Offseason Bios: Mushin no Shin

Team: Mushin no Shin
Owner: Anthony Lebude
2012 Finish: 6-7-0, 5th place overall
Budget as of 1/1/13: $102.00
Draft Pick Situation: 2013: No RD1 or RD3, 2014: No RD1
Contract Years Committed to 2013 (filled to reflect a full starting lineup of players): 34


RFA-eligible Players (likely to be retained in red):
Felix Jones, Eric Decker, Jeremy Maclin, Antonio Gates, Paul Kruger, Chris Long, Jo-Lonn Dunbar, Paul Pozluszny, Sean Weatherspoon, Richard Sherman, Aquib Talib, Mark Barron, Earl Thomas, Pierre Thomas, Chris Clemons

Projected 2013 Starting Lineup:*

QB: Colin Kaepernick
RB: Ray Rice
RB:  X
WR: Julio Jones
WR: Justin Blackmon
FLEX: Ryan Williams
TE: Jason Witten
PK:  X
PN:  X
DE/DT1: JJ Watt
DE/DT2: Haloti Ngata
DE/DT3:  X
DE/DT4:  X
LB1: Aldon Smith
LB2: Navarro Bowman
LB3: Luke Kuechly
CB1:  Carlos Rogers
CB2:  X
S1:  X
S2:  X
OFF: X

TS:
Isaiah Pead
Bernard Pierce
Robert Turbin
David Wilson
Michael Floyd
*No RFAs are used to make this lineup.

Weaknesses:
Running back.  Good Lord...the running backs.  After a blockbuster deal netted Anthony JJ Watt and Aldon Smith at the cost of Jamal Charles AND CJ Spiller the RB position is pure desolation after Ray Rice.  The secondary also needs some re-loading but available RFAs will be cheap enough and come back.  There are a few candidates in the Taxi Squad in Pead, Turbin, Pierce and (best of all) Wilson but to have a chance at the playoffs Anthony will likely need at least 2 to pan out considering his lack of draft picks.  In terms of cash he sits right in the middle and should be priced out of the top tier of available RFA and UFA RBs.  Without big upgrades at RB2 and Flex this is a lineup with no future, though Watt/Smith will compensate somewhat by virtue of their positional dominance.

Likely Off Season Targets:
With really just the 1 black eye in his lineup I expect Anthony to target any and all available RBs through trade and straight cash offers.  Ironically his best trade partner is likely Nils, the manager that he traded his RBs TO just a scant few months ago.  I also expect Anthony to make a play for some depth WR/QB players as Fitzpatrick is not an adequate QB2 and if Justin Blackmon and Maclin haven't figured out their inconsistency issues they will need to be replaced.  Mid to low-level players in the $5-$15 range during the UFA if a trade can't be worked seems like the best bet.

Hypothetical Trades:
Ray Rice and $50 for CJ Spiller and Jamal Charles
$50 for CJ2K
$30 for 2014 RD1 pick

2013 Outlook:
Right on the edge.  Some people may not have realized this, but under the new scoring system (visible in the demo league "BORT Playground") JJ Watt was a top-25 player OVERALL.  His addition is a massive upgrade to Mushin no Shin and will allow Anthony to start below-average players at traditionally strong scoring positions.  That being said, Ryan Williams is not an RB2, and an "X" is not a starting Flex.  Armed with limited resources it will be difficult to gain starters at multiple positions but if it can be done I predict a playoff berth for Anthony.  If it can't be done, 5-8 sounds about right.