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12-16-2000, 02:10 PM
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#1 | ||
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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"House Arrest" Challenge
The goal
For a long time, I’ve strived to create a set of “house rules” that strike a balance among several goals: 1 - Keep the game challenging for the short term and long term 2 - Keep the game interesting to play 3 - Ensure that the games controls the priorities and direction of the team 4 – Ensure that the game remains fairly realistic with respect to real football management While these goals are in a sort of descending order or importance (for my purposes) I do find that trade-offs will, of course, occur—and that I do not always resolve issues in favor of the “higher” priority. That said, I’m going to play another career with a set of rules that might get a little closer to getting passing marks in all four criteria stated above. The rules Just in case there was any doubt, this will be an FOF 2001 career, played on the Wall Street skill level. I’ll start with an allocation draft, and I will allow my rookies to be automatically signed (I’ve never used this before, but in FOF 2001 it doesn’t seem to be that big a deal as rookies aren’t very flexible). My first rule will be my usual—I will play “empty cupboard” style, starting with the 2002 expansion team, and foregoing any use of real NFL players. It’s a favorite of mine for a variety of reasons, the greatest of which is probably the fact that the entire team obtains a “home grown” sense, rather than having some players carry pre-conceived notions that may not comport with their game-programmed abilities. I will eschew NFL players completely, and be out of that trap from the start. Second rule is a financial restriction. I’m going to play my expansion team at or near the location chosen by the CPU, and I will keep my ticket prices no higher than those of my nearest geographic competitor. I’m hoping that this imposes some much more difficult financial difficulties on the team—I candidly have never had to worry about big-picture finances before, but I think having to concern myself over the affordability of a top scout/coach would be a good wrinkle to this game. The major area of rules regards contracts—one of the biggest areas in the game for house rules. Here are the general contract restrictions I intend to follow: -no unrealistic contract durations for first and second year players -no signing non-rookie players outside the 20-stage process -no backloading of contracts – annual salary increases up to 25% only -any free agent seeking a bonus gets one at least as big as the median annual salary I simply feel that there are too many game weaknesses available to exploit here—signing second year players to 7y deals, signing available free agents after training camp, and signing bonus-free stars only to release or trade them later with no consequence. These rules will cut off most of those obvious backdoors. A special rule for contracts—many of us have debated on how to best deal with undrafted rookie free agents (URFAs). URFAs will typically accept minsal deals for one year, and also for four to seven years, but not for two or three years (which is the closest to the real-world contracts they typically receive). I’ve proposed this elsewhere, and will implement it here—my URFAs will be offered one of two type offers: -one-year deals at or near minimum salary; or -four-year deals doubling each year, and including a modest bonus. The logic behind the second type of deal is that it’s a workaround from the game’s absurd contract demands for deep reserve caliber players, while requiring both some guaranteed commitment, and some substantial pay increases each season the player is kept. Additionally, the four year deal takes the player all the way to open free agency, rather than allowing a reduced-price extension as a restricted free agent. That latter privilege will be reserved for draft picks, who will take (and even insist on) 2-3 year deals. Another area of concern in contracts is the ability to widely renegotiate practically every player’s contract. While some argue that this is “realistic” as it does happen in the NFL to at least some degree, I personally find it to be far too broad a loophole for financial self-serving. The game is too easy without making tightenings, and this is an obvious place to do so. In this career, I will not renegotiate any contracts at all. Related to this issue is the other widely-abusable facet of the game, the franchise tag. Similarly, I will not make use of the franchise tag. For those who argue that this leaves me without a means to ensure that a star player will remain on the team, I would counter that there most certainly is a sure way—go into the open free agent market, and make him an offer he cannot refuse. If you’re not making sacrifices to keep your best players, then you’re sacrificing a far more important kind of realism than I am by not clicking a box called “renegotiate” or “designate.” I also believe that a cheap trick in FOF is to comply with salcap requirements by holding fewer than the 53 player limit. I won’t do that, either—the team will begin each season with a full complement of 53 players. I also have decided to implement a fairly arbitrary rule that was suggested during another career thread of mine—a spin-off of the various regional challenges that I and others have played over time (which I personally found to restrict goal #3 above). I’m going to ensure that at all times, my team has strong representation from colleges in its area (I’ll define that area when I know my location). I will ensure that my roster has at least one player from my home area at each of the following position groups: -Running backs and fullbacks -Receivers and tight ends -Offensive line -Defensive line -Linebackers -Secondary -Specialists – QB, K, or P I think this will add an interesting wrinkle to the team’s roster management, while not wholly compromising the overall management of the team. My final area for restriction is in trading—one of the areas most ripe for abuse in FOF2, and still somewhat so in FOF 2001. While I’ve played careers that completely eschewed trading, I find that to be too unrealistic. So, I’ll place the following limits on trades: -I may only initiate one trade per season, and only to acquire or improve draft picks -I will not have improved or multiple first round picks in any consecutive seasons -I’ll accept CPU-offered trades only if the team will add a 7th round pick to their offer The bottom line I’m trying to play with something close to “house rules” – keeping things realistic, rather than just difficult. While these probably amount to a tougher set of restrictions than do most house rules, I’ll give this concept a name. I’ll call it the “House Arrest” challenge—playing by a pretty tough set of house rules. I always enjoy building a team from the ground up—my hope is that this set of rules keeps the challenge and interest level fairly high even after my first decade or so. |
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12-16-2000, 03:44 PM
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#2 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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Given that UFAs from human-controlled teams make higher demands than other UFAs, not renegotiating any contracts in FOF2001 is a greater sacrifice than in FOF2. I've been fooling around with a "holy hand grenade" rule, where I'm allowed to renegotiate or trade three contracts -- 4 shalt thou not count, and 5 is right out. That's difficult enough for me.
However, I sense that the only way you won't dominate is to prohibit yourself from signing a QB who has been to the Pro Bowl. If this seems too unrealistic, if you do wish to sign such a QB, you must make him the highest paid QB in the league.
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"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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12-16-2000, 04:27 PM
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#3 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2002 preseason
After quick-simming through 2000-2001, I assume control of the new NFL expansion team—the Colorado Springs Black Squirrels. It’s clear that our regional rival will be Denver, and we’ll use their ticket prices as our competitive guide and limitation. As for the regional affiliation, I’ll make a point of taking players from Colorado schools, which will probably leave me looking for Buffaloes, Rams, and Falcons primarily. That said, we have the #1 overall draft pick for the 2002 season, and are anxious to get started with the business of building this club. One advantage of playing “empty cupboard” starting in 2002 is that there is already one year’s worth of players available through free agency, and we can make a few acquisitions in the opening free agent market, and theoretically we can pick up second year players through the expansion draft (which I don’t feel is an absurd abandonment of the EC concept). I adjust my ticket prices to match those at Mile High, and head into the expansion draft. The expansion draft yields a few fill-in caliber players—a so-so safety, a couple deep-reserve wideouts, and a few decent offensive linemen. Nothing memorable, and no Colorado boys. Through free agency, we do a little bit better, but definitely don’t acquire any real contributors, and again we pickup no Colorado players at all. Here’s the group we bring out of free agency, with notes as appropriate:
With that foundation in place, I don’t feel quite as empty as I usually do heading into my first draft. Most of these guys will be around for two years or so, but they’ll probably help me hit the ground slightly more ready to play than usual. As I build my teams, I am keenly aware that these first years afford me a chance to get early draft picks that will be quire rare down the road. These players are often “cornerstone” figures for the franchise, and so I often like to get guys at tough-to-fill positions early on. My usual preference is to take a DE with my first year’s pick. There’s always a temptation to go QB here, but I personally want to have something in place before I add in the signal caller. This year, I’m a bit worried about a possible bust, but I go ahead and take the best-looking DE in the draft, and I hope that one of the several solid QBs drops to the early second round.
A great draft, if all three of the top pick work out fine. QB de los Santos might be the real impact player here—he was the surprise for me, after I very nearly took him in round two. If DE McWilliams busts, I’ll be hurting, but I think this will end up being a good draft anyway. I pick up rookie free agents, including everyone I can find from Colorado schools (which isn’t many). Before we head into training camp, here is our merry band of vagrants:
(I’m experimenting with the idea of printing out the scout overview both before and after training camp, to give a better sense of the narrowing-down process, and also to highlight breakouts and busts.) After camp, I survey the rookie class. I make my hesitant look at the rookie class. Here’s the post-camp scout overview:
The first and most obvious thing is that DE Everett McWilliams is a McBust-o. Big time—he now looks like a 10/20, 4/13, 38 prospect—not exactly what we had in mind. Alas, I wanted challenge, and I guess I got it. WR McCaughey and QB de los Santos both look fine—ready to go. RB Max Lister is a decent breakout from training camp—he didn’t look to have much potential, but now he does. He’ll definitely be our starter for this season. Past him, I don’t see any meaningful movement among my rookie or elsewhere. We’ll have a young, cheap team, and we’ll try to step in and compete with the Broncos—not just in the AFC West, but also for the hearts of Rocky Mountain sports fans. We pare down to 53, and end up fielding a roster that isn’t much to be proud about—but we should be able to take the field with uniforms and everything.
