triplykely
08-20-2020, 02:36 PM
Background
Since I've started a new SP game/dynasty report and all of my testing has been focused on controlling and maximizing statistical output, I figured I'd open a new discussion on playbooks and game-planning to share what I know and maybe learn a thing or two.
Obvious caveat, I'm no expert and what I'm about to write could be wrong or off in some ways. While I did play an earlier version of FOF in the early 2000s I only recently rediscovered this, the best football sim ever. According to Steam I've spent over 1500 hours and a fair number of those have been running test simulations and I've yet to play MP. I typically don't keep detailed test records but have occasionally made notes. My general process is to draft a team, save it before training camp, and then make playbook changes and alternate saves. Due to some RNG in player progression, scout margin of error, etc., this doesn't lead to identical teams with each playbook iteration but it's close and you can always scrap it if a key player is drastically different. Then with each save I'll play with game-plans in an attempt to optimize stats in an effort to plan my game plans for SP games.
Assumptions
Given that FOF is a one man passion project of many years for Jim Gindin, and the recent discussion about the Quote of the Day, I'm inclined to believe 'Rex' plays a vital role in getting the most from your players. The amount of statistical analysis that's gone into FOF and the stat engine is beyond impressive and it seems straying too far from the mean is penalized. This doesn't mean you can't push things towards extremes, but generally speaking keeping this in mind leads to better efficiency on offense and consistency on defense.
Virtually every variable involved in FOF, if not every variable, is involved in stat generation. Taking advantage of chemistry, cohesion, coaching schemes, etc. all helps; but the playbook and game-plans are most important. Making sure to understand player ratings and scheme specific position requirements is critical to getting the most from your players.
Playbooks
Not to reinvent the wheel, but a lot of what I know I took and modified from this post from Corbes (https://forums.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=95454). With what's laid out in that thread, especially how to use the Play Creator and the wealth of real NFL stats on Sharp (https://www.sharpfootballstats.com/), anyone has a great foundation to build playbooks that increase expected wins. Keeping in mind the above assumptions regarding staying near the mean and Jim's statistical analysis, and with a goal of fluidity to game-planning in order to deal with injuries, utilizing the Guided Game-Plan Generator in conjunction with custom playbooks will yield the best results without being a burden to change on a game-plans weekly.
Given that the Generator uses down & distance ratios, broad pass distances, receiver targets normal/long, you need to craft a playbook that will best function with those inputs. Staying close to the mean on run/pass ratios, specific to down & distance, seems to lead to better stats. In fact letting Rex set the ratios seems to work well. If you have a QB with low INT bumping some distances up to long can help with TDs and YPA without costing you games to TOs. Since the target system is weighted you have to consider how many targets you'd want each player to get if everyone was set to 9. By doing this you ensure that as you tweak the weights you'll alter a players targets appropriately. You could make an even number of pass plays for each position but I find focusing on 2 WRs and a TE while having enough plays for everyone else to contribute is the best option. The game penalizes you for over targeting a player so utilizing everyone, even just a bit, helps. A quick note about team building, a receivers route running is the only individual rating displayed in the generator and is a strong factor in how Rex weights targets.
The point of this discussion is to maximize stats so its important to lay out your goals when creating a playbook. While I personally have been tweaking a universal playbook that works for any offense you can get nice results with Rex playbooks. For the sake of this, here's some basic thoughts I have on translating your offensive goals to creating a playbook.
Your game-plan will have somewhere around 55-65 plays give or take, so make sure you have enough plays of each type so you don't run into duplicate problems with the Generator when making game-plans. I've found 50 runs and 150 passes works well to play balanced or lean heavily either direction. In an alternate version of the playbook I use it only has 25 runs and they're all by the QB.
Theres a great section in the help file on the run game and how averages are determined. If you simply follow what Jim wrote you'll see a solid 4+ YPC average fairly easily, and if you get a little clever with formations and run direction you can push that even more. Misdirection runs are high risk/high reward and when used sparingly and coupled with a pass heavy offense can lead to big YPC averages with average RBs. Make sure to have a run play in every formation and look you have a pass play in to help avoid familiarity. Some formations are better for running and follow common sense (more TE/FB better for runs/play action).
The passing game gets a bit more complicated during playbook creation due to the number of receiving options and routes. Like regular runs and misdirection runs, there are varying degrees of variance to the routes. Slants are fairly easy completions with the right personnel but do pose increased INT risk as they go over the middle, yet they also have a nice YAC chance. Screen passes have fairly high variance but are relatively low risk and high percentage. Out routes are also low risk and high percentage but don't net the greatest YAC. Curls and Comebacks are nice routes to use to keep a nice YPA as are medium passes in general so long as you protect your QB.
