Alternate Reality Game 1: Chiefs

[Rain Man]

The original post is below in blue, but let's summarize it here based on the past few years.

1. If you're a new player, start with the current Chiefs roster. If you've been playing for a while you'll have your own evolved roster.

2. You can add any free agent that the Chiefs add.

3. You lose any free agent that the Chiefs lose, but only if they were on the Chiefs' roster when you began playing.

4. You can accept or reject any trade the Chiefs make as long as any Chiefs player involved is currently on your roster.

5. You do not get players that the Chiefs draft. You draft your own players, using the same draft picks that the Chiefs have.

6. You can trade down ONE time before the draft or after the draft. If you trade down before the draft, you get up to full value for your pick according to this chart: https://www.drafttek.com/NFL-Trade-V...-Rich-Hill.asp. (Note: this chart was updated in 2022.) If you trade down after the draft, the value of the picks you trade must be discounted by at least 25 percent. Any trade down must involve only the picks of one NFL team, and you cannot receive more than two picks more than you give up. (In other words, if you trade away one draft pick you cannot pick up more than three in return.) The other team's picks also must be picks that they held prior to the opening of the draft. See the examples at the bottom of the post.

6. You can trade up ONE time before the draft or after the draft. If you trade up before the draft, you get up to full value for your pick according to this chart: https://www.drafttek.com/NFL-Trade-V...-Rich-Hill.asp. (Note: this chart was updated in 2022.). If you trade up after the draft, the value of the picks you trade must be discounted by at least 15 percent. Any trade up must involve only the picks of one NFL team. The other team's picks also must be picks that they held prior to the opening of the draft.

7. By the beginning of the season, you must reduce your total roster to include only 53 players.



Original post: You can ignore this now.

Spoiler!

Okay, having tested the waters I think we've got enough interest in this. There will be two other games as well that I'll announce soon.

The concept of this game is to, over a series of years, see which Chiefsplanet members are best at building a team. We can have an unlimited number of players, and this game will take very little time on your part - just a little bit of time and some voting.

Here's how the game will work.

Step 1. First, you have to locate your team in a city. It cannot be in a city that has an existing NFL team, so you must pick from the following cities, which are the largest cities that don't have an NFL team, but ensuring that there's at least one city in every state. If we have more than 100 players I'll add to this list. (List deleted for brevity. If you start playing, just pick a city.)


Step 2. Once the NFL draft is complete on April 26, owners will select players who were available with each Chiefs selection (i.e., do their own draft) and add these people to their roster. If the Chiefs make any draft day trades, the player may choose to accept or reject the trade and act accordingly.

Step 3. After training camp, each owner selects 40 (Edited up from 35) Chiefs players who are "their" players who will make up their roster. The remaining 13 positions will be filled by a generic "scrub".

Step 4. At the end of the season, the person will provide an overview of who started at each position over the course of the year, providing the number of starts at each position by each player. Edit: the rules for doing so are discussed in Post 285.

Step 5. At the end of the season, we will have a Survivor-style vote among the general Chiefsplanet population to determine who had the best team that year, including impacts of injuries and other issues.

Step 6. In Year 2 (and beyond), the player starts with his/her core of 40 players, adds new players through the draft, and can then pick another core of players from the following pool: their 40-player core, new drafted players, and any new free agent that joins the Chiefs

If the Chiefs make a trade that includes draft picks, each owner can choose to accept or reject that trade on their own team. If the Chiefs make a trade involving a player on the Chiefs roster, the owner can accept that trade ONLY if his/her own roster includes that player.

There will be no trades between owners, and no implications of the salary cap.

I realize that in the first season we'll have a lot of players with similar rosters, but they'll diverge over time and that's where it'll get interesting.

So...if you're interested in playing, claim your city and name your team.


