By Alvin Leadbetter

Many times in the FBpro community I hear the words, "This guy does not fit into my plan, and I am trying to get younger." Why?, Why does this guy not fit your plan? This should be the real question. Too often FBpro coaches think younger is better. Well, maybe it will be one day, but better talent is better. True if you can get a young guy who is almost as talented as that old guy and who will grow quickly you have made a good decision, but don't throw away that old guy just because he is old!

First and foremost, when coming up with a plan, make sure it has a purpose. Why do you need a plan? If you don't think you can win now and want to build for the future, how long is it going to take? Are you on a 3-year plan? A 5-year plan?

This article will hopefully help to make these decisions easier.

First let's begin by deciding what type of team you prefer to run.

Do you prefer a power football team that wants to control the trenches? If so, you want those big strong lineman that have great endurance to play hard for a long time, and that back that can power it. You may not need the fastest back in the league, and sometimes that fastest back can be too fast. But you want a back with good speed, great acceleration and quickness, good strength and, of course, great endurance can help. It is also useful to have a HB that can make good decisions on where to run. You want a QB that makes few mistakes and can get you the first down when you need it most. You also want WR's and Tight Ends that can block as well as make a few key receptions. And you need a defense that can keep the games close when the offense is stalling.

Do you like to run for the corners? In that case speed is much more important to the halfback than strength, and agility is a major concern. AC, of course, helps him get to that corner as quickly as possible. Endurance is still a must, intelligence is not as important unless you have him making decisions on when to cut. You need an athletic quarterback that can make the pitches quickly with little chance of fumbles. Your OL doesn't need to be the big, strong type (though strength never hurts), but it needs to be quick enough to lead block on sweeps and get in the way of pursuers. And once again, you need that D to come through for you.

Do you like the short passing game, sometimes called the West Coast offense? Then you want a QB who sets up quickly, can pick out his targets quickly and has a decent arm. He doesn't need a 90 ST cannon-arm (Once again, bigger is usually better, but not always necessary). It is essential that your QB has good AC and speed to set up quickly, and a very high IN to find the open guy. DI is not as big a concern in my opinion, as you don't want him holding the ball too long. Wide receivers that can get open quickly are also a must. Look for high AC, AG, and HA, plus if you want him breaking tackles, stronger is better and you want him running precise routes, so good DI is a must. As for your HB, a balanced back who can gain some yardage on the screens and running the ball can make or break your team. Again OL in this scheme don't necessary have to be brutes, but they need to be strong enough to handle the defensive players, and quick and agile, with good IN and DI scores. Oh yes, and you'll need to play good defense.

Perhaps you prefer to have a high scoring, deep threat, throw-it-all-over-the-place offense. In this case having a STRONG QB to get them deep passes away, is a must. IN is always an issue with QBs. If you like to throw long, DI is also essential. You don't want the QB to get happy feet and panic before the man is open (though his can be compensated in your pass play design). It is not as necessary for him to be fast if he sits in shotgun and has to wait for the receiver, but agility to avoid rushers is always a must. Again the OL needs to be able to block well in passing situations, and does not necessarily need to be 90 ST giants. Your WRs need the SP to get deep in a hurry (those lineman can't stand there all day) and have the hands to make the big catch. AC and AG are always important to getting separation on the cuts. As for defense, if you are going to throw the ball a lot, make sure that D has superior endurance as they will be on the field a lot.

Best of all, use the above as examples, and experiment with what works best for you.

Depth Chart
I like to keep a certain number of players at each position on my depth chart. Others have different ideas, but here is what works for me.

QB 3 (QB 3 is Inactive)
HB 4 (HB 4 is inactive)
FB  2
WR 5
TE  3
C   2
G   3
T   3
DE 4
DT 4
LB 5
CB 4
S   4
P   1
K   1

Thats 46 Active or open players and two inactive.
The other 5 I use for best talent I can get, or in a cap league the cheapest players I can find!

One thing to consider with your roster is the breakdown of talent in the actual depth chart. In most cases you want the starter and his main backup to be as close in talent as possible. For example, QB1 and 2 should be as close in stats as possible; same with HB1 & 2, etc. The reason for this is timing. A QB1 with an AC of 70, and a SP of 70, replaced by a QB with 50's is going to find major problems in timing, especially on things such as pitches and timing passes. This same concern holds true for positions that require more than 1 player, such as DE. You want DE3 to be close to DE1 and 2 so he can come in when they are tired or hurt. The deeper players on your two deep can be older players that can come in in emergencies, or developmental players.

