(S24) - Ultimus Week

[Alucas]

12) It’s once again expansion season in the ISFL. Reflect on the additions of the New York Silverbacks and Berlin Fire Salamanders and discuss how these teams will affect the league. How do you see scheduling or playoff seeding potentially changing? How will these teams change the power balances in their respective conferences? How do you think each team should go about building their roster, whether it’s through the expansion draft, regular draft, or many seasons down the line?

An expansion season always changes the landscape of a league and I do not believe that the ISFL will be immune to that change. With the creation of the two new teams, the New York Silverbacks and Berlin Fire Salamanders, it will obviously affect each and every team as the expansion draft requires some generally good players or players with high potential, to be left unprotected. I imagine the teams in the NSFC such as the Colorado Yeti and Sarasota Sailfish will be the least effected by this draft, losing one or two players won't stop them from retaining a good team and a good record. However teams on the rebuild like the Philadelphia Liberty and Baltimore Hawks will have to choose carefully who they protect so that there aren't any setbacks on their way up the ladder. The ASFC on the other hand may see a chance for a clear leader to rise to the top. I have never seen such an even division in my life and with all teams within two games of each other, I think the GM's really have to think about who they will expose and whether the new team to join the division will be strong and compete against them. I think the ASFC next year will likely have some clearer winners and a little bit of a shake up with a new team joining will help this along. I think the new expansion teams will need to be careful in the way they draft in the expansion and make sure they pick players who they can build around and that will stick around for the foreseeable future. I imagine they will need to take a look at the upcoming draft crops and make a decision on positions that they want to focus on in the expansion to create a competitive team. Supplementing this with new recruits via the draft will help them create teams that are young and upcoming. For their focus on the draft itself, I think finding players that are committed to the league and committed to staying through a likely tough start will help them develop into a strong contender for years to come. It will be a bit of pressure for these new GM's but likely they have what it takes to make the New York Silverbacks and Berlin Fire Salamanders teams that are consistent playoff teams. It will be interesting to see the strategies of the expansion teams and I hope to see some new or out of the box approaches, only time will tell.

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9) Pick any position, and determine who in your view is the greatest player to ever suit up at that position. Why do you view them as the GOAT? What achievements, records, accolades, or statistics do they hold? How do they stack up against the other legends in their position, and why does your chosen candidate come out on top?

I am new to this league and there are many positions and great players in history so I have decided to go myself as a linebacker, and therefore for this task I am going to look at who I think is the greatest player to line up as.. a linebacker. This will hopefully give me a bit of an insight into the previous legends that came before me and to give me goals to aim for in my own career here in the ISFL. The definition of being the greatest of all time in a position is always tricky, you need to consider what you hold as higher importance, is it winning championships, personal statistics or records and even how the player affected those around them. There have been a few damn good linebackers throughout the 24 years of the NSFL/ISFL and I would suggest the best one would be Jaylon Lee. Lee who played for the Arizona Outlaws, San Jose Sabercats and Philadelphia Liberty over a ten year career. When Lee retired he had achieved a lot, he was a four time NSFL Champion and had nearly racked up 100 tackles for loss as well as a whopping 86 sacks. He was a five time pro bowl selection from 2017-2023 and when he had retired he held the league record for most tackles made at 1042. Winning the championship in four out of ten years is an impressive feat and Lee obviously had a hand in this with some impressive numbers in each of those championship winning years. The reason I believe he is the greatest pure linebacker to play in the league is that he managed to achieve personal greatness whilst also having the team achieve the goals of winning championship after championship. My close second was Austin Roenick, he had a terrific career which spanned 12 years and he was a mainstay at the Baltimore Hawks. Roenick was the man that broke Jaylon Lee's all time tackles record, he had some good years around the other key stats for a linebacker but to me, did not quite match Jaylon Lee. He was a multi time pro bowler with nine appearances and this shows the class that Roenick brought to the league but despite his own success his team did not always bring home the bacon despite being in the final multiple times in his career.  I hope to be able to make my own mark on this league and follow in the footsteps of these legends. It is my hope that I can even surpass them but only time will tell.

