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11-23-2000, 10:28 AM
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#1 | ||
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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The Ohio Players, 2021-
The Ohio Players – a new beginning
My “empty cupboard” Browns franchise evolved over time into a “perennial powerhouse” club, and so I’ve decided to use the 2021 transition year to make a switch in philosophy, as well as venue. The Browns are no more, and we have moved into a fabulous new facility in Columbus, Ohio—and we will go as the Ohio Players. From this point forward, we’ll play under a range of more challenging house rules—trying to maintain realism, but also to increase the game’s overall challenge. Here’s the rundown, as I intend to follow them: -No signing non-rookie free agents outside the 20-stage FA period (in particular, no after-camp signings, the pool is just too deep and talented) -No signing undrafted rookies or 2nd year FAs to contracts longer than their demands (no unrealistic 7r cheap deals) -All FAs requesting a signing bonus will get at least 25% of total contract value up front -No contract renegotiations until the final year of a player’s existing deal -No more than one trade initiated by us per year (I may cut this to zero in time) -Start every year with a full 53-man roster -Ticket prices never the league’s highest in any category I think this should make for a tougher game, but I candidly fear the consequences. Without the ability to fatten up the roster with adequate long-term contracts and post-camp fill-ins, I’m fairly certain that the overall quality of the roster will decline (which I want), but I’m not sure what will be left for me to do. I don’t think it will be too enjoyable to have to cycle a group of 15-20 one-year rookies through the team every season—but it’s possible that’s what I end up with. We’ll see. |
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11-23-2000, 10:29 AM
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#2 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Team History Recap
Here is a rundown of the team performance to date. I emptied out the redistributed Browns for 2000, and quick simmed the season with a roster of undrafted rookies. I took over in earnest in 2001, and played “empty cupboard” from there: never any real NFL players. 2007 was the year I drafted QB Jesse Morse with the #4 overall draft pick, and we’ve been in the playoffs every season since (which would be a remarkable record in the NFL—probably pretty normal in FOF).
[This message has been edited by QuikSand (edited 11-23-2000).] |
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11-23-2000, 10:31 AM
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#3 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2021 preseason
We return a team largely intact from the 2020 season, where a loss in the AFC Championship game prevented us from defending our 2020 title. Our coaching staff and scouts are solid (particularly my outstanding scout) and they will stay in place for now. We have no retirements, despite having an aging corps of players at several positions. We have 30 players signed for contracts through this year. This leaves us 23 players to acquire, and $43m in room under the leagues’ cap of $188m – after the annual “bump” in cap room, we should have about 25% of the total to work with. As I survey my player corps, I have a QB making about 11% of our salary cap, a CB making about 6%, and a RB, CB and two safeties each making just about 5.5%. My players testing the free agent waters are led by my best pass rusher, DE Cedric Corsarie. He was an original draft pick of mine, a third rounder. I let him walk after his 3yr rookie deal, but re-acquired him after training camp when nobody else had resigned him. In that fourth year he took a great leap forward in ratings and production, and I signed him for big bucks after that. He’s stepped in as out most reliable pass rusher in the five years since, battling injuries to notch 65 sacks over those 5 years. He’ll be a top priority to keep, and a big ticket for sure. WR Cary Harvey has been quite good for us, as a slot receiver and punt returner. He has just concluded his first real-money contract for us, and he’d be good to keep. Doing so will mean finding $10m or so in cap room, but he is probably worth it as an all-around contributor. His signing may well mean the release of WR Calvin Kummerfeldt, a $7m reserve WR who is okay, but nowhere near as productive as Harvey. LB Matt Giles is also a free agent- he is home grown as well. He was a 6th round pick who “broke out” in his first camp and continued to develop afterward. He is now my best LB, after finishing his first real-money deal. and is another top priority to return. DT Claude Archuleta was my selection #2 overall in the 2016 draft, and he did not disappoint. He has been a fabulous stopper up the middle, but his contract has been huge. He has now concluded his rookie deal, and he will be looking for big open-market dollars to stay. This makes four of my own players who will be asking for big money—that $43m or so is going to spend rather quickly. LB Billy Joe Phillips was a first round pick in 2017, and he was worked out okay. My generally good coach is pretty lousy with LBs, and Phillips’ development was stalled a bit as a result. He’s just reaching his potential, but he probably won’t be worth paying to keep around. I have several young players who will be RFAs, the most important being QB Kenny Parker. He’d be worth keeping around as a future starter is Morse has retired last season. However, with Morse still in charge, I can’t turn things over quite yet, and I certainly won’t be able to afford paying two QBs starter-caliber money. Parker will certainly grab big bucks, though he’s totally unproven. WR Frank Willis got his first 1,000-yard season last year as a starter for us, but he is likely to go elsewhere as we struggle to stay under the salcap. He is solid, but probably not irreplaceable. The rest of the RFAs are nice players, but unlikely to cause a sinking ship here. This offseason promises to be a harsh reality. I really cannot see my team retaining all four of those young star players, but if I do it will mean making several cuts elsewhere to do so. My most tedious position will be safety—I paid big open-market dollars to retain my two long-time starters there, and they are real defensive leaders. However, if forced to choose between my one star-caliber pass rusher and my second-best safety, I may have to give in. I decide to use the franchise tag on DE Cedric Corsarie. I know that DE is a position where demands tend to get steep, and I think he may be the single most important of the “big four” to retain. DT Claude Archuleta has more talent by the numbers, but positionally DTs tend to be a bit cheaper, I believe. This means that I’ll have to make impressive FA bids to get guys like Archuleta and WR Harvey. LB Giles is probably the lowest priority of the big four, simply because I have some talent there already, and might have an easier time filling in there as well. I don’t like the prospect of losing any of them, to be honest—they might be 4 of the 5 or 6 most important building blocks on the team. I was just so cap-strained last season that I was unable to extend any of them (which would have cost millions last year). more to come… |
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11-24-2000, 06:54 AM
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#4 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2021 preseason, continued
Incidentally, the team’s profitability plunged last year—we lost $70m as fans were not willing to support a lame duck team, despite our title run in 2019. Regardless, with the new fans down I-71, we feel pretty certain that the new stadium will be packed full of fans who’ve been starving for something to do on Sunday, after they have dedicated their Sundays to the Buckeyes. Now, the Players will fit right into the weekly schedule—certainly taking their rightful place ahead of god and other such stuff. As we start the FA period, a trade offer comes in for C Ronnie Blair. He’s excellent, but he’s in the last year of his rookie contract. I almost certainly cannot keep both him and my other top-grade C, Cole Unsbee (though I used Unsbee at LT last season, which worked well). The offer is pick #20 of the 2nd round—a quality player, I’m sure, who would sign for four years reasonably cheaply. Tough call. I put in initial 4yr bids of $48m for DT Archuleta, $42m for LB Giles, and $56m for WR Harvey. I’m very worried about the deal with Harvey—he’s not an exceptionally talented wideout, and though I like him (and honestly need him) that’s an awful lot to pay. I work out another offer of $54m, but I honestly do not think I can let him go. In the FA market, I notice that Philadelphia has let QB Rodney Harden test the waters. He is a 167th year veteran, one year older than my guy Morse, and the two have been rivals at some distance for quite a while. Harden looked like he might have been finished a couple seasons ago, but last year he arose from the ashes and won MVP honors. Now, he’ll see what his services are worth—I suspect he’ll haul in $20m or more. RB Darnell Foster from Dallas is also in the FA pool—he’ll probably command huge dollars as well. He was a #1 overall draft pick, and has been among the league rushing leaders annually for a lousy Dallas team. I find a nice FA gem—a 2nd year C who is seeking a 4yr deal for less than 2x veteran minimum. It looks like he’ll develop okay, so I put in an offer, hoping to lock him up. If I do, it will make trading C Ronnie Blair away much more palatable. I also put in a bid on a decent young tackle, who I hope to secure for three years. In the first week, C Jorge McKenzie signs with us. That’s the good news. The bad news is that Washington moved quickly with a huge offer for DT Claude Archuleta—and he joins them for $16m a year. I have the high bid for LB Giles, but WR Harvey will be tough. The Saints have put up over $64m in a four year deal – over $10m over my bid. I don’t see any way to outdo that offer- I might be able to afford Harvey, but then I’d have to sacrifice two other high quality players to pony up $16m for a single wide receiver. I got to $57, but I’ll have to hope that loyalty brings him home. Two of the grand old men of the league, QBs Ernest Montemayor (Chicago) and Rodney Harden (Philadelphia) are likely to return to their teams, for big money. In week 2, WR Cary Harvey signs a huge deal with Philadelphia, and we lose the anchor to our now-depleted receiving corps. I may now use what funds I have to pursue a long term deal with my young RFA, WR Frank Willis. I do manage to secure T Kerry Shea for a three year deal at about $2m a season. I watch through week 6, and then Miami steps in with a bigger bid than I have on LB Matt Giles. In week 7, I finally land Giles, and have one of my “big four” in the fold. After losing DT Archuleta, I have to consider ponying up for DT Jeff Campana, a 5th year player who I brought in on a one-year deal last season. Campana is a solid run stopper, but doesn’t have anywhere near the complete game that Archuleta had. Regardless, Campana is looking for $9m a season, and I don’t see it. I may pick up a fill-in caliber player, but Campana is too pricey, unless his demands drop as the FA period goes on. At the end of the FA period, Campana still has not been signed, but his demand is still high: $18 over two years. I simply don’t feel like that’s the best way to spend my money, and I have to pass. Instead, I make an offer to DT Ty Tatum, who is willing to listen to a little over $2m per season for three years. He takes the deal in week 18. I then decide to pursue LB Billy Joe Phillips, who has gone unclaimed through 18 weeks. I put in an offer to tie him up for 4 years-- $26m total. In the very last week, I make a survey of my roster. I decide to spend the money, and lock up WR Wills to a 4-year extension. I also make my peace with DE Cedric Corsarie. The two deals get me right to the point of affording my expected rookie class. I feel like I will need more cap room, and I decide that the best thing to do is to release WR Calvin Kummerfeldt. That clears up $7m in room, which I can take to the FA market now. CB Kerry