Season 42: Coaches Interviews (Chiefs – Ben Edition) AND MAC JONES TRADE BREAKDOWN!!!
Ben is another long-tenured user in the Better League, one of a select few that can call themselves Better League Champions. One of the best GMs the league has ever known which feels like a good time to pivot to this JUICY Q&A.
What are your thoughts on the Mac Jones trade? The guy with 86 THP.
Let’s begin by examining the 2 QBs herein, as the scummiest user in the league would say, a vacuum Wilson is 35. He makes $35 mil this year followed by 5 seasons of $53mil or more. Now I’m not necessarily saying that keeping him as the starter is the best move, but, if you’re not replacing him with EZ mode, those cap numbers are gonna hurt. However, with a rollover cap and the typical EA bonus season-by-season cap increase, $55 mil for a QB is far from roster-crushing. Mac Jones is on the 4th year of his rookie deal (cheap) which is why Phil can afford to do this anyway. His 5th-year option is in the $27 mil range. Not terrible. Assuming he gets another increase in rating, you’re looking at over $40 mil/year for him for the final 2-3 seasons. All in all, not great, but manageable and certainly not far off from Wilson.
You may be saying “but he’s making $2 mil this season compared to Russ’ $35 mil” …. The off-season is OVER. That cheap contract gets you NOTHING but the ability to acquire it and pay more.
Let’s look at just skills. Starting with abilities cause everyone loves those. Sure, gunslinger has been dialed down but it still makes a tremendous difference if you have an inkling of what the defense is trying to do not to mention Wilson has it IN THE FIRST SLOT! That split second in the release can be all-important. Wilson also has gutsy scrambler (pretty good) and dashing deadeye (good) with blitz radar XF (decent)
Mac Jones has no look deadeye (terrible) and conductor (practically worthless). IF and that’s a big if, he gets to XF in a league filled with stat padders, he would only have roughly a 33% chance at a form at EZ mode which I am including gunslinger that Wilson already has!!!
Ok now let’s look at the attributes. Jones is an accurate QB (like that really matters, Cody) with average to below average escapability and 86 throw power with a slow release!!
Wilson is a MORE accurate QB with far better escapability with 89 throw power and MUCH better release than any other QB in the game!!
Now for the age conversation. Starting off with the fact WILSON IS STILL ON THE TEAM, it’s entirely possible he will retire and Phil is rid of the contract. Here’s the thing though, as of next off-season, if he doesn’t retire, he would still have a high number in savings! Phil could easily move on and save money!! Phil also now has NO ASSETS! The team is old and outside of Courtland Sutton and Patrick Surtain, there are a grand total of ZERO future/current great players with only one direction to go as a team, SHARPLY down.
What was your offseason focus & do you believe that you achieved those goals? Primarily in regard to trades & FA itself.
Ben: My primary goals were to sure up the positions where I felt I could make the most impact while being in control. For me, that meant WR, CB, and MLB. I managed to add a 88 ovr XF WR, 88 ovr XF CB, 92 ovr CB and 84 ovr 90 speed MLB. It cost breaking up my OL and taking a step back at safety not to mention exhausting all options at CB, but in the end, it’s where I wanted to be.
What was your draft strategy & who should the league be on the lookout for?
Ben: My draft strategy was simple: I had 1 pick late in the first where I hoped to draft the next great young corner. It didn’t work out and the very next pick in the draft from the Patriots was the exact type of corner I was looking for. That said, the corner I picked is a great kick returner who I might allow to start at returner over my return man ability Mecole.
What is your realistic expectation for this season? Playoffs? Division Title? SB or bust?
Ben: Expectations are weird at this point in my career. On the one hand, I’m a Super Bowl champion with one of the best playoff win % in league history. I have the best QB in the game and have built the rest of my roster exactly how I want it. On the other hand, this will be the 10th BL season since I last saw the playoffs. I’ve only managed 2 winning seasons since last reaching the playoffs, both 9-8 campaigns. I’ve yet to beat Phil this cycle who has dominated the division this cycle. That said, my expectations for this season are as high as they’ve been since M21. I truly believe I will win the division and even think I have a chance for a first-round bye if I play as well as I know I can. I think the divisional round is a more than reasonable expectation.
If you had to name one breakout user for this upcoming season, who would it be & why?
Ben: Breakout users are hard to come by in season 3 and I think it depends on your definition. Like, I think kook could triple his win total from last year but wouldn’t even make the playoffs. Is that a breakout? Steel skated by in a relatively easy division season one (*followed by missing playoffs in season two*). He could go 14-3 this season. Is that a breakout? Ultimately I would say Bos has a chance to make some noise this year but if there’s one user who hasn’t been great but I trust to bring it game in and game out it’s Lucky.
Stay tuned for more coach interviews!