One of the things I like from Madden NFL 08, is the Superstar Mode. You create a guy and try to get him to be the greatest of all times at his position. Now, they have this nifty section in which there is a scouting report about you based on your stats and it changes based on your ratings, I decided to take that a look at those. Fortunately, I found the table that contains them, as well as each description based on Overall rating, as well as based on ratings:
Quarterbacks:Involved ratings: Speed, Awareness, Throw Power, Throw Accuracy.
- Speed: Anything from 99 to 80 talk about the QB being a great threat on the run and on open field. Anything 79 to 60 talk about how he has the adequate speed and can buy some time in the pocket. Lower than 60 and it says, not very mobile.
- Awareness: 99 to 97 praise the QB as being extremely smart, kind of like Peyton Manning. 96 to 90 talk about the QB being great at reading defenses. 89 to 87 talk about how he's generally able to find an open man. Lower talk about his decision making, especially under pressure.
- Throw Power: 99 to 92 praise his arm strength. 91 to 83 call it above average to average. Lower and his arm strength is criticized.
- Throw Accuracy: 99 to 92 praise his arm accuracy. 91 to 83 call it above average to good. Lower and it says that he needs to work on his mechanics.
Conclusion: Speed is what is expected. Same with Throw Power and Throw Accuracy. Awareness is the decision making and the capability to look for another receiver and not force a pass. It also alters the QB Vision Cone.
HalfbackInvolved ratings: Agility, Speed, Acceleration, Awareness, Carrying, Break Tackles (Trucking)
- Agility: Anything 99 to 92 like his lateral movement speed. Lower up to 83 call it decent enough. Lower and it says that the back lacks elusiveness.
- Speed: Anything higher than 90 is liked. 86 to 85 is called Average NFL Speed, with anything lower said that the back is not fast.
- Acceleration: Just like in a lot of these. From 99 to 92, it says they like his explosiveness through the hole. Lower is still good, up to 87. Then they don't like it.
- Awareness: Apparently this controls Ball Carrier Vision: They like it from 99 to 90. On the 89 to 87 line it says "Needs to slow down and learn how to develop his blocks.". I have never seen a running back show patience in this game. Like, I've seen them cutback inside, but I've never seen them allowing the Linemen to come infront of him and block. Maybe is because my sliders make the run blocking suck (17 Run Block).
- Carrying: It says nothing. Except on the 78 to 0 range, in which it says that fumbles can be a problem.
- Break Tackles: They like it from 99 to 90, saying that he "Keeps pads low to the ground and delivers a blow upon contact.". That's about it.
Conclusion: Agility is juking ability, spins and elusiveness. Speed is what you expect. Acceleration is explosiveness through the hole. Carrying is exactly that. Break Tackles is Trucking. Awareness should be patience and Ball Carrier Vision.
FullbackInvolved ratings: Awareness, Catching, Pass Blocking, Run Blocking.
- Awareness: Anything above 82 is well likes. They like his instincts and is rarely caught out of position. Lower and they call his awareness average.
- Catching: Surprising that Halfbacks don't have this one too. Anyway, anything over 80 is great. Over 70 is good. And over 62 is decent.
- Pass Blocking: They like his blitz pickup skills when over 62. And they still like it when over 51.
- Run Blocking: They like his lead blocking when over 80, and is still great when over 70. Lower and they hate it.
Conclusion: Awareness is how he recognizes what's going on around, probably who to block. Catching is that. Pass Blocking is how likely he's to pick up a player when his assignment is Pass Block. Same with Run Blocking.
Wide ReceiverInvolved ratings: Agility, Speed, Acceleration, Awareness, Catching, Jumping.
- Agility: They like anything above 92, saying that he can make defenders miss in the open field. Anything below 82 is disliked.
- Speed: They like anything over 90, saying he's fast enough to get behind most DBs ... I've seen this before (Deep Threat). Less than 82, he's called a possession receiver.
- Acceleration: Again, they like his explosiveness of the snap when over 90. They hate it when less than 82.
- Awareness: Again, over 90 they like it, saying that he has great instincts and runs great routes. At the 81 to 74 range it says "Not a great route runner. Struggles to find his place vs. zone coverage.".
- Catching: They like anything over 90. The 89 to 87 range is called erratic. 82 to 79 is called average.
- Jumping: They like anything over 92. Less than 78 and they start disliking it. Less than 73 it says: "Not a big threat on jump balls on fade routes."
Conclusions: Agility is Elusiveness and cut speed. Speed is that. Acceleration is that. Awareness is route running. Catching is that. And Jumping is exactly that.
Tight EndInvolved ratings: Speed, Awareness, Catching, Run Blocking, Jumping.
- Speed: They like anything over 84. Over 80 is decent.
- Awareness: Over 80, they like his recognition skills against zone.
- Catching: Over 80, they like it. Less and it's decent.
- Run Blocking: They just like it over 70.
Conclusions: Speed is just that. Awareness is their play recognition and route running. Run Blocking is their capability to engage a block. Catching is that.
Offensive LineI read the descriptions for everyone, and they seem the same for every offensive lineman. As I understand it, the Guards are better run blockers, the Center is the smartest lineman as well as a good pass blocker, the Left Tackle is the best Pass Blocker and the Right Tackles is a great run blocker. I'll take the descriptions from the Left Tackle.
Involved ratings: Strength, Awareness, Pass Blocking, Run Blocking.
- Strength: They prefer anything over 92, but still like over 90. The 86 to 83 range says "Has problems with bull rushers over the top.".
- Awareness: Same as Strength, they prefer over 92, but still like over 90. The 99 to 92 range says "Rarely loses a matchup once he's locked onto the defender."
- Pass Blocking: They like anything over 92. They still like over 90, but no as much. They don't like him below that.
- Run Blocking: They like him over 92. In the 91 to 90 range, he's called an asset in the running game. Below 82, they don't like him.
Conclusions: Strength is the capability to cope with the Bull Rush Power Move. Awareness is the capability to cope with Finesse Moves (Spins and Rips). Pass Blocking, as well as Run Blocking server as multipliers for this.
Next up we have: The Defense, followed by The Special Teams.