Madden NFL 2004 Fantasy Draft Strategy Guide

Madden NFL 2004 Fantasy Draft Strategy Guide
Version 1.0
by DrFunkenstein
Copyright 2004 Jordan Chavez

=================
Table of Contents
=================
1. Introduction
2. How it Works
3. Player Listings
4. Draft Strategy
5. First Round Picks
6. Version History
7. Legal

===============
1. Introduction
===============

Welcome to my Madden NFL 2004 fantasy draft strategy guide. The purpose of this
guide is to help you draft an effective team for your franchise. This guide
explains the draft mechanics, draft strategy, and gives a comprehensive listing
of good players and the rounds they are usually drafted.

The player listings are for the latest EA roster update, but should still be
useful for earlier updates as only a few players experience significant changes
between updates. The draft strategy is applicable to any version.

Suggestions, criticisms, or comments go to [email protected].

===============
2. How it Works
===============

The fantasy draft works by creating a draft pool of all current NFL players. All
32 teams start with an empty roster and choose one player each round for 49
rounds. Any number of teams may be human controlled, including none of them,
which automates the entire draft. When the draft starts the order in which the
teams get to pick is randomly generated. Note that the fanatsy draft order has
no relation to the college draft order.The team order is reversed each
subsequent round: for example if you get 1st pick in round 1 then you will get
32nd pick in round 2, 1st pick in round 3, 32nd pick in round 4, etc. This keeps
the draft fair and balanced and no team has an advantage over another after the
draft is completed. The draft is 49 rounds long and requires you to fulfill the
minimum 49-player roster. You can pick any player you want in any round, as
long as you complete your roster.

Specifically you must draft:

3 Quarterbacks
3 Halfbacks
1 Fullback
5 Wide Recievers
3 Tight Ends
4 Offensive Tackles
4 Guards
2 Centers

4 Defensive Ends
3 Defensive Tackles
2 Middle Linebackers
4 Outside Linebackers
5 Cornerbacks
2 Strong Safeties
2 Free Safeties

1 Kicker
1 Punter

After the draft you can sign free agents as usual but since the free agency pool
consists of everyone who didn't get drafted you usually won't see anyone worth
taking.

==================
3. Player Listings
==================

This section lists the rounds in which particular players are drafted. The
purpose is to allow you to maximize the value of your draft picks by taking a
given player in the latest round possible. This information is most helpful when
drafting talented young players, as you cannot determine their value merely by
their OVR statistic. Age and years of experience are equally important with such
players, as they will often increase OVR by 4 or more points in their initial
NFL years. I once took Andre Johnson from 85 OVR as a rookie to 99 OVR by the
start of his 3rd season. Clearly he was a good choice as a round 5 pick!

Because listing every player in Madden 2004 is a waste of time and space, I
only list the players I consider good. Here is my definition of good:

Age Yr OVR
21 R 70
22 R 72
22 1 74
23 R 74
23 1 76
23 2 77
24 R 76
24 1 78
24 2 79
24 3 80
25 1 80
25 2 81
25 3 82
25 4 83
Any - 85

The OVR column is the minimum OVR that a player must have to be considered good.
So a 24 year old player with 2 years in the league must have OVR 79 or higher.
Brett Favre is good even at the age of 33 since his OVR of 94 is >= 85.

My goal is to list good young players (the kind I like to draft) and good
players overall (the kind everyone likes to draft). This system leaves out a few
good players, for example Quincy Carter, but for the most the players not listed
will go late in the draft and are not hard to get.

