08-03-2020, 02:35 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-07-2020, 12:41 PM by Fordhammer.)
Being a part of the rookie linebacker class, I was curious as to how my fellow members went about their player creation. In this post I’m not going to look at previous waiver pick-ups, as my personal interest lies with the freshest recruits. These totals (and the rest of my data) are taken from August 1st, 2020.
The archetypes chosen by the prospects were:
Balanced – 6
Speed Rusher – 5
Coverage Linebacker – 2
Power Rusher- 2
Run stopper- 1
I believe balanced may be the most common because new players are simply unsure about which direction to take their player this early. They may or may not be familiar with what attributes are best for the sim. It’s a safe choice that means they have no significant weakness that they can pinpoint. Not to mention, when Luke Kuechly is the example for a balanced linebacker, that can’t hurt the attractiveness of the archetype.
The chosen archetypes also somewhat represent the style of football played today. The days of power rushing as a consistent strategy in the NFL are over (unless you have a literal monster like Derrick Henry). As the spread dominates, running backs are key threats in the passing game, and linebackers are asked to cover large parts of the field as quickly as they can. Speed is an asset in real life as in the sim. Additionally, any rookie who did a little research into attributes discovered the importance of speed.
However, choosing an archetype is only a starting point. We all know you can become any player you want to be once you start earning. With that being said, let’s check out how the prospects spent their TPE, including the 50 they started with. I am not as interested in how much TPE a player has earned as much as where they have chosen to allocate it.
First, you can see how TPE was earned by each individual, but if you want to skip that, there will be a general summary of where TPE was applied.
Balanced:
Rusty Rucker
Initial TPE usage:
Agility: 20 TPE
Intelligence: 20 TPE
Speed: 10 TPE
Earned TPE usage
Speed: 60 TPE
Strength: 2 TPE
Chad Thunder
Initial TPE usage
Strength: 10 TPE
Intelligence: 6 TPE
Speed: 20 TPE
Hands: 4 TPE
Endurance: 10 TPE
Earned TPE Usage
No earned TPE
Dean McBean
Initial TPE usage:
Strength: 20 TPE
Speed: 20 TPE
Endurance: 10 TPE
Earned TPE usage
TPE earned but only banked
Caleb Judge
Initial TPE usage:
Strength: 20 TPE
Intelligence: 10 TPE
Speed: 20 TPE
Earned TPE usage
TPE Earned but only banked
Daniel Bateman
Initial TPE usage:
Strength: 20 TPE
Speed: 20 TPE
Endurance: 10 TPE
Earned TPE usage:
TPE earned but only banked
Marty Martinsson
Initial TPE usage:
Strength: 10 TPE
Intelligence: 10 TPE
Speed: 20 TPE
Endurance: 10 TPE
Earned TPE usage:
TPE earned but only banked
Speed Rusher:
Gary Goodman:
Initial TPE usage:
Strength: 14 TPE
Agility: 10 TPE
Intelligence: 1 TPE
Tackling: 10 TPE
Speed: 10 TPE
Hands: 5 TPE
Earned TPE usage:
Strength: 16 TPE
Agility: 6 TPE
Intelligence: 4 TPE
Tackling: 2 TPE
Speed: 10 TPE
Hands: 5 TPE
Endurance: 6 TPE
Gib McGlib:
Initial TPE usage:
Speed: 50 TPE
Earned TPE usage:
No TPE earned
Regius Goliathus:
Initial TPE usage:
All banked
Earned TPE usage:
TPE earned but only banked
Dexter Jackson:
Initial TPE usage:
Intelligence: 15 TPE
Tackling: 20 TPE
Speed: 10 TPE
Hands: 5 TPE
Earned TPE usage:
Strength: 20 TPE
Richard Leaking:
Initial TPE usage:
Strength: 26 TPE
Agility: 4 TPE
Tackling: 10 TPE
Speed: 10 TPE
Earned TPE usage:
TPE earned but only banked
Coverage Linebacker:
Guy Fields:
Initial TPE usage:
Strength: 14
Agility: 6 TPE
Tackling: 4 TPE
Speed: 10 TPE
Hands: 6 TPE
Endurance: 10 TPE
Earned TPE usage:
Strength: 16 TPE
Tackling: 8 TPE
Speed: 25 TPE
Jimi DeSoto:
Initial TPE usage:
Strength: 10 TPE
Agility: 10 TPE
