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I've decided to write some stuff down in an attempt to help owners who are having problems getting over the hump or simply have questions about certain aspects of the game.

First, I'm not the best in this game and have never claimed to be but I do win consistently and have wins over all the usual suspects who do claim the crown. So, I can only share what works for me and anyone that wants to question or counter what I'm sharing...feel free or better yet...create a help thread of your own.

I will be covering various parts of the game in 2 sections that have multiple chapters

SECTION I - Roster management
1. player weights
2. drafting
3. contracts
4. free agents
5. trading
6. roster construction

SECTION II - Gameplanning
1. play matrix
2. selecting plays
3. misc tab
4. rules
5. scouting
6. depth chart
7. overrides

SECTION I - Roster management

1. Player weights

The default player weights ****!!!! They directly influence trade value and dictate how the A.I. resigns players, signs free agents and drafts. It also influences player contract demands.

If you want to take a step in to becoming an elite or simply good owner, you need to customize your player weights. Setherick has several breakdowns and if you use them, it's a step in the right direction. I will give you my personal player weights and give you which attributes I have found to be most important for each position.

It's important to remember that all the weights are based on a percentage of the sum of all attributes.. .meaning if you weigh speed at 100 and every other attribute you use adds up to 540 then speed is valued as (100÷540=18.5%). If you weigh speed at 100 and every other attribute you use adds up to 270 then speed is valued as (100÷270=37%).

This means giving a value for each attribute is meaningless unless it's used as part of the whole. Raidergreg told me he likes to make all attributes add up to 100 which makes the percentage easier to see.

These are what I use but if you feel an attribute should be added, valued higher or lower or even removed.....do it!!!

I'm always making adjustments based on theories I come up with and actively testing them.

QB
SPEED 2
ACCELERATION 2
STRENGTH 2
INTELLIGENCE 12
DISCIPLINE 4
PASS ACCURACY 40
HARD COUNT 2
ARM STRENGTH 6
PASS RELEASE 4
LOOK OFF DEFENSE 8
SCRAMBLE 4
FIELD OF VISION 8
BALL CARRY 2
AVOID FUMBLE 2
BREAK TACKLE 2

RB
SPEED 25
ACCELERATION 15
STRENGTH 5
INTELLIGENCE 2
DISCIPLINE 2
PASS CATCHING 5
B&R 2
ROUTE RUNNING 3
COURAGE 3
BREAK TACKLE 8
BALL CARRY 20
AVOID FUMBLE 10

FB
SPEED 10
ACCELERATION 4
STRENGTH 12
INTELLIGENCE 4
DISCIPLINE 4
PASS CATCHING 8
B&R 4
ROUTE 4
COURAGE 4
BREAK TACKLE 8
BALL CARRY 10
AVOID FUMBLE 8
RUN BLOCKING 16
PASS BLOCKING 4

TE
SPEED 10
ACCELERATION 10
STRENGTH 8
INTELLIGENCE 4
DISCIPLINE 4
PASS CATCHING 16
B&R 8
ROUTE RUNNING 8
COURAGE 8
BREAK TACKLE 4
BALL CARRY 4
AVOID FUMBLE 4
RUN BLOCKING 8
PASS BLOCKING 4

WR
SPEED 20
ACCELERATION 10
STRENGTH 2
INTELLIGENCE 2
DISCIPLINE 2
PASS CATCHING 20
B&R 10
ROUTE RUNNING 15
COURAGE 8
BREAK TACKLE 2
BALL CARRY 2
AVOID FUMBLE 5
RUN BLOCKING 2

LT
SPEED 8
ACCELERATION 8
STRENGTH 20
INTELLIGENCE 4
DISCIPLINE 4
RUN BLOCKING 26
PASS BLOCKING 30

LG
SPEED 8
ACCELERATION 8
STRENGTH 20
INTELLIGENCE 4
DISCIPLINE 4
RUN BLOCKING 30
PASS BLOCKING 26

C
SPEED 8
ACCELERATION 8
STRENGTH 5
INTELLIGENCE 10
DISCIPLINE 4
RUN BLOCKING 25
PASS BLOCKING 25
SHORT SNAPPING 14
LONG SNAPPING 1