Teams As Of Post #113:


Alaska (Anchorage) Watchmen (cdcox)
Austin [name to be determined] (Hound333)
Billings Snake Filets (KCChiefsman)
Cheyenne Buckshot Cheneys (banyon)
Des Moines [yet to be named] (Hoover)
Duluth Normans (Rain Man)
El Paso The Courvoisier (DeezNutz)
Fargo Rape (SNR)
Fort Wayne Dancers (Chiefs=Good)
Fresno Refugees (Adam)
Harrisburg Beer Farts (Otter)
Hartford Manticores (Crush)
Honolulu Craters (Sully)
Knoxville Nukes (Patteeu)
Las Vegas Hitmen (Bowser)
Little Rock Reapers (doomy3)
Los Angeles Cobras (chiefscafan)
Madison Beers (Spicy McHaggis)
Memphis Jackals (Ultra Peanut)
Oklahoma City Boom (Sanka)
Omaha Streakers (speak24)
Orlando Beakers (ChiefsCountry)
Reno Sheriff Department (MWagg72)
San Antonio Scorpions (truebigdog)
Scranton Paper Packers (bdeg)
Sioux Falls Slackers (pestilenceaf23)
Spokane [yet to be named] (Mr. Flopnuts)
Springfield (Missouri) Cashew Chickens (H5N1)
Wichita [yet to be named] (jwazzie)
Winston-Salem Warlocks (ArrowheadHawk)
Worcester Sauce (unothadeal)

Added Rules and Reminders:

1. Remember that you can draft undrafted rookies, so you don't have to select only guys who were drafted.

2. Anyone can change their rookie draft selections at any time, UNTIL we reach ten days before training camp. At that point, all picks will be locked in.

3. Each team can do ONE trade of draft picks if they like, using this chart:http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...t-trade-chart/. However, if you're trading up, you have to pay 15 percent more than the stated value of the picks you're obtaining. If you're trading down, your pick's value will be discounted by 25 percent.

For example, if you want to trade up from the 20th pick in the 1st to the 10th pick, you can see from the chart that the 20th pick is worth 259 points. The 10th pick is normally 369 points, but by paying 15 percent more, it will cost you 1.15*369, or 424 points. So you would need to come up with another 165 points to make the deal (424-259)

For example, if you want to trade down from the 20th pick in the 1st and pick up the 10th pick in the 2nd, your 20th pick would normally be worth 259 points, but in this game it will be worth 25 percent less, or 194 points. The 10th pick in the 2nd is worth 142 points, so you can get 52 points back from the other team. (Remember that you cannot pick up more than two extra picks in the trade, so consider your math carefully.)

You can do only ONE draft-pick trade up and ONE draft-pick trade down, and in each case you can only trade with one other team for their own picks. (In other words, you couldn't take the 52 points in the above example from a third team.)

[kccrow]

2023 ROSTER

QB Patrick Mahomes II D1-10/17 (KC)
QB Blaine Gabbert KC FA/23

RB Aaron Jones D5-180/17 (GB)
RB Tyler Allgeier D4-135/22 (ATL)
RB Eric Gray D5-166/23 (NYG)
RB Jerick McKinnon KC FA/23

TE Travis Kelce
TE Cade Otton D3-103/22 (TB)
TE Noah Gray D5-162/21 (KC)

WR Donovan Peoples-Jones D5-177/20 (CLE)
WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling KC FA/22
WR Tyler Boyd D2-37/16 (CIN)
WR Gabriel Davis D4-125/20 (BUF)
WR Justyn Ross D7-251/22 (KC)
WR Richie James KC FA/23
WR A.T. Perry D5-169/23 (NO)

LT Bernhard Raimann D2-62/22 (IND)
LG Joe Thuney KC FA/21
OC Erik McCoy D2-48/19 (NO)
RG Trey Smith D6-221/21 (KC)
RT Jawaan Taylor KC FA/23
OT Carter Warren D3-100/23 (NYJ)
OT Donovan Smith KC FA/23
OT Rasheed Walker D7-233/22 (GB)
OG Teven Jenkins D1-31/21 (CHI)
OC Bradley Bozeman D6-198/18 (CAR)

