Big XII Challenge...

sooner333 · 10-22-2000, 12:26 AM

I am going to start the Big XII challenge...a dynasty where my team consists of only players that played college in the Big XII. I will start as Cleveland, but if I wish to move my team, I must move to a Big XII city. There will be no house rules (other than the major one, the Big XII players), but usually in my careers, I don't take too much advantage of the computer owners.

The expansion draft and preseason is going to follow sometime in the very near future.

sooner333 · 10-22-2000, 12:41 AM

Well, the expansion draft has only 10 Big XII players, and they aren't all that good. I have to draft the full 25, but I cut the non-Big 12 players.

After the expansion draft, my 10 player roster consists of:
Matt Lepsis, T, Colorado
Don Davis, LB, Kansas
Gerald McBurrows, S, Kansas
Adam Treu, G, Nebraska
Jamel Williams, S, Nebraska
Eric Warfield, CB, Nebraska
Barron Tanner, DT, Oklahoma
Taje Allen, CB, Texas
Chris Carter, S, Texas (no, not THAT Chris Carter)
Chris Ruhman, T, Texas A&M

so, obviously, not that good of a team...

[This message has been edited by sooner333 (edited 10-21-2000).]

sooner333 · 10-22-2000, 01:07 AM

FREE AGENCY '99

Well, I got lots of mediocre-bad players, but it is expected early in the career, especially with an expansion team. Some players of note are Koy Detmer the Colorado product who will compete with rookies for the QB job this year. Rae Carruth another Colorado product, who will hopefully stay out of trouble and produce for us. Andre Coleman an 8 year vet out of Kansas State will be another target for Detmer. RB's James Allen, Eric Beienemy, and Gerald Moore will compete at RB.

In the Free Agency period, I signed any good player I could find, regardless of postion, which leads to some imbalance, which might lead to conversion or cuts. I have 5 RB's, 5 T, and 5 S.

All in all, it wasn't a great FA class, but its all I can really do at this point with this team of Big XII players. All I can do is hope for a good class in the draft of Big XII stars.

sooner333 · 10-22-2000, 01:33 AM

DRAFT DAY 2000

With Pick #1 in the draft, I pick the top Big 12 player on our board. I pick Leslie Bauer, a good DE out of Texas. 85/90 are his potential ratings, hopefully he'll get there. It was a tough decision, because we would have really like a QB, but the best QB from the Big 12 was Rex Solymos, a career backup on most teams...but he'd get a chance here. I banked on the fact that he'd be there come round 2.

With Pick #2 I find that Solymos is still there. Nothing special from the QB from Okie State, except that he can throw a better than average deep ball. He will compete with Detmer in the preseason for the QB job. Hopefully, within the next couple of years, I'll find someone to replace both of them.

With Pick #3, I take B.J. Williams, a decent TE prospect out of Texas Tech. He is better overall than our second round pick, but I needed a QB more. This guy could start this year.

Pick #4 brings us to Jessie Lewis, Guard, out of Kansas. Nothing special, just a Guard who will be a bit below average.

Nicky Lewis, LB, out of Colorado is the fifth pick. He isn't good and will eat up roster space. He'd be out of a job if I dind't draft him. When I assemble a team, I usually try to have great a great LB and DB core...he is not in the same sentence as great.

Hunter Riley, a cornerback out of Baylor is the 6th pick. He was a pleasant surprise (if my scouts are accurate) for the 6th round. I didn't expect a corner this good in the sixth round. Don't get me wrong, he's no Deion Sanders, or even very good at all, just better than I expected, better than that LB I got in the 5th round too.

Lenny Berloiz, a wideout from Baylor is the last pick...he isn't that good, but will make the team by default.

That is the recap of Draft Day 99...I am hoping next years draft will bring a QB...and since I'll probably have the 1st pick, I'll get him.

sooner333 · 10-22-2000, 01:45 AM

POST DRAFT MOVES:

There were really no signings of note. No big names, some decent hole-fillers, but nothing great. Just a whole bunch of inconsequential "vets" and undrafted rookies. Training camp was uneventful, nothing out of line. Let the season begin!

(Added later, after the 3rd Quater of the season, when I found out how to post roster...so the roster is as of end of 3rd Quarter of season)

Here is my roster:

  Position/Player         Current Est  Future Est     Exp   Sgnd

  QB  Koy Detmer                    6          10       3   2001   

  QB  Kim Case                      5          10       1   2000   

  QB  Rex Solymos                   5          11       1   2002   

  RB  Anthony Lynn                  5           7       6   1999   

  RB  Jerald Moore                  6           6       4   2000   

  RB  James Allen                   8          11       2   2001   

  FB  Cory Schlesinger              4           6       5   2001   

  TE  Hunter Goodwin                4           3       4   2001   

  TE  A.J. Ofodile                  5           7       3   2000   

  TE  B.J. Williams                 7          12       1   2001   

  WR  Rae Carruth                   7           6       3   2000   

  WR  Andre Coleman                 7           8       6   2001   

  WR  K.C. Kneiling                 2           6       1   1999   

  WR  Neal Tatum                    4           3       1   1999   

  WR  Lenny Berlioz                 2           3       1   2001   

  WR  Les Casper                    8           7       1   1999   

   C  Jason Johnson                 1           2       2   1999   

   C  Bryan Stoltenberg             6           6       4   2000   

   G  Heath Irwin                   7          10       3   2000   

   G  Adam Treu                     0           1       3   2001   

   G  Jessie Lewis                  5           8       1   2001   

   T  Rick Cunningham               3           4       8   2000   

   T  Fred Miller                   5           6       4   2000   

   T  Todd Weiner                   5           4       2   1999   

   T  Chris Ruhman                  1           3       2   2000   

   T  Matt Lepsis                   1           1       3   2000   

   P  Frank Barker                  5           5       1   1999   

   K  Scott Blanton                 3           3       4   1999   

  DE  Jevon Langford                2           2       4   1999   

  DE  Jamie Reeves                  2           4       1   1999   

  DE  Leslie Bauer                  9          13       1   2003   

  DT  Edward Jasper                 2           3       3   1999   

  DT  Barron Tanner                 1           0       3   1999   

  DT  Jamal Williams                2           2       2   1999   

  LB  Keith Burns                   4           5       6   2001   

  LB  Don Davis                     1           3       4   1999   

  LB  Travian Smith                 2           5       2   1999   

  LB  Tyrell Peters                 2           4       3   1999   

  LB  Nicky Lucas                   5           9       1   2001   

  LB  Robert McDermott              2           3       1   1999   

  CB  Taje Allen                    2           1       3   1999   

  CB  Frankie Smith                 4           4       7   2000   

  CB  Eric Warfield                 5           7       2   2000   

  CB  Hunter Riley                  6           9       1   2000   

   S  Chris Carter                  3           3       3   1999   

   S  Gerald McBurrows              4           3       5   1999   

   S  Tony Veland                   4           8       3   2000   

   S  Jamel Williams                1           0       3   1999   

   S  Scott Frost                   3           3       2   1999   





[This message has been edited by sooner333 (edited 10-26-2000).]



