves and McMurtry to get more chances to make plays.

The improved talent at receiver also suggests that the run-first offence may not be the best fit for this team - while I don't want to abandon the running game (as we still have a very good offensive line, and enough talent at RB to be productive), there's not much point in having weapons at receiver if you're not going to use them. Our receivers are also very good with the ball in hand after the catch, so it seems sensible to me to try to get them the ball more often - to do this, we need to move to a more 'conventional' offence, with more balance between run and pass, and more short passing. Of course, this is an offensive style that Farley, the highest-rated QB on the roster, simply isn't suited to at all...

On the other side of the ball, we're in a position where our defensive secondary simply isn't very good - Booker is the only player on the roster who's currently a starter-quality player. As far as I can see, there are a couple of ways to try to work around this - be a bit more conservative (a bit more double coverage, cut down on the blitzing) to have more players in coverage, or be more aggressive with the blitz to try to generate enough pressure to cover up for the lack of talent in the defensive backfield. We do have a few linebackers who are decent pass-rushers, but I'm going to start the season using the more conservative approach.

Preseason went surprisingly well - after struggling in the first two games, I made a few changes to the offensive gameplan, and this resulted in much-improved offensive performances and two wins to complete preseason play. QB Tubbs took the bulk of the offensive snaps for the team, and will be our starting QB for week 1, with Sisco as the backup. (I suspect that either Sisco or Farley will not be happy about this, but it's as simple as Tubbs being the best fit for the offence we're running.)

[MartinD]

The regular season started off with a bang - the visiting Colts were favourites by more than two touchdowns, but the Titans came out on top 23-10 with a solid all-round team performance. Another surprising win, this time on the road in San Francisco, got Tennessee to 2-0. While the results didn't quite keep up to this standard as the season went on, reaching the halfway point of the season at 6-2 was a bit of a shock - Tubbs was being solid and efficient at QB, the committee of running backs were all producing, and Harry the Greek was living up to his lofty draft position. The defence was doing its job as well - giving up yardage, particularly to the pass, yes, but making it tough for the opposition to score.

Completing the season sweep over Indianapolis in week 11 (on a 13-point comeback in the fourth quarter) moved the Titans to 8-2, but Tubbs was forced to sit out for a few weeks due to injury. Sisco did a decent job in relief, though, and Tubbs returned with the team at 10-4. A week 16 loss to St. Louis meant that the final regular season game was a must-win to clinch a playoff spot, but the game was at home against 0-15 Jacksonville, and the Titans held their nerve to finish 11-5, and beat Indianapolis to the AFC South on tiebreakers.

The Colts ended up missing out on the playoffs altogether, despite their 11-5 record, as the AFC East was the class of the league - Buffalo finished bottom of the division with a 10-6 record, and 11-5 Miami and New Jersey were the two AFC wild cards.

With the other divisions being that little bit weaker, Tennessee's 11-5 record was good enough for the #2 seed in the AFC playoffs, and a first round bye. Both Miami and New Jersey won their first-round games against weaker division champions, and the Dolphins travelled to Tennessee for the Divisional round. Looking down the respective rosters suggested that Miami had a lot more talent than we did, and the game reflected that - the Dolphins jumped out into an early 14-0 lead, and the Titans were never able to get those points back, eventually falling 21-18.

While it was disappointing to be a one-and-done playoff loser, there's no way that this season can be seen as a disappointment - given an initial roster rating of 12, 5 or 6 wins would have been acceptable, and getting up around .500 a very good year.

Miami lost the AFC Championship Game to #1 seed New England, but the Patriots came up short to the Cardinals in the Bowl - for what it's worth, Arizona haven't been all that good in this universe (posting a .402 regular season winning percentage), but this is their second championship...


Looking over the stats for the year:
QB Richard Tubbs (12 starts): 253/345-2608-21TD-10Int (QB rating of 102.9, completion percentage 73.3%, 7.56 yards/attempt)
QB Daniel Sisco (9 games, 4 starts): 68/102-711-7TD-0Int (QB rating of 109.5, completion percentage 66.7%, 6.97 yards/attempt)

Absolutely no complaints at all here - Tubbs was very solid all year, and Sisco did a nice job of filling in when Tubbs got injured.

