How to build a team in APF2k8

[Madden Head]

I only see two pages of threads here in the APF forum, and in those no one is talking about how they build teams in APF2k8 so I thought I would start one and get the opinions of others. I have only played this game for a short time, so as you can understand my experiance is limited, so all input is welcome. Also note that I wll be assuming you using the default All-Pro settings.

NOTE: I am also writing this under the initial assumption/rule that it is best to build a team from the inside out. That a strong offensive and defensive line followed by good line backers and then secondray while offensively you want a great QB the HB and then receivers.

First I think you have to dig in and use practice mode and test in game what players/position make the largest impact and comapre that to those who play that are rated as lower stars. Also you have to compare these players against others at varrious levels as well.

Defensive Line [DE/DT]: After doing testing I have found very little difference between the effectiveness of a Gold DE and a Silver DE while rushing the passer and stuffing the run. I do see the impact of a great DE and the value of having a versitile defensive line and think this position should not be left ignored. My recomendation is you pick a Silver DE, possibly even two. Just think about how well the NY Giants are/were with Osi, Michael Strayhan, and Justin Tuck. Also think of the Colts DEs Dwight Freeny and Robert Mathis. Bookend Defensive Ends have have a big impact and force offenses to game plan around them in the run and passing game.

In real life great defensive tackle anchor the line and are the literal corner stone of a defense. Right now we have Casey Hampton of the Steelers, Vince Wilfork of the Patriots, Jamal WIlliams of the Chargers, Pat and Kevin Williams of the Vikings, Kris Jenkins of the Jets, etc. I could go on. In the recent past we can think of 49ers Bryant Young, Vikings John Randle, and pass Rusher Warren Sapp to name only a few. However, in my experiance of APF2k8 a silver or Gold DT just does not make as big of an impact in the game. Bronze players like "The Fridge" and others do a good enough taking up double teams, pushing the pocket and stuffing the run. My recomendation is you take one bronze DT. If you combine one silver DE with a Bronze DT you will have 1/2 your D line filled with skill players to stuff the run and rush the passer. If you really want a defensive assault, pick a combination of two silver and one bronze defensive linemen and you will have an attack similar to the 2007 Giants and the mid 2000 Colts who had Mathis, Freeny and McFarland/Correy Simon and dominated teams.

Linebackers [ILB/OLB]: In real life I am a huge fan of linebackers, and I have seen people dominate with them under user control, however under computer control I will be honest and say that when I plaed with Darrick Thomas, Mike Singletary, Jack Lambert, or silvers like Gregg Lloyd and others I could hardly feel thier pressence. Honestly, the only time I notice linebacker play in this game thus far on both sides of the ball [playing aginst them and with them that is] is when all 3 linebackers are "scrubs." I honestly enjoy just picking up a bronze linebacker [ILB or OLB] I think at least one LB is a must in this game, and recomend to have a balanced D you should have two, I don't know how important it is to have anything better than a Bronze unless you plan on controling him yourself. My recomendation you take one or two bronze LBs. I think you should have two defensive linemen and two linebackers. I highly value the importance of the "front 7" and feel that if over half your front 7 are talented you will have a solid defensive attack.

Secondary [CB/FS/SS]: I have played with Ronnie Lott, Rod Woodson and others and can really feel the difference between all three levels of CB/Safety play. I recomend you select one of your two gold players to be a member of the secondary and spend one of your silvers on another. Football is a passing game and you need a great secondary to contain the many great QBs and WRs in this game. I would even think hard about spending even a bronze on a third player for this reason. At this point of our break down We should have One Gold taken [in the secondary,] two silvers taken [one in the secondary and one on the Defensive line,] and at least 3 bronze palyers taken [one on the line two at LB, and a possible 4th at CB]

Offensive Line [T/G/C]: I am a big beliver in having 3 out of your 5 offensive linemen being really good in real life, but in APF2k8 I just don't feel any differnece they make on any level so far, at least on most plays. I started playing with early teams selecting a silver Tackle with a bronze guard and center, or even a gold tackle, silver guard and bronze center and when I dumped all three I just didn't feel like I lost much of anything. My recomendation is you just choose balanced offensive linemen when finishing your team despite how much that pains me to say. I hope someone can rpove me wrong becasue I want it to matter.

