The Boston Barker

[Aston]

2036 Draft

1.28 QB Axel Erickson 12/54->20/70
One of a couple QBs we liked for the first round. Took him for his very strong static Sense Rush bar, and ... wow! Looks like best case scenario, so far.

2.28 DT Dalton Maloney 22/55->18/38
Maybe there was a hint of this when he didn't show up with past injustices before TC, but given he went backwards in current too, looks like volatility was at work. Seems like a miss either way.

3.28 WR Quinn Henson 27/36->31/39
No past injustices either before or after camp on the cut test, but looks like a fairly solid contributor to me so far. I guess we'll find out! Boston's WR needy and he has a chance to play early.

4.28 OG Gene Duran 32/54->34/54
There were a lot of guards we liked, and it let us wait until the late 4th round to take one. I'm sure some of the earlier ones are better (especially in pass blocking), but if Duran lives up to his billing, I can't complain. Even if most of his OVR comes from strength and endurance, rather than skill. Also was going for the high static bar here.

5.28 DE J.R. Clark 17/41
Drafted as an OLB. Increased weight in camp and moved to RDE. Our other young DEs seem to have fallen off, and Clark has acquired the 'past injustices if we cut him' trait after moving positions, so I hope he'll slot in nicely there.

6.28 T Lonnie DeVito 13/39->17/44
Arrived with 'past injustices' and looks like he'll be a solid player. There might be a future for him yet at guard, although between him and Bell (our other young UDFA tackle), the best one will have to stay at OT.

7.28 DT Tyrus Perez 26/42->32/38
Was very excited by the 'past injustices' tag but he looks no more than solid. Still, it's good we have him, given what happened to our 2nd rounder. Perez at least can likely contribute this year if it comes to it.

2036 UDFAs

P Doug Gomez 42/44->41/60
Needed a punter, and got a good one, I think. A little fortunate to have found him in UDFA, but we went after a lot of punters to cover the bases.

MLB Brent Mattos 23/29->27/48
Originally OLB, and passed over for his low position drill (16) score. Decided in the end he could be a capable everything-but-zone. Maybe the move inside will minimize his zone weakness and allow him to run stop?...Guess we'll see -- he could be in line to start this year after OLB Anthony Stevens took a dive in camp. That leaves him as most likely a Top-3 OVR LB in Boston, and certainly Top-3 in run stopping.

LS Colby King 19/19->20/20
We had a LS already, but King looks like an upgrade. Took them both through camp and kept King for the preseason. Looks like the right choice.

[Guest]

Dat QB, wow.

I wasn't a big fan of Maloney. He looked like he was gonna regress to where his static bars are. I think he'll trend back up for you though.

It's interesting to see how many players you took who don't looks too great combine-wise. I can't seem to stop myself from being married to combines first and bars second. I went more bar heavy recently and it's been tragic.

[Aston]

All the drafted players except Clark fell within the ranges, at least -- that's what I was looking for. The QB's 10 bench, the guard's 5.27 dash + 7.90 agil, the WR's 7.20 agil, both DTs' 7.80 agil, these are all right on the line, so I don't consider them much different than most other scores that aren't "very good".

The 5th round LB had bad position drill, but 40 dash in the upper echelon, so that looked attractive for a move to DE.

I guess I'm going to have to wonder what made me take Maloney. His combines were fine, his grade high, his development low...and his best score was that pretty good dash. It's similarly or better "good" than the 6th round OT's agility score, for example. I guess the OT had bars that had room to climb, while Maloney was much more likely to fall...I don't know if I'd be able to stop from taking more Maloneys, though. They look so good!

[Aston]

2036 Free Agency

RB Vinny Stewart 5th yr 76/76
4 years, $66.6M
Stewart is the best RB I've ever had at my disposal since another 70s-rated Port City arrival many years ago. A bruiser, receiver, and doesn't fumble too much. Boston's run game has been on life support since I've been here, averaging 3.08 and 3.05 ypc and ranking dead last in the league cumulatively since 2034 (a considerable drop from 2033 and before). We mean to change that this year, and hopefully get Stewart his first 4+ YPC season since 2033, as well.

