NFL Playtest 2: 1950-present

[vcczar]

NFL Championship 1955

Top Hats vs. Sad Clowns  @Cal @10centjimmy

Top Hats, the much stronger team, wins a close game. Top Hats needed to roll a 1-85 to win, and the roll a 71. So, I'd say the game was something like 28-21 or something like that. 

Champion: Top Hats

Championship MVP: WR Leon Hart, Top Hats {He's the 3rd WR "Slot WR")

@OrangeP47 @ebrk85 @matthewyoung123 @jvikings1 @ConservativeElector2 @mark2 @Bloot911 @Hestia @10centjimmy @Willthescout7 @Cal @vcczar @jnewt @Rezi

Up next: 1) Go to the Awards tab and vote & 2) Set your draft preferences in the DraftList tab. 

 

[Cal]

2 hours ago, vcczar said:

I should note that Coach Buck Shaw went from having the fewest wins in 1954 to tied for most wins in 1955! That's a rapid transformation. 

Coach of the year material ⁉️⁉️⁉️

[vcczar]

22 minutes ago, Cal said:

Coach of the year material ⁉️⁉️⁉️

You got my vote. Top Hats have a stacked roster. You don’t. Your team was supposed to have a losing record. 

[10centjimmy]

On 5/23/2023 at 4:15 PM, vcczar said:

Top Hats really collapsed

Interesting, the demise of Paul Brown seems to have been greatly exaggerated :) 

[vcczar]

29 minutes ago, 10centjimmy said:

Interesting, the demise of Paul Brown seems to have been greatly exaggerated 🙂

The main difference was Doak Walker peaking again and signing a FB. 

[vcczar]

@jnewt Backup RB Johnny Strzykalski, a former pro bowler and leadering rusher, demands a trade. Anyone needing a better RB should make an offer to the Americans. 

 

[vcczar]

12 minutes ago, vcczar said:

@jnewt Backup RB Johnny Strzykalski, a former pro bowler and leadering rusher, demands a trade. Anyone needing a better RB should make an offer to the Americans. 

 

Along with the above @mark2's backup FS Herb Rich also demands a trade. 

[ConservativeElector2]

The Viceroys will try to partner up with coach Buddy Parker. @vcczar

[vcczar]

@Willthescout7 Moose have an interesting situation with their events. QB Tommy Thompson, who degraded last year, is hit with an event that makes his retire after this upcoming season, which will be his 17th as a pro, by the way. The backup QB Willie Thrower (1st modern black QB in the NFL, historically) gets hit with the Game Manager event, which improves him but lowers his peak. He's now better than Thompson, so Thrower will become the 1st modern black QB to start an NFL game. That is, unless the owner suddenly reappears and overrules me.

[vcczar]

@matthewyoung123 your current starting QB, Frankie Albert, will retire after this season via event. You also got an event stating that your backup QB Tobin Rote, demands a trade. In the CPU version, you'd have to 1) promote him to starter or 2) trade him---if no one accepts the trade, then you'd have to release him, just for narrative reasons. But I'm going to ignore some of the complexities for this playtest, so you can just ignore it. 

@ everyone else. I'm probably going to edit the events. The playtesting has really been helpful in figuring out the ratio of these. I pretty much have them where I want them, but just going to make some minor adjustments. I'm also going to cap how many times some events can fire in a season.  

[vcczar]

@ConservativeElector2 signs Buddy Parker as coach

This is the Power Rankings before the draft. Sad Clowns are going to have a hard time replicating their success. :

Team	Owner	Division	Total Team Strength	W	L
Buffalo Pot Smokers	Rezi	East	15680	7	5
Chicago Cardinals	OrangeP	West	15163	8	4
Washington Top Hats	10centjimmy	East	15033	9	3
Boston Americans	JNewt	East	14302	3	9
Cambridge Painted Buntings	VCCzar	East	14272	8	4
Kansas City Monarchs	Hestia	West	14237	8	4
Salt Lake City Mustaches	Bloot	West	14062	4	8
Boise Sad Clowns	Cal	West	14040	9	3
Muncie Moose	WilltheScout	West	14030	7	5
Las Vegas Knights	mark2	West	13810	2	10
Atlanta Rebels	matthewyoung	East	13675	7	5
Virginia Beach Viceroys	CE2	East	13505	4	8
Lexington Colonels	JVikings	East	13375	4	8
Los Angeles Yodelers	ebrk	West	12672	4	8

