Scouting help needed

[Golden28]

Hi, please could some kind soul give me some advice on scouting as there is nothing in the manual to help me.

I have never scouted before in Madden so am very confused as to how to organise my scouting.

It says I have 24 scouting slots to fill. I know my team needs come draft day so have scouted an equal amount of players in each position.

My dilemma is this though...how are you supposed to gauge which round a player will go?

Say I scout the top three potential DT's as I want to pick up one of them in the first round. But I also want to look for a late round QB to act as a backup.

How do I know which QB's to scout that might go in, say, the 4th or 5th round??

The only thing to judge a player on is potential (I'm in the first week of the regular season) Surely you don't have to just guess which round a player will fall?

Sorry if it's a noob question but can someone help explain how scouting pans out as the season progresses, do I get more slots to scout players? etc and how should I arrange my scouting for maximum success?

Thanks

[aksumite]

Re: Scouting help needed

are you in ONLINE franchise?

cuz i cant figure out how to even get to recruiting (or free agency really..lol)

WHERE AND WHEN do we recruitn in ONLINE franchise

i actually tried offline too and got nowhere as well...but we r ready to start our franchise and wanna know how stuff works

[Golden28]

Re: Scouting help needed

are you in ONLINE franchise?

cuz i cant figure out how to even get to recruiting (or free agency really..lol)

WHERE AND WHEN do we recruitn in ONLINE franchise

i actually tried offline too and got nowhere as well...but we r ready to start our franchise and wanna know how stuff works

No, offline.

I really have no clue what I'm doing

[mavfan21]

Re: Scouting help needed

In season all you have is their potential to rank
them by and they are generally
in the order they'll be ranked when you get to the off season. Once you get to the off season they will be listed by the estimated round they should be drafted.

What is cool though, is you never know how accurate the potential meter is and you will have some busts and late studs. So scout all over in positions of need.

[gymrat8168]

Re: Scouting help needed

It doesn't give you any projections on where a player will go, only the potential. It takes 6 weeks to get a full report on players so after the first 6 weeks you can scout another 24 players. You should beable to get full reports on 48 players and almost full reports on another 24 by the end of the season.

[joejccva71]

Re: Scouting help needed

As an avid scouter myself, you need to pay close attention to their combine scores as well. If lets say you are drafting a DT, DE, or OL then look at their bench reps as well as their potential bar in the beginning.

Before you even start scouting be sure to check your Player Management Screen, Roster Breakdown and/or Depth Chart to see which positions you need. Check where you don't have much depth, but also check a positions current OVR and POT as well as look at their contract years and see who's going to be renewing soon.

I'll give you an example: (i play the skins)

In the year 2010 I HAD to let Portis and Moss go. It was their contract year and Portis was about to be 30 years old, and Moss was about to hit 31 I believe. You have to remember that once a player hits 31 in age they start to degress unless they put up GODLY numbers for the season.

If you are trying to draft a HB or WR, I assume you want speed at either position? Always, ALWAYS check their 40 time. If it's above 4.35 look elsewhere. I don't care if their potential bar is through the roof....they will be slow and be a bust most likely.

Hope this helps...if you have more questions let us know bud.

Edit: Wanted to add something. During your scouting process ..lets say you hit week 2 of your scouting and one of them says "Injury Rating is SCOUTED. It's a 52." or something along those lines, then stop scouting right there. As SOON as you see something that is a horrible rating to that particular position (in this case, injury is for every position) then you stop scouting that player and move on to the next one.

[Golden28]

Re: Scouting help needed

Awesome stuff....thanks guys.

Well, I have pretty much scouted all my positions of need with both high and medium potential guys.

Will wait 6 weeks, see what it looks like and then pick my next 24.

Thanks again for the tips.

Love this game.

One thing I don't like though...Brock Berlin. Ugh. He's a stinker.

Never thought I'd be praying for Bulger to start.

[lil jon]

Re: Scouting help needed

If you are trying to draft a HB or WR, I assume you want speed at either position? Always, ALWAYS check their 40 time. If it's above 4.35 look elsewhere. I don't care if their potential bar is through the roof....they will be slow and be a bust most likely.

haven't had the chance to do a offseason yet, but the above is pretty much the opposite of what they told us about the offseason.. no longer is the 40 going to be the most important thing, and if that's all you look at, be prepared to have some busts.. not saying you're wrong as i haven't had the chance to do this yet, but the franchise guys would have to be lying if you were right

[lil jon]

Re: Scouting help needed

Awesome stuff....thanks guys.