TE Nate Hartman 11th yr 62/62
1 year, $12.60M
Boston got good production out of its humble TE corps last year, but we're trading that for starpower this time around. Unfortunately, we lost last year's starting TE in the process -- Morris Jamison would have been a nice #2. Still, Hartman gives Boston's rookie QB serious talent at all three skills positions: RB, TE, WR. Shore up the inexperience.

WR Marcus Doyle 8th yr 45/45
1 year, $4.11M
Doyle was an Irishman last year, but hit the open market. After concentrating on other positions and receivers for a few stages, Doyle was finally brought back in the fold. He'll graduate from the slot to be a full-time starter.

C Richard Banks 14th yr 52/52
1 year, $2.73M
Another second-year Irishman. Banks returned for another go of the OSFL at age 37, and after drawing no interest, signed with Boston for only $30K bonus. We were all nervous about his age, but he pretty much held his ratings.

C Xavier Weber 14th yr 47/47
1 year, $2.14M
Weber makes for another aging center signed late in the process. He is an outstanding pass blocker and also, pretty neatly, became a leader and exceptional affinity with the rookie QB. All three Boston centers could start on our interior line.

G Artie Samuels 12th yr 25/25
1 year, $2.36M
Samuels did not do a good job of holding, but nonetheless returns for year 2 in Boston. His performance in year 1 was not up to bar and that's going to mean a short leash for him, if he is to start at OT still.

DE Lincoln Cleaver 7th yr 83/83
4 years, $102.36M
Cleaver is a franchise player and game-changing talent. Boston's pass rush was an asset last year and we dumped $25M in salary from releasing 12th year DE Perry Colclough. With that in mind, did Cleaver really cost us anything?

DE Ted Kau 10th yr 51/51
1 year, $8.53M
Kau is winding down his career at this point, and dropped from 92 to 79 PRT this camp. Like Cleaver, his last season in Utah wasn't a stellar one. But we're hoping to bring some old-school Bees magic back now that the gang is back together. On passing downs, this Boston DL is going to feature Kau, Cleaver, and Dexter Fike. A reunion, indeed.

DT Dexter Fike 11th yr 44/44
1 year, $7.15M
Fike arrived as an aging free agent last year (not unlike Kau this year) and produced 5 sacks and 25 hurries, playing both DT and DE. This year he tested the waters, but we brought him back. I'm not sure if he will start full-time, but he's kept all 94 points of his Pass Rush Technique and will certainly be there on passing downs.

DT Freddie Ioja 5th yr 39/39
2 years, $2.85M
Ioja was the last man out in Boston's 2035 Week 1 cuts, and over the course of the season we started to feel we had cut the wrong guy. This offseason, we reversed course, jettisoning DT Ross Patterson and bringing Ioja back. Boston's run defense has been really bad. Ioja could get the start in the base to help with that.

ILB Ronnie Lee 12th yr 38/38
1 year, $2.49M
I didn't realize this until now, but Lee was actually signed away from Boston early this offseason, before being released by Los Alamos. We got him back, but he's looking pretty ST-only at this point. Unfortunately, so do really all of our LBs.

ILB Jeff Bedrich 4th yr 43/43
1 year, $3.64M
Probably one of our most important, but small name signings. Bedrich will have to play a lot this year.

OLB Phil Wescott 13th yr 14/14
1 year, $3.05M
100 special teams -- late addition.

CB Jared Lukins 10th yr 49/49
1 year, $11.82M
Dropped 10 points, which is steep, but not enough to make him useless. Hope we can wring out one last good season out of him as the 5th DB in our lineup -- playing safety and nickel as well.

CB Martin Witt 9th yr 20/20
1 year, $2.61M
91 special teams -- late addition.

S J.R. Shannon 14th yr 50/50
1 year, $5.80M
Shannon makes for three 14th-year player signed this offseason, and none of them dropped appreciably in rating! Shannon is very, very close to being bench quality, though, but still brings ST ability.

S Howie Laflamme 13th yr 63/63
1 year, $13.50M
After two straight tags, I figured Howie was done in Boston. He changed his mind in the middle of FA, though! Don't know how it happened, but it resulted in his (much welcomed) return. He's only started 16 games in the last two seasons for us, but they've been 16 good ones.

