I don't get why the Polish Express is getting no carries... Why draft the guy?

_________________

I gameplanned for a heavy dose of passing against Las Vegas and then didn't get my export file in so that I could reemphasize the run against Anchorage, which clearly cost me.

As to why I drafted Burt, I felt he was the best player on the board at the time. He's clearly the fourth or fifth best player on my team already and is getting better every week. The trouble is, my two best players (in ratings and production) are Dever and Faison. Dever was the highest rated QB in the league last season, for goodness sake. I want him handling the ball. I try and tailor my gameplan, but I missed my export. Bummer for Burt.

_________________

[quote366dd27="Aylmar"]I gameplanned for a heavy dose of passing against Las Vegas and then didn't get my export file in so that I could reemphasize the run against Anchorage, which clearly cost me.

As to why I drafted Burt, I felt he was the best player on the board at the time. He's clearly the fourth or fifth best player on my team already and is getting better every week. The trouble is, my two best players (in ratings and production) are Dever and Faison. Dever was the highest rated QB in the league last season, for goodness sake. I want him handling the ball. I try and tailor my gameplan, but I missed my export. Bummer for Burt.[/quote366dd27]

But i guess my point is... I know you had tons of trade offers for that pick, as everybody wanted Burt... just does not seem like a value pick for your team..

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[quote="wademoore"][quote3d9230a="Aylmar"]But i guess my point is... I know you had tons of trade offers for that pick, as everybody wanted Burt... just does not seem like a value pick for your team..[/quote3d9230a]

How do you question someone taking the best back available when they don't have a RB?

What position should he have drafted then? Trade down and take a worse RB? I don't think so...

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[quote="TurfToe"][quotee307ca5="wademoore"][quotee307ca5="Aylmar"]But i guess my point is... I know you had tons of trade offers for that pick, as everybody wanted Burt... just does not seem like a value pick for your team..[/quotee307ca5]

How do you question someone taking the best back available when they don't have a RB?

What position should he have drafted then? Trade down and take a worse RB? I don't think so...[/quotee307ca5]

Yes, if he's not going to give the RB any carries anyways he could have gotten a position where he'd use the player...

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[quote="TurfToe"][quote3d77253="wademoore"][quote3d77253="Aylmar"]But i guess my point is... I know you had tons of trade offers for that pick, as everybody wanted Burt... just does not seem like a value pick for your team..[/quote3d77253]

How do you question someone taking the best back available when they don't have a RB?

What position should he have drafted then? Trade down and take a worse RB? I don't think so...[/quote3d77253]

He could have traded down and still gotten Drew Holliday.

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[quote5e8c7b1="wademoore"]But i guess my point is... I know you had tons of trade offers for that pick, as everybody wanted Burt... just does not seem like a value pick for your team..[/quote5e8c7b1]

When do you classify someone as a value pick? Anyone who knows me (I realize you don't, wade) knows that I am a run-first kind of guy. It just so happens, however, that my offense is setup to pass this season. What happens when Faison moves on in free agency, though? Will I get another receiver or change over to a rushing attack? I've been trying to put together a line that runblocks very well, but I'm not quite there yet. My defense isn't good enough yet to run a full-out grind offense, either. To me, for this season, the choices are obvious.

Is there some unwritten rule that says you shouldn't season a guy until he is mature enough (and your team is ready) for him to carry the load? Is the fact that I drafted him first overall a compulsion to just throw games away trying to get him carries now so that he looks like a good value? I saw a guy I thought fit into my long term plans on offense. Sure, there's a risk he'll get hurt and never develop to the point where he can carry the load I envision for him. But that was there for any player I might have drafted. I took the risk.

You're right, I did get a few offers, but nothing I felt was good enough for me to give up on Burt. I really liked him, so I drafted him. That's my explanation. Then again, I might just be a terrible GM who doesn't know shit about football. I guess it's up to everyone to formulate their own opinions.

_________________

The question I pose here is what comes first? Does the run game setup the passing game or is it the other way around. In reality a good balance is probably the best way to go and I think Seattle has put themselves in a great position for the next few years with Dever & the Polish Express. He may not be putting up monster numbers, but I'd be willing to bet that he will at some time in his career. It'll probably happen when I play Seattle in the future!

Seattle has been in a lot situations where they are coming from behind and they need to score quickly. All 3 of their wins and 3 of their 5 losses have been decided by 5 points or less.
The real problem is that their defense can't stop anyone. They're giving up over 29 points a game on average, and have held their opponenets under 20 points once this year.
Now there's no way Burt should only get 1 carry in any game, but for the most part his lack of carries is because of the defense.

