confused about some of the ratings.

[JohnnyNutman]

i like that they have expanded the different categories for ratings (after all, in last gen the only defensive rating was tackling), but i am a little confused about the purpose of some of the ratings. im not sure if they are still used (see figure 1); or if they are overlapped by other ratings.

this is gonna be a long post, so if u need to go to the bathroom do so now

so to breakdown what im confused about:

figure 1: pass accuracy
well this one im not confused about. ian has said that it was just left in even after they added the short, med & deep ratings, but that it didnt have an effect. i still dont understand why they havent removed it from the game as it is confusing - especially to newer players.

figure 2: "elusive" ratings
what is the difference between elusiveness, juke move & spin move? jukes & spins are elusive moves, shouldnt elusiveness just cover them? there isnt really an established group of real life nfl players that exclusively use just the one move.

figure 3: route running
what does this actually do? does it help recievers run routes faster (which use to be handled by speed/acc); does it help them run them smoother (use to be handled by agility); does it increase their awareness of when the ball is coming (use to be handled by awareness)?

the only reason i could understand why this rating was added if it was cos it was supposed to be a "position specific" awareness ratings - players with better RR ratings would be more aware of what the passer was doing (that way u couldnt just dump in a speedy CB/RB to play the position with ease).

figure 4: awareness
does this only effect QBs now? bcv helps runners & play recog helps defenders, but what if there is a fumble (or other turnover)? what about recievers prior to getting the ball? what about blitz pickup?

figure 5: block shedding
the name of that rating alone makes sense, but then there is also finesse move and power move. finesse/power moves are primarly used for DLs in the trenches - which is block shedding. finesse/power moves should still be able to be utilized by LBs & DBs so when does the block shedding rating really come into play?

figure 6: agility
does agility still have a use for anything? it could be used for evading blocks, but we have power/finesse moves (and block shedding - see above); it could be for running smother routes (but we have route running); it could be for evading tackles (but we have elusiveness, juke moves & spin moves). what is this rating still used for? its one of the most basic athletic skills, but it seems to be have made redundant.

i also dont understand how they figure out the ratings of players that have had no relevance to their position. how do u what jeff saturday's throwing accuracy short ratings is? or troy polamalu's kick power? or reggie bush's defensive play recognition.

i can understand how guys like ben graham/sav rocca would get decent tackle ratings (they are punters, but they played aussie rules football their whole lives); or why certain WRs & RBs get decent passing ratings (due to the wildcat & other trick offensive plays), but for most players how do they differentiate them?

[Dianwei32]

I'll do my best to explain the ones that I think I understand, but this is just my understanding of them and doesn't mean that it's right.

pass accuracy: Worthless now, they just haven't removed it from the game yet, hopefully it will be gone in M11.

elusiveness: While spin and juke are elusive moves, there are some guys who can wiggle out of tackles when a defender manages to get a hand on them. They don't run through the tackle (trucking) they can juke/spin out of a tackle. I think it works where the juke/spin ratings affect open field moves (how likely a move will fake out a defender), but elusiveness affects how well you can break out of tackles with a spin/juke once someone has a hold of you.

route running: I think RR helps WRs recognize coverages and run/change routes accordingly. If it's man coverage, they'll just run the route, but if it's a zone, they might slightly extend/shorten the route to hit a hole in the zone for an easy pass. So if there is a CB in the flats and the WR is supposed to run a 5 yard out, he might extend it to a 7-8 yard out to get behind the CB's zone and come open. I think RR is not as helpful as it should be because WR's wait for the ball to get to them while defenders go up and fight for the ball.

awareness: I belive Ian or one of the EA guys said that awareness can help players know how to respond to a fumble. So if there are no offensive players around to recover it, a guy with low awareness will just fall on it, but a guy with high awareness will scoop it up and run.

block shedding: How easy it is to get off of a block. I think that with the change of pass rushing moves to the right stick instead of R1/L1 (RB/LB on 360), it's more that power/finesse move ratings are less important. You used to have to know which one your guy was good at and use the appropriate move, but now the game just uses the higher rated one automatically.

agility: How well you can cut/turn. If you're running the ball with a guy with relatively low agility (FB, slower power HB, maybe a LB on an INT) and you try and make a sharp cut, you'll come to a dead stop, turn and start running again. Try the same thing with a very agile player (Reggie Bush, Felix Jones etc.) and you'll make the cut and keep running without losing much speed. Think of it like Barry Sanders, he could plant one foot, make a 150 degree cut and he sprinting back the other direction before the defense could even slow down to turn around and follow him.

non-relevant ratings: Just give them poor ratings. They're random for sure, but we have nothing to judge them by. Troy Polamalu has never kicked a FG, so we can't begin to judge what his kick power is, but he is physically able to kick the ball, so they just give him (and everybody) really crappy non-relevant ratings.

[JohnnyNutman]

cool thanks for that. i think that cleared some of it up.

i like that RR is essentially used as a specific awareness rating for WRs. its good that regualr awareness and agility still have general uses.

i still dont see the point of having a block shedding rating tho.

[Lukin4]

i just figured block shedding was more for when you are trying to get off a block to start to pursue the ballcarrier laterally. finesse / power ratings are used when trying to get past the blocker.

[Stupendamatic]

Route Running

Go run a slant route with Wes Welker then go run the same route with whoever their worst WR is and you will see a big difference in the replay of how they run the route. Wel Welker will cut very sharply and explode out the cut.

[jwhite1347]

Also I still contend most dont really matter at all - http://www.operationsports.com/forum...ter-bunny.html