"Weak" side linebacker

[perez24]

Before the 2044 season started for me, I moved my relatively unproductive SLB (approximately 60 tackles/year) over to WLB and drafted a couple of SLB's.

Anyhow, WLB apparently agrees with this guy because he responded as follows:

74 tackles
22 assists
3 ints
22 hurries
16 QBKDs

AND

20, count 'em 20, sacks.

Obviously I blitz a lot and I believe he was in the nickel and dime packages.

Still, I'm pretty shocked.

[JetsIn06]

What do his bars look like?

Are you running a 34 or 43?

[Subby]

Before the 2044 season started for me, I moved my relatively unproductive SLB (approximately 60 tackles/year) over to WLB and drafted a couple of SLB's.

Anyhow, WLB apparently agrees with this guy because he responded as follows:

74 tackles
22 assists
3 ints
22 hurries
16 QBKDs

AND

20, count 'em 20, sacks.

Obviously I blitz a lot and I believe he was in the nickel and dime packages.

Still, I'm pretty shocked.

This seems to be an emerging trend since the last patch fixed a bug that was incorrectly assigning WLB stats to the nickel CB...

[QuikSand]

Are you running a 34 or 43?

I'd be shocked if this weren't a 3-4 defense.

[JetsIn06]

I'd be shocked if this weren't a 3-4 defense.

Agreed

[JMO]

yea i run a 34 in one of my MPs and my WLB is getting involved in the pass rush way more.

[Ben E Lou]

Too much more, in all likelihood.

[perez24]

I'm running a 3-4 and his bars are in the 40s.

I would point out that his exploits lead to a 8-8 season and elimination from playoff consideration in the last game of the season.

[JMO]

I'm running a 3-4 and his bars are in the 40s.

I would point out that his exploits lead to a 8-8 season and elimination from playoff consideration in the last game of the season.

What are his pass rush and pass rush technique bars at?

[perez24]

He's 47/47 overall. Pass Rush Technique is 64. Pass Rush Strength is 50. Season's over so I don't know the blitz settings. The Defensive Coordinator is scouting and not answering his cell phone.

[stevew]

How do your cornerbacks look?

Has there ever been any kind of consensus on whether shut down type corners lead to a lot more sacks?

[perez24]

LCB: 53 rating, 6 INTs
RCB: 61 rating, 1 INT

SS: 58 rating, 4 INTS, 97 solo tackles, 35 assists
FS: Committee with no one higher than a 42 rating. 1 int, 50 tackles.

Reserves were typically in the 30s with mentors for CB and Safety positions.

Team gave up the least points in the league, and 6 of the 8 losses were by 7 points or less.

I just noticed...I've been registered here for over 7 years and I'm finally not a mascot anymore. I guess not posting for about 5 years didn't help my total.

[danimal]

Too much more, in all likelihood.

SkyDog, I'm not sure I understand this. Could you clarify? I thought that in FOF the WLB is always involved in the pass rush in the 3-4 defense, so how could it be too much more?

[QuikSand]

SkyDog, I'm not sure I understand this. Could you clarify? I thought that in FOF the WLB is always involved in the pass rush in the 3-4 defense, so how could it be too much more?

I reckon SD is suggesting (correctly, in my view) that however the game sorts out stats and assigns them to players, even an average player at the always-rushing WLB slot now seems to be getting a disproportionately high share of the pass rushing stats on a 3-4 defense.

I haven't done the testing to tell whether it's being cannibalized in whole or in part from the other defensive front players (I suspect so, to some degree) but I think it's pretty clear that all else equal the WLB position is racking up substantially more pass rush stats than, say, a starting DE.

[danimal]

I reckon SD is suggesting (correctly, in my view) that however the game sorts out stats and assigns them to players, even an average player at the always-rushing WLB slot now seems to be getting a disproportionately high share of the pass rushing stats on a 3-4 defense.

I haven't done the testing to tell whether it's being cannibalized in whole or in part from the other defensive front players (I suspect so, to some degree) but I think it's pretty clear that all else equal the WLB position is racking up substantially more pass rush stats than, say, a starting DE.

Understood. Thanks for the clarification.

[Ben E Lou]

Yup. Exactly what Quik said. (He's the one who first pointed it out to me, and I've played with it some since.) And like he said, it's not to say that the 3-4 definitely is better at pass rushiing than the 4-3. You'd need a team of perfect-weight-for-switches guys at ILB, OLB, and DT, all of whom have full positional experience at the 4-3/3-4 roles to test that out. It does appear, though, that the WLB in the 3-4 is "stealing" sacks from the other players.

[gstelmack]

And this is why TJ Dedrickson was CLEARLY the DPOY :mad:

;)

[Ben E Lou]

Hey, I voted for him. :D

[Eaglesfan27]

Hey, I voted for him. :D

Me too. :D

[QuikSand]

Hey, I voted for him. :D

Me too.

[Synovia]

This kind of leads to a way to game the system a bit: Have the worst player on your front seven be the WLB. He'll get most of the stats, so when he wants big money, you just cut and replace. It'll allow you to keep the demands of your actual good players lower.

[MalcPow]

And this is why TJ Dedrickson was CLEARLY the DPOY :mad:

;)

My testing shows that the WLB slot steals votes from pansy safeties in awards polling. (This is with the latest patch.) :)

[Ben E Lou]

Oh snap.

[perez24]

Update: The "serious leg injury" (I forgot what it was) he suffered in the playoffs dropped him to 18/18 coming out of training camp. So he's gone.

We had joy
We had fun
We had seasons in the sun
But then I got hurt
And the GM cut my butt.

[JetsIn06]

I know I know, I shouldn't be bringing up real football here. But in a way, the way the system works does seem to mirror real-life in a way, at least with what we're discussing.

[JMO]

I thought WLBs tended to lead their teams in sacks in real life 34s also. I have also been getting more sacks from my other lbs in the 34 recently.

[JetsIn06]

I thought WLBs tended to lead their teams in sacks in real life 34s also. I have also been getting more sacks from my other lbs in the 34 recently.

yep, that's what I meant in my post. D-line takes up blockers, LB's make the plays.

[Tormaz]

yep, that's what I meant in my post. D-line takes up blockers, LB's make the plays.

Exactly my thinking here also.

In the 3-4 the 3 defensive linemen are supposed to occupy as many of the blocks as possible to allow the linebackers to have freedom to make plays in the running game and in pass rush.

I don't think that the WLB is stealing statistics. I just think Jim got it right with this.

[Synovia]

yep, that's what I meant in my post. D-line takes up blockers, LB's make the plays.

True in theory, it tends to be more evenly distributed than this though. The point of the 3-4 in real life is that generally, the 3 lineman are rushing, and then 2 LBs (not necessarily the SOLB or WOLB) are rushing. Pressure comes from the WILB and SILB about 1/3 of the time, and comes from a safety every once in a while. The WOLB does not rush every down(in RL).