What time is it? It's once again time for another round of Taco's Team Rankings! How does your team stack up against the rest of the league? Read on to find out...

Note: PTR = Previous Taco Ranking

[ba12a1ed]1. Tampa Bay Torpedoes[/ba12a1ed] (11-5) Owner: wademoore PTR: 3

Tampa Bay won a pair of away playoff games last season before losing to Charleston in the conference finals. This season they are the favorite to win the league's toughest division. Tampa's biggest offseason move was signing DE Bob McCalla who was given nearly $15 million in bonus money. McCalla did not live up to expectations in Fargo, but sometimes a new team will rejuvenate an older player. McCalla adds another star to Tampa's outstanding defense which is led by its speedy secondary (3 players on the league's fastest man list). On offense rising star WR Jermaine Stroman is expected to have a big season.

[ba12a1ed]2. Santa Cruz Privateers[/ba12a1ed] (9-7) Owner: Joe PTR: 9

The 2004 western conference champions were winning at halftime of the CFL championship game, but ended up losing by 4 points. This year they are expected to return to the title game, but it won't be easy. Week 1 will be their first huge test as they go on the road to face division rival Sacramento. The Privateers haven't been too active in free agency as their goal was to keep their current team together. Their best move was giving all-league 2nd team DE Ralph Crank the franchise player designation. Starting RB Forest Powell really came on strong in the playoffs, setting a playoff record with 194 rushing yards against Denver in the wild card round.

[ba12a1ed]3. Oregon Ice[/ba12a1ed] (12-4) Owner: Grid Iron PTR: 7

The big name offensive players that led the Ice to the CFL championship in 2003 are still together: QB Landon Hurt, RB Rodger Rubenstein (franchise player), and WRs Matt Brunner and Alden Roy. Oregon also resigned free agent LT Chris Klein and now have the most talented offense in the league. This is another team that has been quiet in free agency, but they seem content with their roster as-is. Oregon's main weakness is at the cornerback position, and many experts expect them to draft a cornerback with their 1st or 2nd round draft pick.

[ba12a1ed]4. Charleston Sixpacks[/ba12a1ed] (14-2) Owner: *open* PTR: 1

The defending champs had a season to remember in 2004, winning every game except the two against Baltimore. QB Timothy Gordon is back to try to give Charleston another championship. Gordon continues to be the best player in the league, but this season he won't have as much talent to help him out. Many starters from the 2004 championship team have found new homes: RB Augustus Severance (New Orleans), WR Ronald Tibbetts (New Orleans), LG Tyron Tedeschi (Durham), DE Joel O'Neill (Long Beach), DT Barry Goldsberry (Detroit), DT Marlon Rook (Long Beach), WLB Javier Quiroz (Durham). Charleston did sign free agent DEs Andy Boulanger and Kasey Cha, who was in high demand after being released by Seattle.

[ba12a1ed]5. Detroit Vampires[/ba12a1ed] (10-6) Owner: fantastic flying froggies PTR: 4

After posting the league's worst record (1-15) in 2003, Detroit started 2004 with an 8-1 record before finishing up at 10-6 and even winning a playoff game! Detroit should be very good again, but they still may be a year away from being a very dominant team. Detroit had a lot of cap room to work with and the team was very active in free agency. They had a couple of huge signings which will have immediate impact: talented TE Brian Manos left New Orleans for $25 million over 5 years and G Roscoe Gilkey left New York for $15.9 million over 4 years. Manos should become Mathias' favorite receiver and adds a whole new dimension to the offense.

[ba12a1ed]6. Hartford Attack[/ba12a1ed] (8-7-1) Owner: Masked PTR: 29

The expectations are high for Hartford this year as they move up all the way to #6 from #29 in the previous Taco rankings. Hartford started out 1-5 in 2004, but then went 7-2-1 over the final 10 games to win their division and get a playoff berth. The Attack are still a very young team, but these young guys have two solid years of playing time to draw from. This offseason Hartford traded for RB Toby Radke from Seattle. This was a great move because their leading rusher last season only had 347 yards. A lot of eyes are on LT Chad Oroumieh who is attempting to make a comeback. Last year's 1st round draft pick (2nd overall) missed his entire rookie season with ACL knee surgery.