[This message has been edited by sooner333 (edited 10-26-2000).]

sooner333 · 10-22-2000, 02:01 AM

SEASON 1:

Preseason:
Well, one surprise before the game, my scout says that my undrafted FA QB from K-State is the better backup QB than Solymos, my second rounder. I'll trust my scout on this one, but Detmer is my starter.

Cleveland 13, TAMPA BAY 17,
After being up 10-0 and 13-3, it all goes downhill. Detmer goes 15-22, 182 yards, and no INTs or TDs. Case (the undrafted FA) goes 4-15, 30 yards, and 1 INT. Andre Coleman catches 5 for 78 yards.

CLEVELAND 21, Minnesota 27,
Again, close, but no cigar. This time we played catch-up at the end. Detmer had a better completion percentage, but Case had more yards and 2 TD throws against 1 INT, a much better showing than his first game. 1st round pick Leslie Bauer had 1.5 sacks.

CLEVELAND 28, Chicago 30,
A GW-FG with :14 to go by Bears kicker Jeff Jaeger wins it. Even though the Bears win, Kim Case is getting better and better. He steals the show, and Cleveland fans with a 13-22, 287 yard, 3 TD, 0 INT performance. Andre Coleman 7 catches for 125 yards isn't bad either. Although we are 0-3 this preseason, things are looking up in Cleveland.

Cleveland 23, PHILADELPHIA 24,
Close loss once again, but at least we're competing with the big boys. We'll just have to take this energy into the regular season. Another late score by the other team leads them to victory, we need to play late defense. Both QB's did decent. We got through the preseason without any injuries, which is a very good sign. On to the regular season!

REGULAR SEASON '99
Updated sometime soon

NoMyths · 10-22-2000, 11:18 AM

sooner333--

The Big XII Challenge is about the only challange I ever stuck with when playing FOF2...although I usually traded for Ricky Williams to begin the career.

Since my undergrad university was K-State I always gave preference to players from there; after I came to Purdue, though, I had to move to a semi-Big 10 Challenge (I still sneak in a Wildcat from time to time)

P.S. -- Looking forward to seeing yer crew again in the Big 12 Championship this year...revenge!

NoMyths

sooner333 · 10-22-2000, 04:55 PM

NoMyths- I'd rather play Nebraska in the Championship game, mainly because I think you might have a better chance of beating us again. Hopefully, we take care of business on Saturday against Nebraska. Will I be there? You better believe it!

REGULAR SEASON '99

CLEVELAND 10, PITTSBURGH 24,

Koy Detmer gets the nod in opening day. He throws for 271 yards, 1 TD, and 2 INTs. Not a great day. I'm not sure who I'm going to start next week. The problem is I have about three QB's who are relitively the same, so I'll name a starter at gametime next week. Rae Carruth caught a TD pass. Tyrell Peters had 12 tackles and 2 assists, while Jamie Reeves had 2 sacks.

Cleveland 3, TENNESSEE 31,

Kim Case gets the start in game two. The result is less than I had hoped for. 12/42, 154 yards, and 3 INTs for him today. Detmer came in for mop-up duty, throwing two passes. Again, next game will be a gametime decision. Solymos is a good possiblity to start, even though he didn't have any preseason experience. Gerald McBurrows had 11 tackles, the rest of the players did average. Rookie Leslie Bauer recorded his first sack of his career, hopefully, there are more where that came from.

Cleveland 10, BALTIMORE 22,

Solymos gets the start, nothing good happened. 15/33, 141 yards, and 1 INT. Looks like I'll keep the rotation going until I win...Detmer will start next game. James Allen led off scoring with a running TD, he had 40 yards rushing today. All in all, not a great performance, but it is to be expected.

CLEVELAND 10, New England 13,

Make that 0-4 fellas. Detmer gets the start, and doesn't do that bad. Nothing good, but no picks, so he'll start again next game. As a team, we recorded 5 sacks, with Reeves getting 2 of them. James Allen gained 67 yards as well. Hopefully, we can pull a close game out next time.

Da Bears Fan · 10-25-2000, 10:41 AM

I started my big twelve challenge last night. I had many of the same players, but my team...with no special effort from me coaching or scouting...finished the year 5-11. Dropped me to #4 for the first round.

My question for you guys is what happens if you can't find a player from the Big 12 to fill the void in a roster. For example, my punter wasn't from a Big 12 and there were no punters available at all from the big 12...I tried to trade for one, but they wouldn't take it because they were worried about the overall effect on their team...geez!

With that in mind, I ended taking a sorry punter from VMI...just to make sure he wasn't from another Major Conference.

Da Bears Fan · 10-25-2000, 10:45 AM

The other thing I noticed was that I had four all-pro players on a roster of the sorriest lot of players available. According to the roster strength ratings, I had 0's or Fairs for all of my categories (qb's, rb's, etc.)

WR (rookie), DT (rookie), LB (Keith Burns), S (Marcus Coleman) all won honors that first year.

I too am partial to K-Staters, my alma mater, and usually choose them first...guess it makes me feel kinda funny.

sooner333 · 10-26-2000, 05:18 PM

Before I start with games 5-8, I will answer your question about non-Big XII'ers. I have always been able to find someone. There were a few rookie punters, so I signed one. But, I would probably sign a "No College" guy or a guy from a regional school (like NW Oklahoma State, or Texas A&M Kingsville).

