Year 2: At 5-3 the Shamrocks attempt to reach the Playoffs ahead of schedule
Do they have what it takes to shock the NFL?
Halfway through the season it’s hard not to feel excited about our Shamrocks. Sitting at 5-3, these men have the 4th best record in the NFC and are staring down the barrel of their first Playoff appearance in Franchise history. When Owner Matt purchased the Washington Football team 3 seasons ago no one would’ve predicted the Shamrocks would be in this spot so soon. Their roster is young and the team is on their third Head Coach in as many years. The roster also lacks the kind of upper tier Superstar talent you expect to find on playoff rosters. Yet here we are, Owner Matt’s blind faith in the team seems to be paying off. Can the Shamrocks finish the Job?
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Week 10 vs Philadelphia
What a major game for the team from Dublin. Sitting one game behind Dallas for the division lead, a win here would go a long way towards solidifying their spot in the Playoff race. You may recall we ended the last newsletter with some big decisions to be made. We were debating getting young guys more reps across the roster, even if it cost us a few points in overall rating. It’s a tough decision to make in the middle of a Playoff run but, after much thought and discussion on the Twitch stream, we decided to make the tough decision. We moved 2nd Year Wideout Ishmael Billups to the number 3 spot ahead of Robert Foster, we benched Fabian Moreau in favor of Xavier McKinney at Nickelback and we shifted around our O-line to allow 2nd Year OL Craft to regain a starting job. These decision make me nervous heading into such a primetime game but if we want to create a dynasty these are the long-term moves we have to make.
This game should be a tight one but I feel confident in our Shamrocks. You can watch it at the link below if you so desire:
Can The Shamrocks continue their run?
Oh no. This is not what I expected, at all. The Shamrocks got behind early and just never caught up. The Shamrocks finished the 1st half with -11 Passing Yards as K-Dubs couldn’t get anything going. We rallied in the 2nd half but it just wasn’t enough. Our O-Line was manhandled all game, though interestingly it was the veterans that gave up pressure and not the young guns I rotated in. We’re still 5-4 and in a good position but this game feels like a wake up call. This team still has a ways to go and one has to wonder if it’d be in our better interest to lose and get a better draft pick at this point?
Week 11 vs Tampa Bay
Another NFC game against a team we’re rated relatively even with. Floating around the .500 mark this game is a big deal and will go a long way towards determining our fate from here on out
In a twist of fates our running game just can’t get going in this one. Dublin fans go home witnessing yet another home loss. Owner Matt is besides himself that the team now sits at 5-5. The Wildcard will likely go to an 8-8 team based on current trajectory, so we’re still in this, but momentum is no longer on our side.
Week 12 @ Atlanta
Atlanta is another team in the running for the Wildcard, every game only gets more important for us it seems. We debate replacing a struggling Phillip Lindsay with a promising JK Dobbins but decide to trust the Vet one more week. Can we reclaim control of our own destiny?
We cannot. Our offense is starting to come together but our defense is beginning to really struggle. Our running game isn’t phenomenal, which is a really odd development based on what used to be our strength. At 5-6 Owner Matt is beginning to read the writing on the wall. He gives Coach Pederson a call and tells him to roll with Dobbins at HB. It’s a subtle move but Pederson understands the implications, Owner Matt is looking to the future. His Playoff aspirations have gone out. Doug pitches the idea of signing Nick Foles to right the ship and Owner Matt almost fires him on the spot. This is Kenneth Washington’s team.
Week 13 @ Kansas City
Another tough 3-Point loss. Our record stands at 5-7 and we may not even hit last years win total. We’re technically still in Playoff contention but we’re sticking with the young guns from here on out.
Week 14 vs Denver
Wow, another three point loss, our third loss in a row by that margin. We’ve lost five in a row and are now 5-8. It’s important to remind ourselves we’re doing this for the long-haul and losing is somewhat beneficial for us at the moment. It still is hard watching this team languish after showing so much promise. K-Dubs has been playing much better as a whole but hasn’t taken that next step. Billups has been getting a lot better though which is a big deal. He started with a low rating but that Superstar Development trait seems to be coming into play now that he is playing more consistently. We have few “major holes” but we have a lot of spots where we’re just kind of waiting for guys to get better. That’s a tough spot to be in.
Week 15 vs Chargers
Different week same story. Insane run of 3 point losses and a devastating losing streak. I know I said this last season, but it is encouraging how close these losses are. It feels like we’re close, even if our record is at a disappointing 5-9. Owner Matt is rooting for 5-11 at this point, he is hopeful he can score some true Superstars to help put this team over the edge.
