S42 Coach’s Interview (Kook-Commanders)
Kook has been around BL all the way back to M18/M19 I am pretty sure. This offseason was not the best for the Commanders/Football Team. I felt bad seeing all of his players sitting there in FA, as I know he didn’t intend to have that sort of talent walk away from the team. I think the lesson to be learned as I am sure a lot of you all will agree on is that signing players throughout the season has to be a higher priority. I myself found players not wanting to resign as the buzzer sounded in the re-sign period. Kook has the stick skills to compete, just needs to get locked in & make a run. Excited to see how he bounces back this year!
What was your offseason focus & do you believe that you achieved those goals? Primarily in regards to trades & FA itself.
Kook: Well, all things considered I had a terrible offseason. I loaded up the game and found out that Terry McLaurin and Chase Young lost their respective superstar dev traits. Then, I went to re-sign my key players (Chase Young, Antonio Gibson, Montez Sweat, Hunter Henry, Deion Jones) and found out that basically no one wanted to stick around.I was able to sign Chase Young and then keep Montez Sweat using the franchise tag, but the rest had no interest in signing. I lost some pretty important players and wasn’t really around during free agency to replace them.
What was your draft strategy & who should the league be on the lookout for?
Kook: I planned to be in attendance but at the last minute something came up and I couldn’t make it. I thought i had put a favourite tag on a WR hoping i’d get one at #2. Then I had people in my dm’s asking me if i meant to take QB at #2 – given that I had a SS QB on the roster already. So I assume I wasn’t paying attention when I did it or maybe it didn’t register and in the end I didn’t get the guy I wanted.But nonetheless I took the best offer I got and shipped out Joey Molden yesterday for draft picks and an OL. I think I got bent over the barrel pretty good on that trade but it’s my own doing.AJ Shelley is the new QB1. I got dummied by Kiing pretty good yesterday and Shelley fumbled the ball twice, but he was making accurate throws so there’s something to build on. In other news, the CPU drafted a hidden dev OL and a hidden dev safety. All in all, not the worst BL draft i’ve ever had.
What is your realistic expectation for this season? Playoffs? Division Title? SB or bust?
Kook: I think a realistic target might be six wins. If I recall, I had 10 wins in season one and missed the playoffs. Last season things didn’t go my way and I only won one game. Felt like I should have had a few more.So let’s say, expectations are over one win and under 10 wins.
If you had to name one breakout user for this upcoming season, who would it be & why?
Kook: Hmm I don’t have a breakout user for you – I couldn’t name last year’s playoff participants if my life depended on it. Instead I’ll choose my SB champion. I’ll take Austin and the New Orleans Saints because of Joey Molden.