[ba12a1ed]7. Honolulu Blue Pacific[/ba12a1ed] (9-7) Owner: MrBug708 PTR: 8

It's impossible to start talking about Honolulu without mentioning Ronnie Tu. See what I mean? Tu is in a contract year and now has even more motivation to translate his great stats into wins. It will be interesting to see if Honolulu extends Tu's contract or uses the franchise tag on him. This year the franchise tag was given to LB Charles Reed even though he only played on special teams in 2004. He has now signed a 4-year contract. The team's biggest need right now is an offensive tackle to replace Raymond Trice who was released.

[ba12a1ed]8. Denver Dynomite[/ba12a1ed] (11-5) Owner: varacel PTR: 2

DE Booker Gresham started 25 straight games for Denver before breaking his fibula late last season. The 38 year old decided to finally retire and finished his career with 19 sacks (11th in CFL history). To replace him varacel traded with Baltimore to get 31 year old DE Roosevelt Ezell. Ezell has 12 sacks in 2 seasons. Varacel also brought in a new head coach, Jose Perryman, who has a reputation for creating excellent defensive schemes. The success of this team this season will depend on QB George Pitts. Last year's starter, Edward Kimber, was traded to Durham for Pitts, the 2nd overall draft pick (used to select CB Joel Sanderson), plus LT John Saldivar. Pitts was benched last season after 10 games.


Check back soon for #9 - #32...

uh-oh, heavy expectations...

But honestly... I have the same expectations of my team... on paper, I do not see any reason we should not be considered the favorite. We return EVERY starter and have made one major upgrade, and more in the works... in addition, we have improved our depth.

QB [b50db13c]Manuel[/b50db13c] really improved in his actual ratings throughout the year and I expect a breakout season from him this year.

woot! #2 is good. Here's hoping we're not decimated by injuries again this season.

Bottom five, here I come!

_________________


El Paso Rockets
2016, 2037 Wild Card Team
2005, 2006, 2015 Cavalry Divison champs

Here is #9 through #16. The bottom half of the league is still to come!


[b97a9c37]9. Sacramento Dragons[/b97a9c37] (13-3) Owner: *open* PTR: 5

QB Seymour Barre was much improved last season, improving his rating from 64.1 in 2003 to 92.8 in 2004. He also increased his touchdown passes from 9 to 22. His most talented receiver is Brian Lore who topped 1000 receiving yards despite sitting out of the last regular season game. WILB Eddy Castro may get more playing time this year after registering a playoff record 13 tackles against Santa Cruz last season.

[b97a9c37]10. Baltimore Bombers[/b97a9c37] (10-6) Owner: 3ric PTR: 13

Once again there are 3 AC East teams in the top 10. Last season was a disappointment for Bomber fans even though they finished with a respectable 10-6 record and led the league in points scored for the second season in a row. The disappointment has been followed by some major changes in the Bomber organization. First, DT Danny Register retired at the age of 36 after posting 19 sacks in 2 seasons. Next the Bombers hired a new head coach, Shaun Branch. 3ric didn't have much cap room to work with, but he still managed to sign LB Adan Longoria from Arizona and DT Merrill Tollefson from San Antonio at reasonable salaries.

[b97a9c37]11. San Antonio Armadillos[/b97a9c37] (10-6) Owner: Ryche PTR: 11

Starting WLB Keenan Vancleave retired with career totals of 32 starts, 173 tackles, 60 assists, 7 sacks, 5 blocked passes, 10 hurries, 3 INTs, and 12 defended passes. Another LB, Louis Kratzer, was given the franchise tag. Kratzer suffered a broken fibula last year but has worked hard to get back into playing condition. One of the biggest free agency signings in the whole league happened in week 1 when RB Chester Brumley (all-league 1st team in both 2003 and 2004 for Tucson) signed with San Antonio. The Armadillos had another huge signing when they brought in G Rocky Dayton from Boise City. On the negative side, they lost unrestricted free agent DE Dominick Block who left for Boise City.

