Well, the receiver that dominated us was definitely on the weak side, but looking at his skill set any top shelf receiver would have done that while attacking that side, in my opinion. The corner on that side was in over his head.

PHI 21 wrote: Sorry guys.

It's a big surprise for me

David Ortiz wrote: From afar, it looks like we need to shore up our defense. Our offense could use a shot in the arm-it only managed about 8 yards per passing attempt-but it was the defense that really gave out, allowing 55 points. They just kept passing to the right side, and the defense didn't bend, it broke. I think we need a replacement for Moises Chipman at CB. In both the Italy game and today, the opposing WR(s) on the the right side were the offense. I just think that last 1/2 star of BPOS that he'll never reach might have mattered more than you'd expect. His strength, for what it's worth, is really, really low for an NT player at any position besides QB and K. It isn't offset by perfect speed-he falls short of that. Surely we can do better.

I agree we need to improve, but I don't know that Chipman is THAT bad... I scouted him, and his skills are undeniably good. If someone better comes along yeah he should be switched, but it must have been bad rolls twice in a row for him. He has 19 in every skill, high INT, high stamina...

Belau23 wrote: David Ortiz wrote: From afar, it looks like we need to shore up our defense. Our offense could use a shot in the arm-it only managed about 8 yards per passing attempt-but it was the defense that really gave out, allowing 55 points. They just kept passing to the right side, and the defense didn't bend, it broke. I think we need a replacement for Moises Chipman at CB. In both the Italy game and today, the opposing WR(s) on the the right side were the offense. I just think that last 1/2 star of BPOS that he'll never reach might have mattered more than you'd expect. His strength, for what it's worth, is really, really low for an NT player at any position besides QB and K. It isn't offset by perfect speed-he falls short of that. Surely we can do better. I agree we need to improve, but I don't know that Chipman is THAT bad... I scouted him, and his skills are undeniably good. If someone better comes along yeah he should be switched, but it must have been bad rolls twice in a row for him. He has 19 in every skill, high INT, high stamina...

His skills are good, there's no denying that. I'm not saying he's terrible. I'm just trying to find some of the weak links in what seemed like a good team. I'm not sure that the high INT is so useful at CB. He can play equally well at SF, which is valuable, but more so for a dual backup than for a starter.

Since any top-tier team has to up the skills of its starting defenders at least to 15-16, and a lot will decide that those of their CB's (who face opposing WR's in this pass-heavy games) should be higher, there's a good chance that we'll be able to locate a CB with a similar resumé to Chipman's, but with 4.5*/5* talent and/or higher strength.

Some comments on some of the players/positions mentioned.

QB - If there's room to improve, I don't know where it is.

Lofton is perfect in all skills that are relevant to QB's (vision,intelligence, passing, agility) except CON and that's only a couple of notches lower. He even has near perfect speed which I don't think really helps any unless maybe he runs the ball. He also has perfect footwork which I know some think is important for QB (I'm not totally convinced yet, but he had it so why not go with it) and is in the upper quarter in positioning (which I'm also not convinced is important for QB).
Lofton is a great QB and will be for at least another season, but since he's on a human team, his agility and stamina will drop. Fortunately, his replacement is already on the team.
Phipps - He's almost a mirror image of Lofton now after training this season. He doesn't have the high footwork (again I don't think it's necessary, but some do) or speed (I think it's slightly more important than footwork, but not necessary), and his stamina could use some improvement, but otherwise I think he's ready to take over the starting mantle at any point when Lofton falls off.

WR's: We could stand to improve there some, but there's not a lot of room to improve.

Watt - maxed on catching, speed, and agility, needs to improve at positioning (but can't because he's on a bot team), and has below par CON. He's also 4.5* rated.
Allen - In my opinion, the best WR on the team at the moment, but still only 4.5* rated. Needs a bump in positioning and a couple of bumps in agility. Con is in the upper quarter.
Our future could lie with the following who are all 5* rated, just young enough to receive a bit more training, and I believe all are on teams that can train them(human owned).
Heilman - Perfect speed, same CON as Allen, could use a bump in all relevant skills, especially at positioning. Has the potential to be the best WR, but I don't know if he has enough yrs left to train to perfection.
Mayfield - Very similar WR to Allen, slightly higher agility, same CON, but low speed for a WR.
Bye - Speed is almost perfect, CON is perfect, just needs to bump up relevant skills a couple of notches each. Another who could become our best WR with a bit more training, but again, I don't know if he has enough yrs of training left to reach it.


CB: As with most positions, we could stand to improve here, but again, there's not much room to improve upon.

Chipman - He got blasted in this game, but I can't understand how. He's near perfection across the board with perfect CON. Even if he's playing against a perfect WR, he shouldn't have gotten torched that many times.
Macpherson - Same skills as Chipman except perfect speed, and 18 CON. His stamina is a bit low and if he'd been the one to get torched, particularly in the 2nd half, I would have chalked it up to that.
Ross - Skills almost identical to the above two. Perfect speed, lowish CON.
West - I used him most of the season, and maybe I should have kept him in. He has the lowest CON of all the CB (except the Special teamer Cloyd) and I was concerned it was affecting his game.
Daum - Could become our best CB soon. He may be now. I'm still hesitant because I think Vision may be important for CB's and his still needs some work. If vision is not important, then I made a mistake not using him more. Fortunately, it's still possible he can be trained for another season.



I'll try to get all my notes posted onto mm2ss's googledoc in the next week or so. I may try to run for NT coach again at some point if my work schedule permits, but whether I run or not, or whether I win the job again or not, I'll do what I can to help whomever is coaching. I'm also working on some players that may be suited to make the team next season or soon after.