THE SUCCESSFUL INTERNET FOOTBALL LEAGUE COACH/GM
ARTICLE 1 of 3-MANAGING YOUR ROSTER
Evaluating your roster and getting the most out of it is at the core of having a successful team. Sometimes making a position change or making adjustments to your Profile to take advantage of depth can make the difference in winning or losing. First, this article will break down the different positions and what to look for when evaluating the positions. Second, it will look at evaluating depth and ways to take advantage of your current roster talent. Third, it will look at how to use Utilities, RMUpdate and ITC (Individual Training Camp).
B. For most positions though the total points due not truly indicate the true value of a player. Below is a breakdown on each position and what the numbers mean to that position.
1- most important to 8- least important.
Red- Critical, Blue- Very Important, Green- Important, Black- Mildly important |
||||||||
| POSITION | SP |
AC |
AG |
ST |
HA |
EN |
IN |
DI |
| QB | 6a |
6b |
6c |
1a |
5 |
3 |
1b |
4 |
| RB/FB | 1 |
2 |
5a |
3a |
5b |
3b |
8 |
7 |
| FB | 4b |
4a |
2 |
1 |
4c |
3 |
8 |
7 |
| WR | 2 |
4a |
4b |
6 |
1 |
3 |
8 |
7 |
| TE | 5b |
5a |
3a |
2 |
1 |
3b |
8 |
7 |
| C | 6 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
3 |
7 |
8 |
| G | 5 |
3a |
2 |
1 |
8 |
3b |
7 |
6 |
| T | 5 |
3b |
2 |
1 |
8 |
3a |
7 |
6 |
| S | 2a |
2b |
6 |
5 |
1 |
2c |
7 |
8 |
| CB | 2a |
2b |
2c |
6 |
1 |
2d |
7 |
8 |
| LB/Outside | 1a |
1b |
1c |
2 |
4 |
3 |
7 |
8 |
| LB/Inside | 5 |
3a |
2 |
1 |
6 |
3b |
7 |
8 |
| DE | 5 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
3 |
7 |
8 |
| DT | 5 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
3 |
7 |
8 |
| K | 4 |
3 |
6 |
2 |
7 |
5 |
5 |
1 |
| P | 4 |
3 |
6 |
1 |
7 |
5 |
5 |
2 |
CATEGORY NOTES: Endurance in one way is the most important category. It is the only category that effects all the others. A player with high endurance will maintain all of his other numbers for a longer period of time. A player with poor endurance will deteriorate quickly and will be substituted for quickly until his numbers come back above the substitution figure set in the Profile. Intelligence and dependability have a direct bearing on penalties and the ability of your player to follow instructions given by the play type. The Intelligence also determines how quickly the player recognizes the play type and weather he falls for fakes.
POSITION NOTES:
QB: ST-Determines how far he can throw the ball and Intelligence determines his ability to make reads and to call audibles. ST- becomes his running strength when he runs the ball (This makes QB's dangerous runners but it is risky to do.) Acceleration and speed can be important on rollouts while agility many times allows the QB to elude the oncoming rushers.
RB/FB: Running backs use all their numbers. They require better hands though if you plan on passing to them down field, otherwise they will still do well with average hands on swing passes. Hands also play into the fumble factors. So you can see that even hands become important to the back. While the HB needs acceleration and speed to get outside, good strength will allow him to break that first tackle which could be the difference between a 4th down and a 1st down. The fullback may not need as much speed as the HB, but does need very good agility and strength to run inside. Good acceleration is a big asset for any running back.
WR: Wide receivers use all their numbers. Receivers with good strength are very valuable in the Running game. Having a different mix of speed numbers (SP,AC,AG) will effect which routes they excel at. Especially with timed plays the endurance can be a very large factor (If your receiver slows down to much he wont get to the spot of the pass), so if you plan on using any of the very effective timed plays make sure that it is with a receiver that is reliable with good endurance or you will be throwing to the wrong team.
C/G/T: The center needs to have better hands than the others in order to cut down on fumbles when snapping the ball. You might also notice that the center on pass plays will back up and look for someone to help block or a blitzing back. Don’t underestimate the value of mobility and intelligence at this spot. Guards need to have the running skills if you plan on pulling them although agility and strength should be there primary asset to defend against the stronger DT's that will be trying to bust through. Your Tackles should be your most well rounded lineman as they will most likely be playing against a quick and fast DE. The ability to get into a good blocking stance before they are hit should not be underestimated.
DB's: Defensive backs use all of their numbers more than any other position. Strength has a lot to do with a DB’s ability to support on the run along with the fact that many times they are the only player between the receiver or tight end and the endzone. Intelligence is often overlooked at this spot but when a defensive back bites on a fake the other team is usually very happy.
LB's: Probably represent the most important defensive position. LB's with high numbers are very rare. Their impact on the defense forces their numbers to be overall lower than the other positions. LB's with numbers in the 80's are equivalent in most cases to 90's at other positions. LB's are what keeps the other team from marching up the field on you. The speed to get to the outside runner or cover a TE are very important, along with good hands for the occasional tipped or poorly thrown ball from the other team. The LB must have the strength and agility to break the block by a lineman and make the tackle on the big fullback running inside. The intelligence of the designated LB (This is preset by a box around one of your defensive players, Usually the MLB) is used to make defensive audible calls that we all cringe at. The smarter the LB the better the call. You can not change the defensive position that makes these calls but you can see which player it will be by looking at the play in the Play Editor where you design your playbooks. This is not a real problem unless you are getting burned on audibles allot.