Naturally as you go deeper in the route tree you, especially over the middle, you increase the likelihood of INTs. To help counter this I typically include an extra blocker for all medium pass plays (none for short and screen) and always for deep and long (sometimes two but rarely). There is a benefit to thinking about the available coverages when designing/editing plays. Using real NFL concepts like floods, mesh or pick plays, etc. will help with efficiency and the generator typically uses them; although you may wish to change the concept of a specific play.
Another note on route combinations, thinking about and including check down options is critical. Make sure a player or two are available underneath on plays designed to throw deep in addition to having an extra blocker. Doing this will help avoid sacks, increase completion percentage and therefore YPA. Generally speaking a good number of short passes and screens, with a few medium pass and couple long and deep passes, per receiver is crucial to maximizing YPA by both maintaining a high completion percentage and average pass distance.
Because there is a near endless list of things to consider, another is your formation use and balance within the playbook. Again assuming you will use the Generator to game-plan, it's important to keep real NFL tendencies in mind to avoid defensive familiarity. The 113 is the most common formation with the 122 a distant 2nd. All other formations are essentially gimmicks but you can use those gimmicks for big plays. Deep play action passes from running formations after establishing the run can lead to big plays and the reverse is true of runs from passing formations. You can make unique offenses that heavily focus on a less used formation but generally speaking its easier leaning on the 113 and 122.
In the Generator you have pass distance inputs for down & distance as well as targets so it's important to balance your overall pass plays with your offensive goal. I have the ratios of distances worked out before creating plays so that when set to normal I will have a strong YPA, but can push it with the right QB by going to long.
Game-Planning
Because the Generator uses weights for target pass distance and pass distance is also included in the run/pass ratios I generally game-plan with the target distance weights the same. Rex will typically have the long weight one or two below the normal weight which leads to a lower YPA as each receivers available plays becomes skewed to shorter passes. Sometimes this may be to your advantage as you may have two otherwise equally rated receivers with one better on deep passes.
As mentioned above, staying close to the mean for run/pass ratios specific to down & distance is important. 1st and Possession and 1st Earned can be different, and both seem to get a slight boost by favoring the pass a touch, but staying near 50% is ideal for both YPC and YPA. The more you tilt your overall play balance towards run or pass the more you will improve the other. Throwing the ball 65% of the time will yield a lower YPA and higher YPC than throwing the ball 55% of the time.
You don't need to have the highest number of plays for your OC, as long as you're over 60 and followed the playbook info won't run into familiarity issues or any/many duplicate issues. If you want you can tweak the game-plan generated by moving/changing plays to increase redzone passing for example, but generally I find by building the right playbook you can get great stats without doing this.
Quick note on all passing game-plans. If you make a playbook with 25 runs (minimum required) and 175 passes, you can set the Generator to 15/0, 5/0, and 10/0 for the relevant downs to get a nice start to the game-plan. You will have to manually swap a few situational runs to passes but this is the quickest way I've found to have a fluid all passing game-plan that takes into account injuries.
Most of my testing has been on offense as thats where the player has the most control of the micro. On defense I've been able to create specialized defenses but found better consistency with using Rex to generate a new game-plan and the blitz weights.
I haven't dove into tweaking the game-plan settings too much, but aside from Rex'ing the FG distance I've found changing 'Go to Clock Draining Offense when leading with' to 1 minute instead of 4 minutes maximizes scoring and improves consistency.
Players and Important Ratings
Because efficiency is the ultimate goal arguably the most important player rating is Route Running and Getting Downfield for WRs/TEs. Theres good discussions on ratings but if you focus on these 2 only, and don't pick high OVR players with low RR or GD, the Generator really works wonders in controlling stats.
OL should lean towards the blocking of your scheme. Get run blockers if you want to pound the rock. You don't need studs to put up good numbers but one or two really help, especially LT to limit sacks and C for the run game.
Make sure to read the help file for the defensive scheme you run and move your players to best fit that scheme. Staying on top of weight training and paying attention to prototypical players for each position will maximize what stats your players generate. Creating a synergy with your offense seems to be the best way to allow Rex'ing the defensive game-plan to work. If you have a pass heavy offense build a strong pass defense, pound the rock then stuff the run.
QB is the most important/least important player. It feels like you need a stud QB but really strong receivers is the most important to putting up good numbers and averaging over 8 YPA. In order to break 9 YPA consistently you do need a stud at QB, and generally the stud QBs avoid INTs better as well allowing you to change Generator inputs to long.
Final Thoughts
That's all a bit ramble-y but its what I've done/used to consistently average over 4 YPC and 8 YPA with years as high as 10+ YPA and 6/7 YPC. It be great if any of the veteran players have any thoughts or info to add to this. I tried to keep this somewhat organized and readable but know its a bit of a mess to read. Again, I'm no expert, but hopefully any of this helps you with enjoying FOF.