RG
SPEED 8
ACCELERATION 8
STRENGTH 20
INTELLIGENCE 4
DISCIPLINE 4
RUN BLOCKING 30
PASS BLOCKING 26

RT
SPEED 8
ACCELERATION 8
STRENGTH 20
INTELLIGENCE 4
DISCIPLINE 4
RUN BLOCKING 28
PASS BLOCKING 28

P
SPEED 1
ACCELERATION 1
STRENGTH 1
INTELLIGENCE 1
DISCIPLINE 1
PUNT STRENGTH 30
PUNT ACCURACY 30
PUNT TIMING 35

K
SPEED 1
ACCELERATION 1
STRENGTH 1
INTELLIGENCE 1
DISCIPLINE 1
KICK STRENGTH 45
KICK ACCURACY 50

LDE
SPEED 10
ACCELERATION 10
STRENGTH 20
INTELLIGENCE 2
DISCIPLINE 2
TACKLE 10
STRIP BALL 6
PASS RUSH 20
RUN DEFENSE 20

DT
SPEED 5
ACCELERATION 5
STRENGTH 20
INTELLIGENCE 2
DISCIPLINE 3
TACKLE 10
STRIP BALL 5
PASS RUSH 20
RUN DEFENSE 30

RDE
SPEED 10
ACCELERATION 10
STRENGTH 20
INTELLIGENCE 2
DISCIPLINE 3
TACKLE 10
STRIP BALL 5
PASS RUSH 25
RUN DEFENSE 25

SLB
SPEED 20
ACCELERATION 10
STRENGTH 5
INTELLIGENCE 2
DISCIPLINE 2
TACKLE 10
STRIP BALL 5
PASS RUSH 5
RUN DEFENSE 10
PUNISH RECEIVER 5
ZONE COVERAGE 1
M2M COVERAGE 20
B&R COVERAGE 5


MLB
SPEED 20
ACCELERATION 10
STRENGTH 5
INTELLIGENCE 5
DISCIPLINE 2
TACKLE 10
STRIP BALL 5
PASS RUSH 5
RUN DEFENSE 10
PUNISH RECEIVER 5
ZONE COVERAGE 1
M2M COVERAGE 20
B&R COVERAGE 2

WLB
SPEED 20
ACCELERATION 10
STRENGTH 5
INTELLIGENCE 2
DISCIPLINE 2
TACKLE 10
STRIP BALL 5
PASS RUSH 18
RUN DEFENSE 10
PUNISH RECEIVER 5
ZONE COVERAGE 1
M2M COVERAGE 10
B&R COVERAGE 2

CB
SPEED 17
ACCELERATION 17
STRENGTH 1
INTELLIGENCE 5
DISCIPLINE 1
TACKLE 3
STRIP BALL 2
PASS RUSH 1
RUN DEFENSE 1
PUNISH RECEIVER 10
ZONE COVERAGE 1
M2M COVERAGE 22
B&R COVERAGE 21

SS
SPEED 10
ACCELERATION 10
STRENGTH 5
INTELLIGENCE 1
DISCIPLINE 1
TACKLE 10
STRIP BALL 5
PASS RUSH 5
RUN DEFENSE 5
PUNISH RECEIVER 10
ZONE COVERAGE 5
M2M COVERAGE 15
B&R COVERAGE 15

FS
SPEED 20
ACCELERATION 15
STRENGTH 1
INTELLIGENCE 5
DISCIPLINE 1
TACKLE 5
STRIP BALL 3
PASS RUSH 5
RUN DEFENSE 5
PUNISH RECEIVER 10
ZONE COVERAGE 10
M2M COVERAGE 10
B&R COVERAGE 10

KICK HOLDER
SPEED 1
ACCELERATION 1
STRENGTH 1
INTELLIGENCE 1
DISCIPLINE 1
KICK HOLDING 95

LONG SNAPPER
SPEED 1
ACCELERATION 1
STRENGTH 1
INTELLIGENCE 1
DISCIPLINE 1
RUN BLOCKING 2
PASS BLOCKING 3
LONG SNAPPING 90