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[JuOSu]

Tier 2 - 6)

The New Orleans Second Line have had a pretty crazy time to get to the playoffs this season. While winning a title a few seasons ago, they are from the same powerhouse as they were in that time. Since then, they have had changes at the GM positions more than once, the quarterback is different and some different players are on the team now. The team still has some really good players, but it is a lot different now. The offense is lead by new quarterback Ben Slothisberger, aka slothfacekilla who was previously a linebacker on the championship winning team from a few seasons ago. Sloth is still a younger QB and will improve slowly every season. For him to lead a team to the playoffs already is impressive. The team actually had a chance to grab the #1 seed in their conference with a win in the last game, but sadly that did not happen. They actually then were lucky to even make the playoffs, as the league was extremely tight this season. Crazy that they almost went from being the #1 seed in their conference to almost not making it. I think that the strength of the team right now is more the defense, where they have some amazing pieces, both younger and older. Older guys like Quenton Bode are a rock and a cornerstone of the defense, while younger guys like Witten, Hexagon and others are up and coming. On offense the clear star of the team is Tight End Austin McCormick, who had a fantastic season. Also highlighted should be the fantastic offensive line, where G. Rubbe had one of the all time great seasons with 94 pancakes and 0 sacks allowed. I would be amiss if I did not mention their two highest TPE players. On defense, D. Rector has been a rock of the team for many seasons now and is also the GM now. He has had a fantastic season and should still be great for a few years into regression. On offense, we have running back M. Toriki who along with fellow older running back Tom Hanks, leads the backfield and had some fantastic seasons this year as well. Blaylock and Barker are also two fantastic players that should be mentioned as well. It will be interesting how this team does in the future, as I believe that they are still one of the younger teams that will improve in coming seasons. 


Tier 3 - 20)

In this upcoming draft, we see a bunch of amazing players but I want to focus on two in particular, since they are my friends. Tex Wrecks is a defensive end in this upcoming draft and he is a fantastic user, by the name of 209 tacos. He currently leads the rookie draft class in TPE and has been a fantastic earner so far. Over in the PBE, where I met him he is on my San Antonio Sloths and he has been a fantastic earner there too, being in the top 3 of his class there. It is safe to assume tacos will be a fantastic earner his entire career. He is also known as an amazing graphics guy and he has done some incredible graphics in his time here and in the PBE. I expect him to be a top 3 pick in the draft. The second player I want to talk about is Donald McBobby, who is a linebacker and the user is bjbren17. Like tacos, I know him because he is on my San Antonio Sloths. He is currently my co-GM there and so we are very close. He is extremely reliable and a great user. I really think he will be a top 5 pick as well. He is currently tied for 6th in TPE but can buy more equipment still to get higher up. It will be tough for me to compete with both of them as a rookie in this class.


PBE CW

[Tylus]

7. There are so many great users and players in this league, I do not envy the awards committee’s jobs, having to pick just a few members to win such prestigious awards in this league. With as many great users as there are, there are a few who definitely stick out in my mind, starting with Deondre Thomas-Fox. Deondre Thomas-Fox, or DTF as we like to call him, has had an incredible career in general, being the San Jose Sabercats most elite weapon for several seasons at this point. This year he has gone above and beyond, with the most receiving yards in the league at 1406 yards, and nobody in the top 6 in yards is even close to his yards per catch, which is 18.7, an amazing number keeping in mind his total yards and catches. Although he only had a pretty average 7 touchdowns, the Sabercats have 4 competent receiving threats this year who have been stealing from his workload. Week in and week out Thomas-Fox has been a reliable target for his Quarterback Monty Jack, and is one of the main reasons that the Sabercats are going to the Ultimus for the first time in many many seasons. My pick for Wide Receiver of the Year is undoubtedly Deondre Thomas-Fox. Another player I would like to mention is James Angler. As much as I’d love to say my teammate Leon McDavid’s name as my choice for Tight End of the Year, as he has been a great player for my team this year, James Angler has been outrageously good, and not only could he be Tight End of the Year, he could win Wide Receiver of the year. Second in receiving yards with 1381, closely on the heels of DTF, Angler has been a work horse for the quickly emerging Sarasota Sailfish, and with no other tight ends coming close to his volume of catches and yards, not to mention a cool 8 touchdowns on the year, Angler has been legit as a deep threat for the Sailfish. I drafted Jeffrey Phillips in fantasy this year, assuming he would be the far and away best tight end in the league, and was proven completely wrong, and it isn’t even close. James Angler is my choice for Tight End of the Year, if not Wide Receiver of the Year, an incredible season from this breakout player. I hope for my player to eventually be the type of powerhouse player as these two are.


