Tips on developing a QB?

[mbarry55]

Hi guys, bought the game a few months ago and love it- just now registered to ask a very important question- how do you develop a QB?

After 17 years, 5 championships and 3 MVPs, my stud QB finally retired on me. The last 4-5 years, I was anticipating this, and picked 2 QBs in either round 1 or round 2, each ending up to be a projected 60+. Neither one developed. They were both my backup QB, and my stud QB had the mentor tag.

What do I do wrong?

Now that my QB is retired, how do I go about developing a QB to lead my team now? What are the factors... having a backup QB as a mentor, does the coach/OC have more influence on this?

Any tips you can offer would be appreciated....

thanks!

[DolphinFan1]

1st of all, welcome to the board.

While I'm no expert, I do read a lot of the tips on here and can offer some things others have said. You do need a mentor. But unless the young QB starts, the mentor isn't much of a factor. Also, your OC has the task of developing your offensive players.

I'm sure others will chime in here.

[RedKingGold]

The most important things to developing a young QB appear to be:

1. Playing Time
2. Summer Camp
3. Mentor

Note that quarterbacks take longer to develop in this version than previous, and generally take longer to completely develop than any other positions (see Eli Manning).

Also, note that summer camp may increase a player's potential for injury and there is "some" question whether the QB Mentor need be active or inactive for his tutoring abilities to be fully utilized.

[JetsIn06]

Welcome!

Okay...as you might be able to see, us FOF players still aren't 100% sure about how some things work in the game. There isn't really a formula to developing a QB (just like in real life), but there are definitely some things to help your chances.

1. Don't draft over-rated players. If you interview a rookie and your scout tells you he is over-rated or very over-rated, I would stay away. He may come out of your draft rated as 35/71 or something like that, but it's entirely possible, maybe even likely, that he'll end up at 49/49 or something like that. So...underrated good, overrated BAD.

2. Mentors. You should always have a mentor when you draft a QB. He'll pick up points without playing, so if your not willing to throw your season down the toilet by playing an undeveloped QB, he can still learn the position.

3. Playing time. If you are willing to risk it, and you decide to play your undeveloped QB, he'll develop much faster.

4. Summer league. Like others have said, sending him here should make him develop faster.

and there is "some" question whether the QB Mentor need be active or inactive for his tutoring abilities to be fully utilized.

We've very recently come to the conclusion that mentors can be inactive or active for the youngster to reap the benefits.

[RedKingGold]

We've very recently come to the conclusion that mentors can be inactive or active for the youngster to reap the benefits.

However, this conclusion is only 99.9% accurate thanks to wobbling.

[Ben E Lou]

However, this conclusion is only 99.9% accurate thanks to wobbling.
Wobble THIS! {points at crotch}

[MalcPow]

However, this conclusion is only 99.9% accurate thanks to wobbling.

I think that was my study on urinal success rate you're thinking of.

[QuikSand]

The above advice is good when it comes to developing quarterbacks. Mentor, playing time, and so forth.

There's a subsidiary issue here -- and that is the quality of the player. This was atop Jets06's list, but I'll reiterate. If your QBs are showing up as 14/62 and ending up as 27/27, this might not really be a question about development, but rather about picking the right players to begin with. And that's a much deeper topic, but involves trying to understand the proper roles of the combines, the scout interview, and the projected ratings. There's been a lot of conversation here on these subjects, have a look around and try to digest some... but my best guess is this is the real issue you're up against, and that your bad luck in development is really a function of having bad players to develop.

[mbarry55]

Thanks for all the replies so far. I appreciate all the input.

As far as drafting the wrong players, I don't think that is it necessarily. I have made it a point that if I'm going to draft a QB in the first two rounds, I will only pick a guy who is listed as either underrated or VU, and already has good bars and combine results. unless my scout has been way off on those, which is entirely possible I suppose.

I am in the offseason right now, and have taken the step to fire my previous offensive coordinator, who was at least "Good" in everything except Young talent, where he was only listed as average. my new OC has all VG/E ratings except for 1 good rating, and his young talent is rated as excellent. I am hoping this makes an impact.

I draft 24th in the first round(one of my "failed" QB projects actually had a decent season, despite being listed now as 33/41... 258/406 for 2940 yards, 24TD and 16 INT, 88.5 QB rating) I signed another QB who is listed as 24/50, so we'll see how things pan out during the offseason.

I'm just wondering now if I should burn another high pick on a QB, or maybe try and trade up to get the 6.3 rated QB prospect, who has good combine scores. I'm leaning towards just signing a mentor and letting these two slug it out.

Any other suggestions?

[perez24]

I haven't had as much luck with drafting QB's in the first two rounds, but you can sink down to rounds 4-7 and pick up some pretty decent QBs, but they have to play.

[Brodie53]

What was the rating of your scout for the QB position? This seems to have an influence (at least with my SP career) in how good your drafted rookie will be.

[Yoda]

Time.

You have to pick who you want as your QB and let him play. Unlike the NFL, backup QB's do not get better. There is no 'Tony Romo' who sat on the bench learning and got better and came in and kicked butt. That's a short coming of the game.

[JetsIn06]

Unlike the NFL, backup QB's do not get better. There is no 'Tony Romo' who sat on the bench learning and got better and came in and kicked butt. That's a short coming of the game.

I don't believe this is neccesarily true. I mean, there are DEFINITELY random booms in the game, so a QB could just become a better player entirely.

Also...you have to consider that a lot of times in real life, a quarterback just wasn't used the right way. They move to a better team or get a different coordinator/head coach and they play a ton better. That happens in the game. For example, my QB in my MP league had a career completion percentage of about 55%. I traded for him and am using him differently (i think) and he now is passing for 70% with a 90-something QB rating.

I also remember in one of my SP careers, I had a guy who I drafted in the 5th or 6th round, and he sat the bench for a while. After my stud QB hit free agency and wanted 30 mil, I let him go and had this guy start. He was amazing, and had a rating of a whopping: 29/29

[Dunleavy]

Time.

if your QB isn't playing he really isn't developing

plus 90% of QB's stink as rookies/first year starters

into the second year of starting you should see an improvement

[JetsIn06]

Yoda,

maybe I misinterpreted you a little bit. Are you saying that we don't see the ratings go up? Well, without a mentor, you are right.