How's your rebuilding going?

[otis_coole]

I'm having a ton of fun with my franchise. One thing I'm doing to make it very realistic is I'm signing my drafts to shorter deals, so even if they are good I will have to pay them market value.

I'm in my second season with the Lions. And although I loved my draft, I still have a ton of holes.

My draft consisted of a LT (Stud - 1st round) C (70 overall - but with A potential) Monster TE (65 overall, but 84 ovr as a receiver, he just can't block) and a 2nd Round OLB that's getting some playing time.

Anyway I still need talent at these positions
OLB, RG, RT, WR, HB, Secondary.

It's a slow process!

[Roncatto]

This maybe classed as a re-build.

Started new 49ers Chise.

After going 6-10. Got rid of all the Qb's, all the coaching staff, the highly paid wasters and kept the key players such as, davies, smith, crabtree, gore etc.

Got Pierre Garcon as 2nd starting WR in FA, Denis dixon as backup QB to whomever i drafted and some DT i cannot remember his name now lol.

They got Mumphrey (QB) in 1st round and some solid backup draft picks including basically the new revis. SOme 88 rated CB who was immense. I think in season 2 he only got beaten once for a TD, swated everything and got 5 picks as a rookie.

Anyways went 12-4, won divisional game against the giants and then faced the eagles in the conference championship, whom earlier i got humped by (5 int) in regular season.

The best game i have ever played in. Felt real, got a pick 6 against vick and tied the game up 21-21 with 1 min to go and game went into OT.

Lost toss, got the ball back after a thunderous sack on vick. Drove down the field. 36 yrd field goal to not only win, but to create history as first Rookie QB to go to SB. Spanked it through the snow and 14mph wind.....smacks the upright. gutted. 6 plays latter, TD eagles. Heartbreak.

Still, team is basically set now. only need a decent Saftey in the draft and some good backups and should be heading back to playoffs in season 3.

[footbrawl]

Here are some HUGE tips, not cheats, tips to easily make a dominate defense from an okay defense. First, try to pick up some d guys on free agency. Then move ur back up OLB's to DE's and DE's to DT's. Unless you already have a good d line. But this will give ur line alot of speed but still alot of skill. For example, my Bills defense ended up being: LE Kawika Mitchell 88, RE Aaron Schobel 87, DT Marcus Stroud 90, Dwan Edwards 86, LOLB Keith Bulluck 85, MLB Paul Poslusnky 85. My team went 14-2 and I won the super bowl playing on all madden. :/ too easy

[TuffJuff]

I created a cupcake team(Oregon Demons) but cut every created guy and filled my whole team with cool and aging free agents. Have played every game with custom sliders and my record is:

2-14
4-12
7-9
8-8
8-8
9-7 NFC West Champions. 0-1 in playoffs

I am having so much fun with this. I build my team mainly through the draft only. My team is like many expansions teams and really struggled early and has had very poor quarterback play. I drafted Andrew Luck in the 4th round my fist year and he has shown some flashes, but has been a complete bust and lost his starting job. Have had a revolving door at quarterback. Have had Daunte Culpepper, David Carr, Colt Brennan, Marc Bulger, Mike Vick, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Andrew Luck, and now Chandler Milholin. Entering my 7th season, 17 off my 22 starters are players i have drafted. Its really fun!

[footbrawl]

ive played 3 seasons with the oakland raiders and now officially have a super bowl caliber team. But the cpu signed abunch of free agents i didnt want during pre season. So i had to cut them cuz they were eating my money. But this created a huge cap penalty. And there is no button anymore where they say u can clear ur cap penalty. So i am pretty much stuck. So the only way to get by is to cut all my good players and start pretty much from scratch. So the only way you can make a really good team that u sim is to play without a salary cap but still try ur best to keep it real and not over the cap. but just in case u do u can still keep going.

[johnnyskoods]

Quote: Originally Posted by footbrawl

Here are some HUGE tips, not cheats, tips to easily make a dominate defense from an okay defense. First, try to pick up some d guys on free agency. Then move ur back up OLB's to DE's and DE's to DT's. Unless you already have a good d line. But this will give ur line alot of speed but still alot of skill. For example, my Bills defense ended up being: LE Kawika Mitchell 88, RE Aaron Schobel 87, DT Marcus Stroud 90, Dwan Edwards 86, LOLB Keith Bulluck 85, MLB Paul Poslusnky 85. My team went 14-2 and I won the super bowl playing on all madden. :/ too easy

So, you mean cheese our way to a Super Bowl?

[footbrawl]

its called knowing your football. If i remember right Aaron Schobel was drafted as a DE from TCU and Kawika Mitchell started at as a DE from South Florida. Marcus Stroud was all pro at DT when he played for the Jags. Did Bill Bellicheck cheese his way to the playoffs by changed Danny Woodhead from WR to HB. No. Period.

[Lieutenant Dan]

Cool thread.

In the 2010 season, my Seahawks made the playoffs at 10-6, but lost in the first round. So, reality beat Madden to my surprise and delight LOL....

But then, the real fun began! OFFSEASON!

My first draft went very well, picked up two key talents with A potential; QB and C. Started them both and they played well/great and progressed well. The QB is a 78 ovr going into his second season, but he passed for over 4k yards and 28 tds, 12 int his rookie season and led us to 13-3 and a Super Bowl win. Oh, I also drafted a CB in the third who has B potential, but he's just amazing on the field and starts as #2 CB. Rest of the draft was meh.

My third season/second draft I did this past weekend, after my SB win. I was picking 32nd so was afraid my top scouted picks would be gone (LG, RT, RE, TE). Happily, all but the TE were available for my 1st pick, so I went with my biggest weakness which was LG. A potential, and 86 ovr! So with that, everything else was going to be gravy...and then three miracles happened (and I did NO trading up).

Drafted RE, A potential, 82 ovr. Yay! 2nd rd
Drafted DT, A potential, 85 ovr, Yay!! 3rd rd
Drafted FB, A potential, 84 ovr, YAY!!! 4th rd

5th-7th were meh and duds....but 1-4 are outstanding and starting.

In FA, I got Zach Miller TE (carlson was too pricey to re-sign), a serviceable RT to replace Locklear, a steal of a first year MLB to eventually replace Lofa, and a solid fourth WR.

Also of note: Golden Tate (WR) developed into a monster! So him, Butler, and M Williams make for a great WR corps.

The 3rd rd DT is an absolute terror!

Okay, projected needs for next draft: RT (finish up the OL), CB (Trufant's getting old and I'm trying to go young). Those are the top two positions of need. I then need depth at safety and OLB.

3-0 so far in my third year, regular season.

Great fun...Madden really gets interesting once you get past the 'current' season and start drafting.