RB Dwayne Lustgarden: 184-814-5 (4.42 yards per rush), 32-194-2 receiving (6.06 yards per catch)
RB Stan Ingram: 150-726-7 (4.84 yards per rush)
RB Bucky Hanks: 122-543-1 (4.45 yards per rush)

I had a slightly unusual set-up at RB, with Lustgarden being the third-down guy, and Ingram and Hanks sharing the early-down duties. This allowed me to use Lustgarden as our main punt returner, where he was very successful (17.1 average return, with 1 TD).

WR Harry Anastasiades: 78-1077-6 (13.8 yards per catch, 9.70 yards per target)

Harry the Greek was the only guy to put up big numbers, but we had 8 other guys with at least 100 receiving yards (Rodriguez only played in 9 games due to injury, so finished with only 30 catches for 333 yards).

C Cornell Griffin: 42/98 KRBs (42.9%), 10 pancake blocks, 2 sacks allowed
G Kelly Mathews: 30/82 KRBs (36/6%), 11 pancake blocks, 6 sacks allowed

Both guys missed time through injury, but the line in general played very solidly.

DE Jake Stautner: 25 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 26 hurries (6.8% pass rush percentage)

The guys on the defensive line did a good job all year long, but Stautner was the standout performer.

Safeties Jessie Adame and Robbie Rankin both finished with 4 interceptions, but the pass defence was (inevitably) the weak link on this team - the Titans finished 32nd in passing yards allowed (282.4).


Two Titans were mentioned in the All-Pro awards - center Cornell Griffin and kicker Orlando Emerson were named on the Second Team. (Emerson was 33/41 on the season, and did a good job for a guy who was signed as a rookie free agent and had to win the job in preseason.)


One great season in the books, but the challenge now is to maintain that level of play...

[MartinD]

Heading into the new season, none of the Titans' playing staff retired, but long-time defensive coordinator Cory Schlesinger decided to call it a day. Cary Spotwood (49, P/G/G/G/G) isn't one for worrying about kickers, but he's a pretty solid all-rounder on the defensive side of the ball. I also decide to change things up in the scouting department, with Ethan Sweezey (55, A/A/G/A/A/E/VG/A/VG) coming on board - with the team needing to address some defensive deficiencies, it makes sense to me to go with a scout who has a good reputation for evaluating young defensive players.

I have to admit to making a mistake here - RB Lustgarden and SLB Bayne are both free agents. I did check the roster for prospective free agents before the end of last season, but I didn't think of checking for 'incentive' contracts, as I never use them - unfortunately, this means that two pretty important players end up being able to test free agency... (If I'm being honest, I'm not all that concerned about Lustgarden - a very useful and versatile player, yes, but he's also a 9th-year running back - Bayne is a little bit limited, but is a seriously good run defender, and a guy I would like to bring back. Well, at least I have plenty of cap room!)

I decide not to use the franchise tag - while it would guarantee one of the two free agents returning to the team, it feels like a bit of overkill, as neither is a real star. While letting them hit free agency is a little bit risky, it's also likely to be a lot cheaper than using the tag.

The decision on who to send to Europe is pretty straightforward - CB Clay Buffington is a guy we could do with stepping up as a starter in the secondary, and would benefit from the experience.

Into free agency, and we start by turning down a trade offer from Indianapolis - while a 4th-round pick and a decent backup guard is decent value for RB Stan Ingram, I don't really want to trade away a guy who's likely to carry a lot of the load in the running game for us this season.

I offer all of our restricted free agents contracts, mostly for minimal bonus - a few of these guys are likely to be on the margins of making the 53-man roster, but the odd $10k or $20k bonus counting against next year's cap isn't really an issue at this point.

