Reviewing the Draft Class via the Grading System
For me, there’s two reasons I still do this after all these years and leagues I’ve been a part of… 1] Our community of GM’s in the SFL is special 2] The Offseason
I’ll touch on the Community first… it really is a special group of LONG-standing guys that have grown to be VERY close (I love the fact we’ve added some new blood recently) – and the SFL Meet Ups (Phoenix and Miami so far) have been magical, I’d strongly encourage everyone to make one in the future.
Now, let’s talk about the Offseason… it’s the best part of Madden by a MILE!!! Though there’s many parts to it, it all starts and ends with the DRAFT (for me anyway). Even though I tend to place less value on rookies/draft picks – I spend endless hours evaluating the Draft Class EVERY year. A tool that I use that is truly a game changer for me is the Grading System League Pulse offers – fair warning, the tool is FAR from perfect (in my opinion). I went years refusing to use it… at the age of 55, change can be a difficult thing – but at some point, I got bored and started playing with (so thankful I did)!!! I believe you need to walk into using the tool with a strong conviction of the attributes you feel are most important to players at specific positions. My approach, less is more… meaning, disregard valuing attributes that mean little to nothing to you (and at best, use them as a tie breaker if needed). Fact is, some positions (more than others) rely on MANY attributes – this is fine, just do your best to prioritize and weight the attributes to your liking.
So I’ll share my weighted attributes by position (the weighting I use is 1-5)… I doubt that everyone will agree with my assessment (that’s okay).
OFFENSE
QB: For me, it’s all about AWR, THA and THP (and in that order)… I cared VERY little about THP before the SFL introduced regression. I believe AWR is KING and weight it with a 5 followed by THA weighted with a 4 and THP weighted with a 3. I don’t weight any other attributes, from a grading system standpoint I want League Pulse to grade players on those 3 attributes and I’ll take it from there – thank you VERY much! Personally, I always lean toward a balanced/pocket passer vs scrambler and appreciate height in a QB (6’2” and shorter I find to be concerning). Like many, I question the impact INJ / STA / TGH play so I always lean on those as tie breakers or rule guys out if the number is too concerning. For QB, I never use to care about age… that has changed slightly now that regression was implemented – a younger player definitely will have a longer career (VERY important at this position). I’ll add, I’m not scared off by SPD or ACC being high and a QB being declared a scrambler… that’s EASILY fixed by a tendency change via Activity Points.
HB: Historically, I always thought STR and BTK were KING!!! I’ve shifted my theory slightly this season to giving SPD / STR / ACC / BTK an equal weighting of 4 followed by AGI weighted with a 3 and CAR weighted with a 2. I tend to like my HB’s with height ranging from 5’10” to 6’2” and with weight between 200 lbs and 220 lbs. Again, I look at STA / INJ / TGH as deal breakers if they are concerning. I’ve NEVER done any research on TENDANCY at this position (just seemed too timely of an exercise)… but believe it’s worth diving into (maybe someday).
FB: Talk about a position I rarely spend any time on… the fact is, there’s typically only 6 players per draft and they are pretty easily divided into worthy and unworthy roster fillers. I like em BIG typically… 6’0” and taller and 230 lbs and heavier (and I’m typically not drawn to the floor of my range). I place a HEFTY weight on RBK of 5, followed by PBK at 4, then STR at 3 and finally SPD and ACC at 2 (AGI does get a weight of 1, not even sure why). Here’s the truth… I’m NEVER drafting a FB in the first or second round and a guy would have to be OFF THE CHART for me to consider in the 3rd round – but that’s just me.
WR: The grading system (for me) is more helpfully once we get past the OBVIOUS game changers… I tend to believe we all like em TALL and FAST (and in that order). I consider tall to be 6’4” and fast to be SPD of 95 (and the floor will probably raise in short time). The example I’ll give as to why the grading system fails at times is this year’s best WR (in my opinion) grading out at the bottom of the top 10… Darren Waller is 6’6” and that attribute will NEVER skew south (even if Waller skewed horrible in all other attributes, I’d happily line up a 6’6” WR who has 90 SPD & ACC)!!! Here’s how I rank and weight the attributes of a WR: I weight SPD at a 5, AGI at a 3. ACC at a 4, CTH at a 3 and JMP at a 2. I take age and KR ability into consideration if they 20 or 21 years old and have a KR ability on the HIGH end and would shy away if AWR or INJ were horribly low.
TE: I hate myself for this… but I lean toward TE’s that are a receiving THREAT, I like 6’5” and FAST!!! Here’s how I rank and weight the attributes of a TE: I weight SPD at a 5, STR at a 2, AGI at a 2, ACC at a 4, CTH at a 3, JMP at a 1 and RBK at a 1 (silly I know). I dream of a day I employ a RUN HEAVY scheme and change the attribute weighting wildly for this position, but I doubt that EVER happens. I think the ONLY time age would come into play for me at TE is if I were draft a player at this position in the top half of the 1st round.
