What skills in madden make a good pass rushing 3-4 OLB?

[Patscanes]

I am about to do a 32 team offline franchise and Im going to use the Patriots.

Our defense needs to be tweaked aka getting a steady pass rush.

My Pats have

Tully Banta Cain
Curmaine Cunningham
Rob Ninkovich
Eric Moore

as OLBS. None of them really get consistent pressure.

I want to find an OLB in the draft or FA to help fix the problem. I WILL not trade for players such as Cameron Wake, Damarcus Ware, Clay Matthews, Larmaar Woodley. While all of those guys are beasts it woulnd't be realistic for the Patriots to get those guys. At least not right now in their careers.

So what Skills should I be looking at to see if the OLB is 3-4 worthy and a pass rusher?

thanks

[Fig-Newton217]

Quote: Originally Posted by Patscanes

I am about to do a 32 team offline franchise and Im going to use the Patriots. Our defense needs to be tweaked aka getting a steady pass rush. My Pats have Tully Banta Cain Curmaine Cunningham Rob Ninkovich Eric Moore as OLBS. None of them really get consistent pressure. I want to find an OLB in the draft or FA to help fix the problem. I WILL not trade for players such as Cameron Wake, Damarcus Ware, Clay Matthews, Larmaar Woodley. While all of those guys are beasts it woulnd't be realistic for the Patriots to get those guys. At least not right now in their careers. So what Skills should I be looking at to see if the OLB is 3-4 worthy and a pass rusher? thanks

I don't know if this helps you any, but basically anything that makes a 4-3 DE good would make a 3-4 OLB a good pass rusher.

I guess acceleration, finesse moves, and pursuit?? (don't know what it means but the good players seem to have high pursuit ratings)

[Patscanes]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fig-Newton217

I don't know if this helps you any, but basically anything that makes a 4-3 DE good would make a 3-4 OLB a good pass rusher. I guess acceleration, finesse moves, and pursuit?? (don't know what it means but the good players seem to have high pursuit ratings)

Yeah I get what your saying. I really don't want to draft a 6'0 DE or OLB and play him in the 3-4 because that's not really realistic. Elvis Dumervil does it but he's a beast. What is he 5'11?

I suppose I'll have to throw realism out the window until Madden has different ratings for a 3-4 DE vs a 4-3 DE. Ex- Dwight Freeny would not have a high 90s rating if he was to play in a 3-4 but in Madden he does.

So in scouting ill have to scout the smaller DEs

[jvaccaro]

Speed, Acceleration and Agility all help in obvious ways

Strength is also very important, with 80+ being excellent for a OLB

Block Shed is how effective they are against run blocking

Finesse/Power Move ratings determine their success against pass protection

[Patscanes]

Quote: Originally Posted by jvaccaro

Speed, Acceleration and Agility all help in obvious ways Strength is also very important, with 80+ being excellent for a OLB Block Shed is how effective they are against run blocking Finesse/Power Move ratings determine their success against pass protection

I always thought Run blocking was hoe effective they are against shedding blocks

[PGaither84]

Quote: Originally Posted by jvaccaro

Speed, Acceleration and Agility all help in obvious ways Strength is also very important, with 80+ being excellent for a OLB Block Shed is how effective they are against run blocking Finesse/Power Move ratings determine their success against pass protection

This is correct.

For those who don't want to read my wall of text: It doesn't matter if you are playing against the computer. if you get in fast, the computer will auto throw. If you don't get in fast, then it's just a generic coverage sack that any team can get, and that is why I would focus on corners, safeties and fast "coverage" linebackers.

To the OP though, if you are playing games against the computer, it doesn't really matter at all.

I was actually working on this very thing right now in Madden.

Raven vs Bills

I placed T. Cody at NT, if you haven't seen his madden numbers, take a look at them. 97 Block shedding, 89 Power moves and 92 tackle all in a 72 OVR rookie NT. He is a slow Kris Jenkins. [they are both 6'4" 360lbs with nearly identical madden ratings except speed, pursuit, play recognition and T. Cody has like 47 speed to Jenkins 61]

ANYWAY...

I was going to the extreme at one point ot test how bad this was. I put computer pass blocking at ZERO and user pass rushing at 100. I called a base 3-4 cover 1 with Suggs pass rushing. I let the computer do all the pass rushing. Even then, I rarely saw Haloti Ngata [98 OVR where all his abilties are 97, 98 and 99] Suggs of Cody win a pass rushing move, but I also rarely saw them attempt one. Also, despite what Ian and EA have said, i saw Cody try a spin move multiple times despite his finesse move being a 33 and his power moves being an 89. They claim the defender will try thier best moves, but that is flat out false/broken/bugged code.

I was playing around with pre snap adjustments, different passing plays, etc. As long as the user is not pass rushing, and as long as a random mistake to let a free rusher go by, it is very difficult to get a pass rush out of the 3-4 [or he 4-3 for that matter.] on top of all of that, even when there is a free pass rusher, even from the blind side, the computer has magic eyes and will get rid of the ball. In the past and twice while doing this test, when someone got threw instantly unblocked on a play and the QB auto passed after two steps regardless of the coverage to not get sacked. So, in my experience, even if you can get quick pressure or beat your blocks, the robo QB will just get rid of it. In fact, when I get sacks, they are "coverage sacks." After the computer is allowed to make it's 5 or 7 step drop and look for someone, if it hasn't gotten rid of the ball, it is then willing to sometimes take a sack, or the patch Ian and EA did to Madden 10 to the QB AI where he will try to throw, but then fail to throw out of the grasp and take the sack.

This is all just my experience and opinion, but until someone can show me video evidence of repeatable success against the computer, I won't believe them if they say otherwise.

[Patscanes]

^ Great post

So basically getting sacks even this year is Nerfed unless you have a Beast of an OLB? using the 3-4 that is?

[Senator Palmer]

Quote: Originally Posted by PGaither84

This is correct. They claim the defender will try thier best moves, but that is flat out false/broken/bugged code.

I'm also wondering about this and curious about what others have experienced. Does the defensive line audible, pass (squeeze LT/up RS) do anything? I know that in NCAA, it is a defensive key and "pass" tells the defensive line to pin their ears back and get after it. It works really well if you're got a guy with good rush moves, but in Madden, I've had mixed results.

The play-art makes it look like the old "spread" the line mechanic with the ENDS rush outward, not upfield, helping a nice pocket to form for the QB to step up in. And the ends don't really attempt many moves; it looks a lot like a shoving match. I always control an LB to play coverage and let the CPU rush. I'm wondering if it's better to leave the line audibles alone and let the CPU rush on it's own or should I use the "pass" d-line audible?