10. Nobody can tell me that they honestly saw the Sarasota Sailfish being so dominant coming into this season, although the signs were there. The Sailfish had a rough season last year, with Dexter Banks making the switch to Quarterback, the team was trying to find its footing, and had many struggles, but that all changed after Banks had a year to learn the position and maximize his stats. Coming into this season Dexter Banks had learned the game more, and his teammates had grown extensively, but nobody had an inkling that their incredible air raid offense would be so potent. Averaging an incredible 27 points a game, the Sailfish would take the league by storm, being one of the most dominant offenses in the league, while also having a better than average defense, allowing only 18 points a game, good for third best in the league. Banks would be outrageously good, with over 5000 yards through the air, and 32 touchdowns, far and away the best in both categories, and having multiple deep threats to air it out too, he would lead an offense to be absolutely feared. Banks would also rush for over 600 yards, the most by any quarterback by far, and nearly more than the Sailfishes own running back, Raphtalia Chan. Alongside Banks are tight end James Angler, who would end up one of the best receivers in the league this year, and possibly win multiple awards after all is said and done, as well as wide receivers Michael Witheblock and Rayne Gordon, both being top 7 receivers as well. The defense would be led by a very above average group of linebackers, with stars Dillmiballs and Mango-Panda leading the charge, and Safety Nkiah holding down the back end of the field. All in all, Sarasota has had one of the best seasons and teams I’ve watched since I joined the league in season twenty two. The Sailfish would end the season with an extremely impressive 12-4 record, bested only by the team who would eventually knock them out of the playoffs, the 14-2 and very fearsome Colorado Yeti. Although the Sailfish were able to win their first playoff game against the Chicago Butchers, they would end up barely losing to the Yeti in the second round of the playoffs. And though the team wouldn’t be making it to the big game this year, nobody in the league doubts that the Sailfish are for real, and will come back just as strong next season.

[Cincyfan96]

7) I am making the case this offseason for Zoe Watts to be considered for the DSFL Offensive Player of the Year. Zoe has been a game changer since the moment she entered this league, and this year was no different. She has absolutely dominated, both as a user (check out her Twitter, it’s all kinds of fun over there) and as a player. Watts led the league this year in rushing with an insane clip of 1303 rushing yards, averaging 4.9 YPC and knocking out some long runs, including a 62 yarder. She wasn’t a huge weapon in the receiving game, but did account for 8 receptions for 49 yards and even added 7 pancakes to her resume in the blocking department. She was a serious game changer all season long, carrying her team as far as she could take them, and while they are not competing for an Ultimini, I can vouch that she required the undivided attention of every defense that she faced this season. I’ve yet to mention it, but not only did she lead the league in rushing yards, she also had the most rushing touchdowns with 10 to her name this season. Double digit rushing TDs and over 1300 yards are both HUGE accomplishments for a DSFL running back, and since the MVP award is more or less reserved for quarterbacks who have a huge season, and Howitzer did that this year no doubt, I think the Offensive Player of the Year should go to another extremely worthy candidate in Zoe Watts. The biggest hurdle to her winning this award, in my opinion, is the lack of success that her team had this season. However, it is to be noted that although they finished last in the SFC, Dallas’ record was tied with Portland, who made the playoffs in this year’s relatively weak NFC. Had Dallas been in the SFC, I’ve got to think they would have hit 8+ wins this season, but they ran up against a conference full of studs and simply weren’t versatile enough to keep up with that pace. However, I’ve got to say that for a team that was consistently behind in games to have the league’s top running back is once again a testament to her incredible performance this season. Not only did she lead the league in rushing yards and rushing TDs, she did it with her team trailing the majority of the season and forced to play catch up early and often this year. All in all, hats off to you, Zoe for another great season. I’m looking forward to watching your career in the ISFL!

