Madden 21 Denver Broncos Rebuild - FINISHED pg 50 - Broncos 10x Super Bowl Champs, GOAT QB and TE

[JBURGE]

Welcome to the Madden 21 rebuild of the Atlanta Falcons Denver Broncos! I chose the Falcons first for a few reasons; they have an older roster, they do not have a lot of young core pieces, they have an aging QB, and their division is wide open in a couple years. I have now switched to the Broncos because I made the Falcons too good, and the Broncos have been one of the few teams who has generally sucked throughout.

A general overview of how these rebuilds work - within a few years, I won't have any real NFL players left on my roster, but I will keep up to how actual NFL players are doing. I plan on doing this slower than in years past so I don't burn out, and on M21 I know that this will take longer to be competitive than past years, as the draft classes are definitely lacking top end players compared to years past. 

I will set the following rules for myself:

1. I can not trade up in the draft, ever. 
2. I can not own more than two 1st round picks, two 2nd round picks, or 3 of any other round from 3-7. 
3. I can not trade for a draft pick past week 8 - meaning, if I tag and trade someone at the end of the year, it will need to be for a following year's draft pick. The idea is I will never know if I am trading for a premium pick. Obviously if I trade for a pick in week 8 I will have an idea, but no guarantees. I am more lax on this with the Broncos
4. I will not sign FAs above 75 overall - you may never see me sign a Free Agent ever. This does not include my own free agents, obviously, unless I am unable to sign them before they hit open FA. I will not sign some Atlanta Falcon players to the Broncos, if I feel like it
5. This is a complete sim league - will be using All-Madden and the following sliders - https://forums.operationsports.com/forums/madden-nfl-football-sliders/975028-matt10s-madden-21-sliders.html

Some of these rules have adjusted. I have won 3 superbowls with the Falcons and now I am on the Broncos, so I care a little less about following them. I still won't move up in the draft, but I might navigate the board a bit before it starts, and I will also sign a Falcon FA here or there if I want then to finish their careers with the Broncos. 

The first year, I will use the active rosters and use the current season results, so Atlanta will own the #7 pick etc. I will not be trading for any more picks this draft, and I will not really be able to do any scouting other than what the CPU sims for me. All draft classes will be CPU generated - will not be using realistic draft class for 2021, nor will I use pre-made classes. A lot of what makes this fun is the randomness.

With that being said, I will follow the style I have used in my past leagues. Please comment and say what else you may want to see - sometimes I get ahead of myself and miss stuff, so tell me and I can go back and fix. Tell me things you want to see that I am not posting! There are limitations, with 53 players it's hard enough to track everything.  

Something unique I will do is this year, playoff games will be simmed live and I will stream on Twitch at https://www.twitch.tv/jburge25. This is not a plug for my twitch, I do not stream. If enough people have interest, I can also stream 1st/mid/last games each year to see how the players are doing. The first few years would be pretty bad....

Let's get this started!

Edited June 6, 2021 by JBURGE

[JBURGE]

Atlanta Falcons - Important Links

2021 Draft

2021 Season [5-11]

2022 Draft

2022 Season [5-11]

2023 Draft 

2023 Season [6-10]

2024 Draft

2024 Season [9-7] Lost Wild Card

2025 Draft

2025 Season [14-2] Won Super Bowl [1]

2026 Draft 

2026 Season [11-5] Won Super Bowl [2]

2027 Draft

2027 Season [10-6] Won Super Bowl [3]

 

Denver Broncos - Important Links

2028 Draft

2028 Season - [1-15]

 

2029 Draft

 

2029 Season - [8-8]

 

2030 Draft

2029 Season - [10-6] Lost Divisional

 

 

Edited March 30, 2021 by JBURGE

[JBURGE]

2020 Season

We all know how the 2020 season went - the Falcons finished 4-12, last in their division. I am going to force win Tampa in the Super Bowl and move on to the off-season, but before I do that, I am going to trim the roster down. I currently have 63 players under contract. I have cut every player 65 or under, and every player under 70 who is old. I am notgoing to post all of their names because there were a lot and frankly who cares. 