S Tito Cielo 8th yr 33/33
1 year, $2.05M
We actually dropped him after training camp in the 60 Cutdown, but picked him up again after the safety we kept showed up really poorly. Cielo isn't great, but he gives us another ST player and he can pick off passes, at least.

Season Outlook

Compared to last year, this year's squad has a better OL, much better DL, worse LBs, even to better DBs, even to worse WRs, better TEs, and a much, much better RB.

Everything now rests on rookie QB Axel Erickson's shoulders. He's very, very raw -- showed up at only 3% developed. His current is only 21/70, with one point gained after all that preseason playing. He'll have to hold kicks (Camden kickers stay far away, please).

But on his side: 77 sense rush, 62/81 third down passing, 1 exceptional affinity, and 97 intelligence. Last year's veteran, Roderick Sikkenga, wasn't exactly a world beater. He was 5'11 and still guided the Irish to a (surprising) 12-win season. Erickson has a better cast, and hopefully he'll be a quick study. It could be a bumpy road, though. And it's a tough division.

[Matt]

So are 1 year deals the way to go?

[Sharkn20]

So are 1 year deals the way to go?

It seems with the old veterans, one last shot before to retire or be absolutely useless

[Aston]

I don't know what wins for sure (i.e, a 1 year deal vs the big money deal I gave to Cleaver). I give multi year offers to players I think are worthy of sticking around at that price. And everyone else, especially the older guys, I'm okay with taking them year to year and deciding every offseason if it's worth bidding for them again.

That has to do with my team's makeup though, too -- few of my own players I'm tied to, lots of cap.

[Guest]

That has to do with my team's makeup though, too -- few of my own players I'm tied to, lots of cap.

This is the important part, really. If you're not in a rebuilding mode to some extent then older FAs may be more costly than they're worth if they drop a ton of ratings.

That said, people are generally very hesitant to sign older guys and you can generally find some really good players for okay amounts of money.

Except QBs. They're overpriced junk when they're older. :P

[Aston]

2036 Reg Season Review

I felt we ended up with a better squad than the surprising 12-4 team from 2035, so this 9-7, scrapping finish is a bit of reality coming back to hit us. Still, we made the playoffs in the end, even if it was as the last seed.

Here's a sense of the thought process -- what we were expecting, and what we got out of the players who ended up on the final roster.

QBs

Axel Erickson has 97 intelligence, played near the entire preseason, and gained about 3 point OVR all year. In 11 starts he's been OK -- a couple of truly outstanding games, and a lot of rookie blues. It helps that he's a good scrambler. Hope he's ready for the playoffs.

Kaiden Esquivel, the 3rd year guy the previous AI regime picked in round 1, put up some nice numbers. Wonder if I'm not making a mistake here not keeping with him.

Cristian Drake still looks decent, but didn't play.

RBs

Vinny Stewart still doesn't look like a good RB. But he didn't fumble much. Maybe next year? We signed this guy to be a weapon, and he's being paid like one.

Stan Parris got released at the end of the season. Didn't look bad, but I'm going to go with rookie Ellis Barraza; maybe he's got some potential.

Anthony Hudson was a pure ST guy. Probably retiring, and Barraza may at least adequately fill that role next year.

FBs

Clay Giedhill actually had 25 KRO's this year (12.9%). That seems high! Wasn't very good at them, though.

Bubba Lester was off and on the roster all year, as he was often first guy out when we needed to cover for an injury. As the backup FB, his only role is to play STs, and account for the handful of plays -- maybe 8 or 9 a game? -- Giedhill isn't on the field due to endurance.

TEs

Nate Hartman led the team in receptions with 62. Pretty solid season, considering.

Dana Packard was the #2 TE again and turned in another solid season in that role. Pretty solid receiving skills.

Kenyon Guthrie just played special teams. He actually has very nice receiving bars, but no route running. Didn't really get much passing game opportunities, though maybe that's a mistake.

