A bunch of random FOF questions

[Clockwork Orange]

In no particular order...I'm hoping an experienced guy can take a crack at one or any of these he likes. I have read most of the threads on here and I know some of this has been discussed - I'm not looking for proof, really, just an up to date conventional wisdom?

1. Can you evaluate the performance of individual members of my offensive line through Blocking Percentage? Is the number of block "attempts" independent of ability so all a lineman controls is the number of successful key blocks? Can you also evaluate a defensive line based on the opposing block percentage? (for runs obviously)
2. I used a 3-4 once and it was very weird - I expected the LBs (especially the OLBs) to get sacks and pressures, but it was still the DEs. I know FOFC isn't the NFL and things don't always translate, but I wanted to ask is this me or is this the game? Does anyone experienced use a 3-4 and if so how?
3. What is the importance of "blocking strength" relative to run blocking and pass blocking? Does it impact anything more than pancakes?
4. How do you evaluate your LB's performance? By default I look at Pass Defense % and Tackle %. I like a PD% of at least 75% ideally close to 80% and a tackle % of 11% or above. But I'm worried I'm doing this wrong.
5. Would you ever draft a Very Overrated player in the first round?

Thanks for your help!

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by Clockwork Orange

In no particular order...I'm hoping an experienced guy can take a crack at one or any of these he likes. I have read most of the threads on here and I know some of this has been discussed - I'm not looking for proof, really, just an up to date conventional wisdom?

1. Can you evaluate the performance of individual members of my offensive line through Blocking Percentage? Somewhat, but not fully. Use the Football Outsiders info to help tell you if your success or troubles are more related to your o-line or your RBs. Is the number of block "attempts" independent of ability so all a lineman controls is the number of successful key blocks? Yes and no. It seems that better linemen get a mildly disproportionate number of KRBOs, but the greatest influence on KRBO is run direction. Can you also evaluate a defensive line based on the opposing block percentage? (for runs obviously) I'd say that's even more difficult. If you're leading a lot, you may give up relatively high yards per carry because you're in a lot of pass defenses.
2. I used a 3-4 once and it was very weird - I expected the LBs (especially the OLBs) to get sacks and pressures, but it was still the DEs. I know FOFC isn't the NFL and things don't always translate, but I wanted to ask is this me or is this the game? It's you, especially in 6.3. It's been long known that the WLB in the 3-4 gets sacks like a DE, and maybe a little more than his share. But in 6.3, blitzing LBs routinely get 6-12 sacks. Does anyone experienced use a 3-4 and if so how? Yes, I use it pretty much exclusively. I blitz the LBs who are good pass rushers, and don't blitz the others. That's pretty much it.
3. What is the importance of "blocking strength" relative to run blocking and pass blocking? Does it impact anything more than pancakes? I'm not sure on this one. I just go for big red bars.
4. How do you evaluate your LB's performance? By default I look at Pass Defense % and Tackle %. I like a PD% of at least 75% ideally close to 80% and a tackle % of 11% or above. But I'm worried I'm doing this wrong. Evaluating defensive players by stats in FOF can be extremely misleading (as it can be in real life, too). Most notably, a solid (not great) LB on a bad team will rake in the tackles. But put a team out there with three or four good LBs and a solid DL, and no one puts up particularly good tackle numbers. For example, look at my defense from the WOOF last season: WOOF: Lowcountry Gators 2021. Note on the stats at the top that we allowed the fewest points and yards in the league, but only two players had even 60 tackles, and none had more than 78. (11% sounds low, by the way.) I rate my defensive players' performance more on how we did overall than by individuals' stats.
   
5. Would you ever draft a Very Overrated player in the first round? Yes. Sometimes scouts can be just dead wrong--even really good ones.

Thanks for your help!

Answers above in red.

[Sef0r]

This is actually really good, I've learnt some more things. Thanks for asking the questions CO and obviously thanks to Ben for the answers.

[QuikSand]

From above:

Q: Can you also evaluate a defensive line based on the opposing block percentage? (for runs obviously)

A: I'd say that's even more difficult. If you're leading a lot, you may give up relatively high yards per carry because you're in a lot of pass defenses.

- - - - -

Not to get too technical, but (to Ben) remember that KRB% is a function of "success" rather than yards per carry, which ought to mitigate your concern about things being situational a fair bit. Not that it's a perfect measurement, but personally I think that the (fairly tough to locate) opponent's KRB% is actually a pretty solid measure of a run defense's effectiveness, specifically because it *is* context-dependent, and normalizes far better than total rushing yards allowed, or ypc allowed, neither of which take any account for situation.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Not to get too technical, but (to Ben) remember that KRB% is a function of "success" rather than yards per carry, which ought to mitigate your concern about things being situational a fair bit. Not that it's a perfect measurement, but personally I think that the (fairly tough to locate) opponent's KRB% is actually a pretty solid measure of a run defense's effectiveness, specifically because it *is* context-dependent, and normalizes far better than total rushing yards allowed, or ypc allowed, neither of which take any account for situation.