Week 16 @ New York Giants
We have two games left and we decide to watch this one. Competitive losses are the hope for me at this point. I want our guys to keep developing but also don’t want to hurt our draft stock this late in the season. You can watch this game at the link below:
What a complete game by the ‘Rocks. 19-3 and honestly we left a lot of points on the board due to conservative decision-making. K-Dubs ran the offense to perfection and our defense forced 3 interceptions. I know I was rooting for a loss, but it felt great seeing our guys win like that. Our record stands at 6-9 and I’m reminded of why I thought we were closer than it seemed to contention. These young guys are getting better before our very eyes.
Look at this incredible TD by Scary Terry
Our guys randomly decided to wear Rainbow Pants
Week 17 @ Philadelphia
Well, damn. We finish off the season with a commanding victory in Philadelphia. This isn’t going to help our draft stock but I suppose it shows how close we really are to competing. We finish at 7-9, 2nd in the NFC East and one game out of the Playoffs. Four straight 3-Point losses sunk the season but damn did we end up being pretty close. We technically finished a half game worse than last season but I truly feel like we’re getting better, #TrustTheProcess
End of Season Recap:
Doug Pederson nervously waits by the phone. Owner Matt is famous for the short leash he gives his coaches. Owner Matt had started the season by taking the bizarre field trip to the Blarney Stone and declaring this was the year they would make the Playoffs. Doug, having fallen just short, couldn’t help but feel like the writing was on the wall. Sure he could get a job elsewhere, but he had fallen in love with Ireland. His friends now affectionately called him Dublin Doug and he was only two stamps away from a free Yogurt at his local shop. Sure he could try and catch on at one of the High School teams that had begun to pop up, but Doug had started to fall in love with the zany way in which Owner Matt ran his Franchise. He nearly forgot to breathe when he saw a familiar name pop up on his cell phone.
“Sir?” Doug managed to utter out. Sweat dripping from his forehead as he stared at the picture of the Irish Setter he had adopted last month.
“Call it the luck of the Irish Pederson. You’re back next season, get us to the promised land,” the voice on the other end said before abruptly hanging up. A single tear fell from Pederson’s eyes, he was staying.
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At 7-9, the Shamrocks actually had quite a few guys in play for awards. Landon Collins and Will Lutz were the only two to take home official hardware though, taking home DB and K of the Year respectively. Collins, Montez Sweat, Matthew Ioannidis and Xavier McKinney all made the Pro Bowl as well.
Kenneth “K-Dublins” Washington actually rebounded pretty well and ended up in the running for NFC POTY. His stats are pictured below
K-Dubs may not be competing with Josh Allen and Ryan Tannehill with the MVP yet, but he’s on his way. The decision on how to use Phillip Lindsay and JK Dobbins going forward will be an interesting one. Despite being close in age, Lindsay has seemed to stop developing consistently and doesn’t look as good in streamed games as Dobbins. Running back by committee may continue to be the way, though their games are so similar it’s hard seeing how that will work.
We resign pretty much all of our young guys but let our older guys bounce. Mike Pouncey is just a little too old for us, especially with us wanting to get our young Linemen reps. Patterson wants a payday that we simply can’t afford for an aging speedster so he walks as well. Coming into the offseason Reader Ron helped identify our biggest targets: O-Line Stud, Backup QB, DT depth, DE depth, CB and LB depth. Our Cap Room is starting to tighten up and we have some young guys who will soon need to be paid, this means we need to sit back on FA this year and really focus on the draft. Tough decisions incoming, but I’m excited to see what happens.
The Offseason
In FA we mostly sit tight. There are some tempting options but I have become very worried about our Cap situation. We end making one signing and that is 80 OVR CB CJ Henderson. He is young, cheap and talented so he fits what we’re trying to do. This could potentially spell the end for Xavier McKinney if the money isn’t there but we’ll see. This also gives us one less position to worry about going into the Draft. There aren’t too many crazy moves to note as far as guys moving teams.
The Draft:
One of our favorite parts of the year is here, the Draft. While I always lean best player available in terms of strategy, this year will end up being a little bit different. We are finally starting to have holes that are too filled to draft. We are at Number 13 overall which is one pick higher than last season. I really have no idea what to expect in this draft but I’m hoping we can at least find quality depth guys to shore us up for years to come. You can watch the draft at the link below:
We go back and forth a little bit about who to pick but reach consensus almost immediately. Jimmy Carpenter is a behemoth of a LT out of Alabama whom we have had our eyes on since we began scouting. We’ve gotten a starting caliber LT in both the past two drafts but this guy looks like he is far and away the best player available. He’s supposed to be an Early 1st Round talent and so we decide to make him the 13th Overall Pick and the ‘Rocks third 1st Round pick in Franchise history.
