[Rain Man]

So here's my plan. First, the offense.

My team is built for a powerful run game mixed with a fast-action short passing game that creates opportunities for YAC yards.

My quarterback is Kurt Warner, for whom that type of passing game is a strength. Running routes is a hobbit army of fast-cutting, good-route-running receivers: Santana Moss, Derrick Mason, Laveranues Coles, Chansi Stuckey, and Davone Bess, with Troy Williamson available to run our occasional fade routes in the end zone. All have speed for the deep routes off play-action, too.

Chris Cooley and Leonard Weaver are both good short-yardage guys out of the backfield, and Cooley might even play a little H-back/fullback, too. On third downs, Leonard Washington will come in as my third-down guy.

We have four pro bowlers from 2008 on our line: both tackles (Jake Long and Jammal Brown) and both guards (Chris Snee and Kris Dielman). Dominic Raiola is a strong center as well, and this group can run block like crazy and pass-protect as they need to.

Those guys will be blocking for a strong and reliable running back in Clinton Portis, who can carry the ball all day. When he needs a rest, we can bring in Joseph Addai to pound even harder.

On defense, we made a fundamental change in philosophy early in the draft. We were initially targeting a 46-style defense, which is why I went early on with two very strong CBs (Champ Bailey and Darrelle Revis), and two strong pass rushers (Mario Williams and Demarcus Ware). I then took Adrian Wilson as another of my many random pass rushers at other positions.

But then the opportunity arose to obtain Jared Allen, and I was also worried about my linebacker situation. So...the trade allowed us to make a strong shift in philosophy. Rather than have everybody randomly rushing, we instead went to more of a Steel Curtain philosophy. I put four very strong pass rushers up front (Mario Williams, Jared Allen, Tommie Harris, and Brandon Mebane) who combined for over 40 sacks last year. Yes, my front four AVERAGED 10 sacks each. That meant that I could then concentrate on linebackers who were fast and could cover.

Then in another trade I was fortunate to pick up Shaun Phillips, who can both cover and rush. So now my defense looks like this:

A front four that averaged 10 sacks per player in 2008
Two active back-seven guys who can cover and blitz strongly (Adrian Wilson and Shaun Phillips)
One sideline to sideline linebacker who can cover with the best of them (Keith Rivers)
One run-stuffer in the middle (either London Fletcher-Baker or Nick Barnett - not sure yet)
Two cornerbacks who can cover all day (Champ Bailey and Darelle Revis)
A ball-hawking strong safety in Jarrad Page who is going to be pushed by top rookie Louis Delmas.


On special teams, I went kicker early because I think my defense will keep scoring low, so field goals will be worth more in Super-Manatee games. For a similar reason, I took punter Mike Scifres, whose punts are rarely returned. This means that I won't give up any cheap return touchdowns. Conversely, we're stacked with good return guys, primarily Leon Washington on kick returns and Davone Bess on punt returns.

We're pretty much unbeatable.