CFM Draft classes impressions

[buttonyjeff2009]

Quote: Originally Posted by texranger

Well, I found an AWESOME QB in my first draft for the Cowboys (bye bye Tony Romo). Better yet I got him in the mid 3rd round out of Nebraska. 94 speed, 85 SAC, 80 MAC, 73 DAC, 92 THP. His Awareness = 49. Superstar development too. We are now 8 games into the season (4-4 w/ Romo as the starter and he is a 94 OVR (using game prep on him EVERY week). He will get his first start against the 6-2 Pats this week. After working on him all season here is what he looks like now . Can't wait til I get off work and get a chance to play with this guy... Overall Grade 94 Throw Power Rating 92 Short Throw Accuracy 95 Medium Throw Accuracy 91 Deep Throw Accuracy 85 Throw on the Run 90 Play Action 78 Awareness Rating 77 Speed Rating 94 Agility Rating 93 Acceleration Rating 90 Elusiveness 79 Carrying 70 Ball Carrier Vision 94 Juke Move 90 Spin Move 86 Stiff Arm 53 Stamina 85 Toughness 84 Injury 89

Wow I'm jealous. What was his overall when you drafted him???

[bsurocksrule]

So by how much does the Superstar trait affect a player's development vs star or lower? Should the development trait be the first attribute I look for, or should I focus on the player's ratings first, then the guy's development rating?

[buttonyjeff2009]

Quote: Originally Posted by bsurocksrule

So by how much does the Superstar trait affect a player's development vs star or lower? Should the development trait be the first attribute I look for, or should I focus on the player's ratings first, then the guy's development rating?

The super star trait has a huge affect on player development. My qb I drafted was an 80 overall with stat DeV. After 10 games he is already 88 overall. If he was SLOW Dev however he would not progress nearly as fast. Star Dev is one thing I def look for when scouting but you have to use it wisely as it cost i think around 500 points which a a big chunk of your total amount.

[zack4070]

SO stupid that we can't edit names and other physical features. I think Im just going to create Mariota, Gurley, etc. and just stash them on the FA list for a season and then add these guys to teams going into my second year in dynasty mode.

[brent3419]

i had one draft in my test cardinals one where most of the pocket passers was over 6-4 and i had a 6-6 234 runner named martin hernandez who could sling the magic bean with thp 96 and acc with 90 86 77 and spd of 83 awr was rediculously low with a 45 but who gives a fk if im controlling him
he was a 7th rd pick

Sent from the landmass between new orleans and mobile on Tapatalk

[Shinywalrus]

I've looked at the entire rookie classes from about 20 different drafts with an eye toward realism and balance and have some observations. Wrapped in spoiler tag below.

Spoiler

The draft uses a number of archetypes for different positions that do appear to be larger in number than in prior years. This goes for both random and "story" players, who are randomly inserted by both name and draft this season.

There are some positions that generate a good mix, some that generate an "OK" mix, and some that are just awful.

The Good:

- QBs appear to be reasonably well distributed in terms of quality, with a range of THP and accuracy combinations. Usually 1-4 QBs who have something other than Normal Dev skill in a year.

- WRs are also reasonably well distributed in quality and type, although biased far more toward higher SPD/AGI/ACC than the NFL universe at large. It's not game-breaking by any stretch. The biggest inaccuracy here is the bias toward taller receivers, which is about twice as common as on actual NFL rosters.

- DEs are probably the best balanced, with probably more "sleeper" opportunities than any other position that require some development on great physicals. It appears that there is less of a 34 DE bias than in prior years - there are enough true 43DEs to populate rosters and get drafted.

The "OK"

- HBs are (generally speaking) slower and less agile than current rosters. It is challenging to compete in the running game with these players in early years when the faster, stronger and more agile backs are still in the game. There are exceptions, but generally speaking even the "good" physical characteristics backs in drafts top out around 90-91 spd.

- Offensive linemen suffer from a similar issue in ways. More to the point, the "zone blocker" archetype is exaggerated in draft classes that are produced, such that >70 AGI >70 ACC blockers are the rule rather than the exception. STR ratings come consistently under the league average, but not offensively so. It's just a lot rarer (ie - only really with story players) to get a very high STR blocker.

- Safeties are OK, with a reasonably wide variation and a good mix of strong physical characteristics players who need development and more polished candidates who can play now. For whatever reason I have found the game's safety development in general to be very fast (it's a challenge not to have ANY safety above 90 OVR after a season and a half of so), but that's as separate issue.

The Bad

- The CFM draft cornerbacks make Richard Sherman look like a young teenager. The number of high STR press corners with 97 speed and >90 AGI and ACC scores is simply overwhelming, and they can be had quite late in the draft in many cases. There is no reason not to play a press system in CFM given the talent you will be able to acquire. And even with the new position-switch penalty, you're usually better off drafting press corners and converting them to safety, as they will generally have significantly better characteristics.

- There is a bizarre tendency to have unrealistic body types for DTs - ie, you should expect 2-5 guys per year who are 6'1 265 to 6'3 274 playing the position, and these are invariably one of the "pass rusher" archetypes of players that are, for example, 83 SPD, 87 STR, 89 AGI and 91 ACC. A little bit of development focus, and getting a top rated D-Line by simply drafting these guys and converting them to DE (or keeping them at DT) is a simple matter of looking for the size archetype (ie unrealistically small DTs) with A physical grades.

- Tight ends are a bit of a disappointment, mostly because of a narrow band of randomness. A great TE worthy of a top pick is generally not dramatically better than a later round opportunity - there are a couple exceptions for story players, but generally if you're looking for an athletic freak at the position, you'll need to go to the existing pool of players. The draftees are largely quite weak and top out in the low-to-mid 80s on the other physicals.

The Ugly

- Linebackers are, quite simply, a mess. Every year sees somewhere between 3-6 linebackers come out across the three positions who, upon entering the league, are immediately the most athletic, impressive specimens at the position, excepting perhaps Patrick Willis. (>90 SPD, >85 AGI and ACC, >80 STR and in many cases nice skills in other expensive to develop areas.) If you play a CFM franchise through the 3rd or 4th year, you should have 99s starting at every linebacker position.

[vstro]

Quote: Originally Posted by LivingLegend

I think you may not be looking at it quite objectively enough. Are you basing that player being the #1 pick just off Bayless' say so? What happened in his draft story? What team got him/passed on them? Any number of those things could play into him falling which is realistic, and should happen. I've seen players slide too, and I've seen players that should be taken later taken early just because of their measurables alone. The speed thing may be a little low, but running a 4.3 certainly shouldn't equal an automatic 99. Did the rating change after preseason at all?

I agree with you on player projections. Just look at johnny football, the top few draft "insiders" had him going very high. While he isn't an extreme example being picked 22nd overall, i think he still brings done validity to your point. We have to remember how unique every real life draft is, and that these drafts are fictitious. As for the 4.3 40, that player should have his speed rating on par with real nfl players with the same 40. I do wonder what that players acceleration is though..

[Sheba2011]

Quote: Originally Posted by Yukon46

I just dont get this kinda response.... So you are saying... You spent 15 weeks scouting a WR recruit, you see his pic every time scout him..and he looks like this, this is who you think you are gonna draft ! And this is nothing to you ? Well then this is the game for you ! It is just sad because this could all be easily fixed if EA just let us have all the basic editing options.

Wouldn't even cross my mind to see that. I would say look he grew his hair out, good for him and go on with my day. Real life NFL teams mess this up too, here is an example from my Patriots:

Nate Ebner's picture on Patriots website:



Nate Ebner this year:



A guys haircut is honestly one of the last things on my mind when playing a football game.