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03-03-2001, 05:06 PM
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Greenville Bulldozers
Greenville Bulldozers - house rules
Once upon a time, in the dim and distant past (well, six weeks or so ago - that's a lifetime on this board!), I started out a career where the main limitation was on the QBs I could use - the only guys I could go with were undrafted rookies. Then the WLC came along, and I was seduced by the idea of going back to my roots - a pass-happy offence led by the stud QB. One long career with the Mexican Montana throwing TD passes all over the place, and I want to get back to having to struggle on offence again (and I don't mean trying to succeed with the king of the interception, Tony Dirita!), so here goes with another career with the limitations on the offensive side. I've seen a few posts about the 'Island of Misfit Toys', in which the only players you can use are undrafted free agents - this is virtually impossible to succeed in, so I don't really want to go too far down that road. Halfway along this path sounds like enough of a challenge without going overboard, though, so I'm going to have a go at building a successful team without a drafted player on offence - otherwise known as the Baltimore Ravens 2000 challenge - how to win without an offence...  House rules - I've borrowed from several sources, with Quiksand's House Arrest rules and the WLC being the main inspiration. - Start with the expansion Greenville Bulldozers in 2009 - No offensive players through the expansion draft, the rookie draft, trades or free agency - the only source of offensive players is the undrafted rookie free agent pool - kickers and punters are not offensive players - free agency: can sign either one player in the first 10 weeks or 3 in weeks 11-20. Only rookie free agents can be signed outside the 20-step process (on either side of the ball). - rookie free agents can be signed to 7-year deals as long as they are structured in the following way (x = rookie salary, as given on the contract screen on first viewing): x, 2x, 3x, 4x, 4x, 4x, 4x (no bonus on 1-year deals, x bonus on 2-4 year deals, 2x bonus on 5-7 year deals). I'll see how this goes in terms of cap hit in the later years of the contract - there should be a pretty good cap hit on the longer term deals, so I'll have to be careful who I sign to the long deals - no use of the franchise tag - contract renegotiations: a maximum of three each year, only for players in the last year of their current contracts - cannot propose trades, and all computer trades must pass the reality check (or fail by a small margin - the team proposing the trade should give something up if they want the trade. What a small margin is will be defined a bit more accurately at a later date when I've seen a bit more on the reactions to trades by the other team) - can't change coach or scout during their contract, or if the team had a winning record or made the playoffs in the previous season - coaches must have at least a good a reputation on defensive playcalling as for offensive playcalling (as no change is allowed in the first season, this does not apply in the first year of the challenge) - ticket prices are no higher than the nearest franchise (I'm not up to speed on where places are in America, but it's a fairly safe bet that this is the Panthers )- ticket prices may not be increased unless the team finishes with a winning record or makes the playoffs, and may not be increaded by more than 10% in any one year at any time. In addition to these, a couple of 'front office requirements' to increase the challenge, and make it so I can't ignore the financial side of things: - profitability is a key requirement - the team must be profitable in at least one of its first five years, and must not post a loss for two consecutive seasons (for any reason) after the first year of profit - the team must win 24 games (including postseason) over a rolling 3-year period after the first two years, i.e. the win total for the last three years must be at least 24 in all seasons starting with season 5 for the GM to remain in a job (the GM may be fired even if this condition is met - GM firing is turned on) I expect this to be a very tough challenge - certainly, this should be a shock to the system after the fairly flexible rules used in the WLC. The keys to success will be to get the best out of the little offensive talent available and to have a defence capable of winning games on its own. Special teams will be very important - a good kicker is a must to get points on the board, and a good punter is a great asset to a team which can't move the ball on offence (I know this from watching the Ravens this season and through the play-by-mail game I run a couple of teams in - a good punter is worth 80-90 yards a game to a team with a bad offence (something I have quite a bit of experience of in PBM!)) I reserve the right to change the rules as I go (well, it is my challenge! ), but I won't be making any changes unless something really isn't working.Don't expect too many updates over the next month to six weeks - I have exams coming up, and won't have much in the way of free time to play FOF. It doesn't help that I'll be starting to play a bit more golf (I play to a single-figure handicap, but I feel I could get pretty close to scratch with a bit of work) and that I'll be going to a few hockey and football games as well... Martin |
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03-03-2001, 05:08 PM
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#2 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Greenville Bulldozers 2009 offseason
A clean slate to work with for this expansion franchise - a solid core of veterans from the expansion draft and a few promising rookies should give me a decent base to work with for this first season. A look at the backroom staff first, though: The Bulldozers's scout is Dean Leon, a solid all-rounder who is best at spotting QBs and linemen. He's getting paid over $1m per year (the highest paid scout in the league by a distance), so probably won't last past this year, though. (This is against the house rules, but I don't think this is a big breach when I haven't made the decision to hire the guy.) Greenville's head coach is Doug Andersen, a first-time coach with a big reputation. He's an offensive mastermind who knows how to keep his players healthy, but he's also likely to be a casualty next offseason (again for financial reasons - he's making over $7m this year). Ticket prices: The Bulldozers have a new 84,000 seat stadium - outdoor, with turf (ouch), 140 luxury boxes. The ticket price comparison is against Carolina - I hold prices reasonably under the Panthers for the first year (despite the limitation on price rises only after a playoff/winning season). Greenville: 35/37/55/100/ 0/1750/110000 Carolina: 47/46/58/117/5300/3100/218000 Onto the expansion draft, and Greenville pick first (not a good thing - I would prefer first pick in the rookie draft). With the team limited to only defensive and special teams players, it makes the choice a good bit easier. Looking at the players available, there are several solid LBs and a few decent defensive backs going - the defensive linemen on the list aren't the greatest, though.
A few decent players who might hang around a few seasons - LB Huntley, S Ackerman and S Strickland should give me a decent base to work with, and a few of the other guys should contribute. I decide to go after the one player in the first 10 weeks rather than the 3 in weeks 11-20, as there are a few really solid defensive players going. My target is DT Kevin Robertson (92, 95, 85), a player who has really produced for the Patriots over the last few years. I offer $24.00m over 3 years, which is accepted straight away. Cap room is not a problem at the moment, so this is a great move towards strengthening the defence. The big need in the draft is another impact player to go alongside Robertson - a DE would be best, but a good LB or CB would be more than acceptable. Augusta, the other expansion team, go after a RB with the first pick, so the cream of college defensive talent is available for the Bulldozers' first pick. The standout is a shutdown corner, who is immediately snapped up. A defensive end would be a good pickup at the top of the second round, but I go after one of the many solid LBs who are still available. The need at DE is filled in the third round, as the guy I would have taken with my previous pick is still available. The full draft list is: 1 - Brian Showalter, CB - a perennial All-Pro if he realises his potential 2 - Herb Montgomery, LB - very solid LB who excels in run defence 3 - Terry Givens - possible bust, but too much potential to pass up here 4 - Rex Lyon, LB - a solid player this far down - should start this year 5 - Damon Baump, DE - potentially a great pass-rusher 6 - Corwin Neely, LB - a good backup for the 'designated pass-rusher' position 7 - Steve Bunten, DT - the sort of decent backup DT that you can usually pick up here This leaves the team with 33 players signed and $56.7m of a $125.1m cap free. There is no need to sign any defensive players, so the trawl through the rookie free agents is purely for offensive talent. The first player I look at in the rookie free agent pool is a QB who was drafted, but has been released - it's not clear if signing him is allowed by the rules I've set up (it wasn't in my previous career), but I decide that I am able to take advantage of other teams' discards. I then sign him to a deal which doesn't fit the rules (I maxed out at 3 x rookie salary instead of 4), so I have to release him anyway... I suppose that's what you get for bending the rules An additional rule at this point - the team must take 53 players to camp, and hold 53 players at all times. The 53 going to the Greenville Bulldozers' first training camp are:
My thoughts are to run whatever offence seems to work - with the decent receivers I managed to pick up from the rookie free agent pool, a reasonably balanced offence should be possible. Defensively, the system I used later on in the WLC will be used - base 3-4, with mainly man coverage and a fair amount of blitzing from the OLBs. Camp had no unpleasant surprises, and DT Steve Bunten showed a big improvement in potential (now 5/14, compared to 4/9 above). Denver offered a trade for RB Lonnie Briggs, which I would have taken if it hadn't put them over the salary cap. Aims for the 2009 season: Be competitive is the main goal - this team isn't going to win many games, especially with the lack of talent on the offensive side of the ball. The defence should be good enough (even with the poor cohesion) to keep the Bulldozers in a lot of games, but the team won't score enough points to be successful. Preseason New York Giants 35-12 Greenville Minnesota 24-9 Greenville Greenville 10-16 San Diego Jacksonville 26-15 Greenville A few close games - San Diego won only after overtime - but the offence was pretty awful (as expected). Week 1 - Greenville 7 - 24 New England A reasonably close game for a long time - the Patriots led 10-0 at the half only because they got a punt return for a TD late in the first quarter - but the defence tired late on, with New England putting together several long drives in the second half. QB Adam Ingram had a solid game (23-34-200-1-1), but the running game was non-existent - 14 carries for 6 yards. Week 2 - Indianapolis (0-1) 23 - 9 Greenville (0-1) A case of missed chances - the Bulldozers couldn't get the ball in the end zone to save their lives in this game, only managing 3 field goals despite an otherwise solid offensive performance. The defence put in a reasonable performance once again. Week 3 - Greenville (0-2) 6 - 33 New York Jets (1-1) This is the sort of game I'm expecting to see quite a few of this season - no offensive production whatsoever, while the defence comes up with some big plays but can't work miracles in keeping the opposition off the scoreboard. Week 4 - Greenville (0-3) 21 - 30 Minnesota (3-0) A change at QB made a difference to the point-scoring potential of the offence - Robert Moss came in for this game, and threw two TD passes. The Vikings were able to put together several long drives to stay in control for most of the game, though, as they racked up over 450 yards of total offence. Week 5 - Birmingham (2-2) 14 - 17 Greenville (0-4) The franchise's first win is a perfect example of how this team will win games - the lack of offensive production is countered by a strong defensive showing. CB Julio Franklin scored the first defensive TD in team history to tie the scores at 14 late in the third quarter, and Leland Hodges kicked the winning field goal with a little over 5 minutes to play as the Bulldozers gave their fans a victory to cheer. Week 6 - Seattle (2-3) 7 - 17 Greenville (1-4) Two first quarter TDs gave the Bulldozers an early lead, and the defence was strong enough to hold on, giving Greenville back-to-back wins. The Seahawks were unable to put a drive together until the fourth quarter, by which time the game was all but over. Week 7 - Greenville (2-4) 7 - 20 Miami (2-3) The winning streak ends as the Bulldozers offence has an off-day in Florida. The Dolphins held Greenville to under 100 yards and only 6 first downs on offence, but needed a defensive TD and a couple of field goals to clinch the victory as the Greenville defence put in a strong showing. Week 8 - Greenville (2-5) 0 - 13 Indianapolis (2-5) Another incompetent display by the offence was to blame in this game - the Bulldozers' longest drive was 25 yards, and P Waldteufel was called into action 12 times. The defence kept it close, but couldn't produce the big play to turn the game around. Week 9 - Bye Week 10 - Miami (4-4) 17-20 Greenville (2-6) A tight game was blown open in the fourth quarter as QB Robert Moss conjured up two long TD passes on consecutive drives to put the Bulldozers out of sight. The Dolphins had been leading up to that point by three field goals to two, but were unable to recover from giving up the big plays. Week 11 - Greenville (3-6) 20 - 48 Buffalo (4-5) This one was a bit of a shootout until the Bulldozers started to fire blanks in the second half - the Bills went in at the half with a 20-17 lead, but pulled away in the second half, partly due to Robert Moss's three interceptions. Week 12 - New England (4-6) 14 - 21 Greenville (3-7) A defensive struggle was broken open late, as both teams piled up the points in the fourth quarter. WR Charlie Lovelace was the difference, though, finishing with 5 catches for 113 yards and 2 TDs as Robert Moss had a very solid day (17-26-256-3-0). The defence also contributed, holding the Patriots in check, and adding two sacks and a couple of interceptions as well. Week 13 - New York Jets (9-2) 9 - 25 Greenville (4-7) The Bulldozers pulled off the shock of the season, beating the best team in the AFC East to keep their home winning streak intact. Robert Moss had a great day, completing 21 of 27 passes for 291 yards and 3 TDs, while the defence held the Jets to 222 yards and only three points on three trips into the red zone. Week 14 - Greenville (5-7) 14 - 17 Jacksonville (5-7) The Jags scored two second quarter TDs to take a 14-0 lead, and just about managed to hang on through the Bulldozer comeback behind backup QB Adam Ingram in the fourth quarter. The offence didn't have too bad a game, but the star for Greenville was rookie DE Givens, who finished with 6 tackles and 1.5 sacks. Week 15 - Greenville (5-8) 10 - 36 Tampa Bay (8-5) The Bucs took a while to get started, but eventually showed that they're a class above the Bulldozers with a dominating second half performance. The running game was the difference for Tampa Bay, finishing with over 200 yards on the ground. Week 16 - Green Bay (5-9) 20 - 7 Greenville (5-9) The Packers controlled the 'Battle of the Greens' from the start, and allowed the Bulldozers' offence no time or space to get into a rhythm. Rookie CB Showalter continued his solid play, picking off a pass and allowing only one catch. Week 17 - Buffalo (7-8) 30 - 0 Greenville (5-10) A bit of a letdown to finish the season, but it's tough for the players to play with passion in a meaningless game. The Bills played a very sound defensive game, holding the Greenville offence to only 133 total yards, and their offence put points on the board despite not putting up big yardage.