deMarco is on the bubble—he might yet get the axe as well. The remainder of the FA period honestly doesn’t bring great advantages, and I end up not making a major move. We head into the draft period still looking for help in several areas. I have $18.6m in cap room, which should be enough to pay for the draft and enough fill-in rookies to complete the roster. Ugh, this has been a very, very tight off-season. In the draft, I need to add a WR who can get significant playing time this year. I also need to acquire a QB who can step in and back up Morse—though the ceiling isn’t too high there. I also need contributors at RB and DT, plus roster fillers in lots of places. When my pick (#33) comes up, I’m convinced—this is an absolutely awful draft. I decide to go in my need area with my first pick, but I’m not thrilled about the selection available at WR. Amateur Draft Report: Rnd 1 - Max Wiggins, WR, Maryland Rnd 2 - Ellis Kley, FB, Northwestern Rnd 2 - Mitchell Dunn, DT, Wisconsin Rnd 3 - Preston Favre, DT, Penn State Rnd 4 - Chuck Pendergrass, WR, Kent Rnd 5 - Ben Hawkins, QB, Central Connecticut Rnd 6 - Wes McKenzie, RB, California Rnd 6 - Jesse Newton, WR, Arizona Rnd 7 - Jermaine Goebel, CB, Maryland The two DTs are both pretty strong—Dunn is balanced, and Favre is more of a pass rusher. They ought to be real contributors. WR Wiggins is a guy I’d normally be pleased to take in late round two—this year, he’s the best I could find in late round one. I end up with three rookie wideouts, to hopefully help shore up the weakened corps. RB McKenzie has some big play ability, but he’s not big-time stuff. I get a trade offer for C Cole Unsbee—he’s the OL I had hoped to keep (I’d rather trade away Blair). I decide instead to use my one free trade, and I send C Blair and T Lucas off to Boise City in exchange for their #1 pick next year. I think it’s a good trade—they are getting two very solid OL contributors. I may end up with a pretty early pick next year, and some more cap room. After training camp, I get what I believe to be a team first—a first round “boom.” WR Max Wiggins steps up through camp, and looks like he’ll be the real thing after all, with key potential ratings in the 80+ range (most up about 15 points or so from the draft view). Everyone else looks to be on target. I get trade offers. A 3rd round pick for FB Barry Jacobson—it’s a good deal, as I have just gotten deep at FB (with this draft) and Jacobson’s contract ends this year. I take it. We get down to our 53 limit, and have $7.1m in cap room. Of course, I could have used the cap room to retain players for this year, but we simply couldn’t use it all in advance. Regardless, I believe that our team is sound, though a lot thinner than last season. Here is the scout overview:
Well, this team has many of the same anchors as last year’s incarnation, but many extreme differences. I now have practically not depth at the major skill positions—if QB Morse, RB Harper, or even a top WR goes down, I’ll have a major dropoff. This was a positively brutal offseason, but I’m not sure that it will continue. I look at next year’s main free agents, and the group is nowhere near as imposing as this year’s. Add in the fact that Kerry deMarco’s huge salary will be lifted, and we should be in even better shape to bring in two young studs (extra #1 pick next year) and continue building a younger core of players. For this year, we should still be a playoff team, but I doubt we’re a title contender. If we are, it will be because of a very cohesive secondary and a few star performers on offense. We’ll see. |
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11-24-2000, 08:11 AM
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#5 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2021 season
I get through preseason with only one major injury—CB Randal Terrell has torn a calf muscle, and will miss a month or so. I move SS Mcgraw over to CB for a while, and bring up young S Woody to fill the space at safety. As we start off the season, we have cohesion ratings of 89-69-76-100. We get rolling with three wins over weak opponents- none are blowouts. In week 4, we face Jacksonville, who is 2-1. We shut them out 17-9 at home, and move to a strong-looking 4-0. However, we then lose a close one in Pittsburgh, to fall to 4-1. We then lose again in Baltimore (also by 3 pts) and we tumble to 4-2. Following a much-needed bye week, we win in Jacksonville, and then even the score when Pittsburgh visits—we get to the halfway point at 6-2. We’re not pounding anyone, but we do manage to extend to 10-2 with four more wins. Once again, a late season clash with rival Kansas City may have quite a say in the playoff seedings. We stand at 11-2, and they are at 10-2-1. Miami is 12-2, so the winner of this game is likely to share the bye week with the Dolphins. The Chiefs win it 27-21 and we drop into third in the conference. We then beat Buffalo on the road, though, to move to 12-3. The Bills drop to 10-5—they will be in the playoffs, but as a wild card behind the Dolphins. We win out to finish 13-3, which is certainly a very solid record. However, it’s only good enough for the third-best division winner, meaning that we have to play a wild card game. We’ll host the Chargers in our opener. Stat leaders: QB Jesse Morse: 3,552 yds, 65.9%, 7.91 ypa, 18/18, 86.6 – a lot lee to work with this time around RB Corey Harper: 327-1,441 yds, 13 TD (4.4 ypc) – another solid season from the perennial all-pro WR Max Wiggins: 77-1,075 yds, 5 TD (65.2%, 8 drops) – a fabulous season for the rookie we needed C Cole Unsbee: 45/111 KRB (40.5%), 4 SA – a remarkable season from my anchor lineman LB Matt Giles: 64 tackles, 1 sack – played through injuries to lead LB corps DE Cedric Corsarie: 30 tackles, 14 sacks, 10 hurries – got it done again as our outside pressure CB Edward Martinez: 5 int, 1 TD, 52.8 PDQ – played well as ball hawk in nickel coverages Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 4.0/2.9/3.8 Passing: 7.7/6.3/6.6 Our run defense jumps off the page here—I was sure we would suffer from the loss of Archuleta, but this performance was among our very best. I wonder if the lack of many blowout games is a contributing factor—less time spent in a “prevent” type defense, which might be inclined to give up fairly big draws and underneath plays… Regardless, the team played well, and we head into the playoffs in fairly good condition. DE Bernie Mears has a very serious back injury, and he may not play again at all. Past him, we’re in pretty good shape. We shoud handle San Diego, but the top AFC teams will prove tough again. Tampa Bay looks like the class of the NFC at 14-2, but I won’t count out Rodney Harden’s 10-6 Eagles quite yet. |
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11-24-2000, 08:12 AM
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#6 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2021 postseason
We seem like a mismatch for the Chargers, who eeked into the playoffs at 9-7. However, as they drive for an early TD, I realize that we’re going to actually have to show up and play this game. Regrettably, the Chargers seem to be using a “body bag” strategy, and they lay out Morse with an early injury. However, my rookie backup Hawkins comes in and leads a TD drive in the early second quarter. Hawkins has great mobility, and passable passing skills—he’s not a long-term solution by any means, but he looked the most ready-to-play of the rookies I could find late. The second quarter is a punting exchange, but SD capitalizes on a Harper fumble to set up a FG to lead 10-7 at the half. The third quarter is another field position battle, and we are gradually winning it, but not enough to actually score any points. Early in the fourth, they punt from their 11, and we take over at the SD 42. This is a big chance to get a first down or two and at least tie the game up with a FG. Hawkins drops, throws a swing pass to Harper, and he does the rest—a 42 yards TD play to put to rest the notion of a field goal! After we stop the Chargers, we drive for another FG, to lead 17-10. The next play is a pass that my safety McGraw intercept, and takes it all the way back for a TD. At 24-10, this game is suddenly out of hand. San Diego opens up, and this time they march for a TD to get right back into the picture at 24-17. We are able to run some clock, and then stop them on defense, and we put away a 24-17 win. The bad news—Jesse Morse is listed as “out” with a bad hip pointer. He will certainly miss our playoff run—which will be severely compromised by his absence. We head into Kansas City, the team who has been a playoff rival each of the last few years behind QB Howard Huffman. They seem to have an improved running game this year, which certainly helps their chances. They get the ball first, but DE Corsarie hits Huffman from behind causing a fumble. We take over at our own 49, but can’t do anything with it. After an exchange of punts, the KC RB Fitzgerald takes a first-and-ten carry for 68 yards and a TD. Hawkins responds with a TD strike on the next drive, hitting Humphrey for 35 yards. We’re all even. The Chiefs’ next drive extends into the second quarter, and earns them another TD. We’re in trouble—their offense seems too comfortable pushing around my defense. We are having no such consistency. At the end of the half, we stall their 2-minute drill to hold them to a FG, and it’s 17-7 at the half. We’re going to need breakaway big plays from our defense, special teams or perhaps Harper if we’re going to get back into this game. In the third, we get a big play as we recover a fumble at the KC 41. Unfortunately, we cannot move, and then KC blocks our punt attempt—they come out better off on the exchange. In six plays, they are in our end zone again, and it looks bad now. While our defense plays fairly well, our offense simply cannot muster anything at all, and we tumble 34-7. We get only 125 yards of total offense as Hawkins is simply smothered by a defense prepared for him. Toward the end of the season, I release T Jamal Hughey, who was a first round flop. He regressed again after this season, and I decide to eat the salary cap hit for his bonus rather than pony up another inflated salary for this bum. If DE Bernie Mears retires from his injury, that will mean two years of top picks with nothing to show for them. I work out a new deal for C Cole Unsbee, who definitely earned it. Unfortunately, S Quinn Woody is unwilling to re-sign, as he is angry about playing time. I need to hope that my expensive but outstanding safety combo returns for another season. Tampa Bay crushes Miami in the Superbowl, 27-0. It’s their first win since 2007, when Rodney Harden took them to the promised land. Harden’s Eagles were the team that gave the Bucs their best game in the playoffs, a 27-24 scare in the NFC Championship game. There is lots of red on the awards board. RB Corey Harper again gets laureled—he gets the big three: first team RB, Offensive player of the year, and NFL MVP. A great bunch of hardware for the mantlepiece. C Cole Unsbee and DE Cedric Corsarie are also named to the first team group. I notice that a rookie FA safety that I had last year, Carlton Wilkerson, made second team all-pro. I let him go amid his ridiculous demands, but it seems that this year he developed a bit more, and put up 6 interceptions to get his due as a starter for the raiders, making $880k. Who knew? DT Claude Archuleta got second team honors for the Redskins. LB Chad Keenan, a one year fill-in at LB for us last season, was picked up by Tampa Bay and became the Defensive Player of the Year. TE Jake Hardy, my TE from last season, made second team this year with Kansas City. Next year should be a building experience—I don’t think we’re going to have the same measure of trouble we did this season—bad planning on my part allowed too many quality FAs to come up at once. |
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11-26-2000, 11:21 AM
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#7 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2022 preseason
