Rare Players - Madden 25 CFM's

[Robrain]

Quote: Originally Posted by Robrain

Here are the full stats for that 7'4" TE, Antwaun Gbor, from the Don Merigan draft: IMP (Importance): 94 I believe that stat has to do with whether or not a CPU team will be willing to deal the player in a trade. Because of that, it would probably be very hard to acquire this guy via trade if you miss him in the draft. SPD: 55 ACC: 75 AWR: 73 AGI: 60 CTH: 60 CIT: 64 SPC: 64 RLS: 72 RTE: 65 STA: 86 SFA: 70 SPM: 66 JKM: 63 ELU: 65 STR: 82 TRK: 88 TGH: 75 INJ: 86 RBK: 85 IBK: 68 PBK: 75 JMP: 71 CAR: 60 BCV: 67 PERSONALITY: 42

I just finished the Divisional Playoff game in my first season since drafting this player.

He comes out of the draft with really really bad speed. He's seriously EXTREMELY slow.

Because of this, you have to design plays for him that mask his lack of speed.

I practiced this tactic during the regular season. Ended up setting the single season receiving TD record with him, by one TD in Week 17. But he only had like 754 receiving yards (78 receptions, 287 yards-after-catch) Used him mostly around the red zone during the regular season.

Probably 90% of my passes to him we're play-action. It's one of the only ways to buy enough time for him to get into his routes. Also, shorter routes like the zig and out are good, especially if you have a large, strong WR to pair with him. Have the strong WR run a route a little further downfield (on the same side of the field, obviously) and after this 7'4" TE catches it try and use that other WR as a shield to gain a bit of yards-after-catch.

Also, if you can manage to isolate a lone defender (safety or corner), this 7'4" TE can definitely truck stick him out of the way. Though the next defender will usually catch you from behind because he lacks any sort of long speed.

I decided to feed him the ball during the Divisional Game, and he was able to put up 6 TDs and 377 receiving yards on 15 catches. The only stats I upgraded for him during his rookie season were his SPD (by one point, from 55 to 56, I did that accidentally as I'd meant to wait until the offseason to upgrade his speed), and then I also upgraded his AWR, CTH, and CIT to 80. I was originally going to also upgrade his RTE and RLS up to 80 during the regular season, but I decided to save that XP to upgrade his SPD during the offseason. I did upgrade his RTE one point up to 66 before I decided that, though.

So, with over 111,000 XP banked so far for the offseason for him, and the conference game and Super Bowl still to play, I think I might be able to upgrade his SPD this offseason by approximately 10-15 points, after having him just one season (I already upgraded him to Quick, then Star Development during the regular season).

I want to see how great I can boost this 7'4" player to using XP.

[Robrain]

Quote: Originally Posted by Robrain

I just finished the Divisional Playoff game in my first season since drafting this player. He comes out of the draft with really really bad speed. He's seriously EXTREMELY slow. Because of this, you have to design plays for him that mask his lack of speed. I practiced this tactic during the regular season. Ended up setting the single season receiving TD record with him, by one TD in Week 17. But he only had like 754 receiving yards (78 receptions, 287 yards-after-catch) Used him mostly around the red zone during the regular season. Probably 90% of my passes to him we're play-action. It's one of the only ways to buy enough time for him to get into his routes. Also, shorter routes like the zig and out are good, especially if you have a large, strong WR to pair with him. Have the strong WR run a route a little further downfield (on the same side of the field, obviously) and after this 7'4" TE catches it try and use that other WR as a shield to gain a bit of yards-after-catch. Also, if you can manage to isolate a lone defender (safety or corner), this 7'4" TE can definitely truck stick him out of the way. Though the next defender will usually catch you from behind because he lacks any sort of long speed. I decided to feed him the ball during the Divisional Game, and he was able to put up 6 TDs and 377 receiving yards on 15 catches. The only stats I upgraded for him during his rookie season were his SPD (by one point, from 55 to 56, I did that accidentally as I'd meant to wait until the offseason to upgrade his speed), and then I also upgraded his AWR, CTH, and CIT to 80. I was originally going to also upgrade his RTE and RLS up to 80 during the regular season, but I decided to save that XP to upgrade his SPD during the offseason. I did upgrade his RTE one point up to 66 before I decided that, though. So, with over 111,000 XP banked so far for the offseason for him, and the conference game and Super Bowl still to play, I think I might be able to upgrade his SPD this offseason by approximately 10-15 points, after having him just one season (I already upgraded him to Quick, then Star Development during the regular season). I want to see how great I can boost this 7'4" player to using XP.

