Best Players at each Tier IMO

[nflhitman]

Here is my assessment of each position and Tier of who is the best IMO

Gold:

QB: Otto Graham
RB: Earl Campbell
TE: Shannon Sharpe
WR: Jerry Rice
C: Dwight Stevenson
G: Larry Little
T: Anthony Munoz
DE: Reggie White
DT: Randy White
OLB: Dave Wilcox
ILB: D|ck Butkus
CB: Willie Brown
FS: Ronnie Lott

Silver:

QB: Ken Stabler
RB: Ottis Anderson
TE: Ben Coats
WR: Don Maynard
C: Dermontti Dawson
G: Delamiluerr
T: St. Claire
DE: Elvin Bethea
DT: Dan Hampton
OLB: Greg Lloyd
ILB: Karl Mecklenburg
CB: Lem Barney
FS: Eric Turner
SS: Leroy Butler

Bronze:

QB: Jim Harbaugh
RB: Christian Okoye
TE: Eric Green
WR: Dwight Clark
C: Sapolo
G: Wisniewski
T: Jacoby
DE: Manley
DT: Lett
OLB: Banks
ILB: Offerdahl
CB: Lewis
FS: Marion
SS: Waters

Best for certain things...

3-4 Defense:

Most important in a 3-4 Defense is the Nose Tackle and there is none IMO at any tier better than Dan Hampton. I suggest having 4 LB's and 2 safeties if you could use a 4 man offense. If you want 5 on offense than use a generic in the position you will use manually.

West Coast Offense:

Quick Passes and timing. Harbaugh, Rob Moore, Dwight Clark, Thurman Thomas, Ben Coats is perfect in this design.

Tampa 2:

Most important thing in this Defense is speed and the ILB. The best over all ILB in this game is actually a OLB. Sub Wilcox in as a ILB and he will dominate! Safeties are important also so this is my Tampa 2 defense.

Safeties: Willie Wood & Leroy Butler
ILB/OLB: Dave Wilcox
CB: Lem Barney & Terry McDaniel
DE: Bethea, Clyde Simmons, or Manley depending on what tier of QB you would like.

Run Based Offense:

You need a Workhorse type of back and get great value with Okoye. 2 TE's and a great FB will be needed.

RB: Okoye
TE's: Ben Coats & Eric Green
FB: Darryl Johnston
WR: Don Maynard, Alvin Harper, Cliff Branch, Basically any WR fast enough to stop your opponent from committing his safeties into the box to stop the run. You should only need 1 WR to keep tham honest with Coats flanked out at times also.

QB: Whatever Tier you can work with. I have used a generic QB and passed only when needed.

Run Stopping team or the Earl Campbell Team:

CB: Rod Woodson & Night Train Lane since they have Run Coverage they can help out with his tosses and sweeps

LB's: Lloyd, Offerdahl, Banks

Safeties: Browner & Tatum

Still leaves you 4 spots for offense.

These are just my opinions and nothing else. Since you have asked for suggestions.

[M CARDOSO1]

Here is my assessment of each position and Tier of who is the best IMO

Gold:

QB: Otto Graham
RB: Earl Campbell
TE: Shannon Sharpe
WR: Jerry Rice
C: Dwight Stevenson
G: Larry Little
T: Anthony Munoz
DE: Reggie White
DT: Randy White
OLB: Dave Wilcox
ILB: D|ck Butkus
CB: Willie Brown
FS: Ronnie Lott

Silver:

QB: Ken Stabler
RB: Ottis Anderson
TE: Ben Coats
WR: Don Maynard
C: Dermontti Dawson
G: Delamiluerr
T: St. Claire
DE: Elvin Bethea
DT: Dan Hampton
OLB: Greg Lloyd
ILB: Karl Mecklenburg
CB: Lem Barney
FS: Eric Turner
SS: Leroy Butler

Bronze:

QB: Jim Harbaugh
RB: Christian Okoye
TE: Eric Green
WR: Dwight Clark
C: Sapolo
G: Wisniewski
T: Jacoby
DE: Manley
DT: Lett
OLB: Banks
ILB: Offerdahl
CB: Lewis
FS: Marion
SS: Waters

Best for certain things...

3-4 Defense:

Most important in a 3-4 Defense is the Nose Tackle and there is none IMO at any tier better than Dan Hampton. I suggest having 4 LB's and 2 safeties if you could use a 4 man offense. If you want 5 on offense than use a generic in the position you will use manually.

West Coast Offense:

Quick Passes and timing. Harbaugh, Rob Moore, Dwight Clark, Thurman Thomas, Ben Coats is perfect in this design.

Tampa 2:

Most important thing in this Defense is speed and the ILB. The best over all ILB in this game is actually a OLB. Sub Wilcox in as a ILB and he will dominate! Safeties are important also so this is my Tampa 2 defense.

Safeties: Willie Wood & Leroy Butler
ILB/OLB: Dave Wilcox
CB: Lem Barney & Terry McDaniel
DE: Bethea, Clyde Simmons, or Manley depending on what tier of QB you would like.

Run Based Offense:

You need a Workhorse type of back and get great value with Okoye. 2 TE's and a great FB will be needed.

