7-10, 4th place
Quite a disappointing season for the Emperors. A 1-3 start was disappointing, but when a victory over Sydney brought the Emperors to .500 at 5-5, dreams of the playoffs were revived. But 4 straight losses ruined those ideas. Given that Addis went 0-6 against the 3 playoff teams from the division, they can’t really complain about luck.
However, the numbers were actually not that awful, so it’s important not to panic and the team is likely to lose a fair bit of talent in the drafts.
The secondary could use some upgrades, and there is always a lot of pressure on the OL, both to open holes for LaDainian Tomlinson and to protect Philip Rivers.
The Off Season
How to regain the overall performance of Year I, which seems to hinge on improving the defense and the OL.
Bottom Line
Strengths
RB, QB, WR, DL, LB.
Needs
DB, OL depth.
Offense
Pts: 6th
Rush/G: 3rd
Pass/G: 5th
Yards/Play: 8th
Skill
Philip Rivers (10.5 AV, 3783 passing yards, 26:9 TD:Interceptions) was fine in Year II, even good. But he was a far cry from the league MVP of Year I. Still, a 90+ QBR is quite good in the WFL, and Rivers’ position is quite safe.
Behind him, it gets interesting. Dan Fouts (2.0 AV) has shown enough in limited action over both years to move on as a starting QB. He’ll be replaced as #2 on the depth chart by Ken Stabler (0.3 AV).
There is little depth behind LaDainian Tomlinson (19.5 AV, 2007 running yards, 50 receptions for 288 yards, 21 TDs); then again, it hasn’t been needed. Marcel Reese (1.5 AV) has been great as a blocking back, but there hasn’t been much else there, which is an ongoing concern.
The WRs remain likely the best in the league. While nobody reached the heights of John Jefferson’s Year I exploits, Lance Alworth (11.1 AV, 72 receptions, 1072 yards, 12 TDs) led the group in Year II. John Jefferson (3.1 AV in 9 games) struggled with injuries, and the slack was picked up by Wes Chandler (7.5 AV, 69 receptions, 997 yards) and Charlie Joiner (2.5 AV). Either Joiner or Tim Brown (1.4 AV) are likely to move on, while Vincent Jackson (0.7 AV) showed enough to step into their shoes in Year III.
Kellen Winslow (7.8 AV, 6 TDs) is an elite TE; this year Antonio Gates (1.2 AV) stepped out as well and may be looking for more playing time elsewhere.
OL
Once again the OL was led by the Ts, Ron Mix (11.4 AV, 30 holes) and Marcus McNeill (9.7 AV, 22 holes), and the contributions of Jim Otto (9.1 AV) and Louis Vasquez (9.4 AV, 19 holes) cannot be overstated. Doug Wilkerson (6.7 AV) was quite good, but if one of those 5 have to go, it’s probably him.
Joe Cocozzo (1.1 AV) and Tony Bergstrom (0.9 AV) are legitimate WFL backups.
Special Teams
Sebastian Janikowski and Mat McBriar form one of the better kicking tandems in the league, and their roles are certainly safe for Year III.
After the failure of the Napolean Kaufman experiment, the Emperors will return to looking to Tim Brown for both kickoff and punt returns.
Gerald Irons (0.6 AV) survives as the gunner.
Defense
Pts/G: 12th
Rush Yards/G: 6th
Pass Yards/G: 8th
Yards/P: 12th
DL
The front four of Big Hands Johnson (11.7 AV, 12 hurries, 6 sacks, 60 tackles) and Louie Kelcher (9.2 AV) in the interior and Leslie O’Neal (11.0 AV, 79 tackles, 8 sacks) and Howie Long (9.1 AV, 9 stuffs) on the ends is pretty spectacular. With all 4 positions set, Ernie Ladd (0.9 AV) and Jamal Williams (0.4 AV) are both searching for more playing time.
LB
The quality of the front four sort of pushes Addis Ababa into a 4-3. With Junior Seau (8.8 AV, 82 tackles) and Khalil Mack (8.3 AV), the top end is set and, in Year II, Ted Hendricks (4.3 AV, 51 tackles, 5 blocked kicks) stepped up dramatically to take over the 3rd slot.
Nobody else showed much, although it could be argued that midseason draftee Tom Jackson (0.2 AV) was never really given the chance.
DB
There are a lot of decisions to be made here. The CB situations are pretty set, with Carlos Rogers (10.8 AV, 6 interceptions, 94 tackles, 16 deflections, 4 forced fumbles) and Dick Harris (8.4 AV, 4 interceptions). But the S slot saw Tyvon Branch (3.4 AV) perform adequately on one side, and a rotating crew of injured players on the other. Of them, Tommy James (4.4 AV) may have shown the most, but Eric Weddle (3.9 AV) was quite good when healthy, and George Wilson (1.3 AV) decent.
Charles Woodson (4.7 AV, 57 tackles) is the leader for the nickel position, and Kent McCloughan (0.5 AV) showed some promise as well.
Players Retained
Franchise
QB: Philip Rivers
RB: LaDainian Tomlinson
WR: Lance Alworth, John Jefferson
OL: Ron Mix
DL: Gary Johnson, Leslie O’Neal, Howie Long
LB: Junior Seau, Khalil Mack
Protected
WR: Wes Chandler, Charlie Joiner, Tim Brown
TE: Kellen Winslow
OL: Marcus McNeill, Jim Otto, Louis Vasquez, Doug Wilkerson
DL: Louie Kelcher
LB: Ted Hendricks
DB: Carlos Rogers, Dick Harris
Reserves
WR: Vincent Jackson
LB: Gerald Irons
DB: Tommy James, Charles Woodson, Eric Weddle
P: Mat McBriar
K: Sebastian Janikowski
Taxis Kept
DL: Darrell Russell
DB: Lionel Washington
Players Waived
To Start Somewhere
QB: Dan Fouts
TE: Antonio Gates
DB: Tarell Brown
To Play Somewhere
QB: Ken Stabler
RB: Marcel Reece
OL: Joe Cocozzo, Tony Bergstrom
DL: Ernie Ladd, Jamal Williams
DB: Tyvon Branch, George Wilson, Keng McCloughlan, D.J. Hayden
Released
QB: Blake Bortles, Randy Bukich
RB: Danny Woodhead, Keith Molesworth, Derek Watt, Thomas Jones, Napoleon Kaufman
WR: Kassim Osgood, Ricky Nattiel, Doug Gabriel
TE: Cory Harkey, Doug Jolley
OL: Stefan Wisinewski, Austin Howard, Mike Windt
DL: Kendall Reyes, Cam Thomas, Mario Edwards, Ron Nery
LB: Chuck Allen, Tom Jackson, Shawne Merriman, C.J. Mosley, Mason Foster, Manti Te’o
DB: Brandon Flowers, Rosey Taylor
K: Donald Igwebuike
P: John Jett