Offensive style should be out of choice and not necessity.

As a one dimensional team last year, I had no choice but to throw, throw, throw. Now, I have some RB's and decide to throw but not because I have to. I can now decide which way I want to go with my game plan and I don't have half the back the Polish Express is. Actually, I have exactly half a back that Burt is.

As far as 1 carry goes, I think Aylmar has provided a sufficient explanation. As far as carries in general go, I'm more intrigued by the Toros coach using Holliday's backup as much as he does. There's an example of ample run opportunities in a game plan with a strange distribution of the ball.

(Sorry Fonzie, I felt compelled to get you involved in this discussion.)

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All I know is that now that we've talked about it this much we've pretty much guaranteed that the Polish Express will have his first 100 yard game against me this week.

[quote8bbb526="TurfToe"]As far as carries in general go, I'm more intrigued by the Toros coach using Holliday's backup as much as he does. There's an example of ample run opportunities in a game plan with a strange distribution of the ball.

(Sorry Fonzie, I felt compelled to get you involved in this discussion.) [/quote8bbb526]

I wish I could explain the coach's decisions, but I can't. I've had Holliday's PT setting at either 7 or 8 all season. But it should be noted that even with Bradley getting substantial carries (92 at present; on pace for 163), Holliday is on pace for 347 carries this season (he's at 195 right now). And given that Bradley has been productive (4.55 ypc, just 3 fumbles), subbing him in might not such a bad idea after all.

Now, let's all get back to bashing Aylmar and/or wademoore, n'kay?

_________________

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Week 10 comparison:

[bf0f35b9]Rushing:[/bf0f35b9]
Liszkiewicz - 17 carries, 77 yards, 1 td, 1 fmb
Holliday - bye
Spearman - 16 carries, 77 yards, 1 tds, 0 fmbs
Terrell - 3 carries, 5 yards, 0 td, 0 fmb
[bf0f35b9]Recieving:[/bf0f35b9]
Liszkiewicz - 2 catches, 32 yards,
Holliday - bye
Spearman - 3 catches, 31 yards
Terrell - 0
[bf0f35b9]Returns:[/bf0f35b9]
Liszkiewicz - 2 kr, 48 yards, 1 pr, -3 yards
Holliday - bye
Spearman - 0
Terrell - 0

After all the debate this week, Liszkiewicz had a pretty good game in a win over Boise. Spearman was almost identical statistically to Burt in a blowout win over Atlantic City (except he didn't fumble). Terrell didn't see much action in a loss to Santa Cruz and Holliday had a bye week.

Week 11 comparison:

[b7610a43]Rushing:[/b7610a43]
Liszkiewicz - 24 carries, 109 yards, 0 tds, 0 fmbs
Holliday - 17 carries, 57 yards, 1 td, 0 fmbs
Spearman - 16 carries, 51 yards, 0 tds, 0 fmbs
Terrell - 5 carries, 26 yards, 0 tds, 0 fmbs
[b7610a43]Recieving:[/b7610a43]
Liszkiewicz - 2 catches, 9 yards, 1 td
Holliday - 0
Spearman - 0
Terrell - 3 catches, 9 yards
[b7610a43]Returns:[/b7610a43]
Liszkiewicz - 0
Holliday - 0
Spearman - 0
Terrell - 0

Liszkiewicz rushed for over 100 yards for the first time in his career as Seattle wins their second straight. Spearman breaks the single season Hartford rushing record and is now up to 748 for the season. (The old record was 728.) He needs 13 carries and 2 rushing tds to tie those records.
The leading rusher among our group so far this season is Drew Holliday with 839. He was below average in a much needed win over Arizona. After starting out 4-0, Tucson is 2-4 in their last 6. It took a 17 point 4th quarter comeback for them to put away perennial cellar dweller Arizona this past week, but a win is a win.
Don Terrell continues to be moderately productive off the bench in Long Beach. Look for him to start getting more carries if and when Long Beach's playoff hopes fade.

Here's an interesting fact:
I pointed out previously that a little over halfway through his rookie season, Alan Spearman has broken the single season Hartford rushing record of Toby Radke.

Burt Liszkiewicz similarly broke the single season rushing record in Seattle in his rookie year. The previous rushing record holder in Seattle? The very same Toby Radke.