I hold back a bit on making contract offers to Lustgarden and Bayne - they're still sitting there waiting for the phone to ring by the time week 5 rolls around (which came as a bit of a surprise to me!), even though they aren't looking for all that much money. I make them both offers at this point - Lustgarden $1.80m over 2 years, Bayne $2.45m over 3 years - and both are accepted by the time week 7 rolls around.

That's our last action in free agency - we head into the draft with 51 players signed and over $41m of a $114.7m cap still available. We do have a few players who will want new contracts later on in the year, though.

Even after last season, we do have a few needs going into the draft - the secondary is very weak (with only Booker (now rated 44/44, but at the tail-end of recovering from a serious injury from last season) being a guy I consider as starter-quality, and even that's probably pushing it a little bit), and we could do with at least three starters in the defensive front seven - probably not going to fill all of those holes with one draft, but it certainly suggests that defence is the way to go... That's not to say that there are no needs on offence (the roster isn't all that strong at OT, and I suspect that I could do with adding a decent RB), but we're definitely weaker on the defensive side of the ball.

We pick between 25th and 28th in each round this year - a far cry from being the team to get things going last year! - and start with the 26th pick in the first round. There are a few very nice prospects at the top end of the draft (the top three guys on the board (DT, DE and CB) have 12 red combines between them, and all three look like stars in the making).

Of course, these guys are long gone by the time the Titans go on the clock (they went 1-2-4, for what it's worth, with the top QB splitting the three defensive guys). There are still some decent players on the board at the end of the first round, though:

RB Malcolm Small: Burner (4.43 combine) with decent running skills - appears to be a good receiver out of the backfield, too.
SE Luke Matthews: Nice combines (3 blues, including 40 (4.46) and agility (6.96) and good bars.
LDE Archie Noa: Won't be a stand-out pass-rusher, but a guy who looks like a solid 'base' end
MLB Shane Shields: First-rounder from last year who didn't sign with the Ravens - 'safe' pick, with decent combines, decent bars and low volatility
LCB Randal Cochrane: Decent bars, but combines aren't great - would be a bit of a risk to take at this point
RCB Cornelius Holmes: Similar to Cochrane - nice bars, but not really the evidence from the combine scores to back them up
SS Chad Bishop: Two red/three blue combines, nice bars - just a pity that he's a bit big to move to CB (6'0", 207)

It's pretty easy to cut this list down - Small and Matthews would be luxury picks (as in I think that they'll be good players, but we have bigger needs right now), and I don't want to take a risk on Cochrane or Holmes, even though the team really needs to add some talent at cornerback. That leaves Noa, Shields and Bishop - Noa looks like the sort of guy who isn't going to put up big numbers, but makes a defence better by doing the things that don't get attention very well, while Shields is a pretty traditional MLB (solid against the run, big hitter). Bishop is a guy I like a lot - likely to be someone I can build a secondary around - but he is a safety... It's difficult to pick between these guys - they'll all improve the team in different ways - so I need a way to break the tie. Looking at the other prospects available, it appears that there's a good chance that I'll get a starter-level safety (or safety -> corner) later on, and there's a big linebacker who's an ideal candidate for a switch to DE - the depth at linebacker isn't all that good, so I go with Shields. The initial rating of 33/60 is about what I expected, and is pretty similar to where he was last year.

It's a little while before the names on my list start getting called out from the podium:
2.9 - San Francisco take Archie Noa (28/62) - only 21% developed, so looks like a good pick here
2.16 - Atlanta take Chad Bishop (25/62) - very nice value at this point, as the combines suggest that he may be better than that 62
2.22 - St. Louis take Luke Matthews (25/63) - good pick at this point, but suspect that he won't reach that potential

I'll admit to being a bit surprised that CBs Cochrane and Holmes are still on the board, but that does raise my suspicions that those nice big bars aren't going to hold up... Small still being available is also a bit of a surprise - while I put a relatively low value on RBs (can usually find productive RBs later in the draft, or as UDFAs), Small looks like a starter-quality back, and looks to have a skillset that is a decent match for what I look for. There are a few other guys I like at this point:

FL Clarence Harriman: Nice bars, decent combines (including 4.43 40 and 7.05 agility)
LG Shaun Gallardo: Very raw (6% developed), but has a lot of potential
RDT Otis Perot: Undersized (5'11", 284), but nice combines (4 blues) - looks like he could be a pretty good DE
ILB Jorge Reblin: Big linebacker (6'4", 265) who can rush the passer, but not much in the way of cover skills - another guy who interests me as a conversion project to DE
LCB William Sheriff: Another CB with nice bars, but not much from the combines
FS Alan Ratcliff: Nice combines (including 4.44 40) and good bars - would be converted to corner

Harriman and Gallardo are good players in positions I don't need to address - Small comes under the same category, although I'm very tempted at this point (as I think that he would be very good value for a late second-rounder, and I do need a running back). While I like Reblin a lot, I suspect that he might make it to the Titans' third-round pick - he's 5th on the ILB list at this point, and has negligible coverage skills. Perot looks like he'll have nice skills, but his lack of size puts me off a little bit. Ratcliff is another guy who might slide a bit further, and doesn't have a great solecismic score. That leaves the cornerbacks - of the three, I like Holmes the best, so he becomes a Titan. The initial rating of 29/55 suggests that he isn't going to be more than a good nickel back (or borderline starter) in time, but he's probably good enough to start for us right away.

No waiting around for my list to be depleted this time - the next three picks are guys I was looking at:
2.26 - New Jersey take William Sheriff (34/58) - definitely won't reach that potential, as he's 67% developed
2.27 - Miami take Randal Cochrane (33/55) - pretty much what I expected
2.28 - Indianapolis take Otis Perot (28/49) - would probably be rated higher at DE, but probably better that I passed with 2.25
3.4 - Detroit take Malcolm Small (49/59) - probably the steal of the draft for the Lions here
3.27 - Indianapolis take Clarence Harriman (27/54) - very nice value here - 20% developed suggests that this is a 'true' rating

That leaves three players from my second-round list: Gallardo, Reblin and Sheriff. With DE and CB/S being need positions, it comes down to a simple choice between Reblin and Sheriff, and I go with the big linebacker. The initial rating of 22/41 is pretty much what I expected, but the conversion to DE (at 91%) moves that up to 30/62 (at 23% developed) - suspect that he won't reach that potential, but I'd be happy if I could get a 50-rated DE from a late third-round pick.

Gallardo (12/64) goes to Houston with the 6th pick of the fourth round - a project, but a guy who could be a solid starter with time. I thought that there was a chance that Ratliff would make it to Tennessee's next pick, but San Diego take him at 4.11 - an initial rating of 17/61 reflects the 17% developed, and he's another guy that should develop pretty well in the next few seasons.

With three decent defensive players added to the roster, I have a bit more freedom to add 'best player available' from now on. There are still holes on the defensive side of the ball, though, so I go with SLB Kris Herbert with pick 4.27 - 20/47 is the initial rating, but he has a good chance of earning a roster spot this year. S Bernard Fitzgerald is our fifth-round pick - even coming in at 21/46, he'll have a chance to compete for a starting position in our secondary (although that's more of an indictment of the lack of talent we have at safety than a glowing reference for Fitzgerald's playing abilities...) RB Ian Vieane (33/48) is the first offensive player selected by the Titans, and will have a chance to earn a role in our RB rotation. Return specialist SE Ron Swift (13/30) is our last pick - he's not going to be a guy we want to have on the field as a receiver, but a 10'5" jump suggests that he may well be worth a roster spot purely as a returner.