Since I've started a new SP game/dynasty report and all of my testing has been focused on controlling and maximizing statistical output, I figured I'd open a new discussion on playbooks and game-planning to share what I know and maybe learn a thing or two.
Obvious caveat, I'm no expert and what I'm about to write could be wrong or off in some ways. While I did play an earlier version of FOF in the early 2000s I only recently rediscovered this, the best football sim ever. According to Steam I've spent over 1500 hours and a fair number of those have been running test simulations and I've yet to play MP. I typically don't keep detailed test records but have occasionally made notes. My general process is to draft a team, save it before training camp, and then make playbook changes and alternate saves. Due to some RNG in player progression, scout margin of error, etc., this doesn't lead to identical teams with each playbook iteration but it's close and you can always scrap it if a key player is drastically different. Then with each save I'll play with game-plans in an attempt to optimize stats in an effort to plan my game plans for SP games.
Assumptions
Given that FOF is a one man passion project of many years for Jim Gindin, and the recent discussion about the Quote of the Day, I'm inclined to believe 'Rex' plays a vital role in getting the most from your players. The amount of statistical analysis that's gone into FOF and the stat engine is beyond impressive and it seems straying too far from the mean is penalized. This doesn't mean you can't push things towards extremes, but generally speaking keeping this in mind leads to better efficiency on offense and consistency on defense.
Virtually every variable involved in FOF, if not every variable, is involved in stat generation. Taking advantage of chemistry, cohesion, coaching schemes, etc. all helps; but the playbook and game-plans are most important. Making sure to understand player ratings and scheme specific position requirements is critical to getting the most from your players.
Playbooks
Not to reinvent the wheel, but a lot of what I know I took and modified from this post from Corbes (https://forums.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=95454). With what's laid out in that thread, especially how to use the Play Creator and the wealth of real NFL stats on Sharp (https://www.sharpfootballstats.com/), anyone has a great foundation to build playbooks that increase expected wins. Keeping in mind the above assumptions regarding staying near the mean and Jim's statistical analysis, and with a goal of fluidity to game-planning in order to deal with injuries, utilizing the Guided Game-Plan Generator in conjunction with custom playbooks will yield the best results without being a burden to change on a game-plans weekly.
Given that the Generator uses down & distance ratios, broad pass distances, receiver targets normal/long, you need to craft a playbook that will best function with those inputs. Staying close to the mean on run/pass ratios, specific to down & distance, seems to lead to better stats. In fact letting Rex set the ratios seems to work well. If you have a QB with low INT bumping some distances up to long can help with TDs and YPA without costing you games to TOs. Since the target system is weighted you have to consider how many targets you'd want each player to get if everyone was set to 9. By doing this you ensure that as you tweak the weights you'll alter a players targets appropriately. You could make an even number of pass plays for each position but I find focusing on 2 WRs and a TE while having enough plays for everyone else to contribute is the best option. The game penalizes you for over targeting a player so utilizing everyone, even just a bit, helps. A quick note about team building, a receivers route running is the only individual rating displayed in the generator and is a strong factor in how Rex weights targets.
The point of this discussion is to maximize stats so its important to lay out your goals when creating a playbook. While I personally have been tweaking a universal playbook that works for any offense you can get nice results with Rex playbooks. For the sake of this, here's some basic thoughts I have on translating your offensive goals to creating a playbook.
Your game-plan will have somewhere around 55-65 plays give or take, so make sure you have enough plays of each type so you don't run into duplicate problems with the Generator when making game-plans. I've found 50 runs and 150 passes works well to play balanced or lean heavily either direction. In an alternate version of the playbook I use it only has 25 runs and they're all by the QB.
Theres a great section in the help file on the run game and how averages are determined. If you simply follow what Jim wrote you'll see a solid 4+ YPC average fairly easily, and if you get a little clever with formations and run direction you can push that even more. Misdirection runs are high risk/high reward and when used sparingly and coupled with a pass heavy offense can lead to big YPC averages with average RBs. Make sure to have a run play in every formation and look you have a pass play in to help avoid familiarity. Some formations are better for running and follow common sense (more TE/FB better for runs/play action).
The passing game gets a bit more complicated during playbook creation due to the number of receiving options and routes. Like regular runs and misdirection runs, there are varying degrees of variance to the routes. Slants are fairly easy completions with the right personnel but do pose increased INT risk as they go over the middle, yet they also have a nice YAC chance. Screen passes have fairly high variance but are relatively low risk and high percentage. Out routes are also low risk and high percentage but don't net the greatest YAC. Curls and Comebacks are nice routes to use to keep a nice YPA as are medium passes in general so long as you protect your QB.