Despite our team’s advancing age, and the widespread belief that we’re past our prime, we managed to avoid any retirements. This means we return many high quality veteran players for this season, forestalling any wholesale “rebuilding” effort. I had feared that DE Bernie Mears (my early first round pick from 2019) might retire following a nasty injury last season, but he has come back (though he’ll miss time this year from the injury). On the bottom line, things looked great. The revenues went through the roof with the new stadium, and we made tons of money. This will help, as we need to hire a coach, and I’m committed to going after an improvement over Mr. Killens, whose specific shortcomings are evident on the team’s roster. I think even an equally-qualified coach with a different mix of abilities would probably be good for this team, which has been under Killens for at least 8 seasons. My new coach, Donnell Vance, has one weakness area—running backs. I’ll hope to hold onto Corey Harper and not rely on anyone we develop from within. His other ratings are okay—he’s “good” with both OL and LB, the weaknesses from my previous coach. With no retirements, we have 32 players signed. The cap is $191m this year, and we have a little over $27m in room this season. My main free agent is CB Kerry deMarco, who was a modestly-talented CB who stuck around for a stint making real money—lots of it. He will now leave, as he is furious about his playing time (despite being an every-game starter for the last two seasons- another example of the “once they get angry, you never get them back” phenomenon/bug). I have a number of quality restricted free agents (younger players) including G Jimmie Dowell, DT RickyHancock, S Quinn Woody (who is also angry), and several skill position players. A curious case is LB Lamar Barrett, whose potentials jumped during this last season as he languished on my bench as an undrafted free agent. It will be interesting to see what he demands. With no obvious target for my franchise tag, I contemplate placing it onto CB Kerry deMarco. I intend to try to deal him later in the off-season, as he would definitely not stay and play here. I ultimately decide not to play games with the tag, and I don’t use it this year. I get an offer from Washington—their busted first round WR from last year plus their late second round pick this year for CB Randal Terrell. I’m torn—Terrell is a decent CB, but he’s been an anchor for us, and since we’re losing deMarco this year anyway, he’s pretty important to the current secondary. However, he is making over $10m this season, and I may be able to do better in the open market. I decide to take the deal—making CB my absolute top priority for this preseason. I decide to wait and see with WR Corey Dodge (received in the deal)—his 5yr salary (no bonus) might be worth paying if he could develop a bit this year. My cap room has jumped to $35.2m. Figuring that among my young players, I’d like to re-sign G Dowell ($8m?) and possibly DT Hancock ($10m?) – I ought to have some money available for free agency. I do, as a result of last year’s big trade, hold the #2 overall draft pick this season, too—meaning that I have a chance to acquire a terrifically expensive but potentially fabulous player. In my preview of the draft, I determine that the player I’m likely to take is at DT, unless I deal the pick away. This might affect my interest in signing DT Hancock, or vice versa. I decide to pursue T Jesse Sanford. Tackle was my top priority for improvement before I shed all my cornerbacks, and Sanford is a very high quality tackle. I put in an offer of $30.5m over 3 years for him. At CB, there simply isn’t much available that’s too exciting. I decide to let things cool off, and to possibly pursue a FA after a few weeks. I also will hope to target a decent CB in my first few draft picks, to get a young contributor. After week 1, there are a ton of offers for T Sanford. Mine isn’t even close to the top. Top get there, I have to bump to over $47m over 4 years. I put up a better bid, but I do not blow away the competition. I’m actually surprised that he chooses to sign with me in week 7—that’s a huge boost to our offensive line—he and my center Unsbee should hold things together pretty well. I’m pretty desperate for a cover corner, so I swing a deal with Cincinnati, who is actually pretty deep there. I get second year man Preston Gladney, last season’s DROY at CB. The Bengals get the #2 overall pick, plus my third rounder (I have another, slightly earlier). I think it’s what we need—Gladney projects to be an outstanding corner in time (better than anyone in this draft), and that is a bigger need area than anywhere else. Paired with young Edward Martinez, I ought to be just fine at the cover corner. I use the money I have “saved” to re-sign G Jimmie Dowell. This should make the left side of my line--Sanford, Dowell, and Unsbee—pretty darned potent. Dowell inks for four years, fairly affordably (in the big picture). In the late FA stages, I pick up reserves at S and LB. I get another trade offer—the 13th pick for DT Preston Favre. Favre was going to be in a 3-man rotation at DT this season, and I think I can let him go for that high a pick. I make the deal. I come into the draft holding picks 13 and 33 in the first round, plus I hold an extra second rounder. This should be a great chance to do some restocking. My main need areas are at QB, RB, TE, and CB… plus I need some depth additions at G, DT, and LB. Amateur Draft Report: Rnd 1 - Dwight Cottle, DE, New Mexico Rnd 1 - Malcolm Hoover, CB, Florida State Rnd 2 - Stan Connors, RB, North Carolina Rnd 2 - Donovan Maxwell, WR, UNLV Rnd 3 - Benjamin Watson, DT, West Virginia Rnd 4 - Donnell Sanyika, G, Northern Illinois Rnd 5 - Eric Buchanan, FB, Louisville Rnd 6 - Harris Lucas, C, Iowa State Rnd 7 - Troy Bullock, TE, Tennessee I feel a little lukewarm about my overall top pick, but am pretty pleased past that. CB Hoover ought to be a solid #3 this year, and should be better than Edward Martinez soon. RB Connors looks like a very solid contributor. I got valuable depth in late rounds, and I’m happy all around. I sign all my rookies, and this brings me to 44 players and $5.3m in cap room—not enough money left to fill out the roster with rookie FAs. I cut WR Corey Dodge (received in trade) and his $2m salary, and that give me the necessary cap room. I head into camp with 52 players aboard—that’s all I have room for with all the expiring contract guys still listed with me. Following training camp, I make the obligatory review of my rookie class. DE Dwight Cottle – massive bust. Ratings have dropped to 1/16, 0, 16. Ouch. I release him immediately—and I’ll eat over $10m in bonus money. (Upon his release, my salary cap room increase by the entire $5m representing his current salary plus bonus—seems to be a verification of a game bug) CB Malcol Hoover looks fine, and WR Donovan Maxwell is better now than he appeared when I selected him—he’s now looking like a pretty productive contributor—maybe a good #2 or #3 wideout by next season. TE Troy Bullock also improved in camp—he looks like a pretty nice steal, albeit only for two years. The rest of the draft picks are about where we expected them to be. I did have one breakout from among my undrafted fill-in rookies. S Johnny Lee was a decent-looking rookie with ratings in the 7-15 area and potentials perhaps double that. After camp, he boomed to 13/43, 25/79, 22/83, 38, 1, 1, 55. A solid young player—now, it’s a shame that he’ll demand a fortune after this year, because this is exactly the type of guy who would be nice to “fish for” in the draft and then be able to follow through and re-sign for a few more seasons (as you would expect in the NFL). Regardless, he’ll be a decent backup for now, and we’ll cross next year’s bridge next year. I get a few trade offers. The best among them is a 3rd rounder for my 5th round rookie pick, FB Eric Buchanan. Since I already have Ellis Kley signed for the next three years (the same duration is as Buchanan’s contract) I decide to make the deal. The fact that my best rookie TE turned out pretty solidly also gives me comfort here. I’m also offered second round picks for DT Dunn and C Unsbee—no deals there. I fill in with undrafted free agent rookies, and we have our full 53-man roster, detailed below:
And here is the roster according to my scout:
Jesse Morse’s skill set continues to decline. He’s still our leader, but it’s approaching his final dawn. I have a fair amount of salary cap room, and Morse is the one likely candidate for a contract extension—even though this could be his final season. For this year, I expect that we should again be among the best teams in the AFC, and if we get lucky, we could contend for a title. The new coach will bring a different assortment of skills than his predecessor, and this could be good or bad for the short term. |
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11-26-2000, 12:30 PM
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#8 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2022 season
As we begin the preseason, our cohesion stands at 97-66-85-95. We made serious improvements at OL this year, so I don’t mind the cohesion whack. Everywhere else, we’re in sync pretty well. We get through the exhibition games with only one serious injury—DE Zonnefeld. The good news is that both he and my presumed starter Bernie Mears should be back in about a month. We’re ready for the season. We start out with a tough game once again, facing Tampa Bay in Tampa. The defending champion Bucs beat us 21-18. The next game is the big one, though—we lose at home to Milwaukee. The Vouchers simply aren’t our caliber of football team, and losing at home to them is a major problem. They did so not with big fluke plays, but with sound play—they outgained us 314-241. I’m not happy as we sit at 0-2. We get things straightened out with two easy wins, and then we beat the undefeated Jags to pull within one game of the division lead. Seems we’re back on track. Two more wins, and then we’re back up against the Jags. We win again, to sweep the series, and we take a full game lead on the Jags at 6-2. Six straight wins have us back to our usual perch. We tumble in a late season game against Cincinnati, and injuries start to mount, but we keep winning most of our games. We have a late season game with Kansas City (a tradition), but this time it doesn’t hold the usual stakes—the Chiefs have fallen to 5-8 this season, as they were unable to re-sign their franchise QB Howard Huffman. Huffman is now piloting the Rams, who are winning the NFC West. With Chicago’ longtime QB Ernest Montemayor having retired prior to this season and Philadelphia’s veteran star Rodney Harden ailing with injuries, Huffman may be the best QB in the NFC—if not the whole league. We run the table down the stretch, to finish 13-3 on the year. Anaheim has continued their surge, and their 14-2 record earns them the AFC’s #1 spot. We get the other bye week. In the NFC, every playoff team has either 10 or 11 wins—eveything’s all bunched up. Stat leaders: QB Jesse Morse: 3,920 yds, 64.8%, 7.91 ypa, 34/14, 100.1 – one of his best years by the stats RB Corey Harper: 300-1,416 yds, 13 TD (4.7 ypc) – third best in league, another very good year WR Roger Humphrey: 79-943 yds, 3 TD (69/9%, 3 drops) – great effort from third wideout WR Max Wiggins: 59-850, 10 TD (63.4%, 7 drops) – solid season from starting split end TE Troy Bullock: 44-523, 4 TD (67.6%, 4 drops) – excellent production from breakout rookie LB Billy Joe Philips: 81 tackles, 6 sacks, 2 int, 1 TD – great all-around play from OLB starter DE Cedric Corsarie: 25 tackles, 8 sacks, 8 blocks, 3 hurries – good season, leading team again in sacks S Billy Joe Franklin: 72 tackles, 1 sack, 7 int, 43.7 PDQ – another nice season from longtime leader CB Malcolm Hoover: 34 tackles, 7 int, 2 TD, 51.6 PDQ – great fill-in against only 367 pass plays Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 3.9/3.8./3.8 Passing: 7.9/6.1/6.5 Our running game was not so sharp—despite good numbers from Harper, our other backs did poorly. Our run defense was average (with an obvious and admitted weakness at DT), but we made up for it with great ballhawking on defense. Overall, I’m pleased with our play, particularly with my three young corners. We head into the playoffs looking pretty sharp, and in fairly good shape. We have a few patches in the OL, but the key left side is intact. The defense has gotten past most of its dings, but DE Corsarie will have to play hurt and DT Mitchell Dunn is out for the year with a broken leg (I hope he does not retire). This season, I reverse my usual feeling. I usually fear a playoff team with an explosive passing game. This year, I think that the team best suited to beat me might be a run-based team who can pound it up the gut. We’ll see… I don’t really know the Anaheim team well, but at 14-2, they’re certainly among the top contenders. |
