[Oraeon1224]

Speed threshold testing:
1st step I reviewed all teams for average speed of WR and LB. The idea is to use an average player from each level of quality at WR and LB and run 40 yards in practice mode with a stopwatch to assess times. I will run 20 test with each player and generate average values for these players. The idea is then to use published values on the differences in 40 times to create a normal gap between WR and LB avoiding LB burning (still can be burned deep but closer coverage in short zones)--in prior years LB were remarkably slower compared to WR vs their real world counterparts.

Reviewing teams showed the following on rosters:
Top tier WR/CB (same): Avg Spd 93, Avg Acc 93
Top tier LB: Avg Spd 84, Avg Acc 90

Mid tier WR/CB (same): Avg Spd 91, Avg Acc 92
Mid tier LB: Avg Spd 84, Avg Acc 86

Low tier WR/CB (same): Avg Spd 90, Avg Acc 87
Low tier LB: Avg Spd 81, Avg Acc 84

Fairly uniform declines suggest sig drop off between tiers which is expected. Will try to adjust gap within top tier primarily since it most closely mimics pro. Published gap for pro players is 0.20 sec between drafted combine 40 times of WR and LB--Source Bill Parcells ESPN special.

Testing with 20 attempts shows that:
LB 40 time is now 4.7 sec (NFL is 4.68)
WR 40 time is now 4.5 sec (NFL is 4.48)

This shows a gap of 0.2 sec on default threshold slider. This test is remarkably different from last year. Not only are the numbers of top tier players identical to their NFL counterparts on the test (which is a bit unrealistic considering that they are in pads in this game) but the gap is already perfect this year. EA must have altered the game in a good way. Will test mid level next before making final recs.

Mid level testing showed:
WR 40 time is now 4.5
LB 40 time is now 4.8

This is 0.3 seconds difference and worse than NFL within the same tier. I am a bit concerned the threshold may need a minor tweak perhaps to 55 since this would give a sig advantage to recievers within the same tier but for now:

Recommendation: Don't adjust threshold as it appears to be fairly good at default this year. Alternatively adjust to 55 to give mid-tier teams more of a chance against upper tier teams.