DE/DT: Strength and Agility form the core for defensive lineman. But a DE with good Acceleration and Speed is a dangerous pass rushing weapon and helps to cut down on the outside runs. Strength is not as important to a DE as a DT, but very important overall. A defensive Lineman’s hands are usually ignored, but play a big part in their ability to tip passes and recover fumbles. This is a nice luxury to have. Once again it is difficult to find Defensive linemen with high numbers. So like LB’s, defensive linemen that have good numbers are extremely valuable.
K: The kicking position is about strength for distance, and Dependability for accuracy. Having better speed and acceleration will effect his ability to be blocked.
P: The Punter's strength affects distance and dependability affects accuracy and shanks. The speed and acceleration play a big part in avoiding blocked punts. Intelligence I hope will effect what type of punt (coffin corner) the punter try’s.
ROSTER STRATEGY AND DEPTH
Hopefully we all no what it is we want in each position. Now the question is what do we do with the players we have. Improving the depth on your team should be just as important as acquiring the front line talent. In a lot of cases your ability to acquire depth will be something you have more immediate control over. Evaluate the Free Agents often and make moves on players that bring your bottom players closer to your starters. Remember that if your Starter doesn't have good endurance (Anything under 70 is a problem. 80 and above represents a quality starter.) he will not be in the game for 1/3 to 1/2 the plays and he will be at a reduced value when he plays. So set up your reserves so they back up the position they are best suited for. Another method of backing up many positions (i.e. OL) is to make your non starting players all of 1 type this puts your best player in the lineup first no matter what player type needs a breather. If you have good depth don't be afraid to use it by setting a high substitution rate, this will help to keep all of your players fresher. Many times a good backup has better numbers than a tired starter.
Active/Inactive: Making changes to your roster designations of A/O/I is one of the most important roster management tools you have. If you go to your roster you will see the letter designations of A-Assigned, O-Open Active and I- Open Inactive. Assigned players are your Starters and your primary backups. Open Active are your backup players that get to dress and play if needed. Inactive players will not play in the game. On your roster you can only have 34 Assigned players and 12 Open Active. You can change which players have the designation of A/O/I by going to the Active/Inactive button on your roster page. By double clicking on a player you will then be able to change the designation by clicking on that window to change the letter to A/O/I. NOTE: Putting a player as Inactive speeds up there recovery from injuries. If you put a player on injured reserve he is not eligible to play this season. This frees a roster spot and allows you to keep your player if you want.
Position Swaps: Many positions have limited swapping allowed in FBPRO97. The positions that can be changed are HB to FB, C to G or T, S to CB and DE to DT. Evaluate your roster to take advantage of your players playing in their best position. Making changes based on match-ups against your next opponent can help to. This might include swapping Offensive or Defensive linemen to different positions along the line to take advantage of a weakness on your opponents side. Match-ups in the Secondary are very important. The game Logic has your fastest DB covering the fastest WR in man to man defenses in most cases. Some times this might warrant you to switch a safety to CB in order to avoid a bad match up situation. Another place to take advantage of your roster is to look at position. By this I mean which WR you play at what position or more important which LB you play at what position. Remember that when it comes to your number 3 LB he will play outside on a 4-3 defense and on the inside on a 3-4 defense. Your number 2 LB will usually be the one calling your audible. Your number four will start in 3-4 defenses and be your primary back up on 4-3 defenses.
RUMupdate- This is a great utility and easy to use. It can be downloaded from the league files section of the IWFL. Using the program is very simple. I suggest that you put it in it’s own folder, so that it will be easy for you to find the files it creates. First go to FBPRO97 and make all the changes you want for the upcoming week to your team. When you are done making roster changes, go to RMUpdate and execute the program. It will show you a file tree, click on the folders necessary to navigate to where you have your IWFL files (Usually in the FBPRO97 main folder). Select IWFL and then go to the pull down menu to the right once the league is loaded and select your team from the pull down menu. Press "Make", this will create a file of your teams current roster and positions. This is the file you send to the league commissioner so that he can update your team moves. If for some reason you need to update your team with the changes you made (you might have reloaded the league files again), just hit the update button and it will use the file you had created before to put the changes back on your team.
ITC (Individual Training Camp). This is the utility that the IWFL uses after the draft to train the members on your roster. This program allows you to tell each member on your team what you want him to work on so that he might improve his numbers for the upcoming season. Using the program correctly can make a big difference in the movement of your player’s numbers. There is another program that is called Roster. It will give you a readout of yours or any other teams roster with the player’s current numbers and what the player’s potential numbers are. An example of what this program does can be seen by clicking on your teams name on the Eurasian page of the IWFL. This Utility is available on the Internet or you can check with other members of the IWFL to get it. These are the same numbers you see when you look at a player on AGENT. By comparing the current number with the potential number, you can see how much a player can go up in a certain category. For example, if your RB has a speed of 70 and a potential of 95 he has a spread between the numbers of 25. If his strength is 70 and his potential is 75 then he only has a spread of 5. In this case it would be much better to try and move his speed in training camp, rather than his strength. No matter how bad you want him to get stronger it will be very difficult to move him the last 5 points of strength and he can never get above 75 anyway. By trying to improve the speed you will get the most bang for the percentage of time used in training camp. These numbers should be very important when you trade for a player or when you draft a player. To use the program just navigate through the file tree to the IWFL and then when the league loads select your team. Your players will be listed and you can make the changes you want to the individual categories. When you are done it will create a file that you will send to the commissioner. I would suggest that you keep this program in a separate folder in order to make it easier to find your file.
FINAL NOTE:
The above article is based on my experience, the FBPRO97 manual, readings of other help articles on the Internet and from input from fellow members of the IWFL. These articles are meant to help and will hopefully have information for the beginning league member and the more experienced members. I would appreciate any comments or information that would add to the quality of these Articles. Please send your input to David Johnson daytona3@airmail.net