new player seeks advice: running backs & reading defensive stats

[TheseBoots]

Hey everyone! So many questions..... but I will keep it to two for so as not to overstay my welcome =)

With so much to learn I have been trying to keep things simple so far. Play as a GM getting hands on with hiring staff, free agency and the draft. Then pretty much hand it over to the coaches and sim the season to see what happens. Following this method I have played a whole SIX seasons with the Broncos and overall I am pretty happy with two trips to the playoffs, one to the AFC championship game and a (marginally) winning record overall.

Across that time I have not been able to get a tune out of my RB's. I have invested some money in FA to pick up talents, and done a pretty poor job of finding them in the draft. I started out with a pretty average set of pieces on the o-line but have invested draft capital and FA big money there (see attachments).

So my first question is... what advice to you have for reading the stat bars for RB's, and have I built a suboptimal o-line.

<a href="https://ibb.co/K7vChSc"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/NpBwCbg/oline.jpg" alt="oline" border="0"></a>

So far pretty much my best performance from a RB is 5 rushing TDs and ypc <4 over 16 games.

Second question: what advice do you have for a newbie for reading the stat lines for the defensive front players at season end?
<a href="https://ibb.co/tMtwPYr"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/4ZGwg4r/key-def-stats.jpg" alt="key-def-stats" border="0"></a>
Obviously Dre'Mont Jones is a complete monster... but I'm not really sure how to value the contributions of the others. Is there some discussion on this topic around the boards which you could maybe point me to?

Thanks in advance for any help. I love this game already even if I am basically just stumbling around in the dark so far!

[TheseBoots]

In case you are interested, I found the two guards in free agency, the tackles and center in the draft

[Ushikawa]

Your OL is fine- obviously the Center is a bit raw.

What does your RB look like, HoleRecognitiion is 80% of RB success especially once you have 350-400 points of run blocking up front.

[TheseBoots]

Current roster is mostly elusive, speed outside guys, and one catcher, so that is very interesting to know that Hole Recognition is so important when packing some big total upfront. That can very much aid my draft strategy - thanks!

Sadly I'm not sure what the situation was in past seasons due to retirements etc

[maloffel]

My understanding, which is probably very minimal compared to many on this forum is that Hole Rec as stated above is the most important stat.

Elusiveness is a bit of a double edged sword because it seems to be related to more rushing plays going for negative yards or negative yard plays going for more negative yards.

sorry, but defensive front is an enigma to me as well. Pass rush percent and tackle percent idk. I tend to go for High run def on everyone and high pass rush technique on the edge rushers. I've heard that PRT is straight up better than PRS (pass rush strength), but I like to role play a little bit and look for high PRS on the interior line with the thought that they will push the pocket and not allow the QB to step up which should complement the speed rush on the edge. I don't think that is actually how the game works tho lol.

[TheseBoots]

Thanks, @maloffel, appreciate the comment! good to know I'm not the only one unsure how to prioritise performance on the D-front:D

[Dawgfan19]

Most teams pass a lot, so PRT is king, followed by PRS. I'll tend build a d-line with marginal run defense as long as the player's play diagnosis is solid.

Further, often overlooked is endurance. You need to keep those stud linemen on the field. Even with good endurance, you need depth at this position group and have a d-line rotation.

[TheseBoots]

Thank you @DawgFan19, very interesting.

[Olsson]

Cohesion is for me the thing that makes an average line good/great.

If my math is correct, you have a combined 21 years of experience on your O-line. A bit on the low side for a team with solid although not spectacular talent on the offensive line.

While young studs are great, be careful not to change just for the sake of 5-ish points of overall.

As stated above I also believe that your O-line is pretty solid. They just need time to get to know each other.

What's your cohesion score like? (Chronicle -> Teams -> Unit Cohesion)

[TheseBoots]

Cohesion is for me the thing that makes an average line good/great.

...

What's your cohesion score like? (Chronicle -> Teams -> Unit Cohesion)
Hey @Olsson, thanks for the comment! I have actually played another season since posting the images. Our unit cohesion is now 88% which puts us top 10 overall.

How to read those cohesion ratings is a good question - the number can be high (80%+) but only rated average in the League; alternately my secondary is only rated 70% but that is comfortably top half!

Is cohesion more important for some units than others, then?

[Olsson]

If I'm not mistaken the cohesion stat is relative to the top unit in the league.

That's why in your case you have a pretty solid cohesive O-line relative to the best unit, but so do the rest of the league.

In the secondary there's a bigger jump between the top unit and the rest of the league.