Offseason Bios: Dreamboat Trash

Team: Dreamboat Trash
Owner: Nils Ferm
2012 Finish: 8-5-0, 3rd place overall
Budget as of 1/1/13: $2.00
Draft Pick Situation: 2013: No RD1 or RD2 picks, 2014: extra RD1 pick, extra RD2 pick, no RD4 pick, extra RD5 pick

Contract Years Committed to 2013 (filled to reflect a full starting lineup of players): 30


RFA-eligible Players (likely to be retained in red):
Cliff Avril, Alfonzo Dennard, Julian Edelman

Projected 2013 Starting Lineup:*

QB: Tom Brady
RB: Lesean McCoy
RB: CJ Spiller
WR: Wes Welker
WR: Marques Colston
FLEX: Jamal Charles
TE: Brandon Myers
PK:  X
PN:  X
DE/DT1: Elvis Dumervil
DE/DT2: Bruce Irvin
DE/DT3: John Abraham
DE/DT4:  X
LB1: Bobby Wagner
LB2: Derrick Johnson
LB3:  X
CB1:  Devin McCourty
CB2:  X
S1:  X
S2:  X
OFF: WAS

TS:
Donta Hightower
Brock Osweiler
Chris Givens
Juron Criner
Josh Gordon

*No RFAs are used to make this lineup.

Weaknesses:
Not many in terms of players.  In his second full season Nils was able to secure top level talent at all of the face positions while trading strictly from drafted talent, preserving his future picks and keeping the UFAs he spent so much money on during the last offseason.  Though TE production was inconsistent, Brandon Myers still finished a respectable 6th in scoring at his position during the regular season, and with Brady added and a full season of him plus the new RB acquisitions Charles/Spiller/CJ2K, Nils should be set at the marquee scoring positions.  There's work to be done on the defensive front after sending off uber-stud JJ Watt and his LB sidekick Aldon Smith, but Bobby Wagner appears to be a capable replacement for Smith and with the tackle scoring system to change from .5pts/tackle to a full point there should be room to make up ground at DE/DT.  This is a good thing, as though Nils has retained his overall total of picks his cash reserves have been decimated by a busy regular season of bidding.  CB, S and replacements at DE/DT appear to be the biggest concerns.  In terms of current player personnel the Dreamboat also experienced some severe swings in production in the later weeks, oscillating between 200 and 145 points.  Volatile players like Spiller, Charles and CJ2K may be to blame but one cannot simply hope that they become more consistent in 2013.

Likely Off Season Targets:
I expect very little movement on the RFA front due to a complete lack of funds but Nils will likely continue his high level of activity on the trade market.  With players like Mike Wallace, Cecil Shorts and CJ2K riding the pine as positional depth/backups I expect at least 1 of them to be traded for an upgrade at TE or a long-term backup at QB.  Having only 3 picks in the 2013 draft, Nils will likely only promote Hightower and Givens off of his Taxi Squad and let Osweiler, Gordon and Criner develop another year.  Abraham will likely be franchised as a top-5 player for lack of funds to replace him but other defensive starters will likely be of the $1 flyer variety.  There may be some movement towards trading ceiling for consistency at the RB position if Spiller/Charles continue to get sporadic workloads.

Hypothetical Trades:
Tom Brady and RD1 pick for Russell Wilson and Aaron Hernandez
Wes Welker and CJ2K for AJ Green and $40
CJ2K for $60
Mike Wallace for $20 and 2014 RD1 pick

2013 Outlook:
Pretty Dreamy.  Despite a strong 2012 Nils' roster didn't have any players with dominant years except for JJ Watt and Tom Brady, and even Brady's was a tick down from the year before.  That could mean that this roster is old, but (again, aside from Brady), the Boat Trash Yacht is relatively young at the face positions and has yet to play even a half season together healthy.  Jamal Charles and CJ Spiller should see increased workloads with changes in personnel and with Chip Kelly signing on in Philly, Shady McCoy could be a force again in 2013.  Welker leaving New England or (knock on wood) an injury to Brady could make a playoff push a little harder, but I confidently see another playoff trip, and possibly a division title to go with it.  One concern is that Nils has mostly filled his roster, limiting his ability to raise his ppw ceiling.  2012 was a great step forward, but much of the next 2 seasons will likely be spent more on retaining players than acquiring new ones.  That will be a new challenge for him and it will be interesting to see if his constant tweaking can be curtailed when no longer as necessary.