Running Backs [HB/FB]: I am not skilled on the sticks yet and untill I get the hang of this game [or at least again becasue I played 2k5 which is very much the same] I am not feeling the difference between having a gold back and a "scrub." I have tried Barry Sanders and OJ Simpson along with Roger Craig and other silver players. I figure when I get more experiance and if you already have it a great RB will make an impact, but right now I have found having a good blocking FB and TE plowing the way is all I need to average over 5ypc agaisnt the computer and make an impact online. My recomendation right now is to just pick a balanced back. I also recomend you grab a Bronze FB to lead block and take the ball on those crucial FB dive plays. FBs are very versitile in football becasue they are also often forgot about in the passing game as a dump off player. I have seen Tom Rathman [bronze] destroy Gold Safeties like Ronnie Lott and Linebackers like Darrick Thomas and Mike Singletary.

Receivers [WR/TE]: I will continue this post later. It's pretty wordy right now and will come back when I have more time.

Thank you for reading so far and I value your input.

[sportyguyfl31]

My theory on playing APF, is to pick a style that you want that team to play and then play until you get proficient at it.

My two cents as far as players I value...there is a HUGE difference between gold pass rushers, gold QBs , and gold safeties

Reggie White, Deacon Jones, Leroy Selmon, Art Donovan are scary good, and can wreck a game.

Ronnie Lott is a monster at all 3 secondary positions


Willie Wood is the "Ed Reed" of this game.

Cliff Harris is really good as well.

The drop off is fast and furious once you leave the gold QBs

[slickdtc]

Funny, I think the difference between Gold DE's and Silver/Bronze DE's is dramatic. I roll with Deacon Jones and can get off that initial block with a charge and some kind of defensive line move. With Silver/Bronze DE's, I rarely break away from those initial blocks. Getting away from that block with Jones makes the QB hurry up his play read and therefore I feel I can really disrupt the offense.

I like to have two "rated" cornerbacks on my team. I'm currently going with Lem Barney and Lester Hayes. I had initially used a lot of Jack Tatum because he's just a favorite of mine, but safeties (at least Silver, I haven't used any Gold's) don't seem to be worth wasting a pick on.

For linebacker, I agree, having just one "rated" 'backer seems to work. I like to pick an inside guy, and I've found Ken Norton Jr. to fill that role very nicely.

I like to use two of my Bronze picks on tackles. Tony Boselli and Korey Stringer are my favorites. They have the Brick Wall attribute and I need all the pass protection I can get.

Offensively, I roll with a Silver QB (Len Dawson, tried Bronze but it's too much of a drop off) and a Gold HB (Walter Payton). Though I think you can get away with any type of HB, having a guy like Payton (I love the Finesse/Power attribute, as well as the scissor kick... feels kind of cheap though ) makes you feel like you can bust one at any time. The Silver and Bronze guys can bust them, but not with the consistency of a Gold.

I also like to pick three Bronze WR's. Dwight Clark, John Taylor (I've also used Ernest Givens, I believe), and Rob Moore round out my receivers. I'm not a big fan of picking TE's, I just don't feel I find them enough to warrant a selection of one.

So that's about it.
1 Silver QB
1 Gold HB
2 Bronze OL (Tackles)
3 Bronze WR
1 Gold DE
1 Bronze ILB
2 Silver CB

[thejackal25]

I think how you build a team largely depends on the scheme you want to run. Here are my basic offense rules when building a team:

West Coast- Accurate QB at any level, HB with soft hands, tough WRs with RAC ability, FB and/or TE

Coryell- QB with strong arm at any level, Power HB preferably gold or silver, 2 star WRs with at least one being a deep threat

Spread/Run n shoot- QB with strong arm and/or mobility, 3-4 WRs, possibly a HB (either a receiving back or power back depending upon style of O)

Martz O- QB able to throw deep ball accurately, HB with good to excellent hands, at least 2 WRs preferably 3 with speed and or route running prowess

I typically don't put in 2 Gold "weapon" positions since there is only one ball and it's tough to get enough production out of both players to justify the value. However, a gold QB and another gold playmaker can wreak havoc on teams. I feel that lower level QBs can be very successful in this game when given enough playmakers around them.

