Posted by darnoc29099 on 7/4/2016 1:46:00 PM (view original):
It could be 20 or 21 games-I'm more conservative and generally go with at least 22 games for a start. However, as yanks has alluded to, sometimes you can drop under the 20 game mark and the kid will stay. I think each kid probably has a threshold built into their profile for what they'll accept and won't accept. Whether your prestige plays into a kid deciding to transfer, I'm not sure.
I also make sure I start the kid in all 10 noncon games. I don't want that early WE drop and have to chase my tail all season long. That early WE drop kind of negates the improvement and growth that comes with starting a dude.
This is pretty damn close to being spot on. Personally, if I have guaranteed a player a start, the I try my best to get as many as possible out of the way early. That way if need be i can sit him against some of the better human coached teams in my conference.
What I have found is this: if you promised a start and haven't been following through, eventually you'll get a ****** off e-mail from the kid questioning your integrity, or you promised, blah, blah, blah. At that point, it's very important to get him back in the starting lineup ASAFP. Normally, about four or five games after that, you'll get another e-mail from the kid (this one much happier) saying that he knew he could trust you, blah, blah, blah. By that point in the season, there will probably be about 6or 7 games left in the regular season. If you try to sit him again, you run a risk of not having enough games left to make him happy if he ******* again.
I've been in that situation a handful of times myself. If you keep him in the starting lineup for the rest of the season, you're fine. If you DO decide to sit him, there's a very legit chance that he WILL transfer at season's end. But he also may decide to stay. At that point in time is when you're really rolling the dice if you decide to sit him again. If he's a player you want to keep, you simply start him those last handful of games. If you WANT him to transfer, just sit him. I'd say it's somewhere around break even whether he stays or goes.