03-15-2001, 03:47 PM | #1 | ||
n00b
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Orlando, FL USA
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Topeka (KS) Lightning Franchise
2002 Topeka Lightning Franchise
The Topeka Lightning the NFL’s newest expansion team began its legacy by naming Jarrod Erdman the former GM for the Super Bowl champion Rams as their General Manager. Erdman then announced two major signings those being the teams new head coach and the teams head scout.b The teams head coach Ellis Heflin becomes the 2nd youngest coach in the NFL. HE most recently coached the University of Washington who won the Rose Bowl last year. In order to assure some degree of experience the team hired 64 year old Steve Atkins to be the lead scout; Atkins is a former NFL QB and was the QB coach for the Houston Oilers before being fired when the team moved to Tennessee. The Lightning will play in the AFC West where they will feud with their neighbors the Kansas City Chiefs. The team now looks forward to the expansion draft where they will take the best players they can find according head coach Heflin. Looking for a few gems the team took former Chiefs QB Elvis Grbac and hopes he can fill the need at QB this year. The following is the roster after the expansion draft. A few renegotiations were made and a few players were cut but the team feels they found some quality players. The following are the rules 1) Can only select one free agent in the first ten weeks and up to three additional free agents in the last 10 weeks 2) Can only make one trade per year 3) Can only pick up two free agents after training camp that played in the NFL last season. The remainder must be players who were out of football or are rookies. 4) No renegotiations until the last year of a players contract. Unless that player has been with the team for 10 years or is a fan favorite; or renegotiations after the expansion draft. 5) No trading fan favorites 6) Can use the franchise tag any time necessary but no player will be tagged 2 years in a row or more. 7) Only one seven year contract a year; all others must be 5 or fewer years. Roster for the Topeka (KS) Lightning after the expansion draft Name # Pos OnTm Ctrc Exp Stat Cap Cost Grbac, Elvis 15 QB 2002 2005 10 ----- $15,000,000 Johnson, Anthony 47 RB 2002 2003 13 ----- $1,570,000 Maloney, Gary 45 RB 2002 2003 3 ----- $1,830,000 Henderson, William 46 FB 2002 2002 8 ----- $1,250,000 Santiago, O.J. 87 TE 2002 2002 6 ----- $2,000,000 Jones, Charlie 89 WR 2002 2003 7 ----- $850,000 Anthony, Reidel 81 WR 2002 2003 6 ----- $810,000 Graham, Aaron + 55 C 2002 2002 8 ----- $1,850,000 Beverly, Eric + 56 C 2002 2003 6 ----- $2,010,000 Blaise, Kerlin 62 G 2002 2003 5 ----- $2,020,000 Lane, Max 76 G 2002 2003 9 ----- $2,770,000 Smith, Brent 78 T 2002 2003 6 ----- $2,560,000 Odom, Jason 77 T 2002 2002 7 ----- $2,850,000 Landeta, Sean 17 P 2002 2002 18 ----- $560,000 Williams, Dan 98 DE 2002 2006 9 ----- $3,000,000 Jasper, Edward + 96 DT 2002 2002 6 ----- $750,000 Osborne, Chuck 92 DT 2002 2002 6 ----- $2,710,000 Colvin, Roosevelt 58 LB 2002 2002 4 ----- $2,020,000 Clarke, Phil 57 LB 2002 2003 4 ----- $1,130,000 McLaughlin, John 50 LB 2002 2002 4 ----- $560,000 Smith, Kevin 21 CB 2002 2004 11 ----- $2,320,000 Canty, Chris + 25 CB 2002 2002 6 ----- $2,910,000 Jackson, Calvin 34 S 2002 2002 9 ----- $1,930,000 Beckett, Rogers + 36 S 2002 2004 3 ----- $570,000 Kennedy, Kenny 24 S 2002 2004 3 ----- $450,000 ______________________________________________ After cuts the roster prior to the draft is: Position/Player Current Est Future Est Exp Sgnd FB William Henderson 10 10 8 2003 TE O.J. Santiago 9 10 6 2002 S Calvin Jackson 9 9 9 2004 P Sean Landeta 9 9 18 2002 T Jason Odom 9 9 7 2004 QB Elvis Grbac 9 10 10 2005 LB John McLaughlin 8 8 4 2002 DE Dan Williams 8 9 9 2006 C Aaron Graham 8 10 8 2002 WR Reidel Anthony 8 8 6 2003 G Max Lane 7 7 9 2004 T Brent Smith 7 7 6 2003 CB Kevin Smith 6 7 11 2004 RB Anthony Johnson 6 6 13 2003 S Rogers Beckett 6 12 3 2004 DT Chuck Osborne 6 7 6 2003 WR Charlie Jones 5 5 7 2003 S Kenny Kennedy 5 11 3 2004 DT Edward Jasper 5 8 6 2002 LB Roosevelt Colvin 5 10 4 2004 RB Gary Maloney 5 6 3 2003 G Kerlin Blaise 4 9 5 2004 LB Phil Clarke 4 11 4 2004 [This message has been edited by Metaljar (edited 03-15-2001).]