Tackling: 10 TPE
Speed: 20 TPE
Earned TPE usage:
Strength: 8 TPE
Intelligence: 10 TPE
Tackling: 6 TPE
Speed: 15 TPE
Power Rusher
Jeff Haraldson:
Initial TPE usage:
Strength: 8 TPE
Agility: 2 TPE
Intelligence: 5 TPE
Tackling: 10 TPE
Speed: 22 TPE
Run Blocking: 3 TPE
Earned TPE usage:
No TPE Earned
Wasrabi Gleel:
Initial TPE usage:
Strength: 10 TPE
Agility: 10 TPE
Intelligence: 5 TPE
Tackling: 10 TPE
Speed: 12 TPE
Hands: 1 TPE
Endurance: 2 TPE
Earned TPE usage:
Speed: 33 TPE
Run Stopper:
L’Gazzy Burfict:
Initial TPE usage:
Strength: 12 TPE
Agility: 22 TPE
Speed: 14 TPE
Hands: 2 TPE
Earned TPE usage:
Strength: 8 TPE
Speed: 16 TPE
TPE Banked: 15
Initial TPE Usage Totals
Speed: 268
Average spent (AS): 17.9
Strength: 174
AS: 14.5
Agility: 84
AS: 10.5
Tackling: 74
AS: 10.6
Intelligence: 72
AS: 9
Endurance: 52
AS: 8.7
Hands: 23
AS: 3.8
Run Blocking: 3
Earned TPE Usage Totals (of the 276 points spent)
Speed: 159
AS: 26.5
Strength: 70
AS: 11.7
Tackling: 16
AS: 5.3
Intelligence: 14
AS: 7
Agility: 6
Endurance: 6
Hands: 5
Attributes without an AS only had a single contributor.
Observations:
Obviously there is a large discrepancy between the amount of initial TPE usage and earned TPE usage. This is due to prospects not having much time to earn TPE, but it is also due to the inactivity of some players. Interestingly enough, the balanced archetype, despite being the largest group, has only one member that has actually spent the TPE they’ve acquired.
I understand the importance of the core attributes that are useful for the sim, especially speed, but I almost prefer not having that knowledge. That’s why I appreciate that 6 players chose to put their initial TPE into hands. It wasn’t a lot of TPE, but enough players thought it could potentially be important enough to throw their last 5 or so points into it. Jeff Haraldson even threw 3 points into run blocking for some reason. So what if Haraldson is the best run blocking linebacker in the league? It may not make sense, but it’s fun.
Speed was far and away the most popular choice for initial TPE usage with 268 points used. A 94 point gap then occurs, with strength coming in second. Other choices don’t stand out as much, as they stay within an 84-54 points spent range, except for hands and run blocking, which gathered 23 and 3, respectively. Speed had the most consistent amount of initial TPE points spent, with most players spending 20. Intelligence and agility had the largest ranges of points spent. Intelligence’s lowest spent was 1, with 20 being the highest. Agility’s lowest spent was 2, while the highest was 22. As I mentioned before, hands never got many points despite 6 players choosing to drop points in. The highest points spent was 6.
Earned TPE has much less variation. With 159 TPE used on speed and 70 used on strength, players began to prioritize for best performance. Rusty Rucker, potentially one of the highest linebackers taken in the draft, spent all 60 of his earned TPE on speed. Beyond speed and strength, there’s a huge drop off of point distribution from then on. Six players have all their TPE banked and unused, but based on the trend of how earned TPE was spent, I can’t imagine the results would look much different.
Anyway, I enjoyed getting to know my fellow linebacker prospects more. I am concerned by the inactivity of some of the prospects. I’m not experienced enough to know what the percentage of prospects becoming inactive early is, but I’m curious if this draft class isn’t actually as large as it is spoken about. It’s a logical assumption that many decided to join the league due to the current situation of quarantine, but this could have caused a higher population of prospects that won’t be as interested once they get back to their normal routines. Time will tell.
