Is the reigning MVP QB Clancy on his way out in Houston with young gun QB Lopez taking the 1st team snaps?

Looks like there's some nice young QB's on the rise. Some that are having a good pre-season are San Diego's QB Young, Kansas City's QB Azevedo, Tampa Bay's QB Walker and Carolina's 3rd string QB Sheets. There might be some interesting trades coming before the deadline.

New Orleans 2nd round pick RB Bryant is having a nice pre-season. But got his bell rung and will be out a week or two. Welcome to Paydirt kid.

Dallas 3rd round pick WR Oboyle is looking good as well. Catching 94% of the passes coming his way at a 17.0 yds per catch.

On the defensive side, Tampa Bay's 2nd year player DT O'Neil is looking pretty good with 4 sacks and Washington's 4th round pick Bill Demers who is a WR by trade and a DB at heart, has 4 Int's. Time for a position change?

AFC South should be on everyone's watch list you have been warned

The 10th Annual Beercloud Predictions are up. Fire away

https://teambeercloud.wixsite.com/paydirt


Note:
Since we have a Sunday between our midweek and our opening Kickoff, I wont delay the sim 1 day like we usually do. Good luck this year

No worries Meat, you caught the Pack with the strangest QB situation Ive ever experienced in MFN, lol. Thanks to the trade with cyclone, it looks like that problem has been solved based on first game performance against a team that won 11 games last season, just in time to start the season. Even with the ridiculous QB problem, was surprised the defense gave up a lot of points, a lot of that was due to turnovers inside our own 30, but was and is a cause for concern. Been some interesting trades during the past couple of sims. Good luck all, lets have a fun reg season, lets set a record for posts in the Season thread! Hey, has anyone else noticed the tactic of "hoarding" 80 rated or higher QBs for trade purposes? First time Ive seen that one in a league, and only noticed it when searching for a QB and on trade proposals, all of which were not accepted. Not criticizing the tactic, just observing and hopefully making others more aware. You will probably not get a good deal in trade on any of them, two are 13 yr old vets, so even if you are desperate, like I was, would advise you not to give up a high draft. choice for them. Its real tempting to trade for an 80+ rated QB when your starter is going real bad , but the better move vs trading a high draft choice is to try your QB2 first, then pick up a FA QB, unless you can get a "fair" trade value & deal for a QB with proven success in 4.5. Keep in mind that most, if not all, QB2's are going to have much lower qbr's than if they were starting, due to the "penalty" that was put on QB subs for the first 10 plays or so. When trading for a QB, make sure you check their stats also and take into consideration the penalty if they were subbing.

Well....I'm screwed....thanks BC.

lol

The WR1 position has taken somewhat of a beating in 4.5, due to the change in the WR/DB algorithm/code for pass plays. But, even so, there are exceptions that posted excellent results in the 78 season. So, the top three WR1 in order are: (Ai rating/my weights)

1. Louis Martinez, Miami. (87/84) high rating & high key atts, 95 speed & accel. 7 yr vet. 1017 yds (7th), 14.7 avg, 68% catch, 10 TDs (3rd). Both Miami & Houston had 2 1000 yd receivers, with Houston's WR2, Smith being the top WR last season. Washington was a close 3rd with #2 Gray and #10 Woodson (902 yds, 7 TDs) who was also a WR1.

2. Donald Hall, Seattle, (97/94) basically 100s in all important atts, as good a WR based on rating and attributes that you can get, 5 yr vet this season.

3. Charles Woodson, Wash, (90/91) 3 yr vet, he will be doing a lot of damage for several seasons to come.

All 3 of these WR1's are high raters, so its no wonder that they performed so well. Their performance also depends on other factors, QB, pass protection (which has improved in 4.5, less sacks/pressure), play selection, and matchups. So, how about the over-achievers? Im not going to post their stats, only their rating, so here are the top 3 over-achieving WRs for last season.

1. Wesley Barnes, WR2, Denver 76/75 ... finished #4 overall, 1.26 pick in 74 season, good eye Nuggs!.

2. Carlos Imes, WR2, NO Saints 71/68 ... -21 progress after being drafted 1.14 in 78 draft, even with being a super serious bust, he put up a very good season for a rookie WR. His default rating is deceiving, he has good speed (85), bump avoid (73), and courage (91).

3. Leonard Piper, WR3, SD Chargers, 78/76 ... was in 9th season last year, and racked up best WR performance for having less than 80 speed (63), his skill atts are very good and is another like Imes, with a negative progress of -13, a big part of that being the 9 yr loss.

Im sure there are several other sub 80 and even sub 70 default raters worth posting, see if you can find them or if you have one on your team, post them in this thread. For example, here's a real "eye popper" ....

Erwin Rucker, WR2, Phil Eagles, 64/59 !! pass catch/40 !!, route 51, speed 72. Finished with 52 catches (61%), just under 800 yds/15.3 avg pc, and 6 TDs! was a 2.31 pick by Atlanta in the 73 draft, he was cut by Atlanta in late FA 76, and the Eagles picked him up in FA 77, and he becomes the Eagles best WR last season. Nice going John, but i bet you did not expect that kind of performance when you picked him up, did you? The 60 and 70 raters who come through out of the FA pool are my favs. There was nothing, including his stat history, which was bad, that would even give you a hint that he would finish in the top 20 WRs for last season. cheers!

Good game Browns.

GG Rams.


Side note: Michael Franks just passed Pedro Ford as Paydirts all time leading rusher.

GG Minnesota

You guys dominated the game but that opening kickoff return for a TD was a killer. The downside to the win is the 49ers lost the no. 1 overall pick in the draft for seven weeks due to an ankle injury. And the 49ers are thin back there as it is. yikes


Note:
Im heading out of town here in a few minutes so I will update everything and do the write up tomorrow.
And there is a lot to write about in week one. Wow