I joined MFN-7 during the 2021 Play Offs (that 5-11 isn't mine).

I had some talented young DTs, so I made a play for another great DT and was going to play a 34 with my DL being 3 soul crushing DTs. Re-establish the LOS type of thinking. My Defense was pretty good on paper and I thought this would give me an advantage in Run Defense and let my 34 LBs heat seek QBs for mucho Sacko.

With that in mind, I wanted a New England Two TE Offense... Ball Control at it's finest with the ability to Score by getting Mismatches on LBs and S that had no chance to cover my version of Gronk.

It was the plan, and in the 2022 Draft I put that plan in motion by spending the #8 Overall on TE Leon Arana.

This kid was a beast. 258 pounds at 6'4", 98 SPD, 100 ACC, 99 STR, 98 INT, 99 DISC, 80 CTCH, 98 COUR, 88 BRK TKL. He WAS my Gronk! Everything I was looking for, and some Good Run Blocking with it.

I had a decently high rated QB, with Arm, FOV, Release... everything except Speed. He was my Drew Bledsoe, my Tom Brady. My Non-Athlete QB with all the skills.

Well, my DTs were getting killed at DE. And my QB was Ryan Leaf, not Drew or Tom. And Leon was making zero impact.

By the time we hit Week 11, the team was a train wreck. Leon had 1 Receiving TDs, but only 36 Receptions for 293 Yards. I had designed my entire Play Book to focus on the TE... and it wasn't happening. I had designed my entire Defense to revolve around a brick wall of DTs... and it wasn't happening.

So while I Traded the QB, and the DT I had just Traded to bring in, and moved my DTs back to DT... there was a move before ALL that, a move that happened DURING the 2022 Season.

I moved the 6'4" 258 pound TE, Former 1st Round, 8th Pick Overall Leon Arana... to RB.

There was exactly ONE RB in the League weighing over 230 that was effective... and HE was my hope. Power Run, Ground and Pound... Leon Arana (and Sergio Phillips, another quality TE) were going to become my versions of Christian Okoye.

And the train continued to wreck. We found ourselves 4-12. Leon added 1 Rushing TD, *** Rushing Yards and an anemic 3.1 YPC, with a Long of 17.

My #8 Overall was a wasted pick. But at 4-12, I had no choice but to move forward with what I had. I didn't have the luxury of Drafting a RB highly, and I had no real DEs and a weak LB Corp outside of MLB Humphries.

So I made a decision. Draft Defense... in a big way. And keep the Ground and Pound Offense to eat clock and not turn the ball over, so my D could Win for us. I Drafted a Super Fast QB late... with no QB Skills to mention, in William Anderson. And I had the non-descript James Garrett, with 'Passing Skills' better than William but still horrible. We weren't looking to throw the ball. It was the Leon Arana/Defense show now.

Obviously during this time I Traded my QB and that DT I had just paid a premium for... and I used everything I had from 2022 to 2025 to secure what I felt was my future. With my #5 Overall I took Samuel Shepard, and I Traded for Joshua Velasquez and Phillip Bolden, LBs who had went 4th and 3rd Overall. I gave away 3 Drafts for the 3rd, 4th and 5th Picks of 2022. Which put the Offense on Leon and Sergio, converted TEs at RB.

Leon Rushed for 1K in 2023. 1,056 Yards on 284 Carries at an improved 3.7 YPC with 4 TD and a Long of 35. And with those Rookie Defenders, and with Leon and Sergio grinding out games... we went 8-8 and made the Play Offs. Then, shocked the world... by Winning Denver's First Ever Play Off Game.

2024 Leon rushed for 1,195 Yards on 295 Carries, and a quality 4.1 YPC with 4 TD and a Long of 44. He's also down to 238 Pounds... 20 pounds less to make that 98 Speed count a bit more.

The improvement has been steady, and he's gone from worthless (3.1 YPC) to Quality (4.1 YPC)... and I expect as his Weight drops he will continue to improve.

Leon's Stats:
Carries: 146, 284, 295 (725)
Play Off Carries: 30, 38 (68)

Rushing Yards: ***, 1056, 1195 (2706)
Play Off Rushing Yards: 99, 103 (202)

YPC: 3.1, 3.7, 4.1 (3.7)
Play Off YPC: 3.3, 2.7 (3.0)

Long: 17, 35, 44 (44)
Play Off Long: 14, 19 (19)

Rushing TD: 1, 4, 4 (9)
Play Off Rushing TD: 0, 1 (1)

Receptions: 36, 14, 27 (77)
Play Off Receptions: 2, 1 (3)

Receiving Yards: 293, 139, 288 (720)
Play Off Receptions: 16, 2 (18)

Yards Per Reception: 8.1, 9.9, 10.7 (9.4)
Play Off YPR: 8.0, 2.0 (6.0)

Receiving TD: 1, 0, 4 (5)
Play Off Receiving TD: 1, 0 (1)

Long: 22, 19, 47 (47)
Play Off Long: 14, 2 (14)

Kick Off Returns: 20, 17 (37)
Play Off KOR: 2 (2)

KO Yards: 501, 517 (1018)
PO KOY: 68 (68)

KO AVG: 25.0, 30.0 (28.0)
PO KO AVG: 34.0 (34.0)

KR TD: (0)
PO KR TD: (0)

Punt Return: 1, 53, 40 (94)
PO PR: 5 (5)

PR Yards: 64, 958, 564 (1586)
PO PRY: 107 (107)

PR AVG: 64.0, 18.1, 14.1 (16.9)
PO PR AVG: 21.4 (21.4)

PR TD: 1, 1 (2)
PO PR TD: 0 (0)

Total Yards: 6,030 All Purpose Yards in 3 Seasons.

So my Project of moving a TE to RB has given me a guy who generates 2,010 APY a Season.

And I expect him to only get better as we move forward.