A reasonable first season for the Bulldozers, although the team didn't finish off the year very well. Certainly something to build on for the future... Statistics QB Robert Moss: (12 games) 159-291-1799-14-12 (qbr 72.2) RB Darrell Bettencourt: 122-451-0 (3.6 ypc) RB Vince Howard: 113-416-2 (3.6 ypc) RB Lonnie Briggs: 81-333-0 (4.1 ypc) WR Charlie Lovelace: 54-779-4 (14.4 ypc), 50.9% caught, 7 drops WR Jack Tanner: 50-498-2 (9.9 ypc), 52.6% caught, 4 drops WR Glen Jankowski: 30-349-3 (11.6 ypc), 61.2% caught, 1 drop Not a bad season for an all-rookie offence - QB Moss made a difference when he came in as the starter, but needs to be more consistent, while the receivers had a solid year (Jankowski was slowed by injuries all year, and should be the #1 when healthy). RB is a bit of a problem area, as none of the backs used stood out - improvements on the offensive line should help, but this is an area I need to look at in the offseason. P Glen Waldteufel: 135 punts (!), 39.1 average, 40 inside the 20 - the rookie punter was worked very hard by the struggling offence. DE Antonio Cochran: 51 tackles, 8 assists, 5.0 sacks DE Terry Givens: 57 tackles, 15 assists, 4.0 sacks DT Kevin Roberson: (13 games) 41 tackles, 18 assists, 5.0 sacks LB Herb Montgomery: 80 tackles, 38 assists, 4.0 sacks LB Rex Lyon: 74 tackles, 23 assists, 1.0 sacks CB Brian Showalter: 31 tackles, 19 assists, 3 interceptions, 23 passes caught S Marshall Strickland: 61 tackles, 23 assists, 5 interceptions S Julio Franklin: 44 tackles, 18 assists, 3 interceptions (2 TDs) A solid year for the defence, with DT Roberson doing a good job of clogging up the middle. The two rookie linebackers played well in the middle, while CB Brian Showalter showed he was worth the high draft pick by providing blanket coverage without safety help. Team statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 3.2/Defence 3.8/League 3.7 Pass: Offence 5.9/Defence 6.8/League 6.4 Yards per game Offence: Rush 81.9 (32), Pass 155.3 (34) Defence: Rush 128.8 (34), Pass 224.8 (26) The offence wasn't expected to be good, but the running game was awful this year - the maturing of the offensive line will help a bit for this. Defensively, opponents found fairly easy to run on the Bulldozers, and were able to take advantage of the lack of a pass rush. Awards: P Will Waldteufel was voted to the AP 2nd team for his efforts this year (more on quantity than quality, I have a feeling )Herb score: 13/4/16/79 - average 15 Finances: A loss of $89.6m on revenues of $122.6m - paying out over $100m for the coaching and scouting staffs is obviously way too much. A reasonable start, although there is certainly room for improvement! QB Robert Moss showed that he can play well enough to be a starter in this league, while the quality of recievers in the rookie free agent pool was a bonus. Defensively, the team played well, but the pass rush needs to improve - this will solve a lot of problems for the team. Martin |
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03-07-2001, 04:13 PM
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#3 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Greenville Bulldozers - 2010 season
The word from the owners this year: A solid start, but we want to see the team improve this year, both on the field and financially. A new TV contract this year - the cap will increase by $7.1m each year for the next eight, with this year's cap being $132.2m. With the poor financial performance last year, changes are required at coach and scout - this isn't strictly allowed under the house rules, but I'm making an exception this year as I didn't have any say in the hiring of the staff last year. At scout, I make an offer for Ed Croteau (age 37, reputation F/VG/VG/G/P/F/G/VG/VG) - the initial offer is $250,000 per year for 5 years. His main weakness is with kickers (not a big problem), and he excels at spotting young talent. He accepts the offer straight away, which gives the Bulldozers a solid scout at a much lower cost than last year. There are a couple of very good coaches available, but I make an offer to Rickey Lemke, who is perhaps the best coach I've seen in my time playing FOF - this would pay him $5.0m per year for 5 years. Unfortunately, he goes to the Packers for a little more money - as good as coach Lemke is, I expect to see Green Bay dominate the NFC for the next few years. I then turn my attention to Levon Fulton, who has weaknesses in coaching players and (to some extent) keeping them healthy, but is very good in the gameday skills and has a towering reputation for developing young players. I offer a 5-year contract at $2.85m, which he takes a bit of time to think over before accepting. These moves mean that the backroom staff aren't quite as strong as last year's, but will make a huge difference to the balance sheet - around $70-80m. The house rules I'm using mean I can't use the franchise tag, and there is no change to ticket prices this year, as the team finished 5-11 and missed the playoffs last year. The team has quite a few unrestricted free agents, but I'm only really interested in bringing back S Marshall Strickland and LB Gary Upshaw, but even this isn't all that important. I will be looking for an impact free agent, though, especially if a quality DE is available. Carolina make a trade offer at the start of the free agency period - they want RB Darrell Bettencourt for a decent LB plus their 6th round pick. Bettencourt started a few games last year, but didn't play consistently well, so I decide to take the trade. (Note: the message was 'close to a fair offer' - this is acceptable to me under the house rules, as the team proposing the trade should be prepared to give up a little more than the team receiving the trade offer (in my opinion)). The team has plenty of cap room available this year - $76.0m with 38 players signed - so I have a lot of room to work with in free agency. What player(s) to go after is a tough decision, as I can go after either one player in the first 10 weeks or three in weeks 11-20 - I decide to wait until the later stages this year, as depth is likely to be more important than superstars this year. DEs Antonio Cochran and Darren Howard get offers in weeks 7 and 8, with Cochran accepting his straight away, while Howard remains a free agent after the Bears hit cap problems. The Giants make an offer to Marshall Strickland in week 11, but I put in a 4-year, $20.00m offer in week 11, which is accepted straight away. DE Howard is picked up by the Giants in week 13 - both DEs went for a lot more money than I would have been prepared to pay. There isn't a lot of talent left in the later stages of free agency, so I decide to wait a little longer to get better value for money. Unfortunately, the players I was hoping to make offers to were picked up in the last few weeks of free agency, so I end up signing no free agents in 2010. Two more of my players are picked up in week 15 - LB Gary Upshaw is off to San Francisco (I would have liked to bring him back, but the LB I received in the trade with Carolina is an adequate replacement), and S Kenneth Daniels will play for KC this year. At this point, I resign P Will Waldteufel on a 3-year, $2.40m contract - he's not the best punter in the league, but will do a solid job. Heading into the draft, the Bulldozers' main needs are at defensive end and safety, although starter-quality guys at LB and CB would be very handy as well. The pass rush was a big concern last year, with 5.0 sacks being the team lead, and I've lost a couple of solid veterans to free agency, so the top pick is likely to go on DE (as long as there's someone worth the pick available). Greenville pick 6th this year (our fellow expansion team, Augusta, have the top pick for the second straight year - a triumph of sorts ). I'm tempted by a very good-looking CB (current ratings 57/76/70/76/50) - an immediate starter who may well break out as well (!) - and there are a couple of very solid-looking LBs. DE is a bit weak this year - the best guy is 30/67, 36/82, 59 (good but not worth this high a pick, IMO), and S is a bit of a disaster area - the top guy might be worth my second-rounder if he falls that far. CB isn't a particularly big need, but the top guy is simply too good to pass up. [For what it's worth, this guy is rated as 2.9 current, 2.9 future on the draft list...]The good LBs have gone by the start of the second round (as I expected), but the DE pool hasn't been thinned out as much as I thought - there are a few decent players left. It's a risk leaving the top S on the board when the position is as thin as it is, but I don't feel I can pass up a solid DE at this point - the guy I go for is more a run-stuffer, and is a bit short on endurance (34/71, 26/55, 44), but will be a solid contributor to the Bulldozers' defence. The S surprisingly falls to my pick in the third round, but there's also a really good pass-rushing DT available (58/90 in pass rush) - a player who would really help to improve the main weakness on the defence last year. The lack of depth at S forces my hand, though - there's no way I can risk letting a decent S go when I need a starter there and there's no other player capable of stepping in straight away. The risk pays off when the DT drops into the fourth round - what are these AI-controlled teams playing at? Full draft listing 1 - Marshall Grant, CB - best rookie corner I've seen 2 - C.J. Drudge, DE - a solid player with some question marks on conditioning 3 - Tim Stubblefield, S - will start from day 1, and should be a solid player 4 - Nathan Hill, DT - will start at DE straight away - can't believe he dropped this far 5 - Jerry Welch, DT - too good a player to pass up here, even in a low-need position 6 - Rex Douglas, LB - backup quality, but not too bad this far down 6 - Ronald Skidmore, LB - pure redliner prospect - could be a decent pass-rusher 7 - Joe Southard, DT - possible breakout candidate Signing the draft picks leaves the team with 48 players signed and around half of the salary cap free - the joys of controlling an expansion team! Jacksonville offer a trade for T Vinny Fulton - their 3rd round pick next year is the price. Given that Fulton was a rookie free agent last year, and has ratings of 11/32, 11/28, 7, this is a no-brainer (especially as altering the deal comes up with an 'extremely close' message, making it a valid trade under the house rules I'm using). The trade is accepted, no further questions asked - it feels too close to robbery! My next move is to look through the rookie free agents - it seems to be a decent year for QBs, with a couple of guys catching my eye. A couple of useful backs and receivers dropped through the draft as well, but it doesn't seem to have been a particularly good year for offensive linemen. The trawl through the UDFAs leaves me with 59 players signed, so a few cuts have to be made. The roster going into camp is:
A good training camp, with little downward movement from any player, and some solid development from last year's rookie class.
Before heading into the season, I look at renegotiating contracts for players in the last year of their current deals. LB Joe Huntley accepts a 3-year, $14.70m contract, but I don't feel any of the other players who become free agents after this season are worth giving a new contract. Preseason Greenville 10-20 Dallas New Orleans 30-10 Greenville Oakland 28-18 Greenville Greenville 21-23 Augusta 0-4, but the team didn't play too badly - S Marshall Strickland returned a couple of picks for TDs, while QB Maumau played solidly - he'll be the starter for week 1. Injuries aren't too bad - a few minor ones, with C Janis the only player expected to miss more than a week or two. Week 1 - Greenville 33 - 15 Seattle A near-perfect start to the season for the Bulldozers, with QB Jermaine Maumau having a brilliant debut - 24 of 33 for 296 yards and 3 TDs with no interceptions. The running game and defence also put in good performances, with the Seahawks held to under 150 total yards, a tally almost matched by the Greenville ground game. Week 2 - Miami (1-0) 16 - 21 Greenville (2-0) A solid first half performance saw the Bulldozers go in with a 21-3 lead, which the defence managed to preserve despite a late Dolphins rally. RB Lonnie Briggs was the star, finishing with 128 yards on the ground. Miami were forced into seven three and outs in this game, and the Greenville defence managed to get to the QB four times. Week 3 - Greenville (2-0) 31 - 28 New York Jets (2-0) A huge win for the Bulldozers over the defending AFC East champions on the road. Rookie CB Marshall Grant came up with three interceptions, returning one for a score, and the offence played a near-flawless game, with QB Maumau passing for over 200 yards. Week 4 - Oakland (2-1) 14 - 10 Greenville (3-0) A very tight defensive game went the way of the Raiders as a 14-0 lead with a quarter to go proved too much for the Bulldozers to pull back. Neither team was able to run the ball, but Oakland were a bit more consistent through the air, despite four sacks from DT Roberson. Backup QB Brandenfeis came in early, and put in a solid performance, finishing 16 of 21 for 198 yards. Week 5 - New York Jets (3-1) 13 - 7 Greenville (3-1) Another low-scoring game with the defences on top, but the Jets got more out of their offence and deserved the win to tie the season series. Kevin Roberson continued his hot streak, picking up another 4.5 sacks plus a fumble recovery returned for the Bulldozers' only points. Week 6 - Pittsburgh (1-4) 17 - 27 Greenville (3-2) A welcome return to form for the Bulldozers, led by a revival from the offence. Maumau hit a long TD pass early on to set the tone, and the defence came up with the big plays to seal the game - four interceptions, two for rookie S Stubblefield, and six sacks. Week 7 - Greenville (4-2) 7 - 28 Buffalo (3-3) The Bulldozers were never in this one as the Bills dominated from the start. Jermaine Maumau struggled, completing only 11 passes from 34 attempts, and the running game was non-existent. The defence put in a good effort as usual, but was unable to overcome the lack of production from the offence. Week 8 - San Francisco (2-4-1) 25 - 21 Greenville (4-3) A TD with 41 seconds to play saw the 49ers sneak a win out of Greenville in a closely fought game, but the Bulldozers will rue their inability to take chances, as 15 of their 21 points came from the boot of K Monty Craft. S Tim Stubblefield came up with two interceptions in a solid defensive performance. Week 9 - Greenville (4-4) 36 - 17 Carolina (1-6) The Panthers managed to shut down the offence, but couldn't handle the Bulldozers' defence, as the Greenville D came up with three interceptions and four sacks. Monty Craft kicked five field goals for the second week running as the Bulldozers got their season back on track before the bye week. Week 10 - Bye Week 11 - Greenville (5-4) 3 - 7 Augusta (4-5) The first Expansion Bowl went the way of the NFC team, with the Bulldozers struggling to move the ball against a solid Cyberhawks defence. Two missed field goals cost Greenville dear in a tight, low-scoring game. Week 12 - New England (8-2) 23 - 20 Greenville (5-5) Not as close as the score would suggest, as a garbage time TD pass from Maumau covered over the poor Bulldozers performance to some extent. The rookie QB had a bad day apart from this, completing only 14 of 40 passes. Week 13 - Greenville (5-6) 0 - 31 Miami (3-8) A struggle in the heat as the Bulldozers' offence couldn't move the ball to save themselves in a poor performance. QB Maumau had a terrible day, passing for only 77 yards and throwing four interceptions, and the defence also struggled, giving up over 200 yards on the ground. Week 14 - Indianapolis (7-5) 3 - 20 Greenville (5-7) Third string QB Robert Moss started this game in an effort by the coaches to give the offence a spark after some poor performances, and the gamble worked, with Moss passing for 172 yards in a solid Greenville win. Defence was the key, though, with the Bulldozers coming up with three interceptions as they kept their slim playoff hopes alive. Week 15 - Buffalo (6-7) 20 - 17 Greenville (6-7) (OT) A big loss for the Bulldozers virtually eliminates them from the playoff race as the Bills score the tying TD inside the last minute, then win the game with a field goal on the first possession of overtime. QB Moss had a mixed game, throwing a long TD pass to WR Lovelace early on, but struggling to find his receivers later on. Week 16 - Greenville (6-8) 15 - 21 New England (11-3) (OT) A second overtime loss in a row eliminates the Bulldozers from the postseason, but they gave the division-leading Patriots a tough game in their own stadium. RB Lonnie Briggs had 100 yards rushing and QB Maumau (restored to the starting lineup) passed for 200 in a decent offensive performance, while the defence came up with 5 sacks and an interception. Week 17 - Greenville (6-9) - Indianapolis (8-7) The Colts pounded the Bulldozers into submission to clinch a wild card, with the Greenville defence giving up over 200 yards on the ground. A flat performance from Greenville to end the season on a low note.