RB: Okoye
TE's: Ben Coats & Eric Green
FB: Darryl Johnston
WR: Don Maynard, Alvin Harper, Cliff Branch, Basically any WR fast enough to stop your opponent from committing his safeties into the box to stop the run. You should only need 1 WR to keep tham honest with Coats flanked out at times also.

QB: Whatever Tier you can work with. I have used a generic QB and passed only when needed.

Run Stopping team or the Earl Campbell Team:

CB: Rod Woodson & Night Train Lane since they have Run Coverage they can help out with his tosses and sweeps

LB's: Lloyd, Offerdahl, Banks

Safeties: Browner & Tatum

Still leaves you 4 spots for offense.

These are just my opinions and nothing else. Since you have asked for suggestions.
thanks for the help, i've always wanted to run a west coast offense, but never found the players to do it, im gonna try out yours right now

[nflhitman]

thanks for the help, i've always wanted to run a west coast offense, but never found the players to do it, im gonna try out yours right now

Cool!

You have to understand that this is a quick passing mentality and the West Coast offense doesn't go deep that often. That is why I listed possession type WR's instead of Deep Threat WR's.

[SIMON x BELMONT]

Marino
Campbell
Perry
Berry
Sharpe
Brown
Stephenson
Little
Selmon
Donovan
Wilcox
Schmidt
Brown
Lott

[Valdarez]

Wow, Stabler over Cunningham. I'm surprised.

The list is pretty good, but I'm not a big Okoye fan. I'll take McNeil any day of the week as he's more maneuverable.

Why Lett over the Fridge?

I have had more success with Selmon over White at the Gold DE position.

And I'll take Metz over Green every day of the week at the Bronze TE position.

And of course, Johnson at the Bronze ILB position. :)

[JUIC3D 3]

Pretty good list. Here's some changes I'd make

Selmon over White - Reggie White is terrible in this game, he has no agility and can't pull off a swim for his life, I'd take Selmon or Deacon in a heart beat over him

Donavon over White

Joe Schmidt over Butkus - Big one IMO, he's by far the best ILB in the game

Cunninghan over Stabler - Personal Preference. Can't go wrong with either.

Means over Okoye - See above.

Fridge over Lett - See above.

Brazile over Banks - See above.

[nflhitman]

Fridge uses his Bull Dozer move to often which has him laying on top of the center instead of making a play. Leon Lett and his Swim move does damage.

Selmon has never done anything for me and on the other hand reggie White is beastly for me.

Can't stand Cunningham for 3 reasons....He doesn'e have leadership, he doesnt have accuracy at all, and he is over used.

Okoye was one of my favorite players growing up and I use him very well.

Brazile is good and is my 2nd choice but banks and his Pass Rush Bonus and Big Hit are what I like over Coverage.

Randy White makes a lot of plays but he gets no love because he doesnt have as many attributes or Leadership like Art.

[M CARDOSO1]

This is my list the BOLD names are ones i disagree on

Gold:

QB: Joe Mantana
RB: Earl Campbell
TE: Mike Ditka
WR: Jerry Rice
C: Dwight Stevenson
G: Russ Grimm
T: Anthony Munoz
DE: Reggie White
DT: Randy White
OLB: Dave Wilcox
ILB: Mike Singletary
CB: Willie Brown
FS: Cliff Harris

Silver:

QB: Randall Cunningham
RB: Ottis Anderson
TE: Ben Coats
WR: Andre Reed
C: Dermontti Dawson
G: Joe Delamielleure
T: Bob St. Claire
DE: Elvin Bethea
DT: Keith Millard
OLB: Greg Lloyd
ILB: Nick Buoniconti
CB: Lem Barney
FS: Deron Cherry
SS: D.i.c.k. Anderson

Bronze:

QB: Jim Harbaugh
RB: Christian Okoye
TE: Eric Green
WR: Dwight Clark
C: Jesse Sapolu
G: Bill Fralic
T: Joe Jacoby
DE: Clyde Simmons
DT: William Perry
OLB: John Anderson
ILB: Brian Bosworth
CB: Albert Lewis
FS: Eugene Robinson
SS: Charlie Waters

[ballin5692]

Also for west coast offense you need a good running back. Teams with the west coast offence use the running game to open up them passing lanes and the opposite. They use the passing to open up the running game.

[nflhitman]

Also for west coast offense you need a good running back. Teams with the west coast offence use the running game to open up them passing lanes and the opposite. They use the passing to open up the running game.

LOL I have Thurman Thomas listed there. Do you not know who he is? He is a Gold RB with everything you need for the West Coast Offense.

[ballin5692]

LOL I have Thurman Thomas listed there. Do you not know who he is? He is a Gold RB with everything you need for the West Coast Offense.

Honestly i didnt even notice therman thomas... i saw the qb and wr and stoped reading it.... I never really watched Thruman Thomas play but i dont think he was a big receiving running back tho. Roger Craig was a running back you could use as a receiver. Great example is Brian Westbrook. He can burn you running the ball and is deadly in the slot or on screen plays. Also he is quick and thats great for a qest coact offence.