I usually know what to expect as we start an empty cupboard career in FOF 2001 – misery. My QB is a bit better than usual, but I still have pretty low expectations. We’ll likely still have the #1 overall pick next season. |
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12-16-2000, 04:29 PM
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#4 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2002 season
We get our depth chart in place, and head into the season. My starting safeties get dinged during preseason, but the guys I have are pretty interchangeable. The first game in franchise history is a 24-21 victory over Buffalo. Our first TD is a pass from de los Santos to McCaughey—as it should be. Now, we’re not a mighty team quite yet, but we manage to stay in games. We drop two, but then get another victory over Oakland, as de los Santos tosses 32 or 42 for 329 yards. Another home win over Minnesota follows, and we’re suddenly 3-2! San Diego scores in the last two minutes to take the lead, but WR Matt McCaughey returns the kickoff for the game-winning TD, adding to his already impressive 142 yards receiving and a TD. Against Denver, de los Santos gets knocked out early, but we still win it 23-20, and move to 5-2 on the year- and currently in command of the AFC West. Seattle comes in and beats us, but we come back with a win in Oakland. We beat the hapless Bucs, and move to 7-3, which is definitely a playoff-worthy mark. We win in KC 13-6, and then head into Denver. The rival Broncos are only 6-5, but their playoff hopes rest with a win over the “pushover expansion team.” They get it 38-21, and the division race tightens up. We’re tied with San Diego, and Denver is only one game back now. We are upset at home by Kansas City, which hurts. We lose at Green Bay, and now we’re in trouble. At 8-6, we currently project to finish in a tie with Denver—who would have the tiebreaker for the final wild card. Our next game, a home loss to Jacksonville, all but eliminates our playoff hopes. If we beat division-leading San Diego in our last game, we have an outside shot. Instead, the Chargers nip us 27-23, and take the division. Our 8-8 final record is good enough for the 7th best position in the AFC—which is probably the worst possible place. No good draft pick, but also no chance in the playoffs. Stat leaders: QB Paul de los Santos: 3,640 yds, 60.6%, 6.65 ypa, 23/11, 85.9 RB Max Lister: 189-938 yds, 4 TD (4.9 ypc) RB Byron Dahl: 102-439 yds, 2 TD (4.5 ypc) WR Matt McCaughey: 116-1,587 yds, 9 TD (64.8%, 5 drops), 3 KR TDs OL unit: ~30% KRBs, 38 sacks allowed LB Reggie Peters: 119 tackles, 1.5 sacks DE T.J. Neely: 8.5 sacks, 5 blocks, 7 hurries S Leslie Tucker: 55 tackles, 3 int, 31.2 PDQ Overall stats (Off/def/avg): Rushing: 3.8 / 4.8 / 3.7 Passing: 6.7 / 6.7 / 6.7 Well, it seems clear what we need to focus on – our defensive front. If we can improve our run-stoppers, we might have something here sooner rather than later. Kurt Warner and the Bears march through the playoffs to win the Superbowl over the Jets. Warner gets the awards superfecta—MVP, OPOY, First Team, and SB MVP. My WR Matt McCaughey obviously had a fabulous season, and grabs OROY as well as first team WR honors. My LB Reggie Peters, a second year add-on, gets second team honors for his big tackle total. |
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12-16-2000, 08:25 PM
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#5 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2003 preseason
Financially, 2002 was a success. We finished $21m in the black. We released out #1 pick at the end of last season, and will take the whole salcap whack this year (when we won’t miss the room). I’m inclined to keep both front office guys in place, though they are both getting quite old. I’ll have to replace them both soon. After a little thought I decide to flirt with a good young coach from Green Bay, and I make him an offer. He decides to stay with the Packers for a little less than my offer, and I end up sitting tight with my fossils. We head into the FA period, and start looking for young available players. I end up going after two decent-looking guys, DT Marvin Gregory (solid talent potential, but no endurance) and LB Otis Whalen (projects into the 40s). Neither will set the world on fire, but they’ll both be helpful. In the late stages, I also grab CB Travis Rogers, a CB from Syracuse who will probably take over punt return duties. I get a trade offer that works for me (and passes the alter and accept test) and I send S Cedric Denson to Detroit for their 5th round pick. We hold pick #16, and are hoping that an impact player falls to us. I’d prefer a defensive lineman, but a LB or OT would be very good as well. As my pick approaches, a great CB and a very good DE are still available… but the CB gets taken just ahead of me.
I load up the roster with URFAs, almost all to 4-year deals, and head toward training camp. Camp reveals that everthing went smoothly—no real busts, but no real booms either. DE Horner’s pass-rushing potential spiked a wee bit from 54 to 62, which is a good step forward. Nobody from the URFA lot exploded.
Our LB corps is a weakness, and our WR group thinned out a bit as I failed to re-sign my free agents (an oversight). The secondary is also nothing to shout about. However, our defensive line is taking shape—rookie Horner will be a big plus, and he joins an emerging star in DT Dale Creaser. I expect that the threesome of QB de los Santos, RB Lister, and WR McCaughey will carry us again this year, and hopefully our defense can step up. I think if we can repeat with an 8-8 record (which I don’t believe we earned last season) we should be pleased—our goal will be to win 9. |
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12-16-2000, 08:29 PM
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#6 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Another way to rephrase my goals with my various challenges is this: I want to be able to play this game (under whatever sort of rules necessary) such that I can do my best, and always root for my team to win.
Too often, I find myself embarassed that even after a screwup on my part, the team goes out and dominates-- I find myself sort of rooting against my own team, wanting some sort of justice to come into play and punish me for my errors. I'd like to get past that, and to get to the point where I can play all-out, and be genuinely happy when my team goes 14-2 and/or wins the Superbowl. |
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12-16-2000, 09:10 PM
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#7 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2003 season
I get the lineup set and ready to go. On the franchise screen, we are rated as having a 14 at “roster strength” – only Green Bay at 9 and New Orleans at 1 are weaker. We start off the season with a few dings and dents, but no major injuries. De los santos and McCaughey hook up three times in beating the Jets 27-24. We then lose to Carolina, behind the surprisingly effective John Friesz. Our defense shuts down Atlanta and we beat them 15-7, to move to 2-1 on the year. Kansas City, who shapes up as the class of the division, nips us in our home game 26-23, behind a big day from Jeff George. We slide to 2-3 as we lose in hated Denver. We barely nip Seattle to get back to 3-3 on the year. Our offense is not clicking very well. We get a win over San Diego, and then tear up New England to get back in the hunt at 5-3. Max Dahl is starting to eat into the playing time of my starting RB Lister, and he’s doing a pretty good job with it. We go into KC, and are disabused of any notion that we can run with the big dogs—they crush us 38-10. The other big dog Oakland, though falls when they visit our field, as we roll 33-24. Lister has yielded to Dahl at starting RB, after suffering a bad turf toe injury. A loss to Cleveland put us down to 6-5 on the season, and practically out of the division race. We are still fringe players in the playoff race, though. San Francisco’s hammering of us makes that a longshot. We do seem to have Oakland’s number, though, as we go in and beat them—once again, WR McCaughey seals it with a late KR for TD. A win in Seattle brings us to 8-6, and we again survey the playoff landscape. Our major competitor now is Oakland—who we own head to head. Right now, we’d have the #6 slot over them. Our last two games are against 5-9 teams: home for Denver, and at San Diego. We have a real shot to make the playoffs this season. In the “pride of Colorado” game, we maul Denver 52-21. De los Santos is brilliant with 24 of 30 passing for 294 and three TDs, and our running game explodes all around. Quite a performance—hope we left enough in the tank for San Diego. Turns out we probably didn’t. The Chargers edge us 35-24 behind Chad Pennington and two TDs in the final two minutes to win it 35-24. Oakland wins out, and they take the wild card spot that would have been ours. At 9-7, we accomplished the record I had set as our goal, but late-season injuries really sagged us down the stretch, and again we limp to the finish line. Stat leaders: QB Paul de los Santos: 3,711 yds, 58.8%, 7.16 ypa, 26/14, 86.4 RB Byron Dahl: 161-752 yds, 4 TD (4.6 ypc) RB Max Lister: 124-499 yds, 5 TD (4.0 ypc) WR Matt McCaughey: 72-1,010 yds, 8 TD (59.0%, 8 drops), 1 KR TD OL unit: ~35% KRB%, 59 sacks allowed LB Reggie Peters: 82 tackles, 2 sacks DE T.J. Neely: 9.5 sacks, 1 block, 5 hurries S Sammie Murphy: 71 tackles, 6 int, 1 TD, 33.5 PDQ CB Travis Rogers: 5 int (on 184 pass plays), 61.3 PDQ Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 4.0 / 4.1 / 3.7 Passing: 7.1 / 7.1 / 6.5 I’m still not satisfied with our statistical performance—by next season, we should get the defensive numbers below the league average. As for this year, we were a pretty average team, and probably were (once again) lucky to be in the playoff hunt. Giving up 59 sacks had to make it tough on the offense, though—egad. The Jets get their revenge, and beat Kurt’s Bears in the Superbowl rematch. We get nobody on the awards board at all… probably deserving, especially with WR McCaughey playing hurt for about five games. |
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12-17-2000, 01:26 PM
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#8 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2004 preseason
Our profits boomed last year from $21 to $34m. I bring in a new scout—a more balanced guy, a good deal younger. I try to lure Chicago’s coach, but he’s tough. My new coach is also younger, and despite his poor defensive playcalling, he should be pretty decent. I get a trade offer that makes me think. Tennessee offers me a late second round pick for 2nd year LB B.J. Thomason—who looks like he’ll develop into a solid, but not spectacular linebacker. I decide to take the deal. I realize that LB is a position where I need to improve, but that’s simply a good value for a 5th round pick from last year. In free agency, I put in a bid for a decent guard, Gus Patton. Guard is a position I need to improve very seriously, and he’s a small step in the right direction. He’s the only free agent I pursue. As I go to sign deals with my restricted free agents, I see something I don’t think I ever have before. My 3rd year RFA CB Johnny Bowie is asking for a six-year deal, complete with a nearly $5m bonus. He’s my best corner, and we’ve got money to spend, but this request is unbelievable- it would have him making $11m by its end. I decide to wait, but I doubt I can afford to make the deal. We have pick #20, and we still have a lot of needs on this team. CB, LB, and WR are among the most pressing—it would be nice to pick up one of each in the first two rounds. Overall, I’m very pleased with the talent level available at my#20 pick—I have several high-quality players to choose from. I decide to do the unexpected—and take my third straight DE in the first round. Phil Banks is a remarkable pass rusher, and he will make a fabulous complement to Burt Horner, who is a run container first.
