Position Question

[Shucker]

Guys that have a certain side designation (e.g. RG vs. LG), what is the ramification of playing them on the opposite side? Is there a similar degradation in their skills as would be expected if a T were to fill a G spot in a pinch? If so, would it be less since that is already their position so to speak? Or can I feel free to ignore the side designation and playthem where ever they fit my plans best?

Interested to hear your opinions.

[yabanci]

The best way to know how your player might do temporarily at a different position is to propose to move the player to that position. You will be told whether the player takes a rating hit, an experience hit, or both from the change. Then cancel so you don't actually move the player permanently.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

What is an experience hit?

I also am not sure about any of this. Does it really pay to ever switch a player (especially O-line or side designation at any position) rather than just play them out of position. I have never really understood how this works. I almost always just play them out of position.

[Dutch]

I think I remember seeing a player who actually improved by switching positions...but I guess *remember* is the operative word there.

[QuikSand]

I don't think there is any empirical evidence that the estimated alteration from a proposed permanent position switch has any connection to the player's performance if simply used in that role

I generally think that players tend to do pretty well when playing out of position - if there are performance penalties, they aren't very significant (in many cases, at least).

The ability of a player to switch effectively to a new position is guided by his weight. If his weight is in the ideal range for the new position, he will see his potential ratings (greens) either stay about the same (in each area) or sometimes even increase. If the player has gained some current ratings already, the position switch may cause him to lose some or all of his current ratings - which seems to be mostly based on the "gap" between the current and intended positions.

[OldGiants]

I had an interesting experience switching positions on two draft picks before I signed them. Thus I was looking at blue bars. Both were inside LBs that had excellent pass coverage and/or pass rushing skills I needed OLBs, not ILBs and there were no decent OLBs left but plenty of ILBs. So I spent a second and third pick on these two kids.

As a test, I switched them to OLB before signing and training. To my delight, all the blue bars nudged to the right a touch. I did a save/reload a few times and this always happened, so it was not a fluke. They are now 35/67 and 41/64 and ready for the big time.

[Shucker]

Just to clarify my question, I was specifically referring to playing guys out of position. For instance, if a guy is a RG, could I play him at LG without experiencing a performance degradation? Essentially this happens with backup linemen anyway since there isn't room to carry at least 2 guys at each position.

Then there is the issue of LT generally being the better pass blocker to cover the QBs blindside. Each position has its own qualities, I understand.

My main question is that during the draft I played it position by poistion straight up. Now I have some decent RTs but my LTs are pretty poor. I would like to consider using one of my RTs in the LT role but don't know what sort of effect it have on performance.

Thanks for the info though, yabanci. I haven't tried or considered changing a guys primary position. Helpful to know that it would let you know what effect that would have. I will at least give that a look as a remedy to the situation as well.

Thanks for the comments everyone.