LogFAQs > #924376595

I want to talk about this before I forget, but it appears that people are still confused on how player development works. I probably didn't explain it properly and people got the wrong idea. It is overwhelmingly determined by playing time and individual performance and impact. Your unit doing well and playoff performance can give it a little boost, but it seems people are overstating how much it is. The two Super Bowl participants from last season actually had more people regress than progress during the entire playoffs (In the Super Bowl alone, the Dolphins saw one player improve and six deteriorate).

The Wildcats are a prime example on the reality of player development. They have been a losing team for five straight seasons with an overall record of 24-55-1 during that span. Their defense has been below average to poor every season. Yet, they have been developing players nicely across the board (DL, LB, and DB). Because their defenders haven't collectively made the impact to produce an average or better defense, the rise to reaching an elite overall rating is not as fast as it could be, but they are seeing a lot of development even in the face of losing and sucking (sorry to bring that up prof lol) because that is how player development works.

Using the opposite end of the spectrum, let's use a team that has done very well over the past several seasons in the Dolphins. Shattered pointed out their OL that entered RFA, but it didn't tell the whole story. All of those OL had a great amount of playing time as my OL usually faces plenty of injuries each year. With the exception of Jonathan Fletcher (and I want to emphasize that he is an exception to the rule), all also had great block:sacks allowed ratios in their playing time, and the offense as a whole was just as great. This past season, they only suffered injuries at the C position. What was the result? Those that were on the C depth chart played quite a bit, performed great, and developed. My backups at the G and OT positions hardly saw the field and didn't develop (maybe a couple saw a 1 point rise due to youth) despite having an obscene offensive season.

Their defense has been elite or great for most of the careers of former 1st round picks CB Kareem Jackson and OLB DeAndre Levy. Jackson almost never saw the field, so despite the Dolphins owning an elite pass D, his rating only went up I believe 1 point in his four years in Miami. Levy saw a little more action and might have started a few games due to injuries, and he only went up 2 points at most from where he started as a rookie.
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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
https://imgur.com/VfpY7tg