I’m pleased overall with the draft, but we neglected to add anyone at LB, which will continue to be a liability. I bring in a few extra rookies at LB for camp, along with a number of other potential fill-ins and local boys, and we’re ready to find out what we’ve got this year. Phil Banks loses a little bit of his luster, but still looks awfully good (52/85/82). Same goes for WR Buddy Henry—he’ll still be solid, but he rounds down a little bit. CB Hickson remains very sharp. A FA running back, Nick Kemp, seems to improve a good bit during camp, and he might fit into our mix very soon.
I think we’re coming along well. I’m not sold on RB Lister, who my scout supports but doesn’t seem to be too effective. I’ll rotate around and look for a good mix. We’ll probably depend on our passing game, which should benefit from the pretty ready-to-start WR Buddy Henry. On defense, we’ll try to cover for our poor LB group with pass rush pressure. I don’t see the team making a huge leap forward, but I think we’ll be solid. We’ll set our sights on a playoff berth—hopefully we can avoid a late-season swoon. |
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12-17-2000, 02:31 PM
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#9 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Troy, NY
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Could you please continue to post your pre-camp and post-camp rosters? It really adds to seeing how your players developed.
Great job, again! ------------------ Secant, Tangent, Cosin, Sin, 3.14159!
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Quis custodiets ipsos custodes? |
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12-17-2000, 02:32 PM
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#10 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2004 season
We start off preseason with Lister in as the #1 RB, and my top two rookies below him on the depth chart. However, Lister goes down with broken ribs in preseason, and I’ll get my little “experiment” sooner than I had thought, as he’ll miss half the year or so. RB Nick Kemp is also laid up with a bum wheel, so we’ll dig deep. Our opener is a loss against the Jets. Rookie Seth Preston is my starter at RB, but is uninspiring with 12 carries for 45 yards. We blow the game by allowing two late TDs. We bounce back and beat the Giants 31-24, behind two interception TDs and two pass TDs from de los Santos. Again, we almost give it away late—troubling sign. We get a big win over Washington, and add another interception TD—that makes five in three games. We beat Seattle behind another bunch of big plays, including a kick return by CB Travis Rogers. RB Preston is dinged up, and Nick Kemp returns from the injured list and will get the #1 spot for now. We lose to Oakland, the one good team we were able to beat last season. We get a squeaker over Denver, 27-24, behind a good effort from de los Santos, who is really warning up to having two legitimate receiver targets in McCaughey (still the go-to man) and Henry—who together catch almost 300 yards of receptions against the Broncos. We beat Kansas City 23-17, behind two late TDs—an interception return by CB Travis Rogers, which ends up pushing the game into OT, and then a clutch TD on the opening kickoff by Rogers. CB Travis Rogers is an unheralded young player—a CB with defense/coverage ratings of 16/16/13, but a high interception rating of 71, and outstanding return skills. He’s proven that he’s capable of making quite a number of big plays—he has only been on the field for 393 pass plays, but he has 11 interceptions and 3 TDs, plus he has scored 4 more TDs on returns. He seems to have quite a big play knack. An unfortunate loss at Indy brings us to 5-3 at the halfway point. Seattle at 5-3 and Oakland at 5-4 are still very much in the division fight, as we are without a dominant team this year. QB de los Santos has taken every snap, but our RB situation is horribly muddled—nobody has over 250 yards, nor a 4 ypc average. However, Lister returns this week, and he’ll step in as our top back. We defend at home over Seattle, as 3 TD passes give us a lead, and then we nearly blow it by giving up two TDs in the last 5:21. We then win over San Diego to get to 7-3—CB Travis Rogers gets two more interceptions, and is named player of the game even without scoring. I decide it’s time to get him in as our starter—hopefully we can rebuild his happiness and keep him around after this contract expires—he seems like a tremendous producer. We win in overtime over Cincinnati—one of the AFCs top teams, and strengthen our position further. At 8-3, we stand behind only the 10-1 Jets and the 9-2 Bengals, and we have a one game lead on Seattle for our division. Philadelphia – a major NFC contender—dishes us a 21-20 loss and we slip a notch. Again, we give it up big time in the fourth quarter to lose this one—blowing a 20-7 lead. We beat San Diego, one of the division doormats, and move to 9-4. Winning the division will probably only get us the #3 seed, but that’s still our goal. We thrash Denver, and get two more return TDs—another KR from Travis Rogers, and an interception TD from safety Donald DeLamielleure. A loss to Oakland in our next game is pretty meaningless—we have the division locked up, and have our first playoff berth this year with 10 wins already in the bag. Our last game is also empty- but we beat Kansas City to keep momentum going into the playoffs as the #3 seed in the AFC. Stat leaders: QB Paul de los Santos: 4,166 yds, 59.3%, 7.06 ypa, 30/22, 82.3 RB Nick Kemp: 103-568 yds, 1 TD (5.5 ypc) RB Max Lister: 106-406 yds, 2 TD (3.8 ypc) RB Byron Dahl: 68-241 yds, 2 TD (3.5 ypc) WR Matt McCaughey: 106-1,635 yds, 8 TD (59/2%, 8 drops) OL unit: ~32% KRS%, 51 sacks allowed C Jeff Lang: 32/74 KRBs (43.2%), 4 sacks allowed LB Otis Whalen: 75 tackles, 2 sacks DE Phil Banks: 9 sacks, 2 blocks, 8 hurries CB Travis Rogers: 373 pass plays, 13 ints, 3 TD, 75.2 PDQ, 4 KR TDs Secondary unit: 8 TDs off interceptions Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 3.7 / 4.4 / 3.8 Passing: 7.0 / 7.1 / 6.5 How can this team, with those stats, be a division winner and an 11-5 title threat? Big plays. How on earth can a part-time nickel back and kickoff returner be my team’s obvious MVP? I don’t know, but this guy scored 7 times—which is as many TDs as my team had rushing—from all my backs put together. All I know is that we’re in the playoffs, and Travis Rodgers is an impact player, despite his pretty modest apparent ratings. |
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12-17-2000, 02:32 PM
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#11 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2004 postseason
We host Cleveland in our first playoff game. They are a passing team, led by Rich Gannon, Randy Moss, and Keyshawn Johnson. They were 9-7, with a point margin of 289-302—actually negative. Ours of 429-330 suggests that we ought to handle them, though their air game will make it tough to slow them down. The first quarter is scoreless, a field position battle. It ends with us taking over at the Cleveland 31, after a short punt from deep into their own field. We drive in and add our first points on a 25-yard FG. Gannon rallies the Browns, and they drive for a TD pass to Moss to lead 7-3. Things have opened up now—we counterstrike with our own TD drive, and our own TD pass to McCaughey. On the kickoff, the returner fumbles the ball, but then he picks it up himself and carries it 45 more yards for a TD – a weird play, but it puts the Browns ahead 14-10, which holds into the halftime. RB Nick Kemp breaks off a 22-yard run for a TD in the early third to put us ahead again. The third quarter is again a battle for field position, and early in the fourth quarter they capitalize on some momentum and score another TD pass to Moss. After two more possession, things are starting to get pressured. We’re down 21-17 with 9:38 remaining, starting at our 46. McCaughey makes a catch at their 35, but the next play we fumble it away to them. After some back and forth, they add a TD pass with 3:52 remaining, and things look very bleak. We take over, and after one first down, de los Santos finds his main main McCaughey for a 62-yard TD—and we have hope once again. It’s 28-23, with 3:02 remaining (after we fail on the two-pointer). The Browns move quickly downfield and add a FG, taking the clock down to 1:54 as they kick it to us. We have 1:47 and 83 yards to go. After one first down to McCaughey, de los Santos tries to force it again to his favorite target, and it’s picked off. The Browns take a knee, and take the 31-23 win. Cincinnati beats the defending champ Jets in the AFC title game, and then beats Detroit in the Superbowl. I have two players who make the first team all-pro list—WR Matt McCaughey and CB Travis Rogers. Both had sensational seasons, needless to say. The coming season will be one for big decisions—we’ll have a number of intriguing free agents, and we’ll probably spend up to our salary cap. This will mean making decisions about what players are going to form the cornerstone of this franchise for the next several seasons. |
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12-17-2000, 02:43 PM
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#12 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Oakland, CA
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Travis Rogers... wow. I'm usually inclined to think that when somebody without good ratings puts up great numbers, it's a one-season fluke - but seven touchdowns has to be beyond statistical significance. Hold onto him, for experimental purposes if nothing else.
