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+---- Thread: *All Eyez on Me: Lesean Paris Crooks Season Recap (/showthread.php?tid=22333)
*All Eyez on Me: Lesean Paris Crooks Season Recap - The_Kidd - 05-22-2020
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]READY TO BE GRADED 1.5x MEDIA BONUS[/div]
Coming into the season, expectations were low, low enough to be nonexistent for not only Lesean Paris Crooks, but for his upstart London Royals. The Royals were an afterthought, a team coming off their inaugural season with a 5-9 record with their roster pillaged for all the diamonds they discovered, it was a universal sentiment that the Royals would have another dismal season.
First DSFL Power Rankings
Obviously based on all the chatter around the league, the chips were not in our favor, we had no outside support, it was a Me Against The World mentality in the locker room. As for Crooks, or Two, he is partly to blame for that, as he spent his first couple of weeks getting adjusted to the league and keeping to himself until the draft. But as the season rolled on, and Crooks became more acclimated to the league, the community, and its functionality, he was Starin At The World Through [His] Rearview.
TPE Tracker
As you can see, once Crooks got comfortable with the league, his TPE increased dramatically over the course of one calendar month, or approximately one regular season(no preseason). Gaining nearly 200 TPE in the regular season. At the time of this article, he sits 3rd among S23 Cornerbacks. and 21st among all S23 defensive players. Again this is with him going fully active AFTER the regular season started. Of course, he owes a lot of credit to his locker room ---- Kapercolin, Greedy, Duke, and Deadly were instrumental in getting him up to speed with his contemporaries. And what better role models then TPE leaders like Greedy Sly. Crooks is only the 7th highest TPE earner of the Royals S23 players. Maybe that explains why they shocked the world and scraped their way into the playoffs.
Although Crooks fell behind the curve on TPE, his performances on the field rarely showed that he didnt belong. Most of that credit goes to Duke, and HighHasch for being quality GM's. The Royals came into the season with a depleted roster, more holes than swiss cheese on the Vegas Strip.The Royals returned most of their veterans on offense and had to replace nearly all of their defense. The Royals only came into the season with two active S22 players and used 6 S23 draft picks for their current starters. Unfortunately the Royals were unable to fill in their o-line or d-line, leading to issues with their rush defense and their ability to establish consistent rhythm on offense. However, no adversity was too much for Two or the rest of the Royals as they fought their way to a playoff berth.
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]Pre-Season Week 1 - LDN 13 - MINN 24[/div]
Crooks had a decent debut with 5 tackles and 2 Passes Deflected against a tough, nearly capped out, Grey Ducks squad. Crooks allowed 44 yards on 5 catches
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]Pre-Season Week 2 - LDN 14 - NOR 24[/div]
A rather quiet game for Crooks as Norfolk controlled the ground game and didnt leave much opportunity for big plays. Crooks finished with 3 tackles, yielding 27 yards.
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]Pre-Season Week 3 - MB 23 - LDN 14[/div]
Facing off the pre-season Ultimini favorites for the first time proved to be Crooks first "Welcome to the league"moment. The Royals struggled to contain Myrtle Beach and Crooks himself had 5 tackles but yielded 63 yards.
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]Pre-Season Week 4 - DAL 22 - LDN 12[/div]
Another game where the Royals struggled to gain control of the game. Crooks turned in another 5 tackle performance and 2 pass deflections. He yielded 44 yards on his 5 catches allowed.
Despite the poor pre-season, the Royals still felt confident about their potential heading into the season. Feeling that they would be repeatedly overlooked and misjudged by the stigma they carried as a expansion franchise. However, Crooks and the rest of the team were determined to prove the critics wrong. The Royals would shoot out to a 3-1 start.
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]Week 1 - KC 10 - LDN 31[/div]
In a game the Royals controlled throughout a majority of the game, Crooks finished with 6 tackles, tied with 3 other teammates for 2nd most on the team. A theme that would ride with the Royals all season: "Strength in Numbers"
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]Week 2 - TIJ 16 - LDN 39[/div]
The Royals dominated Tijuana with 4 turnovers and a safety. Crooks only had 4 tackles but he made sure they all counted. He only allowed 8 yards on 2 catches in addition to forcing and recovering a fumble in the 4th quarter that helped the offense stretch the lead to 29 and all but sealing the upset victory.
