Cjfred68 wrote:
We all are in the same boat.....its a drastic change on offense. I know they are trying to fast track 4.5 because everyone isnt happy with the direction 4.4 has taken.
My only advice to everyone is to run more and really limit long passing. On long passes with no checkdowns, QBs stand in the pocket, hold the ball until they get sacked....its ugly and completely kills drives.
Personally, Im trying to stay patient, doing the best I can and hoping 4.5 comes sooner rather then later. It should make this season pretty wide open and I wouldnt be surprized if we have plenty of new playoff teams.
My two cents on what I've seen so far in 0.4.4 worlds that I'm in...
If you have a solid running back, swing passes out of the backfield are killer. Like, REALLY killer.
QB pass accuracy matters. QB's with a higher scramble seem to be more inclined to do it on roll-outs than under 0.4.3 (or at least appear faster to make the decision to take off running...I've had some good QB rushing numbers in 0.4.4). QB's with sub-20 speeds on medium dropback passes and pretty much any QB on long passes have a name...usually that name is "tackling dummy."
WR's with high acceleration and moderate/high speed seem to do well on hook routes where they can immediately cut and start running up field again. They seem to make their post-catch break faster than the CB in coverage recognizes the catch has occurred to engage in the tackling process. I'm having a really hard time getting TE's involved in the passing game outside of the red zone, to the point where I am considering lowering my weighting on pass catch ratings and boosting run blocking in my player weighting calculations for the position.
In the custom roster-only league I'm in, completion percentages are off the charts (and I value this league because it shows how the engine will react with zero human influence...since humans can't gameplan or play call anything, it reveals the 'natural' tendencies of the engine). My QB is completing 74.3 percent of his passes...he's 28th out of 32 regular starters in the league in the category. A lot of that is because it seems really hard to throw incomplete short passes unless the QB is under pressure or a route takes the receiver close to the offensive/defensive line areas (like quick RB/FB hook routes)
I've bumped my play calling about 5-10 percent toward rushing from where I had them set under 0.4.3. Approaching the new engine from a ball control/field position mindset seems way better than trying to swim upstream and make a quick strike sort of offense.
