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Post by Moo on Nov 5, 2008 15:42:37 GMT
I can only echo Boo here, that's some major ouchiness going on now. If you're not careful you're going to turn into the 90s Bills, except they got further before failing. KUTGW!
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Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on Nov 5, 2008 16:14:08 GMT
I always wanted to be almost as good as the Buffalo Bills. :nark:
Though, to be honest, that'd be a huge step up for the real Raiduhs.
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Post by hornet on Nov 5, 2008 16:16:42 GMT
Actually, you're the Andy Reid Iggles. Well-coached with plenty of talent making you perennial playoff contenders but never quite having enough to make the push over the top.
Unlucky, Stu. As soon as it started to go wrong in that game things just seemed to snowball.
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Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on Nov 5, 2008 16:45:34 GMT
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntr Punkschuss, Konrad 7 QB 7 79 79 1 Walter, Darryl 13 QB 3 20 49 1 ------------------------------ A big surprise here as Xavi Baer responds to his season on the bench by jut up and retiring after just nine seasons in the league.
Of course Baer wasn't going to be anywhere near the starter for us this year after Punkschuss stepped in and after a slow start ended up throwing for more than 4000 yards. He's strong acoss the board except for some timing issues and we'll need him to be as our receiver corps is getting weaker.
Darryl Walter is, uhh, well... he wears number 13, so he must be good. |
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntr Fly, Philip 20 RB 6 76 76 4 Blades, Danny 38 RB 3 31 40 1 Fafinski, Phillip 36 FB 8 49 49 -- ------------------------------ Fly's contract expired at the end of last season and following my own rules I let him got to UFA. Then promptly stuck the Franchise Tag on him so I could talk to him on my own and fed him a four year, $38.1m contract.
Don't tell him, but I expect I'll be trading Fly in a couple of seasons in a MacFadden-style move.
Danny Blades was pretty good for a back with no real skills, running for 412 yards on 113 carries and catching 21 passes.
Fafinski is in his eight year and is still a fan favourite. He's good at picking up the blitz and a respectable run blocker, so we'll be trying to keep him.
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Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntr Bridgman, Spencer 82 TE 9 66 66 -- Conner, Geoff 84 TE 2 66 66 3 Rucker, Martin 81 TE 11 51 51 -- ------------------------------ Connor turned out to be an excellent signing as he caught 48 passes for 519 yards and five touchdowns. He didn't allow a sack and he forced two fumbles on special teams too.
I'd like to try to keep Bridgman short term, but Rucker can probably go unless no one else wants him and I can get him back for cheap. |
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntr Mostizky, Edward 88 FL 3 45 49 2 Snyder, Mercury 89 FL 6 44 44 -- Radda, Alan 86 FL 4 41 41 1 Hill, Herb 87 SE 9 69 69 1 Patton, Malcolm 85 SE 8 54 54 2 Schultz, Gary 83 SE 2 35 54 2 ------------------------------ Our receiver lineup is starting to slow with a flattening talent curve as Hill and Patton slowly fall back toward the level of their backups.
Hill seemed to find a good relationship with Punkschuss and caught some long touchdowns and he was really missed in the playoffs. Gary Schultz was a brilliant surprise for a fifth rounder catching 36 passes.
Patton is up and down, while Mostizky, Snyder and Radda are solid if unspectacular. |
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntr Bruce, Daniel 50 C 4 65 70 4 Walker, Kris 54 C 7 62 62 2 Hoffman, Bill 58 C 5 55 58 1 ------------------------------ We're still absolutely set at Center with three excellent players. Bruce has pushed to the front at the position, which allows us to put Walker and Hoffman in at the three interior positions. |
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntr Mayes, Andre 64 LG 7 40 40 -- Becnel, Trevor 66 LG 2 33 48 2 Foote, Howard 55 RG 7 69 69 3 Schwartz, Colin 79 RG 2 27 49 2 ------------------------------ This is still Howard Foote and three regular Joes, which could turn into two as I'm not sure we'll be chasing Andre Mayes too hard. Becnel and Schwartz deserve a chance to see if they can take over. |
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntr Fairweather, Amos 65 LT 9 45 45 -- Blanda, Joey 69 LT 3 38 41 1 Snipes, Alan 67 RT 6 41 41 3 ------------------------------ Another year and we're still looking for the answer at Tackle. Fairweather continues to be a good player in the wrong position, while Snipes and Blanda are solid but can't compete with the top-level pass rushers, as we saw against the Pats.
