I Drafted Samuel Shepard in the 1st Round, 5th overall, and was able to acquire 4th Overall Joshua Velasquez and 3rd Overall Phillip Bolden.
With one game left, this is the Story on the 3 Through 5.
Phillip Bolden was moved from LB to DE in an attempt to get pass rush, since I was unable to get Pass Rush from my 34 LBs and DEs are OP. This put Velasquez and Shepard at the OLB Spots in the 43, with savvy Vet Francis Humphreys manning the Middle.
All 3 of these Studs lost Max Points in Training Camp, but all stayed above the 90 Rating... and with their Physical Ratings of 100 SPD, 100 ACC, 100 INT, 100 DISC and 100 STR I still feel they were well worth it.
Phillip Bolden took over MFN-7 by storm Week 1 with a huge 4 Sack performance. But as far as Sacks went, Shepard and Velasquez started out quiet.
Well, Velasquez blew up. Not quite on pace with Bolden, but a HUGE Season. Shepard, who was hit the hardest in Camp, hasn't shown to be a Pass Rusher (but then he and Velasquez weren't expect to get Sacks, being OLB in a 43).
WLB Samuel Shepard
61 Tackles, 4 Sacks, 26 Missed Tackles, Thrown At 39, Allowed 18 (46.15%), 0 INT.
SLB Joshua Velasquez
65 Tackles, 25 Sacks, 25 Missed Tackles, Thrown At 17, Allowed 5 (29.41%) 1 INT, 24 Yards, 1 TD.
LDE Phillip Bolden
38 Tackles, 33 Sacks, 16 Missed Tackles, Thrown At 5, Allowed 1 (20.00%) 0 INT.
The major thing about all 3 is the massive numbers of Missed Tackles, at 67 Combined Missed Tackles. Their Tackle Ratings are still low, and I expect big gains in the upcoming Seasons in Tackle Ability. (However, of note, SS Kenneth Fletcher missed 19 and MLB Francis Humphreys missed 14 despite being amazing at Tackle... so perhaps they will always be doomed to miss a lot?)
Add the 12 Sacks of RDE Michael Evans, and the 7 Combined (5 from Donald Klinger, 2 by Gabriel Sexton) and the Rotation of Preston Michaud (2 Sack/1 INT) on the DL and the Rotation of Kidd (1 Sack/2 INT) and the Front 7 is very capable of getting to the QB.
Of the 91 Team Sacks, 89 were produced by my Front 7 (with 2 from Rotational S John Haynes).
All of this has lead to a rise in the Win Column, and I'm fighting for the final Wild Card Spot in the AFC... all on the back of these 3 Rookies turning this Defense into a Contender.
Looking for Group Nick Name suggestions, leaning towards 'The Three Amigos' or 'Hydra Force'... yeah, I'm really getting into this. :P :D
