One of my favorite parts of playing Madden is to start a Franchise mode with a Fantasy Draft. I decided to finally put some planning into this year's version, and I thought I'd share my results in case they would prove useful to anyone else.
What I did was sim an entire fantasy draft and go back through the results, taking note of which positions the CPU drafted in which round. I've always found myself thinking 'I really want (insert player here), and he's at the top of the draft board in his position, but can I wait another round or two?' This will help you answer that question.
There is obviously some randomness to it, and user interference may cause the CPU to alter its strategy, but the projections on the sheet are surprisingly consistent.
The file is a grid, showing the different positions and each round of the draft. The intersection of the two shows the lowest overall ranking for a player at that position that was drafted in that round. (i.e. '82' at the intersection of DE and Round 7 indicates that the lowest rated DE taken in Round 7 was an 82 OVR.) This can help you identify 'runs' on a position, i.e. Rounds 5-8 for Guard goes 89-84-82-79. This means guards will be flying off the board during these rounds.
A blank square indicates no player from that position was selected during that round. For example, no QB is selected in Rounds 3-8. In round 3, Matt Ryan was the top QB on the board. Without these numbers, you might be tempted to get a QB while you can, but the sheet tells you that you could wait another five rounds and still get the same guy.
Also, from what I could tell, the computer always drafts the highest OVR ranking at a position; in other words, it will never skip over 29 year old Jerricho Cotchery (OVR 79) and draft 22 year old Julio Jones (OVR 78) instead, despite their obvious differences in upside.
This is all based off of one simulation, with salary cap and pre-existing injuries OFF. As roster updates are released, it will probably become outdated, but for now, maybe it will help someone. Enjoy!


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