I think that draft classes are huge in helping one sustain and enjoy a franchise for a longer period of time.
I can't stress enough how important this is to me. My hope with this thread is that it will help someone who can't get as much enjoyment out of their franchise as I get out of mine.
It's all about the draft class.
I realize there are problems with draft classes in general and I pray that EA gives more time to these next year. First of all, I believe that draft classes should be FULLY customizable. We should be able to open them up and edit them at will. I was getting extremely frustated at spending hours loading and reloading my draft classes to get somewhat realistic results - and I have yet to still get the 'perfect' draft class, but I am going to give it another try.
If you want a realistic draft class and you have some time on your hands, follow these steps. Also, feel free to add your own if there's anything that I missed...
I will start a new dynasty in NCAA. Before doing so though, I will download Mustangs84 latest roster update. I've seen his work and am impressed with it. He has been updating them all season long so I feel they are the best set to work with (360). I will tinker around with some ratings and change some player's class in order to 'force' players to leave early.
I won't do this with guys like Luck, Richardson, Griffin, Blackmon, etc... The reason for that is because if you change their class to senior, you'll find that they come in sometimes at like 24 or 25-years-old. I would load the perfect class but Luck would be 25 (listen up EA; this is where being able to edit draft class players would be IDEAL).
There is no rhyme or reason on when players get drafted. I have not found a formula that works. Luck and Landry Jones always turned out to be projected first rounders, but guys like Robert Griffin and Justin Blackmon were all over the place, from first to seventh round projected picks. I've seen them both as first rounders and both as seventh rounders. It's weird.
So I hope this helps you guys. It doesn't fix the funky player models and equipment (another reason why we should get to edit height/weight, build and equipment) but it will give you a realistic draft class. If I could find a way to upload and share it, I would. I've had very good success with this before but this next attempt will be my longest one yet because I'm looking for the best results that I can get for my 'real' Seahawks' franchise.
Again, if anyone has any other tips or pointers, please post them in here.
I can't stress enough how important this is to me. My hope with this thread is that it will help someone who can't get as much enjoyment out of their franchise as I get out of mine.
It's all about the draft class.
I realize there are problems with draft classes in general and I pray that EA gives more time to these next year. First of all, I believe that draft classes should be FULLY customizable. We should be able to open them up and edit them at will. I was getting extremely frustated at spending hours loading and reloading my draft classes to get somewhat realistic results - and I have yet to still get the 'perfect' draft class, but I am going to give it another try.
If you want a realistic draft class and you have some time on your hands, follow these steps. Also, feel free to add your own if there's anything that I missed...
I will start a new dynasty in NCAA. Before doing so though, I will download Mustangs84 latest roster update. I've seen his work and am impressed with it. He has been updating them all season long so I feel they are the best set to work with (360). I will tinker around with some ratings and change some player's class in order to 'force' players to leave early.
I won't do this with guys like Luck, Richardson, Griffin, Blackmon, etc... The reason for that is because if you change their class to senior, you'll find that they come in sometimes at like 24 or 25-years-old. I would load the perfect class but Luck would be 25 (listen up EA; this is where being able to edit draft class players would be IDEAL).
- I'll edit height and weight for a lot of players. It is sad to have to do this, but without doing so, the player portraits will be pretty jacked up. At Luck's current size, he comes in as (usually) a fat, white bald guy. I will drop him down to 6'3" and 215 pounds because that is the threshold for a 'skinny' or 'athletic' face. I do this with a lot of players such as Trent Richardson, Alfonzo Dennard, Dre Kirkpatrick and a few other QB's. Again EA, this is where it would be great to be able to CHOOSE what portraits a player gets.
- I'll play a few games with some college superstars on ROOKIE so I can have monster games with them. I'm talking about twice per season, I am going to play as Stanford and Luck is going to cheese his way to 900 passing yards and 12 or 13 TD passes. Trent Richardson will have a couple 600+ rushing yard days and eight or nine touchdowns. Justin Blackmon? Congrats on your new NCAA single game receiving record of 750 yards receiving and 10 TD's. Cheese or not, I'm trying to get a draft class here. Having a couple games like this for these guys will heavily increase your odds that they go pro. Perhaps checking their stats through the first few games is not a bad idea, either. I found that Luck was doing just fine on his own and leading the Heisman voting through three games with over 1,400 passing yards and 15 TD's so I didn't need to play as him at all. But doing this and simming the defense is not as time consuming as it sounds.
- For the players who stay in school like Matt Barkley... There's a couple of different options. You can make him a sophomore or just run with USC for your dynasty and convince him to stay if he decides to bolt early to the NFL.
There is no rhyme or reason on when players get drafted. I have not found a formula that works. Luck and Landry Jones always turned out to be projected first rounders, but guys like Robert Griffin and Justin Blackmon were all over the place, from first to seventh round projected picks. I've seen them both as first rounders and both as seventh rounders. It's weird.
So I hope this helps you guys. It doesn't fix the funky player models and equipment (another reason why we should get to edit height/weight, build and equipment) but it will give you a realistic draft class. If I could find a way to upload and share it, I would. I've had very good success with this before but this next attempt will be my longest one yet because I'm looking for the best results that I can get for my 'real' Seahawks' franchise.
Again, if anyone has any other tips or pointers, please post them in here.
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