Quick guide to making sense of the new recruiting csv

[Hellisan]

Recently, EA released a blog in which Russ Kiniry explained that there are now CSV files (data files) available for things like the recruiting class, rosters, schedules, and the like. This was big for me, because i'm a spreadsheet kinda guy. I love using them.

From your online dynasty (http://dynasty.easports.com) you can go to the recruiting section, and it will say something like "download class"

If you save this file and then open it with excel... You can then save it as an excel file.

Now... Look at the data. It's pretty jumbled up. A lot of it doesn't make any sense at all at first glance. What you have here is one profile for each position player... And 15 profiles for each athlete. (one for every position except kicker/punter).

So here's how I go about it and it's pretty easy to do. Once you make a spreadsheet for yourself, you can save that and then open up a new one for every year. This process should take about 10 minutes if you know what you're doing and know Excel.

Now... At the very top of the file is a half-hearted labeling for those ratings. Ignore that, I think it's only good for one position (QB). If you were to do this from scratch you'd have to go through and figure out what order (and which) ratings are there for each position. I'll at least be able to give you that.

first we will sort the data. If you don't know how to use excel at all, there are tons of help forums all over the net. You can find easy answers to almost anything on there. I had to teach myself all this crap, so...

Remember now you're working with an excel file not a CSV file. Do a double-layered sort.

Position (A-Z)
Overall Ranking (Low to High)

This should create a situation where you see the top athlete at the very top. There will be 15 profiles for him... and then 15 profiles for EACH athlete thereafter. This is a bitch to work with. Below I will list what the ratings are for each position. The ATHLETES have 15 profiles so they have the ratings for just about everything other than Kicking in there.

Now... I recommend creating a separate tab for every position. With the athletes I just put all that data that on its own page. I make use of it (quite in depth in fact) but for now I'll challenge you to figure out what you want to do with it

Here are the ratings that are included for every position. Again, just finding these out takes quite awhile because it's not included with the file. There may be mistakes. If something is incorrect please notify me.

When you start pasting the data for each position into its own tab, here is what you will label them with at the top:

QB: SPD AWR THP THA AGI BTK ELU TRK CAR STA INJ

HB: SPD AWR BTK CAR TRK ELU AGI BCV STR CTH SFA SPM JKM RTE IBL RBK PBK ACC STA INJ

FB: SPD AWR BTK CAR STR TRK RBK RBS RBF PBK PBS PBF IBL AGI SFA BCV CTH ELU STA INJ

WR: SPD AWR CTH RTE CIT SPC JMP REL CAR BTK ELU AGI JKM SPM SFA STA INJ

TE: SPD AWR CTH CIT RTE RBK RBS RBF PBK PBS PBF IBL AGI RLS BTK STR STA INJ

T: SPD AWR RBK RBS RBF PBK PBS PBF IBL AGI STR STA INJ

G: SPD AWR RBK RBS RBF PBK PBS PBF IBL AGI STR STA INJ

C: SPD AWR RBK RBS RBF PBK PBS PBF IBL AGI STR STA INJ

DE: SPD AWR STR AGI TAK PMV (Invalid... All F's) BSH PUR HPW JMP ZCV STA INJ
(right after power move for the DE's and DT's there's a rating that doesn't tie in with anything where I guess FMV should have been)... I have a suspicion it's something legitimate and may be useful for athletes... But haven't figured it out yet. Kick power? Who knows. I leave a space on the spreadsheet for this just so I can paste it easily in there... But I ignore it.

DT: SPD AWR STR AGI TAK PMV (Invalid... All F's) BSH PUR HPW JMP ZCV STA INJ

OLB: SPD AWR ACC AGI TAK PRC (Invalid... All F's) BSH PUR HPW JMP ZCV STA INJ

MLB: SPD AWR ACC AGI TAK PRC (Invalid... All F's) BSH PUR HPW JMP ZCV STA INJ

CB: SPD AWR MCV ZCV PRS CTH AGI PRC PUR TAK STR JMP HPW BSH ACC STA INJ

FS: SPD AWR MCV ZCV PRS CTH AGI PRC PUR TAK STR JMP HPW BSH ACC STA INJ

SS: SPD AWR TAK MCV ZCV PRC HPW CTH PUR STR PRS AGI JMP BSH ACC STA INJ

K: SPD AWR KPW KAC AGI STR THP THA STA INJ

P: SPD AWR KPW KAC AGI STR THP THA STA INJ


So... From that sorted data section I highlight all the centers (and their attributes) and copy it, and paste it into cell A2. Row 1 is used for the ratings, headers, etc.

Then do the same thing for cornerbacks... And right down the line. doing it once is a chore, but from then on you will have something easy to work with that you can look at the entire class.

If you want to translate the grades into actual numbers... consider a VBLOOKUP table. (find out how to make these by searching online) You have to create something off to the side where you have each rating and the corresponding number side by side, and then make another complete heading section for all the ratings, etc... Easy to do. I use an estimate like this:

A+ 98
A 95
A- 92
B+ 88
B 85
B- 82
C+ 78
C 75
C- 72
D+ 68
D 65
D- 62

...except for with awareness, D- can really be around a 50... but whatever. I just go with 62.

From here you should have a pretty easy way to look at all the recruits at once. You can really get as in depth as you want with this.

Good luck. I'll try to answer any questions that I can and maybe include some type of excel file at some point for those that aren't into like... doing stuff on their own. lol

[bubba22plus]

Now that EA has implemented this, i think the next step which would make the game INCREDIBLY enjoyable is to let us export Top 25 Rankings, Recruiting Classes, etc... then edit them, and then let us IMPORT them back into our dynasty.

That would open up a whole new factor of the game.

[z4ckdabeast]

Can this be used for offline Dynasty?

[PocketScout]

Quote: Originally Posted by z4ckdabeast

Can this be used for offline Dynasty?

No just online dynasties. But you can do a single player online dynasty.

[Hellisan]

Quote: Originally Posted by bubba22plus

Now that EA has implemented this, i think the next step which would make the game INCREDIBLY enjoyable is to let us export Top 25 Rankings, Recruiting Classes, etc... then edit them, and then let us IMPORT them back into our dynasty. That would open up a whole new factor of the game.

Oh, like customize the way the data is formatted? I like that.

To me the first step that should be done immediately is full game reports in a usable manner.

[Hooe]

Thanks for posting this Hellisan. This will help me finish up the Windows Form app I'm putting together for filtering through these CSV files for specific players.

[Hellisan]

Quote: Originally Posted by Krioniq

Thanks for posting this Hellisan. This will help me finish up the Windows Form app I'm putting together for filtering through these CSV files for specific players.

cool man. Let me know if I can be of any further assistance.

[PocketScout]

Also just to let you guys know I have finished the v2.1 update and it will go through and process the prospects.csv file and add all the headers in the right place. It will also give you the OVR range for each player and what that rating corresponds to (which position ie QB, HB) for ATH's.