Usually, most players would be happy about being undefeated, especially coming off a big upset win, but for Crooks, he felt something in the air. He knew that he could contribute more to his team. Crooks is always looking to improve and get the best performance out of himself, frequently checking the index to track stats and scout his upcoming opponents. Crooks notices his player is still defaulted at a 61 OVR rating. Curious, he takes to the discord board(which he has never used before in his life) and voices his concern for anyone willing to listen. After talking with HO and finding his updater, he realizes that his update page was not approved and he missed an update. He missed a message from his updater because the Alert notification does not take you straight to the PM's. Crooks discusses with various entities how he followed the rookie guideline topic on the forum and made a carbon copy page for his own. On the base, some higher profile members concluded that the model page was outdated and needed to be modified to prevent any future misconceptions.
At this point, Crooks finally get his first TPE update in(not even his first 50 had been applied yet) and the uptick in production afterwards shows almost immediately and remains that way throughout the entire season save for a game or two(which he does redeem himself for in the rematches). Crooks remains diligent to check with his updater to ensure his page is clear to apply his TPE. In addition, Crooks learns about the TPE tracker site as well, where he can now check on update day to see if everything processed correctly in case he needs to contact his updater at the last second.
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]Week 3 LDN 27 - NOR 26[/div]
Another benefit of not updating on time was Crooks' ability to observe other high profile players and see what stats they powered up to perform at a high level. Crooks then was able to re-arrange his TPE distribution to better correlate to his positional archetype. The results were immediately noticeable against the Seawolves as the Royals picked up a huge road win. Crooks made his presence felt with 15 tackles, including a huge 3rd down stop in the 4th quarter which forced a punt and allowed the Royals to march down and kick the game winning field goal.
Again, most players would be happy, right? But Crooks committed two penalties in a one point win and that did not sit well with him, so back to the discord servers to talk with player build experts, Exiz, Steg, Mori and Co. to figure out what attributes he should focus on. For his next update, he focuses primarily on boosting his intelligence. After week 3, Crooks would only commit one more penalty - week 14 in the regular season finale.
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]Week 4 LDN 6 - POR 27[/div]
The high off the Norfolk victory lasted briefly as London left their game over the water as they traveled to Portland and were thoroughly roughed up. Portland finished with 4 sacks, 2 interceptions, and a defensive touchdown on their way to an impressive win over a then 3-0 team. Crooks finished with 8 tackles and pass defended but the fire in him burned as he watched his team get deported from the sport for one night.
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]Week 5 LDN 21 - MB 18[/div]
Perhaps, one could chalk up the London loss to Portland to multiple factors: being 3-0 after being predicted to finish last in the league, securing a huge road win in Norfolk the week prior, or looking ahead to the huge showdown against Myrtle Beach in week 5. Either way, the loss to Portland was definitely a trap game but provided to be a huge boost to the team coming into the showdown with the 3-1 counterparts from South Carolina. Crooks intelligence boost in the weekly update would prove to be crucial. Although Crooks yielded 38 yards on 2 catches(he did chase down an open man to prevent a td), he also deflected a pass, chipped in 8 tackles, and came up with the final of three Royals interceptions on the day early in the 4th quarter in the redzone to prevent Myrtle Beach from pulling within single digits until late in the the quarter.
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]Week 6 LDN 18 - DAL 21[/div]
The rollercoaster continued, after another peak, Crooks hits another low as he only chips in two tackles in a close road loss to Dallas. In a game where everyone else except the GM Bots contributed, Crooks was practically invisible. To add salt to the wound, he watched his contemporaries Mendoza and McGullager come up with big plays to stifle the Royals offense. Crooks apologized to his team for being a letdown and swore to never have a game as poor as this again. He also took a secret oath to outshine Mendoza by the end of the season(Crooks would eventually pass him for total tackles by a CB and all DB's by the end of the season).
The one issue that remained was gaining more TPE. Crooks proved to be a trivia savant, often answering the questions before his veteran peers could chime in, but he struggled with the weekly predictions. Being new to the league, he had no clue about who was good or how the sim favored home field teams. Not until later in the season, after days of watching NSFL highlights, lurking in the volatile general chat, and reading media articles to cross reference with the index, would Crooks become adept with making more solid predictions. But Crooks also learned of another unused tactic he hadn't used yet: equipment. Crooks then sought answers on how to generate money and how he could find his contract balance. At the time, Crooks had 7 million dollars because of his social media presence and his introductory presser. This galvanized Crooks to continue piecing together his introductory media on his character, currently at 1100 words, he aimed to reach 4500 words by the end of the season and buy the equipment by a deadline that took an arm and leg to find out existed.
