Washington 2026

[Guest]

To be honest, I was planning on going all out this season; trading up to land an impact player, bidding on a couple FAs. I'm not missing many pieces from last season, so figured I only needed a couple additions.

So, what happens? I get outbid in FA for a hack TE, and I let a trade fall through for a higher pick. Bah.

But back to the positive... I see 10 returning starters on offense, the exception being FA TE Marco O'Neal. Aging, but should still have a couple years in the tank. Barring TC destruction, this is a better team on offense.

Defense is a little more of a question mark. There are some solid starters returning - Mikeska, Grabulis, Bromell, Musgrove, Stone, Gaither. The remaining 5 are potential issues. Picked up some draft picks that could make a difference, but nothing to really drool over at first blush. Hopefully some cohesion and scheme can cover the holes here.

[Guest]

2026 DRAFT

1.26 - QB Daniel Prescott - Much to everyone's amusement, here we go again with a QB pick. But truth be told, AA is still not the answer, and at a half-dozen spots from the 2nd round, it's all about BPA here. This didn't feel like a particularly deep/strong draft, and I don't see anyone picked right after Prescott that makes me wish I'd picked different. I'm hoping his SH/ACC is a mask (and/or med/timing...) I like his scrambling ability too, a return to Tom Skeen?

2.25 - DE Bryant Clancy - CPU pick, whoops. Doesn't look too bad, though.

3.26 - LB Omar Griffin - Probably a repeat of Lionel Clancy; good bars in weird places, probably bumps a little, but don't know that he'll ever be useful.

4.25 - S Glenn Shelton - really really hoping here. Looks solid, and I'm desperate for a safety. Not expecting great things, but a mid-40s guy would be just fine for now.

6.25 - C Vernon Carpenter - liking this one. Great camp apart from an atrocious agility. Hopefully an anomaly among his other four blues.

7.26 - WR Britt Middleton - Can never have too many WRs, esp. with a ~50 BPR.

I'm more enthused about my bottom three than my top three. Which means I'll just end up sorely disappointed all around.

[kingfc22]

Glad to see that you are not too impressed with your draft because I am sure not happy with mine.

I was hoping this would be the year I was able to challenge you again, but what I really needed in the draft did not exist.


My QB situation should be interesting this season.

[Guest]

1.26 - QB Daniel Prescott 13/59 -> 18/53 (+5/-6) - Crap. Ah well. Like I said, after failing to make the trade for 1.4, there wasn't a lot I liked in the 1st round anyway. He's not entirely useless, which is high praise for a QB picked by me. I don't know that he unseats Double-A, though, or even Gene Sante.

2.25 - DE Bryant Clancy 29/49 -> 33/48 (+4/-1) - He's alright, will hang around. I need to look at my chemistry, because he *could* be a huge asset there (99 leadership, 85 personality).

3.26 - LB Omar Griffin 22/39 -> 25/41 (+3/+2) - Interesting. Definitely hangs around, and would fit in with the new Clancy regime. Might be a long-timer.

4.25 - S Glenn Shelton 31/56 -> 35/53 (+4/-3) - Not great, but not a death sentence. Has some skillz, and on this roster, he is a day one starter at SS.

6.25 - C Vernon Carpenter 19/39 -> 21/40 (+2/+1) - Expected a bigger bump than this. Very solid bars except the big void in pass blocking. Ouch. Will be a fine backup, at least this year.

7.26 - WR Britt Middleton 12/35 -> 15/36 (+3/+1) - 56 BPR and nothing else. Probably gets a spot, but meh.

In retrospect, I absolutely should have grabbed 1.4 and called it a draft. This was not a deep pool, and we really didn't land any gems.

[Guest]

FIRST RESPONSES TO THE POST-TC ROSTER

- QB controversy, maybe, but not with the rookie. Gene Sante keeps climbing quietly, jumping +5 to 41/45. Austin maybe felt that a little as he bumps up to 42/42. If it wasn't for an absolute ZERO in sense rush, I'd have given Sante a shot already. As it is, I'm feeling pretty decent with him as a backup.

- Even without a significant addition in the draft, I feel pretty good about the offense. Offensive line returns intact, backfield is very strong. FA TE O'Neal hung tight at 60/60, so we finally have a TE again. That'll make a huge difference. Very strong top 3 in WR, even top 4. If Austin could ever learn ONE more damn formation...

- Where we're getting hurt in the draft is lack of depth on defense. Have an ok bunch of starters in the front seven, and superstud Gaither at corner, but zip after that. Grabulis took a big unexpected hit, and Edgar Stone has pretty much quit. We probably need to find another starting-caliber CB to remain in contention.

Our current run as top of the AC North is in serious jeopardy. Portland lost 6 games by 4 points or less last year, beat us in week 17, and they added one big-time weapon at TE in the draft. Anchorage is getting solid again, and Kalispel has gone Bollywood. We still have cohesion in our back pocket, for the most part, but the window is closing.

[Guest]

Glad to see that you are not too impressed with your draft because I am sure not happy with mine.

I was hoping this would be the year I was able to challenge you again, but what I really needed in the draft did not exist.


My QB situation should be interesting this season.

I hear there are young QBs available in Kalispel and Washington all the sudden, if you can handle inter-division trading.

[Guest]

Double-A keeps his job, by the skin of his teeth. Or rather, (ironically) his number of formations. The big lunkhead has taken 6 seasons to get to 10 formations, but that's enough to be one ahead of Sante and the rookie. And more to the point, three of those are 3 WR formations, which I do want to take advantage of.

With that, 10 of 11 offensive starters return intact. This is not a bad thing, as we were averaging around 30ppg after week 6 (apart from one stonewall in Chicago). The only change is a very definite upgrade at TE, so we should be in good shape offensively.

Defense will be a challenge this year. Grabulis, Mikeska, Bromell, and Gaither will have to carry a bunch of scrubs. Not impossible. Hopefully one or two of the dregs will play above their ratings.

We have a pretty tough schedule, but I think we'll still be around 9-10 wins, and that should be enough for the division. That's all I care about, just get me in the playoffs...

[Guest]

Ok, have seen enough. Austin is benched, and the ROOKIE gets the nod this week against Anchorage. Bypassing Sante, as I'm afraid I'd see too much of what we saw in this last weeks' game. He was in the game for about 10-15 snaps, was sacked three times and fumbled twice. Prescott has been growing enough on the bench to lead me to believe (hopeless optimism) that he will overcome his piss-poor camp.

Who knows, I just know we need a shake-up and it can't get much worse.