 Great reading as always; keep it up! [This message has been edited by Carligula (edited 12-17-2000).] |
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12-17-2000, 06:41 PM
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#13 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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I am practically giddy with anticipation to see what this guy (CB Travis Rogers) can do in this coming season.
Here is what my scout says about him now: Run D: 19/23 MtM D: 18/22 Zone D: 14/18 Interceptions: 68 Punt Returns: 91 Kick Returns: 84 Endurance: 59 He certainly looks like he's a pretty routine return specialist DB, the type that's available in the late rounds of almost any draft. In fact, he was drafted by Indianapolis in the fourth round, played a reserve role (got in for 54 pass plays) and was released after his rookie year. I signed him to a three year deal, which he will finish this season. His stats during the two years he's been on our club are: 32 games, 6 starts (at CB) 567 pass plays 13 interceptions, for 340 yards and 3 TDs 8 passes defensed 36 catches allowed PDQ of about 70 59 punt returns 580 total yards (9.8 avg), 1 TD 55 kickoff returns 1669 total yards (30.3 avg), 5 TD - - - My biggest worry now is that he is listed as being "unhappy," and I'm not sure whether that means he will be unwilling to re-sign with me after getting all the starts this year. In any case, I'll be keeping an eye out for him... |
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12-17-2000, 06:43 PM
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#14 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2005 preseason
Again, our team profits rose, we made $44m last season. Our scouting and coaching costs actually came down a bit, but the main shift was a nice bump in revenues. We’re starting to draw support for this team, which ought to keep us competitive with the Broncos for attendance. We are comfy with our front office, but I look around at the available talent pool. Nothing moves me, and so I keep my guys in place. This is the first year that the salary cap will be really important. We have 45 players signed on contracts through 2005, though some of those are inflated free agent contracts which may not be affordable. We have a number of potential free agents as well-- here’s the rundown:
QB de los Santos is clearly the important guy to retain, and fortunately he’ll be a restricted free agent, so I’ll have a clean shot at re-signing him. S DeLamiellure is also pretty good, but if he demands big money I probably will pass. T Conrad Josslyn has been solid, but he has no real upside and will be far too costly to keep. I suspect that QB de los Santos will take up about $7m of that $41m cap room, and then I’ll go from there. I expect to pick up a player or two from free agency to help out as well—hopefully I’ll acquire a top-grade linebacker to fill that massive need area. The Saints pre-empt my FA season by offering their second round pick for DT Dale Creaser. He’s due to ask for a big raise after this season, and though he’s a quality player, I decide that the deal is pretty good and take it. The extra early pick will help in developing our young roster. It looks like I’ll be able to sign S DeLamielleure as well—his demands are very reasonable, and they’ll come down a bit during the FA period. I’m optimistic there. This season begins my big-picture prioritization. Right now, I’m expecting to spend big money to keep QB de los Santos. I still will have room to bring on a few other top-grade players, or to re-sign my own expiring contracts. I look ahead to next year, and see WR Matt McCaughey (a definite keep), T Rufus Bozarth (probably), and CB Travis Rogers (how can I not keep him) all coming up for significant raises. I decide that I don’t want to fully exhaust my cap this season only to cause problems re-signing these guys next time out. In free agency, I don’t find the dominating LB I had sought. Instead, I decide to target an outstanding-looking OT Edwin Swan, who would clearly step in at LT for us. I offer him a 4yr deal for $5m a season, which is equal to just about 5% of my cap—that’s my usual thumbnail for how much to pay a star-caliber player. At first, I decide not to pursue any other players. I think I may follow a house rule with FA signings—no more than one FA may be signed during the first 10 weeks of free agency. (Not including re-signing my own players) I think this was initially proposed by Dwarf, I recall using it in other careers in FOF2, and I think I’ll use it here to slow my FA activity. In week 3, T Swan re-signs with the Bucs, leaving me hanging. I decide to pursue the best available LB, Donnell Middleton, a 5th year LB from the Rams who is widely pursued. I put in 4yr, $4.5m/yr, but I don’t think I’ll be the winner here. I’m right—the Rams jump in, up their bid, and get him locked up in week 5. My T Conrad Joslyn is getting offers in the $5.5m range—just too much. I agree to the demands of my own LB Reggie Peters, and he returns for 2yrs, $2m a year. I also put in late bids on a couple younger players—Calvin Galando and S Joseph Hickman both come aboard for multi-year fairly cheap deals. I look over my current roster, and decide that CB Charles Woodward is probably overpaid and on his way out, so I put in a bid for a cheap backup-worthy CB to fill that spot. CB Clyde Salinger takes a 4yr deal for about $2.5m/yr, and he’ll be a decent #3 corner. Well, I failed to acquire any impact players, and the tenor of this team won’t change dramatically. However, I don’t think that the team will be well served by overpaying open-market players, and even though I would have liked to get a great LT, I don’t know if paying him $7ma year makes sense for this team. We have solid talent at almost every position (expect maybe LB) and saving money now means having it to pay for our upcoming free agents next season and beyond. I get an offer of a 4th round pick for G Gus Patton, who was a cheap FA signee who started for me last year with so-so results. It probably weakens me immediately, but I think it’s better for the longer term. In the draft, my pick is #28, but I also have an early second round selection. My most obvious need is at LB, but I’ll be looking to add impact players wherever I can get them. I could stand to bring in a decent QB capable of backing up de los Santos as well.
I’m not sure if it’s my scout having a bad day, but this class of undrafted rookie free agents seems to be deeper than most—by far. I grab a number of players there that are every bit as good as my usual late-round draft picks. I’m particularly enthused about S Robert Bronson and WR Jared Antonick among my URFA pickups—each of whom might allow me to discard more pricey veterans, even without any kind of “breakout” in camp. I build up to the maximum number of players, and prepare for training camp. Here’s the group that goes in with me…
After camp, here is my scout’s revised opinion of the same group:
Really no wild movement this year. S Steve Frank looks golden, and my other early picks held true. I’m sufficiently impressed with my young players that I’ll be letting a lot of 3rd and 4th year players go this time around—and I do have to make 14 cuts to get down to the roster limit. Cleveland offers me a 4th round pick for G Calvin Gallando, and I’m happy enough with my two rookies there to let him go. I get hip deep in my roster, and do a lot of cutting of third and fourth year players. I slash my way down to about 57, and the last few cuts are really tough. I finally whittle down to 53, and head into the season with this roster:
I’ve been following the acquisition of Colorado school players fairly closely, and I’ve been very discouraged by the dearth of players from these three schools. I have yet to see even a single DL from any Colorado school in the four drafts, and I inadvertently cut the one Colorado State DB who had been on my team (and now he won’t re-sign). For now, we have five—in short order, we’ll be up to the requisite seven (which I may push to 10 in time). I’m not upset that we still have all this cap room—I’m not too worried about what we do this year, and I think it may be for the better down the road. Our LB corps just got a lot more hopeful with this year’s rookie class, and we’re now looking like a more solid across-the-board club. We will set our sights on our first playoff win this year. |
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12-17-2000, 09:02 PM
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#15 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2005 season
