I was sitting here reading Chris Brown's piece on the evolution of zone blitzing (
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...ics-zone-blitz) while having just been thinking about testing (eg. what colors convert on web pages, testing business names, etc. - seeking data sets for things in my life) and it got me thinking: in an idealistic future for Madden is it possible that Madden could influence the NFL's strategy?
Now, we're not talking about Madden as it stands, the product is a poor simulacrum for real football, not just on the player interaction level but at the strategy level. Whereas real-life play calling (at any level where you have to gameplan) revolves around a multitude of factors - execution, disguise, tendencies, etc. etc. etc. play calling in Madden is either based on exploiting the AI or not letting the AI exploit you. There are no tendencies, no execution concerns, no issue of disguise.
But what if, several years down the road where a hypothetical Madden gets its act together, the game actually serves as a
model for NFL play. To be clear: a model is not a perfect simulation. But, if Madden were to get close then you might see ideas pioneered, or at least tested, in Madden play out on the gridiron? Now, you're probably saying to yourself "That's ridiculous, there is no way all those cheaters online will ever simulate real NFL play!" and I think, in this hypothetical future, you'd be wrong.
Here's why: the NFL as a laboratory is
relatively resistant to change. This makes sense, high paying jobs are on the line and the sample size is tiny. Because you only have the chance to try things in game situations, when your job is on the line, you're naturally going to be resistant to experimentation. Which isn't to say NFL coaches do an amazing job of utilizing their resources, or are sometimes incredibly innovative, but that they are incentivized not to be experimental. I think the history of the NFL bears this out. BUT! If Madden were to achieve a successful model then it could become an incredibly useful test bed because of the huge number of data points (if you're asking "Isn't that college" I'd point out that there are so many variables - just look at the difficulty in identifying and drafting college players). Just like in any field, one or two Madden games would be meaningless. But if you have thousands of games going on daily, it's possible that those points could yield interesting ideas and testable theories for NFL coaches.
Just a fun thought.