[b97a9c37]12. Memphis Express[/b97a9c37] (9-7) Owner: GoldenEagle PTR: 10

Free safety Mark Horrocks surprisingly retired after the 2004 season at age 32 and was given the "legend of the game" award. He will be replaced in the starting lineup by fan favorite Norman Bunker who has big shoes to fill. Another fan favorite, Isaiah Melo, was given the franchise player designation and will try to improve on his 10.5 sacks from last season. The Express put a few offers on the table for free agent centers but failed to sign anyone. The only center on the roster right now is last year's 5th round draft pick, Amos Geer.

[b97a9c37]13. Chicago Hitmen[/b97a9c37] (5-11) Owner: dberner30 PTR: 16

There is a new QB in Chicago and his name is Sanford Hardesty. Hardesty left Huntington Beach and will now earn $31 million over the next 5 seasons. Chicago looks like they have changed offensive philosophies by putting star RB Arthur Brady (3239 rushing yards in 2 seasons) on the trading block and loading up on WRs. As far as wideouts go, Chicago resigned Zachary Spates to a 6-year contract worth over $40 million. Spates had 1248 receiving yards last season. They also drafted highly rated WR Irv Schwartz from Iowa.

[b97a9c37]14. Tucson Toros[/b97a9c37] (8-8) Owner: Fonzie PTR: 12

Tucson is a solid team that has finished 8-8 two seasons in a row. This year they need to find a way to finally beat division rival Honolulu, who they are 0-4 against. They have a shot to do that, but haven't made any big moves this offseason that might have bumped them up to the next level. This season look for the Toros to continue to play tough against everyone. Tucson QB Milan Hogan started to show his potential last year and improved his numbers in all categories (12 TDs up to 18 TDs, 21 INTs down to 10 INTs, 71.5 rating up to 80.4 rating). Hogan was relieved when the team resigned their best WR, Carl Markey, who has started all 32 Toros games.

[b97a9c37]15. Atlantic City Phantoms[/b97a9c37] (7-9) Phantoms Owner: General Mike PTR: 19

Atlantic City's big offseason move was signing WR Rueben Albertson from New Orleans. Albertson had an amazing 1547 receiving yards last season along with 11 TDs. Team owner General Mike hopes that the acquisition of Albertson will prevent opposing defenses from keying in on RB Lanny Hower. Each year it seems like Atlantic City has more quality centers then they can give playing time and this year is no exception. The team resigned Dennis Wilson and Bradley Rost plus they also signed free agent C Lorenzo Welch. One of these three should emerge as a dominant player. Even though DE Seth Keller's production slipped considerably in 2004 (17.5 sacks down to 3.5), he was resigned to a 4 year contract with an $11 million signing bonus.

[b97a9c37]16. New York Empire[/b97a9c37] (5-10-1) Owner: jamesumd PTR: 18

New York won their division in 2003 with a 12-4 record, but fell to last place in their division in 2004 while going 2-9-1 over the final 12 games. New owner jamesumd still has a lot of talent to work with on his roster, but his major concern is getting under the salary cap. One of the Empire's best players is RB Joel Foran who is the best kick returner in the league with 3 career TDs. On defense they are led by DE Jerrold Moton, but there are some locker room conflicts among the rest of the defensive line. These conflicts need to be resolved in order for the team to play up to their ability.

Look for Brady to remain in Chicago and be part of a balanced offensive attack.

[quotefc81406][bfc81406]10. Baltimore Bombers[/bfc81406] (10-6) Owner: 3ric PTR: 13

Once again there are 3 AC East teams in the top 10. Last season was a disappointment for Bomber fans even though they finished with a respectable 10-6 record and led the league in points scored for the second season in a row. The disappointment has been followed by some major changes in the Bomber organization. First, DT Danny Register retired at the age of 36 after posting 19 sacks in 2 seasons. Next the Bombers hired a new head coach, Shaun Branch. 3ric didn't have much cap room to work with, but he still managed to sign LB Adan Longoria from Arizona and DT Merrill Tollefson from San Antonio at reasonable salaries. [/quotefc81406]

The top priority for coach Branch is to get that defense to perform to expectations. As for the high-powered offense, it's business as usual.