WRs

Marcus Doyle led the team in receiving yards with 841. Again he was Boston's most dangerous receiver, this time as a starter. Might have to fight to keep him in FA next year, though now he'll be in year 9.

Travis Christen is coming off two very poor seasons, and I'm not sure why. On paper, he's our best wideout, by a mile. Also does great work in the return game, PR & KR, so I'm glad he's locked down for a few years.

Quinn Henson, the rookie, is currently viewed as the #3 option. Good balance of skills, solid rookie production. Happy with this late 3rd pick.

Keith Willis is the #3/#4 guy. He stretches the field better, and can run routes, but is less dangerous overall, I think.

Nick Palagonia was brought back midseason due to injury. He's sticking as inactive WR#5 right now only for his affinity.

Cs

Richard Banks hasn't been great, along with the rest of the OL, but I think he's a stout option at center. Low price for a 52/52 player.

Xavier Weber is a very able pass blocker who's starting at guard. He & Banks are both 14th year.

J.J. Clark has also been starting at guard all year, but his stats seem a bit poor to me, so he's being demoted to the second team. He has blocking ability, but no strength and no endurance. Befits a backup.

OGs

Louie Moe was a mid-season signing after we decided to cast off under-performing Artie Samuels and Kevin Tubbs. He's a pass blocker who currently is being asked to be a LT. It isn't going so well.

Gene Duran is a rookie 4.28 pick that's showing a lot of promise -- rather looks like a younger version of Banks. Hey, that's solid, out of this pick. He's developing and with J.J. Clark's demotion, we're giving him a shot at the starting RG gig.

OTs

Paxton Darche is our LT and looks like a very fine one. Young guy with a lot of years ahead of him, hopefully in Boston. Unfortunately, he's injured for our Wildcard game here.

Rufus Bell was a midseason pickup that we inserted into the RT spot, cutting Artie Samuels to do it. He just offers more in the run game, and I think he's performed fine. He had actually been signed by the AI in 2034 for Boston, but never played a snap due to a serious ACL injury that year.

Donovan Bell is a 2nd-year rookie UDFA who shows promise. Plus, he's an affinity. 6'6-347 -- with Rufus probably retiring, I'm hoping maybe the younger Bell gives us something at RT next season.

Lonnie DeVito is a rookie 6th round pick who had a nice camp. He & Bell, between them I'm hoping one of them develops into at least an OK starter.

P/K/LS

P Doug Gomez should be cut. He just doesn't get enough length on his punts. I feel I kept the wrong rookie punter this year.

K Harvey Soward continues to be a good enough placekicker that gives us range. 20/27 beyond the 40 this year, and 7/10 beyond 50. Boston is 5th in the league in KR yardage yielded. I'd like to give him an extended contract.

LS Colby King is just some rookie UDFA signing that has 92 long snapping. Sweet!

DEs

Lincoln Cleaver lived up to his billing. 11.5 sacks, 77 tackles, 28 hurries. A monster player who'll average $25M on his 4-year deal here.

Ted Kau had his best-ever pass rushing season. He & Cleaver didn't miss a beat; paired together in Utah and now in Boston. 8.5 sacks, 22 hurries, 7.1 PR% with Kau. Heading into his 11th year and free agency. How much has he got left? I sure wouldn't complain about getting him back.

Kim Raymond fell into a reserve role, but still puts up pretty nice pass rush numbers. He does something right, and Boston might explore signing him to keep him off the street. But his asking price has been rather high.

J.R. Clark, rookie 5th round pick. Didn't play a game this year. Moved from OLB, where he showed a lot of pass rush ability. Only 18/41, so he has to develop.

DTs

Emmitt Wilmes is looking like a nice 3.18 pick from two drafts ago. He's playing well at DT, but isn't offering too much in the pass rush. Still, he could end up mid-50s overall. Seems like a very good run stopper.

Freddie Ioja was cut by Boston in '34, when I picked the wrong guy over him. Now he's back, playing mostly in the base D (which may prevent him from picking up pass rush numbers).

Tyrus Perez, rookie 7th round pick, got in a few games this year depending on the matchup. He looks similar to Ioja, and could replace him, though they're both signed on for next year.

