10-7, 3rd place
Another good year, but another playoff exit as well.
Dublin beat who they were supposed to beat, but never really hit a roll against the better teams in the league. A 3 game win streak, which included a statement victory over Tokyo, took them to 10-5, and set them up in great position, but losses to San Francisco and New York in their final 2 games consigned them to the wild card spot.
The Damhas are likely to lose some good talent to the various drafts; they’re ability to remain in the hunt of the Northish division probably depends on how they react to that.
That said, there is enough talent on both sides of the ball to keep Dublin quite formidable.
The Off Season
Sustaining success is always an issue.
Bottom Line
Strengths
QB, DE, WR, RB
Needs
DB. Mostly a reaction to what is lost in the draft, but RB depth is always an issue, and OL concerns remain.
Offense
Pts: 3rd
Rush/G: 2nd
Pass/G: 4th
Yards/Play: 6th
Skill
Aaron Rodgers (20.3 AV, 4510 pass yards, 96.2 QBR, 37:19 TD:interceptions, and a shocking 450 yards rushing) leads the way, as he did in Year I, and looks to be a true WFL franchise QB.
Dublin’s Year I turned around with the addition of Jim Taylor (14.4 AV, 1798 rush yards, 17 TDs), and his dominance continued in Year II. Alfred Blue (2.5 AV, 267 yards) remains a great backup. Blue’s Year II was even better than his Year I, and he’ll be exposed to be claimed as a starter if another WFL team feels he can step up. Fred Jackson‘s (0.1 AV in 3 games) tenure with the Damhas will be limited to the single season.
The receiving corps is spectacularly deep, led by DeAndre Hopkins (13.7 AV, 102 rec, 1200 yards, 10 TDs). Year I 100 catch man Andre Johnson (3.1 AV in 7 games) slumped in a year marred by injury, which opened the door for significant contributes from both Randall Cobb (9.6 AV, 81 rec, 1007 yards, 8 TDs) and Jordy Nelson (8.5 AV, 88 rec). Nelson especially came out of nowhere to put up great numbers. And all of that ignores the looming talent of Don Hutson (-0.2 AV in 4 games), who endured another injury plagued season.
TE continues to be manned by the spectacular Pete Retzlaff (11.0 AV, 8 Tds), who is probably Dublin’s dominant deep threat currently, with Andrew Quarless (1.1 AV) doing more of the dirty work.
OL
Forrest Gregg (19.9 AV, 52 holes) had a year for the ages, which overshadowed superlative work by both Mike Michalske (12.0 AV, 27 holes) and Josh Sitton (10.7 AV, 26 holes). Brian Bulaga (8.2 AV) and Stefan Wisniewski (5.0 AV) both had great years, but each may fall victim to the numbers game in the offseason.
Special Teams
Tim Masthay (-0.4 AV) struggled in Year II at P.
Mason Crosby (0.7 AV) was doing OK in Year II–below his Year I standards for sure–before being injured. While Randy Bullock (0.4 AV) failed to impress, Al Del Greco (0.3 AV) did quite well and you would expect to see both him and Crosby in the WFL for Year III.
DB Jermaine Whitehead (0.2 AV) was the ST standout defensively, while KR Keshawn Martin (-0.7 AV) had some big games, but overall was below league average in both kickoff returns and punt returns.
Defense
Pts/G: 7th
Rush Yards/G: 3rd
Pass Yards/G: 11th
Yards/P: 7th
DL
It begins with the magnificence that is J.J. Watt (20.3 AV, 88 tackles, 11 sacks, 26 hurries, 22 stuffs, 7 forced fumbles), but Mike Daniels (11.1 AV, 19 hurries, 7 stuffs), Cal Hubbard (8.6 AV), and Ryan Pickett (7.9 AV) are a formidable front 4.
Beyond that, it’s time for Lavvie Dilweg (0.1 AV) to move on and find some playing time elsewhere, and neither Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (0.7 AV) nor Letroy Guion (0.2 AV) showed enough to be retained–in Gbaja-Biamila’s case, his Year I performance is enough to get him a look elsewhere.
LB
The LB performance suffered a bit in Year II. While the trio of Clay Matthews, Jr. (9.2 AV), Dave Robinson (6.6 AV), and Ray Nitschke (7.5 AV, 7 stuffs) were quite solid, they didn’t match Robinson’s heights for Year I, and Brian Cushing (0 AV)–he of 104 tackles the previous season–barely saw the field.
A.J. Hawk (2.3 AV) deserves a role somewhere, as does Cushing.
DB
Casey Hayward (14.3 AV, 6 interceptions, 16 deflections) and Johnathan Joseph (8.8 AV, 4 interceptions, 3 TDs) are as good a pair of CB’s as the WFL has, but the S play–a strength the previous season–was a bit of a letdown, as the trio of Kendrick Lewis (8.3 AV, 22 deflections), LeRoy Butler (5.8 AV), and Darren Sharper (3.9 AV) all struggled a bit.
Look for Sharper to get a look elsewhere, along with Brice McCain (1.7 AV) and Tramon Williams (1.2 AV), while Herb Adderley (0.3 AV) continues to make an argument for a larger role in the Dublin secondary.
Players Retained
Franchise
QB: Aaron Rodgers
RB: Jim Taylor
WR: DeAndre Hopkins
TE: Pete Retzlaff
OL: Forrest Gregg
DL: J.J. Watt, Mike Daniels, Cal Hubbard
LB: Dave Robinson
DB: Casey Hayward
Protected
WR: Randall Cobb, Andre Johnson, Don Hutson
OL: Mike Michalske, Josh Sitton, Bryan Baluga
LB: Ray Nitschke, Clay Matthews, Jr.
DB: LeRoy Butler, Johnathan Joseph
K: Mason Crosby
Reserves
RB: Alfred Blue
WR: Jordy Nelson
TE: Andrew Quarless
DB: Herb Adderley, Jermaine Whitehead
Taxis Kept
OL: David Bakhtiari
DL: Mike McCoy
Players Waived
To Start Somewhere
OL: Stefan Wisniewski
DL: Ryan Pickett
LB: Brian Cushing, A.J. Hawk
DB: Darren Sharper, Kendrick Lewis
To Play Somewhere
FB: Brandon Manumaleuna
KR: Keshawn Martin
OL: Greg Larson, Don Barclay, Mark Stepnoski
DL: Lavvie Dilweg, Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila
DB: Brice McCain, Tramon Williams
K: Al Del Greco
Released
QB: TJ Yates, Arnie Herber, David Carr, Sean Mannion
RB: Fred Jackson, John Brockington, Clark Hinkle
WR: Tommy McDonald, Boyd Dowler, Trevor Davis
TE: Rhett Ellison, Jim Mitchell
OL: Chester Pitts, Anthony Fabiano, Steve Wright
DL: Letroy Guion, Aaron Kampman, Derek Wolfe
LB: Bob Forte, Brooks Reed, Alex Agase, Clark Hinkle, Gary Plummer, Jason Ankrah
DB: Willie Wood, Isiah Frey, T.J. McDonald
P: Tim Masthay, Kyle Richardson
K: Randy Bullock