Ideally, I'd like to find a good left tackler and move Fairweather to the right, but that's turning into an axiom around here along the lines of "that Al Davis was a crazy bastard." |
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntr Brooks, Durant 10 P 11 77 77 1 OBrien, Norm 15 K 3 46 53 1 ------------------------------ No complaints here. Durant Brooks took over the kick off duties and hid O'Brien's one weakness quite well. O'Brien hit 25 of 31 kicks, with five of his six misses coming from 40+ yards. He was 100% (3/3) in the playoffs, including 2/2 from 40+. |
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntr Salcedo, A.J. 98 LDE 5 49 49 -- Gidel, O.J. 77 LDE 4 37 40 1 Hathaway, Earl 94 RDE 9 51 51 2 Davis, Peter 97 RDE 7 42 42 -- Fundinger, Bart 95 RDE 4 34 36 1 ------------------------------ We're going to have to stump up a lot of cash this year as Salcedo is a UFA and pass rush specialist Peter Davis is up for renewal too. I can't believe we'll be left unmolested by the other teams when we offer them deals, so I expect it to get expensive.
Depth is good, but I need to make more use of it to keep Salcedo fitter for longer. Better to use him on 80% of the snaps in 14 games, than 100% of 5 games, then watch him limp about for the rest. |
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntr Brooks, Karl 71 LDT 7 66 66 2 Mukherjee, Gabe 76 RDT 6 48 48 3 Armijo, Derek 92 RDT 5 45 45 -- Myers, Treacle 78 RDT 6 35 35 1 Erickson, Cory 90 RDT 2 30 59 2 Kelley, Mo 74 RDT 3 26 39 1 ------------------------------ Good depth here behind the superstar Karl Brooks who got into double figures for sacks for the first time last season. Mukherjee is a good run stuffer which makes him the perfect foil for Brooks and we have high hopes for Cory Erickson.
Treacle Myers will stick around, while we're not going to offer Armijo a new deal and Kelley will probably be let go as he's not developed.
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Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntr Hollenbeck, Xavier 56 MLB 9 61 61 1 Nakata, Donald 99 MLB 8 52 52 -- Neitring, Adrian 51 SLB 9 49 49 1 Gimmarro, Emmanuel 91 SLB 10 33 33 -- Howard, Marcus 52 WLB 11 60 60 1 Heupel, Timothy 59 WLB 2 27 42 2 ------------------------------ Another season where we need to look at our linebackers, as Hollenbeck played well, but the players outside him are not ageing as well as he is.
The last thing we want to do is get to the end of next year with the exact same lineup here and have everyone turn into old gits at the same time. |
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntr Bennett, Fred 24 LCB 12 52 52 -- Flowers, Brandon 32 LCB 11 42 42 -- Dillon, Kelvin 27 LCB 4 34 34 1 Contois, Danny 34 RCB 2 38 57 2 LeBoeuf, Chuck 28 RCB 4 27 27 -- ------------------------------ Contois is the future here, while everyone else is the past, either through age, or being crap. We need help here, big style, but good cornerbacks seem to be incredibly hard to find and there's almost never a good one on free agency either.
We'll probably end up overpaying to keep Bennett. |
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntr Coleman, Paul 21 SS 4 43 43 1 Keith, Jeremy 43 FS 4 58 58 4 Reilly, Alvin 33 FS 7 54 54 4 Nunley, George 23 FS 2 33 63 2
------------------------------ While we're thin at corner, we're loaded at Safety, as Coleman is probably our worst player here with a 43/43 which isn't exactly shabby. Hopefully George Nunley will continue to grow and improve. Having four good players helps us to rotate in and out and keep all four healthy. |
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Post by Narcizo on Nov 5, 2008 18:46:19 GMT
92 Pass Rush Technique? I'd kill to have a defensive end like that.
Unlucky (again) Mr Slut. All these set backs will make the success all the sweeter. I'm informed.
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Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on Nov 5, 2008 18:54:10 GMT
I wouldn't kill, but I think I did offer him $55m over 4 years. So I was only outbid by $13m in the end. :cab:
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Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on Nov 5, 2008 19:48:00 GMT
With Xavi Baer retired I'm tempted...
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Post by Moo on Nov 6, 2008 8:25:37 GMT
I'm not surprised, that's an awesome name.
Looking at your team, i don't think that the one I have, estimate wise, is all that bad, so therefore it's obviously a strategy/scheme thing. Having just changed to a standard strategy instead of a REX-based "haven't a clue what's going on" strategy, I'm having a third consecutive poor season, but I think there are signs of positive change. I just need to look at what is happening during the game more and react a little better for the next game. I'll get there, I'm sure.
Injuries don't help, of course and I'd like to reduce those somehow. Coaches with injury avoidance stats are at a premium, so is there another way? Is there something in training camp that I can do?