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11-26-2000, 01:21 PM
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#9 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2022 postseason
My opener is against Miami, who was 10-5 and the AFC East winner. Their cornerstone player is RB Rondell Stephens, annually among the league leaders. This year he only had 946 yards, but was slowed by some injuries. This team might be trouble if Stephens can get rolling against my front four. The first quarter yields a FG each, but nothing too exciting until the final minute when Willis catches a 35-yard TD from Morse. We score again on a second quarter drive when we converted two fourth-and-one situations. It’s 17-3 with halftime approaching, and Morse goes deep to Humphrey to get in scoring position again. However, the FG is short, and we lead 17-3 at the half. Toward the end of the third quarter, the Dolphins pas their way down the field for a TD drive, and we’re back in a game now at 17-10. The Dolphins are being led by a backup QB named Viera, about whom I know nothing. We get a clutch turnover in the early fourth, and earn a couple first downs to set up for another kick—this one is good, and we lead 20-10. In the fourth quarter, the main players on my offense are backup QB Hawkins and backup RB Connors. I must have missed injuries to Morse and Harper, but we’re mainly trying to run the clock now. After one put-away drive, Connors follows up a turnover and scores another insurance TD, and we cruise on to a 33-10 win. After the game, we assess the damage. QB Morse is fine and can play, but RB Harper has a broken foot and will be out for the rest of the playoffs. I’ll use my rookie Stan Connors to fill in—he lacks Harper’s explosiveness, but should be solid—he’s probably the best backup Harper has had, which is fortuitous right bow. We get a break, as Buffalo beats Anaheim—so we get to host the AFC title game. Buffalo is a passing team behind QB Mel Korzuk, and they’ve been solid for the last few seasons. They were 11-5 this year—no slouches. The first quarter is back and forth with no scoring until the Bills kick a long FG midway through the first quarter. Early in the second, we tie it up. With 2:39 in the half, Korzuz completes a TD drive with a nice pass, and the Bills take the 10-3 lead. We have yet to muster any serious offensive threats. Morse gets us in for a FG with a nice two-minute drill, and we get within 4 points at the break. Buffalo gets a FG off their first drive of the second half, and I’m fearful that they are starting to move the ball with some ease. Fortunately, so are we—we march for a TD pass to Wiggins, and it’s all even at 13. Things slow down a bit, but we do add a FG late in the third to break the deadlock. When Connors breaks a 21-yard run for an early fourth quarter TD, it looks like we may be in command. Another TD with 4:01 to go confirms this, and we run out the string to win it 30-13. We will take on the Rams in the Superbowl. The Rams made “the big move” when they backed up a Brinks truck to the door of FA QB Howard Huffman. They paid him $123m over 4 years, but they got perhaps the most talented QB in the game. And they got themselves back into the title game. In the big game, we get the ball first. On third and eight, Morse drops back and hits Wiggins on a deep cross, and he flies past the secondary—88 yards later, it’s a TD! 1:17 into the game, and we hopefully have the Rams on their heels already. On their first drive, DE Cedric Corsarie comes in and buries Huffman, who comes out of the game with an injury. They must go with their backup Duffy, who is more mobile but nowhere near the passer that Huffman is. This showdown of great QBs fails to deliver, it seems. At the start of the second quarter, we drive again, and Morse hits Wiggins again, this time for an 11-yard TD. After some back and forth, Duffy gets the Rams into FG range, and they get on the board. We answer in kind, and it’s 17-3 at the half. The way our defense is playing, we should be able to take this one home pretty easily, as long as we don’t self-destruct. The only score in the third quarter is a late FG for us, and the sponsors are pissed off. We’re up 20-3 in perhaps the most dull Superbowl game ever. It’s not close, but there also are no great offensive fireworks to watch. However, in the early fourth quarter, Morse tosses an interception which the Rams return for a TD. Suddenly, it’s 20-10 and one more big play gets them right back into this game. We refuse to play conservatively—it’s just not our style—and Morse and Connors lead an 800-yard drive to erase the miscue score. The advantage is back to 17, and we look back in control. We manage to run it out, adding a late FG, but taking the big one this year by the margin of 30-10. The MVP award surprisingly goes to rookie CB Malcolm Hoover, who grabbed 2 of our 4 interceptions, each setting up scoring drives. There is an argument to be made for Morse (22-37, 308 yards, 2 TD, 0 int) and even Connors (98 yards, 1 TD) but we take the win and won’t fuss about the plaque too much. In the postseason awards display, we get a few red letters. QB Jesse Morse gets NFL MVP, but is edged out for first team QB by Anaheim’s Allen Simien. G Jimmie Dowell gets first team honors, while RB Corey Harper and T Jesse Sanford are named to the second team. Rookie sensation CB Malcolm Hoover is robbed of the DROY award by tackle-heavy LB, but he does get named as second team all-league CB, despite mainly playing the nickel back for us. A great year—possibly a final punctuation to some great careers, as we have several players who are definitely entering their final stages. |
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11-26-2000, 01:47 PM
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#10 |
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Coordinator
Join Date: Oct 2000
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Great job QS.
Not sure if you saw the article I pulled up, but it said many teams sign their undrafted FA to two year deals. This may give you a bit of room to manuver a bit more. I'd say the DT and Billy Joe Franklin are soon to be gone. I hate losing players I groomed from the start. Have you given any thought yet into a future QB? How many more years do you plan on going with Morse? TroyF |
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11-26-2000, 02:43 PM
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#11 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Both QB Morse and S Franklin have starting jobs with this club until they say so.
Currently, I have no plan at QB once Morse retires. If he goes after this season, I'll probably fish in the free agent pool for a guy to fill in for a couple of years. If he sticks around, I will probably look to draft there this season (I'll need to anyway) and hope to get a long term solution. Morse never had topped-out ratings, but he was definitely "good enough." I'm willing to build my team around "Mr. Right Now" if need be, rather than waiting a long time for "Mr. Right" to come along. At safety, if Franklin retires, I'll probably try to re-sign my breakout rookie to a new deal (I'll try anyway). As for undrafted rookies - I did see the article. Interesting stuff-- I may go to 2yr deals myself, which doesn't sound unreasonable to me. |
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11-26-2000, 03:08 PM
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#12 |
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Coordinator
Join Date: Oct 2000
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I figured those guys were starters til the end. They've earned it.
I've found in FOF2K1 I'll build my team around QB's I wouldn't have carried on my roster in FOF2. My last great one had decent draft ratings. He was great in third down passing and had an above average accuracy potential. I traded up to #1 to get him (I gave up 3#1 picks plus my future star running back as I wanted to make it realisticly tough to get the #1 pick) Thankfully, the QB turned into a star and 3 years down the road broke out higher than his ratings ever suggested. He had a career ending injury in his 10th year which simply killed me. As usual, good reading QS, take care  TroyF PS: how is your CM playing coming along? I like the game, but to be honest, I just like american football more, so I keep coming back to FOF despite the fact CM seems to be a better game. |
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11-26-2000, 09:06 PM
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#13 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Two legends step down My team has two retirements this season, whose departure will reshape this team. Here are the career stats for QB Jesse Morse and S Billy Joe Franklin, the two great leaders of this franchise through its highest points. In 2007, we were lucky to have two early first round picks, at #4 and #10 overall. We drafted these two players in that draft, and the team immediately inserted them both into the starting lineup. That very year, we jumped from 6-10 doormat to 10-5-1 contender, and we made the playoffs for the first time. Since that season, the Browns franchise (recently relocated as the Columbus-based Ohio Players) has not missed the postseason even once. During their 16-year tenure on this team, the club won a record five championships. These two bastions of excellence and stability played a major role in those accomplishments. Quarterback Jesse Morse Drafted #4 overall in 2007 rookie draft, from Kansas Over 16 seasons, played in 245 games and started 239 (t-16th in league history) 4,620 / 7,515 completions = 61.4% 59,806 yards (most in league history by over 3,000 yards) 432 passing touchdowns (most in league history by 51) 7.95 yards per attempt 244 interceptions in 7,515 attempts = 3.25% passes intercepted Career passer rating = 92.0 (nobody else even close) NFL MVP: 2019, 2022 First team All-Pro Quarterback: 2010, 2015 Second team All-Pro Quarterback: 2009, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2022 Safety Billy Joe Franklin Drafted #10 overall in 2007 rookie draft, from Iowa State Over 16 seasons, played and started in 249 games (t-7th in league history) 1,207 tackles (6th), including five seasons with 90 or more 109 interceptions (1st in league history, by 19) = nearly seven per season 1,609 yards on interception returns, and 11 career TDs Career PDQ = 44.1 (better than many all-stars’ ratings for a single season) Defensive Player of the Year: 2011, 2014, 2105 First Team All-Pro Safety: 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 Second Team All-Pro Safety: 2008, 2010, 2019 Superbowl MVP: 2010 Defensive Rookie of the Year: 2007 |
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11-27-2000, 11:27 AM
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#14 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
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Can't wait to see how you replace Morse, but that was a great career. Love your career threads, great reading.
__________________
Some knots are better left untied. |
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11-27-2000, 12:56 PM
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#15 | |
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Lethargic Hooligan
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: hello kitty found my wallet at a big tent revival and returned it with all the cash missing
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Good God Quicksand, I know you like a challenging game but how long are your fields?
Quote:
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donkey, donkey, walk a little faster |
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11-27-2000, 01:26 PM
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#16 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Fritz, if you haven't tried it, I highly recommend the "1,000-yard field" as a house rule. It makes a sustained drive much tougher. Also places a touch more emphasis on endurance...
