I disagree...I don't see how both sides of this debate make sense. Let me try to illustrate why.
What if I said my argument is that during timeouts you should be able to fly an X-wing around the stadium and shoot at the other team because 1) I think it would be fun and 2) it would suit my preference for what I would like to do during timeouts.
Why would this X-wing timeout feature never appear in the game? Well...because it does not capture the real NFL. In the real NFL, X-wings don't start attacking players during timeouts.
Back to this argument... Just because some people like the
idea of taking a player, generating huge stats with them, and having them improve
as a result...it shouldn't be included in the game. Why? Because it does not capture the real NFL.
If it doesn't capture the real NFL, then I don't understand how the argument has any merit.
It comes down to cause-effect. Player ability vs. stats. If I hand the ball off to my RB and he hits a hole and breaks off a 70 yard TD run you have to ask yourself....Is he
getting better at football as he is running down the field, racking up yards crossing the goal line? In other words, as he reaches the 30 yard line is he better at football than he was at the snap? As he reaches the 1 yard line, are his football skills improved relative to when he was crossing the 30? And as he takes the last step into the endzone, is he a better player than he was when he was at the 1 yard line? After all, he now has one more touchdown.
If people want to make the argument that stats should impact performance...(even slightly!)...then you MUST be able to make the preceding argument.
The game's mandate is clearly to emulate the NFL as it exists, not the way some people want it to exist.