Here we go on games 5-8:

CLEVELAND 15, Cincinnati 33,

We even had a lead in this one, but after being up 7-3, we gave up 27 unanswered points. Nothing was going my way on offense. Team Rushing: 14-34. 'Nuff Said. Although we had 270+ yards passing and a 2 TD, there was a less than 50% completion percentage, with an interception that was returned for a TD. But, they were unimportant scores, as all three QB's got PT when the game was out of hand. 3rd stringer Solymos got one of the TD's in trash time. Tatum had 4 catches for 107 yards and a TD. Burns and Lucas both had over 10 tackles, and Reeves had 1.5 sacks to move to third in the NFL with 5.5 on the season.

CLEVELAND 14, Jacksonville 31

0-6 on the year now, and things are not looking good. Again we got a 7-3 lead, but gave up 21 unanswered points this time. There was a better rushing game this time with 128 total rushing yards between Allen and Moore primarily. Detmer 14/32, 200 yards, 3 INT, 0 TD. All three QB's came in for trash time, Case threw a TD in his only pass, a 3 yarder. Solymos was 2/3 for 51 yards. 8 Tackles and an INT for rookie CB Hunter Riley out of Baylor.

Cleveland 17, SAINT LOUIS 33

Up 7-0, then down 20-7...this is sounding like a broken record. At least this game we stuck with the starter, which means we were in the game. Only 69 yards rushing this time. Detmer 24/47, 282 yds., 2 TD, INT. Coleman 8 rec., 118 yds., 1 TD. Riley picked off another today. I'm not sure what to think of this team...we just can't score more than once without everything caving in. It will definetley have to be a busy offseason.

Cleveland 10, NEW ORLEANS 38,

As we reach the midseason point for my team, it becomes more evident that we are fighting for the #1 pick. New York (Giants) is tied with us for "first-place" in the race with KC right behind at 1-6. We control our own destiny. Detmer looked bad again. Case will start next time. An overall bad performance. Let's move on.

sooner333 · 10-26-2000, 08:28 PM

1999 3rd Quarter

So, we begin the second half of the season. The team is 0-8. There is a QB controversey, we can't hold on to leads...the whole world is caving in. I'd like to see at least one win by the end of the year...so lets see what happens.

CLEVELAND 10, Baltimore 28

Okay, okay...I forgot to take control from the scout, so Detmer starts again. We lose, but have great offensive stats (for us)...but can't do anything on defense. Detmer was 22/40, 247 yds., 1 TD. Rookie TE B.J. Williams had 7 catches for 66 yards. James Allen had 18 rushes for 118 yards. Its just too bad the defense didn't do well, as we were outgained, dispite having our best all-around offensive game of the year.

Cleveland 20, Pittsburgh 23 (OT),

We made it to OT! Case got the start in the game, and at least he made it close. If we could have held onto the ball longer, we would have won though...50 minutes for their Possesion time, 22 minutes for us. We did good to send it to OT with that spread. They ran 99 plays to our 50. Needless to say, it bloated our tackle stats, with five guys with seven or more tackles. Case was 12/26, 126 yds., 0 TD, 0 INT. Allen was 16/89 and a TD. They got a 56 yard FG with 2:30 to go in OT. At least we made both of our FG attempts, or else, we could have won in regulation if he had made one. 0-10...stop the bleeding already. Case to start next week.

CLEVELAND 9, Carolina 27,

Another week, another loss. After a 3-0 lead early in the game, we gave up 27 straight points. Case was 19/32 for 192 yards. Detmer, who came in for trash time was 3/5, 81 yds., TD. Detmer will start next week. We had 5 sacks today. Rookie WR Kneiling had 5 catches for 107 yards and a TD. Let's move on.

Between games, we place an unimportant WR on IR, and sign Rookie WR, Les Casper, from Iowa State. He was a 3rd Round pick who didn't make the cut.

CLEVELAND 17, Tennessee 21,

After leading 17-12 in the third quarter, Al Del Greco hits 1 3rd Quarter FG and 2 4th Quarter FG's, and wins the game for the Titans. He had 5 FG's. This story is getting old. Detmer 11/23, 114 yds., 1 TD. Not great. Allen had 107 yards rushing. 0-12 after 3 Quarters. We are the only team without a win.

sooner333 · 10-26-2000, 11:44 PM

If you have been following along and are skipping down to this point, I have posted my roster with scouting report earlier in the post, in Post Draft Moves. Thanks to Vaj for telling me how to do this.

1999 4th Quarter

Cleveland 17, SAN DIEGO 31

0-13. That leaves only three more games to get my goal of one win. Running game was HORRIBLE...10 attempts for 17 yards. Detmer was 19/35, 267 yds., 2 TD, 2 INT. We also had 2 INT as a team on defense. But, we still gave up 31 points, and we can't score enough to win (obviously). Lost the time of possesion battle yet again.

Cleveland 10, CINCINNATI 24,

0-14. We have clinched at least a tie for the worst record in pro football. My first round pick, Bauer, had 3.5 sacks, which is good. Detmer had another mediocre (at best) game. Rushing was poor again. Just not good. Good thing the score didn't get any worse, because by looks of the boxscore, it could have very well been.

CLEVELAND 6, Jacksonville 16,

In sub-freezing temps, the Browns clinched the first round pick, as expected. The record is 0-15 now. After being up 6-0, we didn't score again, and the Jags scored 16 in a row. Only one total TD in the game. Rushing game was poor, passing wasn't good, Bauer had 1.5 sacks. One more game to go.

CLEVELAND 10, Indianapolis 16,

SKUNKED. 0-16. The team that never won a game. You can attribute that, of course, to the fact that good Big XII players were hard to come by. Believe me, this will get somewhat easier as time goes on. But, at least, I can't get any worse. Allen had 157 yards on the ground today. Detmer threw for 204. That is the end of a season that wasn't good for the Brownies.

sooner333 · 10-26-2000, 11:58 PM

Well, the season ended with a bye week...in which all the players were at home, because there was nothing more to be done.

Cincinnati won the 1999 FOF Bowl. They went 13-3 in the regular season and beat Tampa Bay 30-3 in the season finale. I would normally post all of the playoff scores, but I forgot to write them down...oops.

Awards-

Defensive Rookie of the Year- LB Nicky Lewis. The 5th round pick out of Colorado won the award. He doesn't have any good ratigs, but he won the award anyway. As a starting LB, he recorded 93 tackles, 43 assists, and 2.0 sacks. I think that the stats are inflated because the defense was on the field too much of the time.