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"My new book will show you ways to get government money to start your own coffee shop." Matthew Lesko |
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03-15-2001, 04:08 PM | #2 |
n00b
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Orlando, FL USA
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Going into free agency we have needs at most positions so we will see what is available and then choose among the players that will work the best for us. Upon inspection it looks like we have our choice of WR Marvin Harrison, DE Tony Bryant, QB Kurt Warner, or S John Lynch. With Grbac on the roster Warner remains an option but is too high priced and we decide to go after WR Marvin Harrison. We offer him a four year 24.5 million and hope that is enough. In week seven Harrison signs and we must wait until week ten to continue signing players.
Week 11 Warner's deal feel through and he is still available in week 11 so we jump at the chance to sign him. We offer him a 23.7 million dollar three year deal. We also offer S Jay Bellemy a 3 year 9.7 million dollar deal and now we wait. BOTH sign the next week and we have a pretty decent team shaping up. We decide to pick up the rest of the players in the draft and that is it for free agency. ______________________________________________ Draft Info We will go into the draft with RB being the biggest need. We could also use a #2 WR, and help on the defensive line or at CB. Hopefully we can fill these need through the draft. With the first pick we see a WR who is one of the best I have ever seen. I can't pass him up so with the first pick we select WR Patrick Clarkson from Butler to step up and play right away and catches passes from QB Warner. Round 2 we find a good S from Troy State named Rickey Chanthawong and take him to start alongside of Bellemy. Round 3 Johnny Green RB, UNLV might start but hardly the long term answer at RB. Round 4 WR Leaster Early, Purdue should be #3. Round 5-7 J.T. Elliot, LB Vinny Thornton, LB Rico Covington, DT Hopefully no busts we will fill out the roster after training camp
__________________
"My new book will show you ways to get government money to start your own coffee shop." Matthew Lesko |
03-15-2001, 04:21 PM | #3 |
n00b
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Orlando, FL USA
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Free agents
Our two cut free agents are DE Willie Whitehead who we sign to a 4 year 12 million dollar deal and G Barry Sims who signs a 11 million dollar 4 year deal. The rest of the players were out of football last year or a rookies. Our roster is as follows: Position/Player Current Est Future Est Exp Sgnd QB Kurt Warner 13 15 5 2004 QB Elvis Grbac 9 9 10 2005 QB Ted White 5 5 4 2002 RB Anthony Johnson 6 6 13 2003 RB Gary Maloney 5 8 3 2003 RB Johnny Greene 5 9 1 2004 FB William Henderson 10 10 8 2003 FB Troy Kassotis 2 8 1 2004 TE O.J. Santiago 10 10 6 2002 TE Lawrence Buckley 3 9 1 2002 TE Donald Elmore 3 10 1 2004 WR Patrick Clarkson 15 18 1 2006 WR Marvin Harrison 14 14 7 2005 WR Reidel Anthony 7 7 6 2003 WR Lester Earley 7 7 1 2005 WR Charlie Jones 5 5 7 2003 C Aaron Graham 8 10 8 2002 C Ricky Koch 1 11 1 2004 G Barry Sims 11 12 4 2005 G Max Lane 7 7 9 2004 G Kerlin Blaise 5 8 5 2004 G Darrin Emerson 1 11 1 2004 T Jason Odom 9 9 7 