I get everything set up, and prepare for the season. On the franchise value screen, our roster rating has grown to 57, which ranks 10th in the league. Cincinnati still has the 100, but nobody in our division is more highly rated than we are. Our cohesion at the start of preseason is rather low: 72-69-63-56. We basically overhauled our secondary, and thus we suffer there. Our passing game has had some stability, but the 72 still puts us close to the league bottom there. In FOF 2001, I’ll definitely take talent over cohesion, though. My RB situation will be a mess- I still have no obvious go-to guy. During pre-season nobody stands out, so I go with my incumbent, the perennially disappointing Lister. At LB, we have taken two serious injuries, including hyped rookie Jumbo Woodson, and we’ll be weakened there for most of the year. We lose our opener to Oakland, 26-24, allowing 10 points in the final six minutes. We’re making a habot lf late-game folds, and I don’t like it. The upside is that RB Max Lister had a very good game, behind an improved offensive line—104 yards rushing, a TD on the ground and one TD catch. In week two, we get pounded by the Chargers, and I’m more than a little worried. Tampa Bays dished us a 27-10 drubbing, and I’m at a total loss. I decide to plug in a new RB and give him the heavy load—I go with Nick Kemp. Chicago pummels us 38-13 in week 4, and I’m positively dumbstruck. WR McCaughey is down with an injury, which won’t make things better anytime soon. We simply aren’t making the “big plays” that we had grown accustomed to—and without them, we just cannot seem to get our own fuse lit. The Jets – a quality team again this year—hand us a 22-13 defeat for number five. My wideouts drop 11 passes, as we simply can’t get things going offensively. In week 7 (game 6) we finally get a win, over Kansas City. We get another over Seattle, and perhaps we’ve turned the corner—though the offense hasn’t exactly opened things up. Buffalo corrects any high-flying notions we might have had, as they pummel us 27-10. San Diego follows suit, and at 2-7 it’s clear that things are not going well for us. My QB de los Santos has a 55 QB rating, and my RB situtation remains a mess. I put in Seth Preston as my new feature back, but I see little else to do with my current lineup. CB Travis Rogers has gotten hurt, and he will miss a few games—though his production is nonexistent this season (2 interceptions in 9 games, no TDs of any kind). We upset the previously 8-1 Detroit, but lose WR McCaughey again to a groin strain. We get a win over Denver as well, but nearly give it away in the end as well. We stretch our streak to three wins by beating Kansas City again, and we play very well. Seth Preston was very strong at RB, and de los Santos used the tools he had to their utmost. My rookie safety scored a TD, and the defense played very well. While our playoff hopes are fading fast, the team is playing well—suggesting that maybe not all is wrong after all. We beat Denver to get to four in a row, and 6-7 on the year. Seth Preston again powers the offense, as we come from behind to take it 24-17. We get CB Rogers back from his injury, and hope to keep things rolling. Oakland puts a quick stop to that with a 41-13 smashing of us. That seems to take the wind out of our sails, as we’re flat the following week against Minnesota. WR Buddy Henry has 3 TD receptions as we beat Seattle in our last game, and get to 7-9 on the year. It’s definitely not what we were looking for, but we’ll chalk up the season as a learning process. (I guess) Stat leaders: QB Paul de los Santos: 3,157 yds, 49.0%, 6.28 ypa, 21/17, 68.9 RB Seth Preston: 130-684 yds, 3 TD (5.2 ypc) RB Nick Kemp: 98-358 yds, 0 TD (3.6 ypc) WR Buddy Henry: 76-1,069 yds, 7 TD (58.0%, 12 drops) OL unit: ~30% KRBs, 51 sacks LB Reggie Peters: 102 tackles, 3.5 sacks DE Phil Banks: 18.5 sacks, 2 blocks, 2 hurries LB Sam Hwang: 83 tackles, 10 sacks S Steve Frank: 90 tackles, 8 interceptions, 1 TD, 37.8 PDQ CB Travis Rogers: (12 games) 28 tackles, 2 int, 31.4 PDQ Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 4.0 / 3.8 / 3.8 Passing: 6.2 / 6.3 / 6.4 Our passing game fell apart, and some of the blame falls on the injuries to McCaughey. However, we simply were not effective throwing the ball during most of the year. De los Santos has had an uptick in interceptions in the last two years, which is pretty unsettling. I’ll pretty much stay the course, and see where this thing goes. |
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12-18-2000, 01:04 PM
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#16 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2006 preseason
Incidentally, Cincinnati defended their Superbowl title in 2005. My DE Phil Banks and S Steve Frank were named to the all-pro second team, and Frank also nabbed Defensive Rookie of the Year. We start off the new season with an inspection of our finances. Our profits tumbled this season, from $41, to $34m—not the end of the world, but enough to give us some concern. We had to lay out more in bonus money that last season, which will continue. In fact, it’s easy to forecast what’s likely to happen here—I’m turning nice profits lately, but they are less than the amount I remain under the salary cap. If everything else stayed the same, and we just started spending up to the cap, we’d find ourselves in some financial distress (which is what I’m looking for). Nevertheless, I decide that it’s time for a change at head coach, and I make a push for the Bears’ coach—who has one ring already, and looks like he’s about as good as they come. I offer him $8m a year—which is well beyond what I’m paying my current coach. He declines, however, and takes a slightly lesser deal from Washington. Since I can’t get the top guy, I decide that I don’t want to increase spending too dramatically, and I sit back to see if anyone nibbles on the current Jags’ coach. The Jags get in their offer of $5.2m, which is more than I’ll spend (my guy makes $2.4m). I end up with my same guy in place for another year—I’m very worried about our tendency to fall apart when we have a lead, and I blame the coach. I’ve decided to add another house rule on the fly, in part because I rather like the way this team is shaping up, and I’d like to keep it on course. I’ve decided that I will pursue no outside free agents during the first ten weeks of the FA signing period. I rather like to develop my players from within, and this will strike a balance. I’ll be out of the picture for the star-caliber players, but this will allow me the chance to grab some fill-in caliber players from time to time, as I have been doing. That’s my new house rule for this career—added to the lengthy list already in place. I realize that it will have a pretty dramatic effect on this team, but I think it will keep things more interesting for a longer period (even though it does admittedly compromise realism). For this year, I have 40 players already signed, and $55.3m in room under the 112.3m cap. Here is the rundown on my current free agent players, and comments on those I’ll try to keep.
I don’t think I’ll have too much trouble—I should be okay signing WR McCaughey and T Bozarth for a total of about $12m. CB Rogers will be another call—I don’t even know if he’ll listen to an offer from me, as he’s been officially “unhappy” for nearly two seasons now. Tough to say if he’s worth big money anyway. I start off with a 4yr, $32m bid for WR McCaughey—more than I had expected to have to pay, but I’m still willing to pony up here. I then see that T Rufus Bozarth is demanding a good deal more than I had imagined—he wants a deal about the same size of McCaughey’s. He’s restricted, so I’ll wait him out a while. This guy allowed 21 sacks in the last two years—he’s not exactly the greatest tackle I’ve ever had. CB Travis Rogers is asking for even more than the other two—he’ll have to wait, too. (As it turns out, he won’t even listen to any offer from me, so it’s a moot point) I’m relieved when WR McCaughey takes my generous offer right away – probably a sign that it was, in fact, too generous. Regardless, the guy is a stat machine when healthy, and with my passing game in some trouble, the last thing I can do is lose my most productive player. I’m also not surprised that CB Rogers has yet to get any nibbles. In week 7, RB Max Lister gets his deal from Cincinnati if all teams, so he’ll get to join a winning club. My FB Thomason signs with the Redskins. In week 8, CB Travis Rogers gets his deal—Chicago (another winning team) gives him $35m over 4 years. My Colorado punter Buggelli took a deal in week 15, to my surprise, and now I’m without a Colorado-based “specialist.” In the late FA stages, I pick up WR J.R. Huffman, a second year guy with pretty decent potential, and though he costs me almost $3m a year, he isn’t demanding any bonus money, so he’ll be an easy cut if need be. He looks like he’ll make a solid #3 or 4 receiver, though. I also get C Dwayne Finley, a solid backup-quality C who is only looking for three years and minsal—my kind of contract. DE Jackie Spurgeon comes aboard for a four-year deal—he’ll be a decent backup at DE, replacing our departing free agents who are looking for about twice as much money as Spurgeon’s $2.5m/yr. We have the 11th pick in the draft—should be an opportunity to grab a top-tier player somewhere. DT is a high priority for my team now, but I’m more worried about our offense than our defense. I’ll look for the biggest stud player in round one, and then focus on need later, I suspect.
