Game planning is done so I'm going to check everyone's DL situation as we head into our first preseason game. While I expect everyone to leave all LB off the DL depth chart, the AI may still sub one in due to injury/fatigue, especially in preseason. I'd like to see each team have sufficient depth to cover such a situation. If you don't have it yet, please do so by regular season week 1.

A team that plays the 4-3 should be able to get by with 8 total DL, especially since we aren't required to only have DT play DT. If we ever reach that point, 9 would be optimal. I'm waiting to see if people use that as an exploit.

A team that plays the 3-4 could probably get by with 6, although I have never needed 8 LB. I run a lot of 3-4 on MFN and I usually end up with 5 LB getting most of the snaps. I prefer 8 DL for my 3-4 but that's just me. I would say 7 would be an ideal number, but use however many you need to ensure no LB play DL.

I only have 1 division done so far, posting that now. The other 7 divisions will be done shortly.

4-3 Defenses

Honolulu 10
Los Angeles 8
San Jose 10
Southern California 8

Two more divisions finished and I finally found a team that needs to address this ASAP. Posting in the forums is not required but everyone should at least read them, as important stuff gets posted sometimes.

4-3 Defenses

Honolulu 10
Los Angeles 8
San Jose 10
Southern California 8
Arizona 9
Memphis 4 (* PM sent a few minutes ago)

3-4 defense

Denver 10
Oakland 8 (* 5 are DT so please make sure they are your DE depth, not LB...thank you)
Portland 8 (* all are DE of course...I can deal with 1, maybe 2 teams doing this but if it becomes a trend, you know what I'll do)
Houston 10
Oklahoma 9
San Antonio 9

5 down, 3 to go. I'm finding a few teams that might have depth problems if injuries pop up and I am sending them PMs. If there aren't enough heavy dudes for the DL, you may use OL there as depth. It's not ideal but it's better than breaking the rule with a LB there.

4-3 Defenses

Honolulu 10
Los Angeles 8
San Jose 10
Southern California 8
Arizona 9
Memphis 4 (* PM sent a few minutes ago)
Chicago 7
Cleveland 11
Michigan 9 (* 1 underweight)
Florida 8 (* 1 underweight)
Jacksonville 9
Orlando 12 (* 4 underweight)

3-4 defense

Denver 10
Oakland 8 (* 5 are DT so please make sure they are your DE depth, not LB...thank you)
Portland 8 (* all are DE of course...I can deal with 1, maybe 2 teams doing this but if it becomes a trend, you know what I'll do)
Houston 10
Oklahoma 9
San Antonio 9
Detroit 9
Tampa Bay 6

All Done for now. I'll check again ahead of preseason game 2.

4-3 Defenses

Honolulu 10
Los Angeles 8
San Jose 10
Southern California 8
Arizona 9
Memphis 4 (* PM sent a few minutes ago)
Chicago 7
Cleveland 11
Michigan 9 (* 1 underweight)
Florida 8 (* 1 underweight)
Jacksonville 9
Orlando 12 (* 4 underweight)
New Orleans 8 (* 2 underweight)
Baltimore 8
Charlotte 6
Washington 10 (* 1 underweight)
New Jersey 9
New York 10 (* 1 underweight)
Philadelphia 7

3-4 defense

Denver 10
Oakland 8 (* 5 are DT so please make sure they are your DE depth, not LB...thank you)
Portland 8 (* all are DE of course...I can deal with 1, maybe 2 teams doing this but if it becomes a trend, you know what I'll do)
Houston 10
Oklahoma 9
San Antonio 9
Detroit 9
Tampa Bay 6
Birmingham 12
Georgia 8
Shreveport 10
Pittsburgh 10
Boston 10

What do I do about a guy that doesn't gain weight? He has been a career DE, and is playing out the last year of his contract and won't be back

Unless several people chime in and say he can be an exception, he'll need to be moved to LB based on his weight. If you don't want to do that, I suppose you would have to cut him then. If he's in the last year of a contract, there will be no penalty to you on future bonus money.

I don’t see this as a problem. 1 time exception is ok with me.

Just want to let everyone know I'm not doing this list to single anyone out, rather I'm letting everyone know if they need to take action or not. For this game tonight, I'm only checking weight and any teams that seemed short on DL depth.

One huge problem with CJ's GM league is enforcing the DT rule, as that is the one most broken. For those not in that league, he makes teams have enough 300 lb DT on the roster, along with 265 lb DEs. I don't want to do that here if I can help it, as I'll be satisfied with having no LB on the DL, unless the defensive formation calls for it, like the 4-3 Wide Line.

I bring that up because I found a 270 lb DT on San Jose, which is totally fine in our league. There are quite a few of us in more than 1 league with additional custom rules, and I'm just trying to avoid someone getting upset because they think someone is breaking a rule when they're not.

I'll have the underweight list shortly.

Possible Depth Issues

Charlotte Play a 4-3 defense with just 6 DL on roster (1 is hurt) This will force the 5 healthy DL to log too many preseason snaps, exposing them to injury and forcing LB into a DE role. Please sign/trade for depth ASAP

Tampa Bay Play a 3-4 defense with 6 DL on roster. Leaving yourself no margin for error or injury.

Philadelphia Play a 4-3 defense with 7 DL on roster. Keep an eye on their health.

Fixed Depth Issues

Memphis Signed 4 DL bringing them to 8 total for a 4-3 defense. Thank you.

Chicago Signed a DL to bring them up to 8 total for a 4-3 defense. Thank you.

Weight Issues

Michigan LDE Chris Smith, 246 lbs. The 13th year vet will need to be moved to LB or cut before Week 1.

Orlando LDE Walter Pearson, 221 lbs. He is a rookie but he will not gain 44 lbs in 2 weeks, so he will either need to be inactive until/if he makes weight or moved to another position.

LDE David Crocker, 253 lbs. He is an 8th year vet, and I didn't write down his weight last week but he is currently 12 lbs underweight. I need to check weight gain to make a determination.

DT Todd Sarvis, 263 lbs. The 4th year vet is only 2 lbs underweight. He should be able to gain a couple pounds, we'll see though.

RDE Ricardo Seese, 250 lbs. He is a 3rd year vet so a 15 lb weight gain is possible. If it doesn't happen by Week 1, he'll need to be inactive or move to LB.

New Orleans LDE Lawrence Kennedy, 254 lbs, LDE Glenn Miller 255 lbs. Both are vets who may or may not make weight. MWD did not get the lead time last season the rest of us did, and he is attempting to comply, so I'll exempt these 2 players.

Pittsburgh LDE Larry Burt 262 lbs. The 8th year vet needs to gain 3 lbs. Take him out on Taco Tuesday and fatten him up.

Washington RDE Charles Peterson, 244 lbs. The 2nd year pro is 21 pounds light, so if he doesn't get to 265, he'll need to be inactive or moved to LB.

New York DT Anthony Dorey, 257 lbs. The rookie should be able to gain 8 lbs, but if he can't, he'll need to be inactive or switch positions.

Burt is only 5-11 and in his eighth year, so I wonder how to add that weight. Could temporarily switching him to DT help?