2004 T Brent Smith 6 7 6 2003 T Warren Wilkins 1 7 1 2002 T Teddy Pearson 1 9 1 2002 P Sean Landeta 7 8 18 2002 K Dale Jarvis 4 9 1 2002 DE Willie Whitehead 13 13 4 2005 DE Dan Williams 8 10 9 2006 DE Darnell Long 3 7 1 2002 DT Edward Jasper 6 8 6 2002 DT Chuck Osborne 5 8 6 2003 DT Rico Covington 1 6 1 2003 LB John McLaughlin 8 9 4 2002 LB J.T. Elliott 7 9 1 2004 LB Phil Clarke 6 9 4 2004 LB Roosevelt Colvin 5 8 4 2004 LB Vinny Thornton 2 13 1 2003 CB Kevin Smith 6 7 11 2004 CB Ray Hill 5 8 5 2004 CB Zach Creamer 2 8 1 2004 CB Roman Branch 2 10 1 2004 S Jay Bellamy 11 11 9 2004 S Ricky Chanthavong 8 14 1 2004 S Calvin Jackson 8 8 9 2004 S Rogers Beckett 7 12 3 2004
__________________
"My new book will show you ways to get government money to start your own coffee shop." Matthew Lesko |
03-15-2001, 04:34 PM | #4 |
n00b
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Orlando, FL USA
|
This year I want to throw the ball early and often. Kurt Warner is one of the best QB's in the game and Johnny Greer is hardly a great RB so he will be used sparingly. Right now my starting lineup is
QB Warner RB Greer FB Henderson TE Santiago WR Clarkson WR Harrison LT Odom LG Sims C Graham RG Lane RT Smith K Jarvis P Landeta LE Williams DT Jasper DT Osborne DE Whitehead LB Elliot LB McLaughlin LB Colvin LB Clarke CB Smith CB Hill S Bellemy S Chanthavong Hopefully we won't get blown out too bad year one but we will see.
__________________
"My new book will show you ways to get government money to start your own coffee shop." Matthew Lesko |
03-15-2001, 04:46 PM | #5 |
n00b
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Orlando, FL USA
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Exhibition Season
2-2 some strong performances but we still only took 2 games. ______________________________________________Regular Season We go 6-10 despite great playing from Warner; here are the key stats QB Warner 4420 yards 24 TD's/17 INT's 83.3 RTG RB Greene 236 for 676 2.8 AVG 7 TD's OUCH 2.8 AVG WR Harrison 103 CTHS for 1946 yards and 9 TD's WR Clarkson 80 CTCH for 1529 and 11 TD's AWARDS: DEF Rookie of the YR: Chanthawong 1st Team WR: Harrison 2nd Team FB: Henderson 2nd Team WR: Clarkson Herbs Review Score 49 Looking forward to next year when we will need a RB to carry the load and better defense to turn this team around
__________________
"My new book will show you ways to get government money to start your own coffee shop." Matthew Lesko |
04-02-2001, 03:15 PM | #6 |
n00b
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Orlando, FL USA
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2003 Season
With the 2003 season underway the first thing to note is that backup QB Elvis Grbac has decided to hang them up. Grbac didn't have a big role with Warner on the roster healthy but we will need to find another backup since our other QB should not even be on a roster much less a backup. Scout Steve Atkins is getting up there in age but will stay on at least for this season his ratings are: QB:VG RB,REC:EX OL,K,DL,SEC,YT:G LB:F Our coach is not the best we try and get Sammy Hlyton who coached the Oakland Raiders last season. We lose Hlyton so we reduce our offer to coach Ellis Heflin and bring him back his ratings are: QB:E OL,YT,AI:VG RB,DL,LB,SEC,MOT:G DIS,OPC:F REC,K,DPC:P Free Agency I need a running back but don't want to