Season 42: Coaches Interviews (Patriots – Dan Edition)

Dan is one of the longest tenured BL members with some of the most success in Better League history, unfortunately season 1 & 2 didn’t go as planned for this always contending user. I foresee him coming back to form moving into the subsequent seasons which will make the AFC East that much more interesting. Pretty sure the guy has 4 Super Bowls? Yeah, it’s time for our guy to compete again.  Anyways, had a great chat with Dan & he provided some solid answers as to how his offseason went, see below!

 

What was your offseason focus & do you believe that you achieved those goals? Primarily in regards to trades & FA itself.

Dan: My priorities going in were to address my secondary and OL, and to get younger with artificial intelligence. In FA we made a big push for Shaq Mason but Cody sold his house for him so he can have fun in GB.

Outside of him I put some bids on plenty of depth pieces and clipboard holders that overall addressed some of my holes.

I only made two full trades this offseason, but got a decent pass rusher from Little Alex and added some decent pieces from Bos to move on from some aging defenders. Overall I think I made my team better, no giant leaps but baby steps are getting us there.

 

What was your draft strategy & who should the league be on the lookout for?

Dan: I didn’t have many picks entering the draft. There was really one guy I wanted all along, CB Josh Ward out of Mississippi State. HOF CB turned Patriots scout Charles Woodson had him scouted 100% and really liked what he saw out of the mid round projection.

I would’ve taken him at 17, but traded down twice to obtain more draft assets. Thankfully, he was there at 31 and turned out to be the best CB in the draft with SS dev. 

With the additional picks, I took a star dev LT, and drafted a “generational” kicker I spotted the morning of the draft. Didn’t do much after that but considering what I started the day with and what I came out with, I consider this the best draft of my CFM career.

 

What is your realistic expectation for this season? Playoffs? Division Title? SB or bust?

Dan: As you know it’s been a pretty abysmal cycle so far. Much of it were the pieces I had to start with, but also I haven’t adapted well to the new Madden. One of my favorite adages is that it takes three years to build a winning team, so if it’s going to come together, it’s gotta be season 3.

The goal is to come for that division title held by the gentleman running NY, and maybe get a shot for that other thing he won.

 

If you had to name one breakout user for this upcoming season, who would it be & why?

Dan: So I don’t have a crystal ball and can’t say for certain he’ll break out, but Alex and I have been slowly building our operations side by side and have been getting better each season. I’d love if he were to have a great season and put it all together. If not him in the NFCS, then I definitely see Austin coming back strong after missing the playoffs.

 

Stay tuned for more! Excited to see the guy Chambers do his thing… just not against the Jets.