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Honey, pick up some lambs blood while you're out and hide the first born. A veritable deluge of toads is upon us.
The asterisks are similar to the star system the football recruiting sites use. I wanted the chart to reflect both expected performance and team needs. A player receives one point for their current overall and 1/3 point for unrealized potential. So, a player with a 40/70 rating gets 50 points. The system is based on the Poor, Fair, etc ratings used in the game.
84+ *****
67-83 ****
50-66 ***
33-49 **
16-32 *
Offensive Skill Players
Key Losses: RB Bart Smoker (trade ANC) WR Joel Lysne (trade ANC)
Key Additions: WR Wesley Joyner (FA LAS) WR Louis Nafis (FA LAN) FB Andrew Sotiroff (UnD)
QB- Rogers*** Nece** Downing**
RB- Fletcher** Johnstone** Tanner**
FB- Prestbye*** Sotiroff**
TE- Sanderson** Shepard* Castillo*
FL- Nafis** Witt**
SE- Joyner*** Terry**
We regressed some here, I think. The addition of vet QB Nece and another year of seasoning for Downing leaves us slightly better off at QB than last year but we're still not nearly good enough. Rogers and possibly Downing are okay but I like having my guy calling plays. I'll continue to swing hard during the draft and I'll have to hit one eventually, right? The Smoker trade as well as a disappointing camp from Johnstone leaves us scrambling for answers at RB. I still think Johnstone can be effective in a limited role. RB's are bad but there is no pressing need to make a trade or reach in the draft yet. Undrafted rookie Andrew Sotiroff is one of the few offensive bright spots to emerge from camp. Prestbye may be the IFL's premiere blocking FB and a decent receiver. He'll play TE in singleback sets and if he shows anything the dreaded two FB offense will debut in Little Rock. Have to believe we're as solid as anyone at FB. I took over a team with atrocious TE's and made it worse. Identified a couple FA's and a couple late rounders I liked. The FA's went elsewhere and the late rounders went in the middle rounds. Sanderson looks third string. Horrible! I'll probably make roster moves at TE when teams finalize their 46 man rosters. We packaged Smoker and Lysne and shipped them to Anchorage for picks that haven't been made yet and used our abundance of cap space to bring in some vets. I call it buying picks. Struck out at RB but did well at WR. Joyner should be able to replace Lysne (more 3rd down catching less getting downfield otherwise they have very similar bars). Nafis and Witt bring some big play ability that was lacking. Joyner is good but I still feel like we need a go to guy. I'll use a 1st rounder or break the bank in FA here soon, I promise.
Offensive Line
Key Losses: T Craig O'Field (trade VAN)
Key Additions: T Victor Levine (FA VER) T Ernie Jamison (2.19)
LT- Levine** Jamison**
LG- O'Neal*
C- Calloway*** Staton***
RG- Bronson** Hempstead** Heath**
RT- Bookwalter** Lethert*
Still a work in progress up front. Levine was brought in as a stop gap following the O'Feild trade. If I get one year out of him I'll be happy. Jamison didn't impress or disappoint in TC. His size might make him better suited to play an object in the Khyber Belt than protect the QB's blindside, though. No reason not to give him lots of playing time. The role of LG will be played by C's and RG's. I like Calloway quite a bit more than I did the first time I viewed these Toads. He's got nice solid bars and showed enough last season as a first time starter to be in LR for awhile. Staton is a quality backup. Not much endurance but has the experience tags to step in anywhere on the interior OL for a few plays/starts. Bronson has good run blocking potential. He needs to actually block someone, though. Too young to make a judgment on. Will start for sure this year and possibly next. Hempstead is in a similar boat. I expect to play both of them a lot and hope one of them exceeds their bars and my expectations. Heath is a decent vet playing out his contract.I expect Bookwalter to be one of our better lineman this season. His technique and strength are fine but he's over 30, lacks endurance and has never had a 20 KRB season despite starting since 2013. Winfred Lethert was liked by my scout, had a good combine, nearly ideal size and refused option 1. Such high hopes for this guy. He might still be a player but he's probably too raw to be worth developing. Will be a difficult cut at some point, I imagine. I drafted five OL, and most of them had good camps, but four of them were mid 5th or later. Need to address that earlier next time. Calloway is our center going forward. I'm hoping to find another starter out of Jamison / Bronson / Hempstead. Hoping for two seems greedy.