GL with the draft and FA though, fella, it just looks like you've reached a point where you have to make that one big step, possibly spend a wodge on a couple of stars to lift the overall level of your team. It's sorta what I tried to do with Seattle, but it hasn't worked out as it coincided with my strategy change.
KUTGW!
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Post by Sonic on Nov 6, 2008 8:31:26 GMT
What a game that was Stu, a real two halves kind of game. One where they seemed asleep for the first half. Ouch is a great word for it.
I agree with Moo, it's a top name :humb:
At least you have the draft and FA to console yourself with.
:thumb:
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Post by coffers on Nov 6, 2008 9:33:37 GMT
That was a pish 2nd half. What Boony says. oh yes and Fuck*4.
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Post by Boony on Nov 6, 2008 9:46:33 GMT
What's the point of having three top-notch centers when the rest of your O-line is struggling? Can you move them over to another position (left tackle, maybe?) without much dropoff? Both lines need attention in the off-season; get a WR, a corner or two, and a good young LB, and you'll be pretty much set.
Good luck!
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Post by Moo on Nov 6, 2008 9:50:31 GMT
What Boony says - stop slacking, you slacker!
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Post by Narcizo on Nov 6, 2008 10:05:02 GMT
Moving centre to left tackle very rarely works - most of the offensive line positions are pretty interchangable (in terms of potential, current can be lowered quite a lot) but try moving someone to left tackle and you normally wind up cutting their potential ability severely, and it doesn't come back if you try moving them back again.
The general rule is to play the players out of position on the offensive line unless you know that they will take a severe experience hit playing in the new position and they're still fairly young. Or you know that they won't have any experience hit (because they're old) and you want things to be neat/want the AI to pick the player in the new position for you on auto pick.
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Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on Nov 6, 2008 17:27:49 GMT
What's the point of having three top-notch centers when the rest of your O-line is struggling? Can you move them over to another position (left tackle, maybe?) without much dropoff? Both lines need attention in the off-season; get a WR, a corner or two, and a good young LB, and you'll be pretty much set. Good luck! This is Center Kris Walker : As you can see, he can play the "three interior positions" I mention. Pushing them out to tackle is possible, but it'll probably gimp their skills and, as Narkle mentions, you don't get to say "ok, come back to Center and play like you did before." I have been pushing Bruce out to LT while still keeping his position as C, but really my best hope for the next couple of years is that Guard Howard Foote learns how to play Left Tackle so I can manually put him out there on the depth chart and then push one of the Centers to Guard. In real life the offensive line is four fairly homogeneous positions and the Left Tackle and FOF does a fair job of simulating that by making it difficult for players to pick up the LT position and dangerous to try the straight forced conversion.
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Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on Nov 6, 2008 21:06:38 GMT
2018 Off Season Cracking on then, as I think time is going to be limited from monday.
Coaching All four of our staff members were up for new contracts and we got all four to come back for less money than they were asking for. I'm not sure if this is good, for economic reasons, or bad because it suggests that no one else wants them, but it saved time.
Free Agency Some nice moments here, as the FA part of the game reveals some hidden depth. Guard BJ Lofton is the glamour Free Agent of the off-season with his 76/76 rating and we're in early with an offer. He wants $51m over five years and we offer $47m over five with the last year voidable if he manages 20 key blocks. (This means he can escape the contract a year early if he does well - a plus for the player).
The week after I send in my offer the Philadelphia Eagles show up on the scene with a giant novelty cheque and offer Lofton $81m over six years, which is a lot of money. I whimper slightly and chuck another $1m into my offer, but I'm not competing with that type of lunacy for a Guard.
A couple of weeks later Lofton makes his decision and signs for... his current team, the 49ers, for $44m over 5 years. I check out his player screen and see 95 loyalty, which explains why he took a considerably smaller amount of cash.
On the good news side of things, we manage to put in the winning bids for some of our players :
FB - Phillip Fafinski TE - Martin Rucker OC - Daniel Bruce OG - Andre Mayes DE - AJ Salcedo DE - Peter Davis SS - Paul Coleman FS - Jeremy Keith
We did lose TE Spencer Bridgman and Tackle Amos Fairweather, so at least I don't have to try to move him over to the right side any more.
In FA we sign :
TE - Rusty Doulas (Jax) 47/47 OT - Gus Bradley (Den) 58/58 LB - Joe Nelms (Ten) 47/47 LB - Jerome Barber (Det) 63/63 CB - Xavier Petterson (Min) 46/46 CB - Will Pravato (Cle) 40/40
Barber is by far and away the most exciting signing of the bunch. With Adrian Neitring slowing at SLB, Barber's signing means I can swing Howard from the weak side to strong and put in Barber as the Will backer.
Now we just need to blitz the LB a lot more...
