Draft Scouting Question?

[niftyjets]

Why can't I see the traits I scouted on players during the draft? Is it because I didn't unlock the grade just get the first answer like B?

If thats the case then whats the point of scouting? U cant scout all the way to the letter u will have no points left

[CloudFuel]

There's no need to scout anything other than the letter grade on select attributes for each player.

I never, ever, EVER scout DEV. Why? Because I don't care about that. I want a solid player and/or a physical beast/project. If he's Q or SS, then that's even better, but it's by no means a necessity for me. EA also puts in a rookie or two who are SS dev, but completely **** as players. They are doing this on purpose to trip you up if you just look at DEV. I can guarantee that I will find the best players in each draft and build a star-studded team without once scouting the DEV on a player.

With that 500 points that you spend on just ONE player, I can EASILY tell you the capabilities of over 20 players. Just seems like a waste to me.
With that said, there are a few different ways you can go about scouting optimally (I'm considering doing a video on this to help people)...

1) Intangible - Scout just intangible rating of a player. It costs 25 SP, but you'll know if they are great (B), good/decent (C), bad (D), or elite (A).

2) Physical/Intangible - Scout intangible and physical ratings of a player. Ideally you want a combination of I-B/P-B or I-B/P-A (never seen an A/A). P-A/I-C is typically a solid physical / project guy. Anything that is less than this is pretty much a waste.

3) Key Attributes - This is my personal favorite to scout as it is more realistic and gives you a much better understanding of each player. It's also usually cheaper than the other methods. To do this you'll need to decide which attributes are the most important to you and what you are looking for. You want to create a line where players that don't meet a certain requirement are no longer scouted. Ideally, I go for attributes that make the most difference and are also the most expensive to upgrade. For example, I will scout THP on a QB. If it's not at least an A then I will stop scouting this player and move to the next. That's only 10 SP for the players that I wouldn't even consider drafting. If a player meets that requirement, then I will scout the rest of his key attributes (which I'll detail below) and move on through the position until I've reached the bottom rounds. Some positions you can find gems late (WR, TE, CB, OL, & DL) but QB, RB, & LB are rarely great in the late rounds.

Here are the things that I scout for each position -

QB: THP (A) / SAC (B+), MAC (B+), DAC (B+), SPD (C+)
RB: SPD (A) / AGI (A), ACC (A), STR (C+), BCV (B+), ELU/TRK (B+)
WR: SPD (A) / AGI (A), ACC (A), CIT (B+), CTH (B+), RTE (B+), RLS (B+)
TE: SPD (B+) / ACC (B+), CIT (B+), CTH (B+), RTE (B+)
OL: STR (A) / RBK (B+), PBK (B+), IBK (B+)
DL: STR (B+) / SPD (B+), PMV (B+), FMV (C+), BSH (B+)
LB: SPD (B+) / STR (C+), BSH (B+), TAK (B+), ZCV (C+)
CB: SPD (A) / ACC (A), MCV (B+), ZCV (B+), PRS (B+)
S/FS: SPD (A) / ACC (A), ZCV (B+)

[jbrew2411]

I just want to back up Cloudfuel. Spending points to see a players development or hard (number) ratings is such a waste. If you use Cloud's key position ratings guide to get the letter grades you can scout a ton of players. The letter grade will tell you all you need to know.

As for development, this year it is not as much of a deal breaker on players. I have been able to upgrade development on players after the first year for most, if not all, my rookies after their first year. I have had some "normal" development players that gain 40-60k XP in one season. This year is a vast improvement over past seasons.

One thing I do is keep a list of my scheme and have a file with each position scheme and the ratings impacted most. I use the list to make sure I scout those features on top of things like the speed ratings.

[speedtrucker]

like above, I do the Intangible/physical scale. I can pretty much assure myself of 1/2 starters and at least 1 Superstar in there.

so I'll usually go into FA and the Draft with the idea that I'll focus on 1/2 positions through FA and 1/2 positions in the draft. if I know that a position of need cannot be met through the draft using the I/P grades, that becomes a FA target. for example if I need a CB and the CBs in the draft are all grading out C/C or lower at draft spots that I draft around, obviously a top5 CB might be higher but I won't draft till 20 or whatever.
yet say I find that there are 4/5 players at MLB that are grading out a B/B, C/B, B/C or the likes, then that becomes a draft area. once I have the 1 or 2 target spots that I know for the draft, then I start going into the specific areas for the position. if I know 2 CBs are both B/B grades, then I'll start checking MCV, ZCV, PRS, SPD and ACC to see which of the two might fit my scheme just a bit better.
so yeah like Cloud and Brew mentioned, don't worry about actual numbers. the Physical/Intangible system works, it just does. its amazing to see a 1st round player have D/D grades and then watch him slide to the 5th round, you see that the CPU knows this but "hey he's 1st round talent, I'll steal him in the 2nd round!" and you get suckered into a 60ovr WR that has 95 speed but everything else is terrible. right now, in our CCM the best LT I found is projected as an undrafted LT yet his grades are Intangible-B/Physical-A, the projected #1 pick in the draft is a LT that is a I-B/P-A and all the other 8 LTs in the draft are basically C/B or worse...

[ggsimmonds]

I think the op's question is more of an draft interface one (though I may be mistaken, it has been a while since I played).

The draft interface is somewhat lacking. EA could remove much of the need for pen and paper if they improved that aspect. Let us set up our own draft board or something.

[SpyPirates]

Quote: Originally Posted by ggsimmonds

I think the op's question is more of an draft interface one (though I may be mistaken, it has been a while since I played). The draft interface is somewhat lacking. EA could remove much of the need for pen and paper if they improved that aspect. Let us set up our own draft board or something.

Yeah I think that flew over everyone's head. However, I think they answered a more interesting question than the one that was actually asked. @ OP- just do your homework before entering the draft, make a big board, plan out picks, etc. It's fun and you wont have to constantly pause the draft to look at individual scouted attributes

@ the Dev issue- Development is highly correlated with other attributes. Scouting intangible & physical is a pretty good way of determining development. Scouting personality actually helps a lot as well.

It seems each position has their own distributions of int/phy that is fairly constant across drafts. CB has 1-2 B/A, and many C/A. LB is a crapshoot, with some D/A, not many C/A. I don't think I've seen anyone claim they've seen an A/A in any position other than OL.

[slick1ru2]

I draft based on production, which is given. Top rounds 80 plus, low rounds try not to go under 35. I start there, any other scouting I use to differentiate similar candidates with similar production numbers.

[roll2tide]

Quote: Originally Posted by niftyjets

Why can't I see the traits I scouted on players during the draft? Is it because I didn't unlock the grade just get the first answer like B? If thats the case then whats the point of scouting? U cant scout all the way to the letter u will have no points left

Traits as in Fights For Yards, Development, Clutch, etc? I don't think its possible to get those until the player is drafted.