Onto late free agency, and a look at this year's undrafted QBs - there's at least one roster spot available for a QB, as J.C. Farley won't be back (he thought that he should be the starter last season, and is just a touch unhappy), and Floyd Cassidy isn't a great fit for the system. We end up signing a few guys:

Jerry Serrano (18/43) - best current rating of the QBs available, and looks to be a reasonable fit for the system
Curtis Dirita (17/47) - looks like there's some physical talent there, but a 16 solecismic suggests that this may not end well
Adrian Nieves (12/34) - more of an 'intangibles' guy than a talented passer
Eddie Bosela (10/25) - on combines more than anything - definitely needs to have a 'bump' in training camp to stick around

I'm not sure if any of these guys are going to stick around long-term - Serrano appears to be favourite at this point, but you never know what might happen in training camp...

[MartinD]

A look at the roster after camp:

Quarterback

Bosela, Eddie          (1st) 13/25 (+3/+1)
Nieves, Adrian         (1st) 15/34 (+3/-2)
Dirita, Curtis         (1st) 19/43 (+2/-6)
Serrano, Jerry         (1st) 22/43 (+3/-1)
Cassidy, Floyd         (2nd) 19/36 (+2/0 )
Sisco, Daniel          (3rd) 24/31 (+2/+1)
Tubbs, Richard         (3rd) 29/36 (+3/+1)

Looks like we'll still be going with Tubbs backed up by Sisco, but Serrano is likely to stick around, and that +1 on Bosela is interesting...

Running back

Ingram, Stan           (3rd) 41/41 (+2/+1)
Jennings, Lance        (1st) 29/38 (+1/-2)
Hanks, Bucky           (3rd) 33/33 (+1/+1)
Lustgarten, Dwayne     (9th) 47/47 (-6/-6)
Vieane, Ian            (1st) 36/49 (+3/+1)
Young, Phil            (6th) 28/28 (-5/-5)
Stanton, Geoff         (1st) 30/36 (+2/-1)
Tuiasosopo, Marshall   (1st) 30/35 (+1/-1)

Looks like I might have found a decent player in Vieane, and he'll be in the mix along with Lustgarden, Ingram and Hanks - tough to see any of the others making the final 53.

Fullback

Ager, Charles          (2nd) 27/38 (+2/-1)
Adams, Will            (3rd) 45/45 (+3/-1)
Huston, Arnie          (1st) 27/54 (+3/-6)
May, Brett             (1st) 29/44 (+3/-3)

A bit of overkill taking four fullbacks into training camp, but the two rookies were promising enough to want to take a closer look... It may look like a foregone conclusion that Adams will be the one guy to make the roster, but May in particular has a nice skill-set for what I want a FB to do.

Tight end

Antonick, Phillip      (1st) 30/44 (+3/+1)
Norton, Ronald         (2nd) 34/45 (+3/0 )
Hartman, Desmond       (3rd) 36/40 (+2/0 )
McMurtry, Billy        (3rd) 60/60 ( 0/0 )

McMurtry and Hartman will be starter and backup, but the other spot is up for grabs - at this point, Antonick is probably a slight favourite (and that +1 definitely improves his chances...)

Wide receiver

Harvey, Otis           (1st) 21/40 (+1/-5)
Force, B.J.            (1st) 22/42 (+1/-8)
Warren, Dixon          (2nd) 23/36 (+1/0 )
Anastasiades, Harry    (2nd) 74/74 ( 0/0 )
Reeves, Cory           (3rd) 40/40 ( 0/0 )
Goodwin, Ronnie        (2nd) 33/50 (+3/0 )
Rodriguez, Lee         (7th) 54/54 ( 0/0 )
Swift, Ron             (1st) 15/30 (+2/0 )
Hopson, Alfred         (6th) 41/41 ( 0/0 )

Five spots are pretty much settled - Anastasiades and Rodriguez will start, Reeves and Hopson the main backups, and Goodwin is a solid 5th receiver. I'm probably going to have 6 receivers on the roster, which means 4 guys for 1 spot...

Center

Billings, Conrad       (6th) 53/53 (+1/+1)
Griffin, Cornell       (6th) 86/86 ( 0/0 )

No change here, and no need to change.