OL: This is a FUN one… in the grading system I use the same weighting for all offensive linemen positions (not ideal in my opinion). I weight SPD at a 2, STR at a 5, AGI at a 3, ACC at a 4, PBK at a 3, RBK at a 3. But I’ll add this preference… I feel size and STR are more critical for guards and centers while SPD, AGI and ACC are more critical for tackles. Logic tells me your guards and center will battle DT’s (bigger and stronger) while tackles battle DE’s (more athletic). Personally, I rarely move players between guard to tackle or vise-versa… but think it is an option that should be explored when building an offensive line.
DEFENSE
DE: I believe that the LE is a more critical contributor (sacks and tackles for a loss) compared to the RE… regardless, I use the same weighted formula for both the LE and RE. I weight SPD at a 3, STR at a 2, AGI at a 4, ACC at a 5 and TAK at a 1. I tend to believe in AGI and ACC as critical for LE’s while size, STR and TAK are more critical for RE’s.
DT: I love it when I have a DT contributing at a HIGH level – but it seems to be an imperfect formula in determining whether a DT will perform at a HIGH level via attributes. As a default, I like my DT’s BIG and STRONG. I weight SPD at a 2, STR at a 5, AGI at a 3, ACC at a 4 and TAK at a 1. I tend to believe in AGI and ACC as critical for LE’s while size, STR and TAK are more critical for RE’s.
OLB: Don’t ask why, but I grade OLB’s and MLB’s differently… pretty dumb based on how close their grading system is set. I believe AGI is slightly more important for OLB’s while STR is slightly more important for MLB. I weight SPD at a 5, STR at a 2, AGI at a 3, ACC at a 4 and TAK at a 1.
MLB: Don’t ask why, but I grade OLB’s and MLB’s differently… pretty dumb based on how close their grading system is set. I believe AGI is slightly more important for OLB’s while STR is slightly more important for MLB. I weight SPD at a 5, STR at a 3, AGI at a 2, ACC at a 4 and TAK at a 1.
CB: It’s rare I use AWR in the grading system, but I tend to find it to be a CRITICAL attribute for CB’s… it’s also a position I’d rarely draft in the HIGHER rounds and start (give me your old washed-up VETS please). I weight SPD at a 5, AWR at a 2, AGI at a 3, ACC at a 4 and CTH at a 1.
S: It’s rare I use AWR in the grading system, but I tend to find it to be a CRITICAL attribute for FS and SS… it’s also a position I’d rarely draft in the HIGHER rounds and start (give me your old washed-up VETS please). I weight SPD at a 5, STR at a 2, AWR at a 3, AGI at a 1 and ACC at a 4.
K: Though I grade the positions, it’s less than ideal to draft and start a rookie (especially a K)… I weight AWR at a 5, KPW at a 3 and KAC at a 4.
P: Though I grade the positions, it’s less than ideal to draft and start a rookie (you can get away with starting a P)… I weight AWR at a 4, KPW at a 5 and KAC at a 3.
QB
In the past 3 seasons [2012/2013/2014] the draft has probably yielded 6 QB’s worthy of a team anointing them the future of leading their franchise (that’s an average of 2 per season).
2012 QB Chandler Harnish [1.09]: An unfortunate “tendency” snafu and injuries have slowed the progress and success envisioned – he’ll get there though!
2012 QB Kirk Cousins [1.11]: He’s the real deal… in 3 seasons he has a completion rate of 55%, has over 10,000 yards, 75 TD’s to 46 INTs and a QB rtg of 86.8.
2012 QB Brock Osweiler [1.14]: In Brock we trust… I believe he’s gonna be given EVERY opportunity to be successful (where is the question yet to be answered) – will he be mentored 1 more season to progress his development?
2013 QB Mike Glennon [2.03]: The Cowboys are ALL IN on Glennon… probably another 2 seasons before he shows the consistency of a LEGIT signal caller in the SFL.
2013 QB Tyler Wilson [2.29]: In shared duty (he played in just under 75% of games last year) Wilson impressed and the Vikings made the playoffs – with Drew Brees retiring the Vikings have to hope to avoid the Sophomore slump.
2014 QB Derek Carr [1.02] Injuries kept Carr from playing most of the season (Carr played in 7 games) – no doubt he’s LEGIT!
Worth mentioning… Andrew Luck [2012 @ 1.08] was never groomed properly and was a wasted pick as high as he was taken, Matt Barkley [2013 @ 1.21] still has a chance but is waiting in the wings while Teddy Bridgewater [2014 @ 1.16] appears to be behind the wheel but has much to prove after a rough rookie season.
So, what does 2015 offer… in my opinion – NOT MUCH! The only obvious player worth a 1st round selection would be Jameis Winston. I believe Marcus Mariota and Sean Mannion might be worth a 2nd round flyer – but they’d both be a longer-term project to get usable as starters.
