Fantasy Draft Strategy

[Pesan915]

Hey guys,

My friends and I will be will be starting an online fantasy franchise and my question is what positions in order should I draft that would be most important to make my team very good. I think I can hold off on QB's since theres so many good of them. Would love to hear some feedbacks, thanks.

[Ampking101]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pesan915

Hey guys, My friends and I will be will be starting an online fantasy franchise and my question is what positions in order should I draft that would be most important to make my team very good. I think I can hold off on QB's since theres so many good of them. Would love to hear some feedbacks, thanks.

My personal theory/strategy on building a team in Madden starts with defense and then moves to offense so I myself would Draft in this order.

1st and foremost are Cornerbacks. I always prefer to have two good corners. Two will always be on the field at all times on defense and it's nice to be able to make turnovers in the passing game. Play Recognition, awareness, man coverage, zone coverage, and catch are the stats I look for (in that order).

2nd thing I look at is linebakers. At this point I only look for a ROLB and MLB as these linebackers will be seeing the field the most seeing as I use the 4-3 and good linebackers are the foundation to stopping runs. Again here I look at play recognition, awareness, block shed, power moves, finesse moves, zone coverage, then man coverage.

3rd thing I look for is now getting to offense. I got some guys who can stop the pass, now I need some guys that can catch a pass. Here I look for a legitimate #1 receiver, a guy who can catch the ball wherever he is on the field. Catch in Trafic and spectacular catch is my number one priority here, awareness is also really nice here.

4th thing I look for are offensive line. A LT, a RG and a Center. I don't mind having a couple holes as most teams have one or two. I look for run block, pass block, awareness, and impact block.

I then move on to DT/DE to get some type of pass rush and guys that will help in the run stop. Block shed is key here. Fill out my safety positions (same as Cornerbacks except add hit power and tackle as well here). I look for a quarterback here, I can generally still get a decent QB at this point. After that I get my #2 receiver and slot guy. Nickle CB. LOLB, then a TE, a HB, then start finishing filling out my backup guys. I'll generally add a FB, Kicker, and Punter last.

This fits my particular scheme and gives me a solid start so after about one or two Drafts I'm a legit powerhouse team. Basically just look for positions that are important to the way to play.

[Agitzes]

I'm much more flexible with my Fantasy Draft Selections. I definitely want a solid mobile QB, and have been able to pick Kaep in the late stages of the first rd. I then mostly like to focus on position strengths, like drafting a couple good wideouts or a couple good D or O linemen. I prefer to be very strong in a few areas than decent in every area. Look and see which positions have the most players highly rated for your scheme and wait on those spots. Let the draft come to you.

[JayInSaratoga]

I ran through a fantasy draft already and I found that the CPU snatches up the QBs fast. Cam Newton went #1 in my CF. I took an early focus on defense for my draft and ended up missing the boat on the elite QBs, though this wasn't so bad as I intended to sim through the 1st season doing a relocation to London. I bottomed out and drafter my QB of the future to start my second season with.

If you plan to play the 1st season, you'll probably want to snag a QB in rounds 1 or 2.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

IMO, you want to invest the highest picks in the guys the AI will control - Cornerbacks, Safeties, Linebackers, and Wideouts primarily. On default settings, you can usually overcome deficiencies in your halfbacks and qb with stick skill.

Also, look to see who has the fastest development traits and prioritize that.

[Pesan915]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ampking101

My personal theory/strategy on building a team in Madden starts with defense and then moves to offense so I myself would Draft in this order. 1st and foremost are Cornerbacks. I always prefer to have two good corners. Two will always be on the field at all times on defense and it's nice to be able to make turnovers in the passing game. Play Recognition, awareness, man coverage, zone coverage, and catch are the stats I look for (in that order). 2nd thing I look at is linebakers. At this point I only look for a ROLB and MLB as these linebackers will be seeing the field the most seeing as I use the 4-3 and good linebackers are the foundation to stopping runs. Again here I look at play recognition, awareness, block shed, power moves, finesse moves, zone coverage, then man coverage. 3rd thing I look for is now getting to offense. I got some guys who can stop the pass, now I need some guys that can catch a pass. Here I look for a legitimate #1 receiver, a guy who can catch the ball wherever he is on the field. Catch in Trafic and spectacular catch is my number one priority here, awareness is also really nice here. 4th thing I look for are offensive line. A LT, a RG and a Center. I don't mind having a couple holes as most teams have one or two. I look for run block, pass block, awareness, and impact block. I then move on to DT/DE to get some type of pass rush and guys that will help in the run stop. Block shed is key here. Fill out my safety positions (same as Cornerbacks except add hit power and tackle as well here). I look for a quarterback here, I can generally still get a decent QB at this point. After that I get my #2 receiver and slot guy. Nickle CB. LOLB, then a TE, a HB, then start finishing filling out my backup guys. I'll generally add a FB, Kicker, and Punter last. This fits my particular scheme and gives me a solid start so after about one or two Drafts I'm a legit powerhouse team. Basically just look for positions that are important to the way to play.

Quote: Originally Posted by Agitzes

I'm much more flexible with my Fantasy Draft Selections. I definitely want a solid mobile QB, and have been able to pick Kaep in the late stages of the first rd. I then mostly like to focus on position strengths, like drafting a couple good wideouts or a couple good D or O linemen. I prefer to be very strong in a few areas than decent in every area. Look and see which positions have the most players highly rated for your scheme and wait on those spots. Let the draft come to you.

WOW! Alot of good pointers, thanks guys. I think I'm have to do some fantasy drafts and see what drops to me. I think I might start with a good corner depending what my pick is and then 1 or 2 good offensive lines followed by a STUD WR and back on defense and so on to have a pretty nice balanced team. There's so many QB's and RB's. I would be happy with a Rusell or Luck.

[Pesan915]

Quote: Originally Posted by JayInSaratoga

I ran through a fantasy draft already and I found that the CPU snatches up the QBs fast. Cam Newton went #1 in my CF. I took an early focus on defense for my draft and ended up missing the boat on the elite QBs, though this wasn't so bad as I intended to sim through the 1st season doing a relocation to London. I bottomed out and drafter my QB of the future to start my second season with. If you plan to play the 1st season, you'll probably want to snag a QB in rounds 1 or 2.

Quote: Originally Posted by IlluminatusUIUC

IMO, you want to invest the highest picks in the guys the AI will control - Cornerbacks, Safeties, Linebackers, and Wideouts primarily. On default settings, you can usually overcome deficiencies in your halfbacks and qb with stick skill. Also, look to see who has the fastest development traits and prioritize that.

Quote: Originally Posted by Pesan915

WOW! Alot of good pointers, thanks guys. I think I'm have to do some fantasy drafts and see what drops to me. I think I might start with a good corner depending what my pick is and then 1 or 2 good offensive lines followed by a STUD WR and back on defense and so on to have a pretty nice balanced team. There's so many QB's and RB's. I would be happy with a Rusell or Luck.

I guess QB's are going really early this year then.

[king_brandon_23]

Quote: Originally Posted by IlluminatusUIUC

IMO, you want to invest the highest picks in the guys the AI will control - Cornerbacks, Safeties, Linebackers, and Wideouts primarily. On default settings, you can usually overcome deficiencies in your halfbacks and qb with stick skill. Also, look to see who has the fastest development traits and prioritize that.

Yes, this is exactly right.

Also, one of the main things I look for in my secondary is the catch ratings because defense is difficult in madden so you have to capatilize on mistakes. Your number 1 CB also must have an extremely high man coverage to lock down the number 1 WR