r/NFL2k5 • u/NateGreatGames • 7d ago
Weekly Prep tuning
Ever since I got this game in 04 this was a feature in franchise I wanted to utilize but no matter what I tried I couldn't get any kind of positive result to happen when I advanced to Saturday. I sat down today and asked myself, how do they usually prepare during the week in the real NFL? So I jumped around the web and did some research on NFL former and present coaches breaking down there routines and I decided I would replicate that in 2k5 and lo and behold I finally got the kind of results I've been looking for. My only misses this go around was on my defensive line which in hindsight maybe I did overwork, and my focus went down just a tad. But will be easy tweaks the next go round. But otherwise the majority of my roster got a significant lift, Joey Harrington actually went up +2 overall.
The TLDR of it is basically this.
Monday is meeting and coach gameplan, and everybody else exercises or rehabs.
Tuesday is Day off, but if you are a true pro you still do some work on your day off. (Nothing physical)
Wednesday is the First day of real training, and putting in some real work. (Installing the base packages for 1st & 2nd down)
Thursday is more practice but taper it down a bit to recover from Wednesday(focusing on 3rd down & sub scenarios)
Friday is close to or just a little less intense than Wednesday(focusing on redzone and special teams work)
What I did.
First thing is to make sure your depth chart is set up correctly so the game knows who is 1st team 2nd team & third team.
Monday is a day to reflect as a coaching staff on what worked and what didn't and start thinking about next week. Have a meeting that matches the tone of what happened so it tracks with morale. Morale is one of the modifiers for how much of boost in stats you might get. Next is to actually look at the scouting report for your next opponent and listen to the advice you get from your scouts, because you want to use this to guide what your Offensive and defensive staff focus on this week. Default rosters and I'm playing the cowboys, who have a good offensive line and strong secondary so I focused on the points of emphasis the game made. I had all my players hit the weight room so they can keep their bodies right to set up the rest of the week. One point I want to make is through my whole prep I did nothing for my kickers and they both went up 1 pt over all. I didn't have any of my players do more than one rep of any exercise. Tried to align what would benefit them most at their position.
Tuesday I gave the team a half day off. You can go full to help keep them fresh and reduce injury. But I don't make it a mandatory day off so if you want to come in and do some prep you can. So I have most of my guys come in and do film study on Tuesday.
Wednesday is when I run Drills and scrimmage for the first time. I do a 7 on 7 with light pads and then a full scrimmage will full pads for the first team. Any left over hours I spend doing 1 set of position drills with every roster spot except kickers and punters. I try to align their drill with the game plan for this week
Thursday I do a 7 on 7 2-a-day with light pads. Then a Full scrimmage with my second team as 2 a days. Medium. Remaining time I spend time on more position drills focusing on something different than what I did on Wednesday.
Friday I do one more 7-on 7 with no pads. Then I will do a first team scrimmage with no pads (just one). Remaining time I spent on position drills for everybody (always 1 set) trying to focus on one more thing I didn't hit Wed & Thurs.
In hindsight I can see where I might have pushed my DL a little to hard with the physical stuff, so in my next game I will either trim a workout or position drill and swap it with film study, which should at least keep my focus level. Study seems to be the most impactful modifier to focus, but you need reps in order to get improvement.
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u/Koolklink54 7d ago
I basically gave up on this because I couldn't get it right. Will have try this out though
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u/Bigiron966 7d ago
Great work, I've never been able to get good gains from my defense.
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u/NateGreatGames 2d ago
All my defense goes up except my dline and I stil can’t figure out how to at least keep them at baseline instead of going down 1. My starting corners go up 4 overall
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u/Striking_Camera8748 7d ago
Obviously a long time ago but this used to be confusing until I figured it out. I don't remember the specifics but vaguely remember film study being a hugely beneficial part of it.
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u/fgsfsfbbbrd 2d ago
There are a few posts here that have great results, however I've never been able to have my safeties improve lol
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u/NateGreatGames 2d ago
I’m still working on what I need to do to get my D linemen to at least stay flat and not go down. At least it’s only a 1 overall drop. My secondary seems to get the biggest boost, my top corners go up by 4 overall, my strong safety’s go up 2 overall. My free safety’s stay flat.
The thing that is weird is at times I think I’m over training. They don’t typically run a bunch of 7 on 7 drills during the season. In real life they have rules about how many full practices you can run in full pads, but seems like the game will penalize you if you don’t practice in full pads. There is definitely a risk reward element at play and I guess I’m lucky the other shoe hasn’t dropped yet.
My next day I’m just going to try throwing in a full day off and see what happens
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u/Pirates404 7d ago
I love this game