Linebacker U

[dan_457]

Quote: Originally Posted by Deegeezy

I don't play Madden so this doesn't really concern me. Plus I have a rule in my dynasty and I always have - I won't stop a player from leaving to go to the NFL early. In real life, a player with those stats and all those awards would most certainly leave. It would have felt somewhat fake having him in his senior season knowing his background.

I'll stop a player from leaving if it's like the sophomore(RS) fullback who's done almost nothing. Same for O-lineman, kickers, etc, who've done nothing to warrant leaving early. Some positions just don't realistically leave early unless they're around the top 3 at their position.

[GGGswim]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheShizNo1

In my offline dynasty, while I was w/ TCU I was playing w/ some of the absolute best defenses I've ever played w/ in a football game. I also recruit looking at specific attributes. For linebackers it's: Block shedding Play Recognition Tackling Zone Coverage Hit Power Acceleration Everything else is bonus, and I would play as my safeties most times and my LB's were beast! Intercepting passes, getting sacks, everything. Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

Kinda what I was gonna add.
I'll 1st admit, and not criticize others (I know sometimes how we can type something as simply a here's how I do it-type statement and it can be misinterpreted into a criticism), that I'm just looking for a way to stop the offense and push them back playing a field position game.

FIRST thing I look for in OLB is SPD of high-80s, and an appropriate ACC measure. Not a lot of those in ea. class so my '1b' thing is to look at SS (and sometimes even FS) recruits for this. Then I look at tackle and block shed. Perhaps finally, I look at man & zone coverage ratings, but if they're speedy with great coverage but tackle or BSH poorly, I'll keep looking.
This plan fits in really well w/ my 'look at SSs' idea since they generally have higher coverage ratings. Another bonus is I'm finding more times than not they've also got better Play Rec values.
Currently both OLB positions on my team are class appropriate (Sr, Jr then So, or RS-Fr) with one starter speed at 95 and the other at 98 (tied with WR for 'fastest' on team), and 2nd/3rd guys trailing appropriately with progression improving them closer to those same numbers ea. year.
They just fly to the ball and I'm getting really good at 'B switch' and making tons of "User tackle for loss" plays.

I basically utilize the same plan for MLBs but I'll look for maybe a higher tackle ## and will allow speed to be in the low-80s. Many times the transition will show a higher OVR of maybe +1 at DE but I often keep these guys on the 2nd line in the middle-backer spot (did the opposite of this this year, tho, as I got caught w/ my pants down not being attentive enough to the upcoming years at replacing a pair of top-notch DEs and had to shore up the position, unsatified with what I had there on the depth chart).

Bottom line for me is an established recruiting plan that lets me transition guys upward into starters over time rather than having to rely on a So. or RS-Fr. I basically never have 3-yr starters at OLB and its not the norm, but I've had it, at MLB.
On a side note, my SS to LB idea also allows me -- don't know how others set up their rosters and depth charts -- to keep only 2 guys at FS and SS sticking a 3rd OLB into the 3rd spot in those secondary spots, since most times it's a converted guy anyway. I don't like using CBs in these 3rd spots.
Anyway, lots of folks probably do the same thing, these are just my ramblings on how I created a Linebacker lineage...

[Dianwei32]

I had an amazing MLB who declared for the draft after winning LB of the Year and the Nagurski Award his Junior year, he wanted to declare after his Sophomore year, but I convinced him to stay. Here were his stats:

105 Solo Tackles
34 Assisted Tackles
45 TFL
5 Sacks
2 INTs
5 Forced Fumbles
7 Fumble Recoveries

I don't know what about him made him soe dominant, but he was a 99 Overall, so it's not like he only had 2 or 3 high attributes I could point to and say "that one made him a tackling machine". The scary thing is he could have had a good deal more solo tackles. I played games against Alabama and Ohio State and their HBs broke ridiculous amounts of tackles. He was always the first one to the ballcarrier, but he missed/broke about a dozen solo tackles in those two games alone.