A disappointing end to the year after a good start, but the Bulldozers were a lot more competitive this season - the defence was much improved, and the offence showed more consistency (although there were still a few too many bad games in there). An aside: I quick-simmed up to 2008 with the Denver Broncos, winning 3 Super Bowls (almost by accident!) along the way, but the Broncos have now won both Super Bowls since I switched to the expansion Greenville Bulldozers... Statistics QB Jermaine Maumau: (14 games) 190-388-2059-10-14 (qbr 58.5) RB Lonnie Briggs: 200-891-4 (4.4 ypc) RB Harold Goldade: 80-376-3 (4.7 ypc) WR Charlie Lovelace: 57-740-4 (12.9 ypc), 50.8% caught, 8 drops WR Jack Tanner: 45-618-2 (13.7 ypc), 47.3% caught, 7 drops WR Otis Williamson: 42-434-0 (10.3 ypc), 49.4% caught, 6 drops A much better year for the running game, especially as Briggs stepped up as the starter, but the passing game went backwards, with Maumau cooling off after a fast start. K Monty Craft: 29-38 FG (long 49), 24-24 EP P Will Waldteufel: 127 punts, 40.0 average, 36 inside the 20 PR Drew Gruber: 49-469-1 punt returns (average 9.5) A decent year for the special teams, although Gruber did put the ball on the ground a few too many times for my liking. DT Kevin Roberson: 29 tackles, 13 assists, 15.5 sacks DE C.J. Drudge: 21 tackles, 5 assists, 8.5 sacks LB Jerry Boone: 59 tackles, 18 assists, 12.0 sacks LB Kim McClennen: 74 tackles, 19 assists S Marshall Strickland: 93 tackles, 21 assists, 4 interceptions, 14 pass defences S Tim Stubblefield: 68 tackles, 21 assists, 5 interceptions CB Brian Showalter: 34 tackles, 10 assists, 2 interceptions (1 TD), 20 passes caught CB Marshall Grant: 29 tackles, 13 assists, 6 interceptions (2 TDs), 23 passes caught Team statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 3.8/Defence 3.7/League 3.7 Pass: Offence 5.9/Defence 6.0/League 6.6 Yards per game Offence: Rush 119.4 (9), Pass 170.8 (34) Defence: Rush 99.9 (15), Pass 216.6 (18) A definite improvement over 2009, as the Bulldozers managed to get a consistent running game going on the offensive side of the ball, and improved in all areas on defence - drafting CB Grant and S Stubblefield made a big difference to the defence. Awards S Tim Stubblefield was rewarded for his efforts by being named the Defensive Rookie of the Year, while Kevin Roberson's early season sack frenzy was enough for him to make the AP 1st team. A definite improvement this year, although not one which made a big difference to the win column - the Bulldozers came out on the wrong side of several close games. The offence needs a couple more years to mature - QB Jermaine Maumau could be a solid player if he develops to his full potential, and there's a fair bit of talent among the receivers and on the offensive line - while the defence is starting to come together, with only a couple of holes now needing to be filled. Herb: 16/16/58/77 - average 53 Finances: The Bulldozers posted their first profit - $0.9m on revenues of $126.8m. The big difference compared to 2009 was mainly staff costs, although a light year for signing bonuses helped a lot as well. Martin |
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03-10-2001, 08:23 AM
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#4 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Greenville Bulldozers - 2011 season
The pronouncement from team management this season: The team is on the right track, but needs to keep improving - the least we expect this year is for the team to challenge for a playoff spot. While last year was good from a financial point of view, we expect this to continue - you should not break the bank in an effort to be successful. With the Bulldozers breaking into profit last season (even if it was by less than $1m), one of the house rules now kicks in - the team must be profitable at least every other year from now on. This means that I need to get the team into the black either this year or next year to keep my job... As scout Ed Croteau and coach Levon Fulton are both under contract for some time yet, there is no change there. I'm happy to keep Croteau, but Fulton isn't the best coach I could have - he does have a lot of good points, but also has plenty of shortcomings. Looking at the roster, the team has 42 players signed with $64.7m of a $139.3m cap free. Only two unrestricted free agents - LB Jerry Boone and S Julio Franklin; Boone might be worth resigning if he lasts to the late stages of free agency, but Franklin will not be returning. Of the restricted free agents, only FB Benjamin King and K Monty Craft are likely to be resigned. Ticket prices: No change allowed this year - the Bulldozers need to win at least 8 games or make the playoffs before prices can be adjusted. Greenville: 35/37/55/100/ 0/1700/110000 Carolina: 47/47/57/117/5300/3300/220000 Looking at this year's free agents, the best defensive player available is LB Leonard Eloms (Indianapolis) - a solid player with few weaknesses. He's been a big part of the Colts defence for a few years, racking up over 100 tackles in both 2008 and 2009. After last year's debacle (when I decided to wait until the later stages to be able to pick up more players, and ended up getting no-one), I decide to go after the star player - a offer of $18.00m over 3 years goes in at the start of the free agency period. The trade offers at the start of free agency include a very silly offer from the Chargers - the third pick of this year's draft for QB Jermaine Maumau, a rookie free agent last year. Unsurprisingly, this fails the reality check. I do accept a (more reasonable) offer from the Redskins for TE O.J Gilbert, receiving a pick near the bottom of the 6th round for a guy who would have been warming the bench at best this year. A lot of teams are interested in LB Eloms, so I up my offer to $18.70m over 3 years in week 2. This isn't the highest offer, but he decides to come to Greenville in week 4 - this gives me the top-notch LB the defence has been missing the last couple of years. Now all I need is a quality safety, and the defence is all set... Pittsburgh offer a trade for QB Robert Moss at the end of free agency, which I accept - Moss isn't a bad QB for an ex-rookie free agent, but I have two guys who should be better fairly soon, and a fourth round draft pick is a good deal for a third-string QB. At this point, I also resign FB Benjamin King and K Monty Craft to minsal deals - King for 3 years, Craft for just this season. Heading into the draft, the Bulldozers have several needs on defence (as well as too many to mention on offence, but these can't be dealt with until after the draft! ) Safety is a big need, as Marshall Strickland is a stop-gap starter at best (decent in coverage, but struggles in run support), and there's no-one behind the starters on the roster at the moment. Defensive end (the usual complaint ) is also a big need, but isn't as pressing, as I have a DT who can play end (Nathan Hill) and two decent players who can start if required. Linebacker and corner are positions I could do with solid backups in - a good nickel back would be a useful pickup, as I have no-one behind starters Showalter and Grant at the moment.Picking 7th this year, the Bulldozers have a chance at a real impact player with their first pick, especially as five of the first 6 picks go on offensive players. Unfortunately, the defensive talent isn't that strong at the top of the draft - the best player is a DT, but I'm unwilling to use this high a pick on a position I'm fairly strong in already. A solid CB is also available, but the 7th pick in the draft is not the place to pick up a nickel back! There are a few highly rated safeties available, but the best two have the equal return ratings that shout 'bust!', so I stay well away. In the end, I go with a solid LB - good in coverage, and not too shabby stopping the run as well. The second round pick is an easy decision, as the good CB I was looking at for my first round pick somehow falls this far - I really need a S more, but this seems to be another weak draft for safeties. This guy gives me the option of playing him at S or having a starter-quality nickel back. The need at DE is partially filled with my first pick in round 3 with another fairly average player (potentials around 50 for both run defence and pass rush) - not a star, but a player who won't be a liability if he is called on to start. Another LB in round 3 - this time a player who is likely to be a backup for a couple of years, but projects to be a starter in time. Special teams is the order of the day in round 4, with two picks going on a kicker and a punter - both look to be high-quality players, but my scout's weakness in this area may hurt a little come training camp. Rnd 1 - Darnell Hutton, LB - will start straight away, and could be a star Rnd 2 - Mickey Lemieux, CB - simply too good to pass up here - should have been a mid-first round pick Rnd 3 - Darrin McDonald, DE - another competent player at DE Rnd 3 - Scottie Henderson, LB - an improvement over the players on the roster Rnd 4 - Roy Groh, P - a great pickup who should make a huge difference to field position Rnd 4 - Paul Lucas, K - strong leg, and will be a solid player once he hones his accuracy Rnd 5 - Ron Keith, S - reasonable backup with some chance of a breakout Rnd 6 - Herman McPhail, DT - good value for a solid backup here Rnd 6 - Antoine Chrysler, S - possible redliner with some return skills Rnd 7 - Steven Gillespie, DE - slight chance of a breakout, but unlikely to hang around if not This leaves the team with 53 players signed, but there will need to be some cuts, as I'm carrying four kickers/punters and 9 linebackers at the moment. No great players in the rookie free agent pool this year, but I pick up a few guys who should be able to contribute, and get a big upgrade at KR/PR. No real moves from the rookies in camp - the good players didn't bust, while the possible redliners stayed pretty well where they were going into camp. A few veterans showed good improvement, though, notably QB Maumau, who is now the definite starter. I look at contract renegotiations at this point - the only player in the last year of his contract I feel I need to resign is DT Keith Roberson, who fills the most important position in the 3-4 scheme I run. He accepts a 3-year, $17.52m deal - a large chunk of this is bonus, but I don't have any cap problems at the moment, so it's not a big deal. A look down the depth chart going into the season, starting with the stars of the team, the defence: The starters on the defensive line are All-Pro NT Kevin Roberson, who is a force against both the run and the pass, DT Nathan Hill (who starts at DE because of his ability to get to the QB) and DE C.J. Drudge. DE Terry Givens is the designated pass-rusher. The backups are mainly rookies, but are solid players nevertheless: Jerry Welch should take over from Roberson in a couple of years, while DE McDonald and DT McPhail will see plenty of action. The linebacking corps is a mixture of solid veterans and up-and-coming youngsters. This year's big free agent signing Leonard Eloms anchors the group in the middle, and is joined by run-stuffer Herb Montgomery when the Bulldozers are in their base 3-4. The outside guys, veteran Joe Huntley and top draft pick Darnell Hutton, are solid against both the run and pass. Kim McClennen and Scottie Henderson are good backups, both having started for Greenville last season. Safety is the weakest position on the defence, with starters Marshall Strickland and Tim Stubblefield holding their positions more because of a lack of competition than because they're the best guys available. Both can play, but Strickland struggles against the run and Stubby is still learning his trade. Rookies Chrysler and Keith are the backups, but neither is likely to set the heather on fire when they get in the game. The team is set for a long time at corner, though, with two of the best in Marshall Grant and Brian Showalter as the starters in the base defence, and highly-rated rookie Mickey Lemieux (who would start for most teams in the league) coming in in passing situations. Good CBs are a necessity for the scheme I run (which involves leaving them in single coverage on virtually every play), but these guys are more than capable of playing their part. Greenville play a base 3-4 defence with little double coverage on the outside receivers - this allows the safeties to help out in run defence. The pass rush is the key to this defensive scheme, as giving the opposing QB enough time to throw on a regular basis exposes the cornerbacks to too much pressure. A good defensive line (and some judicious blitzing) is important for this defence, as are good cover men at cornerback. Onto the other side of the ball now - this is the weak area of the team, due to the rules of the challenge. While the defence is pretty settled already, even with the team only being in its third year, the offence is a mishmash of young players not good enough to be drafted. The offensive line is starting to come together, though, with some decent players emerging. The left side looks reasonably solid, with T Josh Chryplewicz and G Matt Nordstrom both developing into solid if unspectacular blockers. C Simmons, G Blanchard and T Simmons round out the starting five. The backups are a mix of reasonable 'veterans' and some promising rookies - C Roy Huey and G A.J. Cipa are expected to develop into solid starters in a year or two. The receiving corps is surprisingly solid for a group wholly made up of undrafted free agents. Charlie Lovelace is the team's best receiver, having led the team in catches and receiving yards in its first two years. The starter on the other side is Otis Williamson, who just beat out Glen Jankowski for a starting role in preseason. Jack Tanner is a reliable possession receiver, while rookie Nolan Lofton plays little at receiver - his job is to be the team's kick returner. Tight end and fullback are fairly easy positions to pick up useful players from the undrafted rookie pool, and the Bulldozers have taken advantage of this. TEs Dan Wright and Jose Reiter are both solid receivers, but struggle a bit on their blocking assignments. Starting FB Benjamin King is a solid blocker, while Terrance Harvey gives the team more options in the running and passing games. The main ball-carrier from halfback this year will be Lonnie Briggs, who emerged from the 'RB by committee' last year as the undoubted starter - anyone who can run for almost 900 yards at well over 4 yards per carry behind this offensive line has to be a pretty useful player! Harold Goldade and Walt Gabriel are solid backups, providing a different style of running to the pace and moves of Briggs. Quarterback is the most important position on the offensive side of the ball, and the team feels lucky to have been able to pick up Jermaine Maumau last season. Maumau is a solid young passer who throws a good accurate ball at all ranges. He has some problems with holding onto the ball, getting enough zip on his passes and getting the job done on the big plays, but should develop into a good leader for the Bulldozers. Darrell Brandenfeis is the #2 QB - he isn't as good a player as Maumau, but is capable of leading the team if required. Rookie Russell Garlarza is the third-string QB. The offensive gameplan is fairly balanced between run and pass (some have commented that this is because the team is equally inept at both! ) The standard pro-style offensive sets are used for most plays - two backs, two receivers and a tight end - as this gets the best players out on the field.The all-rookie special teams unit is led by K Paul Lucas and P Roy Groh. Both have very strong legs, and are expected to be solid players for the Bulldozers for many years to come. WR Nolan Lofton is the primary return man, with S Antoine Chrysler filling in as necessary. Preseason Philadelphia 17-14 Greenville Greenville 34-6 San Diego Greenville 10-28 Arizona Kansas City 27-10 Greenville A 1-3 preseason, with only a few minor injuries - DT Nathan Hill is the main casualty, and will miss several weeks. QB Maumau has a slight thigh injury, but will be able to start in week 1. Week 1 - Greenville 3 - 30 New York Jets A tough season opener soon became near impossible as the Jets jumped out to an early 21-0 lead and held on comfortably. The Bulldozers struggled on both sides of the ball, with the running game being held to negative yards and the defence getting off to a slow start. Week 2 - Indianapolis (1-0) 17 - 31 Greenville (0-1) The Bulldozers put the disappointment of the opening weekend behind them by putting in a good performance in their home opener. Jermaine Maumau threw three TD passes and Harold Goldade finished with 95 yards on the ground to lead the offence, while Kevin Roberson finished with two sacks and Marshall Strickland had two of Greenville's four interceptions. This game saw C.J. Drudge go down with a dislocated elbow - he's expected to return near the end of the regular season. Week 3 - Buffalo (2-0) 17 - 23 Greenville (1-1) (OT) RB Lonnie Briggs won the game on his second 4-yard TD run of the game as the Bulldozers overcame a late Bills comeback to win in overtime. Briggs finished with 107 yards on 14 carries to lead the offence, while the defence came up with 6 sacks, including 2.5 from rookie DE Darrin McDonald in his first start. Nolan Lofton justified the team management's faith by returning a first-quarter kickoff for a TD. Week 4 - Greenville (2-1) 31 - 16 Miami (0-3) The defence kept the Bulldozers in the game with some solid defence in their own end (the Dolphins kicked three field goals in the first half), and Nolan Lofton continued his good returning form with two punt returns for TDs as Greenville picked up their first road win of the 2011 season. Backup RB Goldade scored two TDs on the ground while rookie DE Darrin McDonald made the most of his opportunity by racking up 11 tackles and 1.5 sacks. The treatment room saw a lot of traffic after this game, with T Simmons and CB Grant both being ruled out of action for a couple of months, while DT Roberson and S Strickland picked up slightly less serious knocks. Week 5 - Greenville (3-1) 10 - 38 San Diego (2-2) The banged-up Bulldozers kept it close for three quarters, but the Chargers rolled away with the game late on. A poor offensive showing coupled with below average defensive play from Greenville allowed San Diego to take control of this game. Week 6 - New England (4-1) 13 - 24 Greenville (3-2) A decent offensive performance coupled with solid pass defence were the keys to this big divisional victory. Jermaine Maumau threw two picks, but also had two TD passes in a decent outing, while Darrin McDonald continued his great rookie season with 1.5 sacks. CB Hugh Hardy sealed the win with an interception returned for a TD with less than a minute and a half to play. Week 7 - Greenville (4-2) 13 - 40 Philadelphia (4-2) Another tough week for the Bulldozers as their offence struggled to get into gear. With little support, the defence was unable to keep the Eagles in check late on, giving up 27 second half points. This game also saw C Roy Huey go down with a season-ending injury. C Shane Fox was signed as an injury replacement. Week 8 - Bye Week 9 - Miami (2-6) 7 - 20 Greenville (4-3) A solid first half performance put the Bulldozers well ahead, and the team played ball control from then on to preserve the victory. The Dolphins were held to under 200 yards of total offence, with DEs McDonald and Givens both picking up a sack. Lonnie Briggs's 128 yards allowed Greenville to control the ball for almost 38 minutes. Week 10 - Greenville (5-3) 9 - 38 Buffalo (8-1) The Bulldozers have struggled on the road against good teams so far this season, and this was no exception. The Bills scored on offence, defence and special teams in a very comfortable victory as all three of Greenville's QBs saw action. Week 11 - New York Giants (2-7) 24 - 14 Greenville (5-4) The Greenville offence was ineffective once more as the Giants scored defensive and special teams to pull off a shock win. WR Jankowski scored the two Bulldozers TDs on passes from Maumau, while DT Nathan Hill picked up two sacks despite only being on the field for seven plays. Week 12 - Arizona (6-5) 3 - 26 Greenville (5-5) The Bulldozers' best performance of the season saw the defence hold the Cardinals to only 118 total yards and a garbage time field goal. Given this platform, the offence put in a solid showing, with Maumau throwing two TD passes and RBs Goldade and Briggs picking up solid yardage on the ground. Week 13 - New York Jets (6-5) 14 - 20 Greenville (6-5) A huge win for the Bulldozers which keeps their playoff hopes alive. K Paul Lucas kicked four field goals and Lonnie Briggs rushed for 97 yards to lead the team to victory. S Tim Stubblefield made two interceptions, while DT Roberson led the pass rush with 1.5 sacks. This win was not without cost, as the injury situation (which had looked to be easing) became almost out of control after this game, with several players looking to miss some games. Week 14 - Jacksonville (6-6) 20 - 10 Greenville (7-5) This loss is a big blow to Greenville's playoff hopes, as the Bulldozers now need at least two wins from their three remaining games, which are all on the road. The Jaguars simply shut down the Greenville offence in this one - the defence kept the team in the game, but couldn't do enough on its own to pinch a victory. Rookie CB Mickey Lemieux came up with two interceptions, while Marshall Strickland returned a pick for the team's only TD. Week 15 - Greenville (7-6) 0 - 13 New England (8-5) A loss which basically ends the Bulldozers hopes of playoff football this season. The defences were on top in this one, and the only TD came on a Darrell Brandenfeis interception returned for a TD. The defence kept Greenville in the game once more, with the pass rush getting to the Patriots QB on six occasions. Week 16 - Greenville (7-7) 12 - 10 Cincinnati (7-7) Four Paul Lucas field goals, including the game-winner from 50 yards out with 1:36 to play, kept the Bulldozers' slim playoff hopes alive in a tight, defensive struggle. Neither team moved the ball with any consistency, but Greenville's defence and special teams were able to win the field position battle. Week 17 - Greenville (8-7) 23 - 20 Indianapolis (4-11) The Bulldozers' D came up with the big plays when it mattered in a closely-fought victory - LB Scottie Henderson scored on a fumble return early on, while CB Brian Showalter took an interception back for a TD to clinch the victory in the fourth quarter. The win wasn't quite enough for Greenville to sneak a wild card, with no team below 10-6 making the postseason this year.
