From a strictly depth chart perspective, is this the best way to get Player A the most playing time?

A
none
B
C

A's stamina is very very high.

engine won't look to the 2nd string until A has reached his coach-defined stamina limit, so it doesn't matter if you skip a spot.  Put him at GT, that'll get him 3-4 more minutes per game over FF and will have the biggest impact on his PT.

I have him at GT, but last night he played only 18 minutes (averaged 25 mins in the games previous). I thought it might have been because of foul trouble, so maybe that was it. I want the engine to keep him in as long as possible.

I *believe* that the skipping of a spot does play a role, even using fatigue, but the best way to get A the most playing time, from a depth chart perspective, is to use target minutes.

The biggest issue with Sammy last night was foul trouble. If you look at the pbp, he picked up his 2nd personal foul 4 minutes into the game and then he didn't re-enter the game until there were 3 minutes to go in the 1st half. Then he picked up his 3rd foul a minute later. So he started the 2nd half on the bench...and didn't come in until almost 6 minutes had gone by. Foul trouble looks like the biggest issue last night. If you haven't already, you could *try* putting his foul settings to more aggressive. The computer will leave him in the game longer with 2 or 3 fouls, but you also run the risk of picking up additional fouls early in the game.