Anyway to keep my WLB on the field more often?

[VarlosZ]

Playing a single player game, I recently drafted an all-world OLB and installed him at WLB. He's progressing wonderfully (after two years he's at 82/91), but his totals seem quite low compared to his much more ordinary fellow LBs. Examining the stats, I found out why: while my SLB was on the field for 99% of my team's defensive snaps, my WLB was on the field for only 63%! This approximate ratio seems to hold for other teams, also. Apparently, when a LB is taken off the field, the WLB is automatically the first one to go. (He is follwed, in a 3-4, by the SILB [79% of plays]. The WILB also almost never comes of the field, as mine was in for 98% of plays.)

Well, this sucks. I don't want my best player sitting out more snaps than anyone else. Short of playing him at SLB (switching positions knocks him down 14 points, to 68/91) or never going into a nickel formation, is there some way to keep this guy on the field?

[Icy]

Reduce the % of Nickel and Dime defenses as the WLB is the first guy removed from the field to add the extra CB. I would also put him as 2nd SLB in the deep chart so he would get some playing time as backup there.

[cthomer5000]

Icy's advice is best for keeping him at WLB. If he's really that much better than the other backers though, I'd suggest you bite the bullet and move him to SLB or WILB (it sounds like you're playing a 3-4) to keep him on the field all the time.

[Passacaglia]

Personally, I would not switch his position, but just put him in the depth chart as SLB.

[cthomer5000]

Personally, I would not switch his position, but just put him in the depth chart as SLB.

If it's a long term move and he's not going to really take a hit, I make the permanent switch. And in this case, he's not going to take a real hit... all losses are only to his "current" and he'll regain it pretty quickly.

[VarlosZ]

Thanks all for the advice. One way or another he's going to start at SLB. Either I'll just move him over on the depth chart and switch his position in five or six years when I can do it without a penalty, or I'll switch it now and take the hit.

Unfortunately, this problem is actually twice as bad, since my SLB, drafted the same year as my WLB, is 53/77 and would also take about a 14 point hit by switching.

What's the accepted wisdom on how large the penalty is for playing a LB out of position? I know in the past I've gotten some great seasons from players who were out of position, so my first thought is that that's the way to go.

[cthomer5000]

Thanks all for the advice. One way or another he's going to start at SLB. Either I'll just move him over on the depth chart and switch his position in five or six years when I can do it without a penalty, or I'll switch it now and take the hit.

Unfortunately, this problem is actually twice as bad, since my SLB, drafted the same year as my WLB, is 53/77 and would also take about a 14 point hit by switching.

What's the accepted wisdom on how large the penalty is for playing a LB out of position? I know in the past I've gotten some great seasons from players who were out of position, so my first thought is that that's the way to go.

How does your WLB convert to WILB?

[VarlosZ]

Good idea, but that's actually worse -- 23 point hit, down to 58/91.

[VarlosZ]

I think this worked out well. I didn't switch the player's position, merely installed him at SLB. His stats for the year:

96 Tackles, 30 Assists, 14.5 Sacks (league-leading), 18 Hurries, and 1 INT.

The sacks are great, of course (the next highest total by a LB was 7), and his tackle total is also very good considering how often he blitzes. He's at 88/91, and led a defense with a lot of holes in it* yet allowed only 16.2 PPG, 2nd in the league.


* -- To keep things interesting, I'm forgoing free agents and trades in this game; the only way for me to acquire new players is to use the 7 draft picks I get each year, plus undrafted rookies. Since I'm only 4 seasons in, I still have several weak spots.

EDIT: Oh, and he won Defensive Player of the Year, too.

[Icy]

I always use my OLBs at Weak or Strong position depending on their ratings and not on their preffered position.

[MrBigglesworth]

You could start him at WLB, then put your SLB as the DE in pass situations and your WLB as the backup SLB.

He'd be on the field a lot more, but it's obviously only worth it if your SLB is a good pass rusher, and more worth it if your SLB is not so good at pass defense.

[Passacaglia]

14.5 sacks? Are you patched?

[VarlosZ]

14.5 sacks? Are you patched?

Yep, 5.1d. Why, is that total abberant in some way? The following year he had 15 sacks, again leading the league (tied for 8th all-time in the league's six-year history).

Anyway, since I'm playing a 3-4, I've got my blitz frequency set to 100 to simulate the pass rushing DE/LB 'tweener postion in that setup. And since this player is a phenomenal pass-rusher, he gets about 60% of my team's blitzes. It really shouldn't be that surprising that the best LB in the league can put up those numbers by blitzing a lot. Lawrence Taylor put up 20.5 sacks in 1986 playing basically the same role.

[VarlosZ]

You could start him at WLB, then put your SLB as the DE in pass situations and your WLB as the backup SLB.

He'd be on the field a lot more, but it's obviously only worth it if your SLB is a good pass rusher, and more worth it if your SLB is not so good at pass defense.

That's an interesting idea, and I do seem to have the ideal team for that setup. My SLB is almost as good as my WLB as a pass-rusher, but his man-to-man and zone skills are poor (38 and 41). Also, my RDE has a run defense of 88, but pass rush technique and strength numbers of 32 and 22, so he could stand to be taken out in passing situations.

Still, I don't think I'll do it this way, if only because I want my WLB on the field 99% of the time. However, I may well turn off injuries and run a couple of simulated seasons with that setup just to see what would happen. If I do, I'll post the results here.

[3ric]

Yep, 5.1d. Why, is that total abberant in some way? The following year he had 15 sacks, again leading the league (tied for 8th all-time in the league's six-year history).

The total is high for a LB - the patch fixed common occurrences of 25-30 sacks by OLB's. 14-15 should be close to the maximum possible for the position.