FOF 2004 help

[DolphinFan1]

Ok, I have been playing this for a while and would just like some of your feedback.

After the draft and you sign FA and others to contracts for preseason, do you sit your superstars during the preseason games to see how your rookies and FA do to see who you cut to the 53 man roster limit? If you do, does that mean you don't care if you go 0-4 in the preseason?

The reason I am asking is I've tried this almost every year and I go 0-4 or 1-3 in preseason all the time. Is this important like to the fans and stuff? Does it hurt you in any way?

Thanks.

DF

[FBPro]

I sit mine to keep them healthy.

[DolphinFan1]

Originally Posted by FBPro

I sit mine to keep them healthy.

So what you're saying is you don't care if you go 0-4 in the preseason?

Plus you get to evaluate the new talent you just acquired. Right?

[totoro]

Originally Posted by FBPro

I sit mine to keep them healthy.

Second. I think the biggest concern of playing starter during pre-season is the injury.

[yabanci]

My strategy is usually to inactivate my key players who are fully developed. I usually play my younger guys so they can get some ratings increase, unless it is a guy I can't afford to lose. I don't think preseasons records matter in the game or to the fans.

[DolphinFan1]

Thanks for your info. I wanted to make sure I wasn't the only one who didn't care about preseason records.

[Cap Ologist]

The preseason record has really no bearing on fan attendance that i've been able to see. I usually sit as many of my guys as I can. Make sure you have 60 signed before the exhibition starts. If any of those 14 get hurt, I'll just put them on injured reserve, plus you can find out how players will do. In fact in my current career, I started my 7th round draft pick at qb, and his progress earned him a spot over a better veteran. After a couple of seasons, he won the back up job and then went 7 & 1 and won the Super Bowl when my starting qb went out.

[Rhone Ranger]

I used to do what you guys do in the preseason - deactivate my established veterans to protect them from injury, and start the scrappy youngsters to see who might play well and earn a spot on the final roster. I didn't care if I won or lost preseason games.

But I noticed something. Or at least I think I did. I can't be certain of it, but when my regular-season starting players were not the starters during the preseason, my team seemed to play poorly in its first several games of the regular season.

It's as if my first-stringers weren't properly "warmed up", like they needed a little practice before the regular season in order to play their best. I've had many seasons where I'd go about 12-4, and three of the losses would regularly be in the first four games of the season. It was (I think?) a pattern of a bad start to the season followed by a "miracle" run of victories. It happened too often to seem like random chance.

I've since changed to starting my regular veterans during the preseason (with occasional exceptions) but with their playing time set to "1" (i.e. minimum). I do get occasional injuries which is really annoying, but the pattern of bad starts to my season has apparently disappeared and I'm doing better overall.

On a related note - in the real NFL, don't they allow more than 46 players to be active during preseason games? I wish FOF would do the same, so the numerous young players under evaluation could play alongside the veterans in the preseason.

[stevew]

If you have a mentor and play a guy throughout preseason, he can likely pick up 4-8 overall points during preseason. I rarely play starters at all, but i have noticed maybe some signs of an early season stagnancy as well if your starters dont play in preseason. But, it could just be one of those things.