1st Team DE- Leslie Bauer. As the first overall selection of the draft, the rookie out of Texas made a quick impression on the NFL. Bauer had 16.0 sacks on the season to add to his 44 tackles and 21 assists. He put up big numbers. He could be good for years to come.

2nd Team LB- Keith Burns. As a six year vet of the NFL, Burns finally came into his own this year. He had 108 tackles, 27 assists, 3 sacks, and 1 INT. His ratings aren't good, they are actully pretty bad. He is benefitting by the team's lack of holding onto the ball

As a side note, Beuerlein was the MVP, Sanders was Offensive POY, Charles Mincy was the Deffensive POY.

Herb's Score- 48
0 in Team Performance
38 Franchise Value
91 Profit
72 Difficulty

sooner333 · 10-29-2000, 03:57 PM

FREE AGENCY 2000

There are no UFA's worth trying to sign now, so I will attempt to sign other players first.

Week 1
Offers:

DL, Santana Dotson: 3 years, 4.0 million
WR, Charles Johnson: 4 years, 10.48 million
DT, Steve Martin: 3 years, 10.0 million
LB, Donta Jones: 3 years, 7.05 million
CB, Tyrone Williams: 3 years, 5.49 million
DE, Tony Brackens: 4 years, 15.0 million
S, Stanley Richard: 2 years, 3.66 million
T, Richmond Webb: 4 years, 17.0 million
LB, Zach Thomas 3 years, 7.3 million
QB, Billy Joe Tolliver, 2 years, 2.45 million

As you can see, I'm offering top dollar to the FA's, so I can try to pry them away from winning teams.

Week 2- Donta Jones signs with us. All of the others have us as their highest bid.

Week 3- Billy Joe Tolliver and Charles Johnson sign with us. Cinncy jumps into the Dotson race, but we stand pat on the bid. Philly offers more for Steve Davis, so the bid is upped to 12.5 million over 3 years.

Week 4- Steve Martin signs with us. Washington ups its bid on Stanley Richard, so we raise our bid to 5.86 million over 3 years.

Week 5- Richmond Webb signs with us, while Richard signs with Washington. No other activity.

Week 6- Zach Thomas resigns with Miami, that's it.

Week 7- Williams, Dotson, and Brackens all sign with us, ending the first wave of FA signings.

Week 8- We resign WR Les Casper and offer a 1.12 million over 2 year contract to Gerald McBurroughs. We decide not to resign Reeves, who has bad ratings, but had 10.5 sacks last year, he is simply asking for too much.

Week 9- We offer a 2 year, 2.76 million contract to RB, Lamont Warren and a $280,000 1 year contract to Allen Deshell, who may or may not make the cut. McBorroughs signs.

Week 10- Nothing

Week 11- Warren attempts to sign with Indy, but they are over the cap, so we re-offer to Warren 2.41 million over 2 years.

Week 12- Deshell signs

Week 13- Warren signs

We decide to forego the rest of the free agency period, except to sign P Mitch Burger for 1.39 million over 3 years.

The Mike · 10-29-2000, 11:33 PM

Sooner -

Great challenge, I'm going to start a Big 10 Challenge myself (am an Ohio Stater)... My question, though is do you have the fire gm option on or off?

Thanks!

sooner333 · 10-30-2000, 09:39 PM

I have it on, but you can't get fired early (the toughest time), because Cleveland has such a good profit at the beginning. I've done this for about 5 years before, and never got fired.

sooner333 · 10-31-2000, 08:17 PM

DRAFT DAY 2000

The Cleveland Browns have been on the clock since last December, and now its time for draft day. Its time to make our first win become a reality, with the help of some rookies, maybe this can happen.

There aren't that many Big XII prospects in the viewable portion of any of the postion screens without scrolling down. The best players are S and LB, but their ratings aren't that great. Threre is a 5.7 potential WR availible with good stats...he could be avalible later in the round.

So, Paul Tagliabue steps up to the podium and says, "There has been a trade. Cleveland trades the #1 overall pick in the draft to Washington for the #16 overall pick, round 2 pick at #16, and 2001 and 2002 first round picks." It is the best move, as the player we want will probably be availible at #16.

Round ONE: The player we wanted is still there, Phil Goodwin, a small (5'7", 182 lb.) WR out of Texas Tech. Should force another WR to not make the cut. He will be a go to guy at some point, maybe even start this year and play a good role on the team.

Round TWO: With pick #1, we take Herman Rudd a LB out of Texas Tech. He was the best player on the board according to our scout. Hopefully, the scout is looking past the ratings, because they aren't *great*. With the #16 pick, we take another LB, Tim Robertson, a Nebraska grad. His ratings look just as good, if not better than Rudd's. These two plus Donta Jones look like our best future LB core.

ROUND THREE: We take Colorado kicking prospect Austin Mason. He is much better now (rating-wise) than our FA kicker, Scott Blanton is. Blanton will not get resigned.

ROUND FOUR: There is a great kick-returning CB availible, so we nab him. Darrin Hsu out of Colorado joins the team, he is maxed out at 90 at punt returns and 93 for fielding kickoffs. Not much of a cornerback, but he could make a difference returning kicks.

ROUND FIVE: We take TE Horace Gordon out of Missouri. He isn't as good as BJ Johnson, BUT, he could become valuable sometime, and as a good backup TE.

ROUND SIX: Wayne Andrews, a center from Baylor is picked. He should be our backup this season.

ROUND SEVEN: There isn't anyone decent left, so we take a Guard out of Nebraska, Vinny Rust. He may or may not make the team...we'll see.

That concludes Draft Day 2000. There wasn't a good QB, so it looks like it will be between Detmer and Billy Joe Tolliver for the starting job. We might trade Detmer or cut Solymos to cut it down to 3 QBs.

sooner333 · 10-31-2000, 08:43 PM

Before Training Camp I sign Free Agent Saftey, Kwamie Lassiter for 2.6 million over 3 years. So we go into training camp with 49 players, and might try to sign the best players after camp, then make the cuts.

TRAINING CAMP PASSES...

