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Thread: Madden 15 Scouting and Draft Impressions

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  1. #1
    Heisman Rudy's Avatar
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    Madden 15 Scouting and Draft Impressions

    I really enjoyed the new scouting and draft system Madden put in a couple years ago. I realize that we still don’t get basic numbers on guys from the combine. But we do get generic player types. If a WR is a speed guy or a possession guy it’s pretty easy to guess one player will be faster than another. We get their height, weight, scheme and player type which does aid us immediately.

    One change this year which I was quite bitter about initially was the new point system. Overall scouting points have been reduced a lot. So has the cost of individual ratings but the overall rating cost is enormous now. With a team builder coach and my upgraded scouting I could scout over 30 overall ratings for players in the past along with a handful of individual ratings and have a ton of information going in to the draft. Not this year as you were going to have to rely exclusively on individual ratings. Well I actually like this. If you spend your points wisely you can still scout a ton of players. In my first year I upgraded my scouting package late in the season but was still able to look at over 100 players! At least one rating was scouted!

    I’ve read a lot of great advice on Operation Sport blogs. I followed a lot of it in my first draft and like some of it and will change other aspects. But the basic advice is this: only scout 3-5 ratings by position. Test the important ratings first and as soon as you see a bad one quit looking at him and go to the next prospect. You can’t look at every rating and some guys will turn out worse than you thought but that’s the beauty of the NFL draft and will mimic that scenario. At the same time you can make sure you find some gems and don’t draft a bum – especially a bum you drafted blind with no information on. I’m sure my views may change over time but this is a good base set of rules.

    GENERAL RULES FOR SCOUTING


    1. Stick to only scouting the top 3-5 attributes at a position. If the first or second attribute falls below the minimum standard (see link for scouting spreadsheet below) then move on to the next prospect when looking for good players. Don't waste time unlocking all the attributes when you find a bad one. I always swing for the fences and try to find studs and sleepers.

    Example: QB has 4 main attributes in Throwing Power and the 4 Accuracies. If you test THP and you get anything less than an A quit and move on. Then test each accuracy which needs to be at least a B in everything. Don’t keep on unlocking traits when you get a unacceptable grade on something.

    2. I don’t scout Awareness. Awareness actually matters a lot in the overall rating so some may disagree. But it is normally low for rookies, especially late picks and will improve the most over time unlike physical skills like speed. So focus on the physical stuff most. Furthermore it's useless for user controlled players like QB and HB so why bother with it. HB also has Ball Carry Vision which has a significant impact and should be ignored while scouting for the same reason. Note that for every 10 point increase in awareness a player's overall will increase by 2 to 4 points. Many rookies will start in the 40s and improving 30 points in awareness will see their OVR jump roughly 10 by that alone. Play Recognition is important for some defensive players so I will look at that (safeties and linebackers).

    3. Understand the Letter Grades. A=88-99, B=77-87, C=65-76, D=50-64, F < 50. Most of the final scouting grades will end up in these ranges. Your requirements vary by position and your own personal desire.

    4. I scout players all across every round and even some guys without a draft grade. I personally like finding sleepers, trading down for more picks like Jimmy Johnson, and then grabbing the guys I want. The cpu teams will never draft a player more than one round ahead so if you love a guy with an early 5th round grade then take him early in the fourth. I do tend to overdraft guys I like but its better than losing him. You are playing with fire if you wait until their exact draft position to take them. Make sure to track how many guys are available ahead of him at his position to know if you could lose him.

    Scouting List Spreadsheet for Key Ratings and Minimum Standards: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...gid=1941225598

  2. #2
    Heisman Rudy's Avatar
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    My first draft was fun. As the Superbowl winning Browns I had the last pick in every round but I also had the 20th overall pick from the Bills for the Sammy Watkins trade (thanks EA for having that correct!). I generally like to trade down and get extra picks. The computer isn’t always so accommodating so I had to sit tight and make some picks. I ended up trading down from the Bills pick and actually ended up trading away the pick for a future first. Overall I ended up with future picks in rounds 1-4 for next season and got two extra fourth round picks and some extra sixth rounders as well. Of course I gave up draft position and a current first rounder to do so.

    I was actually able to scout over 100 players and I drafted 12 kids, all of whom I had at least three grades on. I only missed out on two players I wanted. My first pick was a WR at the end of round one who was a 79 but my 20th pick in round 4 was an 80 rated CB! I got a couple good sleepers there and some guys that disappointed me. I was frantically trying to trade up to get my RT at the end of round 5 and a LB in round 6 and both ended up with ratings in the 60s. That’s OK. A lot of my late picks had awareness in the 40s and that will improve and help a lot. It would be nice if EA expanded the draft results screen to include the Overall rating! When you scroll over you lose the player’s name which made for some goofy screenshots below. I saw the cpu draft guys rated in the 50s in round five when looking through various teams after the draft. The worst of my 12 guys was a 64 and I drafted Mr. Irrelevant at 66 overall. I had some hits and some disappointments but overall I’d say it was pretty good. I’m looking forward to trying out my new strategies on my updated spreadsheet next year.

