HELP! CFM Career Mode CPU Running Back Issues

[savorymaxwell]

Hello OS Faithful,

I am reaching out for help from the more veteran Madden players on OS. Here's what's going on...

I'm playing CFM Career Mode with Devin Wade on the Jaguars. Considering Wade's natural playing style and the NFL team with the most need at QB I chose the Jaguars for my franchise. It's a logical and fun option given the rookie addition of Leonard Fournett in the draft. Fournett would pair nicely with Wade's scrambling ability giving the Jaguars a Prescott/Elliot feel, potentially allowing the Jaguars to pull off a Cowboy esque run in 2017.

My hope was to have Wade be to the Jaguars what Jameis Winston was to the Bucs. A strong leader that although rough around the edges could become the face of a rebuilding franchise in desperate need of a Franchise QB. Pair that with a young power back out of LSU and it seems like a no brainer duo.

Problem is the Wade/Fournette combo is not quite as dynamic as I'd hoped. Through the first 6 games of the regular season, I'm tearing it up with Wade, 1900+ passing yds with 20 passing TD's, and 1000+ rushing yds with 11 rushing TD's while Fournette only has around 400 yds with 6 rushing TD's and a couple passing TD's... Not quite that beastly.

I'm playing on All-Pro with "Armor & Sword’s Custom All-Pro Simulation Style CFM" sliders and it's improved the offense (minus too many holding calls) but for the life of me, I can't get Fournette to go beast mode. I call more designed running plays than anything else, and I only run Wade when necessary on passing downs to avoid pressure. Goalline, dive, counter, I-form, single-back, or 4WR wide no matter the formation the longest run Fournette will blast is a 13-20yd gain and that's RARE!

From everything I've seen of Fournette in scouting reports and based on his college stats, it would lead one to believe he should be a 1000-1500yd back in the NFL. His best game to date was against the Titans in Week 2 where he tore up the Titans defense to amass around 100yds. Since then nothing. He's only averaging 57yds a game in a 60/40 run vs pass play-calling style. Let's be frank though the Jaguars playbook and coaching suggestions are not doing Fournette or Wade any favors as they are repetitive and severely limited. Don't get me started on their WR's catching ability either (Drop open passes much).

Most of the issue is due to the AI choosing to run up the middle instead of taking a cut when there's clearly a hole, or push it outside when it needs to juke and cut up the field. It's ridiculous at this point how often the AI misses open holes or will look for contact when there's clearly a gap to run for instead. Is there any way to fix this through sliders? I've already tweaked Player run blocking a bit but I'm not sure how much that will help the CPU players since I'm only controlling the QB.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance and sorry for the wordy post.

[tjhamstar]

Yeah, it's frustrating as anything. Even more frustrating than all of the missed points after touchdowns. I upped the run blocking some, helped a little bit but can't think of anything else that may help with it. Hard to play when your running backs are only getting 25-50 yards a game.

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[ParaAut]

Don't want to take away your fun, but looking at the stats the settings seem a bit too easy for you.

If you play the full season like that you will have 5,000 passing yards, 53 passing TD's, 2,600 rushing yards and 29 rushing TD's. Your RB adds 1,000 rushing yards and 16 rushing TD's.

That's absolutely too much for a season! If you run with your QB like that, no wonder there is not enough left for your RB, otherwise you need 100 offensive plays each game.

So I would worry more about the unrealistic stats of the QB than some nice, but not extraordinary stats by the RB.

[adembroski]

400 rushing yards in six games from a rookie runningback is that disappointing?

The 2016 Cowboys had the best offensive line in the NFL all playing the best football of their career. That had more to do with their success than Elliott or Prescott. They're great, no doubt, but without those five up front, they'd have looked like great rookies (Prescott in particular was very prone to mistakes but with that line, he could get away with them).

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[iamthedrag]

It's weird because I've played as Kizer for the Browns and our run game just tears it up. Crowell runs like a pro-bowler pretty much every game. So idk what the secret sauce is to get the run game cooking, but sometimes it can just
work I guess?

[Slim4824]

You are on track for a 1000+ yard season from courgette. What more could ask for paired with the ridiculous amount of QB rushing yards you have. You are at over 1600 rushing yards with that pair alone through 6 games. That has to be a record.

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[savorymaxwell]

UPDATE: I wanted to update those that previously commented.

It's not unheard of for a QB to have 5000+ passing yards in a season if you consider that Brees, Stafford, Manning, and Brady have all done it at least once, with Brees completing the feat multiple seasons. However, to do so in Madden requires giving up on being a completely mobile QB, which has helped my rushing stats to decrease a bit. Additionally, moving the quarter length to 9mins and focusing on passing has allowed Fournette to run more freely (still not many 100+ yard games).

Through 14-week here are the updated stats.

Devin Wade's Stats:

Passing:
Comp/Att: 224/352
Comp Rating: 63.6%
Yards: 3766
TD: 35
INT: 8
Long: 75

Rushing:
Att: 138
Yards: 1872
Long: 63
TD: 16

Leonard Fournette's Stats:

Att:139
Yards: 535
TD: 9

Now I know most will argue that a QB with 1800+ rushing yards is crazy I would agree but a runner being able to run 1800+ is not unheard of (Johnson). What I do like about this season so far is stats wise (minus QB yardage) is fairly realistic. My top receiver Robinson is at 1100 yards, with the next 3 receivers each having 500 yards each. I likely will restart and attempt to focus on a balanced attack to see if I can get more realistic stats.

Generally speaking, I don't try to try to run with the QB. I will stay in the pocket as long as possible and then scramble if I don't have a viable receiver within 3-4 seconds. The problem is in Madden 18 most of the defense is playing man coverage which gives me 30-40yard gaps that with a decent speed mobile OB is giving me TONS of yards to pickup by running.

Thoughts? Should I restart or are these stats believable for the next Tom Brady meets Cam Newton?

NOTE: Take a look at Cam Newton's rushing stats from his career. Although mine are high as far as yardage the rest is not completely crazy: http://www.nfl.com/player/camnewton/2495455/careerstats