[hibachiii]

I didn't read the thread, but I bet you haven't tried all the Silver O Linemen out. Looks like you picked the guys with the "best" abilities.

[nyknicks33]

Honestly i didnt even notice therman thomas... i saw the qb and wr and stoped reading it.... I never really watched Thruman Thomas play but i dont think he was a big receiving running back tho. Roger Craig was a running back you could use as a receiver. Great example is Brian Westbrook. He can burn you running the ball and is deadly in the slot or on screen plays. Also he is quick and thats great for a qest coact offence.

Thurman Thomas was a GREAT reciever as a RB. He lead the league in total yards from scrimmage 4 or 5 times in his career.

[nyknicks33]

You folks are nuts when it comes to Reggie White..he is a flat out monster for me whenever I use him

[badasp83]

IMO:
Jackie Smith is the Best Gold TE
Jack Lambert is the best gold ILB

[MINATAURO]

Nice lists guys, very helpful but no love for Elway?

[nflhitman]

Nice lists guys, very helpful but no love for Elway?

Most people have grown to hate Elway and Cunningham because of how people over use them and some of the attributes like Cadence no one wants to face. Otto Graham is the best IMO with or without Cadence on Elway.

[nflhitman]

I didn't read the thread, but I bet you haven't tried all the Silver O Linemen out. Looks like you picked the guys with the "best" abilities.

I have tried just about every player in this game. I have had teams that had 5 O-Lineman and 4 D-Lineman so I personally have tried many of them including Munchak who always gets injured :)

[amid]

it's great everyone can't agree on the best players or the most important positions. e.g. i am anti mcdaniel and others insist on him. i choose LBs last (or use generics) while others spend gold and silvers on them. makes this game the best sports game ever produced.

[nyknicks33]

Joe Schmidt is the best ILB Ive used to date

[COLDeagleGREEN]

The problem with naming the best player at each tier is everyone has a different style. Depending on how you run your scheme will determine how well certain guys play. IE...Randall is not accurate, so you got to let him throw to wr with acrobatic catches who can make the adjustment to the ball, Brookshier is not a man coverage cb, but more a zone guy, etc.

[badasp83]

The problem with naming the best player at each tier is everyone has a different style. Depending on how you run your scheme will determine how well certain guys play. IE...Randall is not accurate, so you got to let him throw to wr with acrobatic catches who can make the adjustment to the ball, Brookshier is not a man coverage cb, but more a zone guy, etc.

:thumbsup: - good post

[nyknicks33]

...Randall is not accurate,


Truer words have never been spoken.

You are right though. I once teamed Roger Wherli and Tom Brookshier together and played mostly a zone, cover 2 type scheme. They both played very well in that kind of scheme

[nflhitman]

Joe Schmidt is the best ILB Ive used to date

I honestly have not given him enough time on any of my teams. I should try him out again.

[PRIMET1ME]

Gold:

QB: Roger staubach
RB: Gale Sayers
TE: Shannon Sharpe
WR: Jerry Rice
C: Dwight Stevenson
G: Larry Little
T: Anthony Munoz
DE: Deacon Jones
DT: Randy White
OLB: Derrick Thomas
ILB: Jack Lambert
CB: Rod Woodson
FS: Cliff harris

Silver:

QB: Bart Starr
RB: Hugh Mchenellhemy
TE: Brent Jones
WR: Herman Moore
C: Dermontti Dawson
G: Delamiluerr
T: St. Claire
DE: Elvin Bethea
DT: Dan Hampton
OLB: Greg Lloyd
ILB: Nick Buiconitto(idk how to spell his name)
CB: Lester Hayes
FS: Jack Tatum
SS: **** Anderson

Bronze:

QB: Jim Harbaugh
RB: Christian Okoye
TE: Pete Metzellars
WR: Dwight Clark
C: Sapolo
G: Wisniewski
T: Jacoby
DE: Manley
DT: Lett
OLB: Lamar Lathon
ILB: Norton JR
CB: Lewis
FS: Robinson
SS: Waters(by default)

[BrandH]

Honestly i didnt even notice therman thomas... i saw the qb and wr and stoped reading it.... I never really watched Thruman Thomas play but i dont think he was a big receiving running back tho. Roger Craig was a running back you could use as a receiver. Great example is Brian Westbrook. He can burn you running the ball and is deadly in the slot or on screen plays. Also he is quick and thats great for a qest coact offence.
You know of and have seen Roger Craig play, but have no idea about Therman. He was 10 times the backRoger Craig was. I guess losing those Super Bowls really put a downer on his legacy.

[J_Frank]

You know of and have seen Roger Craig play, but have no idea about Therman. He was 10 times the backRoger Craig was. I guess losing those Super Bowls really put a downer on his legacy.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb4eidNTAf0

Copy and paste.

As a Miami Dolphin fan my whole life I must say I truly hate Thurman Thomas. I cannot count how many screens, slots, quick dumps, and rushes this guy had.
Also this guy had AMAZING HANDS.

Thurman Thomas even though I hate him was one of the best HBs in the game. Roger Craig was good, but not even close to Thurman

peace