Quote:
Originally Posted by Abe Sargent
While we are on "pause" for a moment, this is a good time to talk about my approach to FOF in general, and how you've seen it here.
My goal is to become a synergy of the best of the Steelers and Patriots of whatever universe that they are playing in. That's my goal.
The Patriots have a powerful system. Despite changing names at various positions, they have some genuine HOF players, like Brady, they build around and use. They have some high quality players they retain. But they are not afraid to bring in Free Agents, high profile ones, and more. Randy Moss. Fred Taylor. Corey Dillon. Rodney Harrison. And they will bring in players that will be better in the Patriots system than elsewhere, like Wes Welker. And they will parrot their talent. Brady and company will air the crap out of the ball and bombard everything when they have that talent. Or they will plug up and play a powerful smashmouth run game when that's where they are. Whatever works. The Patriots are about replacement, plug and play, and getting the right people into the right spaces. They will collect draft picks, trade up to target the right player, trade back to acquire more picks, and are masters of draft management. And they make it to the playoffs and they win.
Now imagine that the year after Brady retires there is a top QB talent in the draft, like a Manning, or a Manning, or a Luck or someone. Imagine if they did everything they could to grab that 1.1 pick and take that top talent and kept on going.
That's what I like to do.
But I like to be the Steelers about it. I like to retain my own people. I'd rather keep a perfectly respectable 50/50 OG I have on my roster than sign some dopey 54/54 guy. Now If it makes sense( Half the money, drop in age by 7 or 8 years, etc) then I will. But I don't want to.
I want to:
1). Have the strong system players come into my draft, like the Steelers
2). Retain all of my talent, inc UFAs, that I bring in. Those are "my" players.
3). Master the draft like the Patriots, and match my pick to need, in order to keep it going
That's where I want to be.
I call this combination of Steelers and Pats mentality my "Equilibrium point." I try to get my dynasty to the Equilibrium Point. and we have reached that a couple of years ago here
Here is my path to Equilibrium:
1). Always, with only a handful of exceptions, draft BAP. You will have a healthier, stronger, and more competitive roster, when you took the BAP. Let me give you an example from my last dynasty with the Jags in FOF7. I had two top ten WRs in the mid20s at the end of the 1st round when a draftee called Joshua Wild fell to me. He was the BAP, and a stud. Now I had positions of need outside of WR. But I took him, two yeas later he replaced one of my WRs permanently, and was so good he made it to the HOF and was a concensus best WR during his tenure with us. I will take a stud DE, DT, LB, CB, or S even if I have two starters, with little muss or fuss. (Take my era with Horner and Stanton just now. I would not take a stud DE because I have two All Pros Defensive Player of the Year talents already - but that is a rare case). I will BAP a stud TE, RB, FB, WR or more over my current starters. BAP talent. You can see that in this dynasty with my linebackers.
2). Don't ever cut someone you can trade. Trade a younger 4th year player you won't keep for a future pick. You are building through the draft. So stockpile draft picks.
3). Target top talent, and move up to take it. There are a handful of players that will push my dynasty forward. Twice you saw me target Lorey and Alcott, and move up. Now I have had a 2000 yard rushed and an All Pro 90/90 NT for a 3-4 defense. Both were worth it. When there is a player that will make your team sing the next octave, make a play.
4) Don't get caught up with big bars and fancy stars. There will be studs in every draft. There will be players that should improve your team in every draft. You will lose them. That's fine. It happens. Don't move up and lose something to grab someone that you never really needed. Only make trades for players that are true value to your team.
5). Unlike many FOF players, I prefer bars to combines. There are draftees with great combine scores and low bars. They often grow. But they don't always,
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They don't always grow as well as you want or think. Players with high bars who aren't sustained by their combines often shrink, but not always, and not always as much as you fear. I'd rather draft a 30/60 CB and have them wind up a 48/48 CB than draft a 15/15 CB that grows, years later, into a 45/45 CB. I find the growth rarely matches the bars of others. Take a look at this dynasty. Only once did I have a real grower - S Baxter. Usually, they aren't even that - many players don't grow in camp at all, and some high combines have even busted post-camp.
6). Don't be afraid to make mistakes, but learn from them. I made many mistakes in this dynasty. Like my RB position. Or missing players I should have traded up for or BAPs when I wet need instead. Remember when I was thinking about stud MLB Howlerton vs that CB who met my need? That CB busted and was out of the NFl a few years later, and Howlerton is the best LB in football. Or that LB last year I could have traded a random 6th to move up and get in the 3rd, but I figured he'd come to me at 3.19. A first round talent in the third? Just shut up, make the trade, and move on. I learned my lesson. You will make mistakes. But will you learn from them?
7). Cut bait when you need to, but remember to keep things mission central. Don't sign a 65/65 C over a 55/55 OG with better statistics.
8). Do sweat the small stuff. I care a lot about special teams. In the GM Only or One Draft Dynasty Challenge we had here, I did very well. In the first, my first online league, I built the Jags into a Super Bowl team in year two, and built part of a juggernaut that stood around after I left, and another GM came in, improved on my model, and made a powerful juggernaut dynasty with an undefeated season and a bunch of super bowls. And I won the One N Done Draft Challenge where a bunch of players here all used the same draft and could only draft players that first year, and then played it out to see where they wound up. I'm not bad at this part of the game. And part of the reason is that I look at mechanics like affinity and special teams. Especially special teams. I think one of the reasons I won the 1ND is because I picked very good quality special teamers early in order to ensure quality. it matters
P Emerson is a weapon. It worth the money to upgrade my K. You see it here. These things get you wins. They get you to that Equilibrium Point
And once there, it's easier to sustain. Just replace when cash/age/better option comes along for parts already working. No spending cash in FA, you can usually skip it. The BAPs you grab will allow you to have better draft bait. Etc.