A Colts/Blizzard Journal

[JPK]

Draft recap

As in previous years, the draft has had its ups and downs for the Blizzard.

22. OLB Altair Sloan (74/22), Colorado
41. HB Bubba Brady (83/21), Citadel
58. MLB Jewell Wilkerson (72/21), Wisconsin
68. RG Richard Gibson (79/24), Alabama
97. FS Todd Stevens (75/23), Arizona State
112. TE Palmer Gooden (78/21), Vanderbilt
115. SS Chad Jordan (81/23), Georgia

I picked two fullbacks in the later rounds, but they turned out to not be very good.

[JPK]

Current depth chart

After being inactive in post-draft free agency, the depth chart looks like this.

QB: 6 Clayton Truman (95/26), 1 Calvin Moore (80/26), 8 Walter Cottrell (77/22)
HB: 31 Trevor Newman (84/24), 22 Bernie Serra (89/26), 39 Bubba Brady (83/21)
FB: 13 Jayson McCoy (98/25), 27 Frank Middleton (89/28), 41 Corey Jackson (99/34)
WR: 81 Sheldon Stone (96/29), 10 Anthony Bassett (84/24), 85 Todd Rogers (81/23), 16 Byron Lucas (73/26), 14 Ivan Shephard (71/26)
TE: 89 Hunter Wallick (80/28), 88 Hank Newman (86/24), 42 C.J. Reynolds (84/28), 80 Chykie Jackson (76/25), 47 Palmer Gooden (78/21)
LT: 75 J.J. Maddox (88/23), 79 Brett Lincoln (75/27)
LG: 67 Angelo Millen (94/28)
C: 77 Erik Dorsey (87/23), 64 Roger Stevens (82/24)
RG: 69 Jonathan Smith (79/26), 70 Richard Gibson (79/24)
RT: 65 J.K. Lewis (84/25)

LE: 94 Tervaris Stewart (96/30), 90 Gene Belvin (87/28), 61 Phil Curry (82/24)
DT: 91 Akeem Thomas (81/27), 92 Jacob Jacobs (80/23), 97 Mike Moore (76/28)
RE: 99 William Morse (82/31), 73 Donald Richardson (78/26)
LOLB: 54 Albert Green (84/27), 50 Altair Sloan (74/22), 55 Caz Quick (72/24)
MLB: 56 Eddie Andrews (83/28), 49 Thomas Hixon (79/23) 43 Bubba Sheth (79/27), 95 Stafon Brown (75/27), 57 Jewell Wilkerson (72/21)
ROLB: 98 Ricky Wayne (85/22), 58 Colby Payton (80/28)
LB/CB: 51 Vince Carpenter (82/27), 53 Lamarr Pritchett (84/26)
CB: 26 Eric Baker (83/26), 34 Marc Tanner (83/27), 24 Sidney Kymer (79/24), 40 Brady Diamond (76/27), 32 Lee Hall (75/23)
FS: 35 Ben Brown (86/27), 38 Eugene Kocian (85/25), 28 Todd Stevens (75/23)
SS: 29 Tra Hunt (95/31), 37 Darrell Sherry (83/27), 46 Chad Jordan (81/23), 25 Sammy Spikes (75/23)

K/P: 2 Derek Wallick, 12 Carl Plummer


This is only a tentative chart, as many experiments might be made:

-The crowded FB/TE corps will be assessed and the players will be assigned to the position where they have the most chances succeeding.
-Same with the offensive line. Guards might be switched or tried at center, and tackles might be switched also.
-Is it time to put LE Tervaris Stewart back at TE?
-Linebackers could be moved around.
-For the first time in decades, there is no certainty to the holder of the iconic LB/CB position. Vince Carpenter won the DPOY award, but his stats were not stellar. Lamarr Pritchett did a great job when subbing in. Even Ricky Wayne, who was flying all over the field on week 17 and in the playoffs, might have a shot.
-At 27, it could be the last chance for Brady Diamond to earn a starting spot, be it at cornerback or safety.

[JPK]

Honored jersey numbers

For the start of the 40th season, the Anchorage Blizzard has updated its list of honored numbers by adding #44, #59 and #84, as well as adding Pat Owens to the already-restricted #93.

#7: QB Josh Bruce, P Paul Cherry
#11: WR Rashaan McLean
#18: QB Jim Engram
#22: FB Ike Kent
#25: CB Jerry Jansen
#33: HB Shawn McNamara
#44 FS Jeremiah Burns
#45: HB Adrian Jones, CB Antwaan Harper
#48: HB Stephen Cottrell
#59 LB Dusty Caldwell
#68: G/T Austin Jackson
#71: T Ricardo Jones
#82: TE Hariman Jahoda
#84 RS/WR Ryan Billups
#88: WR B.J. Reyes
#93: DE Dave Heatherington, DT Pat Owens
#96: LB Cornelius Glenn

None of those numbers are actually retired, but they are given out more cautiously.

[KO'BBF]

Week 2 update

I never post game logs, but maybe I should start. If this game is any indication, Sheldon Stone will have an exceptional year.

I like the game logs, but I am a stat nerd.

I love your journal, I don't think you need to add anything new. I enjoy your writing, its a good read. I do like the recaps. keep up the good work!

[KO'BBF]

Honored jersey numbers

None of those numbers are actually retired, but they are given out more cautiously.

that's an impressive Ring of Honor. I hope you don't run out of jersey numbers soon

[JPK]

Week 2 update

I never post game logs, but maybe I should start. If this game is any indication, Sheldon Stone will have an exceptional year.

I like the game logs, but I am a stat nerd.