I’m very happy with DT Cassidy—DT was a need position, but the two studs of the draft went in the top 5 picks, leaving me to pick from among several solid guys. I almost took Cassidy in round one, but held off and was rewarded—he’ll definitely help my Colorado quota. I sign T Rufus Bozarth to a new deal worth about $4-5-6-7m. I don’t like escalation that much, but it’s what he offered, and haggling turned out to be unproductive. I fill up on URFAs, trying in particular to come up with a usable RB, and I head toward camp with this group:
After training camp (and its related defections) I have the following roster:
The short answer is that everyone looks fine—no busts in this camp. Regrettably, we didn’t have any real booms either—none of the young RBs I procured really worked out well. I end up making a few last-minute changes and substitutions (adding a punter, and in the process finding a few other URFAs to pick up). We head into the season with 53:
I have now fulfilled my commitment to fill my roster with at least one Colorado college player at each position group. I’ll make a general effort to bring in and retain Colorado players as much as is feasible. With a quality player like DT Cassidy or Fairfield, I’ll hope to keep them around a long time. This year, we obviously want to put 2005 behind us. We should be improved on offense, though I’m not sold on our running game at all. As for our defense—I don’t think we lost much, and I do think that our LB corps is steadily improving. Last year’s rookies will likely step into leadership roles this season, and we should be getting better there. I’ll look for a return to the playoffs, and a postseason victory. |
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12-18-2000, 02:27 PM
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#17 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2006 season
I set things up as usual—no huge changes to the game plan. I decide to move toward more multi-receiver formations, as I’m starting to feel more comfortable with the talent there. (And I’m not too keen on my FB situation) We escape preseason without any major injuries—though WR Huffman will miss a few games. In our opener, we crush Miami 37-7. It’s a good start for de los Santos, as he throws for over 350 yards and 3 TDs, and he connects 5 times with rookie wideout Wayman, who is slotted as our third receiver. We punish Atlanta 42-16 in our second game, with 4 TD runs in the first half. Game three is against the 2-0 Rams, and should prove tougher. It does—we lose in St. Louis, 27-22. We once again were unable to run the ball hardly at all (24-58 as a team) and suffer down the stretch. Seattle, playing behind the rookie QB they traded up to get with the #1 overall pick, devastates us 41-10. The QB, Arnie Fisher, isn’t the issue—it’s our awful defense, led by backup QB Dell, who came in when de los Santos was injured. De los Santos will miss a few more games, and I suspect we’ll miss him pretty badly. Oakland beats us 17-14, only their second win of the year. QB Bennie Dell – finally getting his chance – pulls up lame in the first quarter, and has to hand things over to rookie Tyrell Pool. Pool doesn’t embarrass himself, but he’s not exactly the guy we want running the show right now. For week 7, we’ll call on de los Santos again. We lose in Kansas City, 20-17. We once again blew a lead and gave up 10 fourth quarter points. Unacceptable! We also lose WR Matt McCaughey to another injury—which is starting to look like a pattern with him. In week 8, we rebound, and hand a 45-31 win on San Diego. We ran effectively, and WR Jared Antonick—stepping in for an injury to Buddy Henry—caught 11 passes for 205 yards. Now, with Henry and McCaughey out, we’ll see just how deep our WR corps really goes. We win in Buffalo when rookie backup QB Tyrell Pool hits rookie backup WR Bo Wyman for the game-winning TD with 1:07 remaining. Wyman had already been in for my two injured receiver starters, and de los Santos went down early in this one with a knee injury, which will keep him out for several games. I decide to keep the rookie Pool in the hot seat—he has better poise in third down situations, and seems better suited for us than does the slightly older Dell. We beat Seattle 13-7. Despite no running game on our side, we manage to hold the Seahawks in check—their only score came on a fluke breakaway running play. Our defense is playing pretty well, and at 5-4 we’re not totally done. We have, however, just lost DE Burt Horner for the year, and stepping down to journeyman Spurgeon will mean a dropoff in pass pressure, to be sure. We go into Denver, and get our heads handed to us, 42-6. Pool is guilty of 4 interceptions, and is not taking well to the starter’s job, it seems. I’ll keep him in for Cleveland—a game we probably can’t win anyway. We lose in Cleveland, but it’s not that bad—only 23-20. Again, our running game is dreadful (22 carries for 33 yards!) but Pool gets us out quickly to a 14-0 lead. We fold up like a tent in the late game, and I resolve to replace my coach at all costs. I decide to give my rookie RB Copeland a shot at toting the rock. He can’t do much worse than my group of vagabond “running backs” I have in place. Pool will stay as our starter at QB. San Francisco takes us 31-24. In this game, our early lead was 17-0 after the first quarter, but we again let it slip away. Copeland carries 8 times for negative 8 yards—with a long of 2. Not so good. Pool’s 241 yards and 3 TDs passing keep us in the game. In our rematch against Denver, we defend our home turf with a 20-13 victory. Copeland (11-112) and Preston (11-89) seem to find the running game we’ve been missing, and we play probably our best game fo the year before the proud home crowd against the bitter rivals. McCaughey also gets back into the swing of things with 91 yards receiving. RB Nick Kemp is gone for the year with an injury, as is disappointing TE Ellis Forest. Kansas City comes in and beats us 17-6. A bad day for our offense, blowing a rather good game from our defense. We cheer the return of QB de los Santos for our final two games, and we had into Oakland. The raiders bounce us 31-28, but it wasn’t that close. We got two late scores to suggest a close game. In our finale, we roll San Diego 27-6, with a great game from our defense. We have certainly learned a few things. This team is not good enough yet to be able to win consistently when missing a few key components. Injuries have a direct effect on our ability to compete with the better teams. Past that, we also have been revealed to be just not quite as good as we would like to be… at least not yet. Stat leaders: QB Paul de los Santos: 2,038 yds, 61.9%, 9.01 ypa, 15/2, 109.6 QB Tyrell Pool: 1,396 yds, 53.5%, 5.45 ypa, 9/12, 61.5 RB Seth Preston: 156-595 yds, 6 TD (3.8 ypc) RB Nick Kemp: 84-301 yds, 4 TD (3.5 ypc) WR Bo Wayman: 83-1,094 yds, 7 TD (57.6%, 11 drops) WR Matt McCaughey: 61-987 yds, 5 TD (58.6%, 6 drops) OL unit: ~32% KRBs, 48 sacks allowed LB Sam Hwang: 110 tackles, 6 sacks DE Phil Banks: 6 sacks, 4 blocks, 12 hurries S Steve Frank: 77 tackles, 9 interceptions, 43.6 PDQ Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 3.4 / 3.8 / 3.7 Passing: 7.0 / 6.2 / 6.4 We have to look at the half-year that Paul de los Santos had and wonder what could have been. I’m rather convinced that if we can get him and his three receivers all healthy at once, we’ll have a very capable passing game here. Now, if we could just get the offensive line to pass-block worth two cents… Cincinnati stumbles in the playoffs, and leaves the SB chase wide open. Jacksonville ends up winning over Philadelphia to take the title. My only mention on the post-season awards board is LB San Hwang, who gets second team for his lofty tackles total. I’m mostly surprised that my safety Steve Frank was snubbed, after getting 9 interceptions. Alas. I check out Chicago’s roster, and CB Travis Rogers was their third corner, and started about half the season due to other players’ injuries. He has a pretty routine season—3 interceptions, no TDs, nothing spectacular in his returns or defense. Looks like he was just lightning in a bottle for a little while there. |
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12-18-2000, 02:37 PM
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#18 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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I don't know how long this might last, but right now this is pretty interesting for me. This team seems to have a number of components in place, but we obviously are not ready to go out and dominate. And, I'm facing a lot of things that a real GM faces...
-I have an OL that gives up way too many sacks -I have a nearly nonexistent running game -I have no depth at QB, and have suffered for that -My secondary is pretty mediocre, and could use a serious talent upgrade (one more top CB) -My franchise is making a little money, but that's mostly due to our very low payroll. As we pay more to retain these players, those profits will disappear -With the financial situation, I'm uncertain if I will be able to go out and spend freely on a new coaching staff, which I think this team needs badly All in all, this is very interesting. At the end of last season, I was toying with going after a new QB. Now, I'm thinking that I'm okay there, and that I might need a stud RB. However, I still feel like a shut-down CB would make a huge difference to this defense. And until my OL takes a few steps forward, nothing is going to work quite right. Anyway... this has so far been a very enjoyable career. I'm candidly pretty glad that we haven't just marhced right toward the top of the league standings... I want to feel like I've earned everything I get, and with this team stuck in medicrity for a couple of seasons now, I'm looking forward to a step up. I'm looking forward to next season... |
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12-18-2000, 03:44 PM
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#19 |
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College Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
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Hey Quik,
Do you think at various points you could compare your records with your Cleveland Browns/Ohio Players career with this one? It would be nice to see how long it takes to win a Super Bowl and how long it could stay together due to your more restrictive house rules. Thanks Todd
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"It's a great day for hockey" - "Badger" Bob Johnson |
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12-18-2000, 05:26 PM
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#20 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Todd, I can tell you that with the Browns/Players career, I won my first SB titles in 2009/2010. This was after starting with an empty Browns team in 2001.
