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Oklahoma City Bison (Deep Route)

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excerpt from the April 1st, 2091 Idaho Statesman

Join Our 'Herd'

-Dan Huttenback, lead sports columnist, Boise, Idaho

 

The Boise football team carried us through highs and lows in 2090, giving us an exciting first season of professional football, and culminating in an overtime loss in the Democratic Conference Championship, just minutes from being able to taste a league championship game. Owner/GM FreeBundy noticed how much the region - not just Boise, not just Idaho, but the entire American West - caught on to the team, and he decided to reward us with a mascot much more fitting to the region. Gone are the Boise Buntings, who in truth, were born of a data entry error at the jersey manufacturers. In - and coming at the gentle price of $90M for the rights of the trademark - come the Boise Bison, who now share the name, mascot, and uniform of the early Oklahoma City Bison, a team of a different league who were owned by a relative of our owner. The Bison have invited us to become a part of "The Herd," which consists of every player, coach, and fan of the team. "We all were in this together last season, the team, the fans - we felt the support of everyone, and it was just such an exciting time," said Bison QB Robert Rinke, embracing the new mascot. 

 

The Bison also hit free agency hard, signing 15 players to contracts totaling $71.25M over 46 salary years. We'll detail more about them later in the week as the later rounds of free agency continue, leading up to our draft breakdown special.

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excerpt from the April 29th, 2091 Idaho Statesman

 

Bison Draft 7 Prospects

-Dan Huttenback, lead sports columnist, Boise, Idaho

 

Last week Thursday, at approximately 9:30 PM local time, the Boise Bison grabbed Stanford TE Donald Saulino 30th overall. Saulino is a raw prospect, but he's strong as an ox, and is quick off the ball. Saulino won the John Mackey Award as the nation's best collegiate tight end in a year that was rather unimpressive at the position; Saulino posted 53 receptions for 535 yards and 3TDs in his last season with the Cardinal. During his junior year, he was the runner up for the Mackey, hauling in a much better 68 receptions for 751 yards and 9TDs. He's more of a pick for the future than to improve the current state of the team.

 

On Friday the 27th, the Bison selected CB Alberto Oliver and WR Larry Dodge. Both selections were odd, as the team is stacked with raw talent at both positions, but apparently they don't feel strong at either position. Oliver needs work all around, but he dominated in D II with Missouri Southern, hauling in 11 interceptions in his two years with the team (he was the JUCO player of the year for the 2098-99 season, but chose immediate starting time at Missouri Southern over other offers that would place the then-junior near the bottom of depth charts). Larry Dodge was 2nd-team All-SEC, demonstrating great hands and leaping abilities, and while he's not fast and won't beat you off of the ball, he's a good possession receiver. Dodge finished his collegiate career at Alabama with 85 receptions for 991 yards and 10 TDs, with his senior season consisting of 35 for 468 and 5TDs.

 

Then the Bison concluded their draft yesterday. They selected another CB oddly, in Kevin Yandell of Southern Miss. Yandell started his career at Texas, but was the 12th and 11th options at CB the first two years there. After sitting out a year due to transfer rules, he debuted with Southern Miss in 2089 as the #4 CB. He was still #4 for his senior season, where he recorded his only 2 interceptions. He needs some work in tackling, and his coverage against any type of real competition is terrible. 

 

The 5th round yielded Auburn OT Raymond Garland. Garland was ineligible to play for the 2091 season due to accepting a gift from a booster, so he entered the draft a year early. He's strong, but lacks proper technique. If anything, he'll be a solid backup someday.

 