KICK RETURNER
SPEED 10
ACCELERATION 10
STRENGTH 1
INTELLIGENCE 1
DISCIPLINE 1
BREAK TACKLE 2
BALL CARRY 10
AVOID FUMBLE 5
KICK CATCHING 60

PUNT RETURNER
SPEED 10
ACCELERATION 10
STRENGTH 1
INTELLIGENCE 1
DISCIPLINE 1
BREAK TACKLE 2
BALL CARRY 10
AVOID FUMBLE 5
KICK CATCHING 60

GUNNER
SPEED 56
ACCELERATION 30
STRENGTH 1
INTELLIGENCE 1
DISCIPLINE 1
TACKLE 10
STRIP BALL 1

KICKOFFS
SPEED 2
ACCELERATION 2
STRENGTH 2
INTELLIGENCE 2
DISCIPLINE 2
TACKLES 2
KICK STRENGTH 80
KICK ACCURACY 8

FIELDGOAL KICKERS
SPEED 2
ACCELERATION 2
STRENGTH 2
INTELLIGENCE 2
DISCIPLINE 2
KICK STRENGTH 40
KICK ACCURACY 50

ST BLOCKER
SPEED 1
ACCELERATION 1
STRENGTH 11
INTELLIGENCE 1
DISCIPLINE 1
PASS BLOCKING 85

ST RUSHER
SPEED 40
ACCELERATION 17
STRENGTH 5
INTELLIGENCE 1
DISCIPLINE 1
TACKLE 5
STRIP BALL 1
PASS RUSH 30

2. DRAFTING

Successfully drafting young talented players to add to the depth chart is a key component of building a competitive roster.

What do I look for in the 1st round?

PLAYMAKERS!!!!

It's rare a young (5th year) playmaker will hit free agency and even when they do, odds are you won't be able to sign them because everybody is throwing max contracts at them.

So what's a playmaker?

A playmaker is any player on offense or defense with elite speed who touches the football.

QB, RB, WR, TE, LB or DB!!!

Very rarely will I ever draft an offensive or defensive lineman in the 1st round unless two things occur. First, there are no quality playmakers remaining when my pick arrives and second, the overall rating of the lineman is in the high 80's or low 90's which is 15-20 skill points higher then the playmaker left.

The 1st thing to determine in any draft is....do I have a quarterback? If you have a quarterback you can win with and he isn't about to retire in the next year or two, you can move on to finding another playmaker.

On offense, which is always my first choice, I'm looking for a RB with 90+ speed, 100 ball carry and 100 avoid fumble. It's important to see what weight the player is when checking his potential speed. A 90 speed RB who weighs 200 pounds will lose some speed as he gains weight towards 217 pounds which is the normal weight RBs end up. The opposite also applies so if an 85 speed TE with potential 100's at Ball Carry, break tackle and avoid fumble is available and his weight is 257 pounds....he can be switched to running back where he will lose weight and gain speed.

Speed generally goes up/down 1 point for every 7 pounds losted/gained.

So, a 257 pound TE with 85 speed should lose close to 40 pounds if switched to RB and his speed with go up 5 to 6 points.

Another thing to watch out for are elite speed WRs (94-96 speed) who weigh 171 pounds. They could gain 20-28 pounds as WRs typically end up between 191-198 pounds.

On defense, I'm looking for DBs with 90+ speed or LBs with 80+ speed with solid M2M skills plus solid run defense, tackle and pass rush skills for LBs. Again, always check the players weight as fast LBs can have weights as low as 219 pounds in the draft and they will gain weight to reach 237 pounds after being drafted.

What about Viotility???

Viotility is the percent change a player will boom or bust. So in theory, a 0 vol player should remain basically the same while a 100 vol player will boom or bust to some degree 100% of the time.

IMPORTANT

Physical attributes (Speed/acceleration/strength/intelligence/discipline) are not effected by volatility. That's why drafting a fast playmaker is so important in the 1st round...even if the 92 speed player bust in training camp....he will still have 92 speed and retain some value.