Regardless, I hope this was interesting to some. Thanks for reading!
The archetypes chosen by the prospects were:
Balanced – 6
Speed Rusher – 5
Coverage Linebacker – 2
Power Rusher- 2
Run stopper- 1
I believe balanced may be the most common because new players are simply unsure about which direction to take their player this early. They may or may not be familiar with what attributes are best for the sim. It’s a safe choice that means they have no significant weakness that they can pinpoint. Not to mention, when Luke Kuechly is the example for a balanced linebacker, that can’t hurt the attractiveness of the archetype.
The chosen archetypes also somewhat represent the style of football played today. The days of power rushing as a consistent strategy in the NFL are over (unless you have a literal monster like Derrick Henry). As the spread dominates, running backs are key threats in the passing game, and linebackers are asked to cover large parts of the field as quickly as they can. Speed is an asset in real life as in the sim. Additionally, any rookie who did a little research into attributes discovered the importance of speed.
However, choosing an archetype is only a starting point. We all know you can become any player you want to be once you start earning. With that being said, let’s check out how the prospects spent their TPE, including the 50 they started with. I am not as interested in how much TPE a player has earned as much as where they have chosen to allocate it.
First, you can see how TPE was earned by each individual, but if you want to skip that, there will be a general summary of where TPE was applied.
Balanced:
Rusty Rucker
Initial TPE usage:
Agility: 20 TPE
Intelligence: 20 TPE
Speed: 10 TPE
Earned TPE usage
Speed: 60 TPE
Strength: 2 TPE
Chad Thunder
Initial TPE usage
Strength: 10 TPE
Intelligence: 6 TPE
Speed: 20 TPE
Hands: 4 TPE
Endurance: 10 TPE
Earned TPE Usage
No earned TPE
Dean McBean
Initial TPE usage:
Strength: 20 TPE
Speed: 20 TPE
Endurance: 10 TPE
Earned TPE usage
TPE earned but only banked
Caleb Judge
Initial TPE usage:
Strength: 20 TPE
Intelligence: 10 TPE
Speed: 20 TPE
Earned TPE usage
TPE Earned but only banked
Daniel Bateman
Initial TPE usage:
Strength: 20 TPE
Speed: 20 TPE
Endurance: 10 TPE
Earned TPE usage:
TPE earned but only banked
Marty Martinsson
Initial TPE usage:
Strength: 10 TPE
Intelligence: 10 TPE
Speed: 20 TPE
Endurance: 10 TPE
Earned TPE usage:
TPE earned but only banked
Speed Rusher:
Gary Goodman:
Initial TPE usage:
Strength: 14 TPE
Agility: 10 TPE
Intelligence: 1 TPE
Tackling: 10 TPE
Speed: 10 TPE
Hands: 5 TPE
Earned TPE usage:
Strength: 16 TPE
Agility: 6 TPE
Intelligence: 4 TPE
Tackling: 2 TPE
Speed: 10 TPE
Hands: 5 TPE
Endurance: 6 TPE
Gib McGlib:
Initial TPE usage:
Speed: 50 TPE
Earned TPE usage:
No TPE earned
Regius Goliathus:
Initial TPE usage:
All banked
Earned TPE usage:
TPE earned but only banked
Dexter Jackson:
Initial TPE usage:
Intelligence: 15 TPE
Tackling: 20 TPE
Speed: 10 TPE
Hands: 5 TPE
Earned TPE usage:
Strength: 20 TPE
Richard Leaking:
Initial TPE usage:
Strength: 26 TPE
Agility: 4 TPE
Tackling: 10 TPE
Speed: 10 TPE
Earned TPE usage:
TPE earned but only banked
Coverage Linebacker:
Guy Fields:
Initial TPE usage:
Strength: 14
Agility: 6 TPE
Tackling: 4 TPE
Speed: 10 TPE
Hands: 6 TPE
Endurance: 10 TPE
Earned TPE usage:
Strength: 16 TPE
Tackling: 8 TPE
Speed: 25 TPE
Jimi DeSoto:
Initial TPE usage:
Strength: 10 TPE
Agility: 10 TPE
Tackling: 10 TPE
Speed: 20 TPE
Earned TPE usage:
Strength: 8 TPE
Intelligence: 10 TPE
Tackling: 6 TPE
Speed: 15 TPE
Power Rusher
Jeff Haraldson:
Initial TPE usage:
Strength: 8 TPE
Agility: 2 TPE