Similarly, D selection is largely based off of the scheme you wish to run. If you play a lot of man D, I think it's essential to get higher tiered DBs. If you want to generate a pass rush with just the front four, I think it's more important to invest in the DL than if your pressure comes from the blitz. I think selecting quality front 7 is more important in running the 3-4 on this game than when running the 4-3. In general I have 1-2 on DL, 1-2 LBs, and 2-3 DBs.

Something that I find important is finding an O and D that fit well together and give you a good overall team. I like pairing a ball control O with a smash mouth, playmaking D. I like pairing a high octane O with a lighter, bend but don't break D.

[sportyguyfl31]

I also think that value also depends on who you control manually.

There's virtually no difference, IMO between a AI controlled gold and bronze LB

[s38s38s]

If you're new to the game I suggest build your team backwards; here's why....

Example if you pass/run proficiently whether b/c of stick skills or the ability to set up a play effectively then you don't really need an over powered offense. A silver QB, and WR, with a bronze supporting cast should be sufficient. While the power on defense should be plenty to keep you out of bad situations, until you get better at that side of the ball or vice versa.

Now once you're experienced which I'm assuming you're not IMO a good offensive team is best because when I used to play this game all I had on defense was two D-Lineman (you need pass rush with the suspect secondary on this game reguardless of tier), two LB's, while I manually control the generic (on passing downs I manually control a rusher) and I use only one safety FS or SS. The key to this game is finding GOOD GENERICS. There's been numerous occassions where I'd edit my team over, and over to get the few generics I trusted on both sides of the ball. I would name them but I think you should run your own tests and see who's best for you and what you like to do, if you don't have the time hit up NFLHITMAN I think he has a list or it may actually be a sticky somewhere (not 100% sure). Good Luck.

[elgreazy1]

As stated above, either build your team to your strengths or completely away.

Another good rule of thumb is to make sure your offense compliments your defense and vise versa. For instance, if you have a high octane offense, you will most likely be scoring a lot of points so it wouldn't make sense to build a pounding defense but instead an opportunistic defense built for speed & defending the pass (think Colts).

[Madden Head]

Great comments guys, and thank you. I have found after reading that and playing more that who you use as a player matters a lot too. I am used to letting the computer control my high rated players while I try to control the lower rated ones thinking that the computer will use the gold/silver guys fine and I can make a unranked player play better under user control. How wrong was I? Under computer control Reggie White and others struggle and are not worth your time, at least when talking about online play; however, under user control you can tear it up.

The other thing I have found is that when playing a "serious" ranked game all that matters in the long run is having great WRs, a silver or gold QB, and great DBs. The several times now I have played online, even my user controled front 7 pass rush wasn't good enough as this guy was launching bombs all over the place against cover 3, cover 4, and cover two man under completing most of them against gold rodwoodson and my silver CB and silver SS Butler. On offense I was able to grind he ball a bit but not having a ranked QB and only bronze WRs [becasue I poored most of my picks into D] I struggled when passing against his two gold CBs. He had two gold CBs, A silver QB, two silver WRs, two bronze WRs, two bronze Safeties and a bronze RB. I couldn't stop his deep passing game to save my life and my pass rush was nearly non-existant sacking him twice all game and the next play he threw for a 1st anyway.

Well, on the positive side, when playing a trusted opponant you can play more fun games with balanced teams; however, I dont doubt for a moment that this game is just as flawed as madden in it's own ways and that the only ratings that really matter are speed and throwing accuracy/power.

I have played some nice, close, and low scoring games on unranked with 10min quarters. Keep in mind though that has to do with playing a few trusted online friends who don't like to exploit the game and want to play sim.