I guess you can say I hit the jackpot. There are some good Big XII free agents following camp. Christian Peter is a DT who has great potential, but is already great, he also happened to attend Nebraska, which makes him eligible for my team. He signs for $8.0 million over 4 seasons. Dan Neil, a four year veteran Guard out of Texas has ratings in the 80s for all three ratings. He signs for $2.24 million over three years (a great bargain). Did I mentioned he singed without a bonus? We sign Greg Jones, a LB out of Colorado to a one year $940,000 contract. Good LB, who will wean our rookies. We sign Priest Holmes RB out of Texas for one year at $440,000. We sign Center [/b]Calvin Collins[/b] for 3 years, $4.3 million, and no bonus. He will start. We sign Chris Hudson, Saftey out of Colorado for $440,000 over 1 season. We also sign needed roster filler at DE, Jevon Langford for one year, $440,000

Not bad, eh?

Cuts:
T Matt Lepsis
G Adam Treu
TE A.J. Ofodile

Here is my Scout Overview:

  Position/Player         Current Est  Future Est     Exp   Sgnd

  QB  Koy Detmer                    7           7       4   2001   

  QB  Billy Joe Tolliver           11          14      11   2001   

  QB  Kim Case                      6          11       2   2000   

  QB  Rex Solymos                   6           8       2   2002   

  RB  Jerald Moore                  5           5       5   2000   

  RB  Lamont Warren                 7           7       7   2001   

  RB  James Allen                   8          10       3   2001   

  RB  Priest Holmes                 8           7       4   2000   

  FB  Cory Schlesinger              5           8       6   2001   

  TE  Hunter Goodwin                5           8       5   2001   

  TE  B.J. Williams                10          14       2   2001   

  TE  Horace Gordon                 3           7       1   2002   

  WR  Rae Carruth                   7           7       4   2000   

  WR  Andre Coleman                 6           8       7   2001   

  WR  Charles Johnson              11          12       7   2003   

  WR  Lenny Berlioz                 3           5       2   2001   

  WR  Les Casper                    7           8       2   2001   

  WR  Phil Goodwin                  9          16       1   2004   

   C  Calvin Collins               14          15       4   2002   

   C  Bryan Stoltenberg             6           9       5   2000   

   C  Wayne Andrews                 5           9       1   2002   

   G  Heath Irwin                   6           6       4   2000   

   G  Dan Neil                     14          16       4   2002   

   G  Jessie Lewis                  8           7       2   2001   

   G  Vinny Rust                    2           5       1   2000   

   T  Rick Cunningham               5           6       9   2000   

   T  Fred Miller                   6           8       5   2000   

   T  Richmond Webb                16          17      11   2003   

   T  Chris Ruhman                  1           2       3   2000   

   T  Allen Deshell                 7           9       2   2000   

   P  Mitch Berger                 11          14       6   2002   

   K  Austin Mason                 10          11       1   2003   

  DE  Tony Brackens                14          18       5   2003   

  DE  Jevon Langford                1           1       5   2000   

  DE  Leslie Bauer                 15          19       2   2003   

  DT  Santana Dotson               13          13       9   2002   

  DT  Steve Martin                 11          13       5   2002   

  DT  Christian Peter              15          18       4   2003   

  LB  Keith Burns                   3           4       7   2001   

  LB  Donta Jones                  11          13       6   2002   

  LB  Greg Jones                   11          11       4   2000   

  LB  Nicky Lucas                   5           9       2   2001   

  LB  Herman Rudd                   9          16       1   2002   

  LB  Tim Robertson                 8          12       1   2002   

  CB  Frankie Smith                 4           7       8   2000   

  CB  Tyrone Williams              10           9       5   2002   

  CB  Eric Warfield                 5           7       3   2000   

  CB  Hunter Riley                  8           7       2   2000   

  CB  Darrin Hsu                    3           3       1   2002   

   S  Chris Hudson                  9          11       6   2000   

   S  Kwamie Lassiter               9           8       6   2002   

   S  Gerald McBurrows              3           5       6   2001   

   S  Tony Veland                   4           5       4   2000

10-25-2000, 10:41 AM	#9
Da Bears Fan Mascot Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Arlington, TX	I started my big twelve challenge last night. I had many of the same players, but my team...with no special effort from me coaching or scouting...finished the year 5-11. Dropped me to #4 for the first round. My question for you guys is what happens if you can't find a player from the Big 12 to fill the void in a roster. For example, my punter wasn't from a Big 12 and there were no punters available at all from the big 12...I tried to trade for one, but they wouldn't take it because they were worried about the overall effect on their team...geez! With that in mind, I ended taking a sorry punter from VMI...just to make sure he wasn't from another Major Conference. __________________ When it comes to skirts...make mine a mini.

10-25-2000, 10:45 AM	#10
Da Bears Fan Mascot Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Arlington, TX	The other thing I noticed was that I had four all-pro players on a roster of the sorriest lot of players available. According to the roster strength ratings, I had 0's or Fairs for all of my categories (qb's, rb's, etc.) WR (rookie), DT (rookie), LB (Keith Burns), S (Marcus Coleman) all won honors that first year. I too am partial to K-Staters, my alma mater, and usually choose them first...guess it makes me feel kinda funny. __________________ When it comes to skirts...make mine a mini.

10-22-2000, 12:41 AM	#2
sooner333 College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Norman, OK	Well, the expansion draft has only 10 Big XII players, and they aren't all that good. I have to draft the full 25, but I cut the non-Big 12 players. After the expansion draft, my 10 player roster consists of: Matt Lepsis, T, Colorado Don Davis, LB, Kansas Gerald McBurrows, S, Kansas Adam Treu, G, Nebraska Jamel Williams, S, Nebraska Eric Warfield, CB, Nebraska Barron Tanner, DT, Oklahoma Taje Allen, CB, Texas Chris Carter, S, Texas (no, not THAT Chris Carter) Chris Ruhman, T, Texas A&M so, obviously, not that good of a team... [This message has been edited by sooner333 (edited 10-21-2000).]