[quote514c163="timmynausea"]The leading rusher among our group so far this season is Drew Holliday with 839. He was below average in a much needed win over Arizona. After starting out 4-0, Tucson is 2-4 in their last 6. It took a 17 point 4th quarter comeback for them to put away perennial cellar dweller Arizona this past week, but a win is a win.[/quote514c163]

Poor Drew just hasn't been the same since his O-line fell apart. Three current starters are out (two long-term), and one guy who was seriously hurt last season came back but is a shell of his former self. Thus, 2 of our 5 starters are what I would consider to be "real" starters.

Thus, I fear we'll be seeing quite a few more 3.5 ypc averages over the rest of the season.

_________________

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[quote17f8b6b="Fonzie"]Poor Drew just hasn't been the same since his O-line fell apart. Three current starters are out (two long-term), and one guy who was seriously hurt last season came back but is a shell of his former self. Thus, 2 of our 5 starters are what I would consider to be "real" starters.

Thus, I fear we'll be seeing quite a few more 3.5 ypc averages over the rest of the season. [/quote17f8b6b]

Talk to me after the season, I may have a RT and a C to help you patch that line together or at least add depth.

_________________
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[quote9ee4d5d="TurfToe"]Talk to me after the season, I may have a RT and a C to help you patch that line together or at least add depth.[/quote9ee4d5d]

Will do. Although you should be warned - I'm in the "$100 million club" and will likely be facing a cap-hell scenario. Thus, despite my desperation I might not be able to add anybody who carries a significant salary.

_________________

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Here's another interesting fact regarding the Polish Express:

He is currently the 2nd leading career rusher in Seattle history. The current leader is QB Charles Dever who has 1471 to Burt's 1426.

In Tucson, Drew Holliday still needs 283 yards to become the Toros' career rushing leader.

Week 12 comparison:
[b5d41bae]Rushing:[/b5d41bae]
Liszkiewicz - 12 carries, 29 yards, 0 tds, 0 fmbs
Holliday - 22 carries, 51 yards, 1 td, 0 fmbs
Spearman - 20 carries, 41 yards, 1 tds, 1 fmb
Terrell - 10 carries, 50 yards, 0 tds, 0 fmbs
[b5d41bae]Recieving:[/b5d41bae]
Liszkiewicz - 1 catch, 8 yards
Holliday - 2 catch, 17 yards
Spearman - 3 catches, 41 yards
Terrell - 0
[b5d41bae]Returns:[/b5d41bae]
Liszkiewicz - 1 kr, 13 yards
Holliday - 1 pr, 6 yards
Spearman - 2 kr, 37 yards
Terrell - 0

Not a very glamorous week for these backs, as the top rusher was Holliday with a lowly 51 yards. Spearman scored the winning td in an overtime win over a good Sacramento team. Liszkiewicz was nothing special in a loss to Detroit. The brightest spot of the week may have been Don Terrell. For the first time in his career he reached double digits in carries, and did well averaging 5 ypc to be our second leading rusher this week. Long Beach got the win over New York and kept their playoff hopes alive.

Week 13 comparison:
[b372a222]Rushing:[/b372a222]
Liszkiewicz - 20 carries, 45 yards, 1 td, 0 fmbs
Holliday - 20 carries, 108 yards, 1 td, 0 fmbs
Spearman - 23 carries, 108 yards, 1 td, 1 fmb
Terrell - 7 carries, 25 yards, 0 tds, 0 fmbs
[b372a222]Recieving:[/b372a222]
Liszkiewicz - 0
Holliday - 0
Spearman - 2 catches, 29 yards
Terrell - 0
[b372a222]Returns:[/b372a222]
Liszkiewicz - 1 pr, 3 yards, 2 kr, 40 yards
Holliday - 0
Spearman - 0
Terrell - 0

These guys went 4-0 this week and we had two 100 yard rushing performances. Not bad. In fact, you could argue that all 4 games could have an impact on playoff hopes and/or home field advantage.
Spearman ran for 108 as Hartford went to New Orleans (9-3) and beat a good team 31-17 on the road. Holliday lead Tucson to a much needed win over a .500 Huntington Beach team 23-22. He also rushed for 108.
The Polish Express and Don Terrell didn't have big days statistically, but their teams each got big wins. Seattle pulled themselves up to .500 with an impressive win over a pretty good Santa Cruz (8-4) team, and Long Beach knocked off Arizona (2-10) to move up to 6-6 as well.

