********************************* MADDEN 2003 - ROOKIE SCOUTING FAQ ********************************* Platform: Playstation 2 Version: 1.0 Written: 19 October 2002 Author: Rangitamoe Email: rookiefaq@optusnet.com.au ***************** TABLE OF CONTENTS ***************** 1. Introduction 2. Legal Stuff 3. Revisions 4. What's In This FAQ 5. Pre-Scouting 6. The Scouting Screen 7. Player Ratings And What They Mean 8. Ratings Table 9. Credits 10. Comments & Suggestions *************** 1. INTRODUCTION *************** One of the greatest improvements in the ever-continuing Madden series of football games has to be this year's introduction of rookie scouting. In previous years, in order to pick the best player for your team all you had to do is preview the draft first, or wait until the draft itself and merely grab the player with the best stats overall. This isn't how it works in the real NFL and it should be the same in a video game. Well now it is. What I hope to do in this FAQ is to breakdown all the data that is given to you when you are rookie scouting, and try to transform it into meaningful stats that will assist coaches to draft the best possible players for their team. ************** 2. LEGAL STUFF ************** I don't have too much of a problem with my FAQ being used on other sites, so long as you email me for permission, and give me due credit on the site on which it is placed. Anyone who does NOT ask my permission and blatantly rips off my FAQ will find him or her facing serious legal action. ************ 3. REVISIONS ************ 1.0 First writing of this guide ******************** 4.WHAT'S IN THIS FAQ ******************** This FAQ contains a rundown of all the data you find in the rookie scouting screen, what each term means, and a guide to tell you the approximate stat value of that data. I will also endeavour to give you ideas on exactly which players to scout BEFORE you hit the combine. For those gamers already familiar with the scouting process, and are simply looking for a conversion from say 40 time to Speed rating, scroll down to section and start reading. For those less familiar or new to Madden 2003 then read on. I should point out that this FAQ assumes that the reader already has a knowledge of navigation and the game controls for playing Madden 2003. If you require any further information on those aspects either consult the user manual, or one of the other comprehensive FAQs listed on GameFAQs *************** 5. PRE-SCOUTING *************** Before you even consider looking at the scouting screen, it's a good idea to go through your roster thoroughly at end of season. Things to look for are player progression, age, contract remaining and overall ability at each position. I tend to do this on a position-by-position basis, and writing down those players who I think may be better off releasing or trading to other teams. I generally look at each player in this order: Progression - A player who loses ratings based on last year can be a hindrance rather than help. I tend to overlook players who drop 1 or 2 points overall, as I put it down to either injury or having a bad year. Anything more than that deserves a thorough investigation. Is the player too old? Were they injured all season? It could be any number of factors. Age - On a personal level, unless my depth is extremely weak at that position or the player concerned has a high overall rating, I tend to release or trade any player over the age of 32, sometimes 30. Players who pass 30 generally start to decline in their stats overall and end up becoming a shell of their former self. Its often better to draft a rookie of lesser ability and let them improve rather than watch a former star pale into insignificance. Contract - By this point you should have determined a rough list of who you are likely to get rid of. Releasing players while still under contract though adds penalties to your salary cap (unless you turn the cap penalties off, but what fun is that?). What do you do? Well, if the player you wish to dump has no years remaining on his contract, then simply do not resign them. That way it doesn't cost you a cent. If they are still under contract then trade them to another team. Players rated overall in their 70's can still be useful additions to other teams who are low at that position. If the players you are trading are of pretty poor quality, then clump 3 together and trade them that way. I usually try to trade for draft picks rather than other players. That way you save money for the cap room needed to sign the rookies. Now you have your complete list of players that you no longer need. Keeping that in mind, re-assess your positional requirements and make another list of what positions need filling and prioritise accordingly. This list will form the basis of your scouting. All set? Let's go shopping! ********************** 6. THE SCOUTING SCREEN ********************** This is where all the action is going to take place. The scouting screen initially has only very basic information about players. Name, Height, Weight, College, Position etc. It also has the projected round in which the player is likely to be taken. Now then, grab your prioritised list and see what position(s) you need urgently and go to that position. You'll see a list of all rookies eligible for the draft. But which one to pick? All that you are given to work on initially is a little snippet of useful information on what I call that players "primary abilities". That is, the abilities generally considered to be the most important for that position. It's not the be all and end all of course, there are many other factors to consider, but these abilities are those which will be considered most frequently in a game situation. These usually take a rating form like Amazing, Great etc. (these ratings will be explained in more detail later in the FAQ). The key now is to find the right person for your team. For