Freak Recruits?

[RedRaider10]

So I was just trying to waste some points by scouting playersnandndropping them, and I come across Matt DeLuca. He was nothing special but then I scout him and he goes from 73 to 81 OVR and has 94 Throw power and 87 accuracy. I decided to recruit him as he had Oklahoma as #1 on his board and I'm playing as Texas Tech. I manage to get to #2 on his board going into his visit week for OU. I just so happen to be going to Norman that week. I win by 28 and the next week I'm #1 and OU has dropped 4,000 points!

[return.specialist]

I was checking out the Heisman race during Conference Championship week and noticed, in third, was SMU WR Beck Ryan, a 6'8", 232lb sophomore stud out of Hereford, TX. I was OC at Texas Tech when Ryan would have been recruited and don't recall seeing him but I would have gone after him with everything I had.

[KushNstien]

Quote: Originally Posted by RedRaider10

So I was just trying to waste some points by scouting playersnandndropping them, and I come across Matt DeLuca. He was nothing special but then I scout him and he goes from 73 to 81 OVR and has 94 Throw power and 87 accuracy. I decided to recruit him as he had Oklahoma as #1 on his board and I'm playing as Texas Tech. I manage to get to #2 on his board going into his visit week for OU. I just so happen to be going to Norman that week. I win by 28 and the next week I'm #1 and OU has dropped 4,000 points!

What was his Star rating? also did OU even scout him?

[RedRaider10]

Quote: Originally Posted by KushNstien

What was his Star rating? also did OU even scout him?

He's just a 4 star

[KushNstien]

Quote: Originally Posted by RedRaider10

He's just a 4 star

Dude is going to be a threat!

[Heatseeker]

Quote: Originally Posted by jbrew2411

My current tailback... Stephen Diggs- 6'2" 225lbs- Senior(Rs) 99spd, 97agl, 99acc, 89trk, 82str He is a 99ovr HB but he was an athlete I recruited to play safety. I didn't look at his ratings all that close as a freshman since I had 4 tailbacks at the time. I placed him at safety and red shirted him, but at seasons end I had lost all 4 tailbacks, 2 to the draft and 2 to transfer. So I was looking at my current recruits and I had some slower guys coming in but has looking for that game breaker. I was looking at moving a corner who was just fast with no real running back skills when I noticed Diggs. At that time his speed was a 95 and his acc was a 97 so it had me thinking. Then I looked at his coverage abilities that were in the high 60s to low 70s so it only made sense to move him over. He has been a 4 year starter, won the 2025 Heisman, and is a lock to be a 1st round pick. The guy does not play as fast as the ratings would lead you to think but in open space he can run. He is great on kickoffs but not my best, that belongs to my #2 FS Alex Rivers.

I had a similar situation years ago and I think about it every year when I play a dynasty. It was probably NCAA 2011 or something, but I had a freak player that was listed as an Athlete.

He was 6'4" 244lbs. He had great overall stats (88 spd was prob the worst). I wanted to play him at TE and he would have been high 70s OVR. His best spot was for LB but I had picked up 2 other good LBs on top of 2 good LBs the year before. So I put one of them at DE and I plugged him in at MLB and he was 84 OVR as a true Fr!

He could not be blocked most of the time, he wreaked havoc on RBs, QBs, and was good in coverage. He was a monster. He ended up having a stud Fr. and So. Season. Then something happened. I had got a 5star stud LB recruit just being greedy, but I missed out on getting a decent safety and I really needed one.

I thought... hmm, This Athlete has 88spd, 94 accl, can cover and tackle... Should I move the best LB in the country? I did. I decided to plug him in as a big SS, and it was AMAZING. He stayed 4 years! ending up as a 99 of course. It seemed like he was a 99 Jr. but I don't remember. He was a destroyer of worlds... of anyone going over the middle... he leveled RBs in run support... He injured QBs when blitzing.

Best Player I will probably ever see in these games.

[RedRaider10]

Quote: Originally Posted by KushNstien

Dude is going to be a threat!

Yeah, with my senior QB leaving after this year, he will have the 2nd highest QB rating on the team. I do have an athlete that will probably be a QB, he's nowhere close to Matt DeLuca though. My plan is to redshirt him for his freshman year and then use him as a backup for my current QB2's senior year, then the offense is his. My only problem is that he has no speed but I think that's where I can use my athlete because I like to run the QB Slot Option a lot.

[conception]

Quote: Originally Posted by Heatseeker

I had a similar situation years ago and I think about it every year when I play a dynasty. It was probably NCAA 2011 or something, but I had a freak player that was listed as an Athlete. He was 6'4" 244lbs. He had great overall stats (88 spd was prob the worst). I wanted to play him at TE and he would have been high 70s OVR. His best spot was for LB but I had picked up 2 other good LBs on top of 2 good LBs the year before. So I put one of them at DE and I plugged him in at MLB and he was 84 OVR as a true Fr! He could not be blocked most of the time, he wreaked havoc on RBs, QBs, and was good in coverage. He was a monster. He ended up having a stud Fr. and So. Season. Then something happened. I had got a 5star stud LB recruit just being greedy, but I missed out on getting a decent safety and I really needed one. I thought... hmm, This Athlete has 88spd, 94 accl, can cover and tackle... Should I move the best LB in the country? I did. I decided to plug him in as a big SS, and it was AMAZING. He stayed 4 years! ending up as a 99 of course. It seemed like he was a 99 Jr. but I don't remember. He was a destroyer of worlds... of anyone going over the middle... he leveled RBs in run support... He injured QBs when blitzing. Best Player I will probably ever see in these games.

I've had some exceptionally fast LB's that I've moved to safety in a pinch, but in general I've found that the guys on the field who can impact the game the most are stud linebackers. I generally like to run high pressure schemes, so my LB's blitz a lot, but when they are not blitzing they seem to play as big of a role in pass coverage as my safeties, making the catch preventing hits, picking off passes, and making tackles before players can get good gains. I run a lot of 3-3-5 so my strong safeties are pretty important too, but every time I've converted an LB to safety I've found he makes a fraction of the impact on the game. In NCAA 12 I remember my safeties being more active players than 14.

In 14 I've had more success flipping safeties to linebacker when they are a step slow for safety but quick for a linebacker. If their strength and tackling ability can exceed a certain threshold they make up for it by being quick to the action. I succeed on defense by swarming to the ball and having high pressure so guys can stop a play before it develops. Occasionally a physical opponent can gash me up the middle because most of my guys are skilled in speed and penetration and not necessarily strength or tackling, but generally I win by preventing plays from developing, and by forcing QB's to get rid of the ball quickly, which results in short gains. I'll take a fast LB all day.