Speed kills?

[Dianwei32]

Ok, I know that speed can be deadly out in the open, but it's actually a bad thing at the beginning of a play. I don't know what it is, but I cannot run the ball consistently with players that are extremely fast. They'll get a huge run every now and then that salvages their total yards and YPC, but without those I can only average 2 YPC with Speed backs versus 4-5 with slower Power backs.

For example, in my Cowboys Franchise I have Steven Jackson (traded for him, 88 Speed) and Felix Jones (96 Speed). SJax (roughly 20 touches/game) usually averages 4-5 yards per carry, or up to 7 if he breaks a big run. Felix Jones (5-10 touches/game) usually averages 6-8 YPC, but only if he manages to pull a 50+ yard run out of nowhere, not counting his big runs he averages 2-2.5 yards a carry.

It's almost like the OL blocks differently for Felix. If SJax is back there, they all pick up the guys they should, they open a nice hole, and he's 3-4 yards downfield before he meets a defender. When Jones is back there, there are usually 2-3 defenders in the backfield by the time I get the handoff (even when the CPU is not blitzing 6-8). It's frustrating because Jones is a talented HB and capable of being a Pro Bowl-caliber player (if he stays healthy, which is a challenge and why he only gets 10 carries a game), but my OL won't block for him and 60% of his carries are for losses.

[LHSLax_D24]

That happens to me a lot too. Try to not hold down sprint as soon as you get the hand-off. What happens then is the OL some how knows that you are holding sprint and thinks that you have hit the hole, resulting in them blocking down field before they should and leaving the DL/LB's open to make the tackle. So lay off the sprint button until you hit the hole.

[Dianwei32]

I don't touch the Sprint button on most runs. The only time I use Sprint is if there is no one within 5 yards downfield of my HB or if I've broken away and am sprinting to the endzone.

[Speedy]

Guys that have lots of speed, most users try to utilize those players by bouncing it outside. In my franchise, DeAngelo Williams averaged 5.6 ypc and a lot of those runs were inside (I do use the sprint button as soon as I get the handoff). Just go where the blocks are and instead of guiding your player left/right with the controller, use the juke button for cutback lanes and when you have a blocker ahead of you.

[football5680]

i guess it is only with the starters because i use, the giants and brandon will consistentely get me 3-4 yards or more but when bradshaw gets in he gets me 6 to 8 yard gains and he will break some for 30 or 40 yards but when i traded away jacobs and started bradshaw he started to suck. no fatigue was on so it wasn't like jacobs tired them out and bradshaw finished them.

[Valdarez]

I have just the opposite experience. Outside runs with fast backs out of some formations are guaranteed big gains almost every time as long as you wait for the blocks to setup properly. Even with big backs they can be killer, but with fast back they turn into home runs. Maybe you're just out running your blocks?