Thank god. I was starting to wonder if Holliday would ever go over 100 yards again.

_________________

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Week 14 comparison:
[b4685403]Rushing:[/b4685403]
Liszkiewicz - 30 carries, 84 yards, 1 td, 0 fmbs
Holliday - 9 carries, 69 yards, 1 td, 0 fmbs
Spearman - 23 carries, 48 yards, 1 td, 1 fmb
Terrell - 9 carries, 26 yards, 0 tds, 1 fmb
[b4685403]Recieving:[/b4685403]
Liszkiewicz - 1 catch, 5 yards
Holliday - 1 catch, 6 yards
Spearman - 3 catches, 34 yards
Terrell - 2 catches, 24 yards, 1 td
[b4685403]Returns:[/b4685403]
Liszkiewicz - 1 pr, 11 yards, 1 kr, 24 yards
Holliday - 0
Spearman - 1 kr, 13 yards
Terrell - 0

Liszkiewicz was solid in Seattle's (7-6) 30-0 blowout of Chicago (1-12). Seattle has won 4 of 5 with 3 crucial games against Oregon (6-7), Cleveland (8-5) and Anchorage (10-3) left. It's sort of like their playoffs start now.

Drew Holliday only got a few carries but was productive in Tucson's (8-5) huge win at Shreveport (5-8 ) 19-14.

Spearman and Terrell were both unspectacular as their teams met this week. They both scored a touchdown and fumbled, with Spearman's Hartford (12-1) holding off Terrell's Long Beach (6-7) 27-20

Season to date comparison:
[b4685403]Rushing:[/b4685403]
Liszkiewicz - 171 carries, 675 yards, 6 tds, 3 fmbs
Holliday - 263 carries, 1067 yards, 9 tds, 3 fmbs
Spearman - 240 carries, 945 yards, 8 tds, 5 fmbs
Terrell - 71 carries, 293 yards, 1 tds, 2 fmbs
[b4685403]Recieving:[/b4685403]
Liszkiewicz - 10 catches, 99 yards, 2 tds, 3 drops
Holliday - 14 catches, 90 yards, 0 tds, 0 drops
Spearman - 29 catches, 332 yards, 1 td, 2 drops
Terrell - 7 catches, 43 yards, 1 td, 0 drops
[b4685403]Returns:[/b4685403]
Liszkiewicz - 7 pr, 57 yards, 27 kr, 686 yards, 1 td
Holliday - 1 pr, 6 yards
Spearman - 3 kr, 50 yards
Terrell - 0

Week 15 comparison:
[bc6cbf14]Rushing:[/bc6cbf14]
Liszkiewicz - 24 carries, 68 yards, 0 td, 2 fmbs
Holliday - 27 carries, 143 yards, 1 td, 0 fmbs
Spearman - 29 carries, 108 yards, 0 td, 2 fmb
Terrell - 12 carries, 24 yards, 1 tds, 1 fmb
[bc6cbf14]Recieving:[/bc6cbf14]
Liszkiewicz - 3 catch, 46 yards
Holliday - 2 catch, 16 yards
Spearman - 2 catches, 21 yards
Terrell - 1 catches, 9 yards
[bc6cbf14]Returns:[/bc6cbf14]
Liszkiewicz - 0
Holliday - 0
Spearman - 2 kr, 59 yards
Terrell - 0

Liszkiewicz choked a bit this week, fumbling twice in a crucial loss to Oregon (7-7) that'll make it quite a bit more difficult for Seattle to make it to the playoffs with two tough games left on the schedule.

Drew Holliday abused Arizona (3-11), with his best game of the season at 143 yards. Sadly (for Arizona), it is actually his third best career performance against Arizona as he lit them up last year for 167 and 174 in their two meetings. (I guess at least they are improving some?) Tucson secures a winning season with the victory, and a win next week over Memphis would clinch them a playoff spot.

Spearman went over 100 yards as well, rushing for 108 as Hartford squeaked by New York (8-6) 22-21. The bad news was that he fumbled twice. That makes seven for the year. The good news (aside from the win) was that he cracked 1000 yards. He has 1053 so far.

Terrell scored a touchdown in Long Beach's victory over Huntington Beach (7-7) that keeps their slim playoff hopes alive. (I think.)

We've been waiting for a breakout game from Drew for quite some time. Nice to see.

_________________

Ring of Fire Division Champions - 2009, 2011-2026, 2028-33
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