Pos = position
OVR = player overall statistic
Age = player age
Yr = years in league, R means rookie
Rd = round the guys is taken in, 1/2 means either round 1 or 2

Pos Name OVR Age Yr Rd
QB Steve McNair 96 30 8 1
QB Peyton Manning 95 27 5 1
QB Daunte Culpepper 94 26 4 1
QB Brett Favre 94 33 12 1
QB Michael Vick 93 23 2 1
QB Rich Gannon 90 37 16 1/2
QB Trent Green 93 33 8 1/2
QB Brad Johnson 92 34 11 1/2
QB Patrick Ramsey 85 24 1 1/2
QB David Carr 83 24 1 1/2
QB Kerry Collins 92 30 8 2
QB Jeff Garcia 91 33 4 2
QB Tom Brady 91 26 3 3/4
QB Chad Pennington 88 27 3 3
QB Drew Bledsoe 89 31 10 4
QB Joey Harrington 80 24 1 4
QB Donovan McNabb 89 26 4 5
QB Byron Leftwich 81 23 R 5/6
QB Marc Bulger 88 26 3 6
QB Jake Plummer 88 28 6 6
QB Matt Hasselbeck 85 27 4 8
QB Aaron Brooks 86 27 4 9
QB Tommy Maddox 85 31 6 9
QB Carson Palmer 79 23 R 12/13
QB Kyle Boller 78 22 R 12/13
QB Rex Grossman 73 22 R 16

Pos Name OVR Age Yr Rnd
HB Priest Holmes 96 29 6 1
HB Jamal Lewis 95 24 3 1
HB LaDainian Tomlinson 95 24 2 1
HB Clinton Portis 93 21 1 1
HB Ricky Williams 94 26 4 1/2
HB Stephen Davis 94 29 7 2
HB Marshall Faulk 94 30 9 2
HB Deuce McAllister 92 24 2 2
HB Michael Bennett 88 25 2 3/4
HB Ahman Green 92 26 5 4
HB Tiki Barber 88 28 6 4
HB Shaun Alexander 91 26 3 5
HB Fred Taylor 90 27 5 5/6/7
HB Eddie George 87 29 7 6
HB Travis Henry 88 24 2 6/7
HB Moe Williams 87 29 7 7
HB William Green 86 23 1 7/8
HB T.J. Duckett 80 22 1 7/8
HB Kevin Barlow 82 24 2 7/8/15
HB Charlie Garner 89 31 9 8
HB Edgerrin James 88 25 4 9/10
HB Curtis Martin 87 30 8 10
HB Deshaun Foster 77 23 1 10
HB Brian Westbrook 76 23 1 11/12
HB Maurice Morris 76 23 1 12/13/14
HB Corey Dillon 85 27 6 13
HB Garrison Hearst 85 32 10 15
HB Onterrio Smith 73 22 R 16/17
HB Rudi Johnson 79 23 2 25/26
HB Lamont Jordan 79 24 2 25/26
HB Domanick Davis 78 22 R 25/26
HB Willis McGahee 76 21 R 26/27
HB Lamar Gordon 76 23 1 26/27

Pos Name OVR Age Yr Rnd
FB Mike Alstott 93 29 7 19
FB James Hodgins 91 26 4 19
FB Lorenzo Neal 92 32 10 20
FB Fred Beasley 89 28 5 20
FB William Henderson 87 32 8 20
FB Tony Richardson 87 31 8 20
FB Jon Ritchie 86 28 5 20
FB Cory Schlesinger 86 31 8 20
FB Richie Anderson 86 13 10 20
FB Rob Konrad 86 26 4 20
FB Mack Strong 85 31 9 20
FB Justin Griffith 80 23 R 21/22
FB Heath Evans 79 24 2 22