The roster is now 37 players, much better. Let's sim the superbowl and look at our free agents who I won't be retaining. 

2021 Offseason

The Atlanta Falcons have hired Hugh Mungus to be their next Head Coach. Many thought Arthur Smith would be the next coach, but Arthur Blank couldn't decide, so he decided to watch a movie. His wife picked Cast Away, and so Hugh got the job.

Hugh bring with him his nameless defensive coordinator who runs a Base 3-4 Defense, and will be using the Baltimore Ravens playbook (for now). He also runs his own offense, and likes to run a Vertical Zone Run scheme, and will be starting with the Cleveland Browns Playbook. I will likely be using a mix of this a Buffalo's playbook as I mess with the sim settings. Hugh's son, Tiny, will be running the offense. Tiny doesn't drink, and the media likes this considering current events with the Chiefs.

I am going to post the roster and go over the strategy for the team. I find the pics work nicely because it saves a ton of typing. 

The offense has some work to do. Matt Ryan is old and descending, and he needs to go ASAP. I will explore a trade this off-season for a future pick. Julio the same - while not descending, his contract is big and he is old and it's time to send him somewhere where he has a chance to win a superbowl. Ridley I will keep for now, but again, everyone must eventually go. Keeping him for a couple years while I build the offense can help a young QB grow. The OL is a disappointment and I will move on from most of them in the first 2 seasons. 3 stars will mean I should get decent picks in return. 

I will not be targeting a high QB in the first couple years likely, because I don't want to waste his rookie contract on a terrible team. I will still need one, just likely a later round guy. I haven't even see the draft class yet, and I will have a limited amount of scouted players anyway. 

The defense is pretty good by Madden standards - we have a good pass rusher in Grady Jarrett, and a good, fast ILB in Deion Jones. Unfortunately they won't be around long. ILB is one of the first positions I usually look to fill in the draft, bnecause they can win awards easily as a rookie and I have my type for LBs. My type is actually Deion Jones lol, but just not him, you know.

I like to build defense by having an elite player at every level - 1 IDL, 1 EDGE, 1 ILB, and 1 CB. Safeties I will never pay. Though in M21, my strong safety always seems to be my best DB, so if that continues to happen I may adjust. 

Free Agents

I don't really expect to sign anyone, but let's take a look.

2021 FREE AGENCY									2021 TEAM CAP SPACE		$18,800,000
	NAME	OVR	AGE	PLAYER DEMANDS			TEAM OFFER				RESULT
				YEARS	TOTAL VALUE	AAV	YEARS	TOTAL VALUE	AAV	CAP HIT
C	ALEX MACK	83	35	1	$9,230,000	$9,230,000	1	$9,550,000	$9,550,000	$9,550,000	DECLINED
K	YOUNGHOE KOO	81	27	2	$8,240,000	$4,120,000	-	-	-	-	NO OFFER
HB	TODD GURLEY	78	27	3	$13,300,000	$4,433,333	-	-	-	-	NO OFFER
SS	KEANU NEAL	80	26	3	$17,500,000	$5,833,333	3	$18,300,000	$6,100,000	$5,240,000	RE-SIGNED
FS	DAMONTE KAZEE	76	28	3	$10,900,000	$3,633,333	3	$11,900,000	$3,966,667	$3,270,000	DECLINED
CB	DARQUEZE DENNARD	76	29	1	$3,710,000	$3,710,000	-	-	-	-	NO OFFER
HB	BRIAN HILL	71	25	2	$4,800,000	$2,400,000	-	-	-	-	NO OFFER
RE	CHARLES HARRIS	68	26	1	$1,620,000	$1,620,000	-	-	-	-	NO OFFER
WR	LAQUON TREADWELL	68	26	2	$5,360,000	$2,680,000	-	-	-	-	NO OFFER

I was a little more aggressive than I expected, but honestly I am looking at some of these guys as trade bait down the road. Alex Mack and Kazee both declined their offers, which is annoying. I offered both more than their demands. I am going to look into the cost of tagging one of them, as I have some cap left over. The cap space in the top right includes the Keanu Neal signing, I did it after signing him, oops.

