With the start of the 2011 SFL Veteran Minimum free agency just hours away I wanted to take a look and give my top 5 players at each position.
There are a few different methods SFL GM’s use when it comes to veteran minimum: 1.) some use it as a cheap roster filing method, 2.) others use it as a way to gain a star albeit aging player at a cheap contract and 3.) others pass on the initial drafting of a veteran at the start and chose to keep the option open and sign a player later in the year in case of injury 4.) there are some who will also pass at the initial in hopes of being able to pick up a player who gets released sometime after week 1. There is no one winning method as each of them can work out well.
Here you go- my top 5 as we enter this special round of free agency:
QB
First off before I make my choices known, I think 70 AWR is going to be the new AWR number GM’s will look at when choosing a backup QB. This has everything due to our new regression practices which will be implemented after this years SFL championship game. No longer will the league have veteran backups ages 30+ with 80, 85 even 90 AWR.
1.) Billy Volek- age 35 | I would like his AWR to be 80 or better but at this point, in my opinion he is a QB who could still lead some teams to the playoffs with this 78 AWR and 94 THA.
2.) Troy Smith- age 26 | I am going with Smith here because he has a respectful 75 AWR and 87 THA at just 26 years old. The obvious downside is that he is a scrambler. Tim Miller should love this while the rest of us would probably consider a tendency change.
3.) Patrick Ramsey- age 32 | With AWR of 73, nice THP of 94 and 89 THA Ramsey could be an option for a team in need of a QB2.
4.) Tim Rattay- age 34 | I went with Rattay here mostly due to his 79 AWR. His 87 THA is not what you would want from someone 34 years old but you take what you can get at this point.
5.) Jeff Rowe- age 27 | Rowe is not that bad in my opinion. He is under 30 years of age has AWR nearing 70 at 67 and 89 THA. I would not expect many 100 QBR games but he can at least hand the ball off and complete a few passes to the TE.
RB
If you patiently waited for a veteran RB at a cheap price and a one year deal you could be happy here as there are a couple really good veteran running backs left. Three of the top 7 SFL all time rushers are available.
1.) Shaun Alexander- age 34 | Alexander is the 2nd leading SFL rusher with over 13,000 yards. He still has 88 SPD, 76 STR, 87 AGI, 89 ACC, 97 CAR, 99 BTK and oh yeah, 99 AWR. Whomever lands Alexander will be in a great spot.
2.) Ricky Williams- age 34 | Williams comes in at the 6th all time SFL rusher. He still boasts 86 SPD, 81 STR, 87 ACC, 99 CAR, 99 BTK and 93 AWR. He had a backup role with the Raiders in 2008 but had a 1100 yard rushing season in 2009 for the Cardinals. He could be an amazing RB2 or spot starter.
3.) Edgerrin James- age 33 | James has 87 SPD, 88 AGI, 87 ACC, 99 CAR, 99 BTK, 82 CTH, 78 STR and 99 AWR.
4.) Jamal Lewis- age 32 | Lewis is the SFL’s 7th leading rusher. He still has 85 STR, 84 SPD which I think is okay due to his STR, 87 ACC, 92 CAR, 99 BTK and 99 AWR.
5.) Wali Lundy- age 27 | Lundy is the youngster of the group at 27 years old. He is not a strong running with just 46 SPD but has 90+ in a lot of good areas including SPD 91, AGI 95 and AC 92. He also has pretty AWR for a RB with 78.
<FB
I am only going to do 3 FB’s since some GM’s move strong RB’s with good STR to FB. Also this list changes drastically if/when the Steelers release John Kuhn.
1.) Jeremi Johnson- age 31 | Johnson still has manageable SPD with 78, good STR with 81, decent AWR with 74, 50 PBK and 81 RBK.
2.) David Kirtman- age 28 | Kirtman has 9 SPD, 79 STR, 78 ACC and good PBK with 61 and 71 RBK.
3.) Bubba Franks- age 33 | Franks is a converted TE but has shown he can get the job done a FB. He is not fast at 74 SPD but has good AWR with 83 great CTH with 83, amazing RBK with 77 and good PBK with 55.
TE
1.) Todd Heap- age 31 | Heap has a lot left in the tank at just 31 year sold. He has great CTH of 85, good SPD of 80, good CC of 81 and amazing AWR with 94. In my opinion Heap should not be available at this point of the preseason. This is another player seriously affected by the upcoming regression.
2.) Ben Hartsock- age 31 | Hartsock edges out Jolley for me since he is 1 year younger at 31. SPD 80, AWR 75, 80 ACC and 90 CTH.
