The End of Scouting Tips Threads! - BreakingBad2013's Blog

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BreakingBad2013's Blog

The End of Scouting Tips Threads!

Posted on September 23, 2014 at 02:40 PM.

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Welcome to the Official Scouting Tips Blog. Please take the time to read through different tips and techniques to make sure you can maximize your Scouting and have a Great Draft Day.

DON'T WASTE POINTS ON SCOUTING THE ACTUAL ATTRIBUTE NUMBER. . . EVER!

Wait until the end of Free Agency to scout!

If you wait until the end of the season, some college players will enter or be removed from the draft board depending on the story lines.

Waiting will also keep some of your favorite players fresh in mind, rather than trying to remember the players that you liked after you spent points in week one.

At the end of the season, you will have felt or noticed your weaknesses.

Scouting after Free Agency will give you the advantage of saving Scouting Points on positions of need, after Free Agency, you should have cut out a couple of positions of need.

You will have all of your points compiled, and ready to spend. This will allow you to calculate exactly how much you can spend on each player, or position.

Positional Scouting

Please scout only these attributes when scouting by position, only unlock the LETTER GRADE!

QB Throw Power, Accuracy Short/Mid/Deep, Speed (if looking mobile)

HB Carry, Speed, Acceleration, Truck, Stiff Arm, Spin, Juke, Elusive

WR Speed, Catch, Catch in Traffic, Route Running, Acceleration

TE Same as Above + Run Block, Pass Block (if interested in blocking TE)

OL Run Block, Pass Block, Impact Block

DE(43) Speed, Block Shedding, Finesse Move, Power Move

DE(34) Same as above + Strength, Weight 310+

DT Speed, Block Shedding, Finesse Move, Power Move, Strength

NT Block Shedding, Strength, Power Move

OLB(43) Speed, Zone Coverage, Hit Power, Play Recognition, Pursuit

OLB(34) Same as 43 DE + Hit Power, Tackle, Pursuit.

ILB Tackle, Hit Power, Block Shedding, Pursuit, Play Recognition, Speed

CB Speed, Press, Man Coverage, Zone Coverage

S Speed, Zone Coverage, Man Coverage, Tackle, Hit Power

K/P - Kick Power, Kick Accuracy

The players with the most Bs under these key attributes will be the best players. Even if they're projected 4th round against a 1st rounder!

Keys to Saving Points

QB Unlock Throw Accuracy Deep first, if its a B or Higher, go to Mid accuracy, then short, then throw power. If its a C, go to the next prospect, unless Deep Accuracy isn't important to you.

HB unlock Carry first, if this is a C or worse, goto next RB prospect.

WR Go to Catch in Traffic, your sleepers will have a B CIT, if its lower, skip that prospect, unless of course you're looking for a speedy guy. Do NOT draft a WR with less than "A" Speed!

OL Start at Pass Block, if there's a C skip him, if you get a B or higher goto Impact Block, if its a C skip, if not goto Run Block. You should only be interested in guys with a B or Higher Grade on ALL OL.

DE I start in the 4-3 with finesse move, then block shedding, if these aren't Bs, quit and goto next prospect.

DE(34) Same here, but with Power Move not Finesse Move.

DT same as above.

LB must have a B or higher in Tackle, Hit Power, and Block Shedding to be a beast. Could have high coverage instead of Block Shedding if you like dropping back LBs

CB Start at Press, the best All-Around CBs will have a B Press. If they have a C, go to the next prospect.

S The best Safeties will have an A speed, at least a C in Tackle and Zone Coverage.

Prerequisites and Requirements (Optional)

QB "A" Throw Power

HB "A" Speed

WR "A Speed"

OL Must be over 300 lbs. "B" or Higher in Run Block, Pass Block, Impact Block

DE Must be over 6'1 and 250 lbs. (See 34 DE Below)

DT Must be over 300 lbs "B" or Higher Block Shedding, Power Move

NT Must be over 320 lbs "B" or Higher Block Shedding, Power
Move, "A" Strength

LB Must be over 235 lbs At Least "B" Speed, Tackle, Hit Power

CB Must be 5'11 at least, "B" or higher Press, Zone Cvg, Man
Cvg, "A" Speed

S Must be over 6'0 and 195 lbs "A" Speed, "B" tackle, zone cvg.

All prospects worth scouting must be under age of 25. Don't draft old players.

You have your own preferences, do not waste points on players whom don't fit your scheme or style of play!

If a player doesn't fit these pre-reqs, I will cut off scouting immediately, or completely ignore said player.

Staff:

Check to see what your scouting department gets discounts on(Some Scouts will have discounts on useless attributes). Also see if there's a coach available, or if your coach gets extra scouting points.

