Scouting and the Draft

[victory2128]

Hi everyone, this may be covered elsewhere in the forums that I may have missed and if so I apologize for the post, but I had a question or two about scouting and the draft. FYI, Im not looking for specific players or a draft guide. I actually enjoy trying to find the gems of a draft myself, but I'm having difficulties doing that on Madden 25. I've tried using google magic and also tried YouTube and I've found some info, but a mass amount of conflicting ideas on how to scout, so I thought I'd ask the knowledgable gamers here at OS. I wanted to know everyone's opinion on how they scout. What do you find valuable when scouting a certain position? Do you have a specific strategy you tend to follow? Do you find scouting a player's Scheme and Player Style valuable and if so, which is more valuable to scout in your opinion? Do you tend to focus on a myriad of position specific skills sets when scouting or do you spend more points on the athletic attributes? Can you save all your Scouting Points until the the week before the draft so you can scout positions of need more once you've finished free-agency? Also, what's your approach on the day of the draft? Am I the only one that has found that the AI for the CPU teams tend to want to reach for players that you've scouted pretty heavily and want for your team? I.E. a player rated to go in the 5th round going in the 2nd/3rd/4th. How prevalent is this and will I need to reach for guys I want to stop the AI from doing it and how far of a reach should I make? Thanks for any and all responses. Look forward to reading other's opinions/strategies/ideas.

[macbranson]

1) it's a great idea to save your points until after free agency. I had been scouting CBs and WRs all season only to fill those needs in free agency. I wound up needing a LT in the draft and had very little points to scout them.

2) when you do scout players, you have to make your scouting points count. There's a package you can buy that increases your scouting points during the season. I think it's a good thing to purchase. So I typically just focus on the first round need and second round need. So, if I need a CB, I'd scout the CBs projected to go in the first round and maybe the first two projected for the second round. Your first round pick is obviously your most important, so make sure you scout that position the best. Focus on attributes for that position and just do the first phase of scouting. When you have it narrowed down to a few players, do the second phase that shows you the actual attributes in number form as opposed to letter grades. The letter grades are pretty accurate, though, so if you want to avoid the second phase of scouting, you can save a lot of points to scout other players.

3) The CPU is hard to predict. Check the CPU's team needs because they tend to draft according to that. The CPU usually won't just take the best player on the board, they usually focus on team needs. So the CPU may take a punter in the first round or take a QB in the first , then another QB in the second and another QB in the fourth. That's why you have to scout a bunch of players for the first round. If the guy you want gets drafted by someone else, you should have another guy who is second on your draft board. Or if you're real meticulous, you can check the cpu's team needs and trade up to get the guy you want.

4) My draft was weird because I originally intended to draft a CB in the first round and a WR in the second. But then, I filled those spots in free agency. I had a need at LT, but I signed a young player who I thought I could develop. So when the draft came, I had no real glaring holes that needed to be filled. I scouted a few LTs , but wound up trading up to get another WR as Steve Smith had retired on me and I didn't resign Randy Moss. I'm lazy and didn't bother checking the CPU's team needs. There was a guy named Miles Ali who they had been talking about all season and I figured I would go after him. I traded my first and a third and fourth to the Rams for the 14th overall pick and snagged him. Like I said, I didn't have any glaring needs, so I didn't mind giving up a bunch of picks. Then I got lucky in the second round because there was still a LT on the board who had been projected to go 5th overall! I knew something was up when I saw that the projected 5th overall pick was still on the board in the second round. I took him anyway, though, and he wound up being like a 74 overall. His pass blocking is good, but his run blocking is in the 60s which is terrible.

5) So definitely save your scouting points until after free agency. That's what I've learned. And scout a lot of players in case they come off the board before expected. Keep in mind that a lot of CPU generated rookies have weird attributes. I've seen CBs with 90 strength and RTs with 80 speed. Just focus on the important skills for that position. That CB with 90 strength had like 83 speed, so pay attention to things like that. Don't be afraid to trade up if there's a player you really want. If you have a lot of needs, try to rack up on picks before the draft.

5) focus on your players attributes. Remember, attributes are the most important thing. Once you draft a player, the Overall rating you see is for YOUR SCHEME. When you get to play a season game, you can view the player's actual rating in the depth chart. The overall you see when you're not playing a game can drastically overrate or underrate a player.

Good luck!

[roll2tide]

IMHO, because upgrading young players skillsets is so cheap....

Draft based on nothing other than Speed, Agility, Acceleration, and Strength. Injury and Toughness can be secondary factors. Doesn't matter what the Awareness, Play Recognition, Catching, Tackling, Man Coverage, Ball Carrier Vision, etc is. The first season I buy all packages:

Get consistency up to 3/4, buy Clutch, High Motor, Big Hitter, etc.

Season 2 is all about primary stats:

Awareness on offense, Play recognition on defense. Block Shedding and coverage skills for defense; Catching and ball carrier vision, etc for offense.

Season 3 is all about the little things that still need upping.

IMHO, this is a solid way to always have studs on your team and it works 100% of the time.

[victory2128]

Good stuff guys, thanks for replying, all them views and only two responses, lol. Lazy... Keep it coming. More info we get as a group the better. Oh, and so you guys feel finding a players Scheme (Vertical Offense, Power Run, Spread, Etc....) more effective then finding his play style (I.E. Receivers: Speed, Route Running, Red-zone threat, Etc...) ?

[HollaMV7]

Quote: Originally Posted by macbranson

5) focus on your players attributes. Remember, attributes are the most important thing. Once you draft a player, the Overall rating you see is for YOUR SCHEME. When you get to play a season game, you can view the player's actual rating in the depth chart. The overall you see when you're not playing a game can drastically overrate or underrate a player. Good luck!

This is news to me. So the overall ratings of a player differ from in game to what it shows on the depth chart when not in game? What do you mean it changes based on my scheme? Thanks for the info.

[macbranson]

During the season, the player's overall include Grades specific to your scheme. These grades are Intangible, Size, Physical, Durability and Production. The player's overall will be affected by these grades. Once you're playing a season game, and go to the depth chart, this will display the player's actual attributes. For instance, Cam Newton is a 99 in my scheme, but in-game, he's rated 92. This is his actual overall rating.

[victory2128]

Quote: Originally Posted by macbranson

During the season, the player's overall include Grades specific to your scheme. These grades are Intangible, Size, Physical, Durability and Production. The player's overall will be affected by these grades. Once you're playing a season game, and go to the depth chart, this will display the player's actual attributes. For instance, Cam Newton is a 99 in my scheme, but in-game, he's rated 92. This is his actual overall rating.

Interesting stuff Branson, never thought of looking at that before and seeing a difference, now my question to branch off of the other fellows, is which do you think is more important. The actual in game rating, or the one for your scheme?

[josefrees]

If you have a pick and you don't have a player you want and nobody wants to trade with you, do not take a player falling in the draft. Like that one guy who had the guy who dropped from the top five. I wouldn't touch them. The computer knows everything and they are dumb as a rock so if they aren't touching them neither am I.

If a storyline player is a late rounder I will always target them. Even if they are bad at least they have a story.

I agree with waiting until week 7 of offseason to scout. If you want to trade for picks this is the time to do it. Otherwise you get one shot at the pick and you cannot do more comprehensive trades.

I tend to scout for the speed, agility, strength, and accel. A couple of expensive skills are spectacular catch for WRs and man coverage for Linebackers.