I got started a year later here, and had some early success (quicker than with the Browns) but I think my ascencion is going more slowly here. I'll dig up the records from time to time-- I like the idea. |
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12-18-2000, 05:28 PM
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#21 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2007 preseason
Okay, the ownership is probably a little worried. Profits dipped again this year, to about $17 million. Again, our need to pay up-front bonus money increased our expenses—the biggest movement in our financial picture. There isn’t much I can do here—I’ll hope that Denver ticks their ticket prices so I can follow suit, but they have been steady for the last two years. I want a new coach. I demand a new coach. My current guy has a lot of “good” ratings, but doesn’t really excel much of anywhere. His “poor” defensive play calling is, I believe, the cause of my late-game fall-apart syndrome. Regardless, he’s not likely to come back (his contract is up anyway – he’s free to shop around). My scout is also totally over the hill, and he’s on his way out too. My top choice for coach signs instead with San Francisco. My top scout is contemplating my lucrative deal. After week two, my scout takes my offer (which I ticked down after the first week). My new scout is William Humes, 39 y/o. This is his first head scouting job. His ratings are nearly all VG, except for receivers (good), LBs (fair), and secondary (good). I’m comfortable with him, but I’ll watch the LB position fairly closely. His contract puts him just into the top third in the league. I have to bump up my offer, but I do end up with a new coach—53 year old Craig Gunn. He has ratings of “good” in most areas, with a few VGs thrown in (RB, DB, Disc). His best asset is defensive play calling, which will be a turnaround for our team. His weakness is developing QBs (fair). He gets a $3.2m/yr contract, which will be about the fourth-lowest in the league. Those issues settled, I adjust ticket prices to match the increase in Denver. It’s a minor adjustment, but it’s one we need badly. The downside of the front office switches is that my new scout is giving me a much more pessimistic view of my team. He has downgraded a number of my players—some of whom looked pretty solid, and now look like waiver wire rejects. I’m glad I know this now, but the revelation is pretty tough to take. Looking forward to free agency, I have a sizable list of players without contracts. Here’s the entire roster, sorted by current cap salary—to give you a sense of where the money is being spent, as well as who is up for a new deal this year:
LB Reggie Peters is no superstar, but he’ll be tough to let go, since he wasn’t too overrated (unlike several of my current guys). C Jeff Lang has been pretty solid inside, but he’s really not a star, and he’ll almost certainly demand star compensation. S DeLamielluere will be a guy worth trying to retain, but again—he’s no star. RB Seth Preston looks like thebest of my bleak RB squad—but certainly not worth the king’s ransom he’ll demand. T Duane Winslow is a keeper, as is CB Stephen Hickson—and both should be fairly affordable since they are restricted FAs only. I get an offer of a 4th round pick for CB Kevin Gordon. It passes the reality check, and I’m a little bit intrigued—he’ll leave after this year anyway. I decide to take the deal. I do not put in any offers on my unrestricted FAs, and I sit back to watch the FA fur fly. Nobody on my roster generates an immediate bid, as I might have guessed. It’s not until week 5 that S DeLemielleure gets the first offer of the lot. C Jeff Lang signs with Denver in week nine, just as the doors are about to open for me to get involved in the free agent market. Denver also swoops in and gets S DeLamielleure in week 10—they’re building a little fiefdom of former Black Squirrels. To my surprise, there are still a fair number of decent free agents available in week 11. A solid-looking OT from Chcago is looking for about $4m per year. Two-time Superbowl MVP RB Bruce Pettus (from Cinti) is looking for about $5m a year. DE Terrell Barnes, an underachieving but apparently talented DE from Miami, is going to get over $5m. All would be quality additions. With several tackles in free agency, I compare them to my current RT (and RFA) Duane Winslow, and I decide that my money I better spent bringing in someone than holding on to Winslow. I put in a bid on a decent young tackle named Harvey Goodin, but he’s more of a #3 guy. (But best of all, he’s a Colorado State grad!) My main target is T Levon Givens from Chicago, for who I make a 3yr, $12.9m offer. Both tackles sign after a couple of weeks. I’m very torn on a QB who remains in the free agent pool. QB Byron Branch is a former all-pro with Buffalo, and he inexplicably sits here in the FA pool without any offers. He has apparent ratings in the 65-75 range, and a career passer rating of 84.9, with a 73/34 TD/Int ratio. I can’t see why there isn’t a bidding war for this guy, much less no interest at all. He’s asking for $7-8-10m, which is pricey built I can obviously afford it, for now at least. I decide that if he’s there are the very end of the FA period, I’ll give him some serious thought. RB Bruce Pettus is another curious case. He’s has two 1,000+ yard seasons, but has apparently been phased out in Cinti. His rating vary, but most are in the 50-75 range—he looks pretty solid. Another guy I’ll consider if he lasts, and gets a little more desperate. I do put in a bid on another OL—G Cornell Young has bounced around a little bit, but looks like he’s be a solid #2 or #3 guard, and he’s taking minimum salary for three years. He’ll fill in for Darrin James, who will likely leave before this year. He takes my offer quickly. In the final week of free agency, I decide to sign RB Bruce Pettus. His demand is only $4.1/4.9/5.9m, which is pretty affordable for a RB, particularly a proven performer who isn’t totally out of gas. I offer him $4.0/4.6/5.2m – and he takes it in week 20. I decide against plunging in on QB Branch, though I’m sure he’ll catch on somewhere and do very well. My other last-week pickup is LB Donald Gruber, a second year player who signs for three fairly cheap years with no bonus. My draft slot is #15, and my only quirk in this draft is that I also hold the #14 pick in round 4. My needs are many, but I will, as usual, just look for a potential impact player early. I have holes to fill at both RB and FB, plus I could use help almost anywhere on the OL. On defense, I long for a superior CB to match up alongside Stephen Hickson. I also could use help at DT—a stud to plug in alongside my hometown hero DT Tracy Cassidy (whose star has dimmed a little in the light of an improved scout). Lots of needs, but we’d like to add a difference-maker player in round one.
Not a bad draft. If Makovicka works out to be as good as I hope, then it could be very good. If LB Barlow explodes in this training camp, then it could be outstanding. I accept a 6th round pick for BF Wesley Winston, who is made expendable by my selecting Juan Torres early in this year’s draft. I pick up a number of URFAs to get a tryout for the team, including a number of “local boys.” I also sign a decent-looking QB (Curtis Marshall) who was a 2nd round pick to a 4-yr deal with a decent bonus (what he seeks). Here’s the group I bring into camp:
…and after camp, we’ve thinned out the departures, and here is what we have…
At the top, things look fine. CB Makovicka will be excellent, with potentials hanging at 85/100/100. FB Torres will be fine—he would have made a nice fourth round pick (not so hot as a second rounder). G Joey Houle looks even better than he did during the draft—his potentials are up to 91/39/78. Better, but even more run-slanted. LB Dominic Barlow did indeed improve over his draft-day appearance. His new stats are much better—current ratings of 36/58/44/52/43, and potentials of 62/62/67/67/43. Should be a good value, though he’s not a topped-out superstar. RB Britt Hoffman was a URFA from Colorado, and he’ll make the team with his very nice breakaway speed, though he has rather little else to bring to the table. Another URFA LB I picked up as an afterthought turns out to be the real deal. Omar Starks now has potentials of 100/66/88/58/81… he’s the first bone fide superstar breakout player that I’ve had signed to this four-year doubling contract. That will pay him $440k/$860k/$1.7m/$3.4m over the next four years, after which time he’ll be an unrestricted free agent. He should be a real impact player—I’ll try to get him some playing time right away. I work the roster down to 53 again, and end up with this group as we prepare to start the season:
My Colorado college count is up to 10 guys, and I’m going to make a serious attempt to keep it at least that high. I now at least have a few real contributors from Colorado schools, which certainly helps a lot. As for the team this year, I think there is hope. We add a veteran running back who should make some difference. Our offensive line hasn’t taken large steps forward, but we’ll hope that Pettus can grind out some 60-80 yard games in times when we’re used to seeing 20-40 from our top rusher. If the receiver group can stay intact, we should be able to pass. On defense, the DL is a little thin now (due to some poor drafting) but the LB group has suddenly improved dramatically. With an emerging secondary unit—I think we’re heading in the right direction. This year, I think we’ll be better—if we have good luck avoiding injuries, I think we can win 10 games. |
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12-18-2000, 07:10 PM
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#22 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2007 season
I set my lineups for starters. I’ll have two rookie LBs step in and start this year—my starting trio will be Woodson, Barlow, and Starks. Hwang—my most valuable LB the last two years, will be the top reserve. At RB, Pettus gets the call, and surprisingly my scout prefers the rookie Hoffman to the veteran Kemp—despite the apparent ratings of the two. I expect Pettus to be the workhorse, anyway. The rookie Makovicka takes over for Salinger at cornerback. We get out of preseason, and see this message: Injury Report: None I’m floored—I’ve never seen it before. I hope it’s a good omen. Incidentally, here’s what my scout says about my current roster:
At most of these positions, we’ll get better with time. Safety is still a weakness, and my punter is a novelty—I’m holding him simply because of his name. On the franchise value screen, my roster is rated 100 for the first time. New England has a 97, and two other teams are rated above 71. My cohesion ratings are 75-60-54-62, as usual near the bottom. My complete turnover at LB has its consequences, of course. We host Oakland in our opener, and beat them 23-7. It’s all good—Pettus gives me 96 yards, de los Santos throws for 409 yards, and the only TD we give up is on a kickoff return. Very nice. Week two is Denver, and they again prove to be tough. They come in and beat us 17-10, though we slightly outgained them. They just seem to get our goat—which amplifies the regional rivalry. We suffer a serious injury—one that will really hurt. DE Phil Banks is gone for the year, and DE is a position where I simply have no depth. I slide in LB Hwang in as a designated pass rusher from the DE position (and I hope he’ll get some time there, which has been a spotty proposition in the past for me). We beat San Diego 31-0. The 3WR set is serving us well, as de los Santos hits each guy for a TD, plus an extra to Buddy Henry, who has stepped into the third slot. LB Hwang, incidentally, comes in for 11 pass plays—and registers 1 ½ sacks and a hurry. Not bad. Our yo-yo season continues as we lose to Buffalo, 34-28. We lose an early lead, then make a late charge, but come up one score short. We get to 3-2 with a 20-14 win over Kansas City, another solid game. We win in Tennessee 9-6 on overtime to get to 4-2. Obviously a defensive game, but mostly redzone defense—we had 303 yards of offense, including 158 from Pettus on the ground. We crush Seattle 28-3, behind the same formula—good solid defense, and 183 yards from Pettus. I don’t know what Cincinnati was thinking, but Pettus still seems to be able to run. We come home after the nice 5-game road swing (the last four were wins) and rally in the fourth quarter to beat San Diego 23-13. We head to Denver, and exact revenge—with a 31-28 win. We picked off Jake Plummer 4 times to make the difference. We thrash Kansas City 51-21, and this team is humming right along. We’re finally getting something out of the disappointing TE Ellis Forest—he’s up to 6 TDs this season. We get a close road win, outscoring Dallas 19-0 in the fourth quarter to take the win 33-28. Bruce Pettus got the game-winning TD with 1:03 left. We beat a good Pittsburgh team at home, and manage to stretch to 10-2 on the year. Again, a late Pettus TD is the game-winner, this time only by 12-7. Another tough matchup brings Arizona into out lair—and they snap our winning streak. They win 24-14, even though the yardage was even. Our two interceptions were the difference. At 10-3, we have 1 ½ games on Oakland, and look strong for the division and an almost certain bye week. We crush Seattle to practically lock things up—we now have the division wrapped up, and a bye week is a near certainty. We win on Oakland 40-22, and are looking awfully powerful. Our injury list is starting to build up, though, and I’m a little concerned that we may have peaked too soon. DT Tracy Cassidy is now gone for the season, and S Steve Frank will miss at least a few weeks. We eke out a 31-24 win over Washington to wrap up what was easily our best season to date. We’re 13-3, and we hold the AFC’s top seed. Stat leaders: QB Paul de los Santos: 4,190 yds, 58.0%, 7.67 ypa, 30/16, 88.4 RB Bruce Pettus: 324-1,477 yds, 7 TD (4.5 ypc) WR Matt McCaughey: 79-1,175 yds, 8 TD (53.3%, 5 drops),1 PR TD WR Buddy Henry: 73-960 yds, 7 TD (60.3%, 7 drops) WR Bo Wayman: 42-729 yds, 4 TD (48.2%, 9 drops) TE Ellis Forest: 48-532 yds, 6 TD (70.5%, 4 drops) OL unit: ~35% KRBs, 46 sacks allowed LB Dominic Barlow: 95 tackles, 2 sacks DE Burt Horner: 40 tackles, 7.5 sacks, 4 blocks, 3 hurries S Steve Frank: 64 tackles, 7 interceptions, 1 TD, 43.0 PDQ Overall Stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 3.9 / 3.5 / 3.7 Passing: 7.6 / 5.5 / 6.4 Suddenly, this team is hugely improved over the last few seasons. Our LB corps improved a lot, and our running game appeared like magic with the addition of a real running back. Is that the entire story? I figure that dreadful coaching and scouting held me back for a few seasons, but now I’m past all that. This team is suddenly a major player—a title threat. |
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12-18-2000, 08:29 PM
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#23 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2007 postseason
Tennessee wins their opener over Buffalo, and gets to visit Colorado Springs for their next game. They are a passing team—Mark Brunell to a very productive Terry Glenn and Donald Hayes. They will blitz a lot, as well. On their second possession, they get a nice TD run to lead 7-0. In the second quarter, they add a FG to lead 10-0. We haven’t been totally shut down, but they do seem to have control. Right at the end of the half, Brunell is picked off by my CB Hickson, and we are set up for our first time as Hickson takes the ball all the way to the Tennessee 15. Regrettably, all we get is a field goal. We’re lucky to be within a TD at the half—we’ve been outgained 218 to 91 yards. In the third quarter, our biggest offensive play of the game comes not from de los Santos or even Pettus—but from rookie running back Britt Hoffman, who escapes around left end for 44 yards down to the 7 yard line. We hit Wayman on third down for the score, and tie up the game. After Tenn gets to midfield, they have to punt, and we block it, taking over at their 13 after an impromptu return. TE Forest gets the TD on the next play, and we’ve suddenly turned the game around. We drive again on our next possession, but de los Santos is picked off in the end zone. However, we shortly recover a fumble deep in their territory. De los Santos again strikes quickly—a TD to McCaughey, and it’s 24-10. We shut them down, get a short punt followed by a good return, and take over at their 30. After a few plays, Hoffman takes it in for the score, and it’s totally out of hand. At the final gun, it’s 34-10. RB Pettus is fine, he just got a little dinged in the third quarter. Hoffman spelled him nicely, providing the spark that got us going, and getting 78 yards on 15 carries. Next is Pittsburgh, who bring their big defense into Colorado. They went 11-5, with a point ratio of 323-239—allowing the fewest points in the league. They have a big-play RB and a decent pass attack, but it’s their defense that won double digit games. Pittsburgh runs down the last nine minutes of the first half with an 83-yard, 13-play drive for a lousy FG. They lead 3-0 and are firmly on top of our offense so far. We get moving a bit, but miss a long FG attempt. On their next possession, we have them bottled up, but Tony Banks goes deep and gets a 38-yard TD. It’s a field position battle through the rest of the second quarter, but we get an interception which sets up a half-ending FG. In very familiar fashion, we’re behind 10-3 at the half, after being outplayed. The third quarter is back and forth. Pittsburgh gets up to kick a long FG, but we’re lucky to see it miss wide right. We get it back with under 6 minutes left, but things seem futile. Pettus gets a big run, and then Wayman gets a big 33-yard catch, and we’re set up at the Pittsburgh 27. Once again, it’s Britt Hoffman who provides the lightning strike, as he rips off a 27-yard gainer for the tying TD! Pittsburgh, playing with their backup QB, throws an interception and we take over at their 18 with 4:11 left. My nickel back Salinger came up with it, and added a 29-yard return to get us right into FG position. Two plays get us in for the TD, though, as Pettus gets the final four up the gut. Pittsburgh gets a couple of first downs, and then decide to go for it. They throw deep, but my safety Bronson is there to bring it in. We run out the clock and take the 17-10 win, once again being outgained by our rivals but winning by opportunism and big plays. In the Superbowl, we’ll face Philadelphia. They were 11-5, and had a 354-254 points ratio. They area heavy running team, with Sean Bennett and Jamal Lewis leading the charge. They have a ferocious defensive line, and a ballhawking safety with 10 picks this year. We force them to go three and out on their first possession—just what we ordered. We go to the air immediately, and it works. We go 89 yards in 11 plays, and notch a TD pass to McCaughey. Our next possession gets to midfield—we’re moving on them, even though they have our running game zeroed out. We get a fumble in the middle of the second quarter, and quickly punch it in for a 14-0 lead. With 1:14 left in the first half, we are forced to punt from our own 11, and the Eagles get in to block it, and return the block for a TD. At the half, it’s 14-7… but this time, we have the edge in yardage by a mile. We’ve outgained the Eagles 219 to 7 at this point. We move downfield to open the second half, only to get picked off by their aforementioned safety Fleming. Penalties help them avert two more threats in the third quarter, but they are still totally stopped on offense. They have yet to register even a single first down against our defense as the third quarter expires. The only shock here is that we are only ahead by one score. As the fourth quarter starts, they get their first first down, and then have to punt—pinning us at our 8 yard line. We look to be in trouble, until de los Santos finds Wayman on a crossing route, and he slips past the safety to go the distance—92 yards in a puff of smoke. At this point, the Philadelphia offense is positively desperate—but they go three and out again. We get a short field and add a field goal. We end the game in the comfortable “victory” formation, and take away a 24-7 victory. The Eagles ended up with a total of 78 yards of offense, and 4 first downs. While our defense played splendidly, the MVP award goes to the quarterback Paul de los Santos, who threw two TD passes and ran in the other, and threw for 441 yards on the day. On the year, de los Santos finally garnered some serious hardware—he also gets the nod as the first team all-pro QB, joined on the first team squad by TE Ellis Forest and WR Matt McCaughey. A great season’s performance. Things totally came together, and we were fabulous. Down the stretch, we made big plays and came through in the second half in every game. |
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12-19-2000, 12:24 AM
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#24 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
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There are a few other Colorado schools that occasionally have players available too, Western State as you already found, Adams State, Mesa State, Southern Colorado and Northern Colorado. It's definitely fun to add a few local players, I think the real teams have a tendency to do this as well.
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Some knots are better left untied. |
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12-19-2000, 09:17 AM
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#25 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Disappointing.
Right after I post about how cool it is to have so many problems on my team and that we're not even in the playoffs... I go and make afew pretty cheap and easy fixes, get a little bit of rookie luck, and bingo-- we're a 13-3 juggernaut Superbowl champion. I think I'll keep playing for a while with this career-- if only to see if the financial issues get tougher. I suspect that with team success on the field, I'll sell more tickets, and I'll get past the financial woes as well. We'll see... |
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12-19-2000, 10:01 AM
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#26 |
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n00b
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Anthem, Arizona
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Believe it or not, in one of my careers there are two outstanding players from Colorado Mines.
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12-19-2000, 03:45 PM
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#27 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: North Carolina
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QS--
Your problem with going from average to SB team in one year with some luck and cheap fixes may not be a problem with FOF or your house rules. In a way, that is a good simulation of the real NFL. Look at the 98 Falcons. Sometimes luck is enough for one good season in this league. Enjoy it. It will be more interesting to see how you follow up the SB season. It seems that the true sign of a great team today is to be a constant SB threat--not to put up a 13 win season surrounded by crap. Also, I think that the true challenge for any great GM is not to build a SB champion, but to keep one together. |
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12-19-2000, 04:25 PM
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#28 |
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College Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
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One other advantage is the balancing of the schedule. Your middle of the road finish the year before probably helped immensely. Just look at the Rams and Colts as examples. The next season will be the telling one about your long term success.
Todd
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"It's a great day for hockey" - "Badger" Bob Johnson |
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