Guard

Schwab, Jerald         (6th) 57/57 (-1/-1)
Mathews, Kelly         (4th) 83/83 ( 0/0 )
Fletcher, Jimmie       (8th) 49/49 (+1/+1)
Bernard, Omar          (2nd) 30/45 (+3/+1)

Again, no change, as this is a fairly settled group.

Tackle

Ashford, Devin         (1st) 24/38 (+2/-2)
Wynn, Marty            (3rd) 36/47 (+4/-1)
Burks, Irv             (4th) 50/50 (-1/-1)
Rydze, Leonard         (4th) 46/46 (+1/+1)
Arevalo, Curtis        (2nd) 18/34 (+3/0 )
Samuels, Antoine       (1st) 22/37 (+2/-1)

I suspect that I may end up going with the four guys from last year - Ashford is effectively a less-talented version of Burks (can't run-block, but decent in pass-protection), and that initial positive movement last year from Arevalo may earn him another year on the roster.

Kicking specialists

Antonik, Jon           (2nd) 47/50 ( 0/0 )
Wages, Claude          (1st) 42/58 (-2/-8)
Emerson, Orlando       (2nd) 37/37 (-1/-1)
Rasby, Roger           (1st) 42/55 (+3/-2)

At this point, it's looking like Antonik over Wages at punter, and Rasby replacing last year's All-Pro selection Emerson (yes, NFL does stand for Not For Long...)

Defensive end

Stautner, Jake         (6th) 40/40 (-5/-5)
Lewis, Rich            (3rd) 28/41 (+3/0 )
Washington, Quinn      (1st) 20/36 (+1/-7)
Reblin, Jorge          (1st) 35/61 (+5/-1)
Wallace, Renaldo       (2nd) 24/34 (+4/0 )
Williams, Ernest       (2nd) 31/33 (+2/0 )

Looks like we might have a pretty good player in Reblin - he'll probably replace either Wallace or Williams, as this year's DEs will bear a fairly close resemblance to last year's guys. (There may be a 'newcomer from last year's team, though...)

Defensive tackle

Upshaw, Heath          (8th) 62/62 (+1/+1)
Buckley, O.J.          (2nd) 33/47 (+2/0 )
Tumbleson, Carlton     (3rd) 42/54 (+5/0 )
Joyner, Adam           (3rd) 48/51 (+3/0 )

Another group that hasn't changed over the offseason.

Linebacker

Shields, Shane         (1st) 38/59 (+5/-1)
Kaplan, Winston        (2nd) 34/46 (+4/0 )
Herbert, Kris          (1st) 23/48 (+4/0 )
Bayne, Johnnie         (6th) 47/47 ( 0/0 )
Williamson, Oliver     (3rd) 30/37 ( 0/-1)
Mason, Antoine         (3rd) 27/35 (-1/-3)
Hatcher, Marvin        (3rd) 26/34 (+2/+1)
Castillo, Rondell      (1st) 22/46 (+5/-1)

I like to have a run-stopper at MLB, and Kaplan doesn't fit that mould, so he's going to be moved to DE (where his pass-rush skills will be of more use) - that changes his ratings to 26/47. Of the other players in this group, it's Mason that's on the shakiest ground after a poor camp.

Cornerback

Buffington, Clay       (2nd) 34/57 (+5/0 )
Spencer, Stan          (3rd) 34/34 (+2/+1)
Addison, Marty         (1st) 27/35 (+2/-1)
Wagner, Dominic        (2nd) 22/38 (+2/0 )
Holmes, Cornelius      (1st) 34/53 (+5/-2)
Pettersson, Marvin     (3rd) 34/34 (+3/0 )

Cutting this group to five might appear straightforward, but both Wagner (great special-teamer) and Addison (useful kick returner) offer something more than being borderline-adequate backup corners.

Safety

Poly, Jamal            (2nd) 25/38 (+4/+1)
Rankin, Robbie         (3rd) 35/35 (+3/-6)
Fitzgerald, Bernard    (1st) 25/44 (+4/-2)
Booker, Chad           (5th) 44/44 ( 0/0 )
Adame, Jessie          (3rd) 27/31 (+2/-1)
McNeil, Melvin         (1st) 24/38 (+1/-5)
Tanyavutti, Andre      (1st) 21/33 (+4/+5)

I can make a pretty good case for keeping both Fitzgerald and Tanyavutti, so the veterans from last year (Poly and Adame in particular) will have to look sharp in preseason to stick around...