[vcczar]

1955 Awards

• MVP: FB Dan Towler, Monarchs @Hestia 
• OPOY: FB Dan Towler & QB/P Norm Van Brocklin (Viceroys) @Hestia @ConservativeElector2
• DPOY: SS Jack Christiansen, Painted Buntings @vcczar 
• OROY: QB Johnny Unitas, Painted Buntings @vcczar
• DROY: CB Lindon Crow, Colonels @jvikings1
• COY: Coach Buck Shaw, Sad Clowns @Cal
• CPOY: OLB Bob Summerhays, Rebels @matthewyoung123
• All Pros
  • WR Crazylegs Hirsch @Cal of the Sad Clowns wins his 3rd All-Pro. He now ties WR Pete Pihos in this record. 
  • T George Connor of the Knights @mark2 now holds the record with this 3rd All-Pro for a tackle. 
  • DT Bill Willis of the Rebels wins his 4th straight All-Pro @matthewyoung123
  • MLB Chuck Bednarik of the Top Hats wins his 5th All-Pro @10centjimmy
  • CB Emlen Tunnell of the Sad Clowns now has 4 All-Pros @Cal
  • Buck Shaw of the Sad Clowns becomes the first Coach to win All Pro who did not win a Championship. @Cal
  • See the LeagueLeaders tab for all All-Pros. 

[vcczar]

1956 NFL Draft

1st Overall Pick is RB Hopalong Cassady by the Knights @mark2

Americans: They draft their QB of the future with Earl Morrall. He's no Otto Graham, who is on the decline, but he's capable of winning a championship if on a good team. WR Frank Clarke and DE Ron Nery are both starting as rookies. This was a good draft. They're now competitive again. @jnewt

Cardinals: They only get RB/KR James Dick. He's good enough to be the #2 RB (change of pace back), replacing Vitamin Smith. Dick can KR, but Smith will continue holding those duties (unless the owner wishes to change this). They're equal at KR, but putting Dick there gives him twice the chance of being injured, since he'll be hold two positions. @OrangeP47

Colonels: WR Leon Clarke will be the 3rd string, slot WR. T Sherman Plunkett will start, while T Ray Lemek goes on reserve. @jvikings1

Knights: The first overall player, RB Hopalong Cassady, is something of a bust. He goes to reserve. The #2 RB, Tony Canadeo, is too good to replace, but he's retiring at the end of the year, so Cassady may get playing time in year #2. QB John Roach goes straight to reserve. Last year's rookie, Ralph Guglielmi is moved to backup QB, while the former backup, Jim Hardy, is now a free agent. T Bob Skoronski will start. @mark2

Monarchs: Their only pick, WR Jerry Reichow replaces WR Goose McClairen as the #2 WR. @Hestia

Moose: FB Joe Marconi will start as the blocking FB. P Don Chandler is one of the first pure punters and he is really good. Huge boost to special teams. Chandler replaces SS/P Tom Landry at punter. CB JC Caroline will start at CB. This was a great draft. This team is now competitive. @Willthescout7

Mustaches: They have 4 picks. RB Lenny Moore is historically a hall of famer and he replaces the awful Frank Ziegler, who has been fumbling frequently and rarely gaining any yards. Moore changes the team dramatically. Ziegler is now the #2 back. Moore is also a receiving threat. DE John Paluck goes straight to reserve. DE Paul Wiggin goes straight to free agency! The team has two great starting DEs. The drafting of two more DEs was odd. Only one can be on reserve. OLB Bill Koman replaces last year's rookie OLB Larry Morgan as the new rookie is slightly better. @Bloot911

Painted Buntings: My team only has one pick: DE Willie Davis. I have the advantage of knowing who many of these players are so DE Willie Davis is good. He's going to start over DE Bob Dee who is also very good. He's now trade bait. @vcczar