Dexter Fike, the last member of the Utah triumvirate, has had a very down year. He's being removed from more base defense situations and doesn't even seem to offer much in the pass game. I'm starting to move him outside to end, and Kau inside to DT, to see if that is a better combination.

ILBs

Ronnie Lee is here partly for his run stop, partly for his ST. He plays outside at SLB only, and comes off the field in Dime. Seems to be a significant coverage liability.

Jeff Bedrich plays the most out of all our LBs and has racked up over 100 tackles (without playing in the dime!). That's pretty sweet, but he's also got 2 passes defensed to 39 caught on him. I had rather hoped for better. Teams are gouging us and I think the man in the middle is part of the reason why.

Brent Mattos is Bedrich's backup. Hoping he can be a decent run stopper in the future. Rookie UDFA who didn't get a lot of time this year, but shows a lot of promise.

Bubba Powell has great coverage bars and is our only LB blitzer. He plays outside in the dime, rushing the passer & dropping into coverage. Even he hasn't done so hot (1 defense, 18 caught on).

Randall Tierney plays MLB in the dime, dropping back to cover when we go to 3/4-deep. In 303 plays this year, only 10 catches allowed, with 3 defensed. A lone bright spot.

OLBs

Anthony Stevens plays WLB in the base only, and so he has just two starts to his credit. We must not play a lot of base D. His performance is actually quite solid (but limited sample). Looking at it, I think I may give him the Nickel SLB role over Lee in the playoffs.

Phil Wescott is a STs guy only.

CBs

Brody Houston had a terrific rookie year, but now the 1st round pick is getting picked on. He's still competitive, though -- 11 defenses, to 44 yielded. Hoping for a little better from him. Want him to be elite.

Archie Consulo has been consistent over the past three seasons as Boston's starter. Not quite elite, but very good.

Jared Lukins is the $12M man who arrived here to make this Boston secondary the best we'd ever had. His PD% is better by a hair than Houston or Consulo this season, so I can't complain, I suppose. He's not what he once was, and he missed 7 games this year. If not for that, maybe our pass defense numbers would be better.

Harrison George rose from being a rookie UDFA last season, through two great camps, to getting primary Nickel time after Lukins went down. His stats: 1 INT, 1 defense, 35 caught in 274 plays. Yikes! Sure, he's developing, but he looks much better than that. He's found his way to the bench.

Jumbo Talley was Boston's nickel last year, and palyed outstanding in that role with 82.4 PD%. This regular season, he's managed just 71.0, mostly from the dime. I'm not sure what happened.

Martin Witt -- ST only. Though he got on the field for 105 plays, somehow, and still didn't get abused as bad as Talley & George this year.

Ss

J.R. Shannon leads the team with 102 tackles, which is pretty great work. Plus another 80.7 PD%. He's played very well since we signed him from Brooklyn. He may be one of the best safeties in league history, actually, given his Ironman career. How many safeties have started nearly every game of a 14-year career? 214 starts, 123 passes defensed, 1305 tackles, career 80.9 PD%.

Howie Laflamme gave us another terrific year. Between the solid play of our top 3 corners and the great play of our top 2 safeties, how did Boston get wrecked so badly in the passing game? Maybe it's the new normal. But only 29 passes yielded (as the primary FS), 82.3 PD%, and 80+ tackles.

Tito Cielo slid in nicely to the 3rd safety spot on the roster, while providing ST ability. He was only on the field for 52 pass plays, but gave up 4 catches to 2 defensed. So he doesn't seem like a problem.

Darrell Jamison, a 2nd year pro who had been picked in the 5th round. Still haven't given up on him, but he didn't play a single game this year. With Laflamme & Shannon both on the edge of retirement, he may be counted on next season, though.

----

Onto the playoffs, and then to next year! Another year of significant turnover in Boston, most likely. It'll be an interesting offseason.

[Aston]

In the playoff loss, I am sure that the primary reason Albert Garner averaged 7 rather than 11 yards per attempt against me this time around is luck. Probably 6 times out of 10, Brooklyn would've destroyed us. But for fun, here was our plan of attack this time around:

Defensive coverage GP
Boston's two starting CBs are both pretty good, about 60/60 OVR each. I view Houston as the superior cover corner, though, because he has both Zone and INT abilities.

