tribewriter wrote:
As I wrote in the blog, a lot of teams drafted young players heavily in the first 10 rounds. I think that turned out to be good strategy, because trying to find young players in the middle rounds was really difficult ... they were mostly gone.
That's the approach I took in my other 2 allocations (79, 85) and it seems to have worked out well as we hit season 3. Especially my Dayton RiverBandits(79). I drafted so many young players there, they started out good and have grown together nicely as a unit. Not every player had a rating increase and I didn't resign everyone I wanted after year 2, but most. The defense has been especially good during the current season.
My San Francisco team has been just as good on the field as DRB, both teams have a division title, a wildcard, and a loss in a conference championship. Off the field almost but not quite as I took a few more free agency hits and really had to scramble to find a QB in the middle of season 2.
https://mfn85.myfootballnow.com/player/1222 I took this guy with my 2nd pick because he was supposed to be accurate. I knew there was a bust chance with that volatility but I mistakenly thought he wouldn't drop so much. Our season 1 was before the new game engine and he threw for over 5000 yds and had 40 TD's, still league records. Season 2 we switched and Tim Whatley turned into Walter White (I named a good portion of that team after Seinfeld characters). He sucked so bad I turned to both of my backups and they were just as bad so I traded for not 1 but 2 qb's. Why 2? Because I still had an awesome running game and defense and was around .500, all I needed was a QB who could consistently move the chains. The first guy I tried was accurate when he had time but he was Peyton Manning slow and had the ball security of early career Tiki Barber so he had to sit.
The second guy I got was from Gustoon who told me he thought this QB he had would fit my system well. I wasn't thrilled with his ratings but the price was right and I was desperate enough to try anyone. I resisted playing Timothy Cate at first because Ralph Pitts had better ratings for the most part, and cost me more. Like I said above, Pitts had to sit. I eased Cate in by playing all 3 qb's during 2 games trying to play to strengths. I didn't like that approach and still didn't like Whatley or Pitts so I figured I would see what I had in Cate before his contract expired at the end of the season.
Wouldn't you know it, my team went on a roll once I gave Cate the keys to the offense. Earned a wildcard and lost in the conference championship. I have since signed Cate to an extension and traded Whatley and Pitts while drafting a young QB who showed some promise during preseason. Season 3 is just starting Opening Week and I lost my starting SS Todd Gack during preseason, out 10 weeks but I'm not worried. Defensive backfield is my strongest/deepest position group.
Looks like I went off on a tangent there, I tend to do that.