[quotebc50fc5="3ric"][quotebc50fc5][bbc50fc5]10. Baltimore Bombers[/bbc50fc5] (10-6) Owner: 3ric PTR: 13

Once again there are 3 AC East teams in the top 10. Last season was a disappointment for Bomber fans even though they finished with a respectable 10-6 record and led the league in points scored for the second season in a row. The disappointment has been followed by some major changes in the Bomber organization. First, DT Danny Register retired at the age of 36 after posting 19 sacks in 2 seasons. Next the Bombers hired a new head coach, Shaun Branch. 3ric didn't have much cap room to work with, but he still managed to sign LB Adan Longoria from Arizona and DT Merrill Tollefson from San Antonio at reasonable salaries. [/quotebc50fc5]

The top priority for coach Branch is to get that defense to perform to expectations. As for the high-powered offense, it's business as usual.[/quotebc50fc5]

I feer your team this year. With Sov gone and Charleston still an open team, the remaining three teams are left to duke it out. I think any of us are capable of winning the division, and we'll beat up on each other like always. It's unfortunate that this causes teams in our division to miss out on the playoffs even though they beat up on the rest of the league...

[b256280e]17. New Orleans Breakers[/b256280e] (6-10) Owner: backbreakers PTR: 26

New Orleans made a big signing when LB Charles Crowder agreed to a 1-year contract when many other teams were offering him 4-year deals. He joins a defense with a lot of potential, but time will tell whether he will still be on the team next year when that defense could really be impressive. In other moves, the Breakers are paying QB Maurice Brown $3.5 million to be the backup to starter Randolph Kranz. They also signed RB Augustus Severance away from the defending champs and he will share time with Brooks Creel. Blocking for those two will be the league's strongest man, RT Chris Sandidge, who is poised for a breakout season.

[b256280e]18. Shreveport Pride[/b256280e] (6-10) Owner: Raven Hawk PTR: 23

Shreveport fans were sad when guard Paris Johnson announced his retirement before the season. Johnson was a 1st team all-league selection in 2003, and had a better year number-wise in 2004, only allowing 2 sacks in 435 pass plays. He will probably be replaced in the starting lineup by Frances Nathan, who was a starter in 2003, but didn't get much playing time in 2004. Raven Hawk's biggest move of the offseason was trading for the #1 overall pick in the draft and selecting DT Jerald Barber from Michigan. If last year's #1 pick, CB Brady Scott, picks off a few passes then this team will be a playoff contender.

[b256280e]19. Durham Bulldogs[/b256280e] (4-12) Owner: Taco PTR: 28

The Durham Bulldogs already have 16 new players on their roster and 8 of them have a shot at a starting role. Obviously team management felt that some changes were necessary after finishing 4-12 last season. Leading the list of new players is QB Edward Kimber who rejoins his old head coach back from his days in Denver. On defense the Bulldogs added LB Garth Dittman (2003/2004 all-league 1st team) and CB Marcus Mebane (also 2003/2004 all-league 1st team). RB Stephen Metz got a contract that many teams didn't feel he deserved, but he should be better than last year's starter Dudley Given who only averaged 3.0 yards per carry and seemed to be stopped behind the line of scrimmage more often then beyond it.

[b256280e]20. Boise City Stampede[/b256280e] (10-6) Owner: *open* PTR: 25

Boise won 7 out of their last 9 regular season games last year before losing to Las Vegas in the wild card round. The team's most talented player is now DE Dominick Block who played for San Antonio last year. Block has 15.5 sacks in two seasons but has the talent to do even more. On offense they acquired a good pass blocking guard, Darron Honea. Boise still has a decent amount of cap room left and could make some interesting moves in the free agency period after the draft.

[b256280e]21. Albany Engineers[/b256280e] (11-5) Owner: *open* PTR: 6

Albany has a major salary cap problem as a result of giving out over $148 million in signing bonuses last season! That money did result in a playoff berth last year after they led the league in points allowed with 213. This year they haven't been able to add any new players but are still hanging on to their core group which includes QB Rocky McFarland, RB Jonathan Sill, and C Earnest Fant.

