Front Office Football with Jag and Snoopy369

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
There are plenty of baseball sim games, like Out of the Park Baseball and PureSim Baseball.

I meant by the same company But yes, there are lots of other similar things.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Oh... yeah then, Jim doesn't do baseball sims. He does Front Office Football and The College Years.

Oh, and he's WAAAAY too into American Idol.

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by Jaguar

I actually think this might be more realistic than it seems. Really, every year in free agency, there are a handful of good-but-not-brilliant players, and then a lot of average players that get hyped up. There's kind of a "winner's curse" where the team that bids the most on a player has assuredly bid too much. Then we assume that the players getting big contracts must actually be worth it. Remember that time the Redskins got all excited about getting Brandon Lloyd, David Patten, Adam Archuleta, and Antwaan Randle El all in one offseason? How did that work out for them?

Who was the best free agent WR this year? DJ Hackett? The truth is that the free agent pickings are often pretty mediocre.

Maybe I'll do some draft reviews for 1960-1965.

Sure, they're often not that substantial, but there are usually a FEW super FAs. Asante Samuel, for example, Randy Moss last year, etc. - people who would be rated higher than the highest typical FA in FOF.

I am not really arguing with it in terms of gameplay - it's probably better that you only be able to sign mid-level guys in the FA market - but it does make it harder to rebuild via anything other than the draft (and most of the knowledgable folks on the boards seem to agree - you need to draft the star players while signing midlevel players to fill in your holes).

Certain positions are also rather lacking in FA - T for example. I've been in the market for a T for three years and haven't seen one good one (and the AIs love their T's in the draft also, so it's usually very hard to draft a good one, at least for me). I admit freely that I'm not nearly as good at drafting as you, and probably miss potential 3rd round studs due to poor drafting ability, but it's still annoying that FA seems to be relatively difficult for certain positions.

[Jaguar]

The problem is that you have a good team, so you have high standards for what you want at each position, but stud tackles don't grow on trees. If you look at the 4th round of '61, we both missed a total 4th round steal at RT. Also, there was a great one picked at 2.05 in '64. Other than that, though, all the new stud tackles have been mid-to-high first-rounders.

IRL, the only true instance of a stud tackle being available in free agency was Willie Roaf joining the Chiefs. The other great tackles of our generation have been drafted high (with the exception of Matt Lepsis) and never switched teams.

[snoopy369]

I don't mind no stud tackles, but I've had a very hard time finding a tackle in the mid 40s (not exactly a stud)... I don't think any have left their teams in recent memory. Hopefully that will change when I get home and look at the FAs tonight (after we deal with ticket increases... )

[Jaguar]

1966 Draft

Jaguar's draft included DT Don Davis in the first round, (7th overall in the real draft but never played much), RB Pete Banaszak (long-time member of two championship Raiders teams) in the second round, two linebackers, a safety, a possible starting center prospect, and K Garo Yepremian (kicker for the '72 Dolphins.)

Snoopy finally got his tackle in Charlie Harper, who should be a reliable LT for the next 10 years.

[Jaguar]

Five years later: The 1961 Draft

Consensus 1st overall: Ernie Ladd, DT, Grambling. TE Mike Ditka was obviously the safest pick in the draft, but Ladd played at a blue chip position. Three QBs looked like legitimate franchise QBs: Norm Snead, Billy Kilmer, and Fran Tarkenton.

Actual 1st overall: Dave Grayson, CB, Oregon. (Houston Texans.) Possibly seen as a reach, with some stud defensive linemen and franchise QBs on the board. Also, I felt he wasn't the best CB prospect on the board. I liked Herb Adderley and Jimmy Johnson better; especially Adderley. While both have better scouted ratings than Grayson, Grayson has definitely outplayed Johnson, and has probably slightly outplayed Adderley as well. He's less consistent, but he's a ballhawk who set the single-season interceptions record with 10.

Best players over the last 5 years:
Grayson, CB, Oregon
Tarkenton, QB, Georgia
Adderley, CB, Michigan State
Ladd, DT, Grambling
Ditka, TE, Pittsburgh

Worst bust: Paul Dudley, RB, Arkansas. (10th overall, Packers.) Never rushed for more than 623 yards in four disappointing seasons in Green Bay. Went to Philadelphia, and was cut there. Now 3rd string in San Francisco, buried way behind Gale Sayers on the depth chart. Deacon Jones, picked 11th overall by the Patriots, lost his starting job. (Goes to show that even Hall of Famers sometimes bust in this game.)

Best steal: Ernie McMillan, RT, Illinois. 4th round, Seattle Seahawks. Was great at RT for several years, and moved to LT for the 1966 season.

Snoopy's first rounder: Ditka (9th overall)
Jag's first rounder: Billy Shaw, G, Georgia Tech. (29th overall)
Ditka turned out to be the best TE in the league. Shaw turned out to be a great guard. Only one pick left on the board was clearly better than him: RB Keith Lincoln, picked by Baltimore in the 2nd round. However, the Indianapolis rushing attack was very solid in 1960, so guard was a slightly more needed position.