DL Justin Madubuike D2-64/20 (BAL)
DL Mazi Smith D1-31/23 (DAL)
DL Zach Sieler D7-219/18 (MIA)
DL Dante Stills D6-209/23 (ARZ)
DL Desjuan Johnson D7-249/23 (LAR)

ER Matt Judon D4-129/16 (NE)
ER George Karlaftis D1-30/22 (KC)
ER K.J. Henry D4-134/23 (WAS)
ER Ogbonnia Okoronkwo D5-159/18 (CLE)
ER Charles Omenihu KC FA/23

LB Cole Holcomb D5-167/19 (PIT)
LB Logan Wilson D2-63/20 (CIN)
LB Drue Tranquill KC FA/23
LB Leo Chenal D3-94/22 (KC)
LB Isaiah McDuffie D6-208/21 (GB)

CB L'Jarius Sneed D4-138/20 (KC)
CB Paulson Adebo D2-63/21 (NO)
CB Byron Murphy D1-29/19 (MIN)
CB Kelee Ringo D3-95/23 (PHI)
CB Christian Benford D5-173/22 (BUF)

DB Jessie Bates III D2-52/18 (ATL)
DB Justin Reid KC FA/22
DB Amani Hooker D4-116/19 (TEN)
DB Anthony Johnson Jr. D6-217/23 (GB)

SK Harrison Butker KC FA/17
SP Tommy Townsend KC FA/20
LS James Winchester

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by kccrow

I'm strongly advocating for another rule change for 2024.

The penalty for a post-draft trade down is changed at least to 25% instead of 35%.

I understand that we should be penalized because we get the benefit of hindsight, but right now we lose the value of a very high 3rd round pick trading down out of the bottom of the 1st (approximately pick #72). That means a trade down from 31 puts us at pick #48. A change to 25% would instead put us at a loss in value of a lower 3rd-round pick (approximately pick #87) and would mean a trade down from 31 puts us at pick #42.

This would at least allow us to trade down to the middle of round 2 (say pick 48) and pick up a 4th with it. This is far more reasonable than the current situation where we'd have to drop from R1 to the bottom of 2 in order to pick up any other pick as compensation for the trade-out.

I'd be more in favor of 20% but that might be pushing my luck.

Under the current format, a trade-down is so out of the realm of reality that it makes it moot.

I can see lowering it to 25 percent. It's hard to make trade downs, and I think in part that's because we no longer have high picks in each round

[Rain Man]

Okay, here's my final roster for 2023:



QB
Russell Wilson (Broncos)
Blaine Gabbert
Aidan O'Connell (Raiders)

Cuts: Sam Ehlinger (Colts) and Carson Strong

We'll see if Russell bounces back. Behind him we've got a wily veteran and our latest rookie project. We'll write off a couple of mid/late picks on Ehlinger and Strong. This area is a concern.

RB/FB
Isaih Pacheco
Alvin Kamara (Saints)
Rashaad Penny (Eagles)

Cuts: Ronald Jones II, Michael Burton


Pacheco has taken the starting job. Kamara is suspended for a few games, and Penny is good but always hurt. We're cutting Jones and Burton just because we need the roster space at other positions. I think we should be good here.

WR
Kardarius Toney
Marquez Valdez-Scantling
Donovan Peoples-Jones, WR (Browns)
Richie James
Khalil Shakir (Bills)
Terrace Marshall (Panthers)
Justin Watson

Cuts: James Washington (Steelers), Juju Smith-Schuster


We suddenly have a lot of depth here. Toney and MVS will start, and we have a ton of depth. Marshall has been a bit of a disappointment. James Washington has been a huge disappointment as a former 2nd round pick, and we're cutting bait on him. Juju is leaving in free agency. We're actually looking pretty decent here with three starters and good depth.

TE
Travis Kelce (Chiefs)
Grant Calcaterra
Zach Kuntz (Jets)
Cuts: Blake Bell


I hate to cut Bell, but he's dropped to third on the depth chart. So I'll keep two young guys behind Travis Kelce. We're great at this position, obviously, and bringing up new talent.