Pos Name OVR Age Yr Rnd
WR Marvin Harrision 99 31 7 1
WR Randy Moss 98 26 5 1/2
WR Terrel Owens 98 29 7 1
WR Chad Johnson 89 25 2 2
WR Eric Moulds 93 30 7 2/3
WR Reggie Wayne 88 24 2 2/3
WR Torry Holt 94 27 4 3
WR Laveranues Coles 91 25 3 3
WR Anquan Boldin 86 22 R 3
WR Chris Chambers 86 25 2 3
WR Plaxico Burress 90 27 3 3/4
WR Rod Gardner 88 25 2 3/4
WR Koren Robinson 88 23 2 3/4
WR Hines Ward 94 27 5 4
WR Joe Horn 92 31 7 4
WR Amani Toomer 91 28 7 4
WR Quincy Morgan 84 25 2 4
WR Santana Moss 84 24 2 4
WR Derrick Mason 91 29 6 5
WR Isaac Bruce 91 30 9 5
WR Andre Johnson 85 22 R 5
WR Charles Rogers 84 22 R 5
WR Donte Stallworth 84 22 1 5
WR Marty Booker 90 27 4 5/6
WR Ashley Lelie 82 23 1 5/6
WR Rod Smith 89 33 8 6
WR Jerry Porter 85 25 3 6
WR Steve Smith 82 24 2 6
WR Jabar Gaffney 80 22 1 6
WR Antonio Bryant 80 22 1 6
WR Jimmy Smith 89 34 10 7
WR Jerry Rice 89 40 18 7
WR Darrel Jackson 85 24 3 7
WR Tim Brown 86 37 15 7
WR Muhsin Muhammad 85 30 7 7
WR Josh Reed 77 23 1 7/8
WR Donald Driver 88 28 4 8
WR Keenan McCardell 88 33 11 8
WR Robert Ferguson 78 23 2 8/9
WR Troy Brown 88 32 10 9
WR Peerless Price 87 26 4 9
WR Antwaan Randle El 80 23 1 9
WR Tyrone Calico 77 22 R 9
WR David Boston 86 25 4 10/11
WR Bryant Johnson 76 22 R 10/11
WR Ike Hilliard 86 27 6 11
WR Nate Burleson 74 22 R 11
WR Joey Galloway 85 31 8 12
WR Taylor Jacobs 74 22 R 12
WR Dante Hall 75 24 3 26/27
*Dante Hall doesn't meet the criteria but he is such a value
that I couldn't leave him out.

Pos Name OVR Age Yr Rnd
TE Tony Gonzalez 97 27 6 15
TE Jeremy Shockey 92 23 1 17/18
TE Todd Heap 90 23 2 18
TE Marcus Pollard 90 31 8 18
TE Randy McMichael 84 24 1 18/19
TE Daniel Graham 82 24 1 19
TE Shannon Sharpe 90 35 13 20
TE Alge Crumpler 86 25 2 20
TE Bubba Franks 86 25 3 20
TE Erron Kinney 85 26 3 20
TE Jeremy Stevens 79 23 1 20
TE Doug Jolley 79 24 1 20
TE Dallas Clark 77 24 R 20
TE Teyo Johnson 73 21 R 21
TE Jason Witten 80 21 R 22/44

Pos Name OVR Age Yr Rnd
LT Jonathan Ogden 98 29 7 1
LT Orlando Pace 98 27 6 1
LT Tra Thomas 95 28 5 1/2
RT Lincoln Kennedy 96 32 10 1/2
LT Walter Jones 96 29 6 1/2
LT Willie Roaf 95 33 10 1/2/3
LT Chris Samuels 94 26 3 2/3
LT Alan Faneca 94 26 5 3
LT Briant McKinnie 90 23 1 3
RT Kyle Turley 92 27 5 3/4
RT Jon Tait 92 28 4 3/4
RT Mike Williams 88 23 1 3/4
RT Jon Jansen 91 27 4 4
LT Tarik Glen 90 27 6 4
LT Derrick Deese 89 33 11 4
RT Ryan Diem 87 24 2 4/5
LT Bob Whitfield 90 31 11 5
LT Luke Pettigout 90 27 4 5
RT Willie Anderson 90 28 7 5
LT Brad Hopkins 90 32 10 5/6
LT Jason Fabini 89 29 5 6
LT Flozell Adams 88 28 5 6
RT Mark Tauscher 88 26 3 6
LT Wayne Gandy 88 32 9 7
LT Barry Sims 88 28 4 7
LT Adam Meadows 86 29 6 7
RT Scott Gragg 86 31 8 7
LT Mark Dixon 85 32 5 7
RT Jordan Gross 80 23 R 7
LT Levi Jones 82 23 1 7/8
LT Todd Steussie 86 32 9 8
RT John Runyan 87 29 7 8
RT Fred Miller 86 30 7 8
LT Jeff Backus 83 25 2 9
LT Matt Light 81 25 2 10
RT Kareem McKenzie 80 24 2 10
RT Kenyatta Walker 80 24 2 11
LT Wade Smith 75 22 R 11/12
LT Kwame Harris 72 21 R 15