12) First of all, I am not an expert in the slightest when it comes to building a successful ISFL team. I am a contributor who is not in charge of anything in this league except for trying to make a positive impact and encourage my teammates when I’m able to. I do not know all of the ins and outs of this league nor should my advice be taken in any way as authoritative or really worth much of anything on this subject…All that to say, when I saw this question I knew that I had to answer it as one of the first few members of the Berlin Fire Salamanders! I am extremely excited to get to see and be a part of building this team from the ground up! To answer the above questions, I don’t think there is a need at this point to restructure the playoffs; I wouldn’t be upset if another wild card is added to each conference, but I also don’t see it as a necessity. I’d prefer to see the first seed keep a bye round and make a playoff birth something worth celebrating rather than something assumed if competent. I think that the upcoming expansion draft will tell us more than anything about how these teams are going to reshape their respective conferences. It is certain that there will be growing pains and these relatively smaller teams will be at a bit of a handicap getting started, but the key is going to be getting newly acquired and drafted team members to BUY IN. You have the chance to START a legacy and become and inaugural member of the Mount Rushmore of a brand new franchise. I know that’s my goal for Schell as I get started in Berlin. I think the key to building these teams is to be aggressive, but within the context of knowing that the Las Vegas Knights going to the Stanley Cup in their first season was an insane outlier, not the norm. The expectation is to build a competitive team slowly, looking at maybe years 3-5 as the window to enter Ultimus competition. To overperform that is great! But to expect immediate success is going to result in forfeiting valuable prospects and draft picks that are incredibly necessary when getting started. So let’s go get some killer players, Berlin (not biased at all, no, why do you ask?)! Can’t wait to raise our first banner soon!

[charlit]

12) It’s once again expansion season in the ISFL. Reflect on the additions of the New York Silverbacks and Berlin Fire Salamanders and discuss how these teams will affect the league. How do you see scheduling or playoff seeding potentially changing? How will these teams change the power balances in their respective conferences? How do you think each team should go about building their roster, whether it’s through the expansion draft, regular draft, or many seasons down the line?

As a new user, I am very excited that expansion is happening before my first ISFL season. It’s great to finally see a New York team, and I’m also a big fan of Berlin’s branding. I thought the connection between the Fire Salamander’s colors and Germany’s flag was some very creative branding. With two new teams, there’s a question if playoff seeding should change. I think the playoff seeding shouldn’t change. With 7 teams in each conference, having 3/7 teams make the playoff seems appropriate. Making the playoffs should be seen as a big accomplishment. As such, having <50% of teams making the playoffs makes going to the playoffs more impressive. Also, the % of teams making the playoffs will be very similar to how NFL playoff seeding works. In the NFL, 14/32 make the playoffs, aka ~44%. For the ISFL, 6/14 teams would make the playoffs, which is about ~43%. 

The prospect of building a team from the ground up is a huge challenge for the expansion GMs. New York made what I consider a great trade by trading for QB Sam Howitzer. Howitzer is not only the highest TPE QB in his class, but he’s also the highest overall TPE player as well. As an S24 player, Howitzer will begin regressing in S31. With this mind, New York should build a roster that can be a title contender right before and during Howitzer’s peak. So, New York should try to amass as many players as possible that will peak alongside Howitzer. With how big the S25 draft is, I think it may be a good idea for New York to trade down to get as many picks as possible. Combine this with a solid expansion draft that focuses on perhaps S22 and later players, New York should be competitive within 3-4 seasons.

Unlike New York, Berlin still has a huge question mark at QB entering the draft. The expansion draft offers little long-term options at the positions. Likewise, the S25 draft only features two active QBs. The first, Jackie Daytona, is a GM and will not be an option for Berlin. The second, Matt Peterson, is not close to being a max earner and is far from being a viable option anytime soon. Unless Berlin trades for one of the S24 QBs, they may struggle to address this vital position. For all other positions, Berlin should focus on drafting young players in the expansion draft. If Berlin drafts as many S23 players as possible, they may be able to compete in 4-5 seasons if they draft a QB this year or get someone to position swap.

13) This task is exclusive to non-recreate rookies of the S24 class and later. In 400 words or more, how has your experience been in the league? Who have you met that has made your time here more fun, friendly, and exciting? Have you been satisfied with your player’s early start? What was it like being drafted for the first time? Do you have any comments or suggestions for the entire league that you think should be implemented?