3.) Doug Jolley- age 32 | SPD 79, AWR 91, ACC 8 and CTH 95
4.) Matt Kranchick- age 30 | Great sixe at 6’7” and blocker- 77 RBK, 63 PBK, 81 AWR & 85 CTH
5.) Marcedes Lewis- age 27 | Under 29 years of ago so he wont regress after this season. 84 STR, 84 CTH
WR
1.) Travis Taylor- age 33 |So does anyone know who is 3rd in SFL career receiving yrads, right behind Randy Moss and Reggie Wayner? Oh yeah, it is this guy. He just has “it”. 99 AWR, 96 CTH
2.) Bethel Johnson- age 32 | He is over 30 and less than 6 foot but has 95 SPD, 96 AI, 96 ACC, 93 JMP, 75 AWR & 62 STR. Honestly, he can probably still start for some teams but will regress after the season.
3.) Koren Robinson- age 31 | He has 90’s where it counts even at 31. 91 SPD, 90 AGI, 90 ACC, 90 JMP, 85 CTH & 85 AWR. I tried trading him for a 7th round pick but was unable to do so. Another victim of the pending regression I’d say however he could make a good WR3 or even an injury replacement WR1 this season.
4.) Hakeem Nicks- age 22 | I get that this might not make sense but hear me out: He is only 22 years old and just 75 OVR which makes him ubber cheap. He could fit the super cheap need for some team. 92 SPD, 68 aWR, 85 CTH.
5.) David Boston- age 33 | I went with Boston here in part because his 80 STR jumps out at me. He also has 85 AWR, 94 CTH and 40 RBK.
OG/OT
I am grouping OG & OT together here since each position could interchangeable.
1.) Orlando Pace- age 36 | 99 AWR, 69 ACC, 99 RBK, 99 PBK
2.) Jonathan Ogden- age 37 | 88 STR, 99 AWR, 64 ACC, 99 RBK, 99 PBK
3.) Deuce Lutui- age 28 | He might be a step down blocking wise but he is much younger than the rest of the group- 91 STR, 60 SPD, 70 AWR, 68 ACC, 91 RBK, 91 PBK
4.) Kenyatta Walker- age 32 | 60 SPD, 89 STR, 75 AWR, 70 ACC, 94 PBK, 99 RBK
5.) Chad Clifton- age 35 | 99 AWR, 87 STR, 65 ACC, 99 RBK, 99 PBK
K
I am only going to two K’s
1.) Matt Bryant- age 36 | 89 KPW, 99 KAC, 89 AWR, 25 STR
2.) Ryan Longwell- age 37 | 88 KPW, 99 KAC, 99 AWR, 40 STR
P
Like K’s I am only going to do 2 P’s
1.) Hunter Smith- age 34 | 88 KPW, 99 KAC, 99 AWR, 31 STR
2.) Josh Bidwell- age 35 | 88 KPA, 99 KAC, 99 AWR, 25 STR
DT
1.) Tommy Kelly- age 30 | I went with Kelly at #1 since he is the only DT with 60+ SPD , 90 STR and 70 AGI & ACC. 63 SPD, 90 STR, 70 AGI, 70 ACC, 80 AWR, 90 TAK
2.) Darnell Dockett- age 30 | 60 SPD, 98 STR, 72 AWR, 70 AGI, 67 ACC, 89 TAK
3.) William Joseph- age 31 | 57 SPD, 99 STR, 80 AWR, 70 aCC, 89 TAK
4.) Darwin Walker- age 34 | 65 SPD, 94 AWR, 69 AGI, 73 ACC, 90 TAK
5.) Shaun Ellis- age 34 | 65 SPD, 90 AWR, 67 AGI, 73 ACC
RE
I am not grouping RE & LE together since some GM’s have a completely different take on each one.
1.) Aaron Schobel- age 34 | This guy can still play. 80 SPD, 74 STR 91 AWR, 79 AGI, 82 ACC, 96 TAK
2.) Jevon Kearse- age 35 | Kearse can also still go even as a starter in my opinion. 76 SPD, 79 STR, 97 AWR, 78 ACC, 99 TAK
3.) Andre Carter- age 32 | 76 SPD, 80 STR, 73 AWR, 77 AGI, 82 ACC
4.) Jason Taylor- age 37 | 99 AWR, 76 ACC, 93 TAK
5.) Jerome McDougle- age 32 | 78 SPD, 84 STR, 80 AWR, 78 AGI, 79 ACC, 80 TAK
LE
1.) Simeon Rice- age 37 | 99 AWR, 99 TAK | The combination of maxed out AWR and TAK would seem to mean Rice could go another season in my opinion.