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]Week 7 LDN 7 - MINN 37[/div]
A disappointing and forgettable performance at home against divisional foes Minnesota spurred a downward spiral for the Royals. Crooks chipped in 6 tackles and despite Minnesota getting 5 sacks and 2 turnovers, he felt that the offense could still deliver if they just limited certain mistakes. He tried to keep everyone focused on maintaining the high level of play they started the season with but alas, the toughest part of the season would strike.
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]Week 8 LDN 21 - KC 24[/div]
Another disappointing loss as the Royals suffered a block punt and lost fumble on their first two possessions that Kansas City turned into 14 quick points that allowed them to hold on long enough to get the win. Son Goku destroyed the Royals shallow o-line all game. A glaring weakness that became more prominent as other teams improved whereas the Royals had to use GM bots on their defensive line because they had no active players on either line. Again, a bad loss, but Crooks maintained that if the team could just limit mistakes, they can win these games.
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]Week 9 LDN 3 - TIJ 38[/div]
The low point of the season, an absolute thrashing by the Luchadores. 11 tackles seem nice except when your team is on the field for 36 minutes and yielding 475 yards of total offense despite having a 0-0 first quarter. At this point, the Royals, already suffering from inactive players, forced to start 6 inactives on defense, 5 on offense - start to see an increase in active players turn semi-active, semi-active players turn inactive. But there is no quit in Crooks or the other mainstays determined to right the ship and finish the season out.
Crooks is at crossroads with his equipment, he for sure thought his team would slide into the playoffs and he could purchase his equipment at the end of the season before the playoffs, but now with 4 straight losses, he decides to get back to writing. He's at 2,500 words but he's stalled because the piece is supposed to reflect his seasonal perspective, but needs to be done before the season. So he calls an audible and instead turns it into a mid-season interview. The losses are taking a toll on Crooks and he gets desperate as he tries to run schemes in the NSFL Casino but a guiding light leads him out of trouble before he burns himself to a point of no return.
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]Week 10 LDN 13 - NOR 17[/div]
The final game of the 5 game the losing streak that saw the Royals go from 4-1 to 4-6. Crooks searches for answers as to the why the team drops so many games. He points out in the locker room that even though their o-line is full of inactives that their offensive weapons still rank at the top of their respective statistical categories, why does the offense struggle to get going? The Royals have one more update before the season ends and Crooks only has one option: to get even better. 21 tackles in the past two games means nothing if they are both losses.
Crooks gets an assist from his main partner in crime, Greedy Sly, who helps him push his 2,500 word article to nearly 3,600 words. Crooks submits two articles and suddenly has enough money to purchase a tier 6 equipment. He runs right to Mori and Steg to read more studies on how attributes affect cornerbacks in particular. Crooks puts in his penultimate season update, pushing him into the top 25 for S23 rookies and top 3 for S23 CBs. The impact would be felt immediately on the field and off the field as the Royals add more interested prospects off the waivers, Crooks makes sure that all newcomers felt as important as the oldest vets on the team. Any help is good help for London. The Royals also get a surprise return from their WR, Blake Alexander, who said he sat on his TPE and finally felt like updating when he checked in and saw how dedicated the team was to securing a playoff spot.
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]Week 11 POR 20 - LDN 29[/div]
A do or die game that would ultimately determine who controlled their destiny to secure a playoff berth. Crooks knew the Royals needed to dig deep as he saw Hackpoo on the other side ready to rumble. Hackpoo finished with 12 tackles, a fumble recovery, and a pass deflected and Crooks countered with 11 tackles, two deflected passes, and a forced fumble to set the tone early and allow the Royals to get out to a fast start and hold on the vital win.
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]Week 12 LDN 21 - MB 36[/div]
Myrtle Beach, determined to avenge their loss and make a late season surge to clinch a playoff berth, came out the gates firing, amassing a safety, interception, and 6 or their 7 total sacks in the first half en route to a 22-0 halftime lead and comfortable 15 point win. Smoothie had a sack, interception, and pass deflection. Dookmarriot had 4 pass deflections himself. Crooks gave a valiant effort with 10 tackles, but the Royals undisciplined play and indecisiveness via mixing in so many new people led to their undoing. However, they still controlled their destiny to the playoffs and it lead to even more players returning to the fray. The Royals would see the return of their third safety, Bob(or Ball) after this game in addition to more waiver wire pickups of eager young prospects wanting an early taste of successful football.
