[adembroski]

I think most of this stuff, beyond simply shoving a guy out of bounds, needs to be incorporated into playbooks.

Assignment logic needs to be more complex, incorporating various potential events during a play.

Take, for example, man coverage vs. twin WRs. In many cases, and this is usually tied to the playcall, the corners will switch on a cross, even through it's not zone. In some cases, one will take whoever releases down field.

Then you have the running game, where pretty much ever player on the field is programmed to 'get to the ball carrier'.

What should be done is to have defensive linemen fill gaps and keep blockers occupied. Linebackers check gaps and slide down the line, while cornerbacks play outside containment and funnel anything outside back in toward the backers. This is all variable, of course... we've all heard of Tampa's "play the run on the way to the quarterback" mentality, meaning defensive linemen wont bother with tying up blockers, but rather get aggressively upfield, but that requires it's own specific logic.

It's this type of programming that will finally have screens and draws work correctly. This type of programming that will allow counters and misdirection plays become the cornerstones of some player's games. This type of programming that will finally allow trick plays to be the kind of boom-or-bust plays they should be.

A perfectly defended run play has the back see he has nowhere to go on the interior, because the D-Linemen are closing interior gaps, so he starts outside only to find himself unable to get outside the corner... who's holding his ground in the backfield, cutting off the sideline (NOT charging in for the tackle) and the back being forced to cut upfield into a wall of unblocked linebackers and safeties.