Preseason Playing Time

[Laconic1]

For some reason I keep thinking that I need to play my starters in the preseason so that they don't "regress". Does anyone know if that's the case? Also, if I have a stud rookie in camp, should he be listed as a starter on the dept chart or should I keep him as 2nd/3rd string so that he gets more playing time to help his development?

Is it wise to keep your studs inactive for the entire preseason?

Anybody willing to share how they manage their depth charts in the preseason?

[Ben E Lou]

For some reason I keep thinking that I need to play my starters in the preseason so that they don't "regress". Does anyone know if that's the case? Also, if I have a stud rookie in camp, should he be listed as a starter on the dept chart or should I keep him as 2nd/3rd string so that he gets more playing time to help his development?

Is it wise to keep your studs inactive for the entire preseason?

Anybody willing to share how they manage their depth charts in the preseason?This depends partly on whether you have injuries on. Here's how I handle it if I'm trying to get best results.

INJURIES ON
--Play starters who are fully developed (or very close to fully developed...if a guy is 51/55, he's included in this group) for all of game 1 (100 playing time in both halves) and part of game 2 (low playing time in both halves).
--Play rookies who are expected to contribute as much as possible. (This means playing them as backups in game 2, when playing time for starters should be set to well below 50%.)
--Inactivate the best 14 current-rated players that you can for the last two weeks.

NOTE: The foolishness that you have to do to maximize results with injuries on is why I am *always* an advocate for turning them off in preseason. It's just stupid and encourages roster management gamesmanship.

INJURIES OFF
--Play starters who are fully developed for most/all of games 3 and 4.
--Play rookies who are expected to contribute as much as possible.

[revrew]

Ben,

I know what you're saying here was spot on with the last version of FOF. I still follow something similar to this to this day.

But it just "feels" like there's something different in the new version. So many times in SP I've seen young (25-28 yo) players who played in G1 and G2 of the preseason, then benched for G3 and G4, suddenly drop ratings when preseason is over. Too many for the smell test and feels like more than previous FOF versions (when the ratings changes came after TC, rather than after preseason).

The previous commenter's question about "regressing" touches on this. Is there something to that? Or just an optical illusion based on the new system for player ratings changes?

In other words, any possibility we're inadvertently sabotaging players by benching them for a couple of games in the preseason?

[aston217]

Ratings changes are revealed after Exhibition Week 2, not after the entire preseason is over. I don't think it is affected at all by preseason playing time.

[aston217]

The reason to play starters in preseason is to avoid rust. It takes roughly 1-and-a-half games to get from extreme rust to zero rust although I think there may be some dice there. It doesn't matter when in the preseason you play, although the Rust Report only starts showing up on player cards at Ex4 (and every week thereafter for the season).

The reason to play them early on is because if they get injured, they have a longer time to heal before the regular season.

Another thing I do in the preseason is acknowledge the risk in playing bubble players on multi-year deals. These guys will typically play early rather than later, or perhaps not at all except for injury. The reason is that if they do get injured, I can't cut them. If the injury isn't Doubtful or worse, they are completely stuck on the roster until they are healed. If they are a bubble player, I may not have room for them.

So I have to almost decide on a projected 53 at the start of the preseason. Which is really annoying, but on the other hand, sometimes a bubble player or rookie with promise gets injured and I can place him on IR. Then I don't have to cut him until the next season :P

[Nemesis]

The reason to play starters in preseason is to avoid rust. It takes roughly 1-and-a-half games to get from extreme rust to zero rust although I think there may be some dice there. It doesn't matter when in the preseason you play, although the Rust Report only starts showing up on player cards at Ex4 (and every week thereafter for the season).

The reason to play them early on is because if they get injured, they have a longer time to heal before the regular season.

Another thing I do in the preseason is acknowledge the risk in playing bubble players on multi-year deals. These guys will typically play early rather than later, or perhaps not at all except for injury. The reason is that if they do get injured, I can't cut them. If the injury isn't Doubtful or worse, they are completely stuck on the roster until they are healed. If they are a bubble player, I may not have room for them.

So I have to almost decide on a projected 53 at the start of the preseason. Which is really annoying, but on the other hand, sometimes a bubble player or rookie with promise gets injured and I can place him on IR. Then I don't have to cut him until the next season :P
^ this ^