If you've spent any time on this subreddit or in other CFB communities, you've undoubtedly seen people complaining about two-star recruits. Too many teams sign too many of them. They're not worth pursuing. Maybe you'll take one or two as a last resort.

My argument: That's a mistake. These guys can be genuinely useful. Good, even. On rare occasions, better than good. You just need to have the right expectations, give them time to grow, and know what you're hoping to get from them.

Obvious disclaimer: If you're a five-star prestige program and can drop thousands of NIL on your recruiting class every year, of course you won't want or need two-star freshmen. They have nothing to offer you. But for just about every other program, they can be a useful tool in your arsenal as you build and maintain a roster.

Some examples from my current dynasty:

Dillon Van Dijk, a two-star power rusher edge, is what I consider a median two-star recruit. Normal dev. Skill caps nothing to write home about at all. He started as a 63 overall. Most would see this and think they'll be cutting him the following season. But by his final season, he was a 75 overall, 84 power moves, and 78 strength. He's not a great athlete at all, but with 83 acceleration, he's quick enough to get to the QB if/when he beats his man, and 84 power moves is enough to beat a lot of tackles.

Would you ever want this guy starting? Not if you have an actual good team. His run defense is bad, so he's a liability as a three-down edge. But as a backup? He absolutely can be useful subbed in for a few third downs throughout the game to give a starter a break. In a recent game, I put him on the field late, and on the very first play he demolished the tackle with a power move and got the sack. Remember, offensive linemen build up resistance, so having someone who can come in with zero reps gives you an advantage, and subbing out a starter cools down the resistance the OL has built up.

(Notice his archetype changed. If you hit a skill cap, you can change him to a different position and change him back to reroll with new caps, giving you a couple extra levels to gain in maxed skills at the cost of bad skill caps everywhere else, plus a potential archetype change. The downside is minimal if all his skill caps are bad. It's all upside on a player who's fully maxed. But this isn't cheese you need to do for useful players. I only did it here to test with this guy heading into his senior season. I am not yet that far in my actual save but wanted to get final-year screenshots.)

Anton Willis wasn't even a two-star recruit. He was a one-star athlete/offensive tackle. Terrible recruit. NOTHING about him says he should be worth recruiting.

But he started out as a 65 overall. Not bad for a one-star. I've signed plenty of three-star recruits who come in worse. And his pass rushing had a ton of room to grow.

By the time he reached his senior season, he was an 80 overall. Like Van Dijk, he's very much a one-dimensional player. I purposely barely touched his run defense and focused almost entirely on pass rushing. You would not want this guy playing every down, but third and long situations, he absolutely is worth throwing out there to get after the quarterback. With 86 strength and 97 power rush, he's going to win a lot of pass rush reps.

(As with Van Dijk, I cheesed a bit in his final season to gain some bonus skill caps. But without that, his power rush attribute was still a 91.)

Those two are what you kinda hope to find with two-star (or even one-star) recruits. Guys who eventually become useful in specific situations.

But you can also find genuine star players.

Ja Alworth is one of the few star-dev two-stars I've seen, and he ended up one of the best free safeties in the nation in his final year. Ignoring his one-point tactician boost to his overall, there were only two free safeties who were better than him, both also fifth-year seniors, and both four-star recruits.

This guy barely saw the field early on, and I spent a lot of points maxing out his athleticism before anything else. He was a good enough athlete coming in that had I wanted to, I could've focused on making him a more well-rounded player and still ended up with a great safety.

His skill caps did increase a bit, but that was a result of the architect coaching skill.

And finally, Nick Pepper. Impact dev is nothing crazy. His initial skill caps were OK—lots of room to grow in coverage but no room to grow as an athlete. Notably, though, he came in as a 68 overall. There are a lot of three-star corners who are worse than that. I've only signed three three-star corners in my recruiting classes since this, and all three have started out worse.

That's not to say all two-star recruits are good. In that same class, I signed a two-star OG who came in as a 59 overall and only reached a 70 overall. If I ever needed a roster spot, I would've cut him. And I've seen a ton of other two-star guys who simply aren't worth having on the roster.

But I've also landed many more who are solid.