that to happen you need to consider your style of play, your surrounding personnel and weaknesses you found from the year before. Having a top notch receiver is useless unless the QB has the accuracy to get it to him, for example. Pinpoint the precise type of player you are after at the position. Also keep in mind your draft position. That Marshall Faulk type HB you have your eye on won't be there if you are picking at 31. Be realistic with your choice of projected round when looking at rookies. Keep in mind though, that there is an opportunity to trade BEFORE the draft itself. It may be possible to trade up for better picks. Armed with all this information, its now time to determine how many people you wish to scout at each position. You only have 15 people you can scout per round, so you need to make sure you use these effectively. My personal preference is to pick 5 positions where I need to upgrade and select 3 from each to scout. Obviously this is dependant on whether you have more or less positions you need to scout for, and how important to the grand scheme of your team it is. I also like to mix the projected rounds to try and have some early, some in the middle and some late. Its all up to you. Now its time to hit the crux of the FAQ, the ratings. ************************************ 7. PLAYER RATINGS AND WHAT THEY MEAN ************************************ Before I continue, I would like to thank Fisk72 from GameFAQs message boards for providing the information as to what the ratings mean. I urge anyone to have a look at his posts at the Madden 2003 board on gamefaqs.com . Once you pick your batch of up to 15 rookies to scout, its time to go to combine. This is where you get a whole lot more information, and where you can filter through and find the players you really want. All players regardless of position have 6 basic drills that have times or numbers measured to them. Here is a list of them, and what stat they equate to: 40 time = Speed Shuttle = Acceleration Cone = Agility Bench reps = Strength Vertical = Jump Interview = Awareness On top of these, there are a few position specific abilities that rank from highest to lowest as such (Interview also follows this scale): Amazing, Great, Good, Above Average, Average, Below Average, Bad, Terrible These abilities (and translations where necessary) Throwing Arm = Throwing Power Pass Accuracy = Throwing Accuracy Run Power = Break Tackle Hands = For HB/B this is the Carry stat, for WR/TE/CB/FS/SS's the Catch Stat Run Block Pass Block Kick Returns Tackle Kick Power Kick Accuracy **** IMPORTANT NOTE **** Before I go into detail in each stat, I should point out that the translated ratings are NOT 100% accurate. They simply give you a guide as to what range of ratings the drills are likely to give you. As you complete scouting players for the full 3 rounds, you are given more and more information about the player. This information may affect the ratings that will be shown later in the FAQ. For example, if a player has below average speed, but the scout says that they have improved their speed, then the 40 time won't be a true reflection of the players speed. Conversely, if a player with fantastic bench press stats has information saying he's not as strong as first thought, then his strength rating will be lower than usual. There is always room for statistical variance. Please keep this in mind when referencing these tables. **************** 8.RATINGS TABLES **************** 40 TIME Ability: Speed TIME RANGE RATING RANGE 4.24 - 4.35 90-99 4.36 - 4.52 80-89 4.53 - 4.67 70-79 4.68 - 4.81 60-69 4.82 - 4.96 50-59 4.97 - 5.10 40-49 SHUTTLE DRILL Ability: Acceleration TIME RANGE RATING RANGE 3.75 - 3.92 90-99 3.93 - 4.09 80-89 4.10 - 4.25 70-79 4.26 - 4.44 60-69 4.45 - 4.64 50-59 4.65 - 4.82 40-49 4.83 - 5.05 30-39 CONE DRILL Ability: Agility TIME RANGE RATING RANGE 6.60 - 6.82 90-99 6.83 - 7.05 80-89 7.06 - 7.28 70-79 7.29 - 7.51 60-69 7.52 - 7.75 50-59 7.76 - 7.97 40-49 7.98 - 8.20 30-39 BENCH REPS Ability: Strength BENCH REPS RATING RANGE 38 - 44 90-99 30 - 37 80-89 24 - 29 70-79 18 - 23 60-69 12 - 17 50-59 6 - 11 40-49 VERTTICAL Ability: Jump HEIGHT RANGE RATING RANGE 42 - 39 90-99 36 - 38 80-89 33 - 35 70-79 30 - 32 60-69 27 - 29 50-59 24 - 26 40-49 21 - 23 30-39 MISCELLANEOUS STATS Ability: Various Here is the tough one. Because there is no finite measure for Amazing, Great etc. it is extremely difficult to put a stat range to it. What I have done is given the highest and lowest value I have seen for the stat, the average of all results for that stat, and what I call a "common range" which is essentially me eliminating a some high & low values to get a range where the bulk of the values lie. The scouting notes are even more important for these stats. RATING LOW HIGH AVE COMMON Amazing 81 96 88 85-95 Great 70 89 80 75-85 Good 60 89 73 68-79 Above Average 50 79 70 64-77 Average 42 81 61 54-68 Below Average 42 90 55 46-57 Bad 25 58 43 40-50 Terrible 0 27 14 10-20 ********** 9. CREDITS ********** I'd like to thank Fisk72 for his figuring out the abilities and what it means. Thanks also to Makavelli for putting together one of the most comprehensive guides on Madden 2003. To get a copy you can email him at madden_associates@yahoo.com . Thanks to GameFAQs for finding a place for hardcore games to congregate and share information Finally, to EA Sports and Tiberon for producing by far and away the best series of football games on the market. ************************** 10. COMMENTS & SUGGESTIONS ************************** I hope this you have found this FAQ informative and useful. If you have any suggestions or comments that might make this a better FAQ please drop me a line at rookiefaq@optusnet.com.au I will have no tolerance for flamers or those who just want to say "This FAQ sucks". CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is welcomed. Good Luck and Happy Gaming. (c) 2002 rangitamoe