5-12, 8th place
Another year where the defense was solid and the offense struggled, although the team was probably better across the board this season.
Things were looking good after a 41-24 victory over Lomé, which brought the Red Stars record to 4-5. But they only won a single game the rest of the way, that on the final day of the season against a mostly second-string Tokyo squad.
The Ben Roethlisberger experiment was highly inconclusive, but it’s hard to see a franchise punting on a player who had one of their top 5 AV seasons ever. There are enough areas of need to give him a 2nd season.
The Off Season
This remains a team in struggle, but there seem to be more and better pieces to build on than at the end of Year I.
Bottom Line
Strengths
DL, CB, LB.
Needs
Almost everything.
Offense
Pts: 13th
Rush/G: 9th
Pass/G: 13th
Yards/Play: 12th
Skill
Fans had assumed the QB revolving door would stay open, but it’s really hard to give up on Ben Roethlisberger (9.6 AV, 3056 passing yards, 24:9 TD:interception) quite yet. His biggest weaknesses were measurements related to yards per play and scoring efficiency, and it’s hard to isolate those from the quality of receiver he had available. He’s a clear step up from Year I’s starter Mike Glennon.
Sammy Baugh (1.0 AV) did enough to secure a reserve role, either here or elsewhere.
Warrick Dunn (7.8 AV, 879 rush yards) took a step backwards in Year II, but he was still the best of the options at RB. It’s not clear if the full house experiment survives into Year III: it probably depends if Beijing is able to retain Alfred Morris (3.0 AV) and Cliff Battles (3.3 AV, 7 run TD).
Latavius Murray (0.4 AV) showed enough to play somewhere, and the Red Stars are still intrigued by the potential of Roy Helu, Jr (0.1 AV in 1 game).
Art Monk (8.7 AV, 68 receptions, 890 rec yards, 11 rec TD) is solid, but it’s not clear he’s a true WFL #1. There is some hope here, as Bobby Mitchell (3.9 AV) had a solid season and, more importantly, Gary Clark (2.9 AV) showed enough in 4 games to return as a starter, which likely moves Santana Moss (2.2 AV) on to another team.
The Red Stars patience with Pierre Garcon (0.9 AV) has worn out.
Travis Kelce (7.5 AV) stepped in, grabbed the starting job, and has never looked back. He has a shot to be an elite TE, which is a shame for Logan Paulsen (1.1 AV) who was decent enough.
OL
Last year, it was sort of a joke that T Chris Samuels (10.5 AV, 23 holes) was the Red Stars’ best player. But, you now what? Chris Samuels is the Red Stars best player.
Corey Linsley (10.2 AV) did a great job stepping into the starting role at C, and the trio of Mark May (5.3 AV), Patrick Onameh (4.6 AV), and Jon Runyan (4.4 AV) all were good enough to retain a spot–if one of them has to be let go, it’s probably Onameh.
Chris Chester (0.5 AV) was brilliant in a single game, and turned enough heads to get a shot in Year III.
Special Teams
Tress Way (0.5 AV) was nowhere near as good as he was in Year I and Mark Moseley (0.4 AV) had the Red Stars dreaming of the good old days with Kai Forbath. Both kicking slots are open this off season.
Battles was solid on kicks, but Moss was significantly more effective returning punts. Clearly, with his looming departure, someone else will have to take over the PR duties.
For the 2nd year in a row, Andrew DePaola (0 AV) was the standout on special teams.
Defense
Pts/G: 8th
Rush Yards/G: 12th
Pass Yards/G: 5th
Yards/P: 6th
DL
Adrian Clayborn (11.1 AV, 4 sacks, 4 recovered fumbles, 19 hurries) led a strong defensive line, with good contributions from Gerald McCoy (10.9 AV, 68 tackles) and Warren Sapp (7.0 AV in 9 games). Sapp’s year was cut quite short by injury, opening the door for a strong showing from Michael Bennett (6.0 AV). Year I star Lee Roy Selmon (2.0 AV) was limited to 4 games, so there is a bit of a logjam here.
It’s clear that Chris Hovan (3.0 AV), Everson Griffen (1.6 AV), and Howard Jones (1.4 AV) could all contribute to a WFL team, and Dave Butz (1.1 AV in 3 games) showed enough in very limited opportunities for Beijing to retain them.
LB
Derrick Brooks (10.5 AV) continues to excel, and Perry Riley, Jr. (8.9 AV, 89 tackles, 10 deflections) remains a tackling machine, with Wilber Marshall (4.5 AV) perfectly adequate as the 3rd wheel.
None of the rest did much, which is clearly an issue.
DB
More decisions. Beijing has 3 CB’s worthy of starting spots in the WFL, led by Alterraun Verner (8.7 AV) and Ronde Barber (9.0 AV, 97 tackles). The lack of playing time will drive Darrell Green (6.2 AV, 4 interceptions) elsewhere, and Bashaud Breeland (1.1 AV) is likely to search for greener pastures as well.
At S, Brandon Meriweather (8.7 AV, 14 deflections) is the clear starter, and Dick Anderson (4.1 AV) showed enough in just over half a season to lay claim to the other spot, leaving Rodney McLeod (2.8 AV) and Burgess Owens (0.8 AV) out in the cold.
Players Retained
Franchise
QB: Ben Roethlisberger
RB: Warrick Dunn
WR: Art Monk
OL: Chris Samuels, Corey Linsley
DL: Lee Roy Selmon, Warren Sapp
LB: Derrick Brooks
DB: Alterraun Verner, Ronde Barber
Protected
WR: Bobby Mitchell, Gary Clark
TE: Travis Kelce
OL: Mark May, Jon Runyan
DL: Adrian Clayborn, Gerald McCoy
LB: Perry Riley, Jr., Wilber Marshall
DB: Brandon Meriweather, Dick Anderson
Reserves
RB: Alfred Morris, Cliff Battles
TE: Logan Paulsen, Andrew DePaola
DL: Michael Bennett, Dave Butz
Taxis Kept
OL: Davin Joseph
LB: Kenard Lang
Players Waived
To Start Somewhere
WR: Santana Moss
DB: Darrell Green
To Play Somewhere
QB: Sammy Baugh
RB: Latavius Murray, Roy Helu Jr.
WR: Pierre Garcon
OL: Patrick Onameh, Chris Chester
DL: Chris Hovan
DB: Rodney McLeod, Bashaud Breeland, Ryan Smith, Burgess Owens
Released
QB: Mike Glennon, Chris Weinke, Al Dorow
RB: Reggie Cobb, Kenneth Davis, Darrell Young
WR: Robert Herron, Adam Humphries, Lawrence Dawsey
TE: Justin Perillo, Luke Stocker, Braedon Bowman, Garrett Griffin
OL: Ron Mattes, Demar Dotson, Garrett Gilkey, Willie Wilkin
DL: Everson Griffen, Howard Jones, Cornelius Griffin, Ordell Braase
LB: Richard Wood, Keenan Robinson, Hugh Green, Kevin Murphy, Jeff Herrod, Reuben Foster, Brian Orakpo, Howard Jones
DB: Bob Sanders, Ken Houston, Rahim Moore, Mike Jenkins
K: Mark Moseley
P: Tress Way, Mike Bragg