The Atlanta Falcons have used the Franchise tag on FS Damonte Kazee. The tag value was $11,900,000. Kazee could be tagged and traded. 

The Atlanta Falcons have exercised WR Calvin Ridley's 5th year option for 2023. 

The Atlanta Falcons have declined Hayden Hurst's 5th year option for 2023.

2021 NFL Free Agency

As I said, I won't really be signing anyone here. I currently have 29 players on the roster which is a huge problem, considering I only have 6 picks this year. I will likely move down the board this year to pick up extra picks. Before we get into scouting, let's take a look at where some of the NFL free agents signed this off-season.

I kinda ****ed this up cause I skipped to week 4 to do them all, but the Free Agent tab is gone. Sorry, but there won't be an OVR rating this year

2021 NFL FREE AGENCY
TEAM		NAME	OVR	AGE	YEARS	TOTAL VALUE	PEANUT GALLERY COMMENTS
								RAVENS	DE	OLIVIER VERNON	-	-	2	$25,900,000
VIKINGS	DE	TREY HENDRICKSON	-	-	2	$19,400,000
JETS	WR	SAMMY WATKINS	-	-	3	$25,400,000
CARDINALS	EDGE	SAMSON EBUKAM	-	-	4	$21,600,000
BENGALS	TE	ROB GRONKOWSKI	-	-	3	$23,900,000	huh?
BENGALS	EDGE	HAASON REDDICK	-	-	5	$76,300,000
FOOTBALL TEAM	WR	JUJU SMITH-SCHUSTER	-	-	4	$54,200,000
PANTHERS	DT	SHELDON RANKINS	-	-	2	$15,700,000
RAVENS	WR	DEVIN FUNCHESS	-	-	3	$19,200,000
BENGALS	DE	MELVIN INGRAM	-	-	2	$30,800,000
LIONS	WR	COREY DAVIS	-	-	4	$46,200,000	See Titans and Kenny
CHARGERS	EDGE	YANNICK NGAKOUE	-	-	5	$58,400,000
FOOTBALL TEAM	FS	MARCUS WILLIAMS	-	-	5	$47,900,000
BENGALS	CB	WILLIAM JACKSON III	-	-	1	$9,890,000
PANTHERS	OG	JOE THUNEY	-	-	3	$36,700,000
TITANS	WR	KENNY GOLLADAY	-	-	4	$53,800,000	Titans and Lions swap
RAVENS	DE	CARL LAWSON	-	-	3	$34,400,000
RAIDERS	MLB	JAYON BROWN	-	-	3	$27,300,000
CHARGERS	FS	EARL THOMAS	-	-	3	$19,000,000
BENGALS	MLB	LAVONTE DAVID	-	-	2	$21,900,000	Bengals going hard
PANTHERS	TE	TREY BURTON	-	-	4	$25,800,000
RAVENS	HB	JAMES CONNER	-	-	5	$34,900,000	why
GIANTS	CB	DESMOND KING	-	-	3	$32,400,000
CHARGERS	OT	CAM ROBINSON	-	-	3	$31,300,000
RAIDERS	WR	WILL FULLER	-	-	4	$59,200,000	meh
DOLPHINS	OT	ERIC FISHER	-	-	1	$9,990,000
JETS	TE	JONNU SMITH	-	-	4	$30,400,000	Jonnu + Sammy
BROWNS	CB	SHAQUILL GRIFFIN	-	-	3	$42,600,000	Great signing
JETS	QB	COLIN KAEPERNICK	-	-	1	$30,800,000	LMAO
LIONS	WR	NELON AGHOLOR	-	-	3	$2,300,000
DOLPHINS	HB	KENYAN DRAKE	-	-	4	$31,400,000	LMAOOOOOO
CARDINALS	HB	MARLON MACK	-	-	5	$41,800,000

The Bengals seem to be a team that ends up great after a season or 2 in Madden 21, and I'm guessing it's because of their cap space. These are all arguably excellent signing by them. 