[b256280e]22. Las Vegas Crawfish[/b256280e] (10-6) Owner: The Afoci PTR: 14

QB Lenny Olsen will be the leader of the Crawfish offense once again after being named the team's franchise player. His favorite target is TE Steven Smith who is 2nd in CFL history with 165 receptions. Besides Smith the team Olsen doesn't have many weapons to work with and the team hasn't added any free agents so far this offseason. On defense Vegas has one of the best defensive lines in the league. The trio of Zachery Aaron, Garry Fike, and Brian O'Connell totalled 165 tackles, 70 assists, and 24 sacks last season.

[b256280e]23. Fargo Boxcars[/b256280e] (6-9-1) Owner: MC PTR: 22

1000-yard rusher Joseph Beavers was given the franchise player designation and then traded to Long Beach. Beavers is 10th in CFL history in rushing yards but will turn 32 years old later this season. In exchange for Beavers the Boxcars got little-known RB Thurman Barlow and 2 draft picks. Fargo also aquired WR James Doney from Sacramento. Doney had 1192 receiving yards last season. On defense their big move was signing the 2004 defensive player of the year, LB Colby Stoner. Stoner had 148 solo tackles in his first season as a starter, including a CFL record 18 in one game against Memphis.

[b256280e]24. Tulsa Talons[/b256280e] (5-11) Owner: Doug5984 PTR: 24

The Tulsa Talons now belong to QB Donnie Lowe who was drafted with the #5 overall pick. He forms a great, young backfield with last year's offensive rookie of the year Butch Fulton. Those are two names that you will be hearing a lot about for a long time. Lowe's favorite receiver will probably be Charles Lindberg (UFA from Atlantic City) who signed a big 5 year contract worth $30 million. On defense Doug traded for rising star CB Damon Jankowski. The coaching staff likes his ability to play any kind of pass coverage. Plus he's only 25 years old! Finally, on special teams Tulsa replaced kicker Claude Matsumoto with Joseph Dunford.

Fargo scares me...

They haven't done anything to deserve a higher ranking than given here, but I have a feeling they could do something very quickly. They made a few offseason moves that I just think were on point and could really cause trouble for the rest of the league.

To me, they are the 'Santa Cruz' of 2005.

Shreveport is hoping that the addition of some more pass rush will take some of the pressure off of their young cornerbacks.

_________________

Deep South Division Champions
2006, 2009-10, 2019, 2023-24, 2027, 2031-32, 2034-35, 2040, 2044, 2046-47, 2051-53, 2055-56, 2058-62
Eastern Conference Champions
2009, 2031, 2055
CFL Champions
2031, 2055
Hall of Fame
Joshua Mask, Douglas Hartman, Carl Bradford, Leland Wellins, Wally Wooden (#80), Brantley Gilmore (#9), Mo Kirwan, Josh Stanton, Efrain Tate

17. New Orleans Breakers (6-10) Owner: backbreakers PTR: 26

New Orleans made a big signing when LB Charles Crowder agreed to a 1-year contract when many other teams were offering him 4-year deals. He joins a defense with a lot of potential, but time will tell whether he will still be on the team next year when that defense could really be impressive. In other moves, the Breakers are paying QB Maurice Brown $3.5 million to be the backup to starter Randolph Kranz. They also signed RB Augustus Severance away from the defending champs and he will share time with Brooks Creel. Blocking for those two will be the league's strongest man, RT Chris Sandidge, who is poised for a breakout season.

We finally get mentioned. WOOT. This has been a solid article, btw and I love how you put their team nickname at the top. Very well written imo.

As for previous ranking, how recent was the last rankings given?!

John

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[quotec095004="backbreakers"]
As for previous ranking, how recent was the last rankings given?!

[/quotec095004]

I think the last ones were done when Hartford was 1-5, before the 7-2-1 run. Hence the 20 place jump for my team.

_________________
Hartford Attack

Wow what a difference a few games under your belt makes?!

