Dynasty 101

[ez]

this will (might?) be my first extended career with FOF2K1. as others have noted, documenting these things sometimes prods you to continue and care. we'll see...

this isn't a "challenge". i started with washington, and traded all my prospective FAs for draft picks in 2003. i QuikSimmed the 2000 season (12-6, lost in the NFC finals), as well as 2001 (1-15) and 2002 (2-14). i traded my 2001, 2002, and 2004 draft picks for 2003 picks. my scout handled everything during this period.

by 2003, the team comprised mostly duds my scout had signed to 1-yr deals. the remnants of the original redskins were traded for more draft picks, giving me 48 selections in the 2003 draft (three in the 1st: my #1 overall, #5, #6). i kept 4 players from the original roster: CB champ bailey, T jon janson, T chris samuels, and LB sinclair lewis (arrington).

i let my scout handle the draft, which i intend to do every season (house rule to prevent me from passing on clear busts; my scout drafted several, though, including a real beauty: a safety with every rating between 40-43). i'll also generally accept my scout's wisdom with the depth chart and game plan.

after training camp, i cut the dead wood, and signed FAs to my heart's content.

other (goofy) house rules: no more trades; no 20-stage signings; extend and renegotiate anybody on a no-haggle basis; auto-sign draft picks; i'll sign post-camp FAs to whatever deal i want.

see the concept? i'm starting with what should be a solid young team (roster rating is #6 at 76), signed for several years, which i hope to keep together and augment through post-camp FAs and whatever my scout finds in the draft. an autopilot dynasty, if you will...

here's the opening-game roster:
<pre>
QB Giovanni Carmazzi 9 12 4 2006
QB Chris Redman 9 11 4 2006
QB Tee Martin 7 11 4 2006
QB Ronald Aquino 6 11 1 2006
RB Fernando Covington 13 17 1 2008
RB Chuck Kasowski 8 10 1 2005
RB Stephen Candelaria 8 13 1 2006
RB Lamont Ogden 7 11 1 2005
RB Otis Newhart 7 12 1 2005
FB D.J. Edmondson 12 12 4 2005
FB Grady Parker 11 11 1 2007
TE Stephen Alexander 14 14 6 2006
TE Jay Tant 11 11 4 2006
WR Kris Heath 12 15 1 2008
WR Jason Franco 10 13 1 2006
WR Donovan Rodgers 8 10 1 2005
WR Darryl Swift 7 10 1 2005
C Brent Hughes 9 18 1 2006
C D.J. Osborne 7 12 1 2006
G Michael Moore 11 11 4 2005
G Andre Whitfield 7 15 1 2006
G Carl Yager 7 17 1 2007
G Donnell Giles 6 14 1 2005
G Fernando McConnell 2 8 1 2004
T Jon Jansen 14 14 5 2005
T Chris Samuels 14 15 4 2005
T Courtney Kearney 6 9 4 2005
P Blaine Baldridge 16 17 4 2005
K Cris Pugh 4 9 1 2006
DE Morris Lattimore 11 13 4 2006
DE Kenard Lang 10 10 7 2006
DE Vincent Abrams 5 10 1 2006
DE Dusty Foster 3 10 1 2005
DT Edwin Lindsay 12 15 1 2006
DT Jason Fisk 11 11 9 2006
DT Blake Strong 2 10 1 2004
LB Sinclair Lewis 14 15 4 2005
LB Walter Palumbo 13 17 1 2005
LB Dat Nguyen 11 13 5 2006
LB Keith Bulluck 11 12 4 2006
LB Rico Hanson 7 15 1 2006
LB Jose Spadaford 7 13 1 2004
LB Dwight Truong 5 14 1 2005
LB Darren Chapman 2 11 1 2004
CB Champ Bailey 14 14 5 2005
CB Deon Durand 8 13 1 2007
CB Bryant Westbrook 8 10 7 2007
CB Tom Knight 8 8 8 2006
CB Nolan Cage 6 9 4 2005
S Isaac Adam 7 13 1 2004
S Xavier Tubbs 7 13 1 2005
S Arnold Falls 6 11 1 2006
S Jorge Quayle 4 9 1 2005
</pre>

this group leaves me $21.9M under the $85.6M cap, but i'm expecting a good-sized cap hit from accelerated bonuses next season. a few former 'skins were available as FAs (alexander, moore, lang). nobody on the roster has any popularity. our cohesion is last in every category.

