Free safety vs strong safety
 

what key ratings do you look for in a free safety and for a strong safety?

is there really a difference in position?

or pretty much the same kind of rating for both?

My SS will usually have a higher run defense.

My FS will usually have a higher interception rating.

But those are just guidelines for me, and in FOF, I pretty much see both positions as one and the same.

In a 3 Deep Zone in football, the SS has the responsibility of the TE as well as run support. The FS has the deep middle zone. Not sure if that is how it is in FOF.

Traditionally the SS always covered the TE, although thats not always the case in modern football. The SS tended to be a bigger guy, better in run support. The FS always tended to have to be quicker, to give support to CBs covering WRs. I know in Seattles Defense there is little difference between the roles of the SS and FS, with cover 2 becoming popular I suspect the SS have had to adapt, and become more like a FS in reality.

I'm not sure how it works in FOF, but I like my SS to be solid in run D (just in case ;) ). I had a SS make 100+ tackles once, so they can really be an influence.

I try to ensure my nickel and dime guys have high INT ratings, and am not too bothered about their run support as they will be facing the pass more often than not (hopefully).

Going off on a tangent. On the depth chart I notice the AI always prefers to put a CB in at nickel or dime, even if there is a safety who is better (on face value). Any views on this?

In FOF, the nickel back and dime back are the #3 and #4 cornerbacks, meaning that if the left/#1 or right/#2 cornerback gets hurt, the nickel back will take his 'starting' role. Ditto in case of a second injury with the dime back.

I have never made a distinction between free and strong safties in FOF.

Oh, yeah? How's that working out for you, mister multiple-waffle-house-championship-and-undefeated-this year bigshot?

I swapped my FS and SS this year based on their ratings, and it seems to be producing good results.

One or both of my safeties are usually among my leading tacklers. The only time I really look at FS versus SS is when I need to make a position witch to get my two best safeties on the field as starters.