The Cooper Reno (English 2010) Draft

[ebongreen]

(For earlier discussions on this draft, see this thread.)

Review: You might have thought that the first draft in the English path was loaded - and you were correct. In the second draft in the English draft path, the talent shines even more brightly: it's full of some of the best talent in any draft in any path, with possibly the top players ever at QB, DE, LT, TE, and WR. There are thirty-four players with Balanced MaxPOT of 90 or better (35 if you count JR Myers as a halfback), exceeding the haul from the '09 draft.

For the draft nerds among you, the creators continued having fun with drafts-of-the-past: the top two quarterbacks playfully revisit the 1998 NFL draft, with Cooper Reno playing the part of Peyton Manning (through an allusion to Peyton's older brother) while Rob Lane revisits another Washington-based QB whose initials he shares.

• Quarterbacks: This draft features two stars and two busts in the first round, plus a notable sleeper and a capable backup. The stars are Reno and Darius Pryor: the former has a potential nearly equal to Jack English, while Pryor is the quarterback Vince Young wishes he was, with a propensity for passing rather than scrambling. Pryor is a tremendous talent, a tall Michael-Vick-class passer with the legs to outrun nearly any defender. Busts are Lane and Matt Jamison. The sleeper is Jacob Green from Boston College, who is a slightly less-capable iteration of Jake Scott from 2009. The backup is [Pittsburgh], a 6'6" Virtuoso with room to grow into a decent starter if you have awesome QB special skills on your staff.
• Halfbacks: An unimpressive crew, at best. The top three backs are all injury-prone low-health risks, and the next best is the annual option from [Richmond]. The micro-back from [Morehouse] is possibly the most balanced talent of the bunch.
• Fullbacks: A very good selection. JR Myers is by far the best tailback in this draft, with a Balanced MaxPOT of 92 at HB. [LSU] is the best "traditional" fullback I've seen: he develops into a monstrous blocker and a capable receiver as well. He's just not as versatile as Casey Barone, because he's not as fast. [Beth Cookman] has high learning potential, but doesn't have the skills to excel.
• Wideouts: Two standouts and a good cast of supporting characters. Flash Gorden is over-rated: he's got world-class athleticism, but is also an injury-prone knucklehead. Despite his potential, he's a borderline bust. Jamelle Lucas I can't possibly praise highly enough, though I've tried. The best of the rest would be [LSU], who is tall, durable and fast enough. If you love short and speedy, [S.D. State] and [Stanford] will have you drooling.
• Tight Ends: The star here is Karron Cousins, who is the best tight end I've seen. Fast enough, smart, a capable blocker and a tremendous receiver, he's usually drafted by the end of Round 2. [S. Carolina] and [Illinois] are over-rated if you need someone who can block at all. One that just misses the cut is a TE from Utah with decent athleticism and LRN of 79; he's one to grab if you want a second or third TE.
• Offensive Tackles: Ah, the miracle that is Selvin Lankford, and the entertainment that is his draft intro - thank you Adam Schefter. Best. Tackle. Ever. Julian Davis is a candidate to shift to right tackle, depending on your opponents; he may struggle against a 3-4 or REs with elite speed. [Tulane] may work better at guard. [Marshall] and [Memphis] are athletically capable, but both lack the smarts for a large playbook. [Arkansas St.] makes a bang-up backup center. On the right side, [Howard] is the man, while [Rutgers] is very capable. [Valdosta St.] is another candidate to shift inside as a backup.
• Guards: Trae Harris is the best guard in the class by far. I worry about the speed of [Alan Faneca - Georgia], and would take my chances with [RG Ohio].
• Centers: Ron Brown is the king of centers: strong, fast, great technician, and easy to re-sign. [Purdue] is bigger but not as good - you'll have your choice in Round 3.
• Defensive Tackles: The Monster Men from the Pac 10 come calling, though I hesitate to spend the money or high draft choices on defensive tackles. Devin Gilbert is better at RE than he is inside, though he's practically the definition of what Tampa-2 teams want in a three-technique. Riko Kemp is a shorter Alain Dixon: conventional run-stuffing tackle. [Miami] is a player who requires lots of physical development to reach his potential. The best of the rest are [Alabama] and [Cornell] - 'bama is smarter, but [Cornell] is a better athlete.
• Ends: The last of the Five Freaks is Xavier Cox - there are no holes in his game. His two downsides are his personalty and his draft rank, both of which mean it will cost you a mint to draft, sign, and re-sign him. Personally I don't think he's worth it, but YMMV. [LE Alabama A&M] lacks the speed necessary to be a pass-rusher off the edge: he might work better at DT. [RE Florida State] is an under-rated pick late in Round 1, with the strength to go toe-to-toe with the best LTs as well as a great personality: 3-4 teams want him as their five-technique. 4-3 teams will appreciate [RE Villanova]'s build and skill set, either as a backup or a marginal starter.
• Outside Backers: Demeco Boldin is your only real candidate at LOLB, but he comes with personality baggage and durability issues. At ROLB, Wendell Tarver and Domisa Bomani are both excellent pickups: Tarver has the speed and height to be a perfect 3-4 blitz-backer, while Bomani fits better as a brutally-strong 4-3 ROLB or even as an ILB in a 3-4. The remaining draftees are backups or marginal starters due to athletic deficiencies.
• Inside Backers: Dexter Foley is the headliner in this group, built more like a DT than a MLB. He lacks skill at man coverage, but in the right system he'll be a very good player. Kevan Wilks isn't bad, but he's short and will tend to be over-drafted. [UAB] will become an intangibles monster in the right system, preferably a Tampa-2 or zone-based system: he lacks the athleticism to go toe-to-toe with the best of the English path, and isn't as durable as the top ILBs. [Louisville], [Iowa State], and [VMI] are marginal starters or good backups.
• Cornerbacks: There are some very good finds here, but the top draftees aren't among them. Corey Taylor can only play man effectively, won't intercept much and will collect minor injuries - so have a good trainer and a better secondary coach. Neither [Ronde Barber] learns plays well, nor does the [Quentin Jammer] who also has durability issues. [Auburn] is only 5'9", and [Florida State] is 5'10". The best shorter corner is [Michigan St.], who has only average durability and learning, but runs like the wind and covers well in either zone or man, and the tall corner to acquire is [Navy], who begins a draft run of 6'2"+ randomly-named corners who can play press-man or zone coverage.
• Safeties: JJ Collins is the object of desire in this group: his weaknesses are man-coverage and press, but he's smart, has great hands, is a tackler and a blitzer, and covers in zone with range and power. [Illinois] may be better at free safety than at strong, and [Colorado] isn't as good as he thinks. In free safeties, [Fairfield] is arguably better at cornerback with his press ability even though he's stronger in zone coverage; [Oregon State] is capable, but may be over-drafted thanks to his Learning-inflated Potential.

