Team Overview

Financials

The CFL's Ohio franchise lost 139.6 M dollars last season. Ouch.

Attendance dropped slightly and the stadium is only half full at 45, 000 souls in the seats.

Franchise value puts us at #26 in the league, six from the bottom.

We are $67 M under the cap, and we've only lost $5 m to lost cap room.


Personnel


Twenty nine souls on the roster.


Cabrera Works Out In Flats Practice Unis

Running back Ethan Cabrera is on the Green Page and currently sits at number three.

Offensive Line has caught the Football Outsiders eye and sits as the fifth best offensive line in Adjusted Line Yards. This despite two o line members with zero endurance bars. That has to be addressed.

Fifth year safety Harold King was the only Ohio player to make the CFL's All First Team Squad.

And we pick 13th in the first round of the CFL rookie draft.

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Cleveland Flats 2040 Rookie Draft

1.13. WR Howard Duncan, Eastern Michigan Eagles
6-0, 201 lbs.
Fits In



He looks like a great possession receiver, and since we only have three wideouts on the roster, it's a no brainer for Cleveland. And with third year wideout Neil Wilcox (56/56) coming off of injured reserve, the Flats are very thin at wideout.

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2.12. WR Bucky Gonzalez, Virginia Tech Hokies
6-2, 200 lbs.
Low Volatility
Fits In


Our second straight wideout, his bars caught my eye. His combines are average everywhere except Sole, Agility, And PSpec which are great.

Endurance Bar sold the deal.

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Both rookie wideouts have great bars in Specials, an area often overlooked. Both have great Pos Spc bars, and I like both of their Strength Bars. They're a bit of a mirror image of one another, and with such a small number of wideouts on our roster, Endurance has to be strong.

We may not be received well ingame with the draft review, but dag nab it, we're better now.

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3.11. DT Ray Logan, Mississippi
6-5, 321 lbs.
High Volatility
Fits In

The only thing missing on this guy's bars is Punishing Hitter. He's a six five technique tackler with very nice Pass Rush Technique and Pass Rush Strength. Run Defense Bar looks nice as well.

Combine wise he has three great scores in Dash, Sole, and Agility, and his Bench Press is only two away from Great, so he's high average.

He'll work with defensive tackle mentor Jose Cerqua, an eight year pro who's pissed about being franchised.

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4.18. DE Nicky Stauffer, Virginia Tech Hokies
6-4, 280 lbs.
Average Volatility
Fits In

Drafted for depth at the defensive end spot, he is a technique tackler with good Endurance, Play Diagnosis, Pass Rush Technique, and Run D.

Combine wise he has great scores in Dash, Sole, and Agility. But poor scores in Strength and Broadjump pretty much contributed to his drop.

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Free Agent Signs With Cleveland



Wideout Winfred Pearson, a third year CFL pro originally drafted in the second round of the 2038 CFL Rookie Draft by Fargo has signed with Cleveland. Pearson played collegiately at Kansas State, and the former Wildcat signed a three year deal worth $17 M dollars.

Pearson has played in all thirty two games in his career, but has only started in three.

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5.17. CB Ed Knops, Missouri State Bears
6-0, 196 lbs
Average Volatility
Fits In

Good Bars in Man 2 Man, Zone, Bump N Run, Play Diagnosis, Endurance, and Specials.

Combine scores look average across the board with one great score in Sole.

He looks like a dime or nickle back who'll never intercept a lot of passes but will defend, and a Specials contributor.

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6.16. FS William "Mr." President, Central Florida Golden Knights
6-0, 207 lbs.
Fits In
Very High Volatility

Drafted for depth at safety and for Special contributions. Combines are pretty vanilla, and his bars are pretty sprinkled with some areas better than others.

(sounds like a damn ice cream sundae, doesn't he?...vanilla ...sprinkles...lol)

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7.15. LS Jeff Springer, Purdue Boilermakers
6-4, 251 lbs.


He's a long snapper, and we didn't have one on roster. And a cheap one, at that.

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Sixteen year kicker John Oates has been cut by Cleveland. The Flats front office tried to renegotiate Oates contract, but Oates was quoted as saying .."I Can't Go for That, No Can Do."

It left Cleveland with no choice but to free up a lot of cap space and cut the veteran kicker. "We think John was Out of Touch with his salary demands so we had to use a little Adult Education and cut him."



Which brings us to his replacement, kicker Rich Dahlin. Dahlin played at Northwestern and was drafted in the sixth round of the CFL 2034 Rookie Draft by Tulsa. In seven seasons he has hit on 81% of his field goal kicks, with his best season last year where he connected on 93.5%.

"Dahlin does the same thing, but much cheaper, and a bit better." Hoosier Owens.



Former Penn State Nittany Lion and Boston Bee guard Monty Kacyvenski has signed with Cleveland. Already well liked by fans, Kacyvenski gives Cleveland a chance to spell 12 year guard Gabe Tuell. Tuell's Endurance Bar is but 12, and his career is filled with injuries.

"I think every offensive line needs a polish presence and now we have one. I wouldn't be surprised if he wound up starting this year." Hoosier Owens.



Cleveland fans already recognize new free agent cornerback Tim Meinhardt. The luxury of a Big 10 college market helps.

Meinhart was a former first round pick in the 2038 CFL Rookie Draft taken by Hartford. Meinhart played collegiately at Minnesota.

Recognized by fans, Meinhart has solid bars and has played in all thirty two games during his two year tenure, but has only started fifteen. He has a career pass defense % of 80.7., and has four interceptions to his credit. He's registered 84 tackles and 26 assists.

"He'll get the chance to play and start here. Our current left corner, Ahmed, has ZERO Endurance Bar, and while his cover skills are adequate, much more suited for dime and nickle packages." Hoosier Owens, G.M.


Lynch In Younger Days At SIU

Veteran QB Released. Fourteen year quarterback Monty Lynch has been cut from the squad after one season. Simply put, Cleveland needed the money spent on Lynch to complete the roster and get to a full complement of 52 players.

Which means second year quarterback Leon Dishowitz (13/50) is the starting quarterback as it stands now.



How They Landed: The New Rookies
Draft Review: B+

1.13. FL Duncan 26/50
2.12. SE Gonzalez 19/44
3.11. RDT Ray Logan 22/54
4.18. RDE Nicky Stauffer 17/39
5.17. RCB Ed Knops 22/40
6.16. FS William President 17/39

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Great write-up

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Agreed, Great write-up

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Joined: 2030 - Moved to Miami in 2052
Conference Champs - 2051

Internet imtermittent, Comcast is coming out today to shoot the lines, and I may not be on much this weekend.

Just an fyi

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