NUMBER ONE IN TRUE TALENT BABY!!!! For the second year in a row we grab the most talented player in the draft, and both times we did it in the teens. Jimmy Carpenter is an absolute gamechanger for our line, and that Hidden dev trait means he has at least Star development. This will cause quite the shakeup on our line, but in a good way. Murphy and Kline will both likely have to find new positions but they’ve already moved around quite a bit in their short careers so I think we’ll be just fine. K-Dubs, Corey Bracket and Jimmy Carpenter give us three years in a row of drafting immediate impact players. K-Dubs was the lowest rated of the three when he was drafted and he won ROTY, that is very promising for our future.
The rest of draft goes as follows:
2nd Rd Pick: Jason Magee RE 69 OVR Notre Dame
3rd Rd Pick: Tanner Simmons LG 67 OVR Ohio State
4th Rd Pick: Raphael Bagley WR 59 OVR East Carolina
4th Rd Pick: Traded for a 4th Rd Next Year
5th Rd Pick: Traded for a 4th Rd Next Year
6th Rd Pick: Kasey Phillips C 60 OVR USF
7th Rd Pick: Rich Kaufman C 60 OVR Rice
The Akron Alumni, from Coach Luke’s Substack, ended up on the following teams:
Darius Patterson QB - Arizona Cardinals #2 QB
Joe Greene LT - Indianapolis Colts #2 LT (Position Battle with the Starter)
Brandon Carlson WR - Dallas Cowboys #4 WR
Mike Jacobs SS - Houston Texans #3 SS
Rodney Van WR - NE Patriots #6 WR
Well, it was a weird draft. If you watch the video you’ll see that this draft had less talent in general than previous years. The first three picks, much like last years, were all solid guys. To hold us accountable one of the House Rules I established was to carry at least four rookies on the Roster. That will be a tough thing this year but that’s how it goes. Likely one of the Centers will be that fourth guy unless we find a valuable player among the UDFAs. I’m happy overall though, mostly because Carpenter is such a Franchise player. The man should anchor our line for years to come. Simmons will be buried on the Depth Chart but will be a valuable backup. Magee has a tough road ahead to get play time but, with Sweat’s contract uncertain, he gives us a good contingency plan if he can develop quickly.
We go ahead and move guys around on the O-Line to try and find the best combination. We have so much young talent there but not enough snaps to go around. Carpenter will start from day one and Dom Kline officially moves to LG, where he started at for most of last season anyhow. Solomon Murphy, who has been our starting LT since his Rookie season in Year 1, moves over to C where he bumps up to a 75 OVR. Turner O’Connell, last years 3rd Rd selection, actually moves to TE where he jumps from a 70 to a 75 OVR. He played there some out of position last season but now slots in as the number 2 guy behind Njoku. It’s a bit of an experiment but Turner seems ecstatic about the chance to get on the field more. He give us a dominant blocking TE in Running sets if nothing else. We shift around some of the other Lineman’s positions as well to spread around our depth but nothing too crazy.
We do have a few depth spots we still need to fill out which we will use FA to do. These guys will only be signed to one year deals so we’re only looking for backups here anyways. We also are getting tight on Cap and have quite a few guys we need to resign this year so we have to be even more cautious than normal. We end up signing the following FAs:
Kyle Allen 67 OVR QB
Cordarelle Patterson 79 OVR HB (Who took a big paycut based on what he was previously asking)
Joe Dahl 70 OVR LG
Otaro Alaka 71 OVR LOLB
Jordan Elliot 69 OVR DT
We make a couple cap cuts but have to wait until the Regular season to see where we’re really at as far as Cap since we are carrying an inflated roster at the moment. Regardless, I feel good heading into this year. Our Overall rating went up on defense and stayed stagnant on Offense but that’s with us continuing to get younger across the board. Going into the Preseason this is how our Lineup is looking:
This looks like a Playoff team to me. More importantly this looks like a Roster built for the future. This next season will likely see us have to make some of the toughest decisions we’ve made so far but I’m confident we’ll weather the storm together. We’re leaving off here for now, but I couldn’t be more excited to see what Year 3 holds for the Dublin Shamrocks.
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This was a weird season but I had blast sharing it with y’all! I’m planning on moving forward with the two part approach to the season as it seems to flow better. As always though, if you have any feedback or thoughts about what you’d like to see please let me know. Thank you all so much for all the support!
Next stream will be on Thursday at 7pm EST. I asked this last Substack as well but, even if you don’t come to the stream, if you give me a follow on Twitch it would be much appreciated. Follower numbers is the last criteria I need for Affiliate which would let us do some fun interactive stuff in stream. Also remember to check out Laramie City Lights and Tremendous Upside Potential, from which this series spun off of. Regardless, thanks again for all the continued support. Much love ‘Rocks Nation!!
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