BoomFranchise Madden 23 Franchise Scouting Official Thread
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Step 1 Week 1: Go through first 32 picks and see where strength is position and location wise. The draft classes are not surprising. In general top 10 will have 3-4 of one position, and 10-12 of one position will be in top 32. If there is a conflict at one location, use your 3 star scout to look at highest position of need. Combine the number of "position of value" points at RT/LT and LE/RE, ROLB/LOLB etc) .
If it is a very tough decision at one location, I will look at the 3-4 players and their projected draft spot and just see which is a better investment to put a scout on.
(CHEAT CODE: In week 1 you can fire and hire scouts as much as you want.
Do NOT fire all your coaches (from the previous season) or the scouting completion goes down to 0%. Instead, if you hire a coach (or previously had one hired) who was already scouting in a certain location, you get 5% of the player unlocked and most importantly can see their physical skills before making a decision on coaching.
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Weeks 1-10: Do not do anything but take note of each news article or tweet. Like last year, Good news stories seem practically useless. The only benefit to news article is having players drop 2-3 rounds if not more who have star or better development potentially. 0 need to look at players till week 10. Depending on the status of your team, you can start the "Week 10" process at week 8 if you are deciding to either contend or tank for draft picks and players.
Week 10: Go through the news articles. Out of 12 or so, 1 will end up giving you a star development till most likely with a negative storyline. Now time to do 85% of the work for your season in 30 minutes and go through the entire draft class. Ignore players notes.
**Any player mentioned with CAPS LOCK in the tweet has a very high likelihood of 80-90% of star or better development.
The First and Only Focus are the 4 specific skill ratings to decide if you click a player's skills.
If they pass the 4 skill ratings, The physical ratings will confirm if this player is draft-able or not.
I have found it impossible so far to have a player passing the 4 skill rating test AND the physical rating test and not be star or better development.
The basic format: Out of the 4 ratings, one needs to be at least 1 A Rating to warrant a click at their physical rating. Or 2 B's. From there each position requires an ELITE rating at one of the focused physical ratings (Speed/Acceleration/Strength/Throw Power depending on position) to be given the green light to pick or seriously consider in the draft.
Most of this will be repetitive but successful and fool proof.
Safety: Minimum B's at 2 ratings. Or 1 A rating at ZCV/MCV etc.. Elite speed/acceleration or not worth it.
Corner: Minimum B either MCV or ZCV.. no exceptions. And then elite speed/acceleration or not worth it
LB: 2 B's warrant a click or 1 "A" rating at ZCV/PUR. Most important is speed/acceleration at ELITE.
Dline: 2 B ratings needed. Anything else is useless. And from there STRENGTH is the only factor to get you star players (*unless FMV is an A, and you see their Acceleration/Speed are both elite like I just noticed on a 3-4 Round DT.. instant pick). Really though, if you don't have a player at DLine with at least an "A" at FMV or PMV there is no point to get them unless their athletics are all elite.
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Oline: For RT/LT, PBK needs to be an A. No one else is worth it. And again the confirmation to possibly get Star or better? STRENGTH IS ELITE. For the other positions I still need to see an A at RBK/PBK in order to look to see if their strength is elite. OLine is the easiest position to tell star or better development bc their athletic rating is a dead giveaway.
TE: If you're looking for a blocker that's different but I look for stud players. So Looking for at least 1 A Trait, or even better B ratings with elite physical traits. Elite speed with good traits makes them instant picks.
WR: Just an A in something. Or 2 B's. 2 B's and elite speed/acceleration traits is enough to warrant a look at their pro day/combine.
HB: Same as WR. Just an A in something gets me to check if they have speed/acceleration Elite or not. Or 2 B's. (Or a power RB with A Break tackle and elite strength).
QB: For me I need all B's at DAC/MAC/SAC unless they are just freak of nature athlete. From there it is Elite Throw Power or not worth it.
The goal after this is to have about 30-35 players or so favorited and know 3 players you want to know more about in rounds 1 to round 1-2.
