Freak Recruits?

[jakedasnaked]

I know it seems like recruits are recycled, but I still like to see freak recruits. Share your freak recruits (that you didn't create). I would love to see better DT's I rarely see DT's over 300 lbs, wish there were more true nose tackles.

[Shonk]

Re: Freak Recruits?

The most freakish recruit I've ever seen was Manuel Estes. 6'5" 210lb FS 82 ovr 4-star gem (78+4) with 97 speed 93 acceleration 85 tackle 80 hitpower 73 man and 78 zone.

[martywebb]

Re: Freak Recruits?

Back in NCAA 07, I had an Athlete I recruited to Miami(FL.) I've forgotten his name, but he and my three friends running an offline were attempting to get him. He ended up a DE--6'6"--270, and as a freshman, had 86 speed, 83 strength and very, very high ratings in power moves. I'd manual him and just run my friends out of the pocket nearly every pass play.

[conception]

Re: Freak Recruits?

I recruited an athlete who had the blocking ability and strength to make it at tight end while having 88 speed. Sadly I redshirted the guy my freshman year and my redshirt freshman and sophomore tight ends tore the field up, so the guy transferred due to playing time and I never got to use him.

[jakedasnaked]

Re: Freak Recruits?

The most freakish recruit I've ever seen was Manuel Estes. 6'5" 210lb FS 82 ovr 4-star gem (78+4) with 97 speed 93 acceleration 85 tackle 80 hitpower 73 man and 78 zone.

Beast player. I'm recruiting a guy like him right now. I think I'm gonna move him to OLB and he will be a stud pass rusher/coverage combo guy. Can shut down tight ends and get to the passer.

[Dr Death]

Re: Freak Recruits?

I know it seems like recruits are recycled, but I still like to see freak recruits. Share your freak recruits (that you didn't create). I would love to see better DT's I rarely see DT's over 300 lbs, wish there were more true nose tackles.

I recently began playing this game again and as HC at FAU, I was trying to land a QB who - as a high school senior - had accuracy of 96!!! This means if I would have gotten him, with the QB that would have been a senior the following year, I could have red-shirted him and he would have been 97-99 accuracy as a red-shirt freshman.

The kid chose Notre Dame though... and for some reason he's not their starter. His throwing power is 83, so that's adequate, but if he had come to FAU, he would have been a star in my system.

[jakedasnaked]

Re: Freak Recruits?

I recently began playing this game again and as HC at FAU, I was trying to land a QB who - as a high school senior - had accuracy of 96!!! This means if I would have gotten him, with the QB that would have been a senior the following year, I could have red-shirted him and he would have been 97-99 accuracy as a red-shirt freshman.

The kid chose Notre Dame though... and for some reason he's not their starter. His throwing power is 83, so that's adequate, but if he had come to FAU, he would have been a star in my system.

That's pretty legit. I'm guessing you throw it a lot? I have started airing it out again and have a problem throwing picks. The receiver will have a step or two and the defender just eats the cushion up closes on the ball and picks it off. Any suggestions on throwing less picks?

[Dr Death]

Re: Freak Recruits?

That's pretty legit. I'm guessing you throw it a lot? I have started airing it out again and have a problem throwing picks. The receiver will have a step or two and the defender just eats the cushion up closes on the ball and picks it off. Any suggestions on throwing less picks?

There are several things I could suggest... some may seem trivial, but since I don't know you or what you know, try to have some patience...

1: Read the D before AND after the snap. This may seem simple, but knowing if it's Man or Zone can be a huge help.

2: Use your stick to lead your receivers. This depends on your sliders, but having the ability to lead your receivers is nice.

3: Know your players. If you have a WR who has 85 speed, he isn't going to be able to outrun many CB's, so knowing what each WR can do when they're on the field is another key.

4: Because the sliders I use have the Human accuracy so low, I won't start a QB until his accuracy is at least 88. I do throw a ton, and many of them are short, quick passes. For me, I love long drives. Had one yesterday that was 17 plays, 99 yards and took 9:23 off the clock and all 17 plays were passes. In college football, with the clock stopping after each first down, that's one heckuva drive! Point is... don't be afraid to throw short, quick passes. They keep you from being sacked and will open up things for deeper passes later.