Well, I think that partially depends on how often and how far ahead you get, combined with how you game plan defensively. If I'm up by a certain amount at a certain point in the game, you're seeing basically nothing but dime/pass aggressive. And once you get up by a certain amount (maybe 4 TDs..not sure exactly), FOF has "give up" code. The opponents start running a ton against all those dime/pass aggressive defenses and logging enough carries with something like 60 to 80 KRB% to really bring down that average. Now, it may be that in 6.3 there aren't as many blowouts and this won't happen as much, but I know I've had at least one Bowl team that had a horrid opposing lineman KRB% (as in maybe 2nd worst in the league) and we didn't have a particularly bad running defense when the game was close.

[tonnyrat]

Great thread. As a player who has only started playing FoF within the last 4-5 months, all of this info is much appreciated!

[Clockwork Orange]

Thank you. I really appreciate the help with these questions!

I have a couple more if anyone is interested in another round.

* How do you evaluate the performance of individual members of your O-line? I learned from an earlier answer that KRB% is one tool, and the Football Outsiders stats should help separate the impact of the line from the RBs, but if I (say) have a line of 4 studs and one slacker, or the opposite, will I find this from KRB%? Any other ways? (other than looking for bars, of course)

* How do you evaluate your secondary? Pass Defense %? I set a benchmark of around 80% for that -- any comments? Better ways to measure individual members of your secondary? I suppose opponent pass stats, but that's a group measure not an individual one.

* If we take opponent KRB% as a decent measure of DL and LB performance, that's still a group measure. And there any statistical tools that might help if I'm looking at my (say) 15th ranked run defense and trying to figure out if I have a team of average run defenders or if I have 6 studs and 5 stiffs? (other than bars). Because the diagnosis would be the same in either case but the remedy would be very different.

* For pass defense, I'm assuming that Pash Rush % is a reasonable individual metric? What do you expect? I've been expecting (in a 4-3) 10% or so from the ends and 5% or so inside.

* How do you tell if your linebackers are any good or are a good fit with your defense? Bars only talk about talent, not fit or performance.

* Opponent pass defense % - you want that to be as low as possible right? (Team Summary Screen). And opponent pass rush %?

* Does "punishing hitter" affect anything? If so, for what positions?

* All other things being equal, so you want a left guard with 40 run blocking and 80 blocking strength, 80 blocking strength and 40 run blocking, or 60 for each? Would this change for a different line position (assuming other bars are equal). Ditto for the D-line, run def vs strength.

[Stokes36]

I have a question...

I just got an iphone. What sort of FOF-Related apps are there??

I believe I once heard that there was an app that allowed you to access the conscriptor for the drafts through your phone. Is this true?

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Stokes36

I have a question...

I just got an iphone. What sort of FOF-Related apps are there??

I believe I once heard that there was an app that allowed you to access the conscriptor for the drafts through your phone. Is this true?

None yet. My utilities are unlikely to ever be available on iPhone, since that would require purchasing a Mac, and that ain't happening. As for Conscriptor, it mostly just works on the phone browsers, the only complaint seems to be drag-and-drop does not work.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Clockwork Orange

Thank you. I really appreciate the help with these questions!

You'll get varied answers to your questions depending on the GM and their style. On "punishing hitter" or really any other stat, there is a csv.txt file that gives a really good description of each and every attribute for your player.

On evaluating players, it can be very difficult because of how the engine works and how teammates influence things, but over at WOOF Ben and I (mostly Ben) have a pretty good set of weights that turn stats into a rating for each player that does a "reasonable" job of evaluating performance (and I think most leagues using Ben's web stuff have access although I may be wrong), although again different GMs put different weights on different skills/stats depending on their gameplan.

[Clockwork Orange]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

You'll get varied answers to your questions depending on the GM and their style. On "punishing hitter" or really any other stat, there is a csv.txt file that gives a really good description of each and every attribute for your player.

On evaluating players, it can be very difficult because of how the engine works and how teammates influence things, but over at WOOF Ben and I (mostly Ben) have a pretty good set of weights that turn stats into a rating for each player that does a "reasonable" job of evaluating performance (and I think most leagues using Ben's web stuff have access although I may be wrong), although again different GMs put different weights on different skills/stats depending on their gameplan.

Thanks so much for your reply!

Yes, I read the csv.txt file. But I also dimly remember reading a test on these forums that supposedly established that that the rating didn't seem to do anything obviously discernable in actuality. I was curious if that was the consensus among experienced hands.

I'll look into the WOOF thing. Thanks!

And yes, I hope I get different answers to some of these questions -- that would probably be of service to the whole community if different educated interpretations were there for people to read over.

Thanks again for your time in replying, it's much appreciated.