He's to the six-fifty, the six-forty, the six-thirty, the six-twenty... and he jogs out of bounds at the six-ten, heading for the oxygen tent. |
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11-27-2000, 01:27 PM
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#17 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2033 preseason
We'll start with the bottom line, our own homage to the ownership. The Players are a virtual cash machine- we make a ton of money. It's all good there. (Testament to a possible need for more financial house rules? I placed a post on the main board) Coming off a title season, I see no need to mess with our coaching or scouting staff. All stay in place. The roster looks very different, as we have lost two of our veteran leaders. QB Jesse Morse and S Billy Joe Franklin have been pillars for us, and they went out on top. Now, we have the task of keeping a team together without them. The biggest challenge will be at QB, where I simply have no plan in place. As it stands prior to the FA period, we have 34 players already signed to contracts for this year. The salary cap of $194m leaves us only $31.8 to work with-a very narrow margin considering the replacements we need to make. Fortunately, we don't have a great number of quality players heading to free agency, which should let me focus on the QB position. LB Lester Forbes is my highest profile veteran who is trying free agency. I slap the franchise tag on him, though I highly doubt he'll stay around for the season. I do have a couple of young players I'd like to re-sign, most notably a rookie breakout form last year in safety Johnny Lee. I also have another undrafted rookie free agent in LB Chris Lustyk who seems to have developed a bit during his first season-he may be worth pursuing if his demands are at all reasonable. I have RB Harper ($12m) and DE Corsarie ($7m) in the last years of their lucrative deals-I'll hope to extend both and possibly shave some money from this year as well. S Lionel McGraw is also due, but extending him will probably cost more than the $5m he's currently making for this season. I am offered a first round pick for LT Jesse Sanford. He's due to make $11-12-13m over the next three years, so I see this as a decision about the state of the team. If I can continue to contend, then he should stay as a solid anchor to my OL. If not, than taking this deal would relieve me of a big salary, and allow me to add another young player. Tough call, especially since I don't yet know my status at QB for this season. Th twist is that GB is offering their backup QB in the deal-Rick Holmes is a 16th year vet, and his numbers are "okay" (in the 40-50 range generally) but he could play for a year or two, I suspect. It's an interesting offer-especially if I could grab a quality rookie QB with that draft pick (which is #22 overall - 14 notches better than mine). I decide to sit on the offer for now, but I'll mull it over (and check out the tackles available in the FA market). In the FA market, I decide to be fairly aggressive. I put in an offer for T Vince Bell, who would be an adequate replacement for Sanford at left tackle, though not quite as good a pass blocker. I contemplate bidding on one of two very good DTs in the market, but I eventually balk at their prices (starting around $12m a year). There are several pretty solid QBs in the market, and all of them demand essentially the same deal-- $15m plus in the first year, and escalating rapidly after that. I decide to sit back and wait out the QB market if possible-I'm still seeking to bring in a starter, but the trade to get Holmes (who will only cost me $7m) is looking better and better. I'm also looking closely at my only current rostered QB, Ben Hawkins. Hawkins has modest skills, but he might get us by for a year (until his rookie contract runs out). It's a last resort, but one to consider. After some fiddling around, I finally decide not to make another FA pursuit, at least at the beginning of the FA period. I expect to be involved, but not until I see where the bidding wars erupt. After week one, I'm the only bidder for T Bell, so I drop by bid from $33m to $30m (for 3 years). The QB market is active, but not everyone has received a bid yet, which is good news for me. I have my eye on Brian Sullivan, the 6th year backup from the Giants who still has some room to develop. If he fulfills his apparent potentials, he'll be very much like Morse in his prime-high ratings for the various pass categories, and decent but not great ratings below. In week 2, Vince Bell takes my offer. He'll step in at left tackle, as I go to revisit the trade offer for T Sanford. Regrettably, this has been pulled off the table (I though it would stay) and I'm now stuck spending way too much money at the tackle position. I'll probably have to deal Sanford, or else cut Bell and eat the bonus I offered him. The Giants have stepped in with a nearly $20m/yr offer for QB Sullivan. This likely rules me out of that derby. After 7 weeks, the Giants still have the top offer for QB Sullivan, but he'll till thinking it over. I decide to try a lowball offer, and see if he bites. I offer 4yrs, $48m - which is much less than the $77m he's hearing from the Giants. Who knows if the chance to start for the defending champs might lure him here. Sullivan is still "pending" through another couple of weeks, and then he takes a new, out-of-the-blue offer from Atlanta for 5 years, $94m. I guess he was just holding out for more money-and he got it. In the 12th week, I pick up decent C William Despirito who will join us for three years at just over veteran minimum. I have a C who may make good trade bait in a package. Unfortunately, in my halfhearted pursuit of Sullivan, I managed to lose out on all the other solid QBs in the free agent pool. As the late weeks close in, I have few decent options there. I do get S Johnny Lee signed to a new three-year deal, and he may well step in and start for us at safety this year across from Mcgraw. After the FA period ends, I am relieved to see a new trade offer for T Sanford. Atlanta is offering their first round pick (#19) for him-and I take it quickly. This makes even more cap room for me-which I clearly will not fill this year, unless I go on a spending spree with my own restricted free agents. At this point, I have 36 players signed to contracts. This means we'll have 17 rookies on the team-an unrealistically high figure, of course. Without actively deciding to do so, I have initiated a rebuilding process, as this team is going to get younger, period. I am not willing to overpay for a QB who I do not truly believe will be a long term solution for us, so we're prepared to go with either Hawkins or one of the rookies that I use to fill the roster. In the draft, our needs are varied-QB is obvious, but we also require help at WR (we have defections coming next season) and LB (same story). We will need to fill roster holes at RB, FB, TE, P, K, LB, LB, and CB. Past that, we'll be free to shop for impact players anywhere, or quality depth as we find it. The draft is, predictably, lousy for QBs. I find one guy who would make a good first round pick, and he's sure to go ahead of my #19 selection. There is one intriguing prospect with good current ratings, but I smell a bust. I suspect that I'll be going with Hawkins this season, and that probably means the end of our consecutive playoff appearances. Through some odd twist, four QBs go ahead of me, but not the guy I though was the standout at that position. Horace Forbes projects to be a good, but not spectacular, signal caller. I look around a bit at the other options, and then decide to pull the trigger. Amateur Draft Report: Rnd 1 - Horace Forbes, QB, Oregon Rnd 1 - Wesley Ingram, WR, Maryland Rnd 2 - Edward Rayburn, CB, Maryland Rnd 3 - Spencer McKinnon, RB, Purdue Rnd 3 - Mike Huntley, DT, Brigham Young Rnd 4 - Desmond Garner, QB, Louisville Rnd 5 - Jermaine Mason, TE, South Carolina Rnd 6 - Harry Smolka, S, Cincinnati Rnd 7 - Ricky Hastings, WR, Houston I loved this draft. WR Ingram was one of two very solid wideouts available at the end of the first round-the other was a guy named Forbes, who I suppose is a cousin of Horace. I didn't want to start something, so I took the guy from Maryland-a former teammate of my emerging star wideout Max Wiggins. CB Rayburn will be productive, RB McKinnon a potential starter, and down the line I got players who are good fits for this team. My only regret is that after taking DT Mike Huntley (no snickering, please) there was another very good DT who fell and fell, and then got taken in round 6 or so. For me, it was a toss-up between the two, and I got the guy with the brighter present, but maybe not the brighter future. I make a deal with Washington, and come away pretty well. They get LB Lester Forbes (filling their biggest need) along with WR Roger Humphrey (very solid) and C Harris Lucas. I get FB Bernie Pearson and their 2nd round pick next season. Pearson is a good fit for us-he and Kley make a great 1-2 punch at FB, and I'll probably use one as my first or second string TE also. At this point, I have 44 signed players and $14.9m in cap room. So it goes. I go out and pick up undrafted rookies as fill-in players, and I intend to sign them to 2-year deals (as is apparently the norm in the NFL). Oddly, these players are quite recalcitrant when it comes to accepting a two-year commitment. They're fine with a minsal offer over 7 years, but send them 2 years and they start talking about huge escalators and big signing bonuses. Odd. I make my normal one-year tenders, and go from there. Incidentally, I do think this if pretty fair. Remember, unless there is bonus money involved, a multi year deal only works to the advantage of the team, not the player-who can be cut at any time. A player should prefer a one-year deal to a multi-year contract if the terms are similar. The big problem in the game (IMHO) is with the 7y offers being accepted. We head into training camp with sizable cap space, but feeling like the team is pretty fairly balanced. After camp, I hold my breath as I look at my rookies. I have a pretty poor record, with two busts in the last three years, so my apprehension is justified. The main event is QB Horace Forbes, who comes out of the draft looking just fine. In fact, everyone looks fine-no breakouts, but definitely no busts. A good draft for us, as we look toward both the present and the future. I use nearly all of my remaining cap room to extend contracts for RB Harper, DE Corsarie, and S McGraw. I had originally thought that I could save some money in this process, but it ends up costing me nearly $6m this year. I'm down to $1.4m - enough to sign a couple of fill-in rookies if need be down the stretch. Here is the roster with everything in place:
That's our group for this season. A whole lot of rookies, which looks like it will be the norm under this set of rules. I like our balance overall, and I feel like we might actually be pretty decent this year. How our QB position fares will probably determine whether we win 6 or 11 games, which I suspect defines the likely range pretty well. [This message has been edited by QuikSand (edited 11-27-2000).] [This message has been edited by QuikSand (edited 11-27-2000).] |
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11-27-2000, 03:06 PM
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#18 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2023 season
I have a dilemma at QB for this season. Hawkins is the guy with at least some experience. Forbes is definitely the guy I hope to have develop into "the QB of the future." However, when my scout looks things over, he says that late-round rookie Desmond Garner is the guy who is most ready to go right now. What a mess. I decide to have Garner and Forbes split time in the preseason, and see who looks better. To be honest, the preseason doesn't resolve very much. Both guys played well, but neither really distanced himself as the obvious starter. I decide to name Forbes as the starter, and I set his playing time indicator to 4. Garner will be the backup, and he'll get the call if need be. Not surprisingly, with the new faces at QB, we have dropped our considerable cohesion there down to 63, among the very lowest ratings. Our OL is at 66, but the defense is rated 83 and 84. We lose our opener against St. Louis for the second straight season. Forbes threw 3 interceptions as we lost it 17-13. Our defense was great, and Harper ran for 148 yards, but the inexperienced young QB cost us this one. In our home opener, we lose to Bakersfield 24-17. Harper runs for two TDs, but we can't get our passing game going. Forbes is throwing to Wiggins to a fault-he had 133 of our 189 passing yards. He needs to relax and find other targets. In week 3, we finally get in the W column over Pittsburgh. Forbes started the game, but was felled with an injury after one pass, and Garner came in for the duration. The long term bad news is we lose LB Matt Giles to a serious injury, maybe for the year. We install Garner as the starting QB for now. Baltimore comes into town and eats us alive. We're rapidly learning the importance of quality quarterbacking, though it's tough to pin this one on Garner-who had 5 passes dropped and 3 more blocked at the line. We get a win in Jacksonville, and Garner looks sharp, throwing 2 TD passes. We then win in Tennessee, with our defense leading the way to a 13-10 score. At this point, Garner's QB rating is 80.2 - not too bad. In his window, Forbes had a rating of 60. We beat Baltimore for some revenge, and then hold the fort at home by crushing Jacksonville-our first lopsided win of the year. We make it to the midpoint at 5-3. Garner has only thrown 2 picks in 142 passes-which has played a real role in our success. In the game over Jacksonville, Forbes played the second half and threw his first two TD passes, a nice confidence booster for him as well. In the next game, we beat San Diego, but both of my QBs go down with injuries- and Hawkins comes in from the bench to throw 2 TDs in the OT victory. Garner and Forbes are both listed as questionable for the next game, and we turn it over to Hawkins for now. The defense delivers a victory, and Hawkins uses his mobility to run in our only TD. We move to 7-3 on the year with the Russian roulette QB system. After we beat Pittsburgh, I decide to leave Hawkins in there. Forbes is ready to play and will be #2, an Garner is still mending. We lose in San Francisco, and I'm not pleased with Hawkins' effort. I decide to try things with Forbes again, and install him as our #1 QB again. The chambers spin once again. In the biggest game of the