In the base defense, Houston was LCB and Consulo was RCB, putting Houston on Brooklyn's Van Meier. Brooklyn has about ten dangerous as hell receivers, but Meier nabs a whopping 34% of the targets, and he's the best one.

In the nickel & dime defense, we switched Consulo to LCB, with Houston at RCB. This put Houston on BKL's also studly, but not nearly as often targeted Travis Schaal. We paired this up with a 100% double coverage on Meier.

Double coverage only happens when you are expecting pass. When we do that (expect pass), we are 100% in nickel or dime (ergo, Consulo on Meier). When we expect run instead, we are 100% in base (ergo, Houston on Meier).

So this way, when Meier is single covered, Houston is on him. When he is double covered, two solid players (Consulo + safety) combine on him. If Garner chooses to throw away from double coverage, he'll likely throw at Houston, our best INT guy. It's a typical "DC best WR with #2 CB, then leave #1 CB alone" tactic, just illustrating it out.

It seemed to work as draw up this time. Meier had 12 targets but only 6 catches for 56 yards. Houston had 3 passes defensed. Consulo only had 1 catch allowed. BKL didn't throw too much and their #3 and #4 WRs fortunately only had 2 targets each. A luckily non-embarrassing exit is still a good way to go out

[Guest]

Can I still call you Nuts now that you're Aston?

[Aston]

yes! I'm nuts.

2037 Rookies

1.25 MLB Devante Williamson 33/49 » 41/60
Big need for a strong #1 LB for the future. This year he'll pair with Dixon Goldade, and take over the mantle soon enough. Moved outside during camp to SLB.

Other players I looked at: S Henry Helming (26th pick - PXT), WR Connor Emmons (33rd pick - NOS), S J.C. Reese (39th pick - DEN).

2.25 DT Tom Hopkins 30/60 » 33/53
I really can't help it! For the second year in a row, I pick a highly rated DT who dropped into round 2. Last year's guy was cut almost immediately. Hopkins was the 12th ranked player in the draft and felt like a second 1st round pick. Well, now he seems just OK.

Other players I looked at: FB Toby Manning (2.13 - WAC), OG Lamar Hudson (2.17 - LAK), WR Ike Calvin (2.19 - YUM).

3.25 WR Jerry Buchanan 30/43 » 35/51
There were three WRs with exactly 6.86 agility in this draft (and one with better!), which was kind of crazy. Buchanan checked off in every combine score. Not thrilled with the 12 big play, but he looks dynamite otherwise.

Other players I had targeted: OG Nick Johnson (3.1 - NOS), S Henry Hickman (3.4 - CLB). A huge groan was heard in the Boston draft room after our nemesis in Columbus made Hickman their selection. He was, incidentally, the major reason we passed on a safety in the first round -- we expected to get one later, specifically this one. Of course, Hickman got a huge Volatility Stick of Life boost, so it worked out for both of us.

4.25 C Mercury Schroeder 21/40 » 25/43
I like to make it a matter of policy to take at least one OL in every draft. Schroeder was way down the list and lower developed than I would have liked. Still, he looks like a solid pick. It's just a pity he's not more ready to play. I liked that he has OG weight, but I'm not sure about moving him yet.

Other options: WR Zachary Enos (4.1 - NOS), OG J.R. Bratcher (4.20 - LAM)

5.25 WR Freddie Sharpton 18/40 » cut
Oops. Strong conflict with leader. I didn't catch that. He doesn't look too bad, actually, but didn't get mad after I cut him. So probably not a major loss.

Other options: CB Cornell Saleaumua (5.1 - NOS - again!), FB Darius Downs (5.12 - MEM), CB Hunter Sebastian (5.16 - LAK)

6.25 P Gabriel Henderson 39/56 » 40/55
I was disappointed with the play of last year's UDFA punter, and also starting to realize I wasn't going to get a kick holder out of the QB group this year. As it turns out, this was a waste of a pick. I could've had similar or better punters at minimum salary later in free agency. This pick could've been used on a real player.