BENGALS	TE	ROB GRONKOWSKI	-	-	3	$23,900,000
BENGALS	OLB	HAASON REDDICK	-	-	5	$76,300,000
BENGALS	DE	MELVIN INGRAM	-	-	2	$30,800,000
BENGALS	CB	WILLIAM JACKSON III	-	-	1	$9,890,000
BENGALS	MLB	LAVONTE DAVID	-	-	2	$21,900,000

That's crazy. 

Our division rivals signed pretty much no one, which is cool. What about the Jets? Watkins, Jonnu Smith, and Kaep? Is he going to start over Darnold?

EDIT: idk why Vernon shows up weird there, but I tried 3 times to fix it and thats my cap. Will just have to deal with it

Edited March 7, 2021 by JBURGE

[biggio7]

[JBURGE]

2021 Scouting and Draft

To get started, here is my picks outlook the next two years. 

FALCONS PICKS
2020	1.4	2.3	3.4	4.3	5.4	6.3	-
	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2021	1.0	2.0	3.0	4.0	5.0	6.0	7.0
	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Now let's look at some trade options for future picks to see if I can shed some of these older dudes.

TRADE
FALCONS RECEIVE				FOOTBALL TEAM RECEIVES
	2022 2nd			WR	JULIO JONES	93	SSX
					2022 7th

This trade makes a lot of sense to me. Julio declined 2 ovr this year, so his trade value is dropping. I am rebuilding and have Calvin Ridley as an X Factor already on the roster, and signed for 2 more years (SSX above is Super-Star X Factor, SS is sueprstar, S is star, N is normal). The Football Team needs a WR badly. I considered the Colts as well but ultimately I think the WFT pick has a better chance to be in the top half of the 2nd round.

TRADE
FALCONS RECEIVE				COLTS RECEIVE
	2022 1st			QB	MATT RYAN	79	S

I actually did not expect this one to go through, but I think this is fair. The Colts actually don't have a QB on the roster, and IRL are looking at Wentz. They have plenty of cap and I think would make this call if they could. The 490ers make sense here as well, but in this game Ryan and JG are not very far off, so it wouldn't make a ton of sense. This also trades Ryan out of the conference. This will translate to a late 1st next year I am sure, but I will lilely be terrible next year and have a top 10 pick myself. This also could save me from having to trade down in the 1st this year, because I can't pick up a 1st or 2nd next year now. Maybe I should have thought about that before I did this and traded them after the draft.... wtf did I just do hahaha

I am going to hold off trading any more. That could have been a big mistake trading them now as I have to stay put with my other picks. We'll see, maybe I can move my #4 overall to a team this year for an extra 2nd. 

Updated Picks (and new format):

FALCONS PICKS		2021
1.4	-
2.3	-
3.4	-
4.3	-
5.4	-
6.3	-

FALCONS PICKS		2022
1.0	-
1.0	COLTS
2.0	-
2.0	FOOTBALL TEAM
3.0	-
4.0	-
5.0	-
6.0	-

 

Edited February 15, 2021 by JBURGE

[scar988]

As a Falcons fan, I'm watching this. Don't love the first couple of moves, tbh. But I'm intrigued to start. Trading Julio for only a 2nd feels... off.

[JBURGE]

13 minutes ago, scar988 said:

As a Falcons fan, I'm watching this. Don't love the first couple of moves, tbh. But I'm intrigued to start. Trading Julio for only a 2nd feels... off.

As a Falcons fan you will hate it, because this is not a realistic rebuild. This is fully building through the draft, so your fav players will be gone by year 3 lol. 

I couldn't get Julio straight up foir a 2nd, so I wasn't about to packages stuff to getr a 1st. I think an early 2 is fair value for Julio at this point, anyway.

[scar988]

48 minutes ago, JBURGE said:

As a Falcons fan you will hate it, because this is not a realistic rebuild. This is fully building through the draft, so your fav players will be gone by year 3 lol. 