A solid season, although the offence still has the tendency to completely disappear in the big games. The defence gave up a lot of points, but is developing into a very solid unit. Statistics QB Jermaine Maumau: (15 games) 199-398-2077-13-18 (qbr 57.4) RB Lonnie Briggs: 206-1000-2 (4.8 ypc) RB Harold Goldade: 128-523-3 (4.0 ypc) WR Charlie Lovelace: 58-654-2 (11.2 ypc), 45.6% caught, 10 drops WR Glen Jankowski: (12 games) 44-537-4 (12.2 ypc), 53.6% caught, 9 drops The running game continued to improve this year, but the offence continued to struggle through the air. DT Keith Roberson: 28 tackles, 15 assists, 12.0 sacks DE Darrin McDonald: 51 tackles, 16 assists, 11.0 sacks LB Herb Montgomery: 71 tackles, 21 assists, 1.0 sacks LB Leonard Eloms: 68 tackles, 31 assists, 7.0 sacks S Tim Stubblefield: 75 tackles, 21 assists, 5 interceptions S Marshall Strickland: 60 tackles, 27 assists, 5 interceptions (1 TD) CB Brian Showalter: 54 tackles, 13 assists, 6 interceptions (1 TD) A solid year for the defence, although they gave up more points than in 2010. DT Roberson continues to be a force in the middle of the line, while rookie DE McDonald was a pleasant surprise. The addition of LB Eloms made a big difference to the defence. K Paul Lucas: 29 of 41 FGA, long 52 P Roy Groh: 113 punts, 44.9 average, 48 inside the 20 KR/PR Nolan Lofton: 9.1 average (2 TDs) punt returns, 26.6 average (1 TD) kick returns The revamping of the special teams unit paid off, with all three rookies having solid years - Lucas struggled early on, but finished the season strongly. Team statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 3.8/Defence 3.7/League 3.7 Pass: Offence 5.0/Defence 5.5/League 6.4 Yards per game Offence: Rush 113.5 (8), Pass 146.6 (34) Defence: Rush 113.2 (27), Pass 180.6 (1) The passing offence continues to be a problem, with Maumau struggling this year, while the defence had a very sound year, although the run defence could have been better. Awards P Roy Groh and CB Brian Showalter were voted to the AP 1st team. Herb: 54/17/63/75 - average 44 Finances: A loss of $6.0m on revenues of $131.2m - not much different to last year, but a slight rise in the payroll pushes the team back into the red. Looking ahead to the 2012 season - the team should continue to improve, especially if I can fill a few holes on the defensive side of the ball, but finding the answer to the problems at QB is likely to be the key to taking this team further. Martin |
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03-18-2001, 04:30 AM
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#5 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Greenville Bulldozers - 2012 season
Pronouncement from on high (i.e. team management): The team must break back into profit this year, or you're out of a job! It is good to see that the team continues to improve, and we want to see this continue in the upcoming season - a playoff berth is the least that we expect. A tough season ahead, as the financial constraints on this challenge mean I can't really afford to go out and sign any free agents. Getting to the playoffs won't be easy given this, but it's certainly achievable (and a home playoff game would make a big difference to the money side of things as well )No retirements this year (unsurprising, as this is a very young team with only a smattering of veterans). The rules of the challenge mean there are no changes at coach or scout this year - both are still under contract. Ticket prices: Finishing 9-7 in 2011 allows me to increase ticket prices by up to 10% - the financial situation makes this a must. Greenville: 38/40/58/110/ 0/1870/121000 Carolina: 48/46/58/116/5400/3500/226000 The team starts the year with 48 players signed and $50.1m cap room free - getting 53 players under the cap is unlikely to be a problem! Three unrestricted free agents this year: LB Kim McClennen, CB Hugh Hardy and CB Lorenzo Giraldi. I have plenty of cover for all of these guys, so none of them will be returning. Only three restricted free agents, and only one (G A.J. Cipa) is likely to receive an offer to return (I should have signed him to a longer deal last offseason, but I wasn't sure if he would bust or not given his very symmetrical ratings). Looking at the available free agents, and it's about as good a year for safeties as I've seen - four guys who would be a big improvement over my current starters - but I can't afford to sign any of them... I decide to wait until week 11 to see if I can pick up any decent cheap free agents, and then decide not to bother this year - no-one who's going to be a big improvement available. Heading into the draft, the big need is at safety, but depth at linebacker and corner is something I need to concentrate on as well. Picking 21st means I miss out on the real stars at the top end of the draft, but a lot of good defensive players are still going when the Bulldozers are called. There are a few really solid defensive linemen available - a DT who would be Roberson's eventual replacement stands out, but the best value for the pick is an immediate starter at DE (30/48, 47/77, 97). There is also a potential star LB, but the team is pretty well of for starting LBs at the moment. The DE is my final choice - I have several solid players at DE at the moment, but this guy should be better than any of them. I look to fill a need in the second round, but none of the guys available are really worth a second round pick, so I go BPA, and take another DE - this guy is a bit short of stamina, but is a very useful addition to the rotation on the defensive line (43/76, 34/60, 32). Depth at CB is given a boost in the third round through a decent player who is a good fit for the scheme I run, and the fourth round pick goes on a pure redliner safety (22/23, 30/31, 32, 45, 24) - an improvement on my current backups, and a possible starter if he breaks out. Full draft list: 1 - Herb Enbysk, DE - the sort of player who often goes in the top 10 2 - Allen Abe, DE - a solid backup at the moment, and may be starter-quality in a year or two 3 - Phillip Witt, CB - a guy who would be a good nickel back on every other team in the league 4 - Jim Whitfield, S - very much a redliner, but a decent backup if no breakout 5 - James Battle, LB - adds a bit of depth at LB in a poor LB draft 6 - Harry McDougle, LB - would have made free agency if the LB depth was any better 7 - Russell Matthews, S - the old BPA trick here - a so-so safety with good return skills This leaves the team with 55 players signed and $43.6m cap room free, so I'll be making a few cuts before heading to camp. I resign G A.J. Cipa at this point - a 3-year, bonus-free contract worth $4.80m. Players released at this point: RB Walt Gabriel - in the last year of his current deal, and I can pick up a comparable rookie free agent RB Lee Yeast - simply hasn't performed in his time with the team WR Glen Jankowski - a guy I thought would be the team's best receiver, but hasn't lived up to expectations WR Jack Tanner - a solid third down target, but earning too much and not enough speed G Alvin Jenkins - guard is an easy position to get decent quality through the rookie free agent pool T Horace Simmons - lost too much through injury to be worth keeping T Tommie Dar Dar - the last guy to be cut - not a great tackle, but a decent backup on this team DE Terry Givens - he's in the last year of his contract, and keeping him isn't going to help my rookie DEs develop DE Steven Gillespie - a roster filler last year who is now expendable S Ron Keith - last year's fourth safety has dropped off the depth chart The roster was filled with rookie free agents, and the team headed to camp. The first big news of camp was that S Jim Whitfield had his expected breakout (now 29/42, 42/64, 45/56, 63, 36) - not to starter-quality, but a good third safety. First round pick DE Herb Enbysk picked up a bit more potential in camp (now 28/52, 43/86, 88), and looks to be a potential top-notch pass rusher in a year or two. Before heading into the season, a look at the key players on the defence: The main man up front is NT Kevin Roberson, an 11-year veteran picked up in free agency in 2009. He was a 4-time All-Pro with New England before joining the Bulldozers, and has been the key to the defence for Greenville in his three years with the team - solid against the run, but also able to get to the QB on a regular basis. The leader of the linebacking corps is last year's free agent pickup Leonard Eloms, a player who is comfortable stuffing the run, rushing the passer or in coverage. This 8th-year player helped last year's team to a big improvement in the defensive statistics with his all-round excellence. The cornerbacks are a big part of the defence for Greenville, and the team has two of the best in Brian Showalter and Marshall Grant. Showalter was the team's first draft pick in 2009, and has repaid the faith shown by the team, being voted to his first All-Pro team last season. Grant was the team's top pick in 2010, but is coming off a big injury last year - he still looks a star but needs to perform, as nickel back Mickey Lemieux is waiting in the wings should he struggle. The roster heading into the season is:
Now for the season, starting with the exhibition games: Greenville 12-16 Jacksonville Oakland 13-16 Greenville Cleveland 6-36 Greenville Greenville 28-14 Chicago A good 3-1 preseason, but at the expense of the starting CB tandem of Showalter and Grant - Showalter will be back in a few weeks, but Grant will not return until at least after the first half of the regular season. Week 1 - New York Jets 17-21 Greenville Three second quarter TDs were enough for the Bulldozers to start the season with a win. RB Harold Goldade scored two of these on his way to 109 yards on only 10 carries. The patched-up secondary gave up over 300 yards passing to the Jets, but the team managed to hold on for the win. Week 2 - Buffalo (1-0) 17-3 Greenville (1-0) A tight defensive game was decided by the Bills' superior offence - neither team moved the ball well, but Buffalo were able to move the ball through the air, and didn't turn the ball over. QB Jermaine Maumau had a shocker - 6 of 34 for 63 yards and 3 interceptions (yes, that is 6 completions!). Week 3 - Oakland () 10-16 Greenville (1-1) A punishing ground game, led by Harold Goldade's 165 yards, was the key to this game - it allowed the Bulldozers to control the clock, and gave the defence the platform to hold the Raiders under 200 yards of total offence. The injury crisis in the defensive secondary continues, as rookie CB Phillip Witt went down with a broken wrist in this game - he'll miss most of the regular season. Starting S Marshall Strickland will also miss a few weeks. Week 4 - Greenville (2-1) 20-17 Buffalo (3-0) Paul Lucas kicked four field goals, including the game-winner inside the final minute, as the Bulldozers came back from 14-3 down to pinch a big divisional win. The defence was immense in this game, sacking the Bills QB 10 times - Kevin Roberson led the way with 5. Harold Goldade went over 100 yards for the third time this season to lead the offence. Week 5 - Bye (a much-needed chance to reduce the lengthy injury list) Week 6 - Greenville (3-1) 20-10 Birmingham (2-3) A solid all-round performance, as the offence played good possession football, while the defence put in its usual stifling performance. Two early TDs gave the Bulldozers some breathing room, and the defence did the rest. Week 7 - Greenville (4-1) 14-20 Miami (1-5) The Dolphins pulled off a minor shock by getting the big plays early on, and keeping the Greenville offence in check until garbage time. The Bulldozers defence let Miami pile up a lot of yardage on the ground, and the offence couldn't do enough to keep the team in the game. Week 8 - Tampa Bay (2-5) 21-33 Greenville (4-2) A return to the old dump in Greenville proved to be enough to get the Bulldozers back to winning ways. Special teams played a big part in this win, with Nolan Lofton returning a kickoff 102 yards for a TD and Paul Lucas kicking four field goals. Jermaine Maumau had a solid day, finishing 19 of 31 for 186 yards and two TDs. Week 9 - New England (3-4) 10-17 Greenville (5-2) TD runs from Goldade and Briggs were enough for the Bulldozers in a close game - no real fireworks from any poart of the team, but solid performances were enough in this one. QB Jermaine Maumau had to leave this game early, and will miss a few weeks with a knee injury. T Josh Chryplewicz is out for the year after breaking his jaw. Week 10 - Greenville (6-2) 7-48 Detroit (7-1) It may not look like it, but this was a very close game for a long time... There was no score until two minutes before the half, but Detroit scored four defensive TDs to put the game out of sight. QB Darnell Brandenfeis had a bad day, throwing five interceptions, three of which were returned for TDs. Week 11 - Greenville (6-3) 21-31 Indianapolis (4-5) This one wasn't as close as it appears, as the Bulldozers scored three fourth quarter TDs to make a 28-0 deficit a bit more respectable. The problems again lay with QB Brandenfeis, who threw another two interceptions and struggled to complete passes. Week 12 - Green Bay (4-6) 13-6 Greenville (6-4) The QB troubles continued for the Bulldozers as third-stringer Richard Galarza threw the only TD of the game to a Packer defensive back to nullify a great game from the defence. Week 13 - Greenville (6-5) 10-37 Jacksonville (8-3) QB Jermaine Maumau returned to start this game, but couldn't do anything about a solid performance from a good Jaguars outfit. Week 14 - Greenville (6-6) 14-24 New England (6-6) The Patriots simply had too much for the banged-up Bulldozers - they moved the ball well on the ground and through the air and kept the Greenville offence in check all game. LB Darnell Hutton was the best player for the Bulldozers, finishing with a sack and an interception returned for a TD. Week 15 - Miami (5-8) 14-27 Greenville (6-7) The losing streak is finally broken! The Dolphins scored on defence and special teams, but the Bulldozers kept going despite this, and won on the back of three Jermaine Maumau TD passes. The defence held the Dolphins to 7 of 28 passing and only 156 total yards to set up the much-needed victory. Week 16 - Greenville (7-7) 44-14 New York Jets (7-7) A big performance in a must-win game kept the Bulldozers in the playoff hunt. The offence had its best game of the season even with QB Brandenfeis forced into the game early on, and the defence came up with five sacks and four interceptions, one returned for a TD by S Stubblefield. Week 17 - Indianapolis (5-10) 20-17 Greenville (8-7) A late TD pass from the Colts knocked the Bulldozers out of the playoff reckoning, but Greenville played a solid game - Brandenfeis put in another decent performance, and the defence made enough plays for the team to win.