year- home against Cincinnati, Forbes is felled with another injury, and Garner fills in. He throws 3 interceptions, but our defense wins it for us 26-20. Yougn safety Johnny Lee was the hero with a big interception for TD that changed the game. We pull into a 9-4 tie with the Bengals. With Forbes out, I re-install Garner as the starter, despite his weak effort against the Bengals. We outgun Anahaeim 34-30 behind 3 TDs from Garner and 145 yards from Harper, and we move to 10-4. With two games left, a lot is still in doubt. Seattle is 11-3, Miami and Indy are 10-3-1, and we are tied with Cinti at 10-4. Those five teams are locks to get in, but the seeding is still wide open. We face Miami next, with a lot on the line. Harper scores 3 TDs and Garner managed to not lose it for us (just barely), as we go to 11-4 by a 24-20 margin. Our finale is on the road, in Cincinnati-with the division on the line. Depending on Indy's fate in their final game, the winner might even get a bye week. I decide to stick with Garner, and he comes through with 3 TD en route to a 27-6 pasting of the Bengals. We win the division, but will have to play in the opening week, as we're the #3 seed. Regardless, we finish at 12-4-better than I thought was possible with our QB situation. Stat leaders: QB Desmond Garner: 1,682 yards, 59.1%, 6.80 ypa, 11/7, 82.7 - Hawkins rated 78.8, Forbes 70.8 RB Corey Harper: 290-1,184 yds, 12 TD (4.0 ypc) - a dip in productivity to 4.0 ypc does not bode well WR Frank Willis: 46-746 yds, 7 TD (58.2%, 9 drops) - WR corps crushed by injures, shared load all year C Cole Unsbee: 35/106 KRBs (33%), 3 sacks allowed - team only allowed 32 sacks all season LB Damon Peters: 81 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2 int, 1 TD - first appearance on leader board, best year yet LB Billy Joe Philips: 78 tackles, 5 sacks - played OLB and MLB intermittently covering for injured Giles DE Cedric Corsarie: 14 sacks, 4 blocks, 6 hurries - our defensive grand old man keeps it going strong S Lionel McGraw: 71 tackles, 6 ints, 39.8 PDQ - solid play from new main man in secondary Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 3.6/3.5/4.0 Passing: 6.4/7.1/6.7 The main questions is this: how in the hell did this team win 12 games? Only our run defense was even a little bit better than average. The answer lies in big plays-we forced a lot of turnovers, and didn't commit too many. Our +24 TO margin is one of the best I've ever seen. We got 41 sacks and only allowed 32, and we were also a fairly lightly-penalized team. All told, we did it with smoke and mirrors… and we hope it lasts into the playoffs, where we appear for the 17th straight season. |
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11-27-2000, 03:41 PM
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#19 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2023 postseason
We host Cheyenne in our playoff opener. We start Garner at QB again, hoping he can stay on his recent "roll." Midway through the first quarter, Cheyenne gets a breakaway run for 73 yards and a TD to get the first score. A Garner interception sets up their next TD, and after the first quarter they have 95 yards of offense (73 on one play) and a 14-0 lead. It's not until 2:51 left in the half that we get on the board- a 29-yard FG to make it 14-3. In the third quarter, we have a drive where Harper carries the ball 7 times in 8 plays. He is the total Barry Sanders type-getting stuffed twice in a row, then breaking runs for 22 and 31 yards. We cannot punch it in, but we take a 20-yard FG to get within 8 points at 14-6. We're within one big play, and that's what this team is all about. Our next scoring chance comes just inside the fourth quarter, as we opt to go for it on fourth and two from the Cheyenne 6 yard line. Garner hits FB/TE Pearson for the TD score, but we fail on the 2-point conversion. It's 14-12, Cheyenne clinging to their lead. On our next possession, we take over at our 45. Harper gets the first play outside, turns the corner, and he is gone for 55 yards and the go-ahead score. There's our big play, from our biggest playmaker. It's 19-14 good guys. However, on our next possession, Harper fumbles on the first play and Cheyenne takes over in our territory. We hold them to a 49-yard kick, which they miss-and our 5-pt lead holds for now. On our next possession, we ice things pretty well when Garner hit Wiggins for the score from 36 yards out, and we go ahead 26-14. Cheyenne makes it interesting when they capitalize off another fumble, and manage to make it 26-21 with 5:38 remaining. They stuff us, and take over again at their 32 with 4:26 left. They haven't had any luck sustaining drives, and this is no exception-we force three an out. On the punt, CB Preston Gladney takes the return and finds a seam, and he takes it 58 yards for a TD! That almost has to do it, it's 33-21 now. In case there was any doubt, their first pass is picked off by Gladney again, and it's all over but the shoutin'. Corey Harper's 197 yards rushing earn him honors along with Preston Gladney's late game heroics. We head to Indianapolis to face the 12-3-1 Colts. Their QB Travis McGregor is an efficient dink-and-dunker, and has 31 TDs on the year. They led the league with 437 PF, and it's their offense that poses the biggest challenge. My defense has played very well, and they'll need to keep doing so. We get 3 on our opening possession, and then get an interception on our end zone to get it back. However, Garner returns the favor, as they pick him off and return it for a TD. McGregor finds an ex-mate of mine Calvin Kummerfeldt for a 2-yard TD late in the first quarter to go ahead 14-3. As we drive on our next poessesion, Garner tosses another pick at the IND 2 yard line, and we give it up. We do stuff them deep, though, and get a short field next time for Harper to score in three plays. We get to halftime at 14-10, and Harper is trying to carry the offense on his shoulders. They way my QB Garner is playing, that may be wise. Garner throws his 3rd pick of the game in the early 3rd quarter, giving the Colts the ball on our 28. Our defense holds generally well, but McGregor beats us on two scrambles-one for 22 yards on third and 17, and again for a 5-yard TD. We respond with a drive led almost completely by Garner's short passing, and FB Kley pounds it in to make it 21-17. The Colts kick a FG early in the fourth to go up 24-17. They get the ball with 11 minutes left and a 7 point lead. It's a painful drive as the Colts convert three third down attempts-two of them over 10 yards. McGregor eventually throws another short TD pass, and they go ahead by 14 points. The drive takes over 7 minutes. Garner follow sit up with his fourth interception, and the fate is sealed. They add another TD quickly, and Garner adds another interception in the final minute-giving him 5 on the day. The Colts take it 38-17, in a game that could/should have been much closer. In the Superbowl, Seattle nips St. Louis, once again denying Rams QB Howard Huffman his ring. It's a think year for personal honors around here. C Cole Unsbee gets named to the first team, and FB Ellis Kley to the second team (with 295 yards rushing). No defensive player gets mentioned anywhere. T Jesse Sanford is named second team all-pro for Atlanta, and another old friend DT Claude Archuleta is named first team DT for Washington. LB Chad Keenan (a one-year fill-in for us) is named first team LB for the third straight season, but misses in his bid to be DPOY for the third consecutive season. The Rams' Howard Huffman gts NFL MVP, but he'd prefer a ring, I'm rather certain. |
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11-28-2000, 09:59 AM
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#20 |
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Pro Rookie
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: USA
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I love your reports. I've read them all, at least that I could get to right now. I was going to try to get CM 00/01 and maybe never get FOF2K1, but after reading your reports I *must* get FOF first (and them CM 00/01!).
Fantastic work. It felt like I was a part of it, I smiled when things went well, laughed when the bizarre things happened, and more. What a great job you've done with the reports, and with that franchise as well (except for sticking it to the Cleveland fans again!) |
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11-28-2000, 01:31 PM
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#21 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2024 preseason
The league Hall of Fame welcomes one player who at least had a few snaps with our club. CB Brandon Lindsay was aboard for a season, but we traded him to Milwaukee. He was an immensely talented corner, and makes the Hall in an Anaheim uniform. The franchise made tons of money again last season. Yawn. Our scout's contract is up again. I've grown accustomed to his fabulous work, and I resolve to keep him around. He stays for $1.8m over 5 years-he'll only be 59 after that contract ends. We again were able to retain our impending free agents last season through contract extensions, which leave us largely intact this season. We also have no retirements, meaning that we'll have most of the same familiar faces aboard again. We have 38 players on contract, with $11.9m in cap room-about 6% of the $197m total. I decide not to use the franchise tag-T Kerry Shea was the only target, and he's simply not worthy of that kind of salary. My main free agent load is in the younger crowd. QB Ben Hawkins and WR Chuck Pendergrass would be good to hold onto, but it's unlikley we can. Hawkins' demands elevated from $4-5m a year to the standard $15m after he got a few starts last season. Again this year, I have an undrafted rookie S who I'd like to keep on if he's affordable. Orlando Buzzanca has a great name, and good return skills-he'd be an ideal 4th safety, if he doesn't ask for the moon and stars. We start the FA period, and I basically have no room to move. I have an extra second round pick this year, and my draft cost is probably just about all of my cap room (up to $18m now, after the mysterious "bump"). I'll look to re-sign one or two young players, but unless I make a cut or trade, I won't be able to bring in any outside help except for rookie draftees. The impending loss of DT Ty Tatum weakens me at that position, but I'll be okay. I do, however, see a gift in the making. DT Victor Eschtruth, the DT I wanted to draft but let slip away last year, is in the FA pool, and he looks pretty solid. If I can wait out his demands and grab him in the later rounds of free agency, he could be a very nice contributor. In the FA period, T Kerry Shea has to wait, but he finally gets a big offer. Baltimore offers him a little over $10m a year, and he's mulling it over. He finally accepts a rival deal from Arizona, for a little less money. DT Victor Eschtruth is a plum for me-he's looking for a four year deal, and he doesn't demand a bonus-jst about 2x the veteran minimum. He signs in week 14. Welcome aboard, Vic. I extend a few contracts, and clear out some salary room-more than I had expected. LB Matt Giles has regressed a little after a few injuries, and I lock him up for a good deal less than his $11m previously. LB Damon Peters also signs on long term, without a major increase over the final year of his rookie deal. Following the FA period, I receive trade offers for DE Cedric Corsarie, and my two fullbacks. Corsarie seems to attract one offer almost every season-and I turn them all down. A proven pass rusher is too valuable to give away. The FBs gets middling offers-a 3rd rounder for Kley, and a 4th plus an overpriced player for Pearson. My weakness at TE is my main pause here-otherwise I'd deal Kley who will demand a huge raise next season. After some thought, I decide to take the offer for Kley, and get another youngster aboard. I engineer a pretty significant trade. I send away two good young players who I'd probably lose to free agency next year-CB Edward Martinez and DE Bernie Mears. I also include C Vincent Despirito, and G Donnell Sanyika. In exchange, I get a very good-looking DE from New Orleans named Jim Lee, and the Saints' 6th round draft pick, which is first overall. I think Lee is a much better prospect than Mears, and the other players are replaceable. I head toward the draft with no desperate needs on the team. I will try to acquire some depth at CB, FB, G, and LB. I also need contributors at TE, FB, P and K-but I don't see those as high priorities. I have extra picks in this draft in round 2 and 6, and I hope to make them count. Nominally, the two best-looking players available for my pick are two safeties who look like sure busts. I decide instead to go for a tackle, who should be solid for a few years on my right side. He's not outstanding, but should be very solid. Amateur Draft Report: Rnd 1 - Winston Diaz, T, Morehead State Rnd 2 - Troy Karl, DE, Idaho Rnd 2 - Cornelius Buxo, LB, West Virginia Rnd 3 - Jared McDonald, TE, Georgia Rnd 3 - Deion Henson, G, West Virginia Rnd 4 - Claude Gomez, WR, California Rnd 5 - Vinny Worrell, FB, Arizona State Rnd 6 - Charles Dixon, QB, Missouri Rnd 6 - Harold Monroe, CB, Mississippi State Rnd 7 - Michael Howland, LB, Marshall DE Karl and LB Buxo should be solid additions to a rebuilding front seven, and G Henson is ready to start right away (as long as he doesn't bust). LB Howland is a prototypical redliner, and I'm hoping for a breakout training camp from him-otherwise he's probably a cut. I sign my rookies, and also extend with a few of my lapsed RFAs. I have the cap room to make moves, and I use it here. I decide not to extend with either of my second year LBs, and to instead count on my two freshly signed rookies, plus a couple of rookie FAs I will bring in. I line the cupboards with undrafted rookies, and we head into camp. I get through camp, and go to check out the rookie class. There are no variances at all-no busts, and no breakouts. I think I'll take that deal. I also check out the development of my two young QBs, and both seemed to grow fairly well. Garner is almost certain to have the better current ratings (in the eyes of my scout) but I'm inclined toward Forbes to start out as the #1 guy. I get an intriguing trade offer. A #1 pick for DE Jim Lee. Since I just drafted Troy Karl, who looks to be pretty solid at DE, I am suddenly pretty deep at DE. I decide against it, though-Lee is the best guy I've got, and I think he's ready to step up and become a star. Anaheim (making the offer) isn't likely to have a very early pick anyway-especially if they landed a guy like Lee.