Other options: CB Miles Finley (6.8 - PTC), TE Randall Chapman (6.30 - BKL)

7.25 OLB Joel Beard 17/32 » 21/35
He didn't look terrible. I didn't have many options at this point. He moved from MLB to SLB before camp. He now has a shot at sticking around because it looks like there's some ST ability there.

Other options: TE Clyde Hopper (7.4 - CLB), DT Timothy Krelovich (7.23 - PH), OG Rico Hammond (UDFA - BOS).

UDFA C Kaleb McSheffrey 16/43 » 21/44
Another center with guard weight. Would've been a draft consideration if I hadn't already drafted OL. He looks decent; the problem is again, he's really raw. Between him and Schroeder, I'm quite unsure which -- if either -- to move to OG.

UDFA G Brant Deaver 22/40 » 28/44
A no-combine guy also on the emergency list at OL. As it turns out, I'm glad I missed out on all those OGs I thought I'd take in rounds 3 to 4, because some of them really didn't turn out well. This guy, who looked like nothing special, is likely to make the team. Gets past injustices. A step more developed than the two centers.

UDFA CB Josue Spencer 21/37 » 25/39
Would never have been close to a draft consideration in Boston with only 34 position drill. Oddly enough, he looks like he could be a solid player, even in coverage. Mainly, he looks like a very good special teams player and that was something I didn't address much in the first stage of FA. He doesn't get past injustices, but if he amounts to anything, I'm going to have to re-evaluate my draft criteria.

[Aston]

2037 Roster Battles

QB

This is going to be a good one. Paul Covington has the job, but this was one hell of a crowded room until Kaiden Esquivel was traded, and Bart Cassidy cut. Axel Erickson is the future and maybe he would've served us well enough this year that we could've found other ways to spend the $36M. In any case, the two "other guys" also look like borderline starter quality to me: former Utah 7th rounder Jay Henderson, and Boston UDFA Cristian Drake.

I feel all 5 guys Boston took to TC this year could have found starting jobs with some team.

RB
This is Vinny Stewart's show. Former 2nd round Dakota pick Connor Newman gave us an interesting look at a young player, but he's unlikely to amount to much.

FB/TE
We just have a bunch of guys. We missed out on keeping Nate Hartman in free agency thanks to the prolonged pursuit of Covington, and chose not to draft at the position, which in retrospect was a mistake.

WR
We spent most of FA with just two WRs on the roster, but the group behind Travis Christen crystallized nicely. We spent some hefty cash to bring back Marcus Doyle, who had a great 2036 here, and then added the talented Matthew Barrera on the cheap. Ron Conley was another late add, also from Yuma, and he'll play ST for us.

With a talented rookie in tow in Jerry Buchanan, and a solid 2nd-year man in Quinn Henson, I think we have enough weapons here. I'm glad we were also able to get that ST player in Conley; it would've been a different story without him.

OL
J.J. Clark should, by all accounts, be a cap casualty. The 10th year center is scheduled to pull down $3.45M this year. Unfortunately, at this point he's one of the Top 5 (C Lane, G Duran, T Darche, and T Bell). Rufus Bell is likewise a veteran who doesn't look like a starter, but currently is.

Behind that, Boston has a serious youth movement under way. Schroeder, McSheffrey, Deaver, and the two tackles (Donovan) Bell and DeVito are all year 1 to year 3 players who show promise but are very lightly developed. That's a lot of growing pains to go through if any of them have to play extended time.

DL
We had two DEs and seven DTs coming out of camp, so some shuffling is in store.

Chance Malley and Adrian Burnett are big, solid FA additions, although neither are especially great. Malley will move outside to DE.

Emmitt Wilmes has fallen off -- appears to be vol, and he's alright, but now has a fight for his job. Freddie Ioja looks more solid than ever, and Tyrus Perez, once on the bubble, now looks like a keep. Why did I draft another guy in Round 2 again?

LB
There's the veterans: Dixon Goldade (starter), Randall Tierney (dime cover), Ed Prather (run stop only).

There's the young: Devante Williamson (starter), Brent Mattos (roster bubble), Joel Beard (roster bubble).