I love your journal, I don't think you need to add anything new. I enjoy your writing, its a good read. I do like the recaps. keep up the good work!

Thank you for the kind words! I think the occasional game logs are there to stay. As a stat nerd, I'm sure you've noticed that the standards are very different from the real NFL. For example, in my franchise, a running back rushing for 2000 yards had a great year, but it has been accomplished frequently. Shawn McNamara once rushed for over 3000 yards, though I hesitate to call that the best season ever, because he fumbled the ball quite a bit, too.

As my ring of honor, it's a good thing I don't actually retire the jerseys. Honored numbers can still be issued to players at different positions, or even to promising players at the same position. For example, CB Jerry Jansen's #25 is currently worn by safety Sammy Spikes. And at least one defensive end has worn LB Cornelius Glenn's #96.

[RevanFan]

Week 2 update

I never post game logs, but maybe I should start. If this game is any indication, Sheldon Stone will have an exceptional year.

I like the game logs, but I am a stat nerd.

I love your journal, I don't think you need to add anything new. I enjoy your writing, its a good read. I do like the recaps. keep up the good work!

Thank you for the kind words! I think the occasional game logs are there to stay. As a stat nerd, I'm sure you've noticed that the standards are very different from the real NFL. For example, in my franchise, a running back rushing for 2000 yards had a great year, but it has been accomplished frequently. Shawn McNamara once rushed for over 3000 yards, though I hesitate to call that the best season ever, because he fumbled the ball quite a bit, too.

As my ring of honor, it's a good thing I don't actually retire the jerseys. Honored numbers can still be issued to players at different positions, or even to promising players at the same position. For example, CB Jerry Jansen's #25 is currently worn by safety Sammy Spikes. And at least one defensive end has worn LB Cornelius Glenn's #96.

In my franchise, my ring of honor is so huge that I gave up even restricting numbers long ago. The only ones I'll hesitate to use are 9, 82, and 88, and I'll never use 8, 12, 22, or 74. So... same as in real life. I did use 74 once, but it felt... wrong.

[JPK]

I like the game logs, but I am a stat nerd.

I love your journal, I don't think you need to add anything new. I enjoy your writing, its a good read. I do like the recaps. keep up the good work!

Thank you for the kind words! I think the occasional game logs are there to stay. As a stat nerd, I'm sure you've noticed that the standards are very different from the real NFL. For example, in my franchise, a running back rushing for 2000 yards had a great year, but it has been accomplished frequently. Shawn McNamara once rushed for over 3000 yards, though I hesitate to call that the best season ever, because he fumbled the ball quite a bit, too.

As my ring of honor, it's a good thing I don't actually retire the jerseys. Honored numbers can still be issued to players at different positions, or even to promising players at the same position. For example, CB Jerry Jansen's #25 is currently worn by safety Sammy Spikes. And at least one defensive end has worn LB Cornelius Glenn's #96.

In my franchise, my ring of honor is so huge that I gave up even restricting numbers long ago. The only ones I'll hesitate to use are 9, 82, and 88, and I'll never use 8, 12, 22, or 74. So... same as in real life. I did use 74 once, but it felt... wrong.

But I liked Lyle Sanders! I wonder what he's up to now?

I agree that some numbers on certain players/positions feel wrong. Like I am moving a guard to tackle for next year and I'm debating whether to let him keep his #65.

[RevanFan]

Thank you for the kind words! I think the occasional game logs are there to stay. As a stat nerd, I'm sure you've noticed that the standards are very different from the real NFL. For example, in my franchise, a running back rushing for 2000 yards had a great year, but it has been accomplished frequently. Shawn McNamara once rushed for over 3000 yards, though I hesitate to call that the best season ever, because he fumbled the ball quite a bit, too.

As my ring of honor, it's a good thing I don't actually retire the jerseys. Honored numbers can still be issued to players at different positions, or even to promising players at the same position. For example, CB Jerry Jansen's #25 is currently worn by safety Sammy Spikes. And at least one defensive end has worn LB Cornelius Glenn's #96.

In my franchise, my ring of honor is so huge that I gave up even restricting numbers long ago. The only ones I'll hesitate to use are 9, 82, and 88, and I'll never use 8, 12, 22, or 74. So... same as in real life. I did use 74 once, but it felt... wrong.

But I liked Lyle Sanders! I wonder what he's up to now?

I agree that some numbers on certain players/positions feel wrong. Like I am moving a guard to tackle for next year and I'm debating whether to let him keep his #65.

I'd say keep it. #65 isn't the strangest number for tackles.

Sanders ended up with the Cardinals. He's been between average to good most seasons, but always seems to have his best games against us (naturally).

[JPK]

In my franchise, my ring of honor is so huge that I gave up even restricting numbers long ago. The only ones I'll hesitate to use are 9, 82, and 88, and I'll never use 8, 12, 22, or 74. So... same as in real life. I did use 74 once, but it felt... wrong.

But I liked Lyle Sanders! I wonder what he's up to now?

I agree that some numbers on certain players/positions feel wrong. Like I am moving a guard to tackle for next year and I'm debating whether to let him keep his #65.

I'd say keep it. #65 isn't the strangest number for tackles.

Sanders ended up with the Cardinals. He's been between average to good most seasons, but always seems to have his best games against us (naturally).

It's so frustrating when promising players end up not being as good as you expected. I guess that makes up for low-rated players being much more effective than their attributes would suggest.

Also, I guess you're right about #65 not being too weird. Especially since I'm not 100% certain he will be effective as a tackle (though I'll give him every chance to prove himself in the preseason).