The biggest consideration I would make when looking at max HBs is fumbles. You would think that having all 99 stats would drastically reduce fumbles but it does not. There seems to be some unseen stats programmed into players that makes them more or less prone to fumble. Emmitt is the perfect example. He fumbled a lot as a 92 and 94 (those are the only levels I played him at before max) and he still fumbles a lot as a max. League mates report the same thing. I had Jim Brown from 94-98 and he fumbled less than Emmitt, but more than I was ok with. Barkley was great with holding on to the ball, and he's an elusive back vs Brown and Emmitt as power backs, so maybe fumbling is a characteristic of a power back? Who knows.
Also something I've noticed in comparing 100 Barkley to Max Emmitt is that even with Emmitt's all 99 stats, Barkley still breaks tackles better and falls forward for more yards. I have video of Barkley dragging a defender into the end zone, holding on to his foot and hopping his way in, just like that famous clip of Gronk. Emmitt never does anything like that.
I guess my advice would be to play a little bit with whoever you are thinking about maxing, and make sure you like their gameplay as a 100. Yeah, they'll get faster and more agile as a max, but those behind the scenes things are going to stay the same.
The biggest consideration I would make when looking at max HBs is fumbles. You would think that having all 99 stats would drastically reduce fumbles but it does not. There seems to be some unseen stats programmed into players that makes them more or less prone to fumble. Emmitt is the perfect example. He fumbled a lot as a 92 and 94 (those are the only levels I played him at before max) and he still fumbles a lot as a max. League mates report the same thing. I had Jim Brown from 94-98 and he fumbled less than Emmitt, but more than I was ok with. Barkley was great with holding on to the ball, and he's an elusive back vs Brown and Emmitt as power backs, so maybe fumbling is a characteristic of a power back? Who knows.
Also something I've noticed in comparing 100 Barkley to Max Emmitt is that even with Emmitt's all 99 stats, Barkley still breaks tackles better and falls forward for more yards. I have video of Barkley dragging a defender into the end zone, holding on to his foot and hopping his way in, just like that famous clip of Gronk. Emmitt never does anything like that.
I guess my advice would be to play a little bit with whoever you are thinking about maxing, and make sure you like their gameplay as a 100. Yeah, they'll get faster and more agile as a max, but those behind the scenes things are going to stay the same.