The Need for Endurance
Endurance is the most overlooked statistic during training camp.
At the start of a game, a player's energy rating is 100. As a player is involved in the game his ER goes down proportionately. As the ER goes down it affects all current statistics except IN & DI.
For example, take a player who has 90 SP. When his ER is down to 85, his effective speed rating is only 85% of that 90 or an amazing 76.5 !!!
How much it goes down depends on a lot of factors. Of prime importance is the players EN. The higher the EN, the SLOWER the ER goes down during a game.
The player's ER goes up while a player is out of the game, either by substitution, injury, halftime or the other offensive/defensive unit is playing. How fast it goes back up depends on EN. The higher the EN, naturally the faster it goes up.
In addition, a player may not be able to achieve a full 100 ER during the game no matter how long they sit on the bench. Some players may not be able to get back up past 93 or 94. Again, the higher the EN, the more their ER will go back up when they are rested.
Player rotation is very important too but that is another subject that could be covered another time. I set my sub in/out rotation pretty high, usually in the 88-91 range.
I can't give you exact figures but here are my basic calculations based upon MY substitution standards mentioned above:
85+ The player should be able to play every play of the game including special teams. Probably can stay in for most of the game.
70-80 Will need some periods of rest but is a decent player.
Will probably be able to play for 3-4 plays at a time before subbing out.
Bring him in for special situations only.
I try to get my Marquee players to an EN of approximately 85. These players include my star RB, main WR, two of my CB's, one LB and three DL's. I am happy if my OL's and other starters are in the 80 range. I would be unlikely to start a player with an EN below 70.
When pondering your training camp numbers, consider this: Making that star WR's SP go from 90 to 92 is not as good as having his EN go from 55 to 75 !!! Training EN enhances the ratings of six separate statistics not just one.
In short, don't train other attributes at the expense of EN!
--- Miles Crawford