[ogwilson]

I've played about 5 seasons of Franchise so far with the Green Bay Packers.

After trading Aaron Rodgers, BJ Raji and Clay Matthews following two additional championships following the 2010 one (they were getting way too expensive, to the point where it was tough to sign rookies or even cheap free gents) I was able to procure two extra first round picks, two second round picks and an extra third round pick. Really didn't get serious about the draft until I traded those players.

I scouted QBs first and ended up finding a gem in the 5th round. His name turned out to be Chase Blacksheer. He was an 84 overall and A potential when I drafted him. After one 7-9 season (expected at the start of a rebuilding period) he has grown into a 90 overall QB with 76 speed, 80 accell, 83 agility, 90 awareness, 89 throw power, 79 short throw accuracy, 94 medium throw accuracy (surprising), 81 deep throw accuracy, 95 throw on the run and 85 play action. Essentially, my new Aaron Rodgers once he works on his short throw.

To build around him, I drafted WRs and Linemen. Starting with the WRs (since I spent far less time on them) I ended up finding Denario Green, first round pick (24th overall). He started as an 82 overall and has gone to 88 overall since his rookie 7-9 season with A potential. His stats are 90 speed, 95 agility, 94 acceleration, 80 trucking, 90 elusiveness, 89 for both spin and juke move, 96 for catch, 78 for route running, 95 for catch in traffic, 93 for spectacular catch, 99 for beat press, 89 for jump (he's 6"5') and 97 and 93 for stamina and injury. He's not the fastest on my team, but 90 is still pretty damn good and he will catch just about anything.

I also drafted a couple middle of the road WRs who are fast and agile but not extremely good with catching and beating press coverage. They both started out around mid-70s with B potential.

Then there's the offensive line. There is just too much I did here I didn't want to get too deep into it. But pretty much I was able to find quite a few gems in the mid-late rounds. In the first round, I found a tackle who had A potential and came out to be 82 starting out. Great pass blocking stats and good run blocking. In the second round I ended up finding a guard who was sort of on-par with the first round tackle, though his pass blocking wasn't as good. Also drafted a center who came out to be A potential and came out with an 86 overall rating with both great pass blocking and run blocking. Also drafted another center, though his potential was only a C and he started out in the low 70s as far as ratings go. Not a very good run blocker, though I didn't expect him to be. For my third pick in the second round, I ended up going for a middle linebacker. With Lofa Tatupu quickly degrading and Nick Barnett long gone, I had to find one. Thankfully, he had B potential and has shed a lot of blocks over the course of the season so far (12 games). He's also fast, perfect fit for my 3-4 defense where speedy and elusive OLBs are needed.

I only had one third round pick, but I ended up finding a defensive tackle that had an A potential but, oddly enough, only started out with a 78 rating overall. His rating was mainly due to a lack of awareness and subpar strength. He's definitely my main project player of the draft.

Overall, a good draft. The new scouting system allows me to spot who might be the sleeper picks early on and focus more of my time on them when it comes to the offseason. This is especially important for me because building through the draft and cheap free agency grabs are what I surround my year-to-year team building philosophies on, just like the Green Bay Packers. So far so good. It beats scouting in Madden 11 where I would find a prospect with great stats for his position but ended up being pretty terrible or just average.