Defensive Front
Key Losses: NT Glen Ross (retired)
Key Additions: LB Deron Sheldon (FA REN) DE Bucky Mattingly (2.1) NT Mike Stone (UnD)
DE- Mattingly** Bell** Greer**
NT- Stone** Menzies**
DE- Levine***
SLB- Robbins****
SILB- Feienbaum*** Ballard** Lynch**
WILB- Sheldon*** Ralph**
WLB- Edwards** Welch**
Finally! Something to get excited about. Levine doesn't quite have the run defense or pass rush technique bars I'd like from my best DL but he does other things very well and should be more than effective. Mattingly is one of the leagues most promising rookies. I expect him to be a big time pass rusher in 2-3 years. Bell and Greer would easily start on several teams. All four have lots of football in front of them. Mike Stone is the most tenuous starter on this team. I'm not sure what I have in Stone. He was a big agile 10/29 DE. I moved him to NT pre TC with the familiar "there's reason to believe" statement. He's now a 12/36 NT. I'm gonna start him and keep an eye on his current. I don't think he's the LR NT of the future but he's worth developing for now. A 40+ NT who excels vs the run is worth looking at at this point. My hope is that his rating was something like 8/31 after the switch and most of the gain is TC. +2/+7 doesn't make sense. Stone may end up being a good and affordable extra DT / backup NT. If he doesn't get better quick I'll go with Menzies. Linebacker is now the clear strength of the Toads, maybe it always was. What do I know? 2018 DRotY JC Robbins was sent abroad due to a lack of info on this team. I expect him to be the IFL's premiere OLB before this season is over. I was mistaken last time I posted a depth chart. Feigenbaum was able to move inside. Feigenbaum and Sheldon are each in the leagues top 20-25 talents at ILB. Both are better than that against the run. And young. We have good depth inside too. Edwards has the lowest overall rating of our starting LB's. He's an elite pass rusher. He put up good pass rush numbers playing in front of an average, at best, secondary last year. I think he'll be a force going forward. Welch is vet we brought in after we couldn't sign our older WLB to a reasonable deal. One and done? If Glen Ross was still here I'd say this is a championship level defensive front seven. Adding a really good NT is a priority. The only thing I don't like about these LB's is that the backups are older than the starters. Finding a creep every other year or so should keep this group elite through the Robbins era.
Secondary
Key Losses: none
Key Adittions: CB Korey Emmons (3.27) CB Dominic Strong (4.16) CB Randall McGee (5.12)
CB- Whiting** Peeler** McGee*
SS- McTyer** Dow*
FS- L.Emmons*** Bowler*
CB- K.Emmons** Dierdorf** Ficken** Strong*
Whiting is our best DB. I shopped him and there was some interest but nobody met my price. I imagine I'll be more accommodating next off season. We drafted CB's in the 3rd, 4th and 5th rounds. Korey Emmons is predictably the best of the rookies. He'll be given the opportunity to start opposite Whiting based on potential more than current ability. We just don't have a lot of good options here, or any. Strong and McGee each impressed the staff in camp and should easily make the next several Toad rosters. Dierdorf and Ficken are solid vets who'll be forced into much larger roles than their talent warrants. I'd like them to be a dime and reserve CB but I suspect one will end up starting and the other wil be my nickleback. The safeties suck. Lorenzo Emmons has a decent overall rating but a horrible zone bar which I hate in a safety. Bowler was big CB I drafted with a move to S in mind. Whatever ratings increase he he made was wiped out and then some in camp. SS McTyer is in his second year he still could turn into something but I doubt it. Dow is an undrafted rookie whose bars seemed to good to be true. They were. The plan here is to build a stable of six or so 40-50 DB's while using my early picks on the offense, DL & LB. Then plug in a big time CB and S and win a championship! I think that plan is solid. I know it will be frustrating.
