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Training Camp Tip

By jdavidbakr - Site Admin
9/05/2014 4:58 pm
I posted this in the MFN-2 league since the TC stage runs tonight, but wanted to cross-post here in the community formus so that folks in the other leagues can see it.

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I wanted to pass on a tip about Training Camp especially as it relates to your new rookies - a lot of you probably already are aware but in case you didn't read my blog post about it a while back, this is what I always do immediately after training camp to help influence what players I keep on my final roster. I've seen a few boomers get cut in pre-season in years past - and don't want to go steal them all without giving everyone a fair chance to know what they might have.

The key to remember is that some players are predetermined to boom, some are predetermined to bust, and while most players will be what they look like, those late picks can end up being hidden gems. Here are two on my roster that were picked in the 6th and 7th rounds and looked like nobodies:

http://mfn2.myfootballnow.com/player/2846
http://mfn2.myfootballnow.com/player/3259

Specifically look at the "Progress" tab and you'll see that when these players were drafted, they had very poor ratings. As they have developed, they have blasted off as great players.

Ok, so on to what I do and recommend you do as well.

After TC, I go through each rookie and look at their progress graph, to see what the future bar does. Now, just because it goes in one direction here doesn't mean it will continue to, but the odds are pretty good that you can identify their trending from their first training camp, especially if it's a significant movement. I'll make a note on the player to the effect of "big increase in first TC" or "Small increase in first TC" or "Big drop in first TC", etc. Then from year to year in the offseason, I'll take a look and see what the players are doing, and update my notes accordingly. Having that in the notes is helpful when I'm setting my depth chart, as I can quickly see my evaluation, or when I'm getting ready for the draft and making notes about what kinds of players I want to pursue in the higher rounds.

I'll also check on the draft history report and look at other team's castoffs from the later rounds and see if any of them have low future values but had significant jumps in TC for positions I need some depth or youth in. They might be a good pick up during the preseason, and are low risk signings that may end up being strong players. That's what happened with the second player I linked to above.

Hope this little bit of info helps you guys as you evaluate your rookies after the TC stage!

Re: Training Camp Tip

By gstelmack
9/06/2014 7:39 am
Would be nice to have a page that shows cur/fut increases for the whole roster at a glance. If you have the space show 3 data points: preseason (or whenever draft class is generated), post-TC, current season stage. I'm more interested in the change, so showing their cur/fut for the first column, then their +/- for the other 2 would be good. Maybe show their final cur/fut at the end, but that is less important than the 2 +/- columns.

I can then open the player if I want a more detailed view.

Re: Training Camp Tip

By jdavidbakr - Site Admin
9/06/2014 9:26 am
gstelmack wrote:
Would be nice to have a page that shows cur/fut increases for the whole roster at a glance. If you have the space show 3 data points: preseason (or whenever draft class is generated), post-TC, current season stage. I'm more interested in the change, so showing their cur/fut for the first column, then their +/- for the other 2 would be good. Maybe show their final cur/fut at the end, but that is less important than the 2 +/- columns.

I can then open the player if I want a more detailed view.


That is on the todo list - I agree that would make it a lot easier to evaluate.

Re: Training Camp Tip

By Davesgang
9/06/2014 9:34 am
Does it matter if players are active or where they are in the depth chart?
I was wondering if there is a way to auto fill the special teams with a filter (like fewer than 3 years etc...).

Re: Training Camp Tip

By jdavidbakr - Site Admin
9/06/2014 9:42 am
Davesgang wrote:
Does it matter if players are active or where they are in the depth chart?
I was wondering if there is a way to auto fill the special teams with a filter (like fewer than 3 years etc...).


The development is what takes place during training camp mostly and during practices during the season - the only attributes that are linked to playing time are conditioning and position experience. What bars develop are determined by their assigned position (so if you move a QB to P he'll lose his QB related skills over time and probably won't grow into a very good punter).

I like the idea of having a filter or rules for the auto-fill depth chart. I have a few tickets in about the special teams depth chart, I'm not really happy with how that works right now. I'll add that idea to the brainstorming list.