spend big money for one so I will probably look at the draft for one. Other needs are at all defensive positions but safety where I have a talented core. Cuts prior to free agency RB: Gary Malony RB: Anthony Johnson Both in the last year of their contracts and neither worth what I would be paying them Franchise Tag: None; only a few marginal starters and backups are free agents so I won't use my tag this year. Own free agents resigned Warren Wilkens-T; will play a backup role at a cheap price I also extend an offer to LB John McLaughlin who we will have to wait on to see if he resigns Free Agent Signing for the first ten weeks I offer LB Jerimiah Trotter a 3 year 14.56 millon dollar deal; he signs week 7 now I wait on my own free agent LB McLaughlin. McLaughlin signs week 8 and now I wait until week 10 to sign two more free agents. Week 10+ Signings I offer DT Grady Jackson an 11.18 million dollar 3 year deal I also offer DT John Thorton a 16.51 million dollar 4 year deal Both sign so I enter the draft with a solid team but already short on cap room I will look to make some more cuts to save the team cap problems. I renegotiate with William Henderson since he is in the last year of his contract and he resigns I cut WR Reidel Anthony and WR Charlie Jones both in the last year of their contracts because I can replace them with undrafted rookies. I also cut DT Chuck Osborn with two new DT's he is expendable with his 3 million dollar plus salary. LB Rosevelt Colvin is cut as well to save cap room and finally I cut S Calvin Jackson who was a backup at his position. I now have 33 players and 17 million in cap room to fill out the roster and I now turn my attention to the draft. I have the seventh pick in rounds 1-7 2003 NFL Draft With the running back I really wanted going to the Bears at #5 I draft RB Doug White out of Washington State with the #7 pick in round one. He should be good enough to carry the ball for us for years to come. Here is all rounds selections Rnd 1 - Doug White, RB, Washington State Rnd 2 - Kendrick Bovee, LB, Rice Rnd 3 - Horace Anderson, C, Iowa Rnd 4 - Glenn Warren, TE, Michigan State Rnd 5 - J.B. Kaplan, P, Tennessee Rnd 6 - Charles Connolly, WR, Auburn Rnd 7 - Lionel Huntley, G, Minnesota After a few minor cuts I go with rookies or guys who didn't play last season to fill out the roster to 46. Here is the 2003 roster after training camp. The only notable draft pick was round 2 Kendrick Bovee he should be a great player. Position/Player Current Est Future Est Exp Sgnd QB Kurt Warner 14 15 6 2004 QB Tommie Becker 2 11 1 2006 QB Jon Walker 1 11 1 2005 RB Johnny Greene 7 11 2 2004 RB Doug White 7 7 1 2008 RB Matthew Hughes 3 8 1 2007 FB William Henderson 10 10 9 2004 FB Troy Kassotis 4 7 2 2004 TE Glenn Warren 7 7 1 2005 TE Donald Elmore 5 7 2 2004 TE Allen Barkshadt 2 9 1 2005 WR Patrick Clarkson 15 18 2 2006 WR Marvin Harrison 13 13 8 2005 WR Charles Connolly 8 8 1 2005 WR Lester Earley 7 7 2 2005 WR Scott Shields 4 10 1 2005 C Horace Anderson 7 7 1 2005 C Ricky Koch 4 8 2 2004 G Barry Sims 11 12 5 2005 G Max Lane 7 7 10 2004 G Kerlin Blaise 5 6 6 2004 G Lionel Huntley 3 6 1 2004 T Jason Odom 9 9 8 2004 T Brent Smith 7 7 7 2003 T Warren Wilkins 4 8 2 2004 T Conrad Bailey 1 9 1 2009 P J.B. Kaplan 7 15 1 2005 K Dale Jarvis 6 7 2 2004 DE Willie Whitehead 13 13 5 2005 DE Dan Williams 8 9 10 2006 DE Irv Blanchard 3 8 2 2005 DT Grady Jackson 8 12 7 2005 DT John Thornton 7 12 5 2006 DT Rico Covington 2 6 2 2003 LB Jeremiah Trotter 13 15 6 2005 LB Kendrick Bovee 10 11 1 2005 LB John McLaughlin 9 10 5 2004 LB J.T. Elliott 7 7 2 2004 LB Vinny Thornton 5 10 2 2003 CB Kevin Smith 7 7 12 2004 CB Ray Hill 5 7 6 2004 CB Zach Creamer 3 5 2 2004 CB Roman Branch 3 7 2 2004 S Jay Bellamy 11 11 10 2004 S Ricky Chanthavong 9 14 2 2004 S Rogers Beckett 9 11 4 2004