2.) Will Smith- age 30 | 77 SPD, 75 AWR, 75 AGI, 85 ACC, 80 TAK
3.) Leonard Little- age 37 | 95 AWR, 99 TAK
4.) Darrion Scott- age 29 | 78 SPD, 83 STR, 77 AGI, 79 ACC
5.) Ryan Denney- age 34 | 77 SPD, 75 AGI, 80 ACC, 79 TAK
MLB
1.) Larry Foote- age 31 | 79 SPD, 83 STR, 95 AWR, 80 AGI, 81 ACC, 97 TAK
2.) Al Wilson- age 34 | 79 SPD, 80 STR, 99 AWR, 80 AGI, 82 ACC, 99 TAK
3.) HB Blades- age 27 | Blades gets this spot since he is only 27 years old. 78 SPD, 91 AWR, 81 AGI, 79 ACC, 97 TAK
4.) Beau Bell-age 25 | I am also giving this spot to Bell due to his age. 76 SPD, 81 STR, 73 AWR, 78 AGI, 78 ACC, 87 TAK
5.) Jeremiah Trotter- age 34 | 75 SPD, 84 STR, 98 AWR, 75 AGI, 78 ACC, 98 TAK
OLB
I am combining ROLB & LOLB since the positions are interchangeable.
1.) Antwan Peek- age 31 | 80 SPD, 86 STR, 81 AWR, 77 AGI, 83 ACC, 87 TAK. I think Peek can still start this year.
2.) Joey Porter- age 34 | 79 SPD, 82 STR, 99 AWR, 76 AGI, 80 ACC, 95 TAK | I think Porter is a small step behind Peek but could also still start this season.
3.) Rufus Alexander- age 26 | Alexander is a heck of an athlete plus he is young so he gets my #3 spot. | 77 SPD, 85 AGI, 86 ACC, 88 TAK
4.) Joe Mays- age 24 | Mays is only 24 and would make a good backup OLB, in my opinion. 82 STR, 79 AGI, 81 ACC, 89 TAK
5.) Eric Barton- age 34 | 99 AWR, 77 ACC, 84 TAK
CB
1.) Charles Woodson- age 35 | Sure, he is old and slow but I think he can still help a team in the right situation. STR 64, AWr 99, 91 CTH, 94 JMP,80 TAK & 6’1”
2.) Ken Lucas- age 32 | Much faster than Woodson and still has 99 AWR so I also think Lucas could be helpful in 2011. 88 SPD, 63 STR, 99 AWR, 89 AGI, 90 ACC, 84 CTH & 6’0”
3.) Will James- age 32 | 88 SPD, 60 STR, 97 AWR, 89 ACC, 70 CTH & 6’0”
4.) Gary Baxter- age 33 | 64 STR, 93 AWR, 87 AGI, 89 ACC, 75 CTH, 92 JMP
5.) Perris Cox- age 24 | He is slow but he is young and will receive sophomore progression after this season. 65 STR, 92 AGI, 95 ACC, 65 CTH & ‘0”
FS & SS
I am including FS & SS since there is a good number of GM’s who interchange these even though they are really different positions.
1.) Michael Hawkins- age 32 | 88 SPD, 66 STR, 80 AWR, 89 AGI, 86 ACC, 71 CTH, 73 TAK & 6’1”. I believe Hawkins can still be serviceable safety this season.
2.) Bob Sanders- age 30 | He is small, very small but someone could do worse for a backup FS/SS or a starter in a pinch. 88 SPD, 64 STR, 84 AWR, 86 AGI, 90 ACC, 90 JMP & 82 TAK but only 5’8”
3.) Stuart Schweigert- age 30 | 84 SPD, 60 STR, 82 AWR, 75 CTH, 80 TAK & 6’2”
4.) Brian Russell- age 33 | 67 STR, 88 AWR, 84 AGI, 85 ACC, 70 CTH, 74 TAK & 6’2”
5.) Pat Tillman- age 35 Nothing else matters besides the fact that he is Pat Tillman!
I realize that it is completely dependent on team need but here is my overall top 10 remaining free agents:
1.) RB- Shaun Alexander
2.) RB- Ricky Williams
3.) RB- Edgerrin James
4.) CB- Charles Woodson
5.) TE- Todd Heap
6.) RE- Aaron Schobel
7.) QB- Billy Volek
8.) OL- Orlando Pace
9.) CB- Ken Lucas
10.) QB- Troy Smith
Well there you have it, my take on the existing free agents as it relates to the veteran minimum round which opens in a few hours.
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