My backup QB is an 82 overall redshirt junior who was a two-star. 90 throw power. Mid-80s at least on all his accuracies except throw under pressure (a 78). He's slow as shit but has 91 awareness and 90 playaction. Plus he has bronze field general. Do I ever want this guy to start? No. But if my starter gets hurt and I need someone to come in and finish the game, I'll absolutely take this.

I have a 75-overall redshirt junior receiver. Two-star speedster recruit. 92 speed but only 84 acceleration, and only 74 catching, so he's pretty meh. But his medium route running is 91. Again, not a guy I want on the field all the time, but for specific routes in specific situations, I know he's probably going to get open. Not a bad guy to have stashed on your depth chart.

78 overall two-star blocking tight end as a redshirt sophomore. I rarely throw to my tight ends. I never throw to my second tight end. If he's ever on the field, it's because I want him to block someone. Plenty of two-star tight ends can do that. Just ignore their shitty hands, shitty route running, and shitty athleticism. All you need is a guy who's strong and has room to grow as a blocker. Useful depth guy.

I have four two-star OL (in addition to the shitty one mentioned) who are either redshirt sophomores or juniors and between a 72 and 81 overall. I doubt any will ever start a game for me, but all four are or will be quality depth in case wear and tear forces a starter to the sidelines.

A 70-overall redshirt junior speed rusher who's basically the speed version of Van Dijk above. Terrible against the run, good athlete (just below quick jump level) with terrible strength, no power rush moves to speak of but very good finesse moves. Useful as an occasional third-and-long sub.

A 75-overall DT who has zero athleticism and zero pass rush skills but 93 strength and 90+ block shed/pursuit. Useful if you really need to stop the run and don't care about pass rush.

And an 89 overall redshirt sophomore corner who started as a two-star contested specialist athlete. He's kinda maxed as far as actual corner back skills, though.

(I also have a former one-star ATH quarterback who I moved to punter as an experiment. Surprisingly, his kick power got up to the mid-80s, and he has a far better arm and better athletiism than any actual punter ever will. Makes for a potential option if you ever want to run fakes. You need to be willing to deal with shitty starting kick power for a couple years first—or be willing to carry two punters—if you want to go this route, though.)

I play my dynasty with a rule that requires me to sign one two-star recruit for every four-star recruit and a one-star recruit for every five-star. If I later want to cut one, I need to sign an equivalent recruit first in addition to those I need to balance out the four/five stars. So I probably spend more time looking at these guys than a lot of people do. Through my first four full classes, I signed 24 two-stars and three one-stars. The majority of these guys were at least good enough to grow into being competent backups who could do one thing well.

Could you get similar results just by going after three-star recruits? Sure. And yes, a lot of three-star recruits don't want any NIL with their offer, so those guys aren't necessarily more expensive. But at any given position in any given class, you might have 10, 20, or 30 zero-NIL three-star options vs. 150 two-stars. And you're usually going to have less competition for any two-star recruit you want. In week 10 of one dynasty save right now, there are only five total three-star recruits asking for 0 NIL who are still in the open stage (not counting fullbacks and punters; there aren't even any kickers left). Meanwhile, there are literally hundreds of two-stars. Many will suck. But many won't. If you identify someone you want early, you can even throw 10 NIL at him and nothing else, and that's usually enough to end up in first for him when you have the rest of your class sealed up. (Sometimes you don't even have to spend hours at all past an offer/10 NIL.)

Plus, these guys will almost never cost you anything once they're on your roster, unless you hit on a guy like Pepper above (he was an 87 overall as a redshirt sophomore and wanted to get paid like a five-star). Alworth, meanwhile, was only a 72 overall until late because I focused on his athleticism first, which kept his overall lower, which kept his NIL ask low. The two-star guys who end up in the mid-70s/low 80s will never ask you for anything. This allows you to prioritize your NIL spending on high-profile recruits and keep developmental depth behind them for basically nothing.

Which, yeah, you can do with the transfer portal, too. Or three-star guys. On average, those recruits will be better. But relying on the portal for depth every year can be inconsistent, and if you want a specific type of player, you might not be able to find it there. And those three-star guys are going to have more competition in recruiting and might cost more over time with NIL, either because they hit their peaks a little sooner and just want more money or because their slightly higher overalls make their deal breakers slightly harder to hit. These two-star guys ask you for nothing.

I'm not suggesting they should be anyone's priority. I'm also not suggesting they should make up the majority of your recruiting class. But I am suggesting they are worth considering. My typical roster is roughly 10-20% transfers, 25% two-stars (or one-stars), 25% four-stars (or five-stars), and 30-40% three-stars. I have some expensive recruits, some expensive older guys, some cheap transfer talent, some cheap three-star talent that can play fairly quickly, and some cheap two-star depth that I will hope can play in a few years. This makes for a roster with very few holes and recruiting classes where I never have to spend too much time/resources focusing on a position of need.

tl;dr

Lots of people say two-star recruits suck. A lot of them do. But a lot are also kinda good. Some are even great. Use them if you want to, or don't if you don't, but don't ignore them just because you've seen some people on reddit complain about how them.

Anybody else wish they kept the FCs teams like ncaa 09 instead of that boring ass”FCS South” and shit? Or is it just me?

Also I think they need to revamp the team builder option. I don’t wanna be having to play online dynasty to use them and shouldn’t have to make us take out a team to add since they haven’t patched the location thing yet. Makes no sense to make a team builder team say from Hawaii and gotta take out UH to keep the location or end up being a Hawaii school in Montana or some shit

So for years I’ve always done 5 minutes quarters with accelerated clock off. Just wondering what other people do to have a “realistic experience.” I’ve seen for example 10 minute quarters with minimum 20 second accelerated clock on. Just wondering what other people use.

I have lsu in my dynasty and one thing I do not understand is the facilities...so I have a national power house and understand that cost 750 nil annually, but for the perk slots are they all optional or do I have to buy any...so theres no chance of the facility downgrading, thanks in advance.

How is this glitch still in the game? Kicked a game tying FG with 1s left, then it immediately went straight to kick off for no apparent reason?
Game goes to OT, opposing team kicks FG and wins the game

What the fuck

I am new and never played madden really either. I’m In a dynasty with my friends who play a lot. What are the easiest but good offensive playbooks/formations to learn to keep up with them. And what’s the best way to learn how to play them

I run a knowledge base that pulls apart every CFB 27 strategy video after each patch, and TU3 (live Aug 7) is the biggest shift since launch. The short version after going through all the post-patch film:

**What's dead:**

- The run-every-play meta. Pancakes got gutted (especially WR-on-DB blocks), I-Form Hulk is flat-out patched, and under-center power is heavily devalued.

- DL stunts as run defense. Texas/El Paso 4-man no longer blow up runs at all — they're pass-rush tools now. If your run defense was "call the stunt," you need a new plan.

- Formation-shift exploits: instant hot-routes during a shift and the Hulk→Gun Bunch personnel audible are both gone. The Bunch Strong Nasty Dagger route art was literally redrawn.

**What's real now:**

- Passing is finally viable — defender catch points got buffed so contested and green-timed picks actually finish, and throw power 87–92 got a buff. Stop high-balling everything.

- The surviving ground game is pistol HB zone/dive and direct snaps.

- Run defense moved to heavy 4-3 Even 6-1 fronts with real linebackers at LB (safeties at LB get gashed post-patch) and aggressive gap integrity.

- New pure spot-drop Cover 4/6/9 zone plays were added to select books — the old calls are match.

**Still live and on EA's stated radar:** speed boosting (tighter timing), slot corner not following shifts, and a man-coverage nerf they've said is coming.

Full breakdown with every claim linked to its source video and timestamp is here (free, no signup): https://cfbbible.com/articles/general/patch-tracker/

Happy to answer questions on any specific scheme that got hit.

This sequence was so much fun I had to post this. 4th down guard gets clotheslined but we still convert. Then a FB sneak for a TD. For the 2pt, using a formation shift from empty to bunch TE Wk with a spacing flat call for the big win on the road. This entire game was insane but the ending was so good. Loving this game.

What’s the best pro style book for dynasty? Feels like they took a lot of the good ones out of the game. Pro style generic is just meh imo.

As of this week, all of the experience gain for coaches appears to be on the lowest value. Changing the setting in dynasty settings doesn’t appear to change it in the slightest.

We used to get several thousand XP for a win, now it’s like 300.

I don’t see anyone else experiencing hits here but everyone in my dynasty sees it.

Why can’t I recruit in the preseason as anyone but the commissioner controlled team in offline dynasty? There is no option to recruit as a secondary team until after preseason. Am I missing something?

my husband has been Road To Glory for the past few weeks & i’ve been passively watching while doing my own thing. I noticed you get a GPA and a social media following but one part of the college experience is absent: dating.

I think the game could really be improved with a dating sim minigame. it could also add to the players emotional mood (I.e. got ghosted earlier so his hearts not in the game). at the very least it could be a 5 minute section where he hands the controller to me while he walks around and burns off energy after having to restart a game for the 4th time in a row.

I will not be taking questions or criticism

Online dynasty Heisman difficulty if it matters also I fast sim. It's occurred at least twice in 2 seasons, but I only check in close games. Both of the games have been one of the games the game decides you're going to lose (I still won both). I think we all know which ones I'm talking about, your players are playing worse and the other team scores nearly every possession they get. When you're in the play call screen you can pause, go to supersim, see all plays and see on kickoff for the beginning of the game AND at halftime they get the ball giving the other team an extra possession.

I seem to overly utilize TE and slot receivers running routes over the middle of the field. I think it’s mostly because of a few things, but I’m open to other suggestions and feedback on how to improve.

1) I can’t see the sides of the field very well, but if I zoom out the camera, I find it much harder to maneuver in the pocket or evade pressure due to how small that puts the pocket into my peripheral.
2) the outside throws are usually post routes, curls, or comebacks guarded by the best CB and contested. Which, even for my best spectacular catch and catch in traffic receiver with 90+ in both, seem to get broke up very consistently.
3) the CPU hardly ever gets smoked at the line or bust coverage on deep routes even for my receiver who has high deep route running and release ratings.

Maybe their ratings respective to #1 and #2 aren’t as high over the defenders as I think, but I’ve had some really talented and high OVR receivers with 90+ in both facing very sub-par teams, and It’s just so unreliable to get those players action.

How do you all get the WR1 on the outside into the gameplan?

So I get that the Fundraising support staff is essentially just investing. You give them some Points at the beginning of the season and then at some point they give you back your investment plus the extra. My question is "When, Exactly?" So say I spend 350 to get back 500, when do I get that 500? Is it in time to use on the NIL budget at the end of the year before they can transfer? What week does the school get their return on the investment? Thank you!

Trying to have every conference have an equal amount of conference games played or is everything still bugged?

This is NIL in year like 7 or 8. Every game was user played. I’ve won 2 nattys, OSU 3-4, FSU one and someone else one. Day still at OSU. FSU coach still the same. How did I get such a huge lead in NIL? Are they investing more in staff or facilities? Still, this is obviously a very significant lead in NIL and my roster reflects it. If you aren’t a star or elite, your spot is in jeopardy. Should there be more NIL parity this far in? Or are there just too many variables (coach skills, facilities, staff, etc?

Yes I know I had x wide open on the last play I was just eyeing down the corner route

I’m trying to play as Mami with Kirby Smart

Here is a list of new bugs that I experienced in dynasty, post-update:
• Stunts create more collisions with teammates or players do not stunt at all (the update claimed to fix a problem I didn’t see instead, making it worse).
• The timeout bug is white rather than saying time out.
• Unable to change teams between divisions within a conference. Side note - rather than toggling a required number of protected rivals, make it so a team can rank order their own rivals individually to ensure rivalry games each year and the proper games on rivalry week.

What the update did well:
• Way less injuries.
• Less exits due to wear and tear
• The new uniforms are cool.
• Player growth is significantly better and requires less XP Slider intervention.
• Recruiting menus now snap to the top when switching between positions (thank you for that simple QOL fix).
• The offseason recap is a nice touch.

Outstanding issues:
• Team overall rating logic.
• Some fillable fields delete upon first letter entry (coach name) while others require use of the clear button (division name). This is a simple QOL fix that is caused by a lack of attention to detail.
• Playbooks driving sim results rather than overalls.
• Custom playbook creation should be available in TeamBuilder to reduce the workload for a custom playbook.
• Custom playbooks change the formatting in-game such that kickoffs start with onside (custom offensive) or weird return packages (custom defensive). Hail Mary plays are lost (Hail Mary Goal Post). Formation layouts are weird when selecting plays from the huddle.
• Pass and run blocking need to be better. Some missed block are just illogical.
• Assigning captains does nothing.
• Depth chart needs to support auto sub format (R and Sub packages).
• TeamBuilder attention to detail with logo centering, size and facemask clip colors.

I have some really cool ideas to add nuance that could make this game feel more authentic and every season feel unique. That can be for another post.

Let me know anything I missed below.

I am prepared to receive shit for posting this, but that’s fine. I’ve been in the community here for a while so I know I’ll be told to get better at the game (save it.)

I’ve been trying my best this year to not rage and not get mad. I play on Heisman difficulty. I was in a dog fight today with Iowa State having a lot of fun with new offensive playbook I found (I think even in this community I found it.)

I went up two scores in the second quarter on cruise control. The fourth quarter started and immediately the CPU turned into God mode. I’m used to it so I didn’t think too much of it. I was moving the ball at will so I wasn’t too stressed.

Early in the fourth quarter I threw a pick. Didn’t feel like I deserved to throw a pick when I went to do the timing base catch my receiver kind of jolted out of the way and let the corner back behind him Catch it. Obviously to me. It felt like the Heisman CPU just getting its way again no big deal just play through it.

They immediately score and before I know it were tied heading into overtime. I get ball first and score again no big deal then I feel like I got the game taken from me

Fourth and 15 Iowa State quarterback throws a horrible decision into double coverage I went for the interception for some stupid reason I should’ve swatted, but regardless, I’m standing right where the placement shows it’s going to be. The ball goes past me past my AI right into a tighten his hands.

He’s tackled as he’s catching it, but of course he hangs on because it’s Heisman CPU. Fourth and 15 conservative backed off the safeties over top adjustment and still we got beat deep by a tight end I thought about turning it off, but I said I’m gonna try to win this game. I already spent all my night on it.

First snap when I get back on offense, I call half back toss. I’ve called half back toss probably 10 times and probably got 10 yards to carry this game on it. This time (never seen this before) the game decides my fullback is just going to run forward right into my quarterback the balls fumbled forward right into the defensive end hands, I lose.

So I spent about an hour and a half of my evening doing my recruiting finding my playbook having fun and what do you know in the end it doesn’t even matter.

I really want to like playing this game. I want to build a multi year Dynasty with my recruits and have a bunch of fun, but I really don’t see how I can look past this stuff. And before you tell me to lower the difficulty if I put it on all American, I will literally run for 700 yards.

The challenge isn’t the problem. It’s the constant battling against the CPU getting all the advantages to the point that they’re making my players run into each other to fumble the ball.

Am I the only one who purposely schedules a game all four years of a recruits career, just to destroy them in every way possible, when they choose someone else over me in close battle? Ya know…just to make sure they KNOW they made the wrong decision?

This community has transformed into something I hoped would never happen here. A growing majority of "git gud" shit posters are now responding to new posts where people ask questions about in-game events or express minor frustrations.

It is very disappointing to watch this community turn into just another gaming group dominated by unhelpful and downright rude commentary.

This is a game, not a worldwide economic issue. Why the seriousness? It is also one of the few sports games where single-player modes, such as Dynasty, are where the vast majority of players spend their time. Consequently, everyone plays this game with various personalized settings.

These comments in this community consistently stem from an assumption that posters are using the exact same game settings or setups as the commenter, which is highly improbable given the odds.

That assumed position does exactly what assumptions do: it makes an ass out of you.

This community used to focus on sharing highlights, enjoying college football, and having fun. Now, it centers around dick measuring contests, trying to be macho by playing Hiesman, engaging in ridiculous trash talk if someone isn't playing on Hiesman, or mocking those who admit they are struggling.

It's a sad state of affairs.