Larryhud's roster Version 2.0 and .csv file

[Ortofrutta]

I have already started 'a season, I played the first game of the regular season with the New Orleans (lost 23-10) great Graham 10 receptions for 112 yards 18.67 avg but you and' injured for 2 weeks not to mention Brees apocalyptic.
Advise me to start over? or continuous
The schedule you can 'change?

Thanks again Larry

[larryhud]

Just continue and enjoy? Although as a Saints fan, you could wait until I update Graham's contract when the details are released. It depends how fussy you are!? I like everything to be accurate. However there will be no more major changes now, just tweaks.

[larryhud]

Confident that this as accurate as it can be up to this point. Call this version 1.0

[Donnerna]

Forgive my stupidity, but I can't figure out what to do with this file. What do I need to download to use a FDT file?

Thanks!

[larryhud]

When you start a new game, it asks you if want to use 'alternate player file'. If you check that box as 'Yes' then when you press 'ok' at the bottom it will bring up an explorer session and you just point that to the file you have downloaded. Voila!

[Donnerna]

Thank you, worked perfectly!

Forgive me, I'm new. Is there a way for us to make our own tweaks to your roster? For example, it has Tyler Thigpen as the starting QB for the Browns when Thigpen is their third-stringer in real life. I'm happy to make the change myself, I just don't know how.

Thanks again for taking this on!

[larryhud]

I think you are asking the wrong question? You can re-order your depth chart any way you want within the game. However, you surely do not want to start a worse QB? (based on current ability)

Are you asking why Thigpen is rated higher than Hoyer and/or Manziel? The game takes their rating as per the player file and fluctuates the current ability slightly so every game is "partially determined by random chance. This adds to the replay value of the game" so says the author of the game.

There is also an option when starting a new game 'Use Full X-factor when loading player file'. If you turn this off, it lessens the random effect and makes them more true to life - at least as we know it now.

So I suggest you turn OFF the full X-factor (as I do) and restart your game. You should find the ratings more reflective of their real life status. Thigpen would not score more highly than Hoyer or Manziel with the X-Factor off

[larryhud]

No there isn't a way to adjust my roster without me releasing the .csv file which I have not done (yet).
However you should not need to as it is extremely accurate as per my initial post. As mentioned before, I cannot fix 'in stone' the current ablilitiies as the game randomises them to some degree although you can lessen this by turning the X-factor off

[Donnerna]

Thanks for the response! I know I can change my own depth chart, but I'm playing as the Steelers. The Browns are AI, and Thigpen is clearly their highest rated QB (though all three QBs are rated in their 20's.)

I actually was playing with "x-factor" off, but I tried starting a new game to see if I got a better roll this time since it's not possible to completely turn it off. Now Manziel is the head QB with a potential of 50, which works for me...

But now Tyrod Taylor is the Ravens QB, the Bengals are starting Jason Campbell, Shaun Hill is starting for the Rams...there are others, but they're easily explained by imagining an unexpectedly outstanding/horrible training camp. But these three are pretty glaring.

Sounds like the problem is that the X-factor can never be completely turned off, so even though you're giving them the right ratings it's still coming through incorrectly. Guess there's nothing to be done about it.

Thanks again for all of your hard work, and taking the time to explain it to me!

[larryhud]

Yes I get what you are saying. To remove my personal bias, I used PFF ratings for all players. PFF does not rate Flacco, Dalton or Bradford highly. Imagine they got beaten out at training camp as you said..

[larryhud]

Update for rookies - college and home team data - thanks for supplying yabanci!
Version 1.1

[polydamas]

Could you please add David Fales to the Bears roster? Despite only being a sixth round selection Trestman's coaching and his innate talent could result in Fales becoming Cutler's heir-apparent.

[larryhud]

ok , you have your QB added. Good luck!

[Ortofrutta]

I know it's stressful but we are not 'that you can add the Rookie RB Devonta Freeman, the Falcons seems to make us heavily in the rotation of the rusher

Ciao Orto

I thank you even now 'cause I do not know' when you rewrite 'forum

[millhousebc]

Can I get the file with the injured players put back into the game?

Thanks in advance

[larryhud]

Both requests done, version 1.5 avaliable

[antdroid]

I'm a seahawks guy and I was hoping you could add a few more hawks rookies to the team:

91 Marsh, Cassius DE 6-4 254 22 R UCLA
81 Norwood, Kevin WR 6-2 199 24 R Alabama
58 Pierre-Louis, Kevin OLB 6-0 236 22 R Boston College
34 Small, Kiero FB 5-8 247 25 R Arkansas

I think these rookies will be on the final squad.