I couldn't get Julio straight up foir a 2nd, so I wasn't about to packages stuff to getr a 1st. I think an early 2 is fair value for Julio at this point, anyway.

Well, build Foye Oluokun. Dude's a monster. Great fit for a 3-4 MLB, hint hint.

[JBURGE]

2021 Draft Board and Strategy

I would love to say I would go BPA in this draft, but I have so few picks. I want players at impact positions. I fully expect it to take 5 years to even make the playoffs, so I really can't afford to have poor classes in the first few drafts. I will be targeting the following positions - WR, OT, IDL, EDGE, LB, CB. 

I will draft a QB, but not early, probably mid round. 

So the CPU scouting year 1 is pretty terrible - going forward I do all of my scouting. However the CPU will scout positions of need all the way down to the UDFA's... which means I don't have most of the players pasat rounds 2/3 scouted except the ones I targeted in my 3 offseason weeks. So it's good I don't have a lot of picks this year.

Here is the board. 

2021 DRAFT BOARD
PROJ	TALENT		NAME	AGE	HT	WT	SCHOOL	ARCHTYPE	COMBINE GRADE	PRIORITY?
1E	1E	HB	CARL GOODSON	21	6.00	204	NOTRE DAME	ELUSIVE BACK	6.9
1M	1E	WR	KENNY POLLARD	21	5.10	187	OHIO STATE	DEEP THREAT	7.5
1M	1E	EDGE	MARQUISE SHERWOOD	21	6.03	264	NOTRE DAME	SPEED RUSHER	7.4
1M	1E	DT	RICK CARR	22	6.04	317	WASH STATE	RUN STOPPER	7.0
1L	1E	DE/EDGE	JUAN PALMER	22	6.06	280	OHIO STATE	POWER RUSHER	7.0
1L	1E	DE/EDGE	JOHN EDWARDS	23	6.04	279	MISSOURI	POWER RUSHER	7.2
1L	1E	HB	MATT VERNON	22	5.10	208	NORTH CAROLINA	ELUSIVE	6.9
1M	1M	OG	TOMMY STEPHENS	22	6.05	325	GEORGIA	AGILE	6.6
1M	1M	S	JUSTIN WHITE	22	5.11	218	WEST VIRGINIAAA	HYBRID	7.0
1L	1M	CB	TREYVON REEDE	22	5.10	193	OREGON STATE	ZONE	7.6
2M	1M	LB	TONY WILEY	21	6.02	240	ALABAMA	RUN STOPPER	7.0	⭐
2M	1M	DT	DUNCAN MAYS	21	6.02	291	NOTRE DAME	SPEED RUSHER	6.8
2L	1M	LB	DIMITRI MCCAIN	22	6.02	247	TEXAS A&M	RUN STOPPER	7.0
2M	1L	HB	RASHAD PARKER	21	6.01	220	KENTUCKY	POWER BACK	7.6
2L	1L	OL	DEVIN BARBER	21	6.03	292	NC STATE	PASS PROT	6.4	⭐
2L	1L	WR	JULIAN STEVENSON	22	5.09	193	USF	SLOT	7.0
2L	1L	DT	JALEN HASKINS	21	6.02	291	MIAMI	RUN STOPPER	6.6
3E	E2	DT	JACQUEZ SHAW	22	6.02	292	VIRGINIA TECH	SPEED RUSHER	6.2
3M	2E	OL	RYAN FERGUSON	21	6.01	294	OHIO STATE	PASS PRO	6.4
4M	2E	DT	MELVIN JACKSON	22	6.04	300	USC	POWER RUSHER	6.1
5E	?	QB	OLIVER MCGEE	22	6.05	222	CENTRAL MICH	STRONG ARM	4.6	⭐
5M	1M	WR	TRAMON MATLOCK	23	5.11	188	NOTRE DAME	SLOT	7.2	⭐
5M	2M	OG	GREG KENNEDY	23	6.03	309	TENNESSEE	PASS PRO	5.8
5L	2M	EDGE	DANIEL LOPEZ	21	6.01	261	AUBURN	SPEED RUSHER	7.1
5L	?	S	ENRIQUE COLLINS	23	5.10	205	ARIZONA STATE	HYBRID	7.1
UDFA	?	K	BEN MCALISTER	23	5.11	209	OREGON STATE	POWER	2.5

This will ber an interesting draft. I do not have many later rounds guys because I could barely scout any. I usually like to fill my backup spots with later round guys so this is annoying.