10-22-2000, 01:07 AM	#3
sooner333 College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Norman, OK	FREE AGENCY '99 Well, I got lots of mediocre-bad players, but it is expected early in the career, especially with an expansion team. Some players of note are Koy Detmer the Colorado product who will compete with rookies for the QB job this year. Rae Carruth another Colorado product, who will hopefully stay out of trouble and produce for us. Andre Coleman an 8 year vet out of Kansas State will be another target for Detmer. RB's James Allen, Eric Beienemy, and Gerald Moore will compete at RB. In the Free Agency period, I signed any good player I could find, regardless of postion, which leads to some imbalance, which might lead to conversion or cuts. I have 5 RB's, 5 T, and 5 S. All in all, it wasn't a great FA class, but its all I can really do at this point with this team of Big XII players. All I can do is hope for a good class in the draft of Big XII stars.

10-22-2000, 01:33 AM	#4
sooner333 College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Norman, OK	DRAFT DAY 2000 With Pick #1 in the draft, I pick the top Big 12 player on our board. I pick Leslie Bauer, a good DE out of Texas. 85/90 are his potential ratings, hopefully he'll get there. It was a tough decision, because we would have really like a QB, but the best QB from the Big 12 was Rex Solymos, a career backup on most teams...but he'd get a chance here. I banked on the fact that he'd be there come round 2. With Pick #2 I find that Solymos is still there. Nothing special from the QB from Okie State, except that he can throw a better than average deep ball. He will compete with Detmer in the preseason for the QB job. Hopefully, within the next couple of years, I'll find someone to replace both of them. With Pick #3, I take B.J. Williams, a decent TE prospect out of Texas Tech. He is better overall than our second round pick, but I needed a QB more. This guy could start this year. Pick #4 brings us to Jessie Lewis, Guard, out of Kansas. Nothing special, just a Guard who will be a bit below average. Nicky Lewis, LB, out of Colorado is the fifth pick. He isn't good and will eat up roster space. He'd be out of a job if I dind't draft him. When I assemble a team, I usually try to have great a great LB and DB core...he is not in the same sentence as great. Hunter Riley, a cornerback out of Baylor is the 6th pick. He was a pleasant surprise (if my scouts are accurate) for the 6th round. I didn't expect a corner this good in the sixth round. Don't get me wrong, he's no Deion Sanders, or even very good at all, just better than I expected, better than that LB I got in the 5th round too. Lenny Berloiz, a wideout from Baylor is the last pick...he isn't that good, but will make the team by default. That is the recap of Draft Day 99...I am hoping next years draft will bring a QB...and since I'll probably have the 1st pick, I'll get him.

10-22-2000, 02:01 AM	#6
sooner333 College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Norman, OK	SEASON 1: Preseason: Well, one surprise before the game, my scout says that my undrafted FA QB from K-State is the better backup QB than Solymos, my second rounder. I'll trust my scout on this one, but Detmer is my starter. Cleveland 13, TAMPA BAY 17, After being up 10-0 and 13-3, it all goes downhill. Detmer goes 15-22, 182 yards, and no INTs or TDs. Case (the undrafted FA) goes 4-15, 30 yards, and 1 INT. Andre Coleman catches 5 for 78 yards. CLEVELAND 21, Minnesota 27, Again, close, but no cigar. This time we played catch-up at the end. Detmer had a better completion percentage, but Case had more yards and 2 TD throws against 1 INT, a much better showing than his first game. 1st round pick Leslie Bauer had 1.5 sacks. CLEVELAND 28, Chicago 30, A GW-FG with :14 to go by Bears kicker Jeff Jaeger wins it. Even though the Bears win, Kim Case is getting better and better. He steals the show, and Cleveland fans with a 13-22, 287 yard, 3 TD, 0 INT performance. Andre Coleman 7 catches for 125 yards isn't bad either. Although we are 0-3 this preseason, things are looking up in Cleveland. Cleveland 23, PHILADELPHIA 24, Close loss once again, but at least we're competing with the big boys. We'll just have to take this energy into the regular season. Another late score by the other team leads them to victory, we need to play late defense. Both QB's did decent. We got through the preseason without any injuries, which is a very good sign. On to the regular season! REGULAR SEASON '99 Updated sometime soon

10-22-2000, 11:18 AM	#7
NoMyths Poet in Residence Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Charleston, SC	sooner333-- The Big XII Challenge is about the only challange I ever stuck with when playing FOF2...although I usually traded for Ricky Williams to begin the career. Since my undergrad university was K-State I always gave preference to players from there; after I came to Purdue, though, I had to move to a semi-Big 10 Challenge (I still sneak in a Wildcat from time to time) P.S. -- Looking forward to seeing yer crew again in the Big 12 Championship this year...revenge! NoMyths

10-22-2000, 04:55 PM	#8
sooner333 College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Norman, OK	NoMyths- I'd rather play Nebraska in the Championship game, mainly because I think you might have a better chance of beating us again. Hopefully, we take care of business on Saturday against Nebraska. Will I be there? You better believe it! REGULAR SEASON '99 CLEVELAND 10, PITTSBURGH 24, Koy Detmer gets the nod in opening day. He throws for 271 yards, 1 TD, and 2 INTs. Not a great day. I'm not sure who I'm going to start next week. The problem is I have about three QB's who are relitively the same, so I'll name a starter at gametime next week. Rae Carruth caught a TD pass. Tyrell Peters had 12 tackles and 2 assists, while Jamie Reeves had 2 sacks. Cleveland 3, TENNESSEE 31, Kim Case gets the start in game two. The result is less than I had hoped for. 12/42, 154 yards, and 3 INTs for him today. Detmer came in for mop-up duty, throwing two passes. Again, next game will be a gametime decision. Solymos is a good possiblity to start, even though he didn't have any preseason experience. Gerald McBurrows had 11 tackles, the rest of the players did average. Rookie Leslie Bauer recorded his first sack of his career, hopefully, there are more where that came from. Cleveland 10, BALTIMORE 22, Solymos gets the start, nothing good happened. 15/33, 141 yards, and 1 INT. Looks like I'll keep the rotation going until I win...Detmer will start next game. James Allen led off scoring with a running TD, he had 40 yards rushing today. All in all, not a great performance, but it is to be expected. CLEVELAND 10, New England 13, Make that 0-4 fellas. Detmer gets the start, and doesn't do that bad. Nothing good, but no picks, so he'll start again next game. As a team, we recorded 5 sacks, with Reeves getting 2 of them. James Allen gained 67 yards as well. Hopefully, we can pull a close game out next time.