A frustrating end to the season after a great start, but this felt like a bad year for injuries - several key players missed a lot of time. This definitely hurt the team, as there wasn't a lot of depth in some positions (notably QB). Statistics QB Jermaine Maumau: (12 games) 135-281-1504-11-12 (qbr 59.6) QB Darnell Brandenfeis (6 games, 3 starts) 55-112-728-8-7 (qbr 67.8) RB Harold Goldade: 210-958-4 (4.5 ypc) RB Lonnie Briggs: 150-598-2 (3.9 ypc) WR Dexter Gomez: 43-630-3 (14.6 ypc), 53.0% caught, 3 drops WR Charlie Lovelace: 37-552-6 (14.9 ypc), 35.2% caught, 5 drops WR Otis Williamson: 40-425-4 (10.6 ypc), 43.0% caught, 8 drops Another inconsistent year for the offence, as both passing and running games struggled in several games. DE C.J. Drudge: 54 tackles, 22 assists, 9.5 sacks DT Kevin Roberson: 53 tackles, 18 assists, 9.5 sacks LB Leonard Eloms: 94 tackles, 36 assists, 3.0 sacks S Tim Stubblefield: 75 tackles, 23 assists, 2 interceptions CB Mickey Lemieux: 26 tackles, 8 assists, 6 interceptions A tough year for the defence with the two starting corners missing a lot of time, but Mickey Lemieux did a good job filling in, and the defence played solidly in the main. K Paul Lucas: 24/31 field goals (long 52), 30/30 extra points P Roy Groh: 117 punts, 44.5 average, 44 inside the 20 KR/PR Nolan Lofton: 8.1 average on punt returns, 27.1 average (1 TD) on kick returns Team Statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 3.9/Defence 3.4/League 3.7 Pass: Offence 5.5/Defence 5.8/League 6.3 Yards per game Offence: Rush 124.1 (5), Pass 144.7 (34) Defence: Rush 97.8 (9), Pass 199.3 (13) No real progress this year, but the defence seems to be improving - even with a patched-up secondary, the defence played tough all year. Herb: 45/17/67/77 - average 43 Finances: A $14.9m profit on revenues of $144.2m - at least I managed to keep my job! Revenues were up a good bit, with ticket and suite revenues the biggest contributor - the price increases helped, although a few more people in the stadium also helped. This felt a lot like a season of 'marking time' - the team played pretty well, but didn't take that next big step towards postseason play. I'll need to look at what I can do to improve things in the offseason. Martin |
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03-21-2001, 04:07 PM
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#6 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Greenville Bulldozers - 2013 season
Message from on high: While the team didn't make much progress last year, we accept that this was at least partially due to injuries to key players. However, we want to see tangible progress this year - a playoff berth is very much within the capabilities of this team, and we do not want to settle for anything less. Retirements: None No change at scout, where Ed Croteau is still under contract. Coach Levon Fulton is out of contract, though - as the team finished 8-8 last year, I must make him an offer - he isn't the best coach going, so the offer is for 1 year at $4.56m. He doesn't like this, but accepts a 3-year deal for the same money in the end. Fulton is a good fit for this team - a good defensive coach with solid skills in developing young players, but has a lot of shortcomings in other areas. Ticket prices: No winning record, so no increases this year. Greenville: 38/40/58/110/ 0/1800/121000 Carolina: 48/46/58/116/5400/3500/226000 Moving into free agency, the team has several unrestricted free agents: RB Lonnie Briggs - a solid player, but we have a couple of guys capable of carrying the load. T Larry Wilkerson - not worth the money he'll ask for LB Herb Montgomery - a decent player, but the team is OK for linebackers at the moment, so not a must resign LB Joe Huntley - a starter for the past few years, but starting to decline The team also has a few restricted free agents, but no-one I want to bring back. At this point, the Bulldozers have 45 players signed, with $57.3m of a $153.5m salary cap free. Three trade offers come in at the start of free agency, all of which I feel I need to consider: The Vikings offer their second-round pick (plus a RB who will have to be cut) for DE C.J. Drudge. Drudge has been a starter pretty well since he was drafted, but is in the last year of his contract - DE is also a pretty strong position at the moment, so I take the trade. Chicago offer a third-rounder plus a reasonable young CB for LB Leonard Eloms. Eloms is worth more than this, but is also in the last year of his current contract - I'll see if I can negotiate a new deal with him before thinking more about this trade. Buffalo offer their fourth round pick for T Josh Chryplewicz, my best tackle (although this isn't saying much!). I do have a couple of decent players picked up from the rookie free agent pool last year, so I take the trade. I offer a 3-year deal to Leonard Eloms, but he doesn't want to listen to anything over a deal for this year only - this makes it an easy decision to take the trade from Chicago. This does leave me with a pretty big hole at LB, so I'm happy to see that this is a pretty good year for linebackers in free agency. With four players available who would improve the squad, I decide to hold back on making an offer to see what happens. The good LBs go fairly quickly, so I put in an offer for 7th-year player Matt McIntyre in week 4 - $17.10m over 3 years. This isn't the highest offer, but it should give me a chance of signing him. He eventually decides to resign with the Lions in week 8. RB Lonnie Briggs receives a $10m/year offer from the Vikings in week 8 - a good bit more than he's worth, and a long way over what I'd be willing to offer. He signs in week 10. No further action in free agency - the house rules limit me to one offer in the first 10 weeks, not one player signed (my interpretation of the WLC rules). I do a bit of contract renegotiation at this point - only two, as I've already tried to give LB Leonard Eloms a new contract. CB Brian Showalter: $32.70m over 4 years DT Kevin Roberson: $18.88m over 3 years (a bit of a risk for a 12th year player, but he's the key to the defence) Heading into the draft, the big need is at safety, where my two starters are in the last year of their current contracts - last year's breakout Jim Whitfield is a reasonable stopgap starter, but a star safety would make a big difference to the defence. A quality LB is also a big need after my failure to pick up a good free agent, and depth at LB is required as well. A bit of depth to help the rotation on the defensive line would be very useful too. Picking 18th, I'm faced with a dilemma with my first pick - there are some really good safeties and linebackers available, but I doubt if any of them will fall to the middle of the second round. I decide to go for a near maxed-out LB who can play a bit now (38/91, 44/100, 46/100, 34/76, 58) as I won't get a chance at a player this good very often. The second round sees the Bulldozers with back-to-back picks, and the first pick is easy - one of the safeties I was looking at in the first round is still available. Depth at LB is the call for the second pick - the guy I take is a bit of a reach, but the team has a big need for linebackers, and I'm getting the best still on the board. Two third round picks as well, and these go on a solid DT (who'll give me a bit more depth on the defensive line) and a pass-rushing LB. The fourth round sees Greenville pick up a backup DE and a decent S with stone hands. Full draft list: 1 - J.T. Staten, LB - perennial All-Pro if his potential holds up 2 - Tito Briggs, LB - very much a reach, but will be a contributor this season 2 - Howard Garrison, S - a very solid safety with a good eye for the interception 3 - Matthew Willis, DT - good solid player 3 - Daryl Jarrett, LB - a bit one-dimensional, but should be a decent player 4 - Terrell Myers, DE - best DE available at this point in a weak draft for DEs 4 - Sammie Paul, S - not the best catcher of a ball, but good tackler and cover man 5 - Dwayne Shepard, LB - needs time to develop, but could be a good pickup 6 - Chad Hutton, S - a decent backup - surprised he lasted this long 7 - Ethan Fletcher, DT - a reasonable backup this late in the draft The draft leaves the team with 53 players signed and $48.2m cap room free. A trawl through the rookie free agents and a few cuts follow before the team heads to camp. No big moves in camp - all the rookies seem to have made it through unscathed, but no big breakouts. The roster heading into the season looks like:
Looking at the roster, I probably shouldn't have traded Eloms, as the LB corps looks very weak compared to last year's, but I managed to fill a few holes this offseason. Preseason Atlanta 13-10 Greenville Baltimore 12-3 Greenville Greenville 14-29 Denver Greenville 24-14 Green Bay 1-3 on the preseason, but this isn't all that bad given that a few backups played in the first two games, and Denver are the defending champions. Some minor injuries, but no big problems there. Week 1 - Greenville 24-34 Carolina The Panthers had just too much in the first game between these two local rivals. DE Herb Enbysk came up with 3.5 sacks to lead the defence, but it wasn't enough to give the team a victory to open the season. Week 2 - Indianapolis (1-0) 20-17 Greenville (0-1) (OT) QB Jermaine Maumau threw a TD pass to WR Lovelace with 40 seconds left to finish off the Bulldozers' comeback from 17-0 down, but the Colts won the game with the first possession of overtime. After giving up 17 first quarter points, the Greenville defence stifled the Colts, coming up with 6 sacks and 2 interceptions. Week 3 - Baltimore (1-1) 21-24 Greenville (0-2) A solid offensive showing was the key to the Bulldozers' first win of the season, with Jermaine Maumau completing 20 of 29 passes for 253 yards and 2 TDs. Greenville didn't lead until Paul Lucas's field goal midway through the fourth quarter closed out the scoring. Week 4 - Greenville (1-2) 3-10 New England (1-2) A tight defensive struggle like this was always going to favour the team which managed to get the ball into the endzone, and the Patriots had just enough offence to manage this. The Bulldozers struggled to move the ball for most of the game, but had a chance to tie the game late on before Maumau threw a pick with less than a minute to play. Week 5 - Greenville (1-3) 17-31 Miami (1-3) The Dolphins shredded the Bulldozers' secondary to the tune of four TDs to leave Greenville struggling at the bottom of the AFC East. Jermaine Maumau started the game fast with a TD on the first possession, but faded with three interceptions after this. Week 6 - New England (3-2) 17-33 Greenville (1-4) The Bulldozers' best offensive performance of the season was rewarded with a big divisonal win. QB Maumau had his best day as a pro (22-33-298-3-0), while the defence kept the Patriots under control all game long. Week 7 - Greenville (2-4) 28-44 New York Jets (4-2) The Bulldozers shouldn't be able to keep up in a shootout, but they did a pretty good job in this one after falling behind 24-0 late in the second quarter. QB Jermaine Maumau threw four TD passes, three to WR Dexter Gomez, as he hit on 18 of 34 passes for 422 yards. The Jets racked up over 600 yards of total offence, though, as the offence didn't get support from the offence (for a change!) Week 8 - Bye Week 9 - Greenville (2-5) 10-17 Kansas City (6-2) A 17-3 halftime deficit proved to be too much for the Bulldozers to overcome despite Jermaine Maumau's 300 yards passing. The Chiefs played solidly on both sides of the ball, intercepting the Greenville QB three times. Week 10 - Greenville (2-6) 23-21 San Francisco (5-3) A 56-yard Paul Lucas field goal with a little under two minutes left was the winning score for the Bulldozers, who put in solid performances on both sides of the ball. Jermaine Maumau threw for 334 yards and two TDs while the defence held the 49ers to 202 yards of total offence. Week 11 - Miami (3-6) 21-28 Greenville (3-6) Two fourth quarter TD runs were enough for the Bulldozers to keep their good form going. QB Maumau threw for 232 yards and a TD and also ran in a TD to lead the offence, while the forgotten man of the defence, DT Nathan Hill, picked up 1.5 sacks. Week 12 - New York Jets (7-3) 34-23 Greenville (4-6) A tough loss which pretty well ends any hopes of the Bulldozers making the playoffs. The Jets sacked Jermaine Maumau eight times and moved the ball solidly on offence in a performance that deserved a win. Week 13 - Greenville (4-7) 20-13 Indianapolis (7-4) Four Paul Lucas field goals were the backbone to this Bulldozers win, but it was Jermaine Maumau's pass to Otis Williamson which proved to be the game-winner. A defensive struggle saw four different Greenville defenders pick up sacks. Week 14 - St. Louis (8-4) 13-24 Greenville (5-7) Three Maumau TD passes, two in the fourth quarter, led the Bulldozers to a good win over a playoff-quality team. The QB completed 27 of 35 passes for 290 yards with no interceptions in a solid performance. Defensively, DE Herb Enbysk came up with two sacks, while Strickland and Lemieux had interceptions. Week 15 - Buffalo (9-4) 10-22 Greenville (6-7) Five Paul Lucas field goals plus a Lemieux interception return for a TD covered up a patchy offensive performance from the Bulldozers. The defence put in a strong performance as well, finishing with 3 interceptions and 3 sacks. Week 16 - Seattle (5-9) 21-10 Greenville (7-7) An indifferent showing from the Bulldozers finally shut them out of the playoff race as the Seahawks made the most of their chances. DE Herb Enbysk came up with three of Greenville's four sacks in a solid defensive effort. Week 17 - Greenville (7-8) 31-10 Buffalo (10-5) A meaningless game for the Bulldozers, but they still put in a good effort to sweep the season series against the division champions. Four interceptions for the defence was the highlight, with S Strickland leading the way with two.
