Madden fantasy drafts are one of the most fun experiences for Madden franchise players, but it can be strenuous not knowing who to draft and when. The key to drafting a great team is to have a strategy in mind before entering the draft and knowing beforehand where every player is selected.
Madden Tools gives you the power to see where players get drafted before you even start the draft. Use this to your advantage! The player’s average draft pick indicates who will be available and when in each round. Look through the draft board before adding players to the watch list to understand where players get drafted first. After you have looked through a few draft rounds, open the watch list and follow the steps below to draft the best overall team for your play style.
Select the foundation piece for your franchise in this round. Do you want a lockdown corner that only the best receivers can get open against? Maybe a mobile QB, so your opponent always has to worry about the possibility of you taking off. Whatever you decide, this player should be around for years to come and make an immediate impact on your team. After this pick, QBs will be much harder to come by.
There are two ways to go about this round. You can select a support piece for your franchise player or choose a player to counter your divisional opponents’ franchise players.
If you choose the former, think about good synergies. A franchise corner benefits from a premier pass rusher or a safety to cover the opposite side of the field. A franchise quarterback needs a great target to help him move the ball downfield or maybe a great running back to keep the defense guessing so they can’t commit to the pass every play. These synergies will ensure that side of the ball will be a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, this option can leave the other side of your team without any great superstars, but you’ll still be able to build a strong overall team.
Want to make sure you can counter your rivals instead? This option leaves you with the possibility of still executing the Synergy strategy. The main con of this strategy is that unless you’re playing an individual franchise, you likely won’t have much time to discover who your rivals picked. If they’re nice enough to announce their picks, there’s still hope! Another con is that not all counters are obvious.
If your rivals selected wide receivers with their first picks, an obvious counter would be a shutdown corner. But what if they chose a QB? A corner can still be a good pick because they will likely want to surround their QB with weapons. However, an edge rusher or interior pass rusher may be a better option to keep them under constant pressure. If your rivals selected a pass rusher, is it worth grabbing an offensive lineman this early in the draft? This strategy is viable but will require much more effort to build a team around.
The strategy used in round two will affect what you do in this round. If your team is heavy on one side of the ball, this is the time to balance out your team. If you only want to keep one side of your team a force, that is also an option. This round is for a player to balance out your team as a whole or to be the final balancing piece on one side.
If you’re looking to balance your team, this is the strategy to use. If your previous picks were for one side of the ball, this next selection could be your franchise piece for the other side. This is the player you want to build around on that side of the ball. He won’t be as top-tier as the earlier selections, but he should still provide your team with a solid piece for years to come.
Stack one side of your team and make it unstoppable. If you have one good player and already complimented him with another player, find a piece to bring the unit together. Maybe you drafted to have a strong pass offense/defense to this point. Look at selecting a player to help with the running game. This balancing act will balance out the skillset for your overloaded side of the ball, ensuring they can compete in all facets of the game.
Round four has many older but elite veterans and many young but talented star dev players. If you're looking for an immediate Super Bowl push, it makes sense to look at a veteran instead. The older veterans still have a few years in them according to the predicted retirement age metric too.
The young star allows you to build the player into the exact player you want and will be part of the franchise longer. He will also keep getting better while the veterans regress, but comes at the cost of not being as good today.
Round five is the final round for drafting most starting caliber QBs. If you don’t have a QB at this point, it’s likely a good idea to get one. If you do have a QB, look at drafting defense. Many defensive players go this round so the talent pool will begin to dry up.
This round is full of a variety of star players. Wherever you want to add more strength to your team, there should be a player available here.
T here are a lot of good young corners that get selected in this round. If you don't need a corner, there's some decent defensive linemen too.
Now is the time to pick your safety valve players. Whether it is a safety to help cover over the top or a half back to take the pressure off your quarterback, the assist type positions will start to leave.
Many LBs get selected in this round. There are even some DEs that could serve as an OLB in the 3-4 in this round.
This is your time to build on that linebacking core. Be sure to grab one. These players are vital in good defenses.
There are some high potential or talented offensive linemen available in this round. Offensive linemen help your team get into a flow so don’t ignore this position. The linemen taken in this round will be steady pieces of your team for a few years. They won’t be brick walls, but they’ll be consistent enough to rely on them.
At this point, you’ve got the foundation and some framing created for your team. Next, fill in the missing pieces according to your play style. Make sure to use theDraft Board and Watchlist to help you complete the rest of the fantasy draft so you don’t overreach for any players!