I feel like the team is undergoing a pretty significant shift towards youth. We're still likely to be led by our few remaining veterans-RB Harper, DE Corsarie, and S McGraw. But the engine that's going to power this team onward will be guys like WR Max Wiggins, DT Mitchell Dunn, DE Jim Lee, LB Damon Peters, and CB Preston Gladney. Hopefully, one of these two young QBs will step up and assert themselves as the guy that these solid building blocks will be placed around. This year, my main mission is to get a QB rolling. If we can do that, the tem should take care of itself. We almost cannot move backwards from last year, and though we were probably not as good as our 12-4 record last season, I do believe that this is a 10-to-12 win team. If we get good QB play, we should be in the thick of things. |
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11-28-2000, 01:41 PM
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#22 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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I am currently working on spreadsheets that prove the anticipation leading up to the release of FOF2001, was not nearly as high as the anticipation leading up to another post by Quik on his Ohio Players dynasty.
The results of my study should be in soon. Good luck this season Q!
__________________
81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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11-28-2000, 03:53 PM
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#24 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Two young quarterbacks
Here is my scout's current analysis of the two second year QBs on the team:
At this point, it seems to me that the expedient thing would be to play Garner for now, as his current ratings justify it. However, I have to look at the big picture, and I have to believe that Forbes will eventually be the far better player, as Garner is close to complete in his apparent development. Giving Forbes the chance to grow into the starter's role seems to be the best long-term policy, and I decide to go with it. Despite Garner's collapse in the playoffs last season, it's important to recall that he played rather un-rookie-like football last season, and was our main man behind a 12-4 club. We'll see how it goes, but I thought it might be worthwhile to detail these guys at this point-so you have a sense of what I'm dealing with. If Forbes develops into the player my scout thinks he'll be, he ought to be just fine and maybe great. He'll also pose some issues-as his biggest weakness as a passer is the short route-the ones that the typical game plan tends to use about 50% of the time. I assume I'll work away from that a bit, but it's intriguing to consider a guy like that (maybe Jeff Blake?). |
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11-29-2000, 09:19 AM
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#25 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2024 season
I start off by doing some contract extensions. They are costly (for this year) but I do secure WR Max Wiggins, DE Jim Lee, and LB Billy Joe Philips for the next few seasons. All three factor in as part of the veteran core of the team I'm building toward. The deal for Wiggins is especially costly, and I immediately regret not simply using the franchise tag on him next season. We get through preseason without major injuries. QB Garner goes down for a few weeks with a bad thigh bruise, but Forbes is my man anyway. Our cohesion is 68-71-79-97. Curiously, we have a 97 rating with our secondary even though we have a new starter at CB in Malcolm Hoover. Hover has been a pretty active reserve, though, which probably explains the deal there. We get two road wins in our first two games, including a squeaker over Philadelphia and Rodney Harden. RN Harper does a lot of damage in that game (197yds, 3TD), but young Forbes managed to do the most important thing-he didn't lose the game for us. In our home opener, we roll the Steelers 28-6 for our first big win. Harper was big again, but Forbes was felled with a concussion. Garner was feeling well enough to throw 12-for-15 and 2 TDs in relief. A good effort all around. Forbes will sit for a couple of weeks until he can answer the standard post-concussion question, "Who is the President of the United States?" If he would only consult with experts like dutch and mrskippy over on the main forum, I'm sure he'd get some very helpful guidance. Garner leads us in another big road win, over the 2-1 Jags, and we are suddenly sitting pretty. After we beat Cinti like a drum, we get some bad news-DE Cedric Corsarie is out for probably the rest of the regular season. Fortunately, we drafted at DE, and have quality guys to use there. My defensive line has moved from liability to strength, as I have quite a number of solid guys there, young and old. We beat Baltimore, and now I have a quandary. QB Horace Forbes, our original starter, has recovered and is now cleared to play. However, in his stead, Desmond Garner has made the most of his opportunitiy: he's 3-0 as the starter (plus another win off the bench) and he has accumulated a passer rating of 121 with 9 TDs to one interception. It is almost criminal to sit down Garner after this effort, and so I decide instead to go with the standard "doublespeak" and declare "the job belongs to Horace when he is 100% ready." My assumption is that Forbes readiness will coincide with Garner's first multi-interception loss. Meanwhile, in 6 games, Corey Harper (whose ratings suggest that he might be declining) has racked up some great numbers-762 yards so far to lead the league. In week 9, Garner leads a come-from-behind effort to beat the hapless Bengals 17-14 with a 10-point fourth quarter. He again managed to avoid any interceptions, and I'm seriously impressed with this guy. Admittedly, he has faced a very weak part of our schedule, but he's passing all tests with flying colors. I just cannot see going to Forbes right now, as this team is really rolling and has made it halfway through without a blemish. With 147 attempts (a decent sample size) Garner is completing 64% and has a rating of 113. Our front seven is taking injury losses. LB Philips is out for a month or two, and Corsarie's progress has been slow. Meanwhile we have no fewer than five more guys from our DL/LB corps who are listed with injuries but still playing. It's a recipe for disaster. As we get to 10-0, our margins seem to be slipping. We won our last there games by 17-14, 34-31, and 35-34. Now we take on Pittsburgh, with a chance to clinch our division (which has suddenly turned lousy). We roll the Steelers behind another good two-TD game from RB Harper, and move to 11-0 with practically everything cinched up. I have to put rookie DE Troy Karl onto IR to make room for a rookie fill-in. I plan to use my DTs in the DE role, as my corps of outside linemen looks like a M*A*S*H unit. Lee is healthy, every one else is walking wounded. After reshuffling the defensive line we head to Tennessee, where the dream dies hard. The 6-6 Titans manage to finally break our unbeaten streak, and the '72 Dolphins can relax. Garner is definitely not to blame here-he was 17-for-24 for 175 and 2 Yds, no ints. Our defense simply allowed them to score 17 points in the final 4 minutes to tie the game, and then they got a winning TD in overtime. Ouch. We drop our next game in Seattle, playing pretty uninspired football. Harper stunk, Garner threw two picks, and the magic is gone. I decide to put in Forbes for the final two regular season game, but I think that Garner has earned the right to be our playoff QB again this year. Against 8-6 Indianapolis, we win a shootout. Forbes throws for 302 yards, with 3 TDs but 2 ints. Harper runs wild also, for 262 yards and 1 TD. Funny thing-Harper gets that many yards in one game, and he is a breakaway type of runner, but his longest run was only 42 yards. He must have had a ton of 15-25 yards carries to rack up 262 without the aid of any 80-yarders. In our finale, we crush Tennessee at home, getting some revenge for our first loss. Backup RB Connors fills in for Harper, and gets 141 yards and 3 TDs. Our offensive line is just clicking on all cylinders, and they are making good things happen for whoever steps in to play. Forbes has a mediocre game, but gets some more valuable game experience. At 14-2, we are comfortably the top seed in the AFC, and candidly we look like the class of the league. Our point ratio of 500-307 makes us the highest scoring team by 61 points. We look solid, and our hero Desmond Garner will step in to lead the playoff drive. RB Harper is fine after a ding in the last game, and he'll be ready to go as well, after a fabulous season. DE Cedric Corsarie has been upgraded to probable, and he'll definitely be back in there now. Things are pointing in the right direction. Stat leaders: QB Desmond Garner: 2,734 yds, 64.0%, 9.11 ypa, 25/6, 112.8 - stunningly good season, I am floored QB Horace Forbes: 909 yds, 54.0%, 7.33 ypa, 8/5, 82.3 - stepping forward, but clearly a backup right now RB Corey Harper: 342-1,760 yds, 12 TD (5.1 ypc) - I though he was sliding backwards, but a great year WR Max Wiggins: 73-1,068 yds, 11 TD (67.5%, 7 drops) - I'm glad I've locked him up T Vince Bell: 40/96 KRBs (41.6%), 6 sacks allowed - line played exceptionally well, only 26 sacks total LB Damon Peters: 108 tackles, 3 sacks - stepped in well at MLB when Giles went down again DE Jim Lee: 13 sacks, 3 blocks, 8 hurries - main threat from the outside, filling in for fallen Corsarie DT Mike Huntley: 39 tackles, 8 sacks, 4 blocks,2 hurries - making case for long term deal CB Preston Gladney: 44 tackles, 8 int, 51.7 PDQ - becoming a shut-down cover corner, a true stud S Johnny Lee: 80 tackles, 5 int, 1 TD, 33.3 PDQ - very solid performer, great rookie FA pickup Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 4.3/3.0/3.9 Passing: 8.5/6.5/6.7 Wow. I had thought that this team was capable of winning 10 or even 12 games. I thought we'd do it with a solid running game and a big play defense. I didn't realize that we would dominate practically every phase of the game, and put forth one of the best seasons I've seen from this franchise. The offensive line was fabulous, the defensive depth was a life saver, and the play of QB Garner was downright miraculous. This team has really come together, and now will have to overcome more adversity-with our secondary set back with serious injuries (CB Gladney doubtful, CB Hoover on IR) we'll have to get QB pressure to keep from being lit up downfield. It would be great if we could cap off this year with a title, and we're definitely focusing on that goal now. |
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11-29-2000, 09:38 AM
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#26 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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By the way, I definitely appreciate the words of interest and encouragement. I find that detaling my career through a thread like this makes the game more interesting for me, and I'm gld to see that it makes good reading for at least some of you.
Personally, I like the feeling of "accountability" I get when I make a big decision on this team, as I know that there are other people who might have done otherwise. Years back, when I let my Hall of Fame RB Aaron Valentino walk for big FA dollars, I got some flack for it. Right now, as I try to decide what to do with my two young QBs, I'm feeling some of the same thing. It adds something to the experience for me. As for Garner/Forbes, I have always come down on the side of my scout's ratings when settling things like this, but I've never had a case which was so obvious. Garner just seems to be fabulous (despite mediocre ratings) and I have to wonder if he might be the guy I commit to for the long haul. Forbes is still developing, and seems to have the higher upside in ratings-- but how much higher than a 113 rating could he possibly get? Fascinating. Garner is signed through next year, and Forbes one year beyond that. The 2025 season will have to determine what I do with Garner-- signing him to a long deal starting on 2026 would mean a *huge* jump in salary, and a cutback somewhere else. Holding on to both guys just doesn't seem practical, so I'll have to fish or cut bait in time. It's probably the most interesting thing I've faced since the team got past its "empty cupboard" phase. |
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11-29-2000, 10:00 AM
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#27 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Quick, Here is a house rule that I play by that you might want to experiement with some time when it comes to QB's. My franchise QB must start every single game of his career that he is not injured.