RB fernando covington (6-0 228 from colorado) was selected #1 overall, and i'm thankful he didn't bust. his breakaway is 100, as his potential for YPC. his lowest rating is carrying (60), and his lowest potential is 66 (catch frequency). my scout couldn't resist grabbing more RBs, however. http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/frown.gif

fernando ought to be a stud, and through our first two regular season games, he leads the league in rushing (47-293-6.2-1). i smell a houston-dixon career coming... http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/smile.gif

i suspect my reporting will be sporadic and idiosyncratic. requests are welcome, unless it's "freebird". http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by ez (edited 12-03-2000).]

[ez]

couple roster moves: after winning game 1 with a 55-yd FG in OT, i cut K cris pugh and signed the better-rated kris cortez. what the hell happened to "c-h-r-i-s"?

my scout is "fairly concerned" about my starting safeties, so i sign chad cota before game 5. he's about twice as good as the rest of my safeties.

early impressions: we're 4-2, trailing the 5-1 eagles

fernando still leads the league in rushing, with a 100 yd/game average.

carmazzi has been steady, picking up fernando with a couple 300-yard games.

we've been remarkably healthy - 38 yr-old coach ellis "the trellis" lucas is VG in avoid injury and motivation (huh?), but terrible on game day (F/P). i hired him because he was the best "development" coach i could find this season: G/VG/F/VG/F/G/G/P(kickers)/G(young talent).



[This message has been edited by ez (edited 12-03-2000).]

[ez]

we win game 8, and lose carmazzi for 2-3 months with a broken arm. http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/frown.gif he sits down with a passer rating of 70.4. chris redman is now in charge of this 5-3 juggernaut.

ugh. game 10 disaster (40-21 loss to cincy; we drop to 6-4): we lose stud-2nd-round-sleeper DT edwin "goober" lindsay to another broken arm, and starting DE kenard "canard" lang with a dislocated shoulder. what kind of motivation techniques is my coach using?

next up: division-leading philly, and donovan mcnabb.

[This message has been edited by ez (edited 12-03-2000).]

[ez]

hah! we eliminate mcnabb (broken nose), redman stays out of the way (13-22-149-1-1), and fernando grinds (28-130-2) his way to the game MVP honors in a 23-22 washington win.

after a rough stretch, we clinch a playoff spot with a game 15 win. at 9-6, we still trail philly in the division by a game. bad news? we lose redman to another dislocated soldier. good news? carmazzi and lang are back to 100%.

we save the best for last: carmazzi returns to direct a 44-24 beating of NYG, our highest-scoring game of the season. (the 20 point margin finally boosts our season totals into the black, 332-324).

carmazzi finishes with a passer rating of 74.3 (he's listed as a qualifier with 9 games and 243 attempts). fernando adds a 35-150-2 day to his season, and finishes at 335-1385-4.0-13. marshall faulk is runner-up in the rushing race at 315-1285-4.0-11.

10-6 puts us in the wild card round, against new orleans, jeff blake, and ricky williams, who needed until this season (2003) to beat wilmont perry out for the starting RB spot...

[This message has been edited by ez (edited 12-03-2000).]

[ez]

that didn't last long... we score with 1:11 left in the game to get within 24-19. coach ellis "island" lucas decides not to try an onsides kick, and we watch new orleans run the clock out. http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/frown.gif

odd game: we outgain them, 366-317, but they made 31(!) first downs to our 16. of course, time of possession went to them as well (35:07-24:53). carmazzi went 21-41-320-2-1.

oddball season stats: we gave up an average of 260yds/game passing. we led the league in 3rd-down conversions (.380). we were 2nd-worst in 3rd-down defense (.370). we were 4th-worst in red zone offense. we were 6th-best in red zone defense.

i'd like to snag a better coach next season, even though lucas wrung more out of these guys than i expected.

the no-name jets won the super bowl. previous winners: 2000-rams/warner (37TD,7 INT,106.3rating), 2001-raiders, 2002-packers/favre.

redskins red ink: RB fernando covington was offensive ROY, 2nd-round rookie C brent hughes made all-pro 1st-team (35%BPct,2SkA), as did 4th-year T jon jansen (29.8BPct,3SkA).

no 20-stage, and no 2004 draft picks; see y'all after next year's training camp!