The asterisks are similar to the star system the football recruiting sites use. I wanted the chart to reflect both expected performance and team needs. A player receives one point for their current overall and 1/3 point for unrealized potential. So, a player with a 40/70 rating gets 50 points. The system is based on the Poor, Fair, etc ratings used in the game.
84+ *****
67-83 ****
50-66 ***
33-49 **
16-32 *
Offensive Skill Players
Key Losses: RB Bart Smoker (trade ANC) WR Joel Lysne (trade ANC)
Key Additions: WR Wesley Joyner (FA LAS) WR Louis Nafis (FA LAN) FB Andrew Sotiroff (UnD)
QB- Rogers*** Nece** Downing**
RB- Fletcher** Johnstone** Tanner**
FB- Prestbye*** Sotiroff**
TE- Sanderson** Shepard* Castillo*
FL- Nafis** Witt**
SE- Joyner*** Terry**
We regressed some here, I think. The addition of vet QB Nece and another year of seasoning for Downing leaves us slightly better off at QB than last year but we're still not nearly good enough. Rogers and possibly Downing are okay but I like having my guy calling plays. I'll continue to swing hard during the draft and I'll have to hit one eventually, right? The Smoker trade as well as a disappointing camp from Johnstone leaves us scrambling for answers at RB. I still think Johnstone can be effective in a limited role. RB's are bad but there is no pressing need to make a trade or reach in the draft yet. Undrafted rookie Andrew Sotiroff is one of the few offensive bright spots to emerge from camp. Prestbye may be the IFL's premiere blocking FB and a decent receiver. He'll play TE in singleback sets and if he shows anything the dreaded two FB offense will debut in Little Rock. Have to believe we're as solid as anyone at FB. I took over a team with atrocious TE's and made it worse. Identified a couple FA's and a couple late rounders I liked. The FA's went elsewhere and the late rounders went in the middle rounds. Sanderson looks third string. Horrible! I'll probably make roster moves at TE when teams finalize their 46 man rosters. We packaged Smoker and Lysne and shipped them to Anchorage for picks that haven't been made yet and used our abundance of cap space to bring in some vets. I call it buying picks. Struck out at RB but did well at WR. Joyner should be able to replace Lysne (more 3rd down catching less getting downfield otherwise they have very similar bars). Nafis and Witt bring some big play ability that was lacking. Joyner is good but I still feel like we need a go to guy. I'll use a 1st rounder or break the bank in FA here soon, I promise.
Offensive Line
Key Losses: T Craig O'Field (trade VAN)
Key Additions: T Victor Levine (FA VER) T Ernie Jamison (2.19)
LT- Levine** Jamison**
LG- O'Neal*
C- Calloway*** Staton***
RG- Bronson** Hempstead** Heath**
RT- Bookwalter** Lethert*
Still a work in progress up front. Levine was brought in as a stop gap following the O'Feild trade. If I get one year out of him I'll be happy. Jamison didn't impress or disappoint in TC. His size might make him better suited to play an object in the Khyber Belt than protect the QB's blindside, though. No reason not to give him lots of playing time. The role of LG will be played by C's and RG's. I like Calloway quite a bit more than I did the first time I viewed these Toads. He's got nice solid bars and showed enough last season as a first time starter to be in LR for awhile. Staton is a quality backup. Not much endurance but has the experience tags to step in anywhere on the interior OL for a few plays/starts. Bronson has good run blocking potential. He needs to actually block someone, though. Too young to make a judgment on. Will start for sure this year and possibly next. Hempstead is in a similar boat. I expect to play both of them a lot and hope one of them exceeds their bars and my expectations. Heath is a decent vet playing out his contract.I expect Bookwalter to be one of our better lineman this season. His technique and strength are fine but he's over 30, lacks endurance and has never had a 20 KRB season despite starting since 2013. Winfred Lethert was liked by my scout, had a good combine, nearly ideal size and refused option 1. Such high hopes for this guy. He might still be a player but he's probably too raw to be worth developing. Will be a difficult cut at some point, I imagine. I drafted five OL, and most of them had good camps, but four of them were mid 5th or later. Need to address that earlier next time. Calloway is our center going forward. I'm hoping to find another starter out of Jamison / Bronson / Hempstead. Hoping for two seems greedy.
