How much do def ratings matter in FCP? I know in zone it is a collective of the def of all the guys and m2m matchup, but with my new team i play FCP and i dont know how much def ratings work.

Higher DEF is still better - you can get away with low-DEF players if their ATH/SPD is good enough, but if you can get DEF, it has a very noticeable positive effect on turnovers forced and FG%.

Yup, the higher the def rating (assuming spd/ath stay constant) will produce more steals.

I have found guys with high defense can register 2+ steals a game in the FCP.

In a FCP, I will always put DEF behind SP, ATH and other relevant core skills. This guy was just named Lone Star Conf. Def. Player of the Year (Crum) playing in my FCP with a DEF of 21.

I set my recruit search filter at 20 for defensive skills and have found that to be an acceptable minimum.

In D3 at least, good DEF ratings while running FCP is a nice bonus but far from necessary. Kind of like BH or P for a C. A fault with the current game engine. Check out my Hiram team. No idea if you can get away with it as well at higher levels.

I have the current DII Defensive Players of the Year in Allen. He plays Zone/press combo, is a Center,,,, and has a Def rating of 38 I believe.

I do however think this is an exception rather than the norm.

He does have a 99 in Blk however, and will graduate as the all-time leader in blks in school history probably. he gets 1.5+ steals and 1.5+ blks /game... with 100 in RB, he's a pretty tough kid.

In the FCP I have found it to be more important for your backcourt players and less so as you move into the frontcourt.

Thanks for the help guys. im especially looking at bigs def. i have a frosh i want to play with really high reb, and good lp and sb. he has decent at best ath and spd for a big guy in D2 and a def rating of 6. im not sure if playing him will hurt my defense or if his reb will outweigh the low defensive rating. if u can see my team im talking about odea. this is only my 2nd year and im still trying to figure this game out.

In a press I would give up sb for better de, if I had the choice.

tk, that team needs to spend a couple of those schollys on guards next season with good BH/PA numbers. Your bigs look to be decent... you will become one of the FCP bashers on the boards if you don't upgrade the back-court. Those guards will not get it done in DII. The previous coach sacrificed alot of skills to get those high DEF numbers for those 2 guys.

I would think a decent press would eat em up.

Good Luck

defense is something you can sacrifice in the press without too much harm. you need to focus on the cores first, and often you can find "ugly duckling" type players who are really good outside their defense. these types of players are perfect for a building program. they give you the strength you need in the main areas, and even a defense of 1 on a couple players won't kill you. they can take you pretty far, generally you need defense to win the championship, but on mediocre defense you can certainly make a solid NT run (s16 - final 4).

i dont think my team is even close to a championship. my goal right now is to just make a postseason and establish relationships with some other out of conference coaches. thanks for all the help guys.