__________________
"My new book will show you ways to get government money to start your own coffee shop." Matthew Lesko |
04-02-2001, 03:46 PM | #7 |
n00b
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Orlando, FL USA
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The following is my starting lineup for the 2003 Season
QB: Warner RB: White (A bust but still better then Greene) FB: Henderson WR: Clarkson WR: Harrison TE: Warren LT: Odom LG: Sims C: Anderson RG: Lane RT: Smith LE: Williams DT: Jackson DT: Thorton RE: Whitehead LB: Bovee LB: Trotter LB: Elliot LB: McLaughlin CB: Smith CB: Hall S: Chanthavong S: Bellemy Not happy with RB so look for Warner to take to the air again this season as we try and get this team some wins. The defense looks better then last year with new starters: Jackson, Thorton, Bovee and Trotter but we will see if they can improve this defensive unit. Season Record 8-8 Season Stats QB Warner 314/533 4417 yards 32 TD/ 13INT's 95.5 RTG RB White 275 for 1188 yards 4 TD's WR Harrison 1743 yards 12 TD's WR Clarkson 1562 yards 14 TD's LB Bovee 97 TKLS 4.5 Sacks Offensive Team Passing Yards Per Game 291.6 1st Rushing Yards Per Game 93.6 24th Defensive Team Rushing Per Game Allowed 104.1 12th Passing Per Game Allowed 258.6 1st (Horrible) Turnovers +6 7th Awards Offensive Rookie of the Year: Doug White 1st Team QB: Warner 1st Team WR's: Clarkson and Harrison Next season we should be even better. Despite our 8-8 record I think defense is our only primary need right now the offense looks solid.
__________________
"My new book will show you ways to get government money to start your own coffee shop." Matthew Lesko |
04-02-2001, 04:38 PM | #8 |
n00b
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Orlando, FL USA
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Retirees:
None Scout: Steve Atkins 66 years old Ratings QB:VG RB,WR:EX K,DL,SEC:G OL,LB,YT:F NEW Head Coach: Gleen Schwartz 41 years old Ratings WR,LB,MT,DIS,DPC:VG QB,WR,OL,SEC,YT,AI: Good DL,K,OPC:F Ellis Heflin 14-18 record is let go because he is not getting the team as far as they should be Gleen Schwartz who has never coached professionally takes over for him. Franchise Tag: None Warner who was in the last year of his contract renegotiates a 7 year 90 million dollar deal to stay with the Lightning. Position/Player Current Est Future Est Exp Sgnd QB Kurt Warner 13 15 7 2010 QB Tommie Becker 2 7 2 2006 QB Jon Walker 1 9 2 2005 RB Johnny Greene 7 10 3 2004 RB Doug White 7 8 2 2008 RB Matthew Hughes 4 8 2 2007 FB William Henderson 10 10 10 2005 FB Troy Kassotis 4 7 3 2005 TE Glenn Warren 7 9 2 2005 TE Donald Elmore 5 10 3 2004 TE Allen Barkshadt 3 8 2 2005 WR Patrick Clarkson 15 18 3 2006 WR Marvin Harrison 13 13 9 2005 WR Charles Connolly 7 7 2 2005 WR Lester Earley 7 7 3 2005 WR Scott Shields 4 9 2 2005 C Horace Anderson 7 10 2 2005 C Ricky Koch 3 6 3 2006 G Barry