Another frustrating season, as a poor start ended any realistic hopes of making the playoffs before the regular season was half done. Opening up the offence made a big difference in the second half of the season, though, and the Bulldozers ended the season on a high with three good divisional wins. Statistics QB Jermaine Maumau: 319-556-4077-26-20 (qbr 81.0) RB Harold Goldade: 133-412-3 (3.0 ypc) WR Dexter Gomez: 63-978-8 (15.5 ypc), 48.8% caught, 9 drops WR Marco Ulbrich: 66-964-5 (14.6 ypc), 55.0% caught, 5 drops WR Otis Williamson: 49-796-6 (16.2 ypc), 57.6% caught, 4 drops The passing game took off this year, partly helped by a major shift in the gameplan when the Bulldozers sat at 2-6 - I changed to the offensive settings I used for the WLC Thunder Walkers. This led to Maumau throwing for around 2500 yards in 8 games - pretty good for this offence! The running game was non-existent, but that's about par for the course for this passing offence. DE Herb Enbysk: 30 tackles, 8 assists, 15.5 sacks DT Kevin Roberson: 33 tackles, 11 assists, 12.0 sacks LB Scottie Henderson: 71 tackles, 22 assists LB J.T. Staten: 58 tackles, 23 assists, 5.0 sacks S Marshall Strickland: 85 tackles, 23 assists, 4 interceptions S Howard Garrison: 71 tackles, 26 assists, 4 interceptions CB Brian Showalter: 42 tackles, 9 assists, 1 interception (1 TD) CB Mickey Lemieux: 42 tackles, 19 assists, 5 interceptions (1 TD) A decent year for the defence, although the lack of a star LB hurt (my own fault, as I shouldn't have traded Eloms without making sure of getting a suitable replacement). K Paul Lucas: 28/34 FG (long 57), 35/35 EP P Roy Groh: 42.6 average, 42 inside the 20 KR/PR Nolan Lofton: 7.4 average punt return, 28.1 average kick return (1 TD) Team statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 2.8/Defence 3.8/League 4.0 Pass: Offence 7.3/Defence 6.4/League 6.7 Yards per game Offence: Rush 68.8 (34), Pass 254.8 (3) Defence: Rush 104.8 (12), Pass 220.8 (19) The running game was terrible this year (which was part of the reason I shifted to a pass-happy offence), and the defence slipped a bit - I'd hope for a big improvement next season as the young players mature. Herb: 40/22/57/76 - average 41 Finances: A loss of $13.6m on revenues of $143.5m - mainly due to increased bonus payments and a higher salary for my coach. This means that the team needs to make a profit next year... Martin |
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03-22-2001, 06:19 PM
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#7 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
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You're running my hometown team. Better do a good job or I'll cancel my season tickets!
BTW, It's Greenville, South Carolina. It's beautiful and the biggest, most developed city/county in S.C.
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Hollywood Media Whores FOBL CHAMPION 2007 2020 2035 |
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03-25-2001, 12:29 PM
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#8 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Greenville Bulldozers - 2014 season
Message from team management: This is the year that the performance targets start kicking in - you need to finish at least 8-8 this year, or you're out of a job! We also want to see the team break back into profit after a poor performance last year. I've been thinking about the house rules I'm using, and the unrestricted 7-year deals on rookie free agents is too flexible - the slightly bigger cap hit isn't a problem for the team, as I've yet to get within $50m of the cap! From this point on, I will be limiting myself to only one rookie free agent on more than a 4-year deal (structured as before - 5-7 years means a bonus of twice the first year salary). No retirements this year, so the mainstay of my defensive line, DT Kevin Roberson, will be back for another year. No change of scout or coach - they're both under contract. Several unrestricted free agents this year: RB Harold Goldade - will not even be considered after last year's showings! FB Benjamin King - decent blocker, but not essential WR Otis Williamson - decent player, but not worth resigning DT Nathan Hill - has not lived up to his billing as a top pass-rusher, so not required S Marshall Strickland - a player I would like to resign, but may ask for too much money A couple of restricted free agents I would like to resign as well: FB Stanley Manzo - would be a decent backup if his demands are reasonable P Roy Groh - one of the best in the business - a must to resign LB Scottie Henderson - solid player who is a probable starter At this point, the Bulldozers have 45 players signed, with $66.6m of a $160.4m cap free. Despite all this cap room, I don't feel I can sign any big free agents, as the finances are a bit tight this year. No changes in ticket prices this year, as the team finished 8-8 - one more win would have made the financial side a good bit more comfortable. The Patriots come in with a trade offer at the start of free agency - G A.J. Cipa for their third-round pick. Cipa is my best offensive lineman (current ratings 58/56/53 - pretty good for an undrafted free agent), but is in the last year of his contract. I have a few guys I'm happy to start behind Cipa, so I take this trade. No action in free agency during the first 10 weeks, as dictated by the finances. FB Benjamin King is willing to play for veteran minimum (which I find surprising for a 5th-year player), so I put in a 2-year, $2.40m offer in week 6, which he accepts in week 9. DT Nathan Hill signs for the 49ers in week 9 (for almost $9m per year), while S Marshall Strickland goes to Arizona on a 2-year deal worth just under $10m. I don't see any defensive players worth signing in the latter stages of free agency, so the Bulldozers take it easy until the usual round of signing talks just before the draft. The following players sign at this point: FB Stanley Manzo: $1.71m over 2 years (veteran minimum) P Roy Groh: $4.28m over 3 years (good deal for a great punter) LB Scottie Henderson: $4.80m over 1 year (couldn't get him to agree a longer deal) This leaves the team with a few needs going into the draft - a starting-quality LB is a must, a decent S would be useful, while depth at every other position on defence would be very handy. Given that NT Kevin Roberson is now in his 13th year (and is starting to decline), a quality DT is also a consideration, but not essential at this point. This appears to be a pretty good draft for linebackers (at least at the top end), as several solid players are available when the Bulldozers go on the clock for the 16th pick of the draft. I end up going for a good all-round player who projects as a starter this year, with the potential to be a top-quality player in a year or two. The need at safety is filled in the second round, as I pick up the best player left on the board - a good run-stopper with decent coverage skills. Two picks in the third round - both go on defensive ends, one a reasonable pass-rusher with questionable endurance, the other a redliner prospect. A raw CB is the guy taken in the fourth round - not a need position, but I picked up a player with a lot of potential. 1 - Danny Gardner, LB - another quality LB at the top of the draft 2 - Derrick Richardson, S - should start at safety this season 3 - Lincoln Conway, DE - decent backup at the moment, but could break out (24/29, 20, 29) 3 - Edward Beuerlein, DE - short of stamina, but a good third down pass-rusher 4 - Courtney Meadows, CB - pure potential, but a good player if he pans out 5 - Alfred Crisp, DT - symmetrical ratings, but decent backup if not a bust 6 - Rusty Lane, LB - best player available - should be a decent backup 7 - Wes DeMeester, CB - pure return man (likely to be converted to WR) The draft leaves the team with 56 players signed and $53.9m cap room free - there will be a few cuts on the defensive side of the ball. This year's 7-year deal goes to WR Alex Pittman, with several other rookie free agents signed to 4-year deals. The roster going into the season looks like this:
If you're wondering why WR DeMeester is on the team (given his really high ratings ), he's a solid return man who won't see any time on offence (unless there's a massive run of injuries...)Contract renegotiations: Very few players are free agents after the season, so only one renegotiation this year - K Paul Lucas signs a bonus-free 3-year $5.81m contract. A look at the Bulldozers' offence in this report. The big decision at this point is if I want to return to a balanced offence, or do I stay with the passing offence which turned the team around last year. Looking at the players I have on offence, it doesn't look like there's enough talent on the team (especially on the offensive line) to go with the pass-happy style, but RB is a very thin position at the moment, and it worked well last year. The offence I'm going to use has run % set to 35 for all except 2nd and medium, which is 75 (as a changeup). Pass distribution will be along the lines of 15-40-25-5-15. When I used this offence in the WLC, I tended to use 3-receiver sets most of the time, and most of the passing came from single-back and shotgun sets. I don't feel that this is a good idea with the offensive line of the Bulldozers, so I'll be using mainly 2-reciver sets, with two backs on the field most of the time - the shotgun won't be used at all. This makes for a different style of offence, with more passes to backs and receivers - more a West Coast offence than run and shoot. The offensive line isn't the best, as might be expected on a team made up of rookie free agents. C Roy Huey is the team's best lineman at the moment (38/40, 57/61, 38), and is well suited to the new offensive style. Nordstrom and Galloway are the starters at guard, although backup G McCormick is likely to get some playing time at T (a very tough position to fill from the rookie free agent pool). T Gaylor is likely to round out the starting five. At wide receiver, Dexter Gomez and Marco Ulbrich are the likely starters. Gomez (22/34, 52, 42/64, 43, 56, 10) is the team's best route-runner, but needs to take plenty of plays off, while Ulbrich (29/32, 40, 41/46, 72, 45, 64) makes the big catches when needed. Rookie Alex Pittman will see a lot of playing time - he gives the receiving corps some much-needed deep speed. The Bulldozers are reasonably solid at TE, with little to choose between Everett DeBerg and Vernon Adam, although Adam is expected to take over the starting job fairly soon. Benjamin King (65/71, 72/80, 38, 47/49, 43, 22/23, 44, 44, 30) is the starting fullback - he's maybe better suited to an offence which runs the ball more, but is the best FB available. After last year's problems at RB, rookies Leslie Cook and Glen Youssef are expected to carry what load there is in the running game. Both lack pace, but are otherwise solid - about all that this offence needs. QB Jermaine Maumau (49/54, 55/56, 53/57, 56/61, 79/80, 28, 78, 52/54, 39, 43) is the undoubted starter for the Bulldozers - he sometimes struggles on the big third down play, and can have problems hanging on to the ball, but is otherwise a solid QB. His numbers up to the middle of last season didn't reflect his talent level, but he stepped up a gear when given more responsibility for getting the offence going. The team's success this year depends a lot on how Maumau plays - Greenville will go as far as its QB can carry them. Preseason Augusta 21-38 Greenville Greenville 27-33 New York Giants Greenville 10-40 Cleveland Arizona 16-13 Greenville A 1-3 preseason, with a few injuries - the most important was to DT Kevin Roberson, who'll miss the first few weeks of the regular season. Week 1 - Greenville 3-7 Cincinnati The Bengals pinched this game on a TD with less than 3 minutes left, spoiling an otherwise flawless defensive performance by the Bulldozers. The offence was less than impressive, though, with Maumau completing only 14 of 36 passes. Week 2 - Dallas (1-0) 10-34 Greenville (0-1) This is more like what I want to see - a solid offensive showing coupled with strong defence (the Cowboys' only TD came on a kickoff return). Maumau passed for 361 yards and two TDs and the running game contributed over 100 yards and two TDs, while the defence held Dallas to under 200 yards of total offence. Week 3 - Miami (1-1) 12-35 Greenville (1-1) Jermaine Maumau threw four TD passes to four different receivers, and S Howard Garrison had 6 tackles and 2 interceptions as the Bulldozers rolled over the Dolphins. A solid performance on both sides of the ball, with the offence moving the ball reasonably well, while the defence kept the Dolphins in check all game. Week 4 - Greenville (2-1) 27-10 Cleveland (2-1) An offensive explosion in the third quarter carried the Bulldozers well clear of the Browns, and the Greenville defence was more than good enough to close the game out. Maumau only had 13 completions, but passed for almost 300 yards, while RB Glen Youssef had 116 yards on the ground. J.T. Staten led the defensive effort with 8 tackles and 2 sacks. Week 5 - Bye Week 6 - Greenville (3-1) 14-13 Indianapolis (1-4) Rookie WR Alex Pittman caught a 25-yard TD pass from Jermaine Maumau with 1:35 left to give the Bulldozers their first lead of the game and a hard-earned victory. Pittman finished with 8 catches for 113 yards and a TD, and S Derrick Richardson returned an interception 83 yards for the other Greenville TD. Week 7 - Greenville (4-1) 14-34 New England (5-1) The division-leading Patriots put the upstart Bulldozers in their place with a resounding victory - New England had over 300 yards and 4 TDs passing, and held Greenville to under 150 yards of total offence. RB Glen Youssef (75 yards rushing on 8 carries) and LB J.T. Staten (7 tackles, 3.5 sacks) were the only bright spots for the Bulldozers. Week 8 - New York Jets (4-2) 13-40 Greenville (4-2) Jermaine Maumau passed for 417 yards and four TDs as the Bulldozers blew the Jets out of the sky. WR Marco Ulbrich also had a career day, catching 10 passes for 206 yards and 2 TDs. J.T. Staten continued his great play, leading a strong defensive showing. Week 9 - Greenville (5-2) 20-13 Arizona (4-3) CB Brian Showalter was the game-winner for the Bulldozers, taking an interception back 48 yards for the winning TD with less than 3 minutes to play. With the offence having an off week, the defence took its chance to shine, with J.T. Staten inevitablty coming to the fore with 11 tackles and a sack. Week 10 - Greenville (6-2) 14-20 Miami (1-7) (OT) The Bulldozers gave up the tying TD with only 71 seconds left to play, missed a potential game-winning field goal as time expired, and the Dolphins went on to win it in overtime. Greenville's offence racked up the yardage, but struggled inside the red zone - this was the difference in the game, as the Dolphins scored a TD each time they made it inside the Bulldozer 20. Week 11 - Indianapolis (2-7) 13-14 Greenville (6-3) The Bulldozers completed the narrowest of season sweeps over the Colts as Indianapolis missed a short field goal with less than a minute to play. After the previous week's red zone problems, Greenville were the team to make the most of their opportunities in scoring range. Week 12 - Greenville (7-3) 17-34 New York Jets (6-4) The Jets scored on offence, defence and special teams to get revenge for their week 8 thumping in Greenville. The Bulldozers offence struggled, ending the game with only 156 total yards and turning the ball over 3 times, and the defence was unable to bail them out. Week 13 - Oakland (2-9) 16-17 Greenville (7-4) The Bulldozers scraped their third 1-point victory of the season on the back of Jermaine Maumau's two TD passes to WR Marco Ulbrich. Not a great performance, but it got the victory (which is all that matters, as this is the 8th win of the season - I won't be getting sacked!) Week 14 - Greenville (8-4) 17-6 Buffalo (6-6) A big divisional win for the Bulldozers keeps them in contention for their first playoff appearance. Two early TDs gave Greenville a platform to build on, and the defence held firm to secure the win. Marco Ulbrich continued his good form with 9 catches for 121 yards, while the defence held the Bills to 180 yards of total offence. Week 15 - New England (12-1) 38-17 Greenville (9-4) The Patriots demonstrated their superiority over the rest of the AFC East with a convincing win in Greenville. The Bulldozers fell 21-0 behind early on, but threatened to come back after two Maumau TD passes. New England pulled away again, though, with a solid finish to the game. Week 16 - Washington (7-7) 10-23 Greenville (9-5) Five Paul Lucas field goals were enough for the Bulldozers in this game, despite their problems in the red zone - over 400 yards passing, but only 1 TD to show for it. Jermaine Maumau left the game early, but only after he'd thrown for 267 yards in the first half, and WR Ulbrich had another huge game, finishing with 256 yards receiving on 11 catches. Week 17 - Buffalo (8-7) 3-12 Greenville (10-5) The Bulldozers clinched a home playoff game and knocked the Bills out of the playoffs by coming out on top in a tight defensive struggle. K Paul Lucas scored all Greenville's points, kicking four field goals from five attempts. The Bulldozer defence put in a great showing, holding the Bills to 23 yards rushing and only 130 yards of total offence, with five different players getting to the Buffalo QB.