OT
Orlando Brown, Jr.
Jawaan Taylor
Morgan Moses (Redskins)
Donovan Smith

Cuts: Lucas Niang, G/T and Geron Christian


We're in great shape here with two sets of solid starting tackes. Niang and Christian couldn't hang on the roster, so they're gone.

G
Joe Thuney
Wyatt Teller (Browns)
Trey Smith

This is the strongest unit on the team. We're very strong here.

C
Cody Whitehair (Bears )

Very solid here.

K/P/ST
K - Harrison Butker
P - Tommy Townsend
LS - James Winchester

Best dang unit in the league.

S
Jordan Poyer (Bills)
Andre Cisco (Jaguars)
Justin Reid
Coby Bryant (Seahawks)

Cuts: Mike Edwards and Deon Bush


Poyer is my silverback on the team. I've got a nice mix of veterans and young guys. I hated cutting Edwards and Bush, but it was a numbers game. I think we're strong and deep here.

CB
Marcus Peters (Raiders)
Joey Porter, Jr.
Desmond King (Steelers)
Amik Robertson (Raiders)
Shaun Wade (Patriots)

Cuts: Darius Rush


This is an area of concern. Peters had his worst year and was also coming off an ACL injury. Porter is a rookie. King and Robertson are small nickel/dime corners. And Wade keeps bouncing around at the bottom of depth charts. They have potential, but I need to see it in action.

OLB
Leo Chenal
Zach Baun, LB (Saints)
Ivan Pace (Vikings)
Drue Tranquill
Yetur Gross-Matos, DE (Panthers)
Anthony Nelson
Cuts: Cam Jones and Elijah Lee


We're not an established group here, but we have the potential to be strong. Chenal is a starter and Baun finally won a starting job. Pace is pushing for time, and Tranquill is very good. Gross-Matos is more of a DE than an OLB, and Nelson is similarly a situational pass rush guy. I hated cutting Cam Jones, but had no choice. Lee is pretty much out of the league now. This group is going to be watched closely.

ILB
Nakobe Dean
Henry To'oTo'o (Texans)

Cuts: Olakunle Fatukasi and Cameron McGrone (Colts)


We'll see how this group does as well. Dean grabbed a starting job after being on the bench last season, and To'oTo'o is a rookie. We're unproven.

DE
George Karlaftis
Dorance Armstrong
Charles Omenihu

Cuts: Ifeadi Odenigbo (Jets) and Carlos Dunlap


We have two legitimate starters and not much else. Omenihu is suspended, and won't be back for six weeks. Ifeadi is on IR and Dunlap's career is winding down, so they didn't make the team.


DT
Andrew Billings (Bears)
Tershawn Wharton
Zacch Pickens (Bears)
Adetomiwa Adebawore (Colts)
Moro Ojomo (Eagles)
Kalia Davis
Cuts: Neil Farrell (we declined the trade) and Marvin Wilson (Browns)


We gave this position of a full injection of youth by adding three rookies in the draft. None of them has seized a starting job yet, but maybe in the future. Davis is another young guy, but is barely making the team due to some good depth.

Here's hoping that someone steps up. Otherwise we're young but mediocre. I need to see progress here.

[Kellerfox]

Originally Posted by kccrow

2023 ROSTER

QB Patrick Mahomes II D1-10/17 (KC)
QB Blaine Gabbert KC FA/23

RB Aaron Jones D5-180/17 (GB)
RB Tyler Allgeier D4-135/22 (ATL)
RB Eric Gray D5-166/23 (NYG)
RB Jerick McKinnon KC FA/23

TE Travis Kelce
TE Cade Otton D3-103/22 (TB)
TE Noah Gray D5-162/21 (KC)

WR Donovan Peoples-Jones D5-177/20 (CLE)
WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling KC FA/22
WR Tyler Boyd D2-37/16 (CIN)
WR Gabriel Davis D4-125/20 (BUF)
WR Justyn Ross D7-251/22 (KC)
WR Richie James KC FA/23
WR A.T. Perry D5-169/23 (NO)