Naturally as you go deeper in the route tree you, especially over the middle, you increase the likelihood of INTs. To help counter this I typically include an extra blocker for all medium pass plays (none for short and screen) and always for deep and long (sometimes two but rarely). There is a benefit to thinking about the available coverages when designing/editing plays. Using real NFL concepts like floods, mesh or pick plays, etc. will help with efficiency and the generator typically uses them; although you may wish to change the concept of a specific play.
Another note on route combinations, thinking about and including check down options is critical. Make sure a player or two are available underneath on plays designed to throw deep in addition to having an extra blocker. Doing this will help avoid sacks, increase completion percentage and therefore YPA. Generally speaking a good number of short passes and screens, with a few medium pass and couple long and deep passes, per receiver is crucial to maximizing YPA by both maintaining a high completion percentage and average pass distance.
Because there is a near endless list of things to consider, another is your formation use and balance within the playbook. Again assuming you will use the Generator to game-plan, it's important to keep real NFL tendencies in mind to avoid defensive familiarity. The 113 is the most common formation with the 122 a distant 2nd. All other formations are essentially gimmicks but you can use those gimmicks for big plays. Deep play action passes from running formations after establishing the run can lead to big plays and the reverse is true of runs from passing formations. You can make unique offenses that heavily focus on a less used formation but generally speaking its easier leaning on the 113 and 122.
In the Generator you have pass distance inputs for down & distance as well as targets so it's important to balance your overall pass plays with your offensive goal. I have the ratios of distances worked out before creating plays so that when set to normal I will have a strong YPA, but can push it with the right QB by going to long.
Game-Planning
Because the Generator uses weights for target pass distance and pass distance is also included in the run/pass ratios I generally game-plan with the target distance weights the same. Rex will typically have the long weight one or two below the normal weight which leads to a lower YPA as each receivers available plays becomes skewed to shorter passes. Sometimes this may be to your advantage as you may have two otherwise equally rated receivers with one better on deep passes.
As mentioned above, staying close to the mean for run/pass ratios specific to down & distance is important. 1st and Possession and 1st Earned can be different, and both seem to get a slight boost by favoring the pass a touch, but staying near 50% is ideal for both YPC and YPA. The more you tilt your overall play balance towards run or pass the more you will improve the other. Throwing the ball 65% of the time will yield a lower YPA and higher YPC than throwing the ball 55% of the time.
You don't need to have the highest number of plays for your OC, as long as you're over 60 and followed the playbook info won't run into familiarity issues or any/many duplicate issues. If you want you can tweak the game-plan generated by moving/changing plays to increase redzone passing for example, but generally I find by building the right playbook you can get great stats without doing this.
Quick note on all passing game-plans. If you make a playbook with 25 runs (minimum required) and 175 passes, you can set the Generator to 15/0, 5/0, and 10/0 for the relevant downs to get a nice start to the game-plan. You will have to manually swap a few situational runs to passes but this is the quickest way I've found to have a fluid all passing game-plan that takes into account injuries.
Most of my testing has been on offense as thats where the player has the most control of the micro. On defense I've been able to create specialized defenses but found better consistency with using Rex to generate a new game-plan and the blitz weights.
I haven't dove into tweaking the game-plan settings too much, but aside from Rex'ing the FG distance I've found changing 'Go to Clock Draining Offense when leading with' to 1 minute instead of 4 minutes maximizes scoring and improves consistency.
Players and Important Ratings
Because efficiency is the ultimate goal arguably the most important player rating is Route Running and Getting Downfield for WRs/TEs. Theres good discussions on ratings but if you focus on these 2 only, and don't pick high OVR players with low RR or GD, the Generator really works wonders in controlling stats.
OL should lean towards the blocking of your scheme. Get run blockers if you want to pound the rock. You don't need studs to put up good numbers but one or two really help, especially LT to limit sacks and C for the run game.
Make sure to read the help file for the defensive scheme you run and move your players to best fit that scheme. Staying on top of weight training and paying attention to prototypical players for each position will maximize what stats your players generate. Creating a synergy with your offense seems to be the best way to allow Rex'ing the defensive game-plan to work. If you have a pass heavy offense build a strong pass defense, pound the rock then stuff the run.
QB is the most important/least important player. It feels like you need a stud QB but really strong receivers is the most important to putting up good numbers and averaging over 8 YPA. In order to break 9 YPA consistently you do need a stud at QB, and generally the stud QBs avoid INTs better as well allowing you to change Generator inputs to long.
Final Thoughts
That's all a bit ramble-y but its what I've done/used to consistently average over 4 YPC and 8 YPA with years as high as 10+ YPA and 6/7 YPC. It be great if any of the veteran players have any thoughts or info to add to this. I tried to keep this somewhat organized and readable but know its a bit of a mess to read. Again, I'm no expert, but hopefully any of this helps you with enjoying FOF.