DraftRd From Player Pos Ht Wt Pre Camp Post Camp 1. Roger Ellwood - DE - 6'4" 269 - 41/51 45/50 2. Terrell Ferguson - CB - 5'8" 181 - 36/55 38/52 3. (DET) Joanathan White - FL - 5'10" 189 - 21/57 25/55 3. Paul Sakurai - CB - 6'0" 208 - 30/47 33/44 4. Dan Perkins - FB - 5'10" 223 - 18/55 22/58 5. Heath Reglin - CB - 5'10" 182 - 22/39 24/36 6. Dwight McComb - QB - 6'1" 206 - 10/26 13/28 7. Conrad Emmons - FB - 5'10" 228 - 15/47 15/42
Although it turned into a reasonable effort, the draft was not fun at all. I spent more than an hour trying to find a combination of talent and picks that would get me up to #5 to take a linebacker who looked like a god with red combine numbers everywhere, (red = superior combine performance), but couldn't find anything to pick the #5 off the Cards.
Perhaps they're still miffed about the Darren MacFadden thing, I don't know.
Anyway, when the #5 came around, the Cards didn't actually pick the backer anyway, leaving him to go to the Broncos at #6 so I'll have to play against him twice a bloody year.
My scout says he's rated at 67/82. :moop:
I guess I did ok with my own picks - I now have about 19 defensive ends, which isn't super, but I guess I can trade someone away. For cornerbacks there wasn't anyone worth spending a first round pick on, so I went for quantity instead. If we can find a way to get all three on the field at once we might have one good player.
One final piece of business is the stadium. I put in an request to have the stadium, turf and parking lot refurbed to raise their quality, and increased the capacity a fraction and then asked for the most expensive contractors to come in and do the work.
The cost of the work was going to be about $267,000,000 of which we offered to pay exactly none dollars, in the hope that the locals would turn us down so we could try and move the team up the coast to Portland in Oregon, who had shedfuls of cash and a desire to give it to me.
The bastards!
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Post by Sonic on Nov 6, 2008 23:46:31 GMT
Someone sprinkled fairy dust over that proposal. Nice draft too. I especially like the bit where you didn't get the god like LB. He looks like he'll be terrorizing you for years. Maybe they need a DE?
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Post by elth on Nov 7, 2008 7:17:25 GMT
I like the bit where he didn't get a LT, and then overloaded on yet more mediocre corners, precisely a year after saying maybe the best way to go was to try for good corners rather than lots of crap ones. Genius He'll probably win the lot now.
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Post by Narcizo on Nov 7, 2008 7:33:11 GMT
Looks like a bit of a dud draft by you there Mr Slut. That linebacker looks like he'll amass a lot of sacks if you switch to a 34 and play him at WLB.
Although you'd probably need some ILB to do that I suppose.
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Post by Moo on Nov 7, 2008 8:41:37 GMT
In summary then... you're an idiot. KUTGW!
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Post by coffers on Nov 7, 2008 9:22:54 GMT
Moo: A steady draft rather than spectacular I suspect. Oh well, you've had worse. KUTGW! :thumb:
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Post by Narcizo on Nov 7, 2008 10:26:39 GMT
I did find it fitting that you used Detroit's pick to take a receiver.
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Post by Moo on Nov 7, 2008 10:33:56 GMT
Nice spot, Narkle. :thumb:
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Post by hornet on Nov 7, 2008 10:43:57 GMT
I did find it fitting that you used Detroit's pick to take a receiver. ...who's already starting to look a bit worse than advertised.
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Post by Mr Bismarck's Electric Donkey on Nov 7, 2008 13:16:25 GMT
I like the bit where he didn't get a LT, and then overloaded on yet more mediocre corners, precisely a year after saying maybe the best way to go was to try for good corners rather than lots of crap ones. Genius He'll probably win the lot now. Sadly the draft isn't a wishlist - I can't take what isn't there and there weren't any Tackles worth looking at when it was my turn and the highest rated corner on the board with my first pick was a zone-heavy guy that my scout said was very overrated - he turned out to be 21/24 rated, which should please the ever-rubbish Browns who picked him. Over the past season I've come to realise that quality cornerbacks in the draft or free agency are just a myth and I'd be best served picking up a collection of workmanlike duffers with a flat talent curve. Danny Contois is the best corner I've got (46/57) and I found him in the sixth round. Terrell Ferguson is a 39/52 after the pre-season and will probably end up being the other starter. Looking at my division rivals' starting corners, Kansas have a 60/60 and 37/37 San Diego have 38/38 and 53/53 Denver have 53/53 and 39/39 So fuck corners.
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Post by elth on Nov 7, 2008 13:26:32 GMT
Just like the real NFL, eh?
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