Just wondering what player attributes are best to look for when deciding who to take for your team. Be it in the draft, free agency or even on the depth chart. And this goes for all positions. I know it is all personal choice but there has to be some kind of common ground to get the best overall player for that position. Any help is appreciated

There is no single good answer for this because it depends on multiple factors.
What schemes do you like to run?
What position are you asking about?
What plays are your coaches most familiar with?
What plays are your players most familiar with?
Do you mostly run or mostly pass or is your offense balanced?
Do you mostly play the run or mostly play the pass or is your defense balanced?
Do you plan to put a specific player at a specific spot in the depth chart or make a rule to use them exclusively for certain formations?

Here we go, let me help with this.

And by 'help' I mean ask the questions.

So let's start with Balanced, as most of us don't tend to be 80% towards one extreme but more balanced (i.e. most of us are more 50/50 Run-Pass than 80/20).

So let's talk OL.

Weight me (and I know this will change Owner to Owner) what a Balanced OL looks like. Where is your 'cut off'?

For instance, for a Run Blocker I want 90+ STR and 95+ Run Blocking... because all I'd ever do is Run so they need to be high and I can toss out Pass Blocking completely. But if I want Balanced, I can't aim so highly on STR and RB, because not many Great Pass Blockers will have High STR and RB on them. So I have to compromise.

Is it 80 STR, 80 RB, 80 PB? Is 80 the 'magic number'? And how much does Speed/Acceleration play into this? Discipline?

So let's have this conversation, and let's start it with 'Balanced Offensive Lineman'.

There isn't actually much personal choice since we're playing a game and the attributes get plugged into algorithms to determine outcomes. When you look at it from that perspective, there are only right answers. Here are some of the things I've found so far.

Top Attributes (in order)

QBs -- Intelligence, Scramble, Arm, Accuracy, Lookoff, Release
Analysis: Intelligence helps the QB learn plays, which is essential. Scramble affects accuracy on the move. You can expect your QB to be on the move 70-80% of the time regardless of how good your OL is until changes are made to the passing game.

RBs -- Speed, Carry, Avoid Fumble, Break Tackle
Analysis: That's it. The big four. Some will say Acceleration has to be on the list, but I think it's secondary to those four. If you throw at all to your RBs, then you need to have some catch. But if you're in a pinch, those are the four you need.

WRs -- Courage, Catching, Route, Speed
Analysis: Expect your WRs to be catching passes in traffic, a lot. If you don't want them to always be in traffic emphasize Route over Courage. Otherwise, those are the four you need, and you really don't need much Speed.

TEs -- Will they catch or only block? If they are going to run routes, then you need Courage, Catching, Strength, Run Blocking, Acceleration and Speed. If they are only going to block, Strength, Acceleration and Run Block will suffice. Why Acceleration here and not WRs? Because of how DL blocking engagement works.

OL -- Strength, Acceleration, Pass Blocking, Run Blocking
Analysis: Strength is necessary. At least 70, preferably at least 90. Acceleration is very useful in coming out of a stance and engaging a DL before the DL can react. Pass Blocking is more important than Run Blocking because in Pass Blocking the OL is not driving forward so they have to sustain the block. Run Blocking is less important because Strength determines how the OL drives forward.

DE -- Speed, Tackle, Acceleration, Pass Rush
Analysis: DEs currently dominate the passing game. Even bad ones with enough Speed disrupt QBs because of how the under pressure code works.

DT -- Strength, Acceleration, Tackle, Run Defense
Analysis: Let these guys eat space.

LB -- Speed, Tackle, Run Defense, Strength/Punish
Analysis: I don't care if my LBs are that strong if they can run, tackle, and shed a block. Punish is useful because LBs are glitchy in that they can knock down passes despite being 30 or 40 yards out of the play.

CB/SS/FS -- Punish, Speed, Tackle, M2M/Zone
Analysis: I play mostly single high, M2M which means my DBs need to all Punish a WR and the CBs and SS need to have some decent M2M. Whether you play zone or M2M though, you absolutely need high Punish to counter WRs Courage skills.

If you want an idea of how good your players are in their core attributes, set the ones listed above to 100 (or stagger them according to your taste) and set the rest of the attributes to 1.

Until penalties are roped in to acceptable levels, one must also consider Discipline... for both OL and DL,
Also (and I am not sure if jdb has it coded in here or not, he may), intelligence for the C as he is the "QB of the OL" and calls out assignments.

jdb, can you confirm whether the intelligence of the C has any effect on the OL's performance?

Good point on Discipline.

Also, Intelligence helps all players learn plays.

nvm, already posted