Sims 11 12 6 2005 G Kerlin Blaise 5 8 7 2004 G Lionel Huntley 4 6 2 2004 T Jason Odom 9 9 9 2006 T Brent Smith 7 7 8 UFA T Warren Wilkins 4 7 3 2006 T Conrad Bailey 2 7 2 2009 P J.B. Kaplan 7 11 2 2005 K Dale Jarvis 5 7 3 2004 DE Willie Whitehead 13 13 6 2005 DE Dan Williams 8 9 11 2006 DE Irv Blanchard 3 5 3 2005 DT Grady Jackson 8 12 8 2005 DT John Thornton 7 12 6 2006 DT Rico Covington 2 6 3 ---- LB Jeremiah Trotter 13 15 7 2005 LB Kendrick Bovee 9 14 2 2005 LB John McLaughlin 9 9 6 2005 LB J.T. Elliott 7 7 3 2005 LB Vinny Thornton 5 10 3 ---- CB Zach Creamer 3 9 3 2004 CB Roman Branch 3 5 3 2004 S Jay Bellamy 11 11 11 2005 S Ricky Chanthavong 9 14 3 2005 S Rogers Beckett 9 11 5 2006 After a few cuts and resignings of players in the last year of their contracts the roster appears solid except at CB where I cut both of last season starters looking to rebuild the CB position. Free Agency First 10 weeks Looking for a CB or DE to start right away and save the horrible Lightning defense from costing the team a shot at the playoffs. Neither position is very good so I offer guard Soloman Page a 4 year 20 million dollar deal. He signs week 7 and now we wait for week 10 Weeks 10+ CB Juan McQuilken; will not be the answer but we offer him a 2 year 4 million dollar deal. LB Jon Phillips 2 year 4.65 million should start next season at LB. Draft Rnd 1 - Conrad Page, C, Arizona Rnd 2 - Brock McKenzie, WR, Maryland Rnd 3 - Sherman Burge, T, Kentucky Rnd 4 - Jamal Doyle, CB, Colorado State Rnd 5 - Nicky Barton, FB, Oklahoma State Rnd 6 - Chris Botello, QB, Texas - El Paso Rnd 7 - Neil Roberson, TE, UAB Still no help in the secondary this year could be very bad. 2004 Season Only changes to starters are RT: Warren Wilkens (Replaces Brent Smith) C: Conrad Page (Replaces Horace Anderson) LG: Solomon Page (Replaces Huntley) CB: Doyle (Replaces Hill) CB: McQuicken (Replaces Smith) S: Beckett (Replaces Bellemy) This season probably is not going to go well; our WR busted and Jamal Doyle is terrible but is the best corner we have. Our defense once again is going to destroy any momentum our offense gets. Regular Season 9-7 (The best defense is a good offense) Our first ever playoff berth in our third year not too bad but the defense really let me down this year. If we had a better defese we could have easily been 11-5 or even 12-4. We play the Titans in our first ever playoff game but here are the regular season stats. QB Warner 335/612 5515 yards 40 TDÕs/ 16 INTÕs 96.1 RTG RB White 236 for 1005 8 TDÕs WR Harrison 125 for 2234 13 TDÕs WR Clarkson 82 for 1735 17 TDÕs Offensive Passing yards per game 344.6 1st Russing yards per game 79.8 28th Defensive Rusing allowed 125.5 2nd Passing allowed 247.0 9th Turnovers Ð2 20th Playoffs Titans (11-5) vs. Lightning (9-7) We lose 37-10 We rush for 18 yards on 16 carries and our starting RB has Ð3 yards rushing. Warner rushes for 15 yards and leads the team but he only complete 14 of 32 passes for 200 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. Miserable game. Next year we need cover corners and a good DE to pressure the other team and get some much needed sacks for the team
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"My new book will show you ways to get government money to start your own coffee shop." Matthew Lesko |
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