The Draft, Strategy, and Two Aspirin Please...

[Cavicchi]

I have at times been critical of this game, but I have to say it is the best football game I've ever played, younger or older. I enjoy playing chess, always have, and this game is more about strategy than any other football game I've played.

The draft takes me almost as much time as going through a season!

It just gives me a migraine when one of the teams in my division, usually Buffalo or my enemy the Colts, picks the one player I want most. I had to reload so many times and trade up to get Storm Stewart so the Bills and Colts wouldn't that I needed 2 aspirin for the headache!

Now, my question is how should I use Storm Stewart? I have Goldman and Vernon Davis at TE. I have LeRon James at HB, I have Marshall, Megatron, and Bellows at WR. I have a FB who is excellent at blocking, name is something like Maura from I think some college in Hawaii. What do you guys suggest I do with Storm Stewart?

[tarek]

Good question. I haven't had Storm Stewart (yet) but from what I understand he's a shorter (6'3) TE. Personally I like my TEs big, at least 6'5 if I can, which is why I like Goldman and my other guy Marcus Cooper.

I haven't tried to place a TE as a HB in the depth chart but I think it would be possible. If that were the case I would probably put Storm as the 2nd HB, and the 3rd down HB (due to him being a better blocker). You could also put him at the 3rd TE on the depth chart but it would seem that depending on his progression you'd need to make a decision on him (or Davis/Goldman) within the next 2 seasons.

The beauty is that they would probably both be desirable trade assets. Sometimes it's better to strength the other conference (NFC/AFC) more than getting brilliant draft picks.

But if you can't keep all of them, see which one is the worst or nets you the highest trade value, and trade them to the NFC. Then at best you might see him during an odd season game, or face him in the Superbowl.

[tarek]

For comparison, I have a quarterback corps of Dane Morrow,
Andre Woodson and Jake Scott. Way too talented. Woodson was a good starter as a rookie, but Morrow will be the man going forward, which Jake Scott his backup.

Woodson will be retained until his final season (next year) then I'll trade him to the NFC. He can strengthen another team in another conference for all I care. Less for me and my team to worry about.

[Cavicchi]

Quote: Originally Posted by tarek

For comparison, I have a quarterback corps of Dane Morrow, Andre Woodson and Jake Scott. Way too talented. Woodson was a good starter as a rookie, but Morrow will be the man going forward, which Jake Scott his backup. Woodson will be retained until his final season (next year) then I'll trade him to the NFC. He can strengthen another team in another conference for all I care. Less for me and my team to worry about.

I wouldn't mind trading almost any of my "treasures" to the other conference, but it is difficult. I once put Shawn Merriman (93 OVR) on the trade block, and the only team interested was...in my conference, the Chargers. I thought that was weird because there were a few teams in the NFC who did not have one single ROLB!

I read about using Stewart at HB and that might be an option if I can't sign James when his contract is up. I suspect Stewart may have an OVR close to Goldman even though Goldman is in his second season. I do like the idea of a twin TE combo of Stewart and Goldman, and I have created pass plays for 2 and 3 TE setups.

Now it's time for me to get back to the draft.

[bblack1207]

I Would Trade Vernon Davis For Picks And Go With Stewart And Goldman. Both Will Give You Max Production. Another Good Pick-up If You Feel You Need 3 TE's-Kevin Boss Is Always Productive, Reliable, And A Beast In this Game Everytime I Have Had Him.

[SloeyEZ]

Quote: Originally Posted by Cavicchi

I have at times been critical of this game, but I have to say it is the best football game I've ever played, younger or older. I enjoy playing chess, always have, and this game is more about strategy than any other football game I've played. The draft takes me almost as much time as going through a season! It just gives me a migraine when one of the teams in my division, usually Buffalo or my enemy the Colts, picks the one player I want most. I had to reload so many times and trade up to get Storm Stewart so the Bills and Colts wouldn't that I needed 2 aspirin for the headache! Now, my question is how should I use Storm Stewart? I have Goldman and Vernon Davis at TE. I have LeRon James at HB, I have Marshall, Megatron, and Bellows at WR. I have a FB who is excellent at blocking, name is something like Maura from I think some college in Hawaii. What do you guys suggest I do with Storm Stewart?

Reload? Are you serious? Shame!!! shhhaaaaaame!!!!!! shaaaaaaaaAAAAAAME!!!!

But I feel ya...I wanted Patrick Boma sooo bad, I had him figured for the 4th round, he was a gem and I knew it!! and FRIGGIN NE picked him ONE pick ahead of me...I've never restarted a game but that was the CLOSEST I ever came!!! Oh , and sure enough, he's a beast RG

I still fall asleep at night tossing and turning, moaning BOOOMA....

[SloeyEZ]

By the way, I can't believe there are still HC threads!! Blows my mind that this game didn't "make it"

Having said that...I wanna ask you guys sumthin...I'm thinking about switching CJ2K to WR in my Raiders franchise. I drafted him because of who he is in real life, and this BCV is sooo low in HC he isn't very good...so two part story

Part I, based on the last two years of CJ2K's career...I was at first upset that he was so poor in HC, but then when I thought about it, and a comment I actually heard on NFL Network about how his troubles this year were due to them switching to bigger OL and the holes were not as big as zone blocking linemen...I started to realize that maybe the team at HC got CJ exactly right!! Pretty interesting that he was given the attributes he was before anyone really knew who CJ was...so prime rate kudos to the attribute team

Part II, I say "thinking" about switching him to WR because I haven't done it yet. Something inside me makes it feel "wrong". This is because I'm comparing him to real life and it doesn't seem like they would flat out change him to a WR even though he had been used spread out often with Fisher as coach. So, is the game, I won't say easier but maybe more fun as you get longer into your career and the resemblance to the actual NFL isn't so pronounced? I almost think I'd prefer a game without actual NFL players sometimes...but...not sure about that either although it does seem to make the game a little less enjoyable because you either a) get frustrated that your player isn't performing like his real life namesake or b) you feel guilty when you have a D level player in real life performing like a Pro Bowler in the game.

[tarek]

This is to address SloeyEZ. I'm not a big NFL fan so I fortunately haven't got enough knowledge to really find players not performing up to their 'real' levels too distracting.

But I will say that playing the game longer would make it feel less attached to the real world NFL. The beauty is that the draft classes are constant. You can build a world because you know who the gems are and who to look out for. Like jack English. Trying to see how he develops, etc etc.

I like the common draft classes the most really. It means everyone is kind of working in parallel rather than diverging.