While the roster rating doesn't really suggest it, this is definitely a stronger team than last year's, particularly on the defensive side. Whether we can catch lightning in a bottle for a second straight year is a totally different story, of course!

[MartinD]

(Note that I installed the v6.3 update at this point.)

Preaseason didn't go particularly well - four losses, and a few players carrying injuries into the regular season. Preseason isn't always a good indicator of how the regular season is going to go, though, and road wins against Houston and (16-point favourite) New York gave the Titans a 2-0 start. A wild game in Baltimore saw the Titans move to 3-0, with Tubbs throwing for a team-record 453 yards in a 43-37 overtime win. Two tight losses at home were followed by another road win - 4-2, made up of 0-2 at home and 4-0 on the road...

We finally get our first home win in week 8, although beating Houston, still looking for their first win, isn't really anything to shout about. Our second home win is a much bigger deal - a divisional win over Indianapolis to take over as leaders of the AFC South. That loss seemed to send the Colts into a tailspin, as they went from 7-2 to 8-7 - they did get revenge in week 17, though, and that Titans loss dropped us to 11-5, and behind 12-4 Baltimore for the #2 seed in the AFC playoffs.

No week off to recover, then, and Buffalo as the visitors on Wild Card Weekend - the Bills had too much for us, and our season finishes after one playoff game for the second straight year. The Bengals won three straight on the road to be the AFC representative in the Bowl, and took down San Francisco to become champions for the first time in this universe.


Going through our top performers this year:

QB Richard Tubbs: 305/458, 3617 yards, 31 TD, 9 Int (QB rating 104.8)

A very solid year - while he's only rated in the mid-30s, I think that Tubbs has shown enough in his two seasons as a starter to make me think that he's our QB for the forseeable future.

RB Ian Vieane: 166 carries, 757 yards, 5 TD (4.56 yards per carry)

The leader of our three-headed monster at running back - Lustgarden (518 yards) and Ingram (495 yards) also had decent seasons. It's very possible that Vieane will get more playing time next year, as Lustgarden might not be back.

FL Harry Anastasiades: 73 catches, 1092 yards, 4 TDs (15.0 yards per catch)
SE Lee Rodriguez: 53 catches, 714 yards, 4 TDs (13.5 yards per catch)
TE Billy McMurtry: 34 catches, 506 yards, 7 TDs (14.9 yards per catch)

Solid years for our three main receivers, although Tubbs did a good job of spreading the ball around again.

C Cornell Griffin (12 games): 24/65 KRB, 10 pancakes, 0 sacks allowed
LG Kelly Mathews: 33/95 KRBs, 14 pancakes, 1 sack allowed
LT Irv Burks: 30/72 KRBs, 2 pancakes, 5 sacks allowed

The offensive line was steady and reliable all year - a few little tweaks to allow for injuries, but nothing out of the ordinary.

K Orlando Emerson: 28/38 FG (9/16 40+, 2/3 50+), 40/40 XP
P Jon Antonik: 43.3 yards/punt gross, 36.4 yards/punt net

Both a little bit down on last year, but perfectly adequate performances.

The defensive side of the ball was a bit of a mess for most of the year - had quite a few injuries, particularly in the secondary, so there weren't many stand-out performers. The leading pass-rushers were DEs Stautner and Kaplan, both with 8.5 sacks, while undrafted rookies Addison and Tanyavutti led the team with 3 interceptions each.


Only one Titan made the All-Pro teams - a Second Team spot for LG Kelly Mathews.


While it was disappointing to have another one-and-done playoff visit, this is a young team, and there are quite a few holes that need to be filled - a couple of good drafts and some solid development from the players we already have, and this team should be a contender...