GLITCH: Mark all your favorites with the "heart" before you move onto week 11 as there is a glitch where not all 3 of your individual scouting reports will work unless they are already all "favorited" before the week.
---
From week 11-Start of Free Agency: Mark news stories just like weeks 1-10. Ignore all other scouting till start of FA.
FA-Draft: Using only the people on your favorites list, observe any comparisons in Combine/Pro Day results. Using process of elimination it should be very easy to spot which players have star or better at this point. I guarantee 80-90% success rate with this formula. Having done multiple seasons already it works.
The key is using the 4 main attributes to highlight the right players, and using their Physical Ratings to confirm and solidify with 100% certainty who to draft for star or better development.
This is much different from last season, where we used the physical ratings to "favorite and eliminate players immediately and used combine results to finalize. Now it starts with ratings, then physical traits to know with certainty who to draft
Before Draft: I write down the list of how many players I KNOW I am getting in order of draft position. There should be 0 doubt or certainty on any player at this point, you have your list of players and you are getting them. Favorites cannot be changed at this point once the draft starts so have them clearly made as well. Mark down every players' projected draft selection in Mock Draft 5, AND the entire draft Classe's projected value for players on your list to draft.
Extra 3 (or 6) individual scouting reports: Best way to get to 100% scouting
2 star ___ rating PLUS a scouting report on the player you want = 100% scouting
I advocate only using your individual scouting reports on players projected in round 1 or round 1-2. Anything else is a waste of resources.
In general I am very hesitant for cap reasons to get players in Round 1 to Round 1-2 unless they are absolute studs. Round 2+ on I am more likely to be more lenient and surprisingly those are where the best players are generally found anyway.
After 15-20 picks or so, I like to update how much further it is till my player may be drafted for trading up/down purposes.
Drafting Logic: The other CPU GM's are clueless about draft selection early on, though once we get down to later rounds they get smarter for some reason. I've had multiple times where a LB or OLine I want
is projected to be 40-50 picks later and then is taken the PICK before me at like round 3 pick 32... the 32nd pick seems to be a pattern.
Draft: Round 1: Save about 6-8 picks between your "projected" value and where you draft them depending on how crucial they are to your team. I find the first 6-9 picks are pretty accurate to Mock Draft 5.
Round 2: Save about 8-10 picks between "projected value and where you draft them.
Round 3+4: Save about 12-15 picks between projected value and where you draft.
Round 5+: 20-35+ projected value but especially as we hit rounds 4+ be VERY careful about waiting too long to get some players. I have twice had players who still had about 35+ projected picks till they were drafted get taken when I was about to trade up for them. This becomes a big issue as CPU teams have similar needs to your team position wise at OL etc
Post Draft: Check your team's (and if you want) rating and hidden development trait! I also for educational purposes like to look at players I did not choose or almost took to see what their ratings are and if there is anything for next season I might take more into account. You should be EXTREMELY happy with your results following this method.
Common Patterns in Draft Class (for FA and Draft help):
- TE is constantly filled with star or better players. Don't waste it in FA.
- CB has been surprisingly shallow year to year.
- ROLB and LOLB are filled with star or better players.
- Oline is very rags or riches with draft class. But in a 2-3 year span you can absolutely draft a Pro Bowl caliber line all through the draft .
OLine more in depth: Based on experience, you can constantly find Oline in rounds 3+ that are 73-74 rated with star development which imo is a better bargain. Sometimes the draft class for that year just has bad OLine guys, don't just reach because of that. In other drafts there could be 4 Center's with star rating, 1 with superstar all in rounds 2 or later.
News: What stories are important to take note of and lead to higher % of star or better development and which ones are meaningless?
Important ones are any that have a NARRATIVE associated with it. Like, "father was an olympic athlete, hall of fame coach", "former MMA star turned MLB", these usually appear in weeks 1-3.
Unimportant ones are ANYTHING involving a scout like Todd McShay praising a player, or anything involving awards like the Heisman, best TE, or player of the year.
