Re: #2, that wasn't my intention (to always pass on 1st down, ex), but as I hadn't finished putting in the all the conditions it probably wasn't clear. The idea was to create a 1st quarter string of plays for certain areas of the field. Ie. Pass on 1st down between our own 20-40, etc. The idea being that we use this drive to 'hide' our regular tactics and trends. Maybe I'm overthinking this.

I'm not sure about allowing the sim to decide FG range. For one thing, I think the sim settles for FGs far too often, and then doesn't seem to trust the kicker on long range attempts enough in close games.

The other thing is that setting a FG range manually lets us drive other tactics based on field position a little better. (At least, it seemed that way to me, I could be wrong.)

JtS,

Just to give you a little more info on Joe Philadelphia's build, the thing I'm least satisfied with is that I haven't yet gotten his vision or confidence to the first soft cap (b/c I've been working to get throwing up to the 2nd soft cap). To solve this, I'm going to use the next 4 levels to try and get his vision to 48.3, then confidence to 48.3 (to try and solve the accuracy/interception problem). From their, I'll work strength and the tight spiral SA.

Matej,

I think the best way to solve the FG range issue, with respect to long FG's in close games, is to set those specific tactics in the 4th (and maybe 2nd) quarter-specific tactics. As for them settling for a FG when you don't want them to, I think setting the input as "in FG range" with the sim determined FG range, and then doing what you did with 4th and short in FG range (though I would probably define short as 3 yards). My real concern is that I don't think we are more capable than the sim in determining where GY's range actually extends to, and so letting the sim do it will be more accurate. For example, I don't think we've often gone for a FG when we should have punted.

JtS,

One thing on Munchington's QB build. I think it would be great if by level 16 you put 5 points into each of confidence and vision (and then rearranged his equipment to put it all on throwing). From there, I would guess that his effectiveness would be best helped by pushing vision to 48.3, then getting confidence there and then working on getting up strength, more throwing and his pocket passer SAs (particularly tight spiral and field general).

I admit, though, that while I think Joe has generally done pretty well, he has played like crap the last few games and I'm not entirely sure why (though I think it's mostly confidence and vision. . . many of the better QBs have vision and confidence at the soft cap before doing too much with the SAs).

One other thing is that training agility up to around 25 (and then speed up to about 20) is probably helpful in having our QBs play better under pass-rush pressure, and I wouldn't be surprised if agility also plays a small role in pass quality.

By the way, I'm having a hard time filling our opening holes at CB. I think turning my d-league HB into the dedicated returner will slightly help ameliorate this problem (as our CBs should maintain higher in-game energy if they don't have to return kicks), but if anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

On the range thing, I suspect we'd be better off leaving it to the sim, but on the other hand I I've missed more short field goals than long ones, so I suspect my range is (slightly) longer than the sim thinks.

The free agent market is very tough.

I guess just keep trying. We're not under any crunch yet, and in the off-season my have a new influx of agents on the market.

I forgot one of the main reasons that we'd want to leave GY's range to the sim: Bort is going to drastically change the effectiveness of kickers for next season. Agility/speed and, to a lesser extent, jumping will become somewhat more important, and many kickers should experience somewhat of a decline. This is a great argument for the situational tactics of going for it on 4th down occasionally, but I think also an argument for letting the sim figure out range.

As for the CBs, I've PM'd all D-league CBs that are lvl 13 or over and have a decent build. I've also sent a few PMs to lvl 20+ CBs that have contracts expiring today.

EDIT: I've just heard back from two of the better d-league CBs, who both said that they'd join us if one other team they are looking at doesn't need them (they should know by Wednesday).

What's our short pass %?

Gyuri wrote:

QUOTE:
By the way, I'm having a hard time filling our opening holes at CB.

I'm still waiting for a response to my reply about the account merger. I don't know if they don't check messages over the weekend, or if they did get it and are just ignoring me.

Inca,

I won't sign more than 1 CB for another couple of days. By then we should know Taco's possible status.

JtS,

Our short pass percentage is generally somewhere between 0% and 3%. The only reason to put any percentage there at all is to make sure the sim can throw a short pass near the opponent's end zone. Next season, once we can set our tactics to accomplish this, our short pass percentage will be zero.

It's looking increasingly likely that we won't have J Charlie to count on next season, so we should start thinking about other LB alignments.

I think the best scenario is to have Giganticus as the starting LOLB (may not need a backup there, but could throw Armstrong in to backup there, too), Bob Blomstrand as the starting MLB (with Knut as backup), and then keep the current ROLB alignment as is. J Charlie we could then have on each of our special teams, as having a lvl 17 inactive player there won't cause us any harm.

If we do this, then I think Knut will work well getting more snaps if he pumps his agility and strength up, and put all of his non-speed equipment on vision.

Anyway, just a thought, which we'll hopefully be rendered moot when J Charlie returns to the fold.

How do you think Steve D'Abril is doing? He seems to be topping the pancake charts most games.

On the short pass thing, the logic is that the QB will check down to the short pass, right? That's fine when our O-line holds up and the short receiver gets clear, but isn't it possible that some of our ints have come from times when the QB has been looking for long/med passes that weren't there, checked down to the short receiver and had to throw no matter how covered he was? I haven't done any serious analysis or even research on the subject, but I've had my doubts about the no short pass thing for a while. I mean, the whole point about short passes is to get the ball away quickly, before the blitz can hit. If we're only short passing late in the progression, we're losing a lot of their utility.

I take it there's no AI that allows the QB to dump the ball out of bounds like a real QB would...

I think the short pass was hampered this season by the fact that any receivers catching them were immediately tackled. The improvements to the running game may help this a bit.

But in general, the short pass options from the sim are pretty atrocious. (Can't tell you how many times I've seen the dump pass to the HB get smothered by a lineman.)

You don't necessarily need to make much ground after the catch, though. I mean, a short pass is likely to get more yardage than your average run, and it's quicker (useful against a strong d-line) and it mixes things up. Again, I'm coming at this with next-to-no knowledge of the sim's mechanics or how the offensive/defensive tactics work, but common sense dictates that a team which never does quick, short passes will be much easier to defend against than a team which mixes things up.