high THP is most important so you dont underthrow the receiver and let the coverage guy catch up.
I always use up, and just tap the button.
Throw it as soon as you reach your drop back point.
This is THE MOST IMPORTANT part of passing in this game. Pre-snap read. You are looking #1 for man coverage with no safety over the top. Preferably press coverage so that your guy gets a step or two after getting past the corner. But most importantly do NOT throw the deep ball to a side where there is a safety.
Also, stay in the pocket...you don't have time to let your receiver get too far downfield BC then your QB can't get the ball deep enough. You have to throw it quickly so that you can hit the WR in stride while he is behind his man coverage.
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You already noticed the main attribute....SPEED. you need a speed advantage of at least a few points. I'd say 5 is very good, 3 is doable occasionally. I've noticed that if speed is more evenly matched, height and JMP play an important role as well. I have a 6'3" receiver with 93 speed who I will throw it up to against ANY single coverage, cause the guy just seems to come down with it.
I never take control of the WR. IMO it's not necessary if you make the right presnap read and have a good(fast) enough WR.
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From the coach perspective:
This question has many answers. I'll give you an example to show you what I mean.
I am currently in year 6 of a dynasty and got a job at Kansas. Spread offense with many deep passes. There is one where on the same side of the field one WR runs a go, while the other runs a Post. My pre-snap and JUST post-snap reads tell me who i'm throwing to.
If the D is in cover-1, I always pump fake the safety to freeze him, then throw the go. If they drop into a cover-2, I throw the post into the middle. I always 'GUN' the post while holding up to make the receiver jump. This usually causes him to get some last sec. separation from the defender as well as making sure the ball gets over the LBs.
This is one example of how I do my reads. But the safeties are your most important read in the deep game by far. How they line up, and how they move just after the snap, should tell you alot about what deep routes will be open.
I find that playaction is most effective against LB's, but not so effective in getting the deep ball against safeties (unless you have CPU DAWR too low). So ideally playaction is great for freezing the LB's then hitting a medium depth route over the middle....the TE Post for example, or a slot post. Other than that, PA does lead to alot of sacks, unless you designate a dump off receiver (usually a RB or TE heading to the flats) that you throw to immediately if the DL gets right through.