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[quoted7e91f0="Masked"][quoted7e91f0="backbreakers"]
As for previous ranking, how recent was the last rankings given?!

[/quoted7e91f0]

I think the last ones were done when Hartford was 1-5, before the 7-2-1 run. Hence the 20 place jump for my team. [/quoted7e91f0]

They were last done halfway thru last season, I know I was 8-1 then.

_________________
Former Detroit Vampire owner

Great Lakes division champions -2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025
Eastern Conference champions - 2005, 2006, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
CFL Champions - 2021, 2023

[quote7f76047="backbreakers"]We finally get mentioned. WOOT. This has been a solid article, btw and I love how you put their team nickname at the top. Very well written imo.

As for previous ranking, how recent was the last rankings given?!

John[/quote7f76047]

Thanks, John! It seems like people enjoy this so I am happy to write them up. It's great to get positive feedback!

The previous rankings were written after week 8 of last season. If you are interested in reading them then go to this thread. There you will also find links to the three sets of rankings that were written before that. They may give you a better idea about the history of your team. This is edition #5 of Taco's Team Rankings.

[be428cd9]25. Boston Panthers[/be428cd9] (8-8) Owner: *open* PTR: 15

Boston is another team that has finished 8-8 two years in a row. The team hasn't changed much from last year so we might see a three-peat! They still rely on their offensive line and running game to take the pressure off of QB Charles McMillan. McMillan's job is to avoid mistakes and not lose the game. Last year's big FA acquisition was CB James Nichols who excels at man-to-man coverage. If he has another big year then this team will be very competitive against division foes Hartford, Atlantic City, and New York.

[be428cd9]26. Anchorage Unknown[/be428cd9] (8-8) Owner: Steelerdaddy PTR: 30

The starting QB for all 32 games in Anchorage's history has been Maurice Brown, who was lost in free agency to New Orleans. To replace him new owner Steelerdaddy quickly traded for two quarterbacks who will compete for the starting job. QB Corey Durant was traded by Tulsa and QB Rodney Darr was traded by Chicago. These QBs fill the team's biggest need and now have some time to adjust to their new team (and each other) before the season starts. The Unknown's most impressive player is DE Casey Bousquet (2003/2004 all-league 1st team) who has 25 career sacks, the most in CFL history.

[be428cd9]27. El Paso Rockets[/be428cd9] (5-11) Owner: JeeberD PTR: 31

QB Ernest Lorenzo is idolized in El Paso, but it looks like he may have lost his starting job to rookie Dustin Hayes. Hayes was recently drafted #4 overall and may get thrown into the starting lineup immediately. The Rockets may have a completely new backfield this season as starting RB Stephen Metz was released in a salary cap move. The Rockets also released 100-tackle LB Trevor Gainey and lost DE Eric France to division rival Fargo. Fargo is starting to make a habit out of signing free agents from El Paso since last year when they signed TE Delbert Lonergan.

[be428cd9]28. Long Beach Calibri[/be428cd9] (5-10-1) Owner: daedalus PTR: 27

Long Beach signed both a kicker and a punter away from Huntington Beach in free agency. Those are only 2 of the 17 new players already on Long Beach's roster. The major turnover in personnel included the cutting of 3 starters: RB Wilbur Sullivan, DE Andy Boulanger and LT Eloy Erdman. Sullivan has been replaced by Joseph Beavers who will carry a heavy load to take the burden off of Long Beach's young QBs. Daedalus also improved his secondary when CB Michael Kubiak turned down more money from Tulsa in order to play for him.

[be428cd9]29. Huntington Beach Capitalists[/be428cd9] (8-8) Owner: Primal PTR: 17

The Capitalists have been hit hard by free agent losses this offseason. They still have SS Justin Luck with his 13 career interceptions who leads one of the best secondaries in the league. The team absolutely needs a QB. The only QB on the roster is 3rd year pro Gene Dunn who went undrafted in the initial league draft and has never thrown a pass. If they find a QB then the Capitalists will shoot up this chart quickly. If they don't then they'll stay down here.

