The bottom line is owners want other owners not to exploit the game but how many owners have their best WR at WR1 or their best CB at CB1?
If we are talking realism then shouldn't that be the case?
But WR1 is the least targeted WR in MFN so using your best WR as WR1 is a waste of talent so isn't that exploiting the game?
How many owners use long passing?
Long passing is completely broken but never using long passing is an exploit too, right?
You can't blame owners for using all WRs and all CBs because it works!!!!
If you want to blame owners for exploiting the code then you should be calling long pass plays, using zone coverage in the secondary, putting your best WR & CB at WR1 & CB1 or you are just as guilty of exploiting the game!!!!
It's my contention that owners shouldn't be held to some moral code of realism when the game itself lacks that same design.
If you chose to play the game "straight" then that's your choice but when we have 2-3 years between version changes then owners will find the best way to gain yards on offense and stop opponents on defense.
It's easy to point the finger at other owners who "game the system" but if you win in MFN then you are gaming the system to some extent and it's all a matter of degree.
Only a few plays consistently work on offense and the primary targets are RB1, TE1 and WR3 for most of them with WR2 , FB1 and WR2 the next tier of primary targets.
Just like on defense, you need the FS to be the best cover corner to defend the TE and the MLB to be fast with a 100 M2M to cover the RB.
We all need to stop blaming owners for the problem because we are just adapting to the code.
The code needs to be fixed and the exploits will go away but I refuse to create artifical mandates that will be abused eventually and their simply aren't enough paying owners to replace owners that break those mandates.
In the XFL, there is zero drama because there are no rules so anything goes and it puts the pressure on every owner to adapt and figure out how to defend against the top teams.
Everyone would love the game to be more realistic but that is all on JDB to fix...not the owners or admins.