Please try it for yourself. Any feedback or questions let me know.
----
Step 1 Week 1: Go through first 32 picks and see where strength is position and location wise. The draft classes are not surprising. In general top 10 will have 3-4 of one position, and 10-12 of one position will be in top 32. If there is a conflict at one location, use your 3 star scout to look at highest position of need. Combine the number of "position of value" points at RT/LT and LE/RE, ROLB/LOLB etc) .
If it is a very tough decision at one location, I will look at the 3-4 players and their projected draft spot and just see which is a better investment to put a scout on.
(CHEAT CODE: In week 1 you can fire and hire scouts as much as you want.
Do NOT fire all your coaches (from the previous season) or the scouting completion goes down to 0%. Instead, if you hire a coach (or previously had one hired) who was already scouting in a certain location, you get 5% of the player unlocked and most importantly can see their physical skills before making a decision on coaching.
---
Weeks 1-10: Do not do anything but take note of each news article or tweet. Like last year, Good news stories seem practically useless. The only benefit to news article is having players drop 2-3 rounds if not more who have star or better development potentially. 0 need to look at players till week 10. Depending on the status of your team, you can start the "Week 10" process at week 8 if you are deciding to either contend or tank for draft picks and players.
Week 10: Go through the news articles. Out of 12 or so, 1 will end up giving you a star development till most likely with a negative storyline. Now time to do 85% of the work for your season in 30 minutes and go through the entire draft class. Ignore players notes.
**Any player mentioned with CAPS LOCK in the tweet has a very high likelihood of 80-90% of star or better development.
The First and Only Focus are the 4 specific skill ratings to decide if you click a player's skills.
If they pass the 4 skill ratings, The physical ratings will confirm if this player is draft-able or not.
I have found it impossible so far to have a player passing the 4 skill rating test AND the physical rating test and not be star or better development.
The basic format: Out of the 4 ratings, one needs to be at least 1 A Rating to warrant a click at their physical rating. Or 2 B's. From there each position requires an ELITE rating at one of the focused physical ratings (Speed/Acceleration/Strength/Throw Power depending on position) to be given the green light to pick or seriously consider in the draft.
Most of this will be repetitive but successful and fool proof.
Safety: Minimum B's at 2 ratings. Or 1 A rating at ZCV/MCV etc.. Elite speed/acceleration or not worth it.
Corner: Minimum B either MCV or ZCV.. no exceptions. And then elite speed/acceleration or not worth it
LB: 2 B's warrant a click or 1 "A" rating at ZCV/PUR. Most important is speed/acceleration at ELITE.
Dline: 2 B ratings needed. Anything else is useless. And from there STRENGTH is the only factor to get you star players (*unless FMV is an A, and you see their Acceleration/Speed are both elite like I just noticed on a 3-4 Round DT.. instant pick). Really though, if you don't have a player at DLine with at least an "A" at FMV or PMV there is no point to get them unless their athletics are all elite.
---
Oline: For RT/LT, PBK needs to be an A. No one else is worth it. And again the confirmation to possibly get Star or better? STRENGTH IS ELITE. For the other positions I still need to see an A at RBK/PBK in order to look to see if their strength is elite. OLine is the easiest position to tell star or better development bc their athletic rating is a dead giveaway.
TE: If you're looking for a blocker that's different but I look for stud players. So Looking for at least 1 A Trait, or even better B ratings with elite physical traits. Elite speed with good traits makes them instant picks.
WR: Just an A in something. Or 2 B's. 2 B's and elite speed/acceleration traits is enough to warrant a look at their pro day/combine.
HB: Same as WR. Just an A in something gets me to check if they have speed/acceleration Elite or not. Or 2 B's. (Or a power RB with A Break tackle and elite strength).
QB: For me I need all B's at DAC/MAC/SAC unless they are just freak of nature athlete. From there it is Elite Throw Power or not worth it.
The goal after this is to have about 30-35 players or so favorited and know 3 players you want to know more about in rounds 1 to round 1-2.