Just finished the draft at the end of his rookie season, and was able to upgrade his SPD all the way to 74. That should significantly improve his utility on the field.

[Robrain]

Quote: Originally Posted by Robrain

Video evidence of what I believe may be the best power back in Madden 25: http://youtu.be/4M_0kaxotKo After knocking those defenders down, I was so surprised that it worked that I accidentally (instinctively) tapped down on the joystick (which normally steadies your ball carrier if he's off-balance). That's why he suddenly stops at the end of the play. I could have kept going.

I just finished the first season usering this 270 lb HB (the first two years of his contract I simmed and he didn't do well during those two sim seasons).

I set the single-season rushing yards record with him (just barely, it's easier to set it multiple years in a row if you don't go overboard). Had something like 20 rushing TDs. At his default speed, he's just fast enough to break some smaller gains on outside runs, when combined with his 99 TRK / 90 STR.

After that first season usering him, I had enough XP to bump his SPD from 88 all the way up to 95 (I haven't touched his 82 ACC yet).

Also, as you can probably tell from that video, his body type / character model looks like a fat guy, with a pot belly. Guess looks can be deceiving.

[Robrain]

TE Bo Scott
AGE: 21
6'6" 248 lbs
88 SPD
86 ACC
92 AGI
45 AWR
77 CTH
75 CIT
90 SPC
82 ELU
76 TRK
JMP 82
PER 81
INJ 85
TGH 86
STA 79 (you'll need to keep subbing him out constantly so he doesn't get injured until you bump this stat up)
SPM 69
JKM 77
SFA 84
RLS 71
RTE 75
CAR 80

I simmed his rookie season and because I had a terrible QB he only end up with 20 receptions for 225 receiving yards (1 TD). I usered my team the following season, but I was feeding some other players and only used him sparingly as a speed complement / sub for my 7'4" TE. He ended up producing 28 receptions and 454 receiving yards, with 3 TDs.

Anyway, because of that I didn't have a lot of XP built up. Decided to convert him temporarily to FB to bump up his RBK and IBK to 85 / 84, and his STR up to 80. Changed him back to TE, going to feed him some more this season, get those three stats up to 90, then maybe see about getting his SPD / ACC up to 90 as well. Then I'm going to convert him to WR and use his SPD and blocking as both a pass catcher and a dominant blocking-receiver.

[Robrain]

TE Hayden Wheatley
AGE: 21
6'6" 258 lbs
SPD: 85
ACC: 86
AGI: 85
STR: 65
AWR: 65
CTH: 80
CIT: 74
SPC: 67
RTE: 77
RLS: 69
ELU: 65
TRK: 71
SFA: 67
JKM: 65
SPM: 65
JMP: 88
STA: 88
INJ: 91
TGH: 82
PER: 80
PBK: 66
RBK: 66
IBL: 59
CAR: 77
BCV: 72

This guy is in the draft class prior to the one the above TE Bo Scott is in, which is why I have both of them rostered.

Hayden Wheatley has a rare / height / weight / SPD / ACC / AGI / JMP / STA combination which makes him the perfect blank slate to morph him into whatever you want. You can keep him at TE, or turn him into a FB who has both size and speed, or turn him into an intimidating tall physical WR.

Heck, because he was buried on my TE depth chart behind that 7'4" TE, Bo Scott, and 6'8" Levine Toilolo, when my 270 lb HB got knocked out of the game during the Conference Playoff Game, I just subbed Wheatley in as my temporary starting HB, and he did great as both a runner and a receiver out of the backfield.

I'm probably going to take the same approach I'm using with Bo Scott and convert him eventually into a fast, physical WR on the outside (after I upgrade him). That way in case Bo Scott happens to get injured, I don't lose that aspect of my offense.

[Robrain]

Minor stats on TE Coby Fleener:

6'6" 247 lbs
87 SPD
85 ACC
86 AGI
79 STR
67 TRK
89 JMP
62 IBK
60 RBK
54 PBK
90 STA

These stats were pulled from his age 28 season, so I don't know if any of the minor stats are polluted by CPU XP progression.