Intelligence: 5 TPE
Tackling: 10 TPE
Speed: 22 TPE
Run Blocking: 3 TPE
Earned TPE usage:
No TPE Earned
Wasrabi Gleel:
Initial TPE usage:
Strength: 10 TPE
Agility: 10 TPE
Intelligence: 5 TPE
Tackling: 10 TPE
Speed: 12 TPE
Hands: 1 TPE
Endurance: 2 TPE
Earned TPE usage:
Speed: 33 TPE
Run Stopper:
L’Gazzy Burfict:
Initial TPE usage:
Strength: 12 TPE
Agility: 22 TPE
Speed: 14 TPE
Hands: 2 TPE
Earned TPE usage:
Strength: 8 TPE
Speed: 16 TPE
TPE Banked: 15
Initial TPE Usage Totals
Speed: 268
Average spent (AS): 17.9
Strength: 174
AS: 14.5
Agility: 84
AS: 10.5
Tackling: 74
AS: 10.6
Intelligence: 72
AS: 9
Endurance: 52
AS: 8.7
Hands: 23
AS: 3.8
Run Blocking: 3
Earned TPE Usage Totals (of the 276 points spent)
Speed: 159
AS: 26.5
Strength: 70
AS: 11.7
Tackling: 16
AS: 5.3
Intelligence: 14
AS: 7
Agility: 6
Endurance: 6
Hands: 5
Attributes without an AS only had a single contributor.
Observations:
Obviously there is a large discrepancy between the amount of initial TPE usage and earned TPE usage. This is due to prospects not having much time to earn TPE, but it is also due to the inactivity of some players. Interestingly enough, the balanced archetype, despite being the largest group, has only one member that has actually spent the TPE they’ve acquired.
I understand the importance of the core attributes that are useful for the sim, especially speed, but I almost prefer not having that knowledge. That’s why I appreciate that 6 players chose to put their initial TPE into hands. It wasn’t a lot of TPE, but enough players thought it could potentially be important enough to throw their last 5 or so points into it. Jeff Haraldson even threw 3 points into run blocking for some reason. So what if Haraldson is the best run blocking linebacker in the league? It may not make sense, but it’s fun.
Speed was far and away the most popular choice for initial TPE usage with 268 points used. A 94 point gap then occurs, with strength coming in second. Other choices don’t stand out as much, as they stay within an 84-54 points spent range, except for hands and run blocking, which gathered 23 and 3, respectively. Speed had the most consistent amount of initial TPE points spent, with most players spending 20. Intelligence and agility had the largest ranges of points spent. Intelligence’s lowest spent was 1, with 20 being the highest. Agility’s lowest spent was 2, while the highest was 22. As I mentioned before, hands never got many points despite 6 players choosing to drop points in. The highest points spent was 6.
Earned TPE has much less variation. With 159 TPE used on speed and 70 used on strength, players began to prioritize for best performance. Rusty Rucker, potentially one of the highest linebackers taken in the draft, spent all 60 of his earned TPE on speed. Beyond speed and strength, there’s a huge drop off of point distribution from then on. Six players have all their TPE banked and unused, but based on the trend of how earned TPE was spent, I can’t imagine the results would look much different.
Anyway, I enjoyed getting to know my fellow linebacker prospects more. I am concerned by the inactivity of some of the prospects. I’m not experienced enough to know what the percentage of prospects becoming inactive early is, but I’m curious if this draft class isn’t actually as large as it is spoken about. It’s a logical assumption that many decided to join the league due to the current situation of quarantine, but this could have caused a higher population of prospects that won’t be as interested once they get back to their normal routines. Time will tell.
Regardless, I hope this was interesting to some. Thanks for reading!