Defensive Front
Key Losses: NT Glen Ross (retired)
Key Additions: LB Deron Sheldon (FA REN) DE Bucky Mattingly (2.1) NT Mike Stone (UnD)
DE- Mattingly** Bell** Greer**
NT- Stone** Menzies**
DE- Levine***
SLB- Robbins****
SILB- Feienbaum*** Ballard** Lynch**
WILB- Sheldon*** Ralph**
WLB- Edwards** Welch**
Finally! Something to get excited about. Levine doesn't quite have the run defense or pass rush technique bars I'd like from my best DL but he does other things very well and should be more than effective. Mattingly is one of the leagues most promising rookies. I expect him to be a big time pass rusher in 2-3 years. Bell and Greer would easily start on several teams. All four have lots of football in front of them. Mike Stone is the most tenuous starter on this team. I'm not sure what I have in Stone. He was a big agile 10/29 DE. I moved him to NT pre TC with the familiar "there's reason to believe" statement. He's now a 12/36 NT. I'm gonna start him and keep an eye on his current. I don't think he's the LR NT of the future but he's worth developing for now. A 40+ NT who excels vs the run is worth looking at at this point. My hope is that his rating was something like 8/31 after the switch and most of the gain is TC. +2/+7 doesn't make sense. Stone may end up being a good and affordable extra DT / backup NT. If he doesn't get better quick I'll go with Menzies. Linebacker is now the clear strength of the Toads, maybe it always was. What do I know? 2018 DRotY JC Robbins was sent abroad due to a lack of info on this team. I expect him to be the IFL's premiere OLB before this season is over. I was mistaken last time I posted a depth chart. Feigenbaum was able to move inside. Feigenbaum and Sheldon are each in the leagues top 20-25 talents at ILB. Both are better than that against the run. And young. We have good depth inside too. Edwards has the lowest overall rating of our starting LB's. He's an elite pass rusher. He put up good pass rush numbers playing in front of an average, at best, secondary last year. I think he'll be a force going forward. Welch is vet we brought in after we couldn't sign our older WLB to a reasonable deal. One and done? If Glen Ross was still here I'd say this is a championship level defensive front seven. Adding a really good NT is a priority. The only thing I don't like about these LB's is that the backups are older than the starters. Finding a creep every other year or so should keep this group elite through the Robbins era.
Secondary
Key Losses: none
Key Adittions: CB Korey Emmons (3.27) CB Dominic Strong (4.16) CB Randall McGee (5.12)
CB- Whiting** Peeler** McGee*
SS- McTyer** Dow*
FS- L.Emmons*** Bowler*
CB- K.Emmons** Dierdorf** Ficken** Strong*
Whiting is our best DB. I shopped him and there was some interest but nobody met my price. I imagine I'll be more accommodating next off season. We drafted CB's in the 3rd, 4th and 5th rounds. Korey Emmons is predictably the best of the rookies. He'll be given the opportunity to start opposite Whiting based on potential more than current ability. We just don't have a lot of good options here, or any. Strong and McGee each impressed the staff in camp and should easily make the next several Toad rosters. Dierdorf and Ficken are solid vets who'll be forced into much larger roles than their talent warrants. I'd like them to be a dime and reserve CB but I suspect one will end up starting and the other wil be my nickleback. The safeties suck. Lorenzo Emmons has a decent overall rating but a horrible zone bar which I hate in a safety. Bowler was big CB I drafted with a move to S in mind. Whatever ratings increase he he made was wiped out and then some in camp. SS McTyer is in his second year he still could turn into something but I doubt it. Dow is an undrafted rookie whose bars seemed to good to be true. They were. The plan here is to build a stable of six or so 40-50 DB's while using my early picks on the offense, DL & LB. Then plug in a big time CB and S and win a championship! I think that plan is solid. I know it will be frustrating.
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