I answered this prompt last season when I had only been in the season for about a week. Since then, so much has happened. I got drafted to the Grey Ducks in the DSFL, I’ve been scouted for the ISFL, and I’ve met a ton of incredible people around the league. Draft night was a great experience and it’s amazing to know that so much work goes on behind the scenes to make it happen. When I got drafted, I had not spent much time in Minnesota’s locker room. I was a little disappointed since I didn’t know anyone on the team that well. In retrospect, I am so happy I got drafted by them. The GMs, scouts, former players, and fellow draftees have all been great! In terms of how our season went, it was disappointing to finish with a 5-9 record. However, with all the pieces we have, I know next season will go much better. 

Going beyond my team, I love how the entire league is setup! The ISFL is my first sim league and it has exceeded all my expectations from when I first joined. Things like the media, the live broadcasts of the draft/games, and league twitter make the league more realistic. I have already written some media myself and have had a lot of fun! My first article was an introduction to my player and how he had almost quit football after the death of his mother. My second article was a 10 round DSFL mock draft. I was shocked at the response that this got. A lot of people commented and told me I did a good job. This is my favorite article I’ve written so far. After this, I wrote an article about Minnesota’s struggling passing attack. This was also fun to write and allowed me to share why I thought our team was struggling to pass.

Another form of league media that I enjoy a lot is podcasts. When I first joined the league, I listened to a couple of episodes of ISFL 20 for 20 by Bex. These were enjoyable to listen to and taught me a lot about the league! Recently, I’ve listened to a few episodes of The Sylphreni Show. These have also been great to listen to! I particularly enjoy the episodes where he brings on a DSFL or ISFL GM and talks with them. It’s both cool to get to know people around the league and the episodes themselves can be quite entertaining. Overall, I have a lot of respect for anyone who does league podcasts and I think podcasts add a lot to the league.

[wonderful_art]

#5 – Write about statistics that interests you

I recently published this article and another upcoming article on clustering ISFL offensive and defensive players. I thought it would be a cool idea to spend this column reviewing the results of these matchups for the two teams based on the clusters that they fell into – comparing positionally and the key differences between the clusters of the San Jose Sabercats and the Colorado Yeti.

Let’s start with the San Jose Sabercats. On offensive they’re lead by Jack at QB (c. 2), with Lackson (c. 2) and Cardrissian (c. 0) at runningback. At wideout they have Thomas-Fox (c. 7), Hood (c. 0), and Swift (c. 3). At tight end is McDavid (c. 0).

On defense for the Sabercats is Bass (c. 4) and Chestnut III (c. 0) at DE, and Cloudera (c. 0) and Allen (c. 0) to round out the defensive line at DT. They have Fisher (c. 6) and Brackenridge (c. 2) at LB. Krause (c. 3), Oles Jr. (c. 6) and PickSix (c. 6) at CB. And finally the squad is rounded out with Stein (c. 3) and Lanier (c. 6) at safety.
The Colorado Yeti are lead by QB McDummy (c. 1). They have runningbacks Owens (c. 2), and Gilbert (c. 1). At wide receiver is Lim (c. 0), Jenkins (c. 0), and Kingston (c. 3). And tight end has Sauce (c. 3).

On defense for the Yeti is Blackstone (c. 5), de Pengu (c. 1), and Thumper (c. 3) on the DL. Gabagool (c. 1), Stephens (c. 4) at LB. CB has Purchase (c. 1) and Scott (c. 6). Safety rounds out defense with Sly (c. 4), Kirkby (c. 5) and Parker (c. 5).

Comparing the two head to head looks like this:

Pos – SJS – COL
QB – Jack (c. 2) – McDummy (c. 1)
RB1 – Lackson (c. 2) – Owens (c. 2)
RB2 – Cardrissian (c. 0) – Gilbert (c. 1)
WR1 – Thomas-Fox (c. 7) – Lim (c. 0)
WR2 – Hood (c. 0) – Jenkins (c. 0)
WR3 – Swift (c. 3) – Kingson (c. 3)
TE – McDavid (c. 0) – Sauce (c. 3)
DE1 – Bass (c. 4) – Blackstone (c. 5)
DE2 – Chestnut III (c. 0) – de Pengu (c. 1)
DT – Cloudera (c. 0) – Thumper (c. 3)
DT2 – Allen (c. 0) – N/A
LB1 – Fisher (c. 6) – Gabagool (c. 1)
LB2 – Brackenridge (c. 2) – Stephens (c. 4)
CB1 – Krause (c. 3) – Purchase (c. 1)
CB2 – Oles JR (c. 6) – Scott (c. 6)
CB3 – PickSix (c. 6) – N/A
S1 – Stein (c. 3) – Sly (c. 4)
S2 – Lanier (c. 6) – Kirkby (c. 5)
S3 – N/A – Parker (c. 5)

