How do you rebuild?

[KingV2k3]

Quote: Originally Posted by WTFitsDaveyJ

Here's a list of stuff I made, hopefully it works for you too. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- .

Wow, very cool...

I'm about to start my Bills rebuild / rehab project and although I'm pretty good at "keeping it real" on a mental "honor system", I'm going to print your list out and run w/ it...

Thanks very much for sharing!

[RedZoneD25]

Quote: Originally Posted by KingV2k3

Wow, very cool... I'm about to start my Bills rebuild / rehab project and although I'm pretty good at "keeping it real" on a mental "honor system", I'm going to print your list out and run w/ it... Thanks very much for sharing!

No, thank you, glad I could be of some assistance. Obviously there are some holes (if a player for picks trade won't go through because the team has 55 players, just take the lowest OVR player on the team than cut him immediately after) etc...but for the most part it works pretty well.

[guaps]

To me there are two ways of rebuilding in Madden. First approach is to rebuild the team while changing the schemes - eg. transform a 4-3 defense into a 3-4 or turn a run-first team into a pass happy team. The second approach is building on the scheme already in place. Two very different approaches in my opinion and require different strategies.

However, I realized that I have basically the same approach to all managerial games, and I've been playing them for almost 20 years when I started playing soccer managerial games. I always put emphasis on defense first regardless of the game, be it football, soccer, whatever... and after that I usually turn my focus on getting big, strong, physical players on all positions--even though weight/height never seemed to matter much gameplay-wise. Also I tend to select a few key players (often defenders) to build around and try keep a nice balance of young talents and old veterans--again even though it doesn't matter gameplay-wise it's important to me.

In Madden I usually build through the draft and I'm not afraid to trade away players that doesn't fit the scheme I want to run. Usually I try to get at least 8 or 9 picks in the draft for the first couple of years, but sometime I trade for a player that I want to build around or who fits my scheme perfectly. Besides the scheme I also tend to draft based on what division I play in. Say, if I'm playing as the Bengals in the AFC North, I know I'll be facing 3-4 defenses for at least 6 games a year, so I'll try bulking up my offensive line to be able to handle the bigger, heavier defensive linemen--and even though it's not represented in the gameplay, I still prefer it that way.

In terms of football I guess that I have a Bill Parcells approach, as I believe the game is won and lost in the trenches. But as soon as the Oline and Dline are somewhat secure I turn my attention to the next level--LBs, FB/RBs and QBs and continue to move outward. However, I always try to draft the best player available. So if I can get a once-in-a-lifetime CB in the first round I will pick him, unless getting a franchise QB cannot wait another year.

Basically, I guess that I just try to play pretty close to real life.

[RedZoneD25]

I'm not going to quote the post for space reasons, but I frequently find myself doing scheme changes as well. I am in the process of turning the Panthers into a big, bad 3-4 front seven with big tall lockdown corners and big safeties. I said big a lot, but I guess that's really the main theme. Even the offense is going to have serious size.

[NightmareEvolution]

I've been watching football ever since I was a kid and I never understood schemes. I just never understood the difference between a 3-4 defense and a 4-3 defense. I know, I'm a idiot. I'll have to check it out though.

WRFitsDaveyJ, I might have to use some of your restrictions for my next next rebuilding project. It seems less complicated than the ones I made.

[LegendRyder]

Hey NightMare. You might just want to quickly look up offensive and defensive schemes on the internet. It could make your franchise a lot more enjoyable because your trying to build a team specifically based on that scheme.

[Evan_OS]

Usually I rebuild through the draft. It's effective because I just dump all the players I don't like/want for draft picks. Built the Chiefs in one season right after launch and made the AFC Title Game in my second season.

[RedZoneD25]

Quote: Originally Posted by NightmareEvolution

I've been watching football ever since I was a kid and I never understood schemes. I just never understood the difference between a 3-4 defense and a 4-3 defense. I know, I'm a idiot. I'll have to check it out though. WTFitsDaveyJ, I might have to use some of your restrictions for my next next rebuilding project. It seems less complicated than the ones I made.

Do it up! They're pretty straightforward and with willpower will make franchise much more challenging to consistently put a good product on the field.