Also Michael Bowie just got let go and is on Browns now, and we now have Alvin Bailey and Eric Winston fighting for starting RT.

[larryhud]

Seattle updated as per request

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by larryhud

Seattle updated as per request

Screw Seattle..

[Donnerna]

Love this, just a few questions:

1) Is there any way you could either tweak the initial ratings or x factor of:

Cardinals: Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton
Ravens: Joe Flacco and Tyrod Taylor
Bills: EJ Manuel and Thad Lewis
Bengals: Andy Dalton and Jason Campbell
Rams: Sam Bradford and Shaun Hill
Buccs: Mike Kafka (either Glennon or McCown could theoretically start, but not Kafka)

Some random surprises might be nice, but these teams choose the wrong starting qb for 2014 at least 90% of the time. This is before a single preseason snap has occurred, so it's not based off of gameplay or injuries...just purely choosing the wrong player.

2) Have you given any thought to updating the coaches? Lions, Texans, Browns, Vikings, Buccs, Titans, and Redskins all have new headcoaches for 2014.

3) Is it possible to edit the schedule to reflect 2014? Wasn't sure if that could be done.

Thanks again for all your hard work on this!

[antdroid]

Originally Posted by larryhud

Seattle updated as per request

Thanks! I think I may have jinxed this. I made the request saying these guys will make the team and then Norwood goes out and hurts his foot and may be out for the season.

[larryhud]

Donnera/antdroid,

To answer your questions:
[1] The x factor randomises the 'V' factor influence. The V factor is player rating. I take these directly from Pro Football Focus to remove any of my personal bias. The starting QBs you mentioned are not considered (by PFF) better than their backups thus often have the same rating. It is a crapshoot who would have the higher rating on the depth chart. These issues appear all over the roster but are less visible as QBs are more prominent. Hey you never know what will happen each year right?! PFF do provide updates and when they do, I will update the ratings.
The rookies are my guess of their ratings purely based on higher drafted - higher rating, with some minor exceptions if a player fell to low down the draft.

[2] and [3] > Love to do both but I do not know how to and would be pleased to know if anyone else does? I am only amending the roster file

- I include all injured players anyway - so you didn't jinx the game!

[Donnerna]

Thanks for the reply! I do understand that you're using an unbiased source...and believe me, as a Steelers fan, I've never before decried someone speaking poorly of Flacco. But short of Flacco receiving some kind of terrible injury in the next 48 hours, he's going to be the starter for the Ravens. Nobody's questioning that at all.

Now, is it possible that Tyrod will just blow up at the same point that Flacco falters at some point later this season, or the next or the one after that? Absolutely, and I love that that's a possibility in this game unlike Madden where Tyrod will never surpass Flacco. But as a starting point that begins literally this weekend, it's frustrating.

That said, you've done an incredible job on this and I wouldn't even know where to begin, so I have nothing but kudos for you. Thanks for everything you've done, even if I hope you'll reconsider the QBs in the future! ;c)

[larryhud]

Just checked:

Cardinals: Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton (Palmer is rated higher)
Ravens: Joe Flacco and Tyrod Taylor (Flacco is rated higher)
Bills: EJ Manuel and Thad Lewis (rated the same)
Bengals: Andy Dalton and Jason Campbell (Dalton is rated higher)
Rams: Sam Bradford and Shaun Hill (rated the same)
Buccs: Mike Kafka (either Glennon or McCown could theoretically start, but not Kafka) (McCown rated higher - Kafka/Glennon the same)

The notes say "There is an option, when starting a new game of Front Office Football, to be more exact when importing ratings. What this does is greatly lessen the variability of the ratings selected for individual categories. A "7" in a rating will always be better than a "6". Without that option selected, the "6" could be better than the "7" in some random instances"

Even so, there still seems to be some anomalies when I just started a game to check the scouted ratings. I can guess at two possible reasons:
[1] The ratings are your scouted ratings by definition- may not be accurate? Each coach sees players differently?
[2] Depends on how experienced they are? Players reach their peaks at different points.

Rgds

[Donnerna]

Thanks for looking into this further!

I took the liberty of conducting a test. I started fifteen new games, with "full x factor" turned off. In all fifteen cases, I was the Steelers. Here's the data.