LT Bernhard Raimann D2-62/22 (IND)
LG Joe Thuney KC FA/21
OC Erik McCoy D2-48/19 (NO)
RG Trey Smith D6-221/21 (KC)
RT Jawaan Taylor KC FA/23
OT Carter Warren D3-100/23 (NYJ)
OT Donovan Smith KC FA/23
OT Rasheed Walker D7-233/22 (GB)
OG Teven Jenkins D1-31/21 (CHI)
OC Bradley Bozeman D6-198/18 (CAR)

DL Justin Madubuike D2-64/20 (BAL)
DL Mazi Smith D1-31/23 (DAL)
DL Zach Sieler D7-219/18 (MIA)
DL Dante Stills D6-209/23 (ARZ)
DL Desjuan Johnson D7-249/23 (LAR)

ER Matt Judon D4-129/16 (NE)
ER George Karlaftis D1-30/22 (KC)
ER K.J. Henry D4-134/23 (WAS)
ER Ogbonnia Okoronkwo D5-159/18 (CLE)
ER Charles Omenihu KC FA/23

LB Cole Holcomb D5-167/19 (PIT)
LB Logan Wilson D2-63/20 (CIN)
LB Drue Tranquill KC FA/23
LB Leo Chenal D3-94/22 (KC)
LB Isaiah McDuffie D6-208/21 (GB)

CB L'Jarius Sneed D4-138/20 (KC)
CB Paulson Adebo D2-63/21 (NO)
CB Byron Murphy D1-29/19 (MIN)
CB Kelee Ringo D3-95/23 (PHI)
CB Christian Benford D5-173/22 (BUF)

DB Jessie Bates III D2-52/18 (ATL)
DB Justin Reid KC FA/22
DB Amani Hooker D4-116/19 (TEN)
DB Anthony Johnson Jr. D6-217/23 (GB)

SK Harrison Butker KC FA/17
SP Tommy Townsend KC FA/20
LS James Winchester

Great to see you Crow!

[Kellerfox]

Tacoma Trash Pandas 2023 Roster


QB:
Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs)
Blaine Gabbert (Chiefs*)

RB:
Breece Hall (Jets)
Chase Brown (Bengals)
Kenneth Gainwell (Eagles)
Clyde Edwards-Helaire (Chiefs)

FB:


WR:
Skyy Moore (Chiefs - Drafted)
Marquez Valdes-Scantling (Chiefs*)
Justyn Ross (Chiefs - Drafted)
Justin Watson (Chiefs*)
Richie James (Chiefs*)
Trey Palmer (Buccaneers)
AT Perry (Saints)

TE:
Travis Kelce (Chiefs)
Jody Fortson (Chiefs)

OT:
Orlando Brown Jr. (Bengals - Trade Executed)
Jawaan Taylor (Chiefs*)
Lucas Niang (Chiefs)
Rasheed Walker (Packers)

OG:
Joe Thuney (Chiefs)
Trey Smith (Chiefs - Drafted)

OC:
Creed Humphrey (Chiefs - Drafted)
Nick Allegretti (Chiefs)

———————-

DT:
Chris Jones (Chiefs)
Khyris Tonga (Vikings)
Eric Johnson (Colts)
Derrick Nnadi (Chiefs)
Dante Stills (Cardinals)
Tershawn Wharton (Chiefs)

DE:
Carlos Basham Jr. (Bills)
George Karlaftis (Chiefs - Drafted)
Charles Omenihu (Chiefs*)
Isaiah McGuire (Browns)
Mike Danna (Chiefs)

OLB:
Willie Gay Jr. (Chiefs)
Drue Tranquill (Chiefs*)
Leo Chanel (Chiefs - Drafted)

ILB:
Nakobe Dean (Eagles)
Drew Sanders (Broncos)
Isaiah McDuffie (Packers)