Comparing the offensive clusters for the players on Colorado and San Jose presents a few interesting differences. Starting at QB, McDummy is clustered into what I nicknamed the Efficient cluster. 31 TDs and 9 interceptions, with a sterling 62.5 completion percentage (highest in the league), makes him a poster child for this cluster. Jack is meanwhile in the “getting it done” cluster, paired with rookies Slothlisberger and Skywalker. The advantage is to the former, based on these clusters.

But while McDummy edges out Jack, the reverse occurs at WR1. Thomas-Fox is clustered into the ‘studs’ group – high yardage and high TDs. Meanwhile Colorado’s WR1 is Lim, who checks in with cluster 0 – nicknamed ‘TD hawks’ – wide receivers with substantially fewer yards than clusters 4 or 7, but with plenty of touchdowns. Lim shares this category with both his teammate Jenkins, but also his Ultimus opponent Hood. Thomas-Fox has the opportunity to be a difference maker in the game.

On the defensive side of the ball, I’m not sure you could find two more different squads than these two defensive teams. On every position, there’s few shared clusters – which is surprising given the grouping nature of the defensive clusters. Starting at DE, I’d have to give the edge to Colorado. Blackstone and de Pengu both showed an ability to get to the pocket and pressure QBs. And while Bass did the same, Chestnut III was less effective. Thumper only exaggerates the DL skill for Colorado, where I clustered him into the node I nicknamed ‘studs.’ Cloudera and Allen were both classified as ‘safe’, but low event.

At LB, the teams are nearly matched with styles, as Gabagool and Brackenridge both can make big plays and Fisher and Stephens are solid all-around performers. Meanwhile further down field, Colorado’s Sly has a chance to be a difference maker. As an “interception hawk” this season, he differentiates from the rest of the CBs on either team who are either tacklers or classical cornerbacks. On the flip side, Stein has the same opportunity for the San Jose Sabercats as he differentiates from the other safeties in the Ultimus based on his higher interception numbers. And while both runningbacks are clustered together, Sly and Kirkby for Colorado are sure to make it tough on Sabercats’ Lackson, as both were clustered with ‘run stuffers’ and ‘slot safeties’ due to higher tackles, tackles for loss and sacks.

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[juniped]

+2.5 PBE Affiliate: http://probaseballexperience.jcink.net/i...ntry219347

+2.5 15) https://i.imgur.com/DLtJVnQ.png

+2.5 17) https://i.imgur.com/n1gBxXb.png

+2.5 21) https://i.imgur.com/w4LPahU.jpg

[Goat_Whisperer]

12) It’s once again expansion season in the ISFL. Reflect on the additions of the New York Silverbacks and Berlin Fire Salamanders and discuss how these teams will affect the league. How do you see scheduling or playoff seeding potentially changing? How will these teams change the power balances in their respective conferences? How do you think each team should go about building their roster, whether it’s through the expansion draft, regular draft, or many seasons down the line?


I think it's great that we get a European team into the league, Germany is a big nation with a lot of people who follow the sport, so great move for ISFL and a great move for European football fans! New York as a location is going to attract a lot of players purely by offering the players the opportunity to live and play in New York. I like both of the teams and what they could potentially bring into the league. Could this be the start of ISFL becoming even more international?

If I would be one of the people who run those teams during this exciting and interesting time, the smartest move, in the long run, would more than likely be to focus on younger players and focus in the upcoming drafts. It will be easier to sell the plans of the future to younger players who the teams have drafted compared to players who are near their primes and join the teams through the expansion draft. I have to assume that majority of players who are available to be drafted in the expansion draft might at very least have some doubts about the near future if they get picked by Berlin or New York. There is no denying the fact that move to Berlin is a huge change, is an older player willing to go there just like that? I think that is something that New York has going for them, a lot easier to convince players to move to New York, but even then some players might not be interested in waiting multiple seasons before the expansion teams have a realistic opportunity to win championships.