And the Special Teams: Jackie Korr, Carlton Galloway.

This isn't a great or deep position group, so I'm glad to have a talented 1st round rookie in the group.

CB

This is a fun group. Brody Houston, the 1.18 pick in 2035, has fallen off quite a bit, but he's still a capable starter at 52/52. His future might now be at safety.

Jumbo Talley has made up for it by popping up to 52/52 himself, which is quite a leap. Good thing the Irish locked him up to a 4-year, $13.88M contract. I almost didn't sign him, and at first was worried his deal overpaid him. Now it looks like a bargain. He'll have to show it on the field, though -- he fared poorly last year.

Harrison George also fared poorly -- terribly, actually, with 35 catches yielded to 1 defensed in 274 pass plays in 2036. Still got 50 potential on him and a heck of an INT bar. Fortunately, we won't need to count on him this year.

Ronald Bush and Josue Spencer are two young ST players who are both quite good at special teams, and look quite capable as corners, too.

This is a really ideal position group here, with three starting-caliber talents, good depth, and young gunners. 8th year Archie Consulo won't get that $35M extension he's looking for. Instead, we aim to have plenty of cap room again next offseason, and maybe we'll divert those to another position group.

S

IrishGuy65 is right, Ian Manculich is definitely being overpaid in Boston, especially after dropping 15 points. However, he's still quite needed, as we lost both our safeties from last year and didn't draft a replacement.

Our other projected FA starter, Shawn Aliabadi, looks more like a special teamer at this point.

We may have to call on Erik Schwartz -- a free agent from Columbus who looks like nothing much, but had 97 tackles and 4 picks for the Catfish last year. And 3rd year man Darrell Jamison, drafted by Boston in the 5th round, looking like a contributor.

P/K/LS
Our long snapper Colby King looks top notch. I've been happy with the kicker, but he's going to be watched closely this year as he's coming up for restricted free agency. The rookie punter, well, he has to perform.

Overall

Compared to last year's team, this year's squad is same at RB, much worse at TE, much better at WR, somewhat better but not as deep at OL, somewhat worse at DL, much better at LB, and much worse in the secondary.

Overall, outside of the QB position, it's a lesser team, but well stocked for the future at OL and CB. For the present, I hope all other considerations become irrelevant because we fast tracked our QB development by ways of acquiring the best in the business.

There's not a lot of cohesion here, as usual of late, but hopefully the extra time we put there in Training Camp will help. Who needs to practice passing, anyway? Not Sir Paul Covington, no sir!

The 2037 squad finished 9-7 and made the playoffs. In this division and conference, it'll probably be another fight to get there. I'd feel better about my chances if division rival and defending Stevens Cup representative Brooklyn didn't also import a superstar QB this offseason in O.J. Sheldon.

Brooklyn wrecked us, and most other teams last year. Hard to imagine getting over the hump there, and a 0-2 start is not an easy handicap to beat. Still, let's try to go for 10 wins and a deeper run.

[Guest]

2.25 DT Tom Hopkins 30/60 » 33/53
I really can't help it! For the second year in a row, I pick a highly rated DT who dropped into round 2. Last year's guy was cut almost immediately. Hopkins was the 12th ranked player in the draft and felt like a second 1st round pick. Well, now he seems just OK.

Highly rated? You mean by bureau? Cause he sure looks like a pile of you know what to me:



His 25 bench is below threshold also.

At least he'll stop the run, right?

§§§

Buchanan was an interesting pick since his BPR bar was below what his 40 time would suggest. That just screamed "bust" to me. Wonder if he's one of the 2nd/3rd year droppers in FOF7.

§§§

I'm still glad I bailed on this draft. I probably shouldn't have cut and run so early, but this class just didn't look pretty to me. Second in a row here, for me. As ever there is always talent to be had (Saleaumua in the 5th! I had him top 50, while DA slotted him 176th!).

[Aston]

Yeah, highly graded by the bureau. That's what he looked like to me, too. The bench thresholds never concerned me too much, I guess. I just thought, what are the odds that he's actually bad.

That Sala CB guy turned out pretty poorly, right?