Pot Smokers: They draft historical Hall of Famer T Forrest Gregg. He obviously starts. RB Bomb Tracy becomes RB #2. Overall, this team is insanely good, and likely to go to the Championship. @Rezi

Rebels: They have 4 picks. C Bruce Bosley will now start at center as he's just as good as Strickland but has a better chance of peaking. Their next pick, MLB Sam Huff, is a game changer. He's a historical Hall of Famer. He converts the team from a below average team to a good team. CB Jesse Whittenton will be the 3rd CB. Their last pick is also a historical hall of famer: Bart Starr! He's going to be great, but he isn't good as a rookie. Starr will start as the backup. Tobin Rote will now go to free agency because last year's reserve QB was, Lamar McHan, was a rookie and is now better than Rote. QB Frankie Albert is retiring after this season, so Starr will have the team in season 2, unless the owner makes a change. This team is highly competitive now. @matthewyoung123

Sad Clowns: DE Jim Katcavage is a sack expert. He'll now start over DE Bill McPeak, who now becomes good trade bait because he's good enough to start somewhere. RB Tommy Wilson goes straight to reserve. This team needs some help if it's going to get back to where it was last year. @Cal

Top Hats: RB Willie Gallimore goes to reserve, sending reserve RB Ron Waller to free agency. I should also mention that last year's rookie FS Jimmy Patton will now start over Otto Schellbacher who is a potential Hall of Famer. Schnellbacher is degrading due to age and Patton is now better. Maybe Schnellbacher is trade bait now. Along with Gallimore, the team drafted C John Morrow, who goes to reserve. The team has C Bill Walsh who was an All Pro last year. Correction: Gallimore is now RB #2. He's slightly better than Veri Lillywhite, who now goes to reserve. Neither is great, both have a low chance of peaking but Gallimore is much better if he peaks. @10centjimmy

Viceroys: TE Preston Carpenter will start. He's not great, but he fills a vacancy. G Fuzzy Thurston will also start. This is a good draft in that both rookies will start, but the team still needs some help. @ConservativeElector2

Yodelers: CB Gary Glick will start along with current starter Russ Craft. DT Joe Krupa goes straight to reserve. This team still needs some help. @ebrk85

Up next: Free Agency and Trades

You have until I get back from work tomorrow (Wednesday), say 5 pm EST to finalize any trades and sign free agents. Feel free to sign a new coach too. 

For my team, I offer DE Bob Dee, who is actually really good, for a CB. 

 

 

[10centjimmy]

14 minutes ago, vcczar said:

Schnellbacher is degrading due to age and Patton is now better

Can I convert Schnellbacher to Strong Safety? 

[vcczar]

1 hour ago, 10centjimmy said:

Can I convert Schnellbacher to Strong Safety? 

No, he’ll degrade to the point that he has to retire. He’s basically an injury from retirement. 

[vcczar]

I’m offering a good DE, Bob Dee, who is better than the average notable DE for any CB. 

[matthewyoung123]

1 hour ago, vcczar said:

1956 NFL Draft

Rebels: They have 4 picks. C Bruce Bosley will now start at center as he's just as good as Strickland but has a better chance of peaking. Their next pick, MLB Sam Huff, is a game changer. He's a historical Hall of Famer. He converts the team from a below average team to a good team. CB Jesse Whittenton will be the 3rd CB. Their last pick is also a historical hall of famer: Bart Starr! He's going to be great, but he isn't good as a rookie. Starr will start as the backup. Tobin Rote will now go to free agency because last year's reserve QB was, Lamar McHan, was a rookie and is now better than Rote. QB Frankie Albert is retiring after this season, so Starr will have the team in season 2, unless the owner makes a change. This team is highly competitive now. @matthewyoung123

 

 

 

This draft really worked out well for me.  I was thrilled to be able to draft Starr, even though I know he's a few seasons away from peaking.  I also needed defensive help and the addition of a MLB (in a league with not too many) and another CB was helpful.  I'm excited to see what the Rebs can do for the next few seasons.

[ConservativeElector2]

I am afraid the available free agents would not improve our team. None of them fills a vacancy in our roster.