The 11-5 record is good for the #4 seed in the AFC playoffs, and sets up a wild card matchup against San Diego. Wild Card - San Diego (10-6) 17-41 Greenville (11-5) The Bulldozers scored 21 unanswered points in the third quarter to take the game, tied at 10 at the half, competely out of the Chargers' hands. Greenville's strong defence forced four fumbles, had two interceptions (both returned for TDs) and sacked the Chargers QB six times, while the offence played mistake-free football - QB Maumau finished with 157 yards and a TD, while RB Mascia led the team with 98 yards rushing. Divisional Round - Greenville (12-5) 9-27 New England (14-2) This game was closer than the score suggests, as the Bulldozers did a better job of controlling the Patriots than in the regular season - New England led only 13-9 after a Lucas field goal with 7:23 left in the game, but scored two late TDs to put the game away. The Patriots won this game by running the ball and stopping the run - both teams were able to pass, but being able to move the ball on the ground opened holes in the Greenville pass coverage for New England to exploit. A reasonably successful season, all things considered - the team took the big step forward they've been threatening for the last couple of seasons, and were only stopped by the best team in the AFC. Statistics QB Jermaine Maumau: 309-554-3678-23-19 (qbr 75.7) RB Glen Youssef: (12 games) 108-587-6 (5.4 ypc) WR Marco Ulbrich: 98-1443-8 (14.7 ypc), 55.0% caught, 9 drops WR Charlie Lovelace: 57-671-3 (11.7 ypc), 53.2% caught, 7 drops WR Dexter Gomez: 42-625-5 (14.8 ypc), 42.0% caught, 6 drops Offensive line: Approx. 31% KRB, 47 sacks allowed Not as explosive an offence as last year, but still a decent year. Rookie RB Glen Youssef made a big difference to the running game, but went down with a season-ending injury late in the regular season. Marco Ulbrich established himself as the go-to receiver - all I need to do now is find someone good enough on the other side to take the pressure off him... DE Allen Abe: 49 tackles, 10 assists, 5.5 sacks DE Edward Beuerlein: 26 tackles, 11 assists, 6.0 sacks LB J.T. Staten: 80 tackles, 31 assists, 12.0 sacks LB Scottie Henderson: 68 tackles, 20 assists, 1.0 sacks S Derrick Richardson: 66 tackles, 29 assists, 3 interceptions (1 TD) S Howard Garrison: 58 tackles, 20 assists, 4 interceptions CB Brian Showalter: (9 games) 37 tackles, 9 assists, 3 interceptions (1 TD) A reasonable year for the defence, although injuries took their toll, with several key players missing time. Apart from LB Staten, no player stood out, but almost every player on the roster contributed - good depth on defence was always going to be a byproduct of the house rules of this challenge, but I didn't expect to see it work quite this way! K Paul Lucas: 26/35 FG, long 57, 32/32 EP P Roy Groh: 43.2 average, 52 inside the 20 PR/KR Nolan Lofton: 6.2 average punt return (1 TD), 24.7 average kickoff return PR/KR Wes DeMeester: 8.4 average punt return, 23.1 average kickoff return Another solid, if unspectacular year for the special teams unit. Team statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 3.7/Defence 3.7/League 4.0 Pass: Offence 6.5/Defence 5.2/League 6.5 Yards per game Offence: Rush 87.8 (33), Pass 245.0 (5) Defence: Rush 101.7 (8), Pass 185.3 (2) A great year for the defence, although the run defence could have been a little tighter - losing DT Kevin Roberson for several games through injury didn't help. The offence wasn't as explosive as it was in 2013, but still put up reasonable numbers. Awards WR Marco Ulbrich became the first offensive player to make an All-Pro team in franchise history, being voted to the AP 1st team. P Roy Groh also made the 1st team, with LB J.T. Staten being voted to the AP 2nd team. S Derrick Richardson was the Defensive Rookie of the Year. Herb: 72/11/69/76 - average 47 Finances: A $5.9m profit on revenues of $157.3m - just enough to meet the financial requirements of the men in suits . A home playoff game made a big difference to the revenues (as did the increase in support due to the team's success), while costs were fairly flat.The 2015 season should be a fairly comfortable one - no financial constraints, and no real pressure to perform (this season's 12 wins means that only 4 are required to meet the rolling target of 24 over 3 years). I will need to make sure that I don't go overboard, though, as the restrictions this season made things very tough! Martin |
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03-25-2001, 12:31 PM
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#9 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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SJ,
This season good enough for you? Martin |
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03-25-2001, 01:32 PM
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#10 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
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Quote:
Looking better! The playoff appearance should keep the media jackals from nipping at your heels. Make the playoffs again next year and I'll upgrade my tickets.
__________________
Hollywood Media Whores FOBL CHAMPION 2007 2020 2035 |
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03-31-2001, 03:40 PM
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#11 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Greenville Bulldozers - 2015 season
The word from on high: Well done on a successful 2014 season, but we want to see this level of performance continue, even if there are few stated restrictions this year. DT Kevin Roberson retired in the offseason - this was not unexpected, as he had been on the slippery slope for the last couple of years, and last year's injuries curtailed his involvement on the defensive line. A 5-time All-Pro (once with the Bulldozers), he has a fair chance of being voted to the Hall of Fame. After a bit of thought, I'm deciding to change my rules regarding coaches and scouts - being forced to attempt to resign an out-of-contract coach or scout after a winning season is a bit restrictive, so I'm changing the house rule. The limitation is now that I can't change coach or scout if they're still under contract, no matter the performance level of the team. Coach Levon Fulton is under contract for another couple of years, so no change there. Scout Ed Croteau is a free agent, though, so I have a look round the available scouts - there are a couple of comparable guys available, so I decide to wait and see who gets an offer. None of my preferred candidates gets an offer, so I decide to try to retain scout Croteau on the cheap with a 3-year, $330,000/year offer (he wants a bit more each year). He takes a little time to think about it, but accepts in week 3 of the staff hiring period. Ticket prices: After last year's near thing for getting the team back into profit, I raise ticket prices as far as I can (while keeping to the house rules). Greenville: 41/44/58/116/ 0/1980/133100 Carolina: 48/46/58/116/5400/3500/226000 The team goes into free agency with 50 players signed and $61.8m of a $167.7m cap free. The only free agent is LB Scottie Henderson, who's been a solid performer for the team, but is likely to leave the team. S Jim Whitfield is the only restricted free agent, and won't be back due to his complaints about a lack of playing time. The team doesn't really have too many needs for free agency, so I'll be waiting to see if any players I like are available at a decent price later on. The Giants offer their 4th-round pick in exchange for RB Leslie Cook - Cook didn't do too well last year, but I decide not to take the trade, as I don't know how well RB Glen Youssef will come back from last year's season-ending injury, and I'm planning to cut one of the other RBs on the roster later in the offseason. The Bulldozers go idle in free agency, as no player catches my eye at the right price. I look at renegotiating some contracts at this point. I have to decide between CBs Marshall Grant and Mickey Lemieux, as I won't be able to afford to keep both. Lemieux is currently the better player (Grant had injury problems in his first two years, which affected his development), so I decide to go with him - he accepts an offer of $35.40m over 4 years. WR Marco Ulbrich is in the last year of his current deal, so is an easy target for renegotiation (you don't get many undrafted receivers putting up the numbers he has!). He agrees to a 4-year, $34.80m contract - maybe a bit much given his talent level, but you can't argue with results. The last target for a new contract this year is G Jermaine Galloway, a key member of the Bulldozers' offensive line - he accepts an offer of $17.40m over 3 years. With three key players under long-term contracts, the Bulldozers head into the draft with a few needs. Defensive tackle is a big need following the retirement of Kevin Roberson, and depth at DT is a must given that all three DTs currently on the roster will be out of contract at the end of this season. A starting-quality LB would be a good pickup, as this would allow me to let Scottie Henderson go, and depth throughout the defence is a need as usual. The Bulldozers have their longest wait so far before being able to pick, drafting 28th this year. This appears to be a very weak draft, with few players I feel are worth drafting in the first round, but I decide to take a reasonable LB (currents around mid 20's, potentials in the 70's) with Greenville's first round pick. The second-round pick goes on a raw DE (10/44, 16/72, 68 - told you it was a weak draft!) who should be a solid player in a year or two. There are a few reasonable players left by the bottom of the third round, but I decide to take a solid LB who should fit in as top backup or a stopgap starter straight away. 1 - Eddie Woodson, LB - should develop into a solid starter, but not great value for the pick 2 - Jamie Peralta, DE - a risk to take a project here, but could develop into a good pass-rusher 3 - Brant Kaplan, LB - good solid backup with all-round skills 4 - Perry Boyd, DT - best DT available here, but no more than a career backup 5 - Floyd Henderson, S - reasonable backup safety, but no more than that 6 - Henry Adamov, DT - potentially a good run-stuffer 7 - Junior Mowery, LB - best player available, and possible breakout After the draft, Tennessee offer a busted high draft pick plus their second-rounder next year for QB Jermaine Maumau. Maumau is as good a QB as I could hope for under these house rules, but will be wanting 'stoopid money' (TM) after next year, which the franchise frankly can't afford at this point. I have a couple of decent backups with good potential at the moment, so I decide to take the trade, and cut the bust straight away. QB Louis Fulcher is this year's 7-year signing, and will compete for the now vacant starting QB position, although last year's backup Josh Watson is the current favourite. No busts or breakouts among the rookies in camp, although CB Mickey Lemieux seems to have had a sharp drop in ratings (not something I've seen in a 5th year veteran before, but almost inevitable after signing him to a long-term deal). The post-camp roster is:
Preseason Greenville 0-16 Tennessee Chicago 9-14 Greenville Tampa Bay 21-20 Greenville Greenville 10-24 Pittsburgh This was about as bad as it gets - only one win in preseason, and two key players out for the duration: LB Danny Gardner is out until next year with a leg break, while C Roy Huey will not return for a couple of months after wrecking his knee. Several others will sit out for the first two weeks of the season as well - the four wins needed for me to keep my job are starting to look like a challenge! Week 1 - Chicago 34-24 Greenville A struggling start to the year for the Bulldozers, as the offence didn't really get into gear - QB Josh Watson passed for 265 yards and two TDs in his first start, but only completed 16 of 41 passes with two interceptions. The beaten-up front seven was exposed by the Bears, as they rolled to 352 yards of total offence. Week 2 - New York Jets (1-0) 16-17 Greenville (0-1) Two second quarter TDs and some backs-to-the-wall defence in the fourth quarter earned the Bulldozers their first win of the year. QB Watson didn't play well, but found TE DeBerg on a long TD pass, while the swarming Greenville D did the small things well enough to make up for the lack of big plays. Week 3 - Miami (2-0) 6-10 Greenville (1-1) QB Josh Watson threw the game's only TD early on, and the Greenville defence played a great game to round off the Bulldozers' three-game home stand with a victory. The Dolphins managed only 145 total yards and 9 first downs, with LB J.T. Staten (6 tackles, 3.0 sacks) leading a solid defensive effort. Week 4 - Greenville (2-1) 19-20 New York Jets (1-2) The Jets avenged their one-point loss in Greenville with a narrow victory of their own on two fourth-quarter TDs. The Bulldozers' defence was solid once again, with Staten leading the team in tackles, and DE Beuerlein picking up a sack and an interception. Week 5 - Greenville (2-2) 0-26 Green Bay (2-2) The Packers totally dominated this game, rolling up 177 yards on the ground in a comfortable win. QB Louis Fulcher, starting his first pro game, had a nightmare, throwing four interceptions, while the defence was unable to contain the Packers running game. Week 6 - Greenville (2-3) 26-7 Indianapolis (3-2) Two Leslie Cook TD runs and four Lucas field goals were good enough for the Bulldozers to record their first road win of the year. A shift in emphasis towards the running game (plus recovering the ball on each of five fumbles) allowed Greenville to control the ball for over 36 minutes, and the fresh defence held the Colts to only 114 total yards. Week 7 - New England (3-2) 23-30 Greenville (3-3) The Bulldozers scored 17 unanswered points in the last 16 minutes to pull off a come-from-behind victory. CBs Brian Showalter and Mickey Lemieux both scored TDs as Greenville overcame a patchy offensive performance with solid defensive play, while RB Leslie Cook rushed for 149 yards on 26 carries. Week 8 - Denver (4-3) 30-24 Greenville (4-3) Josh Watson threw three TD passes for the Bulldozers, but the Broncos scored 10 points inside the last two minutes to sneak a victory out of Greenville. The Bulldozers got their best offensive showing of the season, with RB Cook rushing for 102 yards and Watson passing for 262 yards, but the Broncos just had too much at the end of the game. Week 9 - Indianapolis (4-4) 20-10 Greenville (4-4) The Colts wore down the Bulldozers to earn a big divisional victory, scoring 10 fourth-quarter points to break a 10-10 tie. Greenville's defence struggled once again against the run, and this, along with a lack of offensive consistency, proved to be the team's downfall. Week 10 - Bye Week 11 - Greenville (4-5) 9-34 New England (5-4) The Patriots rolled over the Bulldozers with an awesome aerial display - over 350 passing yards and 3 TDs from New England were more than Greenville could compe with. The Pats also played solid defence, holding the Bulldozers to 161 total yards. Week 12 - Buffalo (1-9) 30-3 Greenville (4-6) A disaster for the Bulldozers as the Bills pulled off a shock result. Buffalo's ground game was the difference, rolling up over 200 yards and opening holes for the passing game to exploit. With no running game to keep pressure off, QB Josh Watson threw three interceptions. Week 13 - Greenville (4-7) 17-48 Miami (7-4) Another away game, another thrashing... The Dolphins got a fast start, assisted by Josh Watson's two interceptions returned for TDs, to lead 31-0 at the end of the first quarter. Week 14 - Greenville (4-8) 29-3 San Diego (1-12) The Bulldozers finally managed to find someone worse off than themselves to beat up on! Paul Lucas kicked five field goals, and S Howard Garrison returned a pick 65 yards for a TD to seal Greenville's first win since week 7. RB Leslie Cook rushed for 144 yards on 35 carries and the defence held the Chargers scoreless until the fourth quarter. Week 15 - Greenville (5-8) 6-34 Buffalo (2-11) The Bulldozers were in this game until half-time, but the Bills took over from there to win their third game of the year. The running game was the problem on both sides of the ball - the Bills ran the ball well against a struggling Greenville defence, while the Bulldozers couldn't get their ground game going. Week 16 - Jacksonville (11-3) 24-14 Greenville (5-9) A better performance for the Bulldozers, but the Jaguars were still way too strong. QB Louis Fulcher threw two TD passes, and LB J.T. Staten posted 12 tackles, but it wasn't enough to keep Greenville in touch. Week 17 - Greenville (5-10) 13-27 Tampa Bay (7-8) A close game until late on, but the Bucs were the better team. Louis Fulcher threw three interceptions as the offence struggled once again, and Tampa were able to shred the Bulldozers' secondary.