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]Week 13 DAL 8 - LDN 11[/div]
Another pivotal game as inter-conference foes squared off with playoff berths on the line for both sides and both teams played like it as this defensive slugfest came down to the final possessions before London took their one and final lead of the game. Phastbawl proved to be difference, as he silently had been all season, nailing a typical 49 yard bomb in the second quarter while Dallas blew two field goals and their one extra point attempt. The entire Royals defense came to play, Richards had 2 tackles for a loss, Bob had ten tackles, Van Perkins had 3 deflected passes. As for the famed Mendoza and McGullager duo in Dallas, they combined for 9 tackles and 3 deflected passes. Crooks had 8 tackles and 2 deflected passes, including the game sealing stop on 4th and 2 on Dallas's final drive.
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]Week 14 LDN 13 - MINN 28[/div]
Crooks did his best to keep his Royals in the game with a game high 14 tackles(three off the Royals single game record) but the 9 Grey Ducks sacks were too much to overcome. The Royals spent most of the game scoreboard watching both Kansas City and Portland fall, allowing London to clinch their first playoff spot in their second season in franchise history. The team did not let the loss get them down as they knew from the onset, getting to this point seemed impossible --- to everyone but the guys inside the locker room. As others moaned and pouted about re-sims and sim luck and whatnot, the Royals simply can say they played the schedule given to them and made the plays when needed to.
Despite having one of the worst statistical defenses, the Royals had many bright spots, including top TPE earner Greedy Sly, all around beast Eric Richards, #2 in CB TPE Mikel Van Perkins, and Crooks himself. The Royals as a team dug deep, getting contributions from everyone throughout the season. Nearly everyone on offense held some type of job to keep their updates on track. Sly held weekly podcasts that various teammates jumped in on throughout the season. Eric has been pumping out solid media throughout the season. Phastbawl has been one of the best DSFL kickers in recent memory, setting punt records throughout the season and being highly accurate on 40+ yard kicks. Colby remained one of the best QB's despite having no type of protection. King and Batista both remained active despite sharing the backfield, having no blocking, and they both still amassed over 800 yards apiece. Bob, Ball, and Blake all quietly amassed big TPE amounts throughout the season before giving us big updates towards the end. Kaeprcolin did a tremendous job taking over for Duke as GM midway through the season.
All of this lead to our team having our first complete team TPE update the week before our playoff game. As for me, this is me, putting my teammates above me, because those guys helped me get to this point. If they don't pull together, I have nothing to write about. If they dont take me in as family, I probably dont last this long in the league. Those guys deserve the credit for this piece, I couldnt be here writing about our playoff berth clinching ride without these guys running one of the coolest locker rooms in the league and having a "never say quit" attitude. I'm not sure how long I'll be in this, but I'm going to leave a mark in some capacity. I'm definitely plan to keep writing at least two recaps per season and I also plan to start a series of "DSFL's Game of the Week" in a similar fashion to this but with more extensive detail on the game itself. And at some point, after I finally conclude my first season, I hope to write a "DSFL for Dummies" handbook to help brand new wide-eyed players like myself, get through without suffering the same common(sometimes uncommon) issues I did.
Steg showed me the survey that you dont like stats so I'll put that last but here we go:
First TPE Earned/Updated 05/02 - Current TPE - 195
Currently #33 in S23 of TPE Earners
Currently #3 in S23 Cornerbacks TPE
Bank - bout to be a lot after this
Activity - I write so I don't have time for homo-erotic fan fic fantasies in the general chat. But I'm always lurking and I seek the people I need for help with things. I hope I can return to the Royals next year to fully apply my knowledge(unless we win the Ultimini, haha)
Stats
120 Tackles (8th in league, top 5 all time for DSFL DB's)
1 Tackle for Loss
2 Forced Fumbles
1 Fumble Recovery
1 Interception
6 Passes Deflected
3 Penalties for 10 yards
I also plan on returning kicks, starting in the next season a la Neon Deion
WC - 3500
*All Eyez on Me: Lesean Paris Crooks Season Recap - The_Kidd - 05-24-2020
this is finished and ready for grading
*All Eyez on Me: Lesean Paris Crooks Season Recap - benstackinpaper - 05-24-2020
*All Eyez on Me: Lesean Paris Crooks Season Recap - Jay_Doctor - 05-24-2020
Your season has been quite a journey. Best of luck in the playoffs!
*All Eyez on Me: Lesean Paris Crooks Season Recap - Highhaschdi - 05-25-2020
Awesome article. Really liked to read this