#12 Savannah Year-In-Review

Preview: (Posted before the 2015 Draft)
The Petes have been a deceptively close to contention in their six years in the LFL; While their record tallies at just under .500, they have shown time and time again that they are willing to take the big risk for the big reward. It backfired in 2012, but it nearly bore fruit in 2014, when they made it as far as the semi-finals. Steven will look to be more consistent in 2015, but never underestimate his ability to make a big splash in the trade market.

Final Record:
Four Wins, Nine Losses (2,078.99 points; 159.92 avg - 13th)

Playoffs:
Lost to Manitoba Moosecrew in Consolation Quarterfinal 179.05 - 121.61
Lost to HCM City Lead Farmers in 11th Place game 198.64 - 143.69

Synopsis:
Like the Drivers and LHT, the Petes' struggles start with the top of their draft board. After a huge victory in week one that made Savannah look like an early contender, everything began to fall apart in a hurry: Their second, fourth, and fifth round picks were all out of the lineup by week two, and none would return to the field wearing black and white, as Dez and Kuechly were shipped out before they recovered, and Levy never really did get healthy. By week four Andrew Luck was on the shelf as well, and though the team got up to defeat rival Hill Valley in week five, the rest of the year was a death march to the end- the team had no choice but to sell low to try to get DeAndre Hopkins some support, but it just wasn't in the cards this year; A couple of wins near the end allowed the team to sneak into the consolation bracket and secure the sixth overall pick. They'll hope to have a better approach this year, after overreaching on linebackers early... They straight wasted their sixth round pick in 2015. Hard to make mistakes that early in the draft without season long repercussions. 

Draft Analysis:

VALUABLE ; TRADED ; DROPPED; RECYCLED; INJURED

Very unfortunate draft that highlights the crippling nature of missing on early IDP picks. DeAndre Levy and Curtis Lofton were both failures in the 5 and 6 slot, leaving the roster bereft of the safer talents available in those early rounds. Luck and Dez both getting hurt left the team's cupboard bare, while Kuechly's concussion struggle early forced the team to sell him low. All but two of the team's top ten picks ended up missing significant time with pains- DeAndre Hokpins a glowing exception in his breakout year. Shane Vereen would have been an okay plug and play third option, but was miscast in a feature role. The backend of the draft was decent, but a lot of that value got flushed by the team's injuries, as they needed to reach into the discard pile time and time again.



Projected Points by Position versus League Average Projections (POST DRAFT)

SAV: C- GRADE
Strength: QB
Weakness: RB

Andrew Luck gives this offense a chance to score a lot of points, but there's no proven bell cow on the roster, and the WR depth is a gamble. Kuechly and Levy is a great LB tandem.




Trade Review: (Listing each player's point total following the trade)

• SEP 10 traded TE Julius Thomas (107.0) to NYF for TE Kyle Rudolph (115.5)

A preseason move exchanging tight ends, Savannah traded an injured asset (picked in the 10th round) for an injury prone one that had gone undrafted. It would start a theme that the Petes would struggle with for the rest of the season: Moving injured players for healthy (but lesser) players at the same position. Rudolph played four unspectacular games for the Petes- scoring double digit points once in that span. Julius was not healthy during that span, but New York held onto him for the backend of the season and he ended up scoring well in five of eight games. Rudolph was healthy all year but rarely a difference maker: he caught a quiet TD for the Islanders before giving Saskatoon mixed results.

• SEP 23 traded TE Antonio Gates (132.9), TE Ladarius Green (72.4), and WR James Jones (155.2) to PAW for TE Dwayne Allen (19.1), WR Cecil Shorts (86.49), and RB Isaiah Crowell (142.8)

After two weeks, the Petes moved two more tight ends with more upside for some healthy bodies. Antonio Gates was in the midst of a four game suspension, and was bundled with his protege Green. Green had a solid start before giving way to Gates who had a nice middle of the season. Dwayne Allen (a blocking specialist with limited play making ability) didn't end up registering on a Savannah stat sheet- nor did Isaiah Crowell, who would be traded twice more before rejoining the team at the end of the season without ever taking a snap. Ultimately only Shorts would play for Savannah: three decent games, before suffering an injury that crowded Georgia General couldn't handle. The best player in this deal may have been James Jones who lit the lamp consistently everywhere he went: first with the Petes, then Pawnee, then Toronto.