In hindsight, it maybe wasn't the greatest coaching move ever to trade my starting QB... Statistics QB Josh Watson: (11 games) 154-322-1801-11-15 (qbr 57.2) QB Louis Fulcher: (5 starts) 83-185-941-5-12 (qbr 42.6) RB Leslie Cook: 191-735-2 (3.8 ypc) RB Maurice Hambrick: 89-430-2 (4.8 ypc) WR Marco Ulbrich: 51-679-4 (13.3 ypc), 47.2% caught, 11 drops WR Alex Pittman: 51-574-2 (11.2 ypc), 46.7% caught, 3 drops How much did Jermaine Maumau mean to this team? This season gave me a pretty good idea - about six or seven wins! DE Allen Abe: 48 tackles, 10 assists, 10.5 sacks DE Herb Enbysk: (12 games) 22 tackles, 10 assists, 7.5 sacks DT Matthew Willis: (13 games) 28 tackles, 14 assists, 5.5 sacks LB J.T. Staten: 99 tackles, 33 assists, 12.0 sacks S Derrick Richardson: 87 tackles, 15 assists, 3 interceptions S Howard Garrison: 81 tackles, 30 assists, 6 interceptions (1 TD) CB Brian Showalter: 56 tackles, 21 assists, 1 interception (1 TD) Another solid season for the defence, but the run defence missed NT Kevin Roberson and injured LB Danny Gardner. Injuries affected the front seven most of the year. K Paul Lucas: 28/35 FG, long 51, 21/21 EP P Roy Groh: 44.7 average, 44 inside the 20 KR/PR Nolan Lofton: 6.9 average punt return, 25.0 average kick return Another solid year for special teams - Lucas's numbers were down because the offence was so inept, but Groh and Lofton had plenty of work to do. Team Statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 3.5/Defence 3.6/League 3.8 Pass: Offence 5.4/Defence 6.6/League 6.7 Yards per game Offence: Rush 92.7 (28), Pass 171.3 (32) Defence: Rush 115.3 (23), Pass 213.1 (12) Pretty well as I thought - the offence simply didn't produce, and the defence struggled a bit against the run, and gave up too many big pass plays. A lot of work to do for next year - I need to turn the offence around, and there are a few holes in the defence which need attention. It's also a year which the team needs to post a profit, which makes things even tougher. Herb: 8/9/55/74 - average 27 Finances: A $28.1m loss on revenues of $154.6m - not having a home playoff game hurt, and player costs were up quite a lot as well. Clawing back almost $30m is a lot to ask, but it needs to be done... Martin |
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04-01-2001, 01:56 PM
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#12 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: East Lothian, Scotland
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Greenville Bulldozers - 2016 season
Word from on high: Last season was a step in the wrong direction - turn this team around, or we'll be looking for a new GM! And don't think you can sign free agents to improve the team, as we're looking for a profit at the end of the year as well! A tough year ahead, then... A change of coach for this year - Levon Fulton is out of contract, and prices himself out of returning to Greenville by asking for $6m per year. I pick up Broderick Smothers in his place - a solid young coach with a good reputation for getting results on gameday (F/P/G/F/E/P/G VG/F/VG/G/VG/VG/VG). Scout Ed Croteau remains under contract. No change in ticket prices after a losing season. The Bulldozers go into the free agency period with 40 players signed and $61.5m of a $174.8 cap free. Several free agents this year: RB Winfred Mascia - spent most of last year inactive, so not a hope of getting a contract! FB Benjamin King - a good player, and may return WR Dexter Gomez - will be asking for too much money G Matt Nordstrom - a solid player who's been here since the start, but the team's pretty well set at guard T Mickey Gaylor - the team has enough decent linemen to manage DE Allen Abe - a guy I'd like to resign, but will want too much money CB Marshall Grant - a solid cover corner, but the team can't afford to have 3 high-paid cornerbacks Among the restricted free agents is DT Matthew Willis, who would be a starter if resigned. None of the others are worth the money they'd be asking for. New England offer a trade for RB Leslie Cook, the team's leading rusher last year. He is the team's best back, but I feel that RB Maurice Hambrick can do as good a job, and reasonable RBs are fairly easy to find in the rookie free agent pool. A second round pick is a very good price for him, so it's an easy decision to take the trade. DE Allen Abe signs for 2009's other expansion team, Augusta in week 4 - I can't afford to pay one player over $13m per year, and he's not that good (a bit short of endurance) anyway. St. Louis sign CB Marshall Grant in week 6 - again to a contract that's out of my financial reach. FB Benjamin King leaves the team late in free agency - a good player, but I have a reasonable backup who should be able to step in. Financial constraints make it impossible for me to try to recruit any free agents - the three second round picks in the upcoming draft should fill a few holes on the defensive side of the ball, though. Heading into the draft, the Bulldozers' main need is a starting-quality defensive tackle - there seem to be a few going in this draft, and getting a good one should be very possible, with Greenville picking fourth. After this, depth is the main concern - a decent nickel back would be a good pickup, and LB was very thin last year after Gardner's injury. There are several useful DTs available after three offensive players start off the draft, and I decide to take a risk with a possible bust (42/100, 43/100, 63 - close to equal ratings...). A lot of reasonable players fall to the top of the second round, but I decide to go for the best DE available - more a run-stopper than a pass-rusher (46/84, 28/54, 72), but a good fit for my defensive line. The second pick in round 2 goes on a LB I thought about taking earlier, but decided against taking at that point - a good decision, as it turned out! I reach a bit with the third second-rounder - a guy who'll be a reasonable nickel back but not much more. LB depth is the call in the third round, as I pick up a pass-rush/cover linebacker with good potential for improvement. 1 - Roman Druckenmiller, DT - potential great if he doesn't bust 2 - Kim Novack, DE - great value here, and a good fit for the team 2 - Jamal Hancock, LB - possible starter this year 2 - Andrew Covington, CB - raw, but potentially very solid in coverage 3 - Karl Schroeder, LB - more a pass-rusher than anything, but good for LB depth 4 - Roderick Davis, DT - nothing special, but another player for the D-line rotation 5 - Jose Green, S - best player available, and will be a decent backup for a couple of years 6 - Quinn Mason, LB - decent run-stuffer who'll be a good backup 7 - Frank Frederick, DT - another reasonable backup in a need position Contract renegotiations at this point: CB Brian Showalter: $24.60m over 3 years (good price for a good corner) P Roy Groh: $2.98m over 2 years (a bargain for the league's best punter) A few players released and a few rookie free agents signed make the post-camp roster as follows:
This leaves the team with $54.9m cap room free (which still might not be enough for the team to break back into profit...) Preseason Greenville 17-33 Arizona Augusta 14-7 Greenville Kansas City 23-17 Greenville Greenville 29-31 Carolina Not a great preseason from a results point of view, but only a couple of injuries to worry about - DE Herb Enbysk will miss a couple of weeks, while backup LB Kaplan won't play until week 4 or 5. Week 1 - Greenville 3-10 San Diego A tight defensive struggle, but the Chargers denied the Bulldozers a win to open the season by scoring the game's only TD late in the first quarter. A reasonable Greenville performance, mostly free from the mistakes that ruined last season, but the team needs to score more points... Week 2 - Indianapolis (1-0) 24-17 Greenville (0-1) The Colts scored the go-ahead TD with just under two minutes remaining as the Bulldozers came up just short for the second week running. Greenville moved the ball well in the first half, but were pinned in their own end for most of the second half, and were made to pay by Indy's late strike. Week 3 - Greenville (0-2) 12-7 Miami (0-2) Defensive struggle is a very good description of this game, as the Bulldozers relied on the trusty boot of Paul Lucas to win the game. QB Louis Fulcher, subbing for the injured Josh Watson, had a decent outing, only passing for 121 yards, but playing mistake-free football. Week 4 - Kansas City (2-1) 17-6 Greenville (1-2) A poor performance from QB Fulcher made the difference in this game - only 9 of 31, and three interceptions was too much for the rest of the team to compensate for. The defence continued its good play, with LB Gardner, seemingly fully recovered from his broken leg, recording 11 tackles to lead the team. Week 5 - Miami (0-4) 26-10 Greenville (1-3) Offensive problems continue to plague the Bulldozers, with the Dolphins holding them to 121 total yards in a comfortable win. The Greenville defence continues to play well without support, with MLBs Mason and Gardner putting in solid shifts once again, and rookie NT Druckenmiller showing why the Bulldozers made him the first defensive player selected in this year's draft. Week 6 - Pittsburgh (2-2-1) 24-33 Greenville (1-4) The Bulldozers turned to the ground game, and pushed aside all that the Pittsburgh defence could throw at them on their way to 249 yards on the ground. RBs Cole Brennan and Maurice Hambrick both had long TD runs and the Greenville defence came up with four interceptions, three by S Howard Garrison in the team's best performance of the year so far. Week 7 - Greenville (2-4) 14-17 New England (4-2) (OT) K Paul Lucas tied the game with 17 seconds left to take the game into overtime, but the Patriots won it in OT with a field goal of their own. LB J.T. Staten announced his return from injury by making 16 tackles in another solid defensive performance from the Bulldozers. Week 8 - San Francisco (1-6) 0-31 Greenville (2-5) Josh Watson threw three TD passes and the defence got the shutout that their performance so far this season deserved as the Bulldozers picked up a vital win. Four different Greenville defenders made interceptions in a dominant performance. Week 9 - Greenville (3-5) 0-20 New Orleans (2-5) A week after shutting out the 49ers, the Bulldozers were themselves shut out. A poor offensive showing left too much for the defence to do, and the secondary cracked to the tune of 328 yards passing for the Saints. Week 10 - Bye Week 11 - Greenville (3-6) 14-3 Carolina (4-5) Nolan Lofton returned a punt 80 yards for a TD as the Bulldozers recovered their offensive form to beat Carolina. Another strong defensive showing was led by DT Druckenmiller (1.5 sacks), LB Gardner (8 tackles) and S Garrison (6 tackles, 1 interception). Week 12 - Buffalo (7-3) 33-14 Greenville (4-6) A closer game than the score suggests, as the Bills scored two defensive TDs in the fourth quarter to pad the score a bit. Another great defensive showing from the Bulldozers, as Buffalo were held to only 220 yards of total offence, but four turnovers were too much for even this defence to be able to turn around. Week 13 - Greenville (4-7) 10-7 Indianapolis (5-6) A Watson to Ulbrich TD connection was enough for the Bulldozers to post a much-needed win, with the defence playing its part by holding the Colts scoreless until less than six minutes remained. LB Staten led the team with 8 tackles and 2 sacks, while CBs Showalter and Covington made interceptions. Week 14 - New York Jets (6-6) 6-13 Greenville (5-7) A mistake-free game from the Bulldozers saw them post their first back-to-back wins of the season to move within one game of .500. No real star performances (although QB Josh Watson finished 13-16-120-1-0), but a solid all-round showing. Week 15 - New England (9-4) 13-10 Greenville (6-7) A heroic defensive effort by the Bulldozers almost proved enough to beat the AFC East leaders. The offence didn't play well, with starting QB Watson forced to leave the game early, but rookie QB Kester played reasonably well in relief. J.T. Staten once again led the defence, finishing with 8 tackles and a sack. Week 16 - Greenville (6-8) 13-34 Buffalo (9-5) The Bills were simply too good for the Bulldozers, as any faint hopes of a playoff berth were finally extinguished. Buffalo ran and passed with ease on their way to an insurmountable 24-3 half-time lead - QB Watson led a couple of scoring drives in the second half, but this was too little, too late. Week 17 - Greenville (6-9) 21-24 New York Jets (7-8) A tough end to the season as the Jets came out on top in a close game. QB Josh Watson struggled at times, but hit on the big plays (13-30-263-3-0), but the Jets stuffed any ground game the Bulldozers tried to establish. Run defence was a problem here, as the Jets managed over 5 yards per carry.
Another frustrating season, and one which fell short of the 7 wins required to keep them upstairs happy. The team is very solid defensively (although the defensive backfield needs quite a bit of attention), but struggles to move the ball with any consistency. Statistics QB Josh Watson: (14 games) 191-358-2119-14-10 (qbr 72.5) RB Cole Brennan: 138-553-3 (4.0 ypc) RB Maurice Hambrick: 150-537-1 (3.5 ypc) WR Alex Pittman: (13 games) 53-571-2 (10.7 ypc), 56.3% caught, 2 drops WR Marco Ulbrich: 43-388-2 (9.0 ypc), 46.7% caught, 7 drops I think that Josh Watson is capable of being a decent player, but he was badly let down by his receivers this year - injuries didn't help, with four of the five main receivers missing at least a couple of games, but the WRs simply didn't make enough plays. The running game was poor as well. DT Roman Druckenmiller: 39 tackles, 19 assists, 7.0 sacks DE Jamie Peralta: 11 tackles, 9 assists, 7.5 sacks LB Danny Gardner: 98 tackles, 16 assists LB J.T. Staten: (11 games) 83 tackles, 17 assists, 3.0 sacks LB Eddie Woodson: 82 tackles, 40 assists S Howard Garrison: 81 tackles, 20 assists, 5 interceptions S Derrick Richardson: 76 tackles, 21 assists, 4 interceptions The defence bailed the team out in several games this year, and generally played very well, especially against the run - Gardner's return from injury and the drafting of a potential All-Pro at NT made a huge difference. K Paul Lucas: 22/25 FG, long 56, 21/21 EP P Roy Groh: 41.9 average, 60 inside the 20 PR/KR Nolan Lofton: 6.6 average punt return (1 TD), 26.7 average kick return Another solid year for the special teams - Lucas would be a perennial All-Pro if he got more chances, and Groh is simply the best in the business. Team Statistics Yards per play Rush: Offence 3.4/Defence 3.2/League 3.8 Pass: Offence 5.2/Defence 6.2/League 6.8 Yards per game Offence: Rush 95.2 (27), Pass 159.6 (34) Defence: Rush 94.5 (7), Pass 210.6 (10) The stats just back up what I though about the season's performances - solid on the defensive side of the ball, but sometimes gave up the big play, while the offence was simply awful. Awards: P Roy Groh was the only Bulldozer to be voted to the AP 1st team, while G Jermaine Galloway made the AP 2nd team. Herb: 30/16/54/73 - average 35 Finances: A loss of $33.1m on revenues of $150.9m - it was always going to be very difficult to break back into profit, and it really needed the team to have a home playoff game to do so (unlikely at the start of the season, and didn't get any more feasible as the year progressed). At this point, I get fired for lack of performance on the field and on the balance sheet, but I'm able to take over one of the expansion teams who start playing from the 2017 season - details of this career will appear in another thread on this board... Martin (tidied up the formatting on the edit - missed out a {pre}) [This message has been edited by MartinD (edited 04-02-2001).] |
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04-01-2001, 11:37 PM
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#13 |
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n00b
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Chicago, IL
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Your challenge was pretty much impossible but I was glad to see you give it a shot knowing the odds of being successful.
Good luck with your next challenge... |
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