CB:
L’Jarius Sneed (Chiefs)
Joey Porter Jr. (Steelers)
Darius Rush (Chiefs - Drafted)
Corey Trice (Steelers)
Mike Hughes (Falcons - Trade Executed)
Tariq Castro-Fields (Commanders)

FS:
Mike Edwards (Chiefs*)
Nick Cross (Colts)

SS:
Justin Reid (Chiefs*)
Ji’Ayir Brown (49ers)

———————-

P:
Tommy Townsend (Chiefs)

K:
Harrison Butker (Chiefs)

LS:
James Winchester (Chiefs)

[kccrow]

I think I better start scouting the WRs haha. Wow does my group suck ass this year. The rest of the roster looks relatively stacked though.

[Kellerfox]

WR looking pretty rough for us all across the board. As a generalization, my entire team looks rough across the board!

[Rain Man]

I have a lot of WR depth. I have seven legitimate #4 or #5 WRs. The only thing I'm missing is a #1, #2, and #3 WR.

[kccrow]

Originally Posted by Kellerfox

WR looking pretty rough for us all across the board. As a generalization, my entire team looks rough across the board!

We have signs of life from AT Perry with 2/38 and a TD this week

[Rain Man]

As a midseason check-in, my draft class is looking pretty successful right now.

Rookie starters:

7-250. LB Ivan Pace (Vikings). Has grabbed a starting job and is looking good.

5-166. ILB Henry To’oTo’o (Texans). Technically a backup, but he's started half the games and is playing well for the Texans

4-134. QB Aidan O’Connell (Raiders). He seems to be improving each week and is a rare mid-round QB starter.

Active backups

1 – 31. CB Joey Porter (Steelers). I'm a little disappointed that he didn't grab a Day One starter role, but he's started about half the games and is getting a lot of game-day action. I'll look for upward mobility here.

3-100 and 6-209. Traded for WR Kardarius Toney. I was hoping for more here, but he occasionally flashes, and I'm sure he'll have a good Super Bowl again.

Little-used backups

2-63. DT Zacch Pickens (Bears). Not sure what happened here. He's gotten very little action and apparently hasn't been impressive.

3-95. DT Adetomiwa Adebawore (Colts). Also disappointing. Has barely played at all and for some reason they list him at nose tackle even though he's nowhere close to 300 pounds.

Developmental guys.

6-217. TE Zack Kuntz (Jets). I wasn't expecting to see him get any action this year. He's a future play.

7-249. DT Moro Ojomo (Eagles). See the Kuntz description above.



So basically I had a good LB and QB draft and a bad DT draft. But regardless, getting four guys who are getting lots of rookie snaps is a win for me.

[kccrow]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

As a midseason check-in, my draft class is looking pretty successful right now.

Rookie starters:

7-250. LB Ivan Pace (Vikings). Has grabbed a starting job and is looking good.

5-166. ILB Henry To’oTo’o (Texans). Technically a backup, but he's started half the games and is playing well for the Texans

4-134. QB Aidan O’Connell (Raiders). He seems to be improving each week and is a rare mid-round QB starter.

Active backups

1 – 31. CB Joey Porter (Steelers). I'm a little disappointed that he didn't grab a Day One starter role, but he's started about half the games and is getting a lot of game-day action. I'll look for upward mobility here.

3-100 and 6-209. Traded for WR Kardarius Toney. I was hoping for more here, but he occasionally flashes, and I'm sure he'll have a good Super Bowl again.

Little-used backups

2-63. DT Zacch Pickens (Bears). Not sure what happened here. He's gotten very little action and apparently hasn't been impressive.

3-95. DT Adetomiwa Adebawore (Colts). Also disappointing. Has barely played at all and for some reason they list him at nose tackle even though he's nowhere close to 300 pounds.

Developmental guys.

6-217. TE Zack Kuntz (Jets). I wasn't expecting to see him get any action this year. He's a future play.

7-249. DT Moro Ojomo (Eagles). See the Kuntz description above.



So basically I had a good LB and QB draft and a bad DT draft. But regardless, getting four guys who are getting lots of rookie snaps is a win for me.