• SEP 30 traded RB Carlos Hyde (37.2) to MMC for RB Rashad Jennings (159.23) and WR Tavon Austin (171.17)

Carlos Hyde looked like a monster after his week one OPotW performance, but he was unable to maintain that level on a bad team. After deteriorating two weeks in a row (both losses) he was moved to Manitoba, where he'd have one good performance and three bad ones before ending up on injured reserve. The Petes did well on this one: RB Rashad Jennings volume was all over the place during the season, and the journeyman was never properly deployed in hi two games in black; Tavon Austin was the bigger get, the gadget good enough to be the #26 WR on the season.

• OCT 7 traded RB Isaiah Crowell (119.5) and WR Dez Bryant (76.1) to PHX for LB Derrick Johnson (145.15), WR Vincent Jackson (43.7), and WR Victor Cruz (0.00)

After three straight losses and with Andrew Luck shelved, the Petes felt the pressure to make moves before their season slipped away. At the time, Dez Bryant's return was further off than Victor Cruz. It didn't end up that way, but you can see what they were thinking there. LB Derrick Johnson came in and was the stud linebacker they needed (and thought they had at the front end of the draft) while moving the unutilized commodity Crowell for Vincent Jackson should have given the team a WR2 that would have fit with Hopkins and Austin. VJax had a terrible performance, a bye week, another terrible performance, and then missed three games with injury. He came back to give the Petes three weeks that met expectations to close the season, but it was too little too late for a team that embodied Murphy's Law.

• OCT 16 traded LB Luke Kuechly (177.4) and WR Stevie Johnson (50.) to NYF for LB Daryl Smith (84.95) and WR Jermaine Kearse (89.7)

This one was something of a head scratcher at the time and only got worse over time: Luke Kuechly was drafted to be the team's defensive captain, and was on the verge of returning after missing a month with a concussion. Savannah had just won their second game of the season, and perhaps spooked that his health issues would linger, moved him for savvy veteran Daryl Smith. While Smith was a quality supplementary part, Kuechly found his groove quickly in New York, dominating the rest of the season. I think that was pretty demoralizing for the Petes. Kearse scored early (for New York) and again late for the Petes, but the middle of his season was a wasteland for stuck in a rut Savannah. Stevie Johnson was injured at the time of the deal and would be moved again (to Phoenix) mid season, where he came into some unanticipated productivity replacing Keenan Allen. Kearse ended up with the better numbers, but did little to save the season when Savannah needed a hero.

Player of the Week Awards:

• WK01 OPotW: RB Carlos Hyde (36.4 pts)
• WK01 PUotW: WR James Jones (20.3 pts)
• WK06 OPotW: WR DeAndre Hopkins (35.2 pts)

All Larkspur Bowl Players:

• Wide Receiver: DeAndre Hopkins (318 pts)

Depth Chart:

• QB: Andrew Luck, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Sam Bradford
• RB: Shane Vereen, Chris Johnson, Ameer Abdullah, Isaiah Crowell
• WR: DeAndre Hopkins, Tavon Austin, Willie Snead, Vincent Jackson, Jermaine Kearse, Dwayne Harris, Chris Hogan
• TE: Owen Daniels, Jared Cook
• K: Josh Brown
• DL: Jerry Hughes
• LB: Derrick Johnson, Daryl Smith, Connor Barwin, Jadeveon Clowney, Aaron Lynch, Derrick Morgan
• CB: Walter Thurmond, Jimmy Smith, Richard Sherman, Delvin Breaux
• S: Eric Weddle, Earl Thomas