Headline says it all. Is it really smart to scout the opposing team plays and such as directed week in week out (scout offense scout defense)? Only been a neophyte at the game but my confidence my own gameplanning plus formations that add value with genius depth charting. Thinking other areas of awareness are better time spent headz!

Yes, it does benefit - the larger your familiarity with your opponent's play the better your players perform against it. Familiarity increases by actually being exposed to the play in games, but also increases by scouting.

If you load the recommended for scouting the AI will simply choose the top 5 plays that your opponent uses. You can use that kind of logic and maybe turn off some of the plays you are more familiar with in exchange for some plays you are less familiar with to keep it simple. I would say that you will want to at least load the recommended scout plays but beyond that it's probably less of an emphasis in strategy than the other areas.