GLITCH: Mark all your favorites with the "heart" before you move onto week 11 as there is a glitch where not all 3 of your individual scouting reports will work unless they are already all "favorited" before the week.
---
From week 11-Start of Free Agency: Mark news stories just like weeks 1-10. Ignore all other scouting till start of FA.
FA-Draft: Using only the people on your favorites list, observe any comparisons in Combine/Pro Day results. Using process of elimination it should be very easy to spot which players have star or better at this point. I guarantee 80-90% success rate with this formula. Having done multiple seasons already it works.
The key is using the 4 main attributes to highlight the right players, and using their Physical Ratings to confirm and solidify with 100% certainty who to draft for star or better development.
This is much different from last season, where we used the physical ratings to "favorite and eliminate players immediately and used combine results to finalize. Now it starts with ratings, then physical traits to know with certainty who to draft
Before Draft: I write down the list of how many players I KNOW I am getting in order of draft position. There should be 0 doubt or certainty on any player at this point, you have your list of players and you are getting them. Favorites cannot be changed at this point once the draft starts so have them clearly made as well. Mark down every players' projected draft selection in Mock Draft 5, AND the entire draft Classe's projected value for players on your list to draft.
Extra 3 (or 6) individual scouting reports: Best way to get to 100% scouting
2 star ___ rating PLUS a scouting report on the player you want = 100% scouting
I advocate only using your individual scouting reports on players projected in round 1 or round 1-2. Anything else is a waste of resources.
In general I am very hesitant for cap reasons to get players in Round 1 to Round 1-2 unless they are absolute studs. Round 2+ on I am more likely to be more lenient and surprisingly those are where the best players are generally found anyway.
After 15-20 picks or so, I like to update how much further it is till my player may be drafted for trading up/down purposes.
Drafting Logic: The other CPU GM's are clueless about draft selection early on, though once we get down to later rounds they get smarter for some reason. I've had multiple times where a LB or OLine I want
is projected to be 40-50 picks later and then is taken the PICK before me at like round 3 pick 32... the 32nd pick seems to be a pattern.
Draft: Round 1: Save about 6-8 picks between your "projected" value and where you draft them depending on how crucial they are to your team. I find the first 6-9 picks are pretty accurate to Mock Draft 5.
Round 2: Save about 8-10 picks between "projected value and where you draft them.
Round 3+4: Save about 12-15 picks between projected value and where you draft.
Round 5+: 20-35+ projected value but especially as we hit rounds 4+ be VERY careful about waiting too long to get some players. I have twice had players who still had about 35+ projected picks till they were drafted get taken when I was about to trade up for them. This becomes a big issue as CPU teams have similar needs to your team position wise at OL etc
Post Draft: Check your team's (and if you want) rating and hidden development trait! I also for educational purposes like to look at players I did not choose or almost took to see what their ratings are and if there is anything for next season I might take more into account. You should be EXTREMELY happy with your results following this method.
Common Patterns in Draft Class (for FA and Draft help):
- TE is constantly filled with star or better players. Don't waste it in FA.
- CB has been surprisingly shallow year to year.
- ROLB and LOLB are filled with star or better players.
- Oline is very rags or riches with draft class. But in a 2-3 year span you can absolutely draft a Pro Bowl caliber line all through the draft .
OLine more in depth: Based on experience, you can constantly find Oline in rounds 3+ that are 73-74 rated with star development which imo is a better bargain. Sometimes the draft class for that year just has bad OLine guys, don't just reach because of that. In other drafts there could be 4 Center's with star rating, 1 with superstar all in rounds 2 or later.
News: What stories are important to take note of and lead to higher % of star or better development and which ones are meaningless?
Important ones are any that have a NARRATIVE associated with it. Like, "father was an olympic athlete, hall of fame coach", "former MMA star turned MLB", these usually appear in weeks 1-3.
Unimportant ones are ANYTHING involving a scout like Todd McShay praising a player, or anything involving awards like the Heisman, best TE, or player of the year.
Please try it for yourself. Any feedback or questions let me know.
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