10-26-2000, 05:18 PM	#11
sooner333 College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Norman, OK	Before I start with games 5-8, I will answer your question about non-Big XII'ers. I have always been able to find someone. There were a few rookie punters, so I signed one. But, I would probably sign a "No College" guy or a guy from a regional school (like NW Oklahoma State, or Texas A&M Kingsville). Here we go on games 5-8: CLEVELAND 15, Cincinnati 33, We even had a lead in this one, but after being up 7-3, we gave up 27 unanswered points. Nothing was going my way on offense. Team Rushing: 14-34. 'Nuff Said. Although we had 270+ yards passing and a 2 TD, there was a less than 50% completion percentage, with an interception that was returned for a TD. But, they were unimportant scores, as all three QB's got PT when the game was out of hand. 3rd stringer Solymos got one of the TD's in trash time. Tatum had 4 catches for 107 yards and a TD. Burns and Lucas both had over 10 tackles, and Reeves had 1.5 sacks to move to third in the NFL with 5.5 on the season. CLEVELAND 14, Jacksonville 31 0-6 on the year now, and things are not looking good. Again we got a 7-3 lead, but gave up 21 unanswered points this time. There was a better rushing game this time with 128 total rushing yards between Allen and Moore primarily. Detmer 14/32, 200 yards, 3 INT, 0 TD. All three QB's came in for trash time, Case threw a TD in his only pass, a 3 yarder. Solymos was 2/3 for 51 yards. 8 Tackles and an INT for rookie CB Hunter Riley out of Baylor. Cleveland 17, SAINT LOUIS 33 Up 7-0, then down 20-7...this is sounding like a broken record. At least this game we stuck with the starter, which means we were in the game. Only 69 yards rushing this time. Detmer 24/47, 282 yds., 2 TD, INT. Coleman 8 rec., 118 yds., 1 TD. Riley picked off another today. I'm not sure what to think of this team...we just can't score more than once without everything caving in. It will definetley have to be a busy offseason. Cleveland 10, NEW ORLEANS 38, As we reach the midseason point for my team, it becomes more evident that we are fighting for the #1 pick. New York (Giants) is tied with us for "first-place" in the race with KC right behind at 1-6. We control our own destiny. Detmer looked bad again. Case will start next time. An overall bad performance. Let's move on.

10-26-2000, 08:28 PM	#12
sooner333 College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Norman, OK	1999 3rd Quarter So, we begin the second half of the season. The team is 0-8. There is a QB controversey, we can't hold on to leads...the whole world is caving in. I'd like to see at least one win by the end of the year...so lets see what happens. CLEVELAND 10, Baltimore 28 Okay, okay...I forgot to take control from the scout, so Detmer starts again. We lose, but have great offensive stats (for us)...but can't do anything on defense. Detmer was 22/40, 247 yds., 1 TD. Rookie TE B.J. Williams had 7 catches for 66 yards. James Allen had 18 rushes for 118 yards. Its just too bad the defense didn't do well, as we were outgained, dispite having our best all-around offensive game of the year. Cleveland 20, Pittsburgh 23 (OT), We made it to OT! Case got the start in the game, and at least he made it close. If we could have held onto the ball longer, we would have won though...50 minutes for their Possesion time, 22 minutes for us. We did good to send it to OT with that spread. They ran 99 plays to our 50. Needless to say, it bloated our tackle stats, with five guys with seven or more tackles. Case was 12/26, 126 yds., 0 TD, 0 INT. Allen was 16/89 and a TD. They got a 56 yard FG with 2:30 to go in OT. At least we made both of our FG attempts, or else, we could have won in regulation if he had made one. 0-10...stop the bleeding already. Case to start next week. CLEVELAND 9, Carolina 27, Another week, another loss. After a 3-0 lead early in the game, we gave up 27 straight points. Case was 19/32 for 192 yards. Detmer, who came in for trash time was 3/5, 81 yds., TD. Detmer will start next week. We had 5 sacks today. Rookie WR Kneiling had 5 catches for 107 yards and a TD. Let's move on. Between games, we place an unimportant WR on IR, and sign Rookie WR, Les Casper, from Iowa State. He was a 3rd Round pick who didn't make the cut. CLEVELAND 17, Tennessee 21, After leading 17-12 in the third quarter, Al Del Greco hits 1 3rd Quarter FG and 2 4th Quarter FG's, and wins the game for the Titans. He had 5 FG's. This story is getting old. Detmer 11/23, 114 yds., 1 TD. Not great. Allen had 107 yards rushing. 0-12 after 3 Quarters. We are the only team without a win.

10-26-2000, 11:44 PM	#13
sooner333 College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Norman, OK	If you have been following along and are skipping down to this point, I have posted my roster with scouting report earlier in the post, in Post Draft Moves. Thanks to Vaj for telling me how to do this. 1999 4th Quarter Cleveland 17, SAN DIEGO 31 0-13. That leaves only three more games to get my goal of one win. Running game was HORRIBLE...10 attempts for 17 yards. Detmer was 19/35, 267 yds., 2 TD, 2 INT. We also had 2 INT as a team on defense. But, we still gave up 31 points, and we can't score enough to win (obviously). Lost the time of possesion battle yet again. Cleveland 10, CINCINNATI 24, 0-14. We have clinched at least a tie for the worst record in pro football. My first round pick, Bauer, had 3.5 sacks, which is good. Detmer had another mediocre (at best) game. Rushing was poor again. Just not good. Good thing the score didn't get any worse, because by looks of the boxscore, it could have very well been. CLEVELAND 6, Jacksonville 16, In sub-freezing temps, the Browns clinched the first round pick, as expected. The record is 0-15 now. After being up 6-0, we didn't score again, and the Jags scored 16 in a row. Only one total TD in the game. Rushing game was poor, passing wasn't good, Bauer had 1.5 sacks. One more game to go. CLEVELAND 10, Indianapolis 16, SKUNKED. 0-16. The team that never won a game. You can attribute that, of course, to the fact that good Big XII players were hard to come by. Believe me, this will get somewhat easier as time goes on. But, at least, I can't get any worse. Allen had 157 yards on the ground today. Detmer threw for 204. That is the end of a season that wasn't good for the Brownies.