6th round selection WR Marcus Gibson isn't even 20 yet. Gibson graduated high school a year and a half early, and enrolled early at Nebraska. His freshman season - when he was just turning 17 - was phenomenal, and he hauled in 34 receptions for 561 yards and 7TDs in the first 4 games. He then ended up suspended for the entirety of the Big Ten portion of the season because he was caught drinking underage twice. He returned for a bowl game, catching 1 pass for 9 yards in a loss to Kansas State. His sophomore year was ruined early. He separated his shoulder on the first play of the spring game, and missed valuable time to adjust to the new Nebraska QB. He then partially tore his ACL in a July practice, and decided not to have surgery immediately. Hampered by his injury, Gibson managed 4 catches in the first 4 games, gaining just 16 yards. In the Big Ten opener at Minnesota, he turned awkwardly while running an incorrect route, and ended up tearing his ACL the rest of the way. He remained "active" for the next week at Penn State, but didn't see the field, and underwent surgery, missing the remaining 6 games. He returned last year for late August practices, but was buried on the depth chart, and struggled to find favor under a new head coaching regime. Gibson primarily spent time as the #6 receiver on the depth chart, and caught 9 of the 13 passes attempted towards him for 37 yards. Instead of transferring his final year of eligibility, Gibson went to the draft at just 19 years old, finishing his collegiate career of 23 games with just 47 receptions for 614 yards and 7TDs. He hasn't fully recovered from his ACL injury, and likely never will.

 

7th round pick DT Javier August is almost 24. A Texas A&M-Commerce grad, August spent two years in the U.S. Army before going to college, and while he has a great work ethic and is a tremendous weight lifter, his two years off from football left him quite rusty technique wise, and he never had adequate coaching to make up for it. August put up 33 bench reps at the Dallas-Ft. Worth regional combine. 

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Twitter, August 9th, 2091. @espn

 

@LeoniaLions trade WR Fred Kelly & RB Thomas Cochrane to @BZEBison for WR Jack Artis CB Alberto Oliver & CB Pedro Shover. #WinWin

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excerpt from Sports Illustrated DeepRoute Preview Issue, August 2091

 

Boise Bison

 

2090 Record: 9-7, 1st in Democratic East, lost in Democratic Championship round

 

Projected Starters (2090 Stats)

 

QB Robert Rinke, 3604 Yards, 24TD, 15INT, 61.2%

RB Thomas Cochrane, 153 Yards, 3.3 AVG, 0TD Leonia Lions

WR Frederick Kelly, 68 Rec, 990Yds, 9TD Leonia Lions

WR Luis Totino 46 Rec, 612Yds, 7TD

TE Kenneth Hollway 15Rec, 166Yds, 0TD

LT Landon Glasgow

LG Clayton Trujillo

C Kevin Morris

RG Robert Wartenberg

RT Jeremy Goodrich Somerville Speed Demons

 

DE Harry Solomon 7 tackles, 1 sack Dayton Cheesemongers

DT Harold Lee 39 tackles, 15 sacks

DT Robert Stinnett 42 tackles, 6 sacks

DE Christopher Irani, 44 tackles, 10 sacks Winnipeg Panthers

SLB John Marzili 65 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT

MLB Alan Mccully no statistics, Gary Train Wrecks

WLB Louis Copeland 4 tackles

CB Lawrence Rodriguez 4INT, 1TD

CB Al Nolan 2 FF

FS Manuel Mayo 46 tackles, 2INT

SS Chris Godfrey 59 tackles, 2 sacks, 4INT

 

K Tyler Mohler 11/14 FG, 52 Long

P Jacob Amoe last played in 2087 for Buffalo Wings

 

*indicates 2090 Pro Bowl

italics denote new acquisition, team acquired from

 

Key Draft Picks: TE Donald Saulino (1st Round), DT Javier August (7th Round)

 

Key Additions: DE Christopher Irani (10 sacks), WR Frederick Kelly (990 Yds, 9TD)

 

Key Losses: CB Pedro Shover (was projected starter before trade) WR Jack Artis (2090 3rd overall pick) KR Henry Doss (21.6 AVG) S Steve Lamontagne (40 tackles, 2 sacks) RB William Clarke (462 Yards) RB Timothy Kelly (419 Yards, 4TD)

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2091 Boise Bison Regular Season Schedule

Week           Opponent                

1                   Kansas City Chiefs                                  

2                   Cleveland Browns                                   

3                    at Iowa Hornets                                    

4                    at Venus Velocity

5                    at Hyrule Warriors

6                    Seattle Sea Dogs

7                    New World Forsaken

8                    Gary Train Wrecks

9                    Santa Cruz Heat

10                  at Cleveland Browns

11                  Somerville Speed Demons

12                  at Chicago Weasels

13                  Venus Velocity

14                   at Dayton Cheesemongers

15                   at Las Vegas War Pigs

16                   at New World Forsaken

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