5: There are times when Man defense is almost too difficult to beat. Know the routes that beat Man... Hook - Zig - Dig (like a 10-yard In route) and although I rarely use them, Slants can work too.

Reading your post makes me wonder if you're throwing picks from trying to throw from one side of the field to the other... which means the ball is in the air longer, giving the CB time to get to it. Knowing your QB's throwing power will help in that regard too. And timing... a simple 10-yard Out route will beat Man if you have the timing down perfect. Just know when your WR is going to make his cut. You want to throw it just before he cuts, so that when he does make his cut, the ball is already on the way.

To make this easy... if you're on your 20, and on the right hash-mark, and your left slot receiver is running a 10-yard Out - which means he'll be cutting to the Out at the 30, throw when he's at the 29. Timing is everything.

Hope that helps. Passing in this game is fun and a challenge, especially with the right sliders. Can't recall whose slider set I am using, but I got them from someone here in the Slider Thread section. They're very good and realistic. I also play 12-minute quarters.

[jbrew2411]

Re: Freak Recruits?

My current tailback...


Stephen Diggs- 6'2" 225lbs- Senior(Rs)
99spd, 97agl, 99acc, 89trk, 82str


He is a 99ovr HB but he was an athlete I recruited to play safety. I didn't look at his ratings all that close as a freshman since I had 4 tailbacks at the time. I placed him at safety and red shirted him, but at seasons end I had lost all 4 tailbacks, 2 to the draft and 2 to transfer. So I was looking at my current recruits and I had some slower guys coming in but has looking for that game breaker. I was looking at moving a corner who was just fast with no real running back skills when I noticed Diggs. At that time his speed was a 95 and his acc was a 97 so it had me thinking. Then I looked at his coverage abilities that were in the high 60s to low 70s so it only made sense to move him over.


He has been a 4 year starter, won the 2025 Heisman, and is a lock to be a 1st round pick. The guy does not play as fast as the ratings would lead you to think but in open space he can run. He is great on kickoffs but not my best, that belongs to my #2 FS Alex Rivers.

[tigeyiji]

Re: Freak Recruits?

This depends on your sliders, but having the ability to lead your receivers is nice.

[jakedasnaked]

Re: Freak Recruits?

My current tailback...


Stephen Diggs- 6'2" 225lbs- Senior(Rs)
99spd, 97agl, 99acc, 89trk, 82str


He is a 99ovr HB but he was an athlete I recruited to play safety. I didn't look at his ratings all that close as a freshman since I had 4 tailbacks at the time. I placed him at safety and red shirted him, but at seasons end I had lost all 4 tailbacks, 2 to the draft and 2 to transfer. So I was looking at my current recruits and I had some slower guys coming in but has looking for that game breaker. I was looking at moving a corner who was just fast with no real running back skills when I noticed Diggs. At that time his speed was a 95 and his acc was a 97 so it had me thinking. Then I looked at his coverage abilities that were in the high 60s to low 70s so it only made sense to move him over.


He has been a 4 year starter, won the 2025 Heisman, and is a lock to be a 1st round pick. The guy does not play as fast as the ratings would lead you to think but in open space he can run. He is great on kickoffs but not my best, that belongs to my #2 FS Alex Rivers.

That's pretty sick I need to find a Stephen Diggs. I'm recruiting a 6 ft 220ish ATH with 95 speed and 66 strength. He can def play tailback

[silver281gt]

Re: Freak Recruits?

That's pretty sick I need to find a Stephen Diggs. I'm recruiting a 6 ft 220ish ATH with 95 speed and 66 strength. He can def play tailback

I am currently recruiting to 94-95 speed athletes in my 1sy yr YSU dynasty. Currently the fastest guy on my team is 91 spd and I have a guy with 88 spd and 94 accel. Other then that my team is slow!!

[conception]

Re: Freak Recruits?

My current tailback...