10-26-2000, 11:58 PM	#14
sooner333 College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Norman, OK	Well, the season ended with a bye week...in which all the players were at home, because there was nothing more to be done. Cincinnati won the 1999 FOF Bowl. They went 13-3 in the regular season and beat Tampa Bay 30-3 in the season finale. I would normally post all of the playoff scores, but I forgot to write them down...oops. Awards- Defensive Rookie of the Year- LB Nicky Lewis. The 5th round pick out of Colorado won the award. He doesn't have any good ratigs, but he won the award anyway. As a starting LB, he recorded 93 tackles, 43 assists, and 2.0 sacks. I think that the stats are inflated because the defense was on the field too much of the time. 1st Team DE- Leslie Bauer. As the first overall selection of the draft, the rookie out of Texas made a quick impression on the NFL. Bauer had 16.0 sacks on the season to add to his 44 tackles and 21 assists. He put up big numbers. He could be good for years to come. 2nd Team LB- Keith Burns. As a six year vet of the NFL, Burns finally came into his own this year. He had 108 tackles, 27 assists, 3 sacks, and 1 INT. His ratings aren't good, they are actully pretty bad. He is benefitting by the team's lack of holding onto the ball As a side note, Beuerlein was the MVP, Sanders was Offensive POY, Charles Mincy was the Deffensive POY. Herb's Score- 48 0 in Team Performance 38 Franchise Value 91 Profit 72 Difficulty

10-29-2000, 03:57 PM	#15
sooner333 College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Norman, OK	FREE AGENCY 2000 There are no UFA's worth trying to sign now, so I will attempt to sign other players first. Week 1 Offers: DL, Santana Dotson: 3 years, 4.0 million WR, Charles Johnson: 4 years, 10.48 million DT, Steve Martin: 3 years, 10.0 million LB, Donta Jones: 3 years, 7.05 million CB, Tyrone Williams: 3 years, 5.49 million DE, Tony Brackens: 4 years, 15.0 million S, Stanley Richard: 2 years, 3.66 million T, Richmond Webb: 4 years, 17.0 million LB, Zach Thomas 3 years, 7.3 million QB, Billy Joe Tolliver, 2 years, 2.45 million As you can see, I'm offering top dollar to the FA's, so I can try to pry them away from winning teams. Week 2- Donta Jones signs with us. All of the others have us as their highest bid. Week 3- Billy Joe Tolliver and Charles Johnson sign with us. Cinncy jumps into the Dotson race, but we stand pat on the bid. Philly offers more for Steve Davis, so the bid is upped to 12.5 million over 3 years. Week 4- Steve Martin signs with us. Washington ups its bid on Stanley Richard, so we raise our bid to 5.86 million over 3 years. Week 5- Richmond Webb signs with us, while Richard signs with Washington. No other activity. Week 6- Zach Thomas resigns with Miami, that's it. Week 7- Williams, Dotson, and Brackens all sign with us, ending the first wave of FA signings. Week 8- We resign WR Les Casper and offer a 1.12 million over 2 year contract to Gerald McBurroughs. We decide not to resign Reeves, who has bad ratings, but had 10.5 sacks last year, he is simply asking for too much. Week 9- We offer a 2 year, 2.76 million contract to RB, Lamont Warren and a $280,000 1 year contract to Allen Deshell, who may or may not make the cut. McBorroughs signs. Week 10- Nothing Week 11- Warren attempts to sign with Indy, but they are over the cap, so we re-offer to Warren 2.41 million over 2 years. Week 12- Deshell signs Week 13- Warren signs We decide to forego the rest of the free agency period, except to sign P Mitch Burger for 1.39 million over 3 years.

10-29-2000, 11:33 PM	#16
The Mike High School Varsity Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Columbus, OH	Sooner - Great challenge, I'm going to start a Big 10 Challenge myself (am an Ohio Stater)... My question, though is do you have the fire gm option on or off? Thanks! __________________ "So shines a good deed in a weary world." --William Shakespeare, William Wonka

10-30-2000, 09:39 PM	#17
sooner333 College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Norman, OK	I have it on, but you can't get fired early (the toughest time), because Cleveland has such a good profit at the beginning. I've done this for about 5 years before, and never got fired.

10-31-2000, 08:17 PM	#18
sooner333 College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Norman, OK	DRAFT DAY 2000 The Cleveland Browns have been on the clock since last December, and now its time for draft day. Its time to make our first win become a reality, with the help of some rookies, maybe this can happen. There aren't that many Big XII prospects in the viewable portion of any of the postion screens without scrolling down. The best players are S and LB, but their ratings aren't that great. Threre is a 5.7 potential WR availible with good stats...he could be avalible later in the round. So, Paul Tagliabue steps up to the podium and says, "There has been a trade. Cleveland trades the #1 overall pick in the draft to Washington for the #16 overall pick, round 2 pick at #16, and 2001 and 2002 first round picks." It is the best move, as the player we want will probably be availible at #16. Round ONE: The player we wanted is still there, Phil Goodwin, a small (5'7", 182 lb.) WR out of Texas Tech. Should force another WR to not make the cut. He will be a go to guy at some point, maybe even start this year and play a good role on the team. Round TWO: With pick #1, we take Herman Rudd a LB out of Texas Tech. He was the best player on the board according to our scout. Hopefully, the scout is looking past the ratings, because they aren't great. With the #16 pick, we take another LB, Tim Robertson, a Nebraska grad. His ratings look just as good, if not better than Rudd's. These two plus Donta Jones look like our best future LB core. ROUND THREE: We take Colorado kicking prospect Austin Mason. He is much better now (rating-wise) than our FA kicker, Scott Blanton is. Blanton will not get resigned. ROUND FOUR: There is a great kick-returning CB availible, so we nab him. Darrin Hsu out of Colorado joins the team, he is maxed out at 90 at punt returns and 93 for fielding kickoffs. Not much of a cornerback, but he could make a difference returning kicks. ROUND FIVE: We take TE Horace Gordon out of Missouri. He isn't as good as BJ Johnson, BUT, he could become valuable sometime, and as a good backup TE. ROUND SIX: Wayne Andrews, a center from Baylor is picked. He should be our backup this season. ROUND SEVEN: There isn't anyone decent left, so we take a Guard out of Nebraska, Vinny Rust. He may or may not make the team...we'll see. That concludes Draft Day 2000. There wasn't a good QB, so it looks like it will be between Detmer and Billy Joe Tolliver for the starting job. We might trade Detmer or cut Solymos to cut it down to 3 QBs.

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