[vcczar]

54 minutes ago, matthewyoung123 said:

This draft really worked out well for me.  I was thrilled to be able to draft Starr, even though I know he's a few seasons away from peaking.  I also needed defensive help and the addition of a MLB (in a league with not too many) and another CB was helpful.  I'm excited to see what the Rebs can do for the next few seasons.

Yeah, you benefited the most from the draft. 

[vcczar]

Here's the power rankings. This might encourage some transations: 

This making it seem like the Championship will be between the Pot Smokers @Rezi and the Moose @Willthescout7. Cardinals, Top Hats, Americans, Rebels, and Painted Buntings are all in the running. @OrangeP47 @10centjimmy @jnewt @matthewyoung123 @vcczar. The rest have some work to do. Yodelers @ebrk85 are looking at the first overall pick. Records shown are from last season. 

You all may want to sign some free agents or make some trades. I want a CB for DE Bob Dee. He's good. So I'll take even your weakest CB for him because I don't have a CB at all. Bob Dee is on my reserve because I have slightly better starters. A CB will probably propel me somewhat up this list. 

Team	Owner	Division	Total Team Strength	W	L	T
Buffalo Pot Smokers	Rezi	East	15835	7	5
Muncie Moose	WilltheScout	West	15205	7	5
Chicago Cardinals	OrangeP	West	15163	8	4
Washington Top Hats	10centjimmy	East	15108	9	3
Boston Americans	JNewt	East	15107	3	9
Atlanta Rebels	matthewyoung	East	15040	7	5
Cambridge Painted Buntings	VCCzar	East	15022	8	4
Salt Lake City Mustaches	Bloot	West	14532	4	8
Kansas City Monarchs	Hestia	West	14367	8	4
Las Vegas Knights	mark2	West	14265	2	10
Virginia Beach Viceroys	CE2	East	14220	4	8
Boise Sad Clowns	Cal	West	14040	9	3
Lexington Colonels	JVikings	East	13960	4	8
Los Angeles Yodelers	ebrk	West	13177	4	8

[Rezi]

We'll try to sign Johnny Williams from the CFL.

 

Also have a decent Offensive Tackle, Fullback, and Runningback available for a good CB or OLB.

[10centjimmy]

@jvikings1 will you trade reserve SS SJ Whitman for my reserve DE Larry Brink?

[vcczar]

I'm amending events. They'll probably impact older players more. The thing I'm realizing here is that we are going to have too many players playing well into their mid-thirties, which means we may end up having too many players playing in their 40s. 

[matthewyoung123]

2 minutes ago, vcczar said:

I'm amending events. They'll probably impact older players more. The thing I'm realizing here is that we are going to have too many players playing well into their mid-thirties, which means we may end up having too many players playing in their 40s. 

You could always add a "retirement" roll to players over, say, 34.  It increases every year by a certain % until they reach, maybe 44 and then it's 100% (I'm looking at you, Tom Brady). 

[vcczar]

2 minutes ago, matthewyoung123 said:

You could always add a "retirement" roll to players over, say, 34.  It increases every year by a certain % until they reach, maybe 44 and then it's 100% (I'm looking at you, Tom Brady). 

Yeah, that was my initial idea, but I want to reduce the number of times I'm rolling things, events do a good job at that. So I' just trying to make retirement and reduction events occur more frequently. Right now I have 3 events per team. That's three things per team, rather than me rolling for 20 players for every team to see if something fires or not. So I've probably cut out 250 die rolls per season, if not many more than that. None of this would matter if this was all automated like a PC game, but I'm someone who is notoriously impatient with leading playtests, which is why you don't see me leading or even playing in the more complex AMPU playtest. I think I nearly had a stroke leading those when AMPU began. I barely have the patience for this much more relax NFL Playtest. These are all my personal weaknesses. I'm terrible at dealing with tedium mentally, even though I'm good at it (note creating all those politicians, events, etc, and basically anything with AMPU).  I also get frustrated having to hurd people like cats, which effects me also as a teacher. I just sort of expect both people and data to run smoothly, effectively, and autonomously, when they rarely do. I'm just not a patient person, although strangely I'm patient one on one, face-to-face with individual people.