Projection Awareness:

Do not scout every every 1st or 2nd rounder. Chances are you won't get all of them, If you find a guy in the top 5, and you have pick 28 and won't trade, you just wasted points.

If a Player is a 1st rounder that falls to the 2nd or 3rd, he's a bust.

Follow Draft Stories:

Throughout the Season you will see columns on guys who are doing well, terrible, injured, or surprising story lines. If you pay attention you may get a sleeper, a bust, or a versatile player.

Position Changes:

You can change positions after the draft, so don't skip out on that ROLB or RG and settle for the LOLB or LG.

Scheme:

Depending on how your scheme is set up, will alter each player's overall. So if you want a Speed WR, and you're the Bears, don't forget to change their WR scheme, that way you will see an actual overall for the player.

Understand your FUTURE:

The draft is all about the future of your team. Pay attention to who you have coming up on a contract year next season, or someone with an over-paid contract. Sometimes you will draft a position that will be needed in a year or two (Gives you time to develop them). This will also give you flexibility to let go of certain players that may not fit your scheme, are over-paid, or too old for your future! Sometimes you may just have to take the Best Player Available, even if he's a round too early.

Don't count on Projected Rounds:

Don't look at projected round, if there's a CB projected to go 3rd round, and he's A speed, B press, A man, B zone, grab him in the second if he's better than other prospects. Do not lose out on playing the waiting game. In retrospect, don't over-value someone with a 1st round tag, if he has 3rd round attribute ratings.

If you follow these steps, into the 5th round or so, you should have anyone under a 75 overall! This guide is the difference between drafting Vernon Gholston or Vontaze Burfict, Tom Brady or Jamarcus Russell, Calvin Johnson or Stephen Hill!

Good Luck! Remember "B"s are Key!

Comments

# 1 heelphreak @ Sep 24

Thanks for this!

# 2 Mercilus @ Sep 26

So what about if I want to draft a Watt type of player? He's by far the only 34 lineman getting sacks in that scheme. The 34 is built for linebackers is what I'm saying.

# 3 BreakingBad2013 @ Sep 26

Marcilus: I'm not understanding your question. If you want to draft a Watt type of player you can look at the LE, RE, and maybe DE positions. Look for Power Move and Block Shedding, with a B speed. Tall, and heavy. I have someone similar on my team now that's a rookie

# 4 BreakingBad2013 @ Sep 26

I drafted this guy

Daunte Penn
6'7 324
DT RATINGS
Overall Grade77
Strength Rating84
Power Moves89
Finesse Moves56
Block Shedding76
Pursuit78
Play Recognition63
Tackle86
Hit Power84

Just need to improve his block shedding.

# 5 lawflaw @ Sep 28

Wow, this is great info! I will definitely be using these tips for my online franchise. Thanks!

# 6 Acera @ Oct 1

nice guide, pretty damn similar to the strategy I've developed.

Only thing i would add is don't undervalue acceleration. I consider it vital for Lineman(both sides)

# 7 ajra21 @ Oct 16

in m25, i would draft 290lb plus DT and move them to 34DE. they would often become the best 34DE in the game quickly.

# 8 DonkeyJote @ Dec 8

Man this is gold. Just did my year one draft in my Jaguars cfm; went in with 12 picks, 10 of them rounds 3 through 5. Ended up getting 5 players 78 or above, and got 5 superstar development guys, along with one quick development. I did draft a cb with only B speed late in the fourth since he was A's just about everywhere else; he ended up being an 80 overall superstar.

# 9 batwood06 @ Jan 6

awesome guide. got 6 superstar-tier players in 2 years. many thanks.

# 10 KingV2k3 @ Jan 14

Concise and well written...thanks!

# 11 KingV2k3 @ Feb 18

I've come to suspect that the "production" rating (that you don't have to spend scouting points on) is often a pretty reliable way to tell if the player in question is worth pulling the trigger on...do you agree?

How DOES production tie into the overall scouting paradigm?

Thanks!

# 12 NoleFan @ Feb 19

My first draft with Jacksonville wasn't great but I did get a 75 OVR CB in round 1 and a 74 OVR LOLB in round 2. Everyone else was in the 60s. For the next offseason, I'll definitely be employing some of these principles to my scouting...with the addition of scouting awareness being that I'm a coach mode player.

# 13 BreakingBad2013 @ Feb 20

@KingV2l3 Yes the Development trait can help a ton, however, with its scouting cost, if you want to cover more players, using the basic letter grades to scout these players will yield results. If you find players that fit most of these, they will most likely be very good players, even if their development is slow, you can improve that with XP in a few seasons.

Vice Versa, if you find a guy with superstar dev, they may do well fit on the field until you get that XP. Also there are guys with Superstar Dev, but may be a 87 spd wr. etc.