JDB -- Are you going to respond to this thread?
I think the discussion here highlights a major flaw with this game, especially with the passing game.
1) ST doesn't appear to work as explained in the Attributes page because physical weight does not appear to be applied.
2) Since ST doesn't appear to work as expected, pass and run blocking techniques are probably not working as expected either since both are dependent on ST.
3) As you have discussed yourself, SP is used as a tie breaker for OL vs DE play when pass block and pass rush equal out. But since pass block does not appear to be working as expected because of 1 and 2, then SP appears to be the only factor that matters at least in OT vs DE situations.
4) As we have complained about loudly on the boards for months, OL have not been being generated with SP until recently. The excuse given that OL should be able to compensate because of blocking attributes. But because of 1 and 2, blocking attributes don't really seem to matter. Even in cases where the attribute is really low, because of 1, 2, and 3 it's difficult to know whether an OL bad blocking stats are caused by blocking attributes or a lack of SP and ST.
The combination of 1-4 has definitely created a situation where QBs are often under pressure. In fact, you should run an automatic script to determine the percentage of pass plays where a QB comes under pressure. I would assume that this number it >60% and probably >75%. Since being under pressure affects a QB's accuracy, QB's often have a negative modifier applied to their accuracy on top of all the other negative modifiers that are applied for distance the ball has to travel and fatigue. All this means that bad OL play is directly contributing to bad QB play, but the solution to it appears to be convert a bunch of TEs and FBs to play OL, which the majority of posters on this thread have found ridiculous.
This has led to at least two important questions.
1) Does OL blocking actually work? In that is physical weight actually applied to ST and blocking attributes correctly?
2) What is being done to address the exploit of switching players into positions where physical weight should matter, but doesn't? For instance, DBs to DEs.
After considering the thread again, I think the best test for OL would be to run a conversion and set the SP for all OL to 100. Even if you just did this in an automatic test league, I think it would give you better data to see how OL blocking is actually affecting the game because it would nullify all the advantages DL have over OL right now.
Last edited at 10/18/2016 5:32 am