Madden NFL 17 Defensive Gaps, Alignment, Assignment, Technique, Blocking & Much More

[brandon27]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Defensive Gaps, Alignment, Assignment, Technique, Blocking & Much M

This is going to be awesome I think. Especially if it's executed properly. Run fits, gap assignments, playcalls that matter, this is going to be just great to see in action.


The only thing I fear by this... if it does work as designed, I can just imagine all the "The run game is broken!", "There's no gaping holes for me to hit", "It's broken because I can't get more than 3 yards per carry" complaints that are going to follow. Hopefully they don't end up adjusting to cater to that crowd. The ease of use, and big gains for outside run plays in Madden 16 shows the glaring need for this type of system to be implemented.


It's so great to see this Madden team implementing things into