Very nice! I'm gonna have to go back and remember who I picked this past year. Was kind of a blur.

[kccrow]

Overall, not an immediate high-return draft but there are signs of life, and it's brimming with potential. I wasn't drafting too much for need, and more about the long game in this one anyhow.

1-26 DT Mazi Smith, Michigan 6'3" 323 (#1-26 by DAL)
Rotational player. Has played solid when he's in and DAL seems to like his progress.

3-95 CB Kelee Ringo, Georgia 6'2" 207 (#4-105 by PHI)
Special teamer. Hasn't been in for anything but special teams. Thought I got a value here but maybe I got a turd.

3-100 OT Carter Warren, Pittsburgh 6'5" 311 (#4-120 by NYJ)
Backup. Spent a good portion of the year on IR/PUP whatever it was, but has been in relief at LT the past couple of weeks and looks pretty damned good

4-134 DE K.J. Henry, Clemson 6'4" 251 (#5-137 by WAS)
Rotational player. Was buried on the depth chart until WAS traded everyone at DE away at the deadline. Has looked like a solid pass rusher the past two weeks. Could be a solid pick in time.

5-166 RB Eric Gray, Oklahoma 5'9" 207 (#5-172 by NYG)
Special teamer. Hasn't had much for opportunities and then was injured for a month. I dunno, but it hasn't looked good.

5-169 WR A.T. Perry, Wake Forest 6'4" 198 (#6-195 by NO)
Starter (due to injuries). Just finally started getting some playing time. Looked okay but has a ways to go. Still have hopes on this one.

6-209 DT Dante Stills, West Virginia 6'3" 285 (#6-213 by ARZ)
Starter. Secured a starting role and has looked pretty good in doing it. 37 tackles and 3.5 sacks so far.

6-217 FS Anthony Johnson Jr., Iowa State 6'0" 205 (#7-242 by GB)
Backup (turning starter?). Looked great in preseason and many thought he'd be GBs starter but lost out. He's finally got playing time, including starts in the past two games. He looked good last week. Might end up a steal.

7-249 DT Desjuan Johnson, Toledo 6'2" 285 (#7-259 by LAR)
Backup. Not too much action but he made the team and got his 1st sack last week.

7-250 DT Jerrod Clark, Coastal Carolina 6'4" 334 (UDFA by LAC)
Cut. I cut Clark as part of the numbers game but he's been on the LA PS.

[kccrow]

Silver lining: Feel a lot better about my WR corps than Veach's haha.

Tooting my own horn, but I like my roster a ton right now and feel like this is a better collection of overall talent than I ever imagined. The defense is 100% lights out and set up well for the long haul. That defensive line is a nightmare (in a good way) with Sieler and Madubuike combining for 21 sacks. I was right about Logan Wilson over Willie Gay (sorry, not sorry?). My secondary is tough man... Adebo and Bates are turnover magnets and Sneed is lock down. Hell Murphy gets his hands on alot of balls, just wish he'd stop missing tackles this year. Four deep at safety is nice. Ringo is coming on strong at the end of the year here.

Also starting to really like my offensive line. I threw a lot of darts at the OT position the last couple of years but I think I have a really solid group in Raimann, Walker, and Warren now. Raimann's development so far reminds me of Fisher. Walker is looking really solid as a starter in GB and Warren has had a couple quality appearances at both OT spots in NY.

This team could win a Super Bowl for sure. A quality #1 WR is the lone real hole and maybe a slot to replace an aging Boyd. I'm ready to go toe-to-toe with Veach for executive of the year hahaha.

[Rain Man]

How did I do this year? Let's take a look.

My overall assessment is that this is probably a 7-10 or 8-9 team. It's generally solid, but we don't have a lot of starpower.

On offense, the offensive line is strong with a good running game, but Kelce is our only legit passing threat. Russell Wilson was passable at QB, but our receivers dramatically underachieved. We had pro bowlers at G and TE.

We have great special teams guys.