Arizona Cardinals. Starter should be Carson Palmer or POSSIBLY Ryan Lindley.

Starting qb: Carson Palmer 37.5%, Drew Standon 31%, Ryan Lindley 6%, free agent Kevin Kolb 6%, free agent BJ Coleman 6%, fictional undrafted rookie 6%.

Baltimore Ravens. Starter absolutely has to be Joe Flacco.

Starting QB: Joe Flacco 47%, Tyrod Taylor 27%, Keith Wenning 27%.

Buffalo Bills: Should be EJ Manuel.

Starting QB: Thaddeus Lewis 67%, EJ Manuel 27%, Dennis Dixon 6%

Cincinatti Bengals: Has to be Andy Dalton.

Starting QB: Jason Campbell 40%, Andy Dalton 27%, fictional undrafted rookies 20%, free agent Rex Grossman 6%, Zac Robinson 6%.

Houston Texans: Should be Fitzpatrick.

Starting QB: Ryan Fitzpatrick 47%, fictional undrafted free agents 27%, Tom Savage 6%, Case Keenum 6%, free agent Josh Freeman 6%, free agent Caleb Hanie 6%.

Jacksonville Jaguars: Should be Chad Henne. Bortles has the potential, but the team has said they plan to bench him all year.

Starting QB: Blake Bortles 100%. Chad Henne 0%.

Kansas City Chiefs: Should be Alex Smith. Maaaaaaybe Aaron Murray.

Starting QB: Alex Smith 47%. Aaron Murray 40%. Chase Daniels 13%.

Minnesota Vikings: Should be Matt Cassel, possibly Teddy Bridgewater.

Starting QB: Teddy Bridgewater 80%, Matt Cassel 13%. fictional undrafted rookie 6%.

Oakland Raiders: Should be Schaub, potentially Carr.

Starting QB: Derek Carr 60%, Matt Schaub 20%, Matt McGloin 13%, fictional undrafted rookie 6%.

St. Louis Rams: Absolutely should be Sam Bradford.

Starting QB: Shaun Hill 53%. Sam Bradford 33%. Fictional undrafted rookies 13%.

Tennessee Titans: Should be Jake Locker (and they cut Tyler Wilson today)

Starting QB: Jake Locker 47%. Zach Mettenburger 33%. Tyler Wilson 13%. free agent Kevin Kolb 6%. Free agent Charlie Whitehurst 6%. Buccaneers QB Mike Kafka 6%.

So, by my count, that's eleven NFL teams with less than a 50% chance of beginning with their real life 2014 starter...ten out of 32, or more than 1/3 teams starting with the wrong QB. Just wanted to share my findings...I hope it's helpful in some way!

[larryhud]

Thanks for the groundwork. Interesting read.

The ratings for the Rookie class are generous - that was my doing. Gave each team some cause for optimism. We don't know what we don't know as Rumsfeld said. A lot of rookies will turn out to be busts but none are set up like that in the file. So that explains the QBs for Minn, Jack, Oak and Tenn to some degree.

The rest I just don't know why when the ratings clearly do not reflect the scouted ability!

One more thing, your conclusion is misleading.

"So, by my count, that's eleven NFL teams with less than a 50% chance of beginning with their real life 2014 starter" - Based on your sample - Yes

"...ten out of 32, or more than 1/3 teams starting with the wrong QB" -this deduction is incorrect - if the real life starter is 40% likely to start for example then 40% of the real life starters over the sample will be starting. Do you not agree?

If we ignore the highly set rookie QB teams (Minn, Jack, Oak and Tenn) which are set that way on purpose, that leaves 7 teams in your sample. Of which, you should expect on average 3 maybe 4 of them to start the backup in each game based on your findings.

[beatle]

Will you putting up the CVS file for us to download as well?

[bearbrett]

Probably a dumb question but just signed up for this. I have the 7.0 rosters and was hoping to download the 7.16 updated rosters for this year and start a new game. How is this done? Do I have to delete the game off my computer and download it again? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks.

[larryhud]

Beatle, I will probably release the .csv when I baseline the season starting version - i.e. 53 man roster August 30th. Not until then.

