Madden's Most Valuable Positions

[PGaither84]

I wanted to open a thread for us to talk about what positions we find most valuable when playing the game. I like to play fantasy draft franchises on the side of my normal one and I also like to just create fantasy draft teams just for the fun of it, and that is what got me thinking about all of this.

**********

In fantasy drafts, the first two rounds are mostly there for you to select two Super Stars for your team before getting down and dirty in "team building." In talking with two of my friends about this this weekend, we came to an agreement that QB, TE, and CB may be the best selections in the first two rounds. Granted, Patrick Willis, Drew Brees, Chris johnson, Adrian Peterson are all great players, but you are not likely to see any one those players in a fantasy draft. They are all selected in the first 5 picks, as they should be. Maybe, that answers the question, but I look at it more like they are just SUPER STARS, and are more the exception than the rule. What we are really talking about is after the elite players are gone, what should you look for?

A great QB is nice. Throwing accuracy makes a world of difference in your passing game, and the difference between having a great QB or not is staggering. However, even if you don't select Aaron Rodgers or Philip Rivers [the top two QBs in the draft when you balance age and talent in my opinion. Brady, Manning and Brees are 33+] you still can select Mark Sanchez, Sam Bradford or Matthew Staford in later rounds and do alright.

Having played a lot of OTP games with the 49ers and the Jets, my friend is a Jets fan so we switch off, I can tell you first hand what an impact a great corner has on a game. Revis is the man, even in Madden and it's weaker overall defensive play. However, Antonio Cromartie also gets a lot of work done fore us. A lot of people online like to use/abuse the running backs in the passing game, so after having enough of that garbage, I would assign Revis on HB duty and Antonio Cromartie on the top receiver where he would do a good job of locking him down as well. When I compare that to the 49ers lack of a secondary, I can tell you first hand that drafting an elite CB makes a big difference. A difference I don't think you can make up for with sub par corners in later rounds. This is why I think Corner may be the most important position in Madden.

Next, I'll talk about TE. To me and my friends, a great TE has a lot of value for a team in Madden because of all the roles he is asked to fill. unlike a WR, TE's are very important in the run game. Sure it is nice when you can rely on Hines ward or to throw a run block to the outside, but when a WR blocks you think "hey nice block," when a TE fails his block, you will likely never even get outside for the WR to matter. A great TE is also asked to work hard in the red zone and can cause match up problems for the defense. Shannon Sharpe wasn't the first ot do this, but he was the best at it and really redefined the position. Being "too fast" for a linebacker and "too big" for a corner can cause nightmares for a defensive coordinator. Now, as a 49ers fan I am biased towards Vernon Davis, but he really is "the man." I just see a great TE as having more value for my team than a big time receiver because of what they can do in the running game along with the passing game. Oh, and you can audible them to pass block for you as well if you expect a heavy rush. Against the vikings last year Davis was asked to help keep Allen in check and he did just that. Sadly the 49ers were playing Shaun hill and we went 0/11 on 3rd down, but watching Allen destroy the Packers the next week made me appreciate the job Davis did on Allen making him non-existent in that game.

I won't get into the other positions right now, but I wanted to explain why I thought those three positions were so important. I would like to read your opinions and experiences. Right now, I am recommending that in the first two rounds, players who are doing a fantasy draft look for an elite TE and then an elite CB to help build their team around.

[guaps]

Quote: Originally Posted by PGaither84

A lot of people online like to use/abuse the running backs in the passing game, so after having enough of that garbage, I would assign Revis on HB duty and Antonio Cromartie on the top receiver where he would do a good job of locking him down as well.

This is just plain wrong! A top cornerback covering the HB... ouch!

On topic, however, I find that TEs and WRs generally are the most important position for me. One can talk a lot about cornerbacks and quarterbacks, but having a receiver that does not drop the ball 5 times in a game is crucial to me.

[jmurphy31]

I would say WR, but more specifically a slot receiver. I throw more to them then my number 1 receiver.

[JohnnyNutman]

when i actually play the game i actually find the MLB most valuable on defense. he's the one that always seems to make the tackles in the run game (which IRL the SS normally would).

im pretty good at passing, so i can get by with a mediocre QB. i guess its mostly defenders i need.

