Andrew Stem is incredibly difficult to find on-line as most Google searches tended to pull up flowers and cell research. Instead, I offer you a visual representation of a team with a tremendously overrated defense in place of Andrew Stem.
Last year was the spectacular, back-from-the-dead season for previously last place bound Andrew Stem. After a series of miserable finishes, Stem rallied the troops and fought his way to the VUFSA Championship Game in 2005. Back to finish the job in 2006, he brought to the table a familar group of players in Shaun Alexander, LaMont Jordan, Kevin Jones, Larry Fitzgerald, and Plaxico Burress. Alexander was fresh off his MVP performance and looked to carry the team to glory - so long as he didn't get hurt that is.
Round 2: Derrick Mason
Round 3: Greg Jones
Round 4: Donte Stallworth
Round 5: LJ Smith
Round 6: Eric Moulds
Round 7: Keenan McCardell
Round 8: Antowain Smith
Round 9: Alex Smith (TE)
Round 10: Keith Bulluck
Round 11: Julius Peppers
Round 12: Adrian Wilson
Round 13: Ray Lewis
Round 14: Jon Kitna
Round 15: Jeff Reed
Right off the bat Stem took care of the one skill position lacking in his group of keepers -- quaterback. Tom Brady would throw for 600 fewer yards and 2 fewer touchdowns than in 2005, but all in all, he had a successful 2006 campaign going for 3,529 yards and 24 TDs. Derrick Mason had a modest season grabbing 68 footballs but managing just 2 touchdowns. Greg Jones would be a bust going down with an injury about the same time Domanick Davis/Williams did, never making it out of the preseason (and opening the door for Maurice Jones-Drew!). Donte Stallworth after a move to Philly was good when healthy, which came to exactly 3 games. Kennan McCardell and Eric Moulds combined to score 1 touchdown in reserve roles with their respective teams. 14th rounder Jon Kitna would be seeing playing time before the season was over, and no doubt was the reason for Cellar Dwellers below .500 finish.
Stem rushed off to an above average 3-2 start defeating Father Abraham, Who Is Ron Mexico?, and The Slumpbusters. The wins were tight, however, suggesting that this team was not nearly as dominant as its 2005 predecessor. The victories came at a cumulative total of 6 points and CD breaking 100 points just once in those wins.
About this time (say week 4) disaster would strike. Shaun Alexander would break his foot, depriving Stem of his most potent threat. For 7 weeks, Cellar Dwellers would scramble for a replacement for the bummed Seahawk. For your amusement, allow me to list of some of the names that attempted to fill the shoes of the league's reigning MVP.
Anthony Thomas
Kevin Faulk
Mike Sellers
Verron Haynes
Mewelde Moore (Viking and member of the true Partyboat!)
T. J. Duckett
Gross. Needless to say, all of those guys combined times ten didn't equal what a one legged Alexander could have brought to the table if Mike Holmgren just would have let Alexander play with a broken foot.
Between week 5 and week 11, the time in which Shaun was praying for his foot to heal, Cellar Dwellers went 1-5, effectively ending any playoff hopes. Once Alexander was back in the lineup, Stem went 2-2 to round out the season. In the end, 4 of Cellar Dwellers 5 wins came with Alexander healthy, proving that while he was not the NFL's MVP, he was still Stem's.
Stem made the second fewest moves in the league (14 to Baron's 11), but he did make a few good ones. He added Justin Fargas after LaMont Jordan mysteriously vanished one week, and while Fargas did not put up spectacular numbers, he did do better than any of the aforementioned replacements for Alexander. Mewelde Moore came on board late in the season and left even later in a trade that brought the not so helpful TJ Duckett on board. The move, though, was not pointless as Stem did pick up a late round pick from Madd Skillz in the deal. Probably the most impressive acquisition on the year came in the form of a defender as CD grabbed the NFL's defensive rookie of the year, DeMeco Ryans, for the stretch run.
As Andrew prepares for 2007, he has a few pieces to work with and a few holes to address. Shaun Alexander and Kevin Jones definitely will be back next year. Larry Fitzgerald and Plaxico Burress are a couple of top line wide receivers who should grab plenty more TDs next season. The remaining roster spot could go to one of three players in Tom Brady (ever steady), Donte Stallworth (19 yards per reception last year), or the Justin Fargas/LaMont Jordan Raider backfield starter. CD does posses the number three overall selection in the draft, which will sure up whichever of the positions Stem elects to go empty in the keeper selection process.
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