[Robrain]

WR Daniel Lewis
6'6" 234 lbs
SPD: 85
ACC: 81
STR: 82
TRK: 82
ELU: 83
AGI: 80
JMP: 95
SPC: 93
CTH: 92
CIT: 91

RTE: 80
RLS: 66
AWR: 70

SFA: 91
JKM: 87
SPM: 70

CAR: 92
BCV: 77

RBK: 69
IBK: 57

RET: 66

STA: 77

INJ: 85
TGH: 88
PER: 91

If I'm looking for big, fast 6'6" players for my WR position, I usually look for speedy 6'6" TE's because they have better jack-of-all-trades stat values. Also, you can't change a WR to any other position (FB / HB) in order to fine-tune their speed or blocking/trucking stats cheaper.

However, when you come across a legitimate 6'6" WR in the draft who is dominant in most facets of the receiving game, you can't pass that up. Daniel Lewis fits that bill.

Plus, his RBK starts slightly higher than most other big TEs / WRs that I've seen, as well as his TRK and STR. His 85 SPD (middling for a tall, fast WR), and 81 ACC (subpar) are his only real knocks, and having those 90+ Ratings in every catch stat fresh out of the draft more than make up for it.

Note, I think he's a storyline player, so these are likely his stats with the positive outcome of his storyline.

[Robrain]

In a separate CFM, I'm working on building a franchise based on the fastest, most athletic players.

So for the first time, instead of only focusing on big, fat linemen, I'm skimming rosters looking for the fastest AND strongest (gotta be both).

Fast offensive linemen with STR in the high 90's might in fact be an extinct species.

First though, criteria for categorizing these players. How do you define what a fast lineman is?

Well, protip, since you can't boost an offensive lineman's speed with XP, you'll never have a fast lineman if he doesn't have a high SPD rating to start with.

What exactly is a high SPD rating for offensive lineman, as opposed to other positions?

General rule of thumb seems to be a minimum of 70 SPD for an offensive lineman. It's actually easiest while searching to just sort a position (LT, LG, C, RG, RT) by SPD (highest to lowest), and then just skim and stop when you see an o-lineman that has a minimum of at least 70 SPD.

The other important stats are ACC and STR, followed by AGI, then the blocking stats (RBK, PBK, and IBK can usually be boosted with XP if they start low), and then AWR.

ACC and STR are both very expensive to upgrade for an O-lineman via XP. If an O-lineman has high SPD and awful (like, below 80) STR, it's doubtful that you'll ever be able to boost that O-lineman's STR up to 90+. The STR stat is just too expensive.

Two players that appear to fit the rare speedy linemen bill that I found in the Shannon Dudzik draft:

C Damon Barletta
Drafted 2.11
AGE: 21
6'4" / 335 lbs
Big Mauler / Power Run
OVR: 81
SPD: 70
ACC: 75
STR: 95
IBK: 92
RBK: 85
PBK: 75
AGI: 68
AWR: 66

Since I only discovered this player post-draft when I skimmed all the other teams rosters, to acquire him from the Cardinals I had to give up draft picks 2.40 + 2.48 + the following year's 5.138.

His AGI is a little weak, but not when you take the full package into consideration. He may thus far be (one of?) the highest STR O-linemen to also have 70+ SPD and 75+ ACC.

The fact that he starts with such phenomenal blocking stats (assuming you're drafting him to improve your offense's running game) means you have a chance at upgrading his ACC or STR even further if you want to.

He'll probably reach a 90+ OVR rating just by dumping XP into his AWR stat.

Next, we have a RT. I intend to move him to Guard to maximize use of his rare SPD/ACC combo (for an O-lineman):

RT Larvary Broussard
Drafted 2.27
AGE: 23
6'5" / 301 lbs
OVR: 77
SPD: 84
ACC: 80
STR: 92
IBK: 74
RBK: 78
PBK: 63
AGI: 68
AWR: 78

Cost me my future projected 1.10 + a 4th rounder to acquire him from the Redskins.

One of the very rare O-linemen to have 80+ SPD / ACC, and to ALSO have 90+ STR.

His blocking stats need to be boosted with XP but he possibly has one of the best SPD/ACC/STR foundations of any O-lineman.