[This message has been edited by ez (edited 12-03-2000).]

[ez]

Herb says: 66+77+46(profit)+70=64. let's hope the owner ignores the $14M loss. we paid $85M in bonuses to sign 48 draft picks and several post-camp FAs, and also saw our coach/scout costs jump from $28M to $73M when i brought the new staff in.

2004 offseason
speaking of staff, we turn them over again. new coach perry arredondo (age 52) arrives in the NFL with washington and an outstanding game-day reputation. from motivation on: VG/VG/VG/EXC/EXC. he's GOOD with young talent, and only FAIR/GOOD with position players, but our important youngsters seem to be on track after last season.

new scout k.c. brady is 34, and G/VG everywhere, including a VG with young talent.

S chad cota got the franchise tag, and after several post-camp signings, here's the roster:

<pre>
QB Brock Huard 11 12 6 2007
QB Giovanni Carmazzi 9 9 5 2006
QB Chris Redman 8 13 5 2006
QB Ronald Aquino 6 8 2 2006
RB Fernando Covington 15 15 2 2008
RB Stephen Candelaria 10 10 2 2006
RB Lamont Ogden 8 8 2 2005
RB Chuck Kasowski 7 7 2 2005
RB Otis Newhart 6 6 2 2005
FB D.J. Edmondson 12 12 5 2005
FB Grady Parker 9 9 2 2007
TE Stephen Alexander 14 14 7 2006
TE Jay Tant 10 12 5 2006
WR Kris Heath 14 14 2 2008
WR Jason Franco 11 11 2 2006
WR Donovan Rodgers 9 9 2 2005
WR Darryl Swift 8 8 2 2005
C Brent Hughes 17 17 2 2006
C D.J. Osborne 7 7 2 2006
G Carl Yager 13 16 2 2007
G Andre Whitfield 11 11 2 2006
G Michael Moore 11 11 5 2005
G Donnell Giles 9 9 2 2005
T Chris Samuels 15 17 5 2005
T Jon Jansen 15 15 6 2005
T Jesse Witherspoon 10 10 5 2007
T Courtney Kearney 6 6 5 2006
P Kyle McGregor 16 18 4 2006
K Wade Richey 17 17 7 2007
DE Vonnie Holliday 17 17 7 2007
DE Morris Lattimore 11 11 5 2006
DE Kenard Lang 9 10 8 2006
DE Darren Howard 9 13 5 2006
DT Jason Fisk 10 10 10 2006
DT Grady Jackson 9 11 8 2007
DT Steve Martin 9 9 9 2007
DT Edwin Lindsay 9 13 2 2006
LB Sinclair Lewis 14 14 5 2005
LB Walter Palumbo 12 15 2 2005
LB Dat Nguyen 12 12 6 2006
LB Keith Bulluck 12 12 5 2006
LB Andy Katzenmoyer 11 13 6 2007
LB Rico Hanson 9 14 2 2006
LB Dwight Truong 6 9 2 2005
CB Champ Bailey 14 14 6 2005
CB Karl England 12 12 4 2007
CB Shane Gilbreath 10 10 4 2007
CB Deon Durand 9 10 2 2007
CB Tom Knight 7 8 9 2006
S Carlton Ross 13 15 4 2007
S Chad Cota 11 11 10 2004
S Xavier Tubbs 9 11 2 2005
S Arnold Falls 6 6 2 2006
</pre>

this group is $3.45M under the $93.3M cap, closer than i'd like to be (although cota is our only prospective FA). OTOH, our roster rating leads the league by a significant margin (100-70). nobody is popular, and everybody is content (i was careful to give disgruntled guys PT last season).

cohesion is still bottom of the barrel everywhere but the O-line (5th-worst). but with this talent and the new coach, we'll find out how much cohesion matters...


[This message has been edited by ez (edited 12-03-2000).]