Rank... Players... Age... Level... Value... Eff Level... Salary... Team...
1 ··· 54 ··· 304 ··· 79 ···
1336.45 ··· 82 ··· $16,636,000 ··· Nashville Isotopes
2 ··· 3 ··· 373 ··· 79 ···
1305.73 ··· 83 ··· $7,200,000 ··· Casey Anthony's Ruthless Daycare Service
3 ··· 52 ··· 381 ··· 79 ··· 1275.80 ··· 81 ··· $22,720,000 ··· Bellevue Blitz4 ··· 55 ··· 303 ··· 78 ···
1265.37 ··· 80 ··· $10,258,560 ··· Chesapeake Sea Serpents
5 ··· 51 ··· 296 ··· 76 ···
1261.70 ··· 80 ··· $11,328,400 ··· BC Lions
6 ··· 55 ··· 297 ··· 77 ···
1261.20 ··· 81 ··· $21,700,000 ··· Gold Coast War Hawks
7 ··· 36 ··· 300 ··· 76 ···
1242.66 ··· 79 ··· $11,485,800 ··· The Algerian Predators
8 ··· 42 ··· 330 ··· 76 ···
1218.56 ··· 79 ··· $13,160,000 ··· Côte d'Ivoire Uprising
9 ··· 54 ··· 407 ··· 78 ···
1189.41 ··· 78 ··· $23,639,000 ··· Northwood Trojans
I've taken a quick glance at your roster and depth chart. I also ran pbrScout on a set of five games (BC, Algerian, Côte d'Ivoire, Northwood and Gold Coast) to get a primer on your team's offense and how the scoring parts (QB, HB, FB, TE, WR) are used. Finally, I poked around your game against BC because I'm fairly familiar with their team and what they do. With all of that in mind, here's my two cents.
Life Flight is used too much outside, not enough insideI don't know what kind of player Life is (beyond being a rush QB archetype), but it looks like he could be used better in the rushing game. I only see four QB rush plays used: WI QB Rollout Weak, SG QB Rollout Strong, SG QB Slam and SG5WR QB Slam Weak. It looks like he's having more success with the inside plays (5+ ypc) while suffering with the outside runs (~1.5 ypc).
It used to be that rushing QBs were only outside runners and were akin to a home run swing: you'd strike out often, but the big gains made it worth the risk. At the same time, DCs could stuff the outside because nothing would be coming up the middle. The game has become more nuanced since then (changes to inside run dynamics, better offensive gameplans, better defensive reactions, etc.) and having a QB who is a threat to either run or complete a short pass will keep DCs honest.
Personally, I'm a big fan of the I-form QB sneaks. Life could probably get at least 2 ypc every time, if not 3, and you can partner it with some screens and offtackle runs to keep DCs from targeting the plays.
Add some FB rushesThis might have to wait until next season if the two FBs on the roster now don't have enough carrying/etc. to handle the load. Basically, you'll want a FB who can convert in short yardage to complement your power HB. The FB (generally) plays closer to the line of scrimmage and can hit it faster than most power HBs, plus you can pair the FB with a receiving HB to loosen the defense. (The difference between pairing a rushing FB with a rec'g HB and pairing a rec'g FB with a rushing HB is that the HB usually needs the FB to clear a hole, which makes the rec'g FB a mere bystander if it really is an HB run.)
Add a third TE, at minimumI see your offense occasionally uses some of the two-TE sets (Big-I and Singleback Big), but it's been forcing players out of position to do it. For example,
http://goallineblitz.com/game/replay.pl?game_id=2012634&pbp_id=6512558, where your receiving FB runs a route as a TE, your blocking FB has to run the FB route and, worse, your rec'g TE is held to block. Note also that the blocking FB is uncovered because he's not a threat to handle the ball. By limiting your offense like that, you're allowing opponents to cheat on defense. For your offense, you could make good use of a combo TE to back up the other two. Depending on the opponent, the DC might have to add a third TE tag (which is a headache) or risk being burned by having the wrong personnel on the field.
Fix your special teams rotationFor the record, I'm
terrible at special teams, so I can't give any advice on who to put where. What I can tell you is that playing special teams takes a lot of energy. That's one of the reasons that teams devote players to it (Special Teams Only Players, or STOPs). My team doesn't use STOPs, so we use player rotations that resemble the rotation for their normal position. (For example, I have two free safeties, and they split their ST assignments the same way they split their FS position.) What I've noticed about your depth chart is that your ST assignments likely have the best players suited for those assignments... and no backup. Worse, there are positions where you only have two players, and they're both on ST duty at the same time! That means that neither one is "fresh" when it's time to play their real position.
Watch this play:
http://goallineblitz.com/game/replay.pl?game_id=2012631&pbp_id=5281658 You're down by 3 late in the fourth quarter and kicking off, which means they're going to try to run out the clock and your defense needs to make a stand here. Both of your strong safeties (CJ SSafety and Greasy Baconeater) and both of your ROLBs (Awesome Linebacker and CJ Respect) are in on this kickoff. I can't see the energy and morale meters, but you can. I'm guessing that the energy ones don't look very good at this point and, given the two jukes before the tackle, morale probably isn't great. Now advance to the next play (
http://goallineblitz.com/game/replay.pl?game_id=2012631&pbp_id=5281668 [and hold this thought; we're going to come back to it]). Awesome Linebacker and Greasy Baconeater are still on the field, when you need them most and when they really aren't at their best.
Your defenses don't fit the situation / Scout betterSpeaking of that play, you'll notice that the RE and CB2 are dumped to the flats. The offense has a power back, blocking fullback, and a blocking TE on the field. They're
not going to run outside, so the RE and CB2 are wasted on this play. Also, the secondary (LBs and CBs, specifically) are all playing five yards back, and the HB is already across the line of scrimmage by the time before they even react to the play, which means he's three yards deep before they can touch him. Basically, that's not a run defense, which means it's the wrong defense for the situation. (I also used the scout tool on five BC Lions games. Not
once did they pass out of Big-I, and not
once did they use their power back for an outside run out of Big-I. He's strictly slams and offtackle runs)
It wasn't just the fourth quarter either. Here's a 4th-and-2.5:
http://goallineblitz.com/game/replay.pl?game_id=2012631&pbp_id=5281487 Again, power HB, but this time with a rec'g FB out of the goalline formation. In theory, that means the FB screen (always weakside) is a possibility. However, I've scouted the BC Lions. 5 games, 99 goalline formation plays, 0 passes. In fact, 73 plays were the HB Sting and 21 were the HB Blast, nearly all of them by their power HB. So, it's no surprise that he runs up the middle on this play. What's disappointing is that your defense is playing everything
but the inside run. The safeties are set as a hedge against sweeps and offtackle runs. I'm guessing that the blitzing CB1 would have covered the FB on a screen. I can't explain why your linebackers are deep in the end zone instead of closer to the line of scrimmage. I don't think I would have set them shallow (which would put them on the 1-yard line), but deep is
too deep.
That's my outside-looking-in, don't-know-the-details assessment. You're probably right about the talent being on the roster -- especially for the league you're in this season -- but as noted above, there are some glaring weaknesses on the team.