For that reason, I would coldly focus on bringing as many young players as possible into the organization. They are the future and more likely to turn the struggle of the first few years into positive. As the younger players keep improving steadily, I would only then turn my sights towards the better free agents. Going all-in after the older free agents right away will be the wrong move in my eyes. Sure, it might make the team win a few more games, but at what cost? Potentially winning few more games does not sound so exciting when you could potentially get a mega superstar from the draft.

I would 100% commit to building from the draft. I realize that it will be a slow process, but at the same time, I feel that is a guaranteed road to sunshine.

[Evok]

I decided to make my Ultimus Week on something that I think is a problem in the league. I wanted to use this opportunity to try to convince me that it was something beneficial for the league, even though I still hate de way it’s delivered to the users.

I decided to break down all the predictions of the season and have a look at the outlines and the benefices of it. After doing this UW, I think they are beneficial for the league. However, I still think there’s a way to improve it even better than they are right now.

Quick reference:
Week 1 Predictions: 295 users – Posted a Saturday – 64h Open – Mode 1 TPE
Week 2 Predictions: 276 users – Posted a Tuesday – 42h Open – Mode 1.5 TPE
Week 3/4 Predictions: 277 users – Posted a Thursday – 39h Open – Mode 4 TPE
Week 5 Predictions: 278 users – Posted a Saturday – 47h Open – Mode 2 TPE
Week 6 Predictions: 244 users – Posted a Tuesday – 42h Open – Mode 2 TPE
Week 7 Predictions: 266 users – Posted a Thursday – 42h Open – Mode 1.5 TPE
Week 8 Predictions: 264 users – Posted a Saturday – 57h Open – Mode 2 TPE
Week 9 Predictions: 250 users – Posted a Tuesday – 41h Open – Mode 1.5 TPE
Week 10 Predictions: 249 users – Posted a Thursday – 25h Open – Mode 1 TPE
Week 11 Predictions: 251 users - Posted a Saturday – 54h Open – Mode 2 TPE
Week 12 Predictions: 257 users – Posted a Tuesday – 42h Open – Mode 2 TPE
Week 13 Predictions: 248 users – Posted a Thursday – 40h Open – Mode 3 TPE
Week 14 Predictions: 274 users – Posted a Saturday – 58h Open – Mode 1.5 TPE
Week 15 Predictions: 268 users – Posted a Tuesday – 42h Open – Mode 2 TPE
Week 16 Predictions: 274 users – Posted a Thursday – 41h Open – Mode 2 TPE

The first thing that I immediately saw in this quick breakdown is week 10. While most of the predictions are open more than 40h, this specific one was Open less than 25h before the sim in the middle of the week. This is not a lot of time for users to log on and do this specific prediction. It happened only once in the whole season, however, so I don’t think it was a huge issue, but it’s the second less did predictions. Which is also a surprising point, when we see that the predictions with the less answers is Week 13.

Another fun fact that I could see with this quick breakdown. The decision to use Mode instead of Average in the predictions means that the 8 users who had it gained an extra TPE than the average on week 3/4, week 7 and week 13. This was still not enough to put those 8 users at the most top of the league, as they finished with 29 TPE through the season.

The best predictions users are @Bkfootball and @FleshBagSoup! Both did all 15 predictions and gained 35 TPE through the season with it. That’s on a possible total of (I think) 48 TPE for the whole season, at a count of 16 weeks*6 Predictions / 2.

The worst predictions users are @legion and @nexus1353. Both only did one prediction in the season and gained a total of 0.5 (1) TPE through the whole season.
This brings me to another fun statistic. The average TPE gained through all 16 weeks of predictions is more than the Trivia could give to users. The average TPE gained through the season is 21 TPE. Of course, it’s average, so some users had more and some other users had less. It’s hard to say if it’s actually a good thing overall, due to the number of users that missed one or more prediction, but it’s a good start.