Unlike the '09 English draft with its elite play-learners, the '10 draft is distinguished by its elite athletes by size and strength. Pryor, Gorden, Lankford, Cox, and Gilbert are the sort of fantasy-athletes you only see in video games, more or less. They're fun to play, but verge on game-breaking. In their own ways, Dexter Foley, Domisa Bomani, Karron Cousins, Jamelle Lucas and JJ Collins also occupy this stratosphere - they're marginally less stellar, but similarly unbalancing. With a good coaching staff, combining some of these players with a good '09 draft turn a championship squad into a juggernaut.

Players with Balanced POT >=90: 34 (35)

[loloben]

This is my favorite draft but the problem is many of the freak athletes and great players (Cooper Reno, Selvin Lankford, Flash Gorden, and Xavier Cox) are already gone. Jamelle Lucas is a freak. This is a great summary of the draft.

[Wheeler Dealer]

I think I understand this, just not how to do it.

These are real players from a past year with fictitious names, right?

Sounds interesting, how do you do this? Does it work for all platforms? I'm playing on a PS3.

[ebongreen]

I think you need to read this, then ask again. I'm not clear on what "this" and "it" are in your statements/questions.

[Wheeler Dealer]

I see how you might be confused by my questions/comments! I thought sure you were talking about Downloadable Content that came along since the original game. I visualized someone going back to an interesting draft year (maybe 1983), assigning ratings to imitate real life and fake names, at least for all the memorable players, and building a new future draft data base.

It sounds like the original developers did something similar but with the draft years connected.

Assuming I eventually finish one career (said the man entering his 4th regular season game ) and start another is there a way to ensure I don't get the same future draft data base?

[ebongreen]

Quote: Originally Posted by Wheeler Dealer

I see how you might be confused by my questions/comments! I thought sure you were talking about Downloadable Content that came along since the original game. I visualized someone going back to an interesting draft year (maybe 1983), assigning ratings to imitate real life and fake names, at least for all the memorable players, and building a new future draft data base.

Nope. As far as I know, the only DLCs were a patch and a roster update.

Quote:

It sounds like the original developers did something similar but with the draft years connected.

Yes and no. The English 2009 draft includes clones of the quarterback class of 1983 (English = Elway, K. James = Jim Kelly, Morrow = Marino). It's not that the developers are copying entire historic NFL drafts - they're choosing favorite players and draft situations to "echo", as well as creating ones from thin air.

Quote:

Assuming I eventually finish one career (said the man entering his 4th regular season game ) and start another is there a way to ensure I don't get the same future draft data base?

Not-really/kinda. The draft path is chosen at random just before the regular season of '08 begins. If you want to get a different path, you'll have to save after your last preseason game and if you don't get a different path, just fall back to your save and try again.

[ebongreen]

I believe this is my final version of this guide.