    If you follow a good strategy you won’t have to worry about drafting blind. Get that scouting package upgrade to get more points! If you are smart with what ratings you try to unlock and quickly move on if they don’t have the proper skills you will do just fine. I spent a lot of time scouting and doing the draft and I loved every minute of it.






  3. #3
    All-American GatorfanStovy's Avatar
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    nice work. i have yet to get my draft... maybe soon.

  4. #4
    Heisman Rudy's Avatar
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    I spent hours scouting for my second draft. Had a blast with some good moments but two punch in the gut moments in the first round. Will detail this later today hopefully as I don't have time right now. I do think I will reconsider my stance on not scouting awareness. It has a big impact on the OVR and even a "D" minimum standard for the top two rounds should be in effect. Since it will never impact the user when you play as a QB or RB it's not necessarily a bad idea to ignore. It can also grow quickly but not scouting it leads to some big disappointments as well as big positive surprises when drafting.

  5. #5
    Heisman Rudy's Avatar
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    BROWNS DRAFT 2016


    This was my second draft in Madden and after I set my scouting rules for the draft. Overall I think my scouting plan worked very well. It helped me avoid many mistakes although it was probably too hard on LBs and steered me away a little. But this is how it unfolded.

    DRAFT PICKS
    I had an extra first, second, third and fourth rounder due to all my moving down deals from the prior year. No players were traded for these picks. I had an extra first rounder (Sammy Watkins deal) that I moved down and also got future picks. After watching two Madden drafts there are just as many gems in the later rounds as the first almost. I would definitely recommend moving down and stockpiling picks.

    SCOUTING POINTS
    I am a team builder coach with the scouting package all year. That gave me 3500 point to scout which is clearly more than enough. At 3000 I no longer had a lot of interest in some players. I scouted 108 players in various capacities!! By using my scouting plan of looking at the important attribute first and quickly quitting if they don’t measure up you can have a ton of information ready for the draft.

    TEAM NEEDS
    I needed a starting RB although only two RBs had first round grades and none until the 4th round after that. I wanted an ILB as my two starting ILBs are old. I needed depth on the OL, TE, WR, DL and S. I did not need a QB, CB or FB really and I don’t care about Kickers.

    When I scout players if I think they are good I will bold them (see draft sheet link here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing ). If I think they are good and have great value for their draft position I will bold them in GREEN. Those represent the targeted players I want. Once I have finished scouting I list all the players I targeted and see if I can find a way to get them. I really wanted a top RB and MLB and had the 8th and 31st picks. I thought I could get one at 8 and maybe move up with one of my seconds to get the other. Wrong. I planned on trading back with my second round picks and stockpile more.

    THE DRAFT!!
    I would guess I spent over 5 hours scouting and writing down the guys I wanted. Then when I did the actual draft I knew so many players I did not sim anything (other than skip to next pick) until halfway through the fifth round! Yes I’m a draft nerd! At that point I simmed to my next user pick, made two picks and finished. I was crushed in the first round but elated with some late picks afterwards. See the scouting board and overall of almost all my scouted players both drafted by me and others.

    FIRST ROUND
    I was hoping to grab the one MLB I really loved with the 8th pick. Brent Stewart was slated to go 13 but I also loved a top RB Hester expected to go 6th overall. I was pissed when that MLB went 6th to the Giants! Oh I was mad. Three top MLBs went in the top 10 and all were rated 78-80. So I took the stud RB and was not disappointed at 81. So I waited until my next pick at 31. The only player I was really prepared to take there was a LE Kelo Richardson who was expected to go 27. At 19 I started thinking about moving up to get him. The Steelers had that pick, did not have DE in their top three needs, so I waited but they drafted him! Pissed off again!!! Now I’m picking 31 and I don’t really want to take anyone. So I trade the pick for a 1st and 3rd rounder in next year’s draft.

    SECOND ROUND
    I was focused mainly on guys in the third through sixth rounds and had two very late second rounders I didn’t want to use. So I ended up trading them away. I traded one for two third rounders and a sixth rounder in this year’s draft. The other was traded away for a second rounder in next year’s draft and a fifth rounder in this year’s draft. So already I have an extra first, second and third rounder in next year’s draft. I do not pick in this round now.

    THIRD ROUND
    I have four picks in round three and most of the guys I want are projected late third through the fourth round although the cpu can pull the plug early. I targeted a RT and LG I wanted and became very nervous when those spots were thinning out. I even tried moving up but the cpu would not listen. Luckily I got my RT and LG. They only ended up a 73 and 71 so I was slightly disappointed but they were the two best rated OL out of the 13 I scouted. I took two DL I really wanted next. A LE Randal (72) and DT Okafor (76). The DT was the last pick I took in round three but was the best. He has speed and I may use him at DE.