I didn't get to scout too many QBs, as there are only 8 draftable ones. I wasn't taking one early, so that left 5. I only scouted the first 2 skills for a few of them because they werent good, however Oliver McGee has A+ throw power and A- short accuracy, which was the only one with a 2nd A. He is also the only scheme fit, Strong Arm, so he is the 1 QB I will target, if I can get him.

The 1st round pick has a few interesting options. HB Goodson isn't a good use of a top 5 pick. WR Pollard is intriguing, Ihe is a really good athlete, but he isn't a generational wr, which means he may not be worth a top 5 pick - you can find good WRs later - look at WR Matlock as a 5th round projection. The group Sherwood through Edwards are decent options for #4 overall. 

The other option is I can move down. I would be happy if I got one of the top 8 on my board, and a few are late 1st projected, so I should be safe top go down to 18 or so. If I can pick up a 2nd that might be worth it. 

The priorities in the draft:

2021 DRAFT BOARD - PRIORITIES
2L	1M	LB	DIMITRI MCCAIN	22	6.02	247	TEXAS A&M	RUN STOPPER	7.0	⭐
2L	1L	OL	DEVIN BARBER	21	6.03	292	NC STATE	PASS PROT	6.4	⭐
5E	?	QB	OLIVER MCGEE	22	6.05	222	CENTRAL MICH	STRONG ARM	4.6	⭐
5M	1M	WR	TRAMON MATLOCK	23	5.11	188	NOTRE DAME	SLOT	7.2	⭐

McCain is a really good athlete, and would be a good start to the important MLB position. He is a little undersized but I think a good ILB2. He wouldn't be that incredible MLB1 prospect, so him being a likely 2nd round pick is good. McGee I touched on. Barber is a good value OL, I know he is just going to be normal, so it's not a must, but still good value.  Matlock again is just a good value pick. 

I am going to start the draft, sim to my pick, and see what my options are. Let the draft begin

 

Edited February 15, 2021 by JBURGE

[JBURGE]

3 minutes ago, scar988 said:

Well, build Foye Oluokun. Dude's a monster. Great fit for a 3-4 MLB, hint hint.

My guy, he won't be here for long haha

[scar988]

Just now, JBURGE said:

My guy, he won't be here for long haha

Was a 6th round pick and on a cheap contract. I don't see why he wouldn't be there for a while. Most NFL teams won't know how good he is and he's the mold you want at LB (Deion Jones, but not paid like Deion Jones). Lock him in long term year 1 when he's still low rated and build him fast.

[JBURGE]

omg on the week of the draft they do a nice FA recap lmao f me

[scar988]

At least, that's what I do in the franchise mode...

[JBURGE]

Just now, scar988 said:

Was a 6th round pick and on a cheap contract. I don't see why he wouldn't be there for a while. Most NFL teams won't know how good he is and he's the mold you want at LB (Deion Jones, but not paid like Deion Jones). Lock him in long term year 1 when he's still low rated and build him fast.

 

55 minutes ago, JBURGE said:

As a Falcons fan you will hate it, because this is not a realistic rebuild. This is fully building through the draft, so your fav players will be gone by year 3

Like I said, this is not a realistic rebuild. I will be replacing every player on the roster with a CPU player by year 3 or 4. If I was doing a realistic rebuild, I would be keeping him. 

[scar988]

Just now, JBURGE said:

 

Like I said, this is not a realistic rebuild. I will be replacing every player on the roster with a CPU player by year 3 or 4. If I was doing a realistic rebuild, I would be keeping him. 

Man, even Ridley? And Terrell? And Grady?