This makes it tough to win in his first few years, and in his final few years. Especially if he waits a few too many years to retire, and that superstar QB is sitting there in the draft. You really have to make sure the rest of your team is good to be competative with a young QB, or with an aging, should have retired years ago, QB. I do find your dilemna interesting though. I can't wait to see what happens. If you decide on one of these QB's, you should start the other one for this year, that way the eventual starter's salary demands will be much lower when you renegotitate, free up cap room to get some good FA's. That Valentino move you mentioned above still bothers me. Is there anyway you can find out how his career progressed after you unmercifully let him go? He was one of my favorite players.
__________________
81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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11-29-2000, 10:32 AM
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#28 |
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I agree about Valentino, he was the catalyst to your first SB run.
As for the current QB controversy, Garner is the man until proven otherwise. Is you Scout EXC with QB's? or just Good? Perhaps he's missing something with this kid, but whatever it is, he's a stud so far. Play him even if he does stay your starter. Trying to bench him to save money on an extension not only hurts his development, the teams cohesion, his contentment with playing time, but reserves who've played at all, especially at QB, demand big bucks anyway. Go Players |
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11-29-2000, 10:55 AM
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#29 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2024 postseason
Our opener is against New England, who went 11-5 and won their playoff opener. They are a vertical team-power running, and long passes downfield. I think we'll stop their run, but I'm worried about my secondary giving up big plays. Regardless, we'll hope to overpower them with our running game. We take the opening possession, and there is good news and bad news. Garner goes down immediately with an injury. The good news is that Forbes steps in and tosses a beautiful 33-yard TD to Wiggins to strike early. We stop the Patriot offense, and the rest of the first quarter is quiet. As the first quarter ends, we are driving, and Forbes tops it off with a scramble for a TD to put us up 14-0. In the late second quarter, a playoff tradition resumes-DE Cedric Corsarie sacks the NE quarterback, and he causes a fumble. We jump on it, and have great position. We miss the FG, though, and our 14-0 margin stays until halftime. In the middle third quarter, we add a FG to make it a definite three-score margin. Two-thirds of the way through the game, our defense has yielded only 65 yards of total offense-I don't see them coming up with three scores. We close the third with another FG, and the 20-0 margin looks pretty secure. We add a safety in the fourth quarter, and get great field position afterwards. Harper takes it in to cap the drive and the rout. The 29-0 score reflects the true domination, and the Pats only gained 107 yards on the day total. I check the injury report, and the toll was high. DE Corsarie is out again, this time perhaps permanently. Our WR corps is horribly banged up-4 out of 6 are listed as questionable. However, QB Garner is fine, and he'll be good to go against Miami in the AFC Championship game. Miami is a strong offensive team- led by QB Korey Valdez (33 TD this season) and a slightly over-the-hill RB Rondell Stephens. They were 12-4 this year, and has a points ratio of 399-246. Their defense allowed the third-fewest points in the league, also-they principally play very tough pass defense. On their first possession, we stuff Miami completely: 3 plays, lose one yard, and punt. However, my safety McGraw was injured on the punt play- just what I can't afford. Garner finds enough room in the Miami secondary to go 3-for-4 on the opening drive and connects with TE McDonald for the score. Once again we stuff Miami, and once again we move through the air for another TD. Garner has 125 yards passin on our first two possessions, and it's looking ugly. Our fans calm down a bit after Miami gets a few first downs and 3 points. We settle for three on our next possession as well. On our next possession, Harper breaks a run for 53 yards, setting up another Garnet TD pass… and this one looks like it's on its way. Our engine never really slows up too much, as we roll on to a 40-6 victory over the Dolphins. Garner throws 26-of-35 for 330 yards and 3 TDs, no interceptions. How do you do any better than that? Our defense again stepped up-we allowed 150 yards to the explosive Dolphins offense. In the Superbowl, we'll face the Atlanta Falcons. They were the top seed in the NFC, going 12-4 with a 352/258 points ratio. They are all about efficiency-their starting QB Melvin Moody threw 15 TDs to only 3 interceptions. They play ball control, clock control, and they attempt to manage the game in their direction without making mistakes. They're like Pete Carrill's Princeton basketball teams-they peck you to death like ducks. For the big game, DE Jim Lee-the last man standing on my defensive line, will be out with a sprained knee. I once again dig into the bag of tricks to assemble some sort of Frankenstein line. I start DT Watson at left end, and I have a free agent pickup and a newly-converted LB as my reserves. Fabulous. On offense, we'll throw to whoever can walk. We'll again count on the offensive line to set up our chances. On our first possession, we peter out at their 45 and pin them back to their 8. Moody goes to the air with some success, getting to midfield before they punt. We get two big plays to get to their 36, and Harper gets outside again, but he fumbles the "slippery ball" and we lose our chance. The first quarter closes with the Falcons starting another drive. My veteran safety McGraw stops the drive with an interception, and we take over at the Atlanta 48. We cannot score, and pin them back again to their 10. We finally engineer a patchwork drive-- a Hunter run, a clutch defensive holding penalty, and then two nice passes get Willis in the end zone. We stop the Falcons offense again, and Monroe returns the punt to their 37 - a nice 40-yard return. We get to their 25, but Garner is picked off to foil another threat. At the half, it's only 7-0. Moody opens up the second half on fire, completing 3-of-3 on his first drive, including a 34-yarder to our 7 and then the TD score. It's tied at 7 apiece. Atlanta is definitely having more luck passing than running, but they seem pretty committed to the run. We respond by giving it to Harper six times, setting up a FG to go ahead 10-7. Garner engineers the next drive, including a huge 4-yard scramble for a first down, and Harper puts the cap on it. It's 17-7 as we close out the third quarter. Early in the fourth, the Falcons pin us at our 1 yard line with a great punt. I'm worried about Harper, with his proclivity for the lost yardage.. but he comes through with a burst to our 8. We get out of the jam. Atlanta is driving, and I have another victim-safety Johnny lee goes down with an injury. I don't have any idea what combination of guys is "covering" their receivers, but I can't like it. With 5:20, we come up with a big stop, and force Atlanta to kick a FG to pull within 17-10. It's still within one big play or possession… and we ought to get the ball now with a chance to grind it out. We only get one first down, and Atlanta gets it back with 2:22 remaining, on their 12 yard line. First and 88 to go. They run for 11, getting a quick first down. The tackle is made by DE Howland-a converted LB who literally has zeroes for his primary skills. I'm delighted that he's on the field. They get a quick pass for another 10 yards, and at the 2-minut warning they look like they're moving. Moody throws incomplete, then is forced to scramble-getting 4 yards. It's 3rd and 6 from the 37 yard line. We defend the next pass well, and it falls incomplete. We can win it here with a stop. Moody hits his favorite receiver Covington, and he breks to the outside to gain 16 yards to our 47. First and ten, with 1:04 left. Billy Joe Philips, my injured-but-playing LB, makes a huge play to sack Moody for a 7 yard loss. The next pass to Covington is incomplete, and it's 3rd and 17. Moody drops back to pass, and throws again for Covington far downfield-looking for the whole enchilada. however, my CB Preston Gladney-starting despite being listed as "doubtful"-steps in front of it, and grabs the interception. Gladney gets behind a train of defenders, and they power him all the way for the defensive touchdown! The game-clinching play couldn't have been more spectacular, and the Players are going to Disneyland! The MVP award is tough, but it goes to Preston Gladney for his late game heroics-he was only able to come into the game for a total of 5 pass plays, but he was there when we really needed him, in Kirk Gibson-like fashion. Harper has 118 and a TD for the best offensive production on the day, but the defense really carried this one for us-as they played well over their heads throughout the playoffs. On the season-ending leaderboard our champion Players rack up some solid mention. The offensiev line gets its due-with our legendary left side looking very tough. T Vince Bell and C Cole Unsbee both are named to the first team, and G Jimmie Dowell is named to the second team a-pro squad. The backfield of Corey Harper and FB Bernie Pearson are both second team honorees. On defense, LB Damon Peters makes the second team, and CB Preston Gladney makes the first team to go along with his Superbowl MVP honors. What a season. Going in, I was fairly optimistic that we'd be contenders. After it's over, I have some trouble measuring this team in history-is this the best team we've fielded? The 14-2 record, the overpowering points ratio, our ability to step up around massive injuries-it was all damned impressive. I don't know where this stands, but we'd love to bottle whatever it was… |
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11-29-2000, 11:02 AM
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#30 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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QB season-end notes
A few more notes on the QB battle in Columbus. Both guys seemed to bump up between 1 and 4 points in their actual ratings (where they had room to improve) during the season. Nothing dramatic, but some small movement. Garner now poses a special problem. He is listed as "Disgruntled," presumably for watching Forbes start 45 (??? - ed.) games last season. With the speculation about how difficult it is to get players back to being happy-I'm quite worried that I might get this guy unhappy enough that he leaves. This probably leaves me only one choice-commit to Garner for all of next season (and likely piss off Forbes) or else be prepared to let him walk after 2026. It will be a tough call. I'll start another thread for next season [This message has been edited by QuikSand (edited 11-29-2000).] |
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11-29-2000, 11:44 AM
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#31 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Quik, you sure have an impressive challenge going. 1000 yard fields and at least 45 games to a season! I'd hate to see that IR list in, say, week 38.
congrats on the victory!!!!!
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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11-29-2000, 03:00 PM
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#32 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Stankonia
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I guess QS, you are Playing the NBA challenge. Eighty-two game seasons. I would be disgrunteld too if I played less then half the games in a season
 QS, I find it interesting how you consider the audience, of your posts, in making decisions, will they be happy or upset. I think that makes it more enjoyable. I wish i had that in my career. I appreciate all the time you put in these threads, and keep up the good work. I do not think anyone of these threads you made was ever boring. Great Job QS, and the Ohio Players
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Owner of the Jamaica Rastas of the FOFL |
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11-29-2000, 03:03 PM
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#33 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Awww, Quik, you shouldn't have edited the 45 games out of your post. It made the thread SO much more interesting, and for the reader who hasn't been following, it would leave them quite puzzled.
LOL. Go OHIO!
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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11-29-2000, 03:14 PM
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#34 |
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Lethargic Hooligan
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: hello kitty found my wallet at a big tent revival and returned it with all the cash missing
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Marmel - Seems in Quick's game a caoch with high ratings in Avoid Injury and players with High Endurance should make the Superbowl.
Quick - You should change the name of this challenge to the "Ironman" or "Last Man Standing".
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donkey, donkey, walk a little faster |
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11-29-2000, 03:16 PM
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#35 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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For those who asked, RB Aaron Valentino played two more seasons after he left our team. (I believe he went to the Saints) His first year after leaving was very good-- he was among the top 5 rushers in the league, but he declined badly in the following year, failed to reach 1,000 yard mark, and decided it was time to let the Canton clock start ticking.
Five years later, he was the first game-generated player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Hard to say if I made the right call there... he was very nearly out of gas, and I suppose my loyalty was reduced by the fact that he wasn't a career-long Brown. Since we got back to the top pretty soon after he departed, I'd say that I did the right thing-- but it's certainly arguable that he should have gotten a hero's sendoff. |
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