[be428cd9]30. Arizona Outlaws[/be428cd9] (5-11) Owner: *open* PTR: 21

Arizona starts out with 6 away games in first 7 weeks. Maybe that's a good thing since they had about 22,000 empty seats at each home game last season. Maybe fans are waiting until 2006 when Arizona is scheduled to get a new stadium. The Outlaws' lone star on offense is last year's 1st round draft pick RB Artie Sonntag who rushed for 1000 yards and 6 TDs in his rookie season. This year they took 293 lb. OT Leroy Banks with their 1st round draft pick. Going with an offensive player was wise since they are stocked on defense.

[be428cd9]31. Cleveland Flats[/be428cd9] (4-12) Owner: TLK PTR: 20

Cleveland owner TLK displayed confidence in QB Norm Rayburn when he had a shot to draft Donnie Lowe or Dustin Hayes and didn't do it. Instead he went with RB Toothpick Lang with the #3 overall pick. Toothpick joins an inconsistent team that made a big playoff run in 2003 but then collapsed in 2004. Maybe the roller coaster ride will head back up this year but that will depend on players like DT Jacques Haggard returning to his 2003 playing form.

[be428cd9]32. Seattle Thunderbirds[/be428cd9] (2-14) Owner: Aylmar PTR: 32

Last season the Thunderbirds really strugged on offense and got shut out 3 times. They also had a horrible streak that is hard to believe: they went 19 straight quarters without scoring a touchdown! After Paris Kimmel scored a 1 yard TD run in the 2nd quarter of week 5 against Tucson, Seattle did not score another touchdown until week 11, when Charles Dever connected with Archie Chun for a 4 yard TD in the 2nd quarter against Oregon. New ownership has been busy, immediately releasing 4 quality players in order to get under the salary cap: WR Gregory Rice, K Eliseo Frame, DE Kasey Cha, and TE David Greco.

I'm not in the bottom five? Blasphemy!!!

I think that Hayes will probably sit on the bench for a couple of years until he can develop more since Lorenzo is improving nicely himself...

Metz didn't start that much last year with rookie Keith Terrell taking over after his preseason injury.

I doubt I'll improve much this year since I have no cap room to sign any free agents...

_________________


El Paso Rockets
2016, 2037 Wild Card Team
2005, 2006, 2015 Cavalry Divison champs

[quote65883f5="Taco"]QB Ernest Lorenzo is idolized in El Paso, but it looks like he may have lost his starting job to rookie Dustin Hayes. Hayes was recently drafted #4 overall and may get thrown into the starting lineup immediately. [/quote65883f5]

Please do this Jeeber.

Nowhere to go but up.

[quote388d4bb="Taco"][b388d4bb]28. Long Beach Calibri[/b388d4bb] (5-10-1) Owner: daedalus PTR: 27

Long Beach signed both a kicker and a punter away from Huntington Beach in free agency. Those are only 2 of the 17 new players already on Long Beach's roster. The major turnover in personnel included the cutting of 3 starters: RB Wilbur Sullivan, DE Andy Boulanger and LT Eloy Erdman. Sullivan has been replaced by Joseph Beavers who will carry a heavy load to take the burden off of Long Beach's young QBs. Daedalus also improved his secondary when CB Michael Kubiak turned down more money from Tulsa in order to play for him.[/quote388d4bb]Awesome writeup, Taco. Thanks.

Yes, there will be a large turnover in Long Beach until players perform.

I think the Breakers need some color back in their logo.

Now that sachmo bumped this thread...

I'm wondering if Taco is going to have to redo these after the draft with all that has happened .

[quoteef96479="sachmo"]I think the Breakers need some color back in their logo.[/quoteef96479]

I miss you in wigfl dude.

You built the foundation of a very good team and I thank you.

And you may be right about the color.

Don't be a stranger to this or wigfl forums.

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[quote61a6867="wademoore"]Now that sachmo bumped this thread...

I'm wondering if Taco is going to have to redo these after the draft with all that has happened .[/quote61a6867]

Not that this wasn't an awesome writeup that Taco did, but things were changing really quick around the first ten picks of the draft in free agency and especially trades.

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