Quote: Originally Posted by guaps

This is just plain wrong! A top cornerback covering the HB... ouch!

it makes sense do that in the passing game. plus, the elite CBs in the league are actually decent tacklers.

[guaps]

Quote: Originally Posted by JohnnyNutman

it makes sense do that in the passing game. plus, the elite CBs in the league are actually decent tacklers.

Deion Sanders wasn't called shutdown-corner because he made life tough for running backs

I haven't seen nor heard of a team in real life that assigned their best cornerback to cover the running back in the passing game

[Sublime12089]

I would say MLB for me.... the base of my entire Defense, I want someone that can play do everything.

[ComfortablyLomb]

Quote: Originally Posted by jmurphy31

I would say WR, but more specifically a slot receiver. I throw more to them then my number 1 receiver.

It depends how you run your offense but basically in Madden a great slot receiver of TE can be more productive and dangerous than a great wide receiver that doesn't come over the middle often. It's been too far too easy to throw over the middle relative to the sides of the field for a long time. I pretty much have to force myself not to throw at my TE all the time during a season or else he'll have 100+ receptions and 1,000+ receiving yards by the end of the season. Put a truly great slot receiver out there, like Welker, and they can be very consistently unstoppable.

[PGaither84]

Quote: Originally Posted by guaps

This is just plain wrong! A top cornerback covering the HB... ouch!

Apparently you don't know how stupid people get on OTP with HBs and the HB OTP Boosts. right off the bat, no LB can cover a HB who has speed in man coverage. That's why Westbrook for years was a threat and why Reggie Bush is best at not being a true HB. Watching OTP plays where someone runs one directin and then hits the stick the other way and turns far faster than the defender can react to get wide open is so annoying. Putting Revis on Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson is "the tech." We have only done it the last few games agaisnt people who abuse the HB coming out of the passing game. These people start off moving up and own the field on us this way, the only way they know how. next we man up with revis and it's gg. Picks, swats, open field tackles, it's all done for them. they try to go to their #1, but that's where Antonio comes in. Oh, and before the sim crowd would like to comment, don't forget that many times Champ Bailey would be assigned to players like Gates and Gonzo because of the threat they were in the passing game.

Quote:

On topic, however, I find that TEs and WRs generally are the most important position for me. One can talk a lot about cornerbacks and quarterbacks, but having a receiver that does not drop the ball 5 times in a game is crucial to me.

I agree, however, in my experience, the real trick is to just sort by "Catch in Traffic" and find the players with the highest combination of speed, agility and acceleration. When players are some what tied, I look for their Release rating. From what I am told, Catch n Traffic is possibly the most important receiver rating, it means how likely someone will hold onto the ball when getting hit, and well, when surrounded by defenders. there are a lot of WRs who have high CIT that aren't realy high OVR players/Super Stars. However, I have not seen a lot of TEs, CBs, or QBs who have what I am looking for.

Quote: Originally Posted by guaps

Deion Sanders wasn't called shutdown-corner because he made life tough for running backs I haven't seen nor heard of a team in real life that assigned their best cornerback to cover the running back in the passing game

You also don't see HB's thrown to like you do in Madden online. Someone posted this video in another thread, and the Colts player was throwing to Addi all game long. If memory serves, at some point it says manning was like 28/33 and nearly 18 catches by Addi. That's not sim footbal, that's madden ball. "Oh they can't cover the HB, so I'll throw to him all day. QQ you are using a CB to cover my HB, that's not cool, I'll quit."

Quote: Originally Posted by BIGFOOT999

I would say MLB for me.... the base of my entire Defense, I want someone that can play do everything.

I agree with you, but after Willis is gone ,there isn't a lot of depth at that position. It drops to 94 OVR Lewis and then like two 91's and two or three 90 overall players and then under 90 OVR. In the last two drafts we had, wen ended up selecting TE Vernon Davis, CB Assante Samuel, CB Terrance Newman and then the next two picks were Jonathan Vilma and Brian Urlacher. We play the 3-4 and that is a great way to start imo. Sadly, the NT in the 3-4 is possibly the most important part of the defense in real life, but not in Madden.