    FOURTH ROUND
    I had a high fourth rounder and moved down for a later fourth and an extra sixth. So I still have two 4ths and three 6th round picks now. I really liked RB Larry Harris who had a 5th round grade and picked him first. He ended up a 76 so I was very pleased. I was torn between two TEs and drafted Olsen who ended up a 67. I was a tiny bit bummed but he was better than the 63 I didn’t choose to draft.

    FIFTH ROUND
    I have two picks here and I had my eye on two WRs. I only wanted to draft one but panicked when one of them got picked. So I moved up with one of my 6th round picks and drafted them. I got really lucky here as he ended up a 79! The other guy I had my eye on and was picked earlier only ended up a 64. Very lucky! There were two safeties I liked late in the draft. I liked one FS more than the other and the safeties were thinning so I moved up in the fifth round with my seventh and grabbed him. Steal! FS Galvin was an 81! The other was a SS (I needed a SS more actually) but I wasn’t quite as high on. He was an 81 as well. There are huge gems late in a Madden draft! Kind of regret not trying for him too!

    SIXTH ROUND
    I have two picks here and take a MLB I need and like. Newton ends up a 71 so I’m happy. A DE with some raw physical tools and a UDFA grade was taken with my last pick late in the 6th round. Trevor Greenwood is only a 66 but he’s a stud. A dumb stud with 34 awareness but he has potential (I hope).

    NOTES
    A Tight End (79) went first overall! That’s nuts. The projected first two picks were OLBs and they both slipped until the second round! Overall my scouting rules helped but aren’t perfect. They are a bit too rigid on the DL and LBs and maybe a little too tough. The minimums are tougher on LBs and I didn’t give some of the prospects enough credit and missed out on a couple. The guidelines I used on OL worked very well and the WRs worked well too. I do not regret not scouting awareness (other than a few studs at the top of the draft). AWR impacts ratings a lot but many great prospects have F and start out in the 40s. It’s not worth worrying about since it can grow a lot.

    My own personal team drafted two 81s, a 79, two 76s and only two players rated below 70 out of 11 draft picks (only one in the first two rounds).

    At the end of the day the letter grades are still around 12 points apart so two players could have similar reports and be more than 10 points apart. It makes it fun still and I’ve really enjoyed this Madden process.
    Last edited by Rudy; 11-14-2014 at 11:04 AM.

  6. #6
    Heisman jaymo76's Avatar
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    Good read Rudy. The draft is fun but for whatever reason Tiburon still has NOT added a mock draft board. You have no ideas who the teams in front are looking at. This feature is desperately needed. The draft is getting close to great but it is still lacking.

  7. #7
    Heisman Rudy's Avatar
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    If you click on a team it does list their top 3 needs. I do think EA withholds certain things like scouting combine numbers to make it more fun or challenging or mysterious. It works although it is lacking in realism.

    There were 3 WRs that had 4th round grades and we're never drafted. In that second link I recorded the overall of almost every player I scouted. It was interesting to go back and see job guys I liked or didn't like turned out. I do think OL is one of the easiest to scout and draft. Some teams drafted guys in the 50s in the third round. Busts and gems everywhere so trade down for extra picks and chances.

  8. #8
    Heisman jaymo76's Avatar
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    To a point Rudy. However, I have seen several times when a team takes a player that I want yet he was NOT a position of need for that team. This happens frequently in the 1st and 2nd rounds.

  9. #9
    Heisman Rudy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jaymo76 View Post
    To a point Rudy. However, I have seen several times when a team takes a player that I want yet he was NOT a position of need for that team. This happens frequently in the 1st and 2nd rounds.
    Exactly what happened to me when Steelers took that DE unfortunately.

  10. #10
    Heisman Rudy's Avatar
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    Here was the Raiders draft after my second year. On another note my RE just disappeared! It was his first year on my team after I had signed him to a 4 year deal. He was only 31. Check the transaction log and I don't see that he retired. Not sure what happened but when checking my depth chart I am THIN at DE this year lol.


  11. #11
    Heisman jaymo76's Avatar
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    Wow! Those are some pretty low OVR's. I do however like seeing the six round pick so highly rated. IMO there are not enough gems in the Madden draft.

  12. #12
    Heisman Rudy's Avatar
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    Two safeties in my draft were taken late and 81. I actually think top picks are a bit too low and some late picks too high but I don't know their potential either.

    See my late picks below. Struggling to tag this right from my tablet.

    https://twitter.com/rudyjuly2/status...672720384?s=03
    Last edited by Rudy; 11-17-2014 at 11:31 PM.

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