Nice looking roster overall. You've got quite a bit of depth at QB, at first I kind of figured that you might want to trade away one of your QBs to fill in for another position, but you look good at pretty much every position. I'm also a little surprised to see AJ Hawk at such a high overall... wasn't his starting overall in the mid-to-upper 70's?

Hawk was an 82 to start with. I played Capers' 3-4 in the first year and Hawk did not improve at all. I switched to the 4-3 in the 2nd season and Hawk was Nick Barnett's back-up during season 2 and most of season 3 until Barnett got hurt. Hawk then jumped to 87 in Barnett's absence and this prompted me to trade away Barnett. In season 4, Hawk was a monster and continued to improve to his current level.

I think the main thing is, had I stuck with the 3-4, I don't think Hawk would have improved that much, but I'm glad I made the move to the 4-3 with Hawk as the starting MLB, though Barnett's injury had a major part in that because I was going to trade Hawk away and keep Barnett.

I think 95 will be as high as he gets at he's in the prime of his career and should start to decline soon. That's why I drafted Sam Turner. He's raw, but has potential to be a starting MLB in about 3 years.

Should be a good season.

How the heck did Cullen Jenkins get to 99 overall? Not to mention Pickett, Raji and Montgomery. Did you edit the stats before you started the franchise?

I'd be inclined to use that rookie corner as the nickel back - 82 is an excellent starting stat and he'll become an elite player if he gets plenty of game time. I'd also use that rookie receiver as the number 2 guy and try and get him the ball often.

The defense overall is very good as a result of my very aggressive play calling that emphasizes pressure on the QB and RB by the DL and LBs. I have a great secondary to help coverage on any blitz pick ups. I control every one of the DL guys, depending on which way I think the ball is going. I control LB's on occasion as well if he's on a blitz route that opens up with a clear path to the HB or QB. Even with my 68 OVR RE Wendell Becket, I've gotten to the QB or RB with him a few times, using my skills to swim or bullrush past the OL. He's very strong, but slow. If he can't penetrate early, he's beaten, but if he penetrates early, it's a loss for yardage. As a result, they improved greatly. And no, I did not edit any stats.

The draw back of an agressive blitz heavy scheme is that I do give up the big play, even with a great secondary that I have, but I accept that trade off for the overall performance.

I think the reason you don't see this time of improvement on a Packers team controlled by the computer is because I think the play calling for the defense is not as agressive as mine. Plus none of the players are controlled by a human, which makes a difference. I find that human controlled players improve on their OVR much more than AI controlled players.

Ok..I'm beating Dallas in a tough game and with :20 to go left in the game, the system shuts down due to a faulty power cord...sighs..time to buy a new power cord..then play Dallas - again.

nice thread. are you simming the games or playing them