Player ratings.... I'm confused

[gigemaggs99]

So in past versions of NCAA when I'd do recruiting it would show a 1 star, 2 star, etc....and I always wondered what that correlated as far as an overall rating.

It seems in the past I wouldn't even mess with 1 star recruits b/c they would end up being a 40-50 overall and that would be the same as a walk-on so it was a waste of time in my opinion to recruit guys that I'm going to cut.

Now NCAA 13, really mixes me up, I can recruit a 1 star player that is a 61 overall rating. Then I can recruit a 3 star player that is a 59 overall. So what does the star rating and overall rating really mean?

I ask b/c my buddy is using USTA in our online dynasty. He said what he's been doing to "help" his guys catch more passes (since we're using sliders that make the D teams hard to play with) that he doesn't even look at the overall rating of the WRs, he ranks them by special catch rating. Other than his HB which has the highest, he puts the WRs in order by special catch rating and he said he has a lot less drops and his completion % has gone way up.

So this makes me wonder, when I recruit players, say a WR for example should I not even pay attention to the Star rating or overall rating? Should I only look at the Catch and Special Catch rating?

I'm just confused as how to recruit, what to look for....the thing I'm working on now is recruiting 301-350 lbs O-lineman. I don't care what their star or overall rank is, I just want BIG GUYS up front that will wear on the d-line come the 4th quarter.

Any thoughts on this recruiting, star rating, overall rating business?

[souljahbill]

1) Don't recruit linemen based on weight. It means nothing.

2) Overall is a guide but you should look for players that fit your style. That means if you want to pass a lot, recruit guys with high pass blocking skills. If a guy has a 90 at pass blocking but is a 63 overall, you should still keep him and play him.

[gigemaggs99]

Why would weight not having anything to do with it? Wis has an O-line full of 300+ lineman and they can run all day.

A 250lb DE shouldn't be able to push a 325lbs T around the field, right?

[souljahbill]

Why would weight not having anything to do with it? Wis has an O-line full of 300+ lineman and they can run all day.

A 250lb DE shouldn't be able to push a 325lbs T around the field, right?

It matters in real life. In the game, your line can consist of all kickers and if they're ratings are high enough, they can block anybody. Weight is a meaningless number in NCAA games.

[JeffHCross]

Bill's got it right, GigEm. Height and Weight only matter for it to "look right". For some positions, like WR, height can matter because of interactions with other players, but for the OL it matters not at all.

The star ratings are ... unusual this year, and I can't really help you there. There are plenty of :4star: players with low 60s in ratings, but while you're seeing some :1star:s in the 60s, the vast majority of them are in the 40s and 50s.

Of course, with scouting this year, the OVR you're seeing may be totally, completely wrong until the player is 100% scouted. I think the star rating is based off the initial :1star: rating, not the final scouted rating, but I haven't been able to figure it out for sure yet. Also, in previous titles, Potential was a hidden rating and had an influence on a player's star rating. So a :5star: player could come in lower OVR, but because his Potential was higher (and his progression would be higher), he'd be a :5star: over a :4star: that would come in with a higher OVR. No clue how Potential factors in this year, or how heavily its used in the star rating.

[sl8b]

I think it's actually 'spectacular catch' isn't it?

Either way, try sorting by Rte (route running) and your completion % will go up. I go by that, then catch and have been happy with the results so far.