Madden Fantasy Draft - Important Positions

[unc_kobw]

What positions do you feel like are the most important if you were going to do a fantasy draft?

The obvious choice is a good QB, but what are some of the other positions you would take early in the draft.

[PGaither84]

Re: Madden Fantasy Draft - Important Positions

Tight End. You can't replace a Vernon Davis or Rob Gonkowski.

You can draft a QB later in the draft.

In Madden 10 and 11 you cold wait until around the 10th round to draft really good [young] QBs, and I think the same is true in 12.

TE and MLB. Linebackers do a ton of work. They drop into coverage, blitz, an are often the primary run stoppers.

I also value the O-Line pretty highly. Each team wants 5 starting linemen and there are 32 teams... but there aren't enough really good linemen to go around. As a result, I spend a lot of early picks on locking up my O-Line.

[unc_kobw]

Re: Madden Fantasy Draft - Important Positions

Tight End. You can't replace a Vernon Davis or Rob Gonkowski.

You can draft a QB later in the draft.

In Madden 10 and 11 you cold wait until around the 10th round to draft really good [young] QBs, and I think the same is true in 12.

TE and MLB. Linebackers do a ton of work. They drop into coverage, blitz, an are often the primary run stoppers.

I also value the O-Line pretty highly. Each team wants 5 starting linemen and there are 32 teams... but there aren't enough really good linemen to go around. As a result, I spend a lot of early picks on locking up my O-Line.

Im just not big on TE's, they arent used very much in the offense I run. When I sit here and think about it, the first 3 players I would draft would be either Patrick Willis, Ndamukong Suh, or Nnamdi Asomugha. Patrick Willis is a hell of a player in the game. He can lay the hits and he has good speed. Suh, well he is a monster of a DT pass rusher for me. I dont have to blitz anyone because he dominates the O-Line. Asomugha is a shut down corner. The longer he can stay on a WR, the more time I have to pressure the QB.

I can wait to get players on the offensive side. I use players like Deshaun Jackson, Reggie Bush, etc. and they usually arent taken early in a draft. I really like Cam Newton too, hes about the first offensive player I would draft.

[Gronk4M13]

Re: Madden Fantasy Draft - Important Positions

TE or WR. I need a good passing game. I've had a franchise with Megatron, Hakeem Nicks and Dwayne Bowe at WR, and Kevin Kolb at QB, with Michael Bush at HB, and won a superbowl. I had a franchise with Gronkowski, had a good season even though he was my only really good guy.

[Osceola]

Re: Madden Fantasy Draft - Important Positions

Pass rushing DE's to get that great speed rush...

[SuperNoVa27]

Re: Madden Fantasy Draft - Important Positions

Good Young O-Line. Skill positions are draftable in later years and you probably could get a solid rookie who develops pretty late in rounds.

I usually go

O-Line
O-Line
Corner
Corner
O-Line
Reciever

[ir2proforu2]

Re: Madden Fantasy Draft - Important Positions

CB
CB
WR
MLB OR LOLB OR ROLB
WR
SAFETY
CB
RB

pretty much every other position is a waste of a pick o line doesnt mean crap/ dline doesnt mean crap

[TheDelta]

Re: Madden Fantasy Draft - Important Positions

Good Young O-Line. Skill positions are draftable in later years and you probably could get a solid rookie who develops pretty late in rounds.

I usually go

O-Line
O-Line
Corner
Corner
O-Line
Reciever

I'm sorry but that's not really a good way to draft in Madden, and that's not really a matter of opinion. The way Oline works in Madden, it's simply not very important. The difference between a great Oline and a mediocre one on the field is so small it feels hard to notice it at all. So no, going Oline in the first two rounds as probably the worst thing you could actually do in a fantasy draft, literally every other position has a much stronger impact on the field than Oline. You can get a decent enough Oline 10+ rounds later which will play just as well as your elite first round picks, while the elite CBs, LBs and WRs which will actually help you on field aren't available anymore.

I can only repeat what PGaither has said, Gronk and Vernon Davis are both incredibly elite talents which can define a whole team, you can't go wrong picking one of them early. Elite WRs are another option, I'm a bit low on HBs in the first round, the only ones I'd consider are AP and DMC, because they both have the rare combination of speed and power, if you can't get one of them, I'd recommend waiting until round 28 because you can easily pick up a good young power or speed back then who doesn't play noticeably worse than all those highly rated backs you can pick up in the first four rounds.

On defense, LB and CB are by far the most important. You can easily pick up good Dlinemen later, but in Madden, a great defense in my experience begins with fast cover corners and fast LBs. Have slow LBs and your opponent can run all over you or kill you with his TEs all game long, have slow CBs and your opponents receivers will run amok over you. Guys like Patrick Willis, Navorro Bowman, Lawrence Timmons, Jerod Mayo, Clay Matthews, Von Miller (!!! get this guy. Seriously, if you do a fantasy draft, there is no reason on earth not to get Miller on your team. Same goes for Patrick Peterson as far as CBs are concerned. Those guys start out as rookies who are already capable of playing at a very high level and they only get better and better every year) are all worth early picks, because if you miss out on them, it will actually hurt you. Missing out on Joe Thomas or Jake Long, on the other hand, won't hurt you at all, get some young linemen in round 10-15+ and you shouldn't even notice a difference on the field. You can easily post a 2000 yard rushing season with a 65 OVR RB running behind a 70-75 OVR Oline, and your 75 OVR rookie QB can play well enough to get you to the playoffs if you're skilled enough. If you got 65-70 OVR CBs and LBs on the field, you will get killed all game long.