Bearbrett -I am confused by your question -when you say signed up, do you mean you have just bought the game or you have a desire to download my roster file?
You do not have to delete your game! Just download my roster file from the link then start a new game. There is an option which says 'Begin game using a alternate player file'. Make sure that option is checked to 'Yes'. When you click 'OK' at the bottom it will open up a windows explorer session and you point that to the downloaded roster file, and there you have it! Up to date rosters.

[bearbrett]

Hi Larry. Yes, I just bought the game and I want to download the updated player files. That way I begin my season using the players playing today. Where do I click to have that file downloaded to my computer?

[bearbrett]

Actually I should have looked before I posted that. I found it. Thank you. This is really cool.

[beatle]

Thanks for the response and the hard work!

[Noble_Platypus]

Just curious what your ratings for Andrew Luck are. I have started a new game 8-9 times and everytime his ratings are poor-fair current and seems to top out at average as a future. I dont expect Peyton Manning ratings for him but it seems low, especially when the rest of the Colts young players like TY Hilton and Dwayne Allen are good to very good. I feel like Lucks ratings are low, especially since each time they have come in way lower than not only Russel Wilson but also RG3

[djsatu]

Originally Posted by Noble_Platypus

Just curious what your ratings for Andrew Luck are. I have started a new game 8-9 times and everytime his ratings are poor-fair current and seems to top out at average as a future. I dont expect Peyton Manning ratings for him but it seems low, especially when the rest of the Colts young players like TY Hilton and Dwayne Allen are good to very good. I feel like Lucks ratings are low, especially since each time they have come in way lower than not only Russel Wilson but also RG3

Do you play with x-factor on? This randomizes the player ratings at the start of each game I believe.

[larryhud]

Except Rookies all player ratings are as per PFF Depth Chart and Projected Lineups. Therefore, I have him rated as a '4', i.e. Very Good-Plus Starter

[Noble_Platypus]

I do play with X factor on but I turned it off after every load had Luck in the 20-35 range. I still got really low current and future ratings. Like I said I dont expect Peyton numbers but I think Hes proven to be a very good Q even this early on so the low numbers seemed odd

[larryhud]

A cobbled together update v.17 with some of the early cuts.
Will do a comprehensive update when the cuts (down to 75) are complete and do another one when the cuts down to the final 53 are complete

[biedrins]

Great file, been using it for a while now. Would be really cool to see the full Raiders draft class in there with the post-cuts update if you have time. One small issue I did notice: Jeff Maehl, an Eagles WR, is incorrectly listed as OL.

[larryhud]

Thanks Biedrins - have changed Philly receiver and amended Raiders and Patriots roster real-quick post cuts. I am not planning to add the lower draft picks for the Raiders unless they make the 53 man roster (or be on PUP/IR)

[truebatman]

I would like to be the latest to Thank Larry, I just today got the game and downloaded your file... awesome job on it and its gonna make this game that much better to play it with such updated rosters, thanks for all the hard work you put into it... excited about this game!

[larryhud]

Thank you for your kind words. It has been a labour of love I can tell you, but determined to finish it before the season kicks off.
I know at least a handful of users think it is is worth it when I read the comments on this thread.

[truebatman]

Without question, I cant even begin to imagine the work you've put into this! And not just the time but the quality of the work also. Anyone that has seen this thread I'm sure is very thankful for it all!

[Lasse]

I have been using your file for my offline game, and am going to start a new one once you release the next version.

I always prefer to play with updated rosters, thank your for doing the hard work Larry!

[Capital]

Just about to purchase the game and would like to use your file - sounds great. Unfortunately, I cannot seem to find the link to the file. Clearly, I must be missing something that's fairly obvious - would you be able to help?

[larryhud]

Please read 1st post

[Capital]

Ok...I guess I misunderstood based on all of the other posts. I thought that the latest version of your roster (likely not opening day) was out.

[larryhud]

Capital - It is at the bottom of the first post!

[yabanci]

So much work put into this, much appreciated!

[larryhud]

Thanks Yabanci - you will be glad to know the most recent update (post cuts to 53) required the addition of @ 200-300 players and I made sure the cities and colleges were correct. Which took ages! There may be the odd mistake of course..let me know. I got the new contracts in too... although I had to make a guess of the future base salaries where the detail was unavailable.

It would be interesting to know how many people have tried this roster out? I always imagine there are 5 hardcore players in their attics somewhere and that is it! Hah

[JimboJ]

Thanks for all the hard work you put into this!

If I could just point out one correction... On the Eagles roster, Allen Barbre is listed as a SE. He is actually a RT.