On defense, we have several ascending players like Karlaftis, Chenal, and Ivan Pace, and our safeties are strong. Other positions are pretty much staffed by solid journeymen. No one was named to the pro bowl.



QB
Russell Wilson (Broncos)
Aidan O'Connell (Raiders)
Blaine Gabbert


I did well reasonably here. Russell was 8th in the league in passer rating, bouncing back from last year, and O'Connell grabbed playing time to claim the backup spot. Gabbert was ready to play but not needed.


RB/FB
Isaih Pacheco
Alvin Kamara (Saints)
Rashaad Penny (Eagles)

I had a serviceable 1-2 punch with Pacheco and Kamara. Penny rode the bench and has pretty much ended my patience with him.

WR
Khalil Shakir (Bills)
Justin Watson
Kardarius Toney
Marquez Valdez-Scantling
Donovan Peoples-Jones, WR (Browns)
Terrace Marshall (Panthers)
Richie James


Boy. I figured one or two of these folks would break out, but it never happened. Shakir is my clear #1, but that's not ideal. Watson was my #2. This was a weak spot on the team.

TE
Travis Kelce (Chiefs)
Grant Calcaterra
Zach Kuntz (Jets)

We have a pro bowler! Kelce was great. Calcaterra was a body at least, and Kuntz rode the bench.

Good starters, no depth.

OT
Donovan Smith
Jawaan Taylor
Morgan Moses (Redskins)
Orlando Brown, Jr.


Strong performance here by Smith and Taylor, with solid backups. I'm happy here.

G
Joe Thuney
Wyatt Teller (Browns)
Trey Smith

We have a pro bowler here and two other strong players. The guards were a strength.

C
Cody Whitehair (Bears )

He's been a rock for me for years, but got benched mid-season, opening a crack in our line of steel.

K/P/ST
K - Harrison Butker
P - Tommy Townsend
LS - James Winchester

Best dang unit in the league. No idea how these guys weren't all pro bowlers.

S
Andre Cisco (Jaguars)
Justin Reid
Jordan Poyer (Bills)
Coby Bryant (Seahawks)

I had three solid safeties this year. Bryant had a good first year but was hobbled by an injury most of the year. This unit was reasonably strong, though.

CB
Marcus Peters (Raiders)
Joey Porter, Jr.
Amik Robertson (Raiders)
Shaun Wade (Patriots)
Desmond King (Steelers)

This was a reasonable group of corners, if not spectacular. Probably not a strength of the team.

OLB
Leo Chenal
Ivan Pace (Vikings)
Yetur Gross-Matos, DE (Panthers)
Zach Baun, LB (Saints)
Anthony Nelson
Cuts: Cam Jones and Elijah Lee


Our new guys have stepped up, making this a solid unit. We also had some pass-rushing backups. It's not an all-star group yet, but is ascending.

ILB
Drue Tranquill
Henry To'oTo'o (Texans)
Nakobe Dean


I was expecting Dean to take the starting role, but he got buried on the depth chart despite improvement. To'o To'o played well as a rookie and is part of why we switched to a 3-4, with Drue Tranquill at the other starting job. This is another unit that is not dominant yet, but ascending.

DE
George Karlaftis
Dorance Armstrong
Charles Omenihu

George was dominant at one DE spot. Armstrong and Omenihu split time at the other spot, providing a strong pass rush. This group did well.


DT
Andrew Billings (Bears)
Tershawn Wharton
Zacch Pickens (Bears)
Adetomiwa Adebawore (Colts)
Kalia Davis
Moro Ojomo (Eagles)


We added a lot of youth, but no one immediately stepped up. Billings is an anchor in the middle, so we switched to a 3-4 this year with Billings starting and Wharton backing up. The young guys watched.

[Rain Man]

My top draft and free agent needs for next year are:

1. WR - I'm desperate.
2. DT - Or I can risk that one of the young guys will step up.
3. C - Whitehair is on his last legs.
4. CB - I'm going to have to find mid-round gold.