Pos Name OVR Age Yr Rnd
RG Will Shields 98 31 10 3
LG Ruben Brown 97 31 9 4
LG Larry Allen 97 31 9 5
RG Ron Stone 96 32 10 5
RG Leonard Davis 95 24 2 5
RG Randy Thomas 93 27 4 5/6
RG Dan Neil 92 29 6 5/6
RG LeCharles Bentley 89 23 1 7
RG Jermane Mayberry 91 30 7 7/8
LG Damien Woody 90 25 4 7/8/9
LG Brian Waters 92 26 4 8
RG Marco Rivera 90 31 7 9
RG Benji Olson 90 28 5 9/10
LG Edwin Mulitalo 90 28 4 10
LG Zach Pillar 89 27 4 10
RG Adam Timmerman 89 32 8 10
LG Kerry Jenkins 88 29 5 10
RG Kendall Simmons 84 24 1 10/11/12
LG Mike Wahle 87 26 5 11
LG John Welbourn 87 27 4 12
RG David Dixon 87 34 9 12
LG Marvel Smith 86 25 3 12/13
LG Chris Liwienski 86 28 5 13
RG Ray Brown 86 40 17 13
LG Steve Hutchinson 85 25 2 13
LG Dave Fiore 85 29 7 14
LG Frank Middleton 85 28 6 14
LG Rex Tucker 85 26 4 14
RG Mo Collins 85 26 5 14
LG Toniu Fonoti 79 22 1 15
RG Steve Sciullo 79 23 R 15/16
LG Eric Steinbach 78 23 R 15/16
RG Cosey Coleman 82 24 3 16/17
LG Vince Manuwai 77 23 R 16/17
LG Eric Heitmann 77 23 1 17
RG David Diehl 72 22 R 18/19

Pos Name OVR Age Yr Rnd
C Kevin Mawae 97 32 9 17
C Olin Kruetz 96 25 5 17
C Tom Nalen 94 32 9 18
C Matt Birk 93 27 5 18
C Casey Weigmann 92 28 7 19
C Jeremy Newberry 91 27 5 19
C Justin Hartwig 86 24 1 19/20
C Pete Kendall 88 30 7 20
C Jeff Hartings 87 30 7 20
C Hank Fraley 86 25 3 20
C Donald Willis 85 30 5 20
C Jeff Mitchell 85 29 6 20
C Gennero Dinapoli 85 28 5 20
C Barret Robbins 85 30 8 20
C Mike Compton 85 32 10 20
C Jeff Saturday 85 28 4 20
C Matt Lehr 84 24 2 20
C David Koppen 80 25 R 21
C Roberto Garza 79 24 2 21
C Jeff Faine 76 22 R 21/22/42

Pos Name OVR Age Yr Rnd
RE Jason Taylor 98 28 6 1
LE Michael Strahan 98 31 10 1
LE Simeon Rice 97 29 7 1
LE Trevor Pryce 95 28 6 1
LE Julius Peppers 94 23 1 1
RE Dwight Freeney 93 25 1 1/2
RE John Abraham 95 25 3 2
LE Greg Ellis 94 28 5 2
RE Vonnie Holliday 93 27 5 2
RE Mike Rucker 92 28 4 2
LE Marcellus Wiley 92 28 6 2
RE Andre Carter 91 24 2 2
LE Patrick Kerney 92 26 4 2/3
RE Justin Smith 89 23 2 2/3
LE Shaun Ellis 92 26 3 3/4
RE Jevon Kearse 91 26 4 4
LE Robert Porcher 89 34 11 4
LE Kevin Carter 88 29 8 4
LE Gary Walker 87 30 8 4
LE Leonard Little 89 28 5 5
RE Hugh Dougless 88 32 8 5
RE Courtney Brown 88 25 3 5
LE Kevin Williams 83 23 R 5/6
RE Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila 88 25 3 6
RE Charles Grant 81 24 1 7/8
LE Joe Johnson 87 31 9 8
LE Antonio Cochran 85 27 4 8
LE Brad Scioli 85 26 4 8
RE Chad Bratzke 85 31 9 8
RE Grant Wistrom 87 27 5 9
LE Aaron Smith 87 27 4 9
LE Tony Brackens 86 28 7 9
LE Darren Howard 85 26 3 9
RE Calvin Pace 77 22 R 9
RE Kalimba Edwards 78 23 1 9/10
RE Carlos Hall 78 24 1 10
LE Robert Mathis 76 22 R 12/13
LE Anthony Weaver 78 23 1 13
RE Jerome McDougle 76 24 R 13
RE Michael Haynes 75 22 R 13
RE Tyler Brayton 75 23 R 13/14

Pos Name OVR Age Yr Rnd
DT La'Roi Glover 97 29 7 1
DT Bryant Young 94 31 9 1/2/3
DT Kris Jenkins 95 24 2 2
DT Corey Simmons 95 26 3 2
DT Pat Williams 93 30 6 2
DT Chris Hovan 94 25 3 3
DT Casey Hampton 93 25 2 3
DT Richard Seymour 93 23 2 3
DT Warren Sapp 93 30 8 3
DT Albert Haynesworth 91 22 1 3
DT Anthony McFarland 90 25 4 3/4/5
DT Daryl Gardener 90 30 7 3/5/7
DT Luther Elliss 90 30 8 5
DT John Henderson 85 24 1 5/6
DT Ryan Sims 83 23 1 5/7
DT Norman Hand 89 30 8 6
DT Gerard Warren 86 25 2 6/7/8
DT John Randle 90 35 13 7
DT Tim Bowens 88 30 9 7
DT Jamal Williams 88 27 5 7
DT Larry Tripplett 83 24 1 7/8/9
DT Darwin Walker 89 26 3 8
DT Keith Traylor 87 33 11 8
DT Ted Washington 87 35 12 8
DT Jason Fisk 86 30 8 8
DT John Parrella 87 33 10 9
DT Sam Adams 85 30 9 9
DT Dewayne Robertson 79 21 R 9
DT Roderick Coleman 86 27 4 10
DT Cletidus Hunt 87 27 4 10
DT Shaun Rogers 85 24 2 10/11
DT Ryan Pickett 80 24 2 10/11/12/13
DT Jason Ferguson 87 28 6 25
DT Brentson Buckner 87 31 9 25
DT Cornelius Griffin 86 26 3 25
DT Tony Williams 85 29 6 25
DT Chad Eaton 85 31 6 25
DT Ellis Johnson 85 29 8 25
DT Marcus Stroud 84 25 2 25
DT Willie Blade 83 24 2 25
DT Jonathan Sullivan 76 22 R 25
DT Jimmy Kennedy 76 23 R 25/26
DT Wendell Bryant 76 22 1 25/26
DT William Joseph 74 23 R 25/26
DT Robaire Smith 83 25 3 25/26
DT Ty Warren 74 22 R 26
DT Anthony Adams 74 23 R 26

Pos Name OVR Age Yr Rnd
ROLB Derrick Brooks 98 30 8 1
LOLB Lavar Arrington 97 25 3 1 listed as LOLB #53
ROLB Takeo Spikes 96 26 5 1/2
LOLB Jason Gildon 96 31 9 2
ROLB Joey Porter 95 26 4 2
ROLB Donnie Edwards 91 30 7 2
ROLB Keith Bulluck 95 26 3 2/3
LOLB Julian Peterson 94 25 3 3
ROLB Shawn Barber 93 28 5 3
ROLB Peter Boulware 92 28 6 4
ROLB Sam Cowart 90 28 5 4
LOLB Anthony Simmons 92 27 9 4/5
ROLB Chad Brown 91 33 10 4/5
LOLB Rosevelt Covin 90 25 4 5
ROLB Brian Simmons 89 28 5 5
ROLB Dexter Coakley 88 30 6 6
ROLB Jessie Armstead 87 32 10 6
ROLB Junior Seau 87 34 14 6
LOLB John Mobley 86 29 7 6
LOLB Scott Fujita 85 25 1 6
ROLB David Thornton 85 25 1 6
ROLB Chris Claiborne 89 25 4 6/7
ROLB Tommy Polley 83 25 2 6/7/8
ROLB Warrick Holdman 86 27 4 8
LOLB Raynoch Thompson 85 25 3 8
LOLB Marcus Washington 85 24 3 8
ROLB Na'il Diggs 85 25 3 8
ROLB Eric Barton 87 25 4 8/9/10
ROLB Levar Fisher 78 23 1 9/10
ROLB Ben Taylor 81 25 1 10
LOLB Boss Bailey 77 23 R 10/11/12/13
ROLB Ian Gold 85 25 3 11/12
LOLB Kevin Bentley 80 23 1 11/12
ROLB Will Witherspoon 78 23 1 11/12
ROLB Nate Wayne 85 28 5 12
LOLB Terrell Suggs 80 21 R 12
LOLB Akin Ayodele 78 23 1 12/13
ROLB Dhani Jones 82 25 3 15
ROLB Isaiah Kacyvenski 82 25 3 15/16
LOLB Victor Hobson 75 23 R 15/16
LOLB Pisa Tinoisamoa 76 22 R 16

Pos Name OVR Age Yr Rnd
MLB Ray Lewis 99 28 7 1
MLB Brian Urlacher 98 24 3 1
MLB Keith Brooking 94 27 5 1/2/3
MLB Kendrell Bell 93 23 2 3
MLB Al Wilson 92 26 4 3/4
MLB Zach Thomas 91 29 7 3/4
MLB Micheal Barrow 91 33 10 3/4
MLB Ronald McKinnon 90 29 7 4
MLB Randall Godfrey 90 30 7 4/5
MLB Nick Barnett 86 22 R 4/5
MLB Earl Holmes 89 30 7 5
MLB Jamie Sharper 91 28 6 5/6
MLB London Fletcher 90 28 5 6/7
MLB Andra Davis 84 24 1 7/8
MLB Rob Morris 89 28 3 8
MLB Jeremiah Trotter 87 26 5 8
MLB Dat Nguyen 89 27 4 9
MLB Mike Peterson 89 27 4 9
MLB Napoleon Harris 83 24 1 9
MLB Edgerton Hartwell 87 25 2 9/10
MLB Derek Smith 88 28 6 10
MLB Greg Bierkert 86 34 10 10
MLB Tedy Bruschi 86 30 7 10
MLB Dan Morgan 85 24 2 11/12
MLB E.J. Henderson 74 23 R 15/25

Pos Name OVR Age Yr Rnd
CB Champ Bailey 98 25 4 1
CB Ty Law 97 29 8 1
CB Ronde Barber 94 28 6 1/2
CB Patrick Surtain 93 27 5 1/2
CB Aaron Glenn 94 31 9 2
CB Bobby Taylor 93 29 8 2
CB Troy Vincent 93 33 11 2
CB Chris McAlister 93 26 4 3
CB Sam Madison 92 29 6 3
CB Terrance Newman 86 24 R 3
CB Samari Rolle 92 27 5 3/4
CB Charles Woodson 91 26 5 4
CB Brian Kelly 90 27 5 4
CB Antoine Winfield 90 26 4 4
CB Mike McKenzie 90 27 4 4/5
CB Shawn Springs 90 28 6 5
CB Nate Clements 87 23 2 5
CB Marcus Trufant 84 22 R 5/6
CB Quentin Jammer 84 24 1 5/6
CB Anthony Henry 86 26 2 6
CB Will Allen 86 25 2 6
CB Andre Dyson 86 24 2 6
CB William Peterson 86 24 2 6
CB Lenny Walls 82 23 1 6/7/8
CB Ahmed Plummer 87 27 3 7
CB Derek Ross 82 23 1 7
CB Fred Smoot 84 24 2 7/8
CB Marcus Coleman 86 29 7 8
CB R.W. McQuarters 86 26 5 8
CB Mario Edwards 85 27 3 8
CB Daylon McCutcheon 85 26 4 8
CB Phillip Buchanon 82 22 1 8/9/10
CB Fernando Bryant 86 26 4 9
CB Nick Harper 85 28 3 9
CB Duane Starks 85 29 5 9
CB Donnie Abraham 85 29 7 10
CB Gary Baxter 80 24 2 10/11
CB Jamar Fletcher 80 24 2 12
CB Asante Samuel 78 22 R 12
CB Mike Rumph 77 23 1 12
CB Travis Fisher 77 23 1 12/13
CB Rashean Mathis 77 23 R 13/14
CB Ken Lucas 79 24 2 13/14
CB Lito Sheppard 75 22 1 14/15
CB Andre Woolfolk 74 23 R 15/16
CB Charles Tillman 72 22 R 26/27

Pos Name OVR Age Yr Rnd
FS Brian Dawkins 99 29 7 6
FS Darren Sharper 98 27 6 6
FS Roy Williams 95 23 1 8
FS Rod Woodson 95 38 16 8/9
FS Aeneas Williams 95 35 12 9
FS Lance Shulters 91 28 5 10/11
FS Mike Brown 88 25 3 13/14
FS Ken Hamlin 84 22 R 13
FS Brock Marion 89 33 10 14
FS Dexter Jackson 88 26 4 14
FS Dwight Smith 83 25 2 14/15
FS Idrees Bashir 84 24 2 15
FS Tebucky Jones 86 28 5 17
FS Jerome Woods 86 30 7 17
FS Sam Brandon 79 24 1 17
FS Eugene Wilson 76 23 R 18
FS Deon Grant 80 24 3 19

Pos Name OVR Age Yr Rnd
SS Lawyer Milloy 96 29 7 6/7
SS Rodney Harrison 96 30 9 7
SS Darren Woodson 93 34 11 10/11
SS Ed Reed 92 24 1 10/11
SS John Lynch 91 31 10 11/12
SS Robert Griffith 91 32 9 11/12
SS Sammy Knight 91 27 6 12
SS Shaun Williams 92 26 5 12/13
SS Adam Archuleta 90 25 2 12/13
SS Tony Parrish 90 27 5 13/14
SS Reggie Tongue 89 30 7 14
SS Tank Williams 86 23 1 14/15
SS Cory Chavous 88 27 5 16
SS Greg Wesley 87 27 3 16
SS Michael Lewis 82 23 1 16
SS Donovan Darius 87 28 5 17
SS Adrian Wilson 85 23 2 17
SS Mike Doss 83 22 R 17
SS Marques Anderson 81 24 1 17/18
SS Coy Wire 79 24 1 17/18
SS Mike Minter 85 29 6 18
SS Troy Polamalu 78 22 R 18/19
SS Terrence Kiel 72 22 R 35/36

=========================
4. General Draft Strategy
=========================

- Always take a player as late as possible, otherwise you are wasting a pick.

- Don't draft old guys since they will get worse and cost a lot.

- Do draft young guys since they will improve and don't cost much.

- For positions where SPD is relevant, try to get guys with high SPD since this
stat is generally fixed for the player's lifetime; other stats can be
improved.

- The 3-4 is harder to draft than the 4-3 since the CPU picks MLBs earlier than
DTs.

- The CPU drafts certain positions very late, use this to your advantage by
drafting that position right before the CPU starts drafting it to get the best
players. This also means you can focus your early picks on the hard-to-get
positions.

- Spend your early picks on on top players for positions that are difficult to
improve (OT for example), and spend your late picks on talented rookies for
positions that are easy to improve.

- When selecting a particular player, keep in mind what stats can be improved
through the minicamp. QB is a good example of this, you can improve THA and
THP easily, but SPD and AWR are much more difficult.

- In another vein, get good at the minicamp! Achieving gold on all-madden gives
your player 7 points to work with. This can bring many positions up 3-4 points
OVR! Proper minicamp usage ensures you one star player in each facet of your
game: QB, HB, WR, DE, LB, and CB. An offensive line drill is on my wish list
for Madden 2005.

- Plan your early picks; a bad round 1 pick hurts a lot more than a bad round 10
pick.

- QB, HB, WR, T, DE, MLB, OLB and CB are the hard-to-get positions. These
guys start going from round 1.

- Guards are easier to get, they don't start going until round 3.

- Defensive Tackles are a bit strange; they start going from round 1, but there
are still DTs with 87 OVR left in round 25! The CPU appears to pick the very
best DTs in rounds 1-10, then waits until rounds 25 and 26 to pick the rest of
them. This means that unless you want a top DT, wait until 24 or 25 to make
your picks.

- Safeties don't start going until round 6.

- Fullbacks/Tight Ends/Centers/Kickers/Punters: The CPU always takes FB/TE/C in
rounds 16-22, mostly in 20-22. Use this to your advantage by spending your
normally worthless round 16-18 picks on the top players from these positions.
Getting Olin Kruetz (C, OVR 96, Age 25) in round 17 is a pretty good deal!
Kickers and punters go in rounds 22-23; use a similar strategy.

A simple, effective way to draft:
1. Decide what kind of team you want (i.e. strong running game, strong pass
coverage, etc.)
2. Decide which specific players will fulfill your goals. Since you know what
rounds they will go in, these rounds are your "fixed picks".
3. For any round that is not a "fixed pick" just take the best guy available,
provided you can't get him in a later round.
This method maximizes the value of your picks, while creating the type of
team you want.

====================
5. First Round Picks
====================

Your 1st round pick is your most important pick. Never pick a FB, TE, G, C, FS,
SS, K, P in the first round.I recommend only spending your 1st round pick on one
of the following players:

QB
Steve McNair
Peyton Manning
Daunte Culpepper
Michael Vick

McNair has the best OVR but is 31 years old. IMHO any of the other 3 are better
choices. Who is tops? In this case it really depends on how you play QB.

HB
Priest Holmes
Jamal Lewis
LaDainian Tomlinson
Clinton Portis

At 21 Portis is clearly the winner. Lewis and Tomlinson are tied for 2nd. Like
McNair at QB, The Priest has the best OVR but is a bit old.

WR
Marvin Harrision
Terrel Owens
Randy Moss

Moss, Owens, Harrison, in that order. Speed and youth are king, and Moss wins
in both categories. The funny thing is many times you can get Moss in the 2nd
round! This actually happens fairly often, maybe 33% of the time.

T
Jonathan Ogden
Orlando Pace

Tackles in round 1? Yes, either of these guys add a lot to your offense. Pace is
superior because of his age.

DE
Jason Taylor
Michael Strahan
Simeon Rice
Julius Peppers

It's either Taylor or Peppers. I'd probably pick Peppers because he's younger
and faster. If both of them are gone, Rice tops Strahan because 2 years is worth
much more than a point of OVR.

DT
La'Roi Glover

He is the only DT worthy of a 1st pick.

OLB
Derrick Brooks
Lavar Arrington (LOLB #53)
Takeo Spikes

LOLB #53 is the best choice. If he's gone, I'd take Spikes over Brooks.

MLB
Ray Lewis
Brian Urlacher

Ray's 99 OVR doesn't tell the whole story. It should really be 104 OVR (see my
OVR stat FAQ for why this is), but Madden caps OVR at 99. So he's really 6 OVR
points ahead of Urlacher. I think these guys are equally good choices.

CB
Champ Bailey
Ty Law

Baily is clearly better, but both are excellent corners.

Notice a pattern? That's right, speed+youth beats OVR.

Here are my personal favorites:

Michael Vick
Clinton Portis
Randy Moss (only if I can't get him in round 2)
Julius Peppers
Lavar Arrington
Ray Lewis
Brian Urlacher
Champ Bailey

==================
6. Version History
==================

1/31/04 v1.0
- initial release

========
7. Legal
========

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private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
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and a violation of copyright.

All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.