FOF Little Things

[Aston]

For random little facts about FOF that maybe not everybody may be aware of. I'm always finding out random little stuff. Most of this probably won't be news, but some players(especially newer ones) may be in the dark about some things and I feel like it'd be good to have one place where this stuff is SHOUTED AT THE TOP OF OUR LUNGS!

Also - a good place to clear up any outdated info people may still be holding onto. For instance, "popularity tell", isn't a thing anymore.

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1. Signed rookies, before training camp - you can see their true bars (red/greens) - with some noise, perhaps - by going to the trading information screen and right clicking on their name.

1a. Sometimes when you do #1, you'll notice a big difference in the rookie's real bar and the wide blue bar on his playercard. As in the red will be way outside the range of the blue.

2. FL2 in 3-WR sets never leaves the field, regardless of endurance.

3. TE2 in 2-TE sets never leaves the field, regardless of endurance.

4. Cut tests! pay attention to them!

5. Ratings unmasking stages! Not just pre/post TC, but also pre-FA1/post-FA1. Yeah yeah, this is a real obvious one. Just worth repeating. Small changes in TC aren't always meaningful,but I think any changes at all in the FA stage are really worth paying attention to.

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OK, have at it!

[Guest]

Defense 101 - start from all situations at 50-50 Run-Pass, no Aggressive. Adjust accordingly - and sparingly. RA especially should be used very, very little.

Camp numbers almost always trump bars. VO and VU mean next to nothing.

[Aston]

VO and VU mean next to nothing.

Really?

I think it's just that scouts can be wrong, and you have to decide for yourself if they are or not. I thought, a player who is really VU - likely to gain in two or more bars. VO - likely to drop in two or more, etc. It's just scouts are sometimes wrong. But more often right than wrong.

[Guest]

Really?

I think it's just that scouts can be wrong, and you have to decide for yourself if they are or not. I thought, a player who is really VU - likely to gain in two or more bars. VO - likely to drop in two or more, etc. It's just scouts are sometimes wrong. But more often right than wrong.

Which makes them fairly worthless.

[Matt]

What is the "cut test" I always here about?

[Guest]

What is the "cut test" I always here about?

It's when you cut a player from your team and see where his ratings go. Sometimes it'll show you unmasked stuff.

Just don't export that file or you'll really cut the guy. ;)

[Matt]

Oh ok...means what it says then I suppose. Thanks!

[Aston]

Yeah, just that. Some players are moving up in all their bars, some are moving down in all of them, and some are rearranging - some up, some down. Cut test is a good way to get a sense of what's going up and what's going down. Can give you a rough idea of where he's going.

I guess it's most helpful in cases where the player's rookie TC doesn't say much one way or the other.

[Guest]

It's when you cut a player from your team and see where his ratings go. Sometimes it'll show you unmasked stuff.

Just don't export that file or you'll really cut the guy. ;)

and I thought this was just old wive's tail

[Guest]

Really?

I think it's just that scouts can be wrong, and you have to decide for yourself if they are or not. I thought, a player who is really VU - likely to gain in two or more bars. VO - likely to drop in two or more, etc. It's just scouts are sometimes wrong. But more often right than wrong.

I think you have to look at the scout as SOLELY referencing the BARS that are showing when he states the U/O ratings --- and any scout under a G (overall)/ G (position) is pretty worthless; If you only scout HIGH barred players that don't match their average combines you will see alot of OR and VOR (and vice versa) IMO

[Guest]

5. Ratings unmasking stages

a) pre/post TC
b) pre-FA1/post-FA1 ----- DO YOU MEAN pre FA1-1 and pre LFA?
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? above

Also isn't their an unmasking inseason at one of the weeks?

[Aston]

In-season? If there is, I don't know about it...curious to hear more.

I mean the FA1-1 is an unmasking stage. The ratings from before then (during the staff hiring, etc) change after staff hiring concludes and we enter FA1-1. There is nothing special about entering Late Free Agency.

The ratings also get jumbled around from the end of one season to the beginning of the next, but I think that is just kinda random. Not sure.

Link to the changetracker I ran after this past FA1-1: http://www.sendspace.com/file/n90hzk

[Aston]

Another thing I thought of because I made this mistake not that long ago: don't pay too much attention to a player's ratings after changing positions until after the sim is run. If the scout says something like he's going to lose 30% of his ratings, he is right.

:(

[mike17]

The ratings also get jumbled around from the end of one season to the beginning of the next, but I think that is just kinda random. Not sure.

This is your scout's scouting ratings changing at the beginning of the season

[Guest]

This is your scout's scouting ratings changing at the beginning of the season

qft tom skeen went up 5 points when i changed scouts