Stephen Diggs- 6'2" 225lbs- Senior(Rs)
99spd, 97agl, 99acc, 89trk, 82str


He is a 99ovr HB but he was an athlete I recruited to play safety. I didn't look at his ratings all that close as a freshman since I had 4 tailbacks at the time. I placed him at safety and red shirted him, but at seasons end I had lost all 4 tailbacks, 2 to the draft and 2 to transfer. So I was looking at my current recruits and I had some slower guys coming in but has looking for that game breaker. I was looking at moving a corner who was just fast with no real running back skills when I noticed Diggs. At that time his speed was a 95 and his acc was a 97 so it had me thinking. Then I looked at his coverage abilities that were in the high 60s to low 70s so it only made sense to move him over.


He has been a 4 year starter, won the 2025 Heisman, and is a lock to be a 1st round pick. The guy does not play as fast as the ratings would lead you to think but in open space he can run. He is great on kickoffs but not my best, that belongs to my #2 FS Alex Rivers.

Sounds like a real freak. I would have had a hard time not putting him at WR though. 99 speed means if he can get off the jam at the line he can get open deep all the time, and speed would come in to play more at that than anywhere else. I understand the roster situation though. If you have an RB with low 90's speed, he will generally be able to do all the things a guy with 99 speed can, since low 90's will still beat most of the defense to the edge on outside plays, and its rare that an RB gets into a race running up the middle. And crazy as it sounds, running up the middle with a guy with extreme speed can hurt you because you'll run right into tackers, whereas a slightly slower guy will give you more time to read the blocks and adjust. Catch ratings also really only matter when getting jump balls or when the receiver is taking a hit right after the ball getting there.

I had a WR who was a 99 speed. He easily won returner of the year rookie year, and was near impossible to cover on the outside.

[pujolsformvp21]

Re: Freak Recruits?

I have found that there are not any freak recruits in terms of OVR but rather "freak" recruits in terms of size. You will never find that freshman who after scouting is like a 90 overall as a freshman but in real life when I think of freak freshman I think of someone who would be able to start right away and be one of the top rated players on the team. This happens all the time in real life with very highly touted "freak" recruits ala fournette or henry as a freshman. However i will often find "freak" recruits like the 6'8 Speed TE's or many other high rated recruits with 6'7+ height like WR, DE, LB, even S. I have found so many guys like that but a few stand out.

DE 6'7 Patrick Young #1 DE in his class came in as like a 83 OVR with 80+ speed and accelaration and very good finesse and power moves. Was a 4 year starter in my florida team and broke basically all team records and NCAA single season, game and career record.

FS 6'7 Ian Mitchell #2 FS 82 OVR, this guy i just recently signed so havent had a chance to use him but he has 90 speed and very high in tackle and coverage, he should be fun to use

[jbrew2411]

Re: Freak Recruits?

Sounds like a real freak. I would have had a hard time not putting him at WR though. 99 speed means if he can get off the jam at the line he can get open deep all the time, and speed would come in to play more at that than anywhere else. I understand the roster situation though. If you have an RB with low 90's speed, he will generally be able to do all the things a guy with 99 speed can, since low 90's will still beat most of the defense to the edge on outside plays, and its rare that an RB gets into a race running up the middle. And crazy as it sounds, running up the middle with a guy with extreme speed can hurt you because you'll run right into tackers, whereas a slightly slower guy will give you more time to read the blocks and adjust. Catch ratings also really only matter when getting jump balls or when the receiver is taking a hit right after the ball getting there.

I had a WR who was a 99 speed. He easily won returner of the year rookie year, and was near impossible to cover on the outside.

I had him at SS during his red shirt year b/c I had a need there but I had another guy that was a 6'1" 215lbs corner that was a little slower then I like my corners. I moved him to SS at the end of the season so I could move Diggs. If I had moved him to receiver he would have been in low 70s but at tailback he has an 83. I still throw him the ball coming out of the back field in the flats. The funny thing is I was the OC at Georgia in my dynasty in year 3. I had a senior Todd Gurley who had ratings very close to Diggs. I love some of the guys you can find deeper in the dynasty mode.