Here's some other stats that are fun to see:

Total number of unique users: 380

One prediction done: 22 users
Two predictions done: 20 users
Three predictions done: 24 users
Four predictions done: 6 users
Five predictions done: 11 users
Six predictions done: 4 users
Seven predictions done: 11 users
Eight predictions done: 14 users
Nine predictions done: 8 users
Ten predictions done: 14 users
Eleven predictions done: 14 users
Twelve predictions done: 28 users
Thirteen predictions done: 40 users
Fourteen predictions done: 49 users
All predictions done: 115 users (8 users had the pass)

So, it’s interesting to see that only the third of the unique user managed to do all 15 predictions in the whole season. While it’s about 60% of the league that did Twelve or more predictions, I still think only a third doing all of them is a bit low when the main reason I see this added to the league to replace trivia was to help activity and ‘reduce copy paste’ (lets be real, it didn’t really reduce copy paste, I personally spend even less time doing this than trivia). Having a different way to deliver those threads, would be highly beneficial. I think the idea I liked the most it to post all the predictions on Saturday for the week and close them as the week goes.

[SomeSay...]

5) Write 800 words or more on something that interests you. It could be related to statistics, to a league issue you take seriously, or a niche part of history that doesn’t fit neatly into either of the above categories. This must be directly related to the league, so don’t wax 800 words about your team’s Werewolf server. Be warned that freedom comes with risk, and this category will be judged especially stringently for anyone trying to spew complete nonsense.

Ultimus week task yay! Man, season is coming to an end, playing in my first championship game. Wow, well anyway, I have had something on my mind recently and it may not be correct. But I think I have a way to make league money valuable and give free agency and contract signings/re-negotiations a giant boost in meaningfulness for teams and players. So, to start, we need to figure out what the max $ spend per year is for a MAX earner. We have weekly trainings, equipment that all need purchased for a player to MAX earn. So, that number is 8million for Weekly task. And 13.5 Million for T6. This gives a total of 21.5 million per season for a player to max earn.

Now to insert where I’m going with this, Media is no longer a money grab, most media pay needs to be down about 20-28%. This is will benefit the contract value because now people will want to MAX earn and get paid instead of doing media. This will at first will surge media work while MAX players prove they’ll put in the work and earn the contract to do media. It also, motivates those near MAX to do more cause if they’ll need to make up the money not MAX earning. So, we add media volume in multiple ways and eventually, we will have average media with better content. League jobs and twitter will still pay, this incentivizes more league participation to earn money. 

Now, I’m just putting thoughts to paper so bear with me. Let’s say a team has full active team so for both sides of the ball that would be 22 players for this example. So, for 22 players to MAX EARN for contracts a team would need a cap of 473 million. Now, obviously we know not all players activity level will be that high so, we need to cut that cap down to give more cap space value to max earners. So again, in this example the MAX cap was 473. Let’s say a team has a average of half a squad of MAX players and the other 11 are average or below. For the 11 Actives to use contract money for all spending TPE they would need at least 236.5 million in cap.

Like the NFL you can only pay so money of your players max deals. So, for me I thought 215 Million is a great salary cap for the teams. So, with that as are starting point we see teams with a 215-Million-dollar cap. With 22 players to sign, 11 which max earn. Doing the math, we obviously see teams are going to have to value certain players more.
With this currency value we would need more negotiation time and free agency time, but with the cap we start to see teams really value the max earners. Higher contracts are obviously awarded to them. Players who get less than MAX might be interested in shorter deals, options and obviously Free Agency, so we see a balance of power in my opinion cause teams only have so much money to give so people will look for that now that it will pay for a seasons MAX.

Now, obviously position value will become a thing, so possibly giving a higher rookie contract in DSFL to help off set this. Cause what I’m getting at is each season we are going to start to see what positions are earning max money. Let’s say CBs are the highest paid position because teams need multiple and want good ones. And let’s say DE is the least valuable. I wouldn’t want DE’s to have to do 3x the work because they chose a position of less value. So, giving them an initial bonus for picking a less valuable position will help have them still have to do media to MAX but not 3x as much if they would have just chosen a more valuable position.

In the end this is just a Task about an issue I thought I might have a decent suggestion for. I maybe completely wrong and naïve because I haven’t been around but only 7 months and it’s my first sim league. But Overall, I felt like this was a starting point in more value to contracts and free agency that could get ideas following and possibly start an outline for change. I’m entering my first year of Free Agency after the ultimus tonight and all though I have excitement that people will reach out and have discussions with a MAX earning CB, I also do believe I will be let down. And this is why I wanted to write about this issue so that Free Agency and contracts me something.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Even if it means zero change or conversation


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