Of course, that doesn't mean you should go defense exclusively, as I've said, WRs and TEs are two very important positions where the elite players will give you a great advantage on the field. But one thing I notice that very often, people try to copy how they'd draft a team in real life, and it should be obvious to everyone who has every played this game why this is a bad strategy. Madden doesn't work like the real NFL, it's as simple as that, and so it's obvious that your draft strategy should be based on positional value in Madden, not real life positional value.

[DarthCa1]

Re: Madden Fantasy Draft - Important Positions

I need a good passing game.

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Re: Madden Fantasy Draft - Important Positions

For me, I always go with 2 elite coverage linebackers and one elite WR.

In my online franchise, I ended up with Brian Urlacher and Clay Matthews for the linebackers and Kenny Britt as my elite WR. Picked up Ryan Mallett as my QB late in the draft, led the league in all passing categories and had the #1 defense in the league.

[mjhyankees]

Re: Madden Fantasy Draft - Important Positions

The passing game is king in the NFL and in Madden too. So you need not necessarily in this order.

1. A good QB
2. A good reciever at any position...someone you can go to.
3. A stopper CB to stop their good receiver.
4. A pass rusher..usually a RE to sack or hurry their QB
5. A good LT to stop their RE....If you have guys in the 90's at those spots...you will kill.

[SuperNoVa27]

Re: Madden Fantasy Draft - Important Positions

I'm sorry but that's not really a good way to draft in Madden, and that's not really a matter of opinion. The way Oline works in Madden, it's simply not very important. The difference between a great Oline and a mediocre one on the field is so small it feels hard to notice it at all. So no, going Oline in the first two rounds as probably the worst thing you could actually do in a fantasy draft, literally every other position has a much stronger impact on the field than Oline. You can get a decent enough Oline 10+ rounds later which will play just as well as your elite first round picks, while the elite CBs, LBs and WRs which will actually help you on field aren't available anymore.

I can only repeat what PGaither has said, Gronk and Vernon Davis are both incredibly elite talents which can define a whole team, you can't go wrong picking one of them early. Elite WRs are another option, I'm a bit low on HBs in the first round, the only ones I'd consider are AP and DMC, because they both have the rare combination of speed and power, if you can't get one of them, I'd recommend waiting until round 28 because you can easily pick up a good young power or speed back then who doesn't play noticeably worse than all those highly rated backs you can pick up in the first four rounds.

On defense, LB and CB are by far the most important. You can easily pick up good Dlinemen later, but in Madden, a great defense in my experience begins with fast cover corners and fast LBs. Have slow LBs and your opponent can run all over you or kill you with his TEs all game long, have slow CBs and your opponents receivers will run amok over you. Guys like Patrick Willis, Navorro Bowman, Lawrence Timmons, Jerod Mayo, Clay Matthews, Von Miller (!!! get this guy. Seriously, if you do a fantasy draft, there is no reason on earth not to get Miller on your team. Same goes for Patrick Peterson as far as CBs are concerned. Those guys start out as rookies who are already capable of playing at a very high level and they only get better and better every year) are all worth early picks, because if you miss out on them, it will actually hurt you. Missing out on Joe Thomas or Jake Long, on the other hand, won't hurt you at all, get some young linemen in round 10-15+ and you shouldn't even notice a difference on the field. You can easily post a 2000 yard rushing season with a 65 OVR RB running behind a 70-75 OVR Oline, and your 75 OVR rookie QB can play well enough to get you to the playoffs if you're skilled enough. If you got 65-70 OVR CBs and LBs on the field, you will get killed all game long.

Of course, that doesn't mean you should go defense exclusively, as I've said, WRs and TEs are two very important positions where the elite players will give you a great advantage on the field. But one thing I notice that very often, people try to copy how they'd draft a team in real life, and it should be obvious to everyone who has every played this game why this is a bad strategy. Madden doesn't work like the real NFL, it's as simple as that, and so it's obvious that your draft strategy should be based on positional value in Madden, not real life positional value.

I sim my games more than I play them and O-Line makes a huge difference.

[TheDelta]

Re: Madden Fantasy Draft - Important Positions

I sim my games more than I play them and O-Line makes a huge difference.

Well you should mention this, as for every player who does not sim his own games (which I'd wager would be the huge majority), as I said, following your advice would actually be close to the worst way to go in a Madden fantasy draft.

[PGaither84]

Re: Madden Fantasy Draft - Important Positions

I think your sliders and setting make a big difference in how well your Offensive and Defensive Lines play as well.

Right now, I am messing with sliders and 100 fatigue settings where the ratings of my linemen feel important. For example, the 49ers center has TERRIBLE run blocking ratings and gives up a ton of instantly shed blocks, where Mike Iupati and Anthony Davis are pretty beastly.

Also, finesse move rushers are almost worthless where power move pass rushers can be too good. Again with my current set up, the combo of Justin and Aldon Smith rushing the passer is pretty brutal.

Here are two video where the AI is controlling my pass rushers.

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/K3H1PgImtZ0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1ivI_BEubFw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


They aren't this successful every down, but they can really get some work done. Notice how Aldon occupies two offensive blockers on both plays and on the first play Justin also occupies two blockers. That is two defenders occupying 4 blockers, which allows Ray Mac and Ahmad Brooks to try an win their 1-on-1 match ups while I drop 7 into coverage.

Line CAN matter, but on default settings I agree with Delta that you can pass on drafting linemen. I don't but I also don't drat them with my top 5 picks. I normally try to take them with picks 6-10 and my center later in around 13 or so because often good centers stay that late, but it depends.