One thing I have found in FBpro is I believe stats are based in part on thresholds. One of those biggest thresholds is the threshold of 80. Ever notice that that QB with a ST and IN of 81 tends to be so much more accurate than a like QB with a 79 ST and IN? This is because of the threshold. Naturally a 90 is better than an 80, but not nearly as much as one would think.

When is a player too old?
Players go through three stages
Stage 1 The Growth Years
Stage 2 The Prime Years
Stage 3 The Decline Years

The Growth Years
In the first 4 (R - 3 in player age) years of a player's career he will do his most growing, provided he has any potential. In that span he will grow to the point of using 70 to 80% of the difference in his potentials and actuals--meaning a rookie with a 80 SP with a 95 potential can improve 11 to 12 points.

Example of player during his growth years:
I WR  89 Newton Way OK R 5-11 205 86 83 82 49 85 78 58 62
A WR 88 Newton Way OK 2 5-11 205 88 86 86 50 85 82 60 64 (note this is before Camp)
Way continues to grow, having gains in almost every area

The prime years
The 5th through 8th (4 through 7 in player age) years of the FBpro players life are his prime years, he will have little improvement during these years, but has reached the pinnacle of achievement for him. Often this places him among the better players in the league.

Example of player in his prime years:
A QB1 1 Carlos Bracken OK 4 0-0 0 74 60 71 89 80 81 88 81
A QB1 1 Carlos Bracken OK 6 0-0 0 75 65 75 90 82 81 90 83
Bracken has improved, but not greatly in his main areas

The Decline Years
After the player's 8th (8 plus in player age) season, when he ages he will lose attributes. This seems to be a random number, though the older the player gets the more he usually loses. During these years, camps are used to maintain more than improve a player, and will he eventually loose ground unil he retires.

Example of Player in his decline years:
A QB1 1 Jim Johnson OK 9 0-0 0 76 60 69 83 68 65 88 76
A QB1 1 Jim Johnson OK 12 0-0 0 70 57 68 85 68 67 90 79
Johnson has definitely begun slowing down, but he is not finished yet.

Also it should be noted that IN and DI do not degrade with age.


When is OLD to OLD
So you have a few old players on your team and you are worried about them retiring, or that they are to old. Many times you can control the retirement of the Older player by proper roster management. Check the Retirement Tutorial for more information on when a player retires. If is ok to have guys that are old if you space them out. What you don' want is several retirement age players at the same position. This is how you loose players. It is pretty easy to protect one old guy at each position, so that gives you 15 old players you could have on your team.

What do you do if you have too many old guys at one position?
Trade them is the best option, try and find a coach in a similar predicament. Perhaps you have too many old Wide receivers, coach B has to Many Old Linebackers, but you are Young at Linebacker. The two of you can get together and make a trade that could be beneficial to both teams.

Cutting Old players
There comes a point in every players career when he just can't be as productive as he once was, and there is an young Eager player waiting to take his place. Try to trade the old geezer first, take anything for him, a 7th is better than cutting the player, if there are no bites, then doom the old guy to retirement and collecting social security checks, or As a last resort force him to retire so no one else can get benefit from him since you can't.

Now on to that master plan...

So you have decided you are one or two players away from winning the big one. In this case scouting out some talent in the prime or even the declining years could put you over the top. Look for the guys that others may not want because of their age, and try to get them without mortgaging your future. It is obvious top-flight young guys will help you now, and in the future, but these may be the most difficult to get. Trade young guys that don't fit your plans for young guys that do.

But wait! I am in a three year plan.
What you want is the most players in their prime when your 3 year period ends. So those players already in their prime become candidates for trade. Don't be afraid to take less than what you think you should get for the guy. If you refuse to take that high 2nd because you want a first and hold him too long, the player will lose even more value and rob you of your chance to build that young base of youthful players you so badly want. Guys in their 6th or greater seasons should be moved if you don't think you can win for another 3 - 5 seasons. Get value out of them, and add value to your team through more players in their growth years. But please consider if you really that far off before you make this jump!

Getting the most Bang for your Buck
What every coach should be after is getting the most talented team that fits his style across the board. Sometimes I see coaches that have 4 Star caliber players at the same position, but weaknesses in other areas. You are wasting your talent. 4 players can't play the same position at the same time. Sure if player 1 gets tired or injured you are set. But wouldn't it be better to get another player that is going to play most every down, and make an impact? Suppose you have 4 Star caliber Wide Receivers, how many of them actually contribute at a time, maybe 2, possibly 3. But your Corner 2 is not up to the standards of the rest of the league. Somebody somewhere needs that WR, and has a DB that could come in and make an impact for your team, it is better to spread your talent than to clump it altogether.