Well, I have pretty much scouted all my positions of need with both high and medium potential guys.

Will wait 6 weeks, see what it looks like and then pick my next 24.

Thanks again for the tips.

Love this game.

you don't have to wait 6 weeks tho


i was scouting a linebacker, and his tackle was under 69, so i stopped scouting him..

the same thing can happen to other positions.. just check back after each game for updates, and see if you like what you see from players, and go from their

[Golden28]

Re: Scouting help needed

you don't have to wait 6 weeks tho


i was scouting a linebacker, and his tackle was under 69, so i stopped scouting him..

the same thing can happen to other positions.. just check back after each game for updates, and see if you like what you see from players, and go from their

Thanks buddy!!

[joejccva71]

Re: Scouting help needed

haven't had the chance to do a offseason yet, but the above is pretty much the opposite of what they told us about the offseason.. no longer is the 40 going to be the most important thing, and if that's all you look at, be prepared to have some busts.. not saying you're wrong as i haven't had the chance to do this yet, but the franchise guys would have to be lying if you were right

No I agree that the 40 isn't the most important thing but you still have to use that information. For instance, if I am looking for a speed WR, I am not going to select one that has a 4.55 in his 40 because even if his awareness, injury, jump and catch are all above 90's, his speed and acceleration won't be, and they won't even be in the 80's.

Thats all i was talking about bro.

[lil jon]

Re: Scouting help needed

No I agree that the 40 isn't the most important thing but you still have to use that information. For instance, if I am looking for a speed WR, I am not going to select one that has a 4.55 in his 40 because even if his awareness, injury, jump and catch are all above 90's, his speed and acceleration won't be, and they won't even be in the 80's.

Thats all i was talking about bro.

just when you said they would most likely be a bust is where i got confused.. no biggie, just hoping they take everything into account for created players

[Josherz18]

Re: Scouting help needed

What I don't know is, What are the stats supposed to be for each position.

Is a 5.06 40 good for a MLB? A 8.57 cone? etc.

[Golden28]

Re: Scouting help needed

What I don't know is, What are the stats supposed to be for each position.

Is a 5.06 40 good for a MLB? A 8.57 cone? etc.

Yep, this is something I would love to know so I can at least try and decide who to scout.

Is anyone able to do a template of the above average times and/or stats we should be looking for in each of the drills per position?

I know about height and weight desirables per position buy not a clue about cone drills or shuffles etc??

[Golden28]

Re: Scouting help needed

Ok, I found this on the NFL combine page, which should help us understand a bit more about the drills, but what about desirable stats per position per drill?

40-yard dash
The 40-yard dash is the marquee event at the combine. It's kind of like the 100-meters at the Olympics: It's all about speed, explosion and watching skilled athletes run great times. These athletes are timed at 10, 20 and 40-yard intervals. What the scouts are looking for is an explosion from a static start.

Bench press
The bench press is a test of strength -- 225 pounds, as many reps as the athlete can get. What the NFL scouts are also looking for is endurance. Anybody can do a max one time, but what the bench press tells the pro scouts is how often the athlete frequented his college weight room for the last 3-5 years.

Vertical jump
The vertical jump is all about lower-body explosion and power. The athlete stands flat-footed and they measure his reach. It is important to accurately measure the reach, because the differential between the reach and the flag the athlete touches is his vertical jump measurement.

Broad jump
The broad jump is like being in gym class back in junior high school. Basically, it is testing an athlete's lower-body explosion and lower-body strength. The athlete starts out with a stance balanced and then he explodes out as far as he can. It tests explosion and balance, because he has to land without moving.

3 cone drill
The 3 cone drill tests an athlete's ability to change directions at a high speed. Three cones in an L-shape. He starts from the starting line, goes 5 yards to the first cone and back. Then, he turns, runs around the second cone, runs a weave around the third cone, which is the high point of the L, changes directions, comes back around that second cone and finishes.

Shuttle run
The short shuttle is the first of the cone drills. It is known as the 5-10-5. What it tests is the athlete's lateral quickness and explosion in short areas. The athlete starts in the three-point stance, explodse out 5 yards to his right, touches the line, goes back 10 yards to his left, left hand touches the line, pivot, and he turns 5 more yards and finishes.

EDIT: OK, this link goes straight to last years combine results pages, we should be able to cross reference against these results with our own in game rookies to try and gauge good/bad/average athletes.

http://www.nfl.com/combine/top-performers

Just don't get too hooked up on a 'workout warrior' though!