MFN's dirty little secret

Speed makes up for a bunch when a player doesn't have great attributes, especially on defense. A fast player with poor coverage skills, run defense or even tackle skills will still make plays simply because his speed allows him to get to the football fast.

I've created "test leagues" where I and several other owners have play tested the speed attribute and I'm here to tell you that speed kills on defense.

I've played a half dozen seasons in these test leagues using an "11 DB" defense where the entire defense had at least 88 speed and many of those were "empty speed players" meaning the players had 94, 95 or 96 speed but the rest of their attributes were almost nil.

The rest of the draft

You have to be willing to dig deep and find some diamonds in the rough. Sort through players and find potential values. In the late rounds, look for high vol players with decent speed and take some big swings.

Examples

A 265 pound TE with 80 speed and high vol. If he booms in training camp, he could become a starting TE, FB, RB or WR.

A 275 pound DE with solid coverage attributes and 78 speed could become a quality LB or even DB.

Find low overall players with elite speed and roll the dice. A players physical weight can become an asset so find the players that could lose weight, increase speed and find a roster spot.

All this is based on your individual player weights so once you have edited your custom player weights....the easier it is to find these diamonds I'm the rough.

Last word

Don't let a high vol scare you off of a player you really like. Sure they can bust but they can also boom. Find players with tangible attributes like speed, acceleration and strength that are high and take them no matter the vol. Some of the best players I've ever drafted have had high vol. I would much rather take a player with an elite high end and high vol then a safe low vol player with no great upside.

That's just me, in the end each owner has to make their own choices....just make choices that are right for you!

3. contracts

A few tips on signing contracts for players on your own roster.

2nd year players can be resigned to 6 year deals with max bonuses that sometimes saves money on the salary cap.

For 2nd year players, pull up their contract tab and see what signing bonus they are looking for.



Remember that number, write it down or copy it then extend the contract to 6 years with a max bonus.



Now goto the Total Bonus box and manually enter the amount you saved, wrote down or copied (22076160). I've found that you can round it off to the nearest 10,000.



As you can see from the above example, this contract would increase this year's cap hit by 6.1 million. If the contract would save money it would look like this:



This is a helpful tip for anyone on the roster due a bunch of money in the current season and you need to create cap space.

4. free agents

In full, highly competitive leagues, finding premium free agents is difficult.

If a 5th year player with decent speed and attributes becomes available, it's like blood in the water as owners start offering max contracts left and right.

Some leagues, like the XFL, there are rules against altering max contracts but if you find yourself in a league that doesn't have the max contract limitation, here's how to offer a "super max" contract.

Goto the free agent you want and slide both sliders all the way to the right.



Now you goto the bottom of the contract which breaks down the yearly numbers and edit the box for the 2nd year of the contracts base salary and raise it until it reaches 25%.



Now repeat for the 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th year base salary. Until it looks like this:



Now you hit the submit contract button and you will get an error message like this:



Now you have to lower the base salary for 2043 so the total amount for 2043 is under 40,636,260.

So 2043s total contract is now 41,184,965:



You need to lower 2043s base until the total contract value for 2043 is under 40,636,260. So I slowly lower the base salary box until the total for 2043 gets under the number I need.



Once you fix 2043...hit submit contract again and you will get a error message for 2044.



Now repeat the same process for 2044 as above and hit submit contract. You will get an error message for 2045, 2046 & 2047 too and you have to repeat the process for all 5 years of the contract until you finally hit submit contract and it's accepted.



You have successfully raised the value of the free agency contract from:

6 years/239,965,952

To

6 years/262,916,952

A difference of 22,951,000 dollars!

Congratulations on signing that hot premium free agent as you outbid everyone with your advances salary cap management abilities.

5. Trading

Trading can be a great way to build your roster in a number of different ways but it can also set your team back several seasons if done badly.

First, you need to decide where your current roster stands in the league. Are you a player or 2 away from competing for a league Title? Or, is your team filled with holes, aging and you need to rebuild?

Going for it!!!

If your team made the postseason the previous season or just missed the playoffs....you might need to add a playmaker on offense or defense to take the next step. Having made the postseason or finishing 8-8 to 9-7 and just missing the dance means your draft picks will be in the 20s or worse.

Check the trade block and see if a team is looking to trade talent and rebuild. You are looking for a veteran with 4-7 years of experience. Owners looking to rebuild will dangle 4 year vets on the last year of their rookie contract or 7 year vets about to enter the "aging out" stage of their career.

You have to figure out if you need offensive or defensive playmakers. What ranking did your team have in total offense & total defense? If you need to improve the offense then you need a playmaker, RB/WR with 90+ speed or TE with 80+ speed. If you need to improve the defense then you need a playmaker, DE/LB with 80+ speed or DB with 90+ speed.

Obviously, you want more then just speed but it should be the first thing you look before. If you have custom player rankings which I covered earlier, then you should know if the player is worth giving up draft capital or not.

Once you target a player you want, send the owner a trade offer. Make the offer what you feel is fair for the player in question. A 4th year player on the last year of his rookie contract with 90+ speed and high secondary ratings is worth multiple 1st round picks. A 7th year vet with high speed is worth a single 1st at most and you could offer multiple 2nds and a 3rd for him.

The goal is to make the owner interested and hopefully accept or at the very least offer a counter. Sending a low ball offer usually backfires and the trade is simply rejected and no further negotiations happen.

Another avenue to explore is to PM the owner and simply ask him, what are you looking for? He may ask less then you excepted or you may ask for the moon!

Remember, a player on the trade block is there for a reason and you want to start a discussion and test interest and the cost. I've made trades after 7 or 8 offers & counters which are truly the best trades. Both owners give & take until a final compromise is met.

Try not to take offers as insults but instead view them as starting points in a negotiation. Tge best trades mean both owners are giving up valuable assets to receive value in return.

Once a player is in season 8 or beyond, there trade value is minimal so don't offer or expect much in return for them.

Time to Rebuild!

If you have a team where you need to start over and completely rebuild the roster, you need to move your best players and get draft picks.

You can put your players on the trade block and wait for interested parties which is a passive approach or send out multiple offers across the league with an accompanying PM which explains your intentions.

The PM should say something along the lines of "I'm looking to rebuild and these players are available for draft picks and everyone on my roster is open to be traded. The goal is to create interest and open dialogue among several owners so you can get the most bang for your buck.

You can package up to 4 players and ask for 3 1st and a 2nd to start the process and the PM explains that the offer is just to gage interest. Again, you goal is to stack draft picks, especially in the 1st, 2nd & 3rd round. 4th round picks and later are essentially lottery scratch offs that rarely add starters but can be used to add depth.

That means you want at least a 1st, 2nd or 3rd for every player you trade plus as many 4th or later round draft picks as you can get thrown in as a bonus.

Once again, if you are moving a 4th year player on the last year of his rookie contract, you want multiple 1st rounders if he is a starter, especially a playmaker who touches the ball on offense or defense. 6th & 7th year playmakers should return at least one 1st rounder while 8 year vets or older won't return much and you should take the most you can get including multiple later round picks.

You end goal is to accumulate 10-15 draft picks over the next 1-3 drafts so you completely turn over your roster.

Dead Cap

Dead cap is a by-product of making trades. If you signed that 4th year player to a 6 year extension and then trade him....you will be hit with a ton of dead cap equivalent to the total signing bonus due for the remaining years on the contract.

The plus-side to this is if you trade for a 7th year player who is signed for 5 more seasons....you aren't responsible for any signing bonus in the future unless you renegotiate his contract. That means the player's speed drops hard in his year 9 season...you can cut him with no dead cap hit at any time.

Be Smart

You have to be careful when making trades with experienced owners. If a trade seems too good to be true....ask another owner for his opinion. Most owners in MFN will gladly help newer owners with questions and offer opinions.

With that being said...don't be afraid to make trades! Trades are a key component to the enjoyment of this game. There are always owners looking to trade great players in hopes of rebuilding because completely tearing down a roster and rebuilding it over the course of the next 2-3 seasons is incredibly fun & rewarding.

Good luck & have fun making trades!!!

6. Roster Construction

We have covered editing player weights, drafting, free agents, contracts & trades so now let's look at how you should build your roster.

All I can do is show you how I build my rosters but this isn't a hard fast templet but more something to base your own choices on.

I will give you how I set my depth chart then explain more afterwards

QB 2
RB 4
FB 2
TE 3
WR 5

That's 18 players in the depth chart but you have the same players filling multiple positions. For instance, FB2 can be TE2 or TE3. RB4 can be FB1, FB2 or maybe WR5. Basically you want anywhere from 13-15 players in this group.

LT 3
LG 3
C 3
RG 3
RT 3

I want 3 deep depth across the offensive line but again depth players can cover multiple positions. The Minimum you want in this group depends on the injury setting in each league. For 100 injury leagues, I'm carry a minimum of 12 offensive linemen.

K 1
P 1

This is pretty self explanatory but on rare occasions I will carry a 2nd Kicker if I draft a Kicker who booms in camp and my starting Kicker is over 10 seasons old. Otherwise, roster spots are at a premium and you don't want to waste one on an extra Kicker or punter.

LDE 3
DT 4
RDE 3

Again I prefer at least 3 deep depth across the defensive front and you can use 1 player to fill several position like LDE3 can also be RDE3 & DT4. The minimum for 100 injury rate leagues is 9 but sometimes I carry 10 depending on how the rest of the roster shakes out.

SLB 3
MLB 4
WLB 3

Just like the defensive line for the linebackers where certain players can cover multiple positions. 6 is the bare minimum in this group but I carry upwards of 7 or 8 at times.

CB 5
SS 2
FS 2

This is a very pivotal position group on defense and I almost always carry 9 different players to fill out this unit. You can get away 7 or 8 but I prefer more depth here.

The roster have 53 players so if we look at the breakdown, it looks something like this:

QB/RB/FB/TE/WR
14
OFFENSIVE LINE
12
KICKERS
2
DEFENSIVE LINE
9
LINEBACKERS
7
DEFENSIVE BACKS
9

That's 26 offensive players, 25 defensive players and 2 kickers.

During the off-season, your roster expands to 60 players and you want to use all 60 for a number of reasons. It allows you to test draft picks and limits the starters during preseason games to get injured.

One of the most difficult times is went you transition from 60 man rosters and have to cut down to 53 before the week 1 game. This is a time when you have to weigh salary, potential deep cap, usefulness and age.

Personally, I'm always looking to get my roster younger and here is when you can cut older veterans in favor of draft picks but don't cut an older player to keep a draft pick if the difference in ability in great.

DEAD CAP

It's a part of this game but you shouldn't make roster decisions based JUST on dead cap. You never want to cut a better player just because cutting an older, slower and less talented player will cost you dead cap. The point of this game is to build the most talented roster you can to give yourself a chance to win.

Dead cap does **** but there are always ways to get around the dead cap next season. When in doubt, always keep the best player!

Waiver Wire

This can be a great tool for teams rebuilding or contending teams depending on what player hits the waiver wire. ALWAYS check the waiver wire after every game and check to see if any players on it would be an upgrade over anyone currently on your roster. Even if it's just a better 3 string defensive end...claim him!

A few things to remember about waiver claims. It goes from worst record from last season to the best record until week 9 when it becomes the worst current record to best current record.

You can put in as many claims as you want but the players claim are determined at random. So if you had the worst record in the league and you like multiple players, you might only want to put in a claim on the best player available to insure you land him.

Also, you NEVER want to put in a waiver claim during a game sim. If you have 53 players on your roster, put in a waiver claim prior to a game sim and are awarded the player....the A.I. will determine who to cut to make room for him.

*You never want the A.I. to make any roster decisions because it basically acts like the Detroit Lions former GM, Matt Millen*

I've gotten sidetracked from finishing my help thread but Armoredgiraffe has written a self-help guide which is definately worth reading.

Armoredgiraffe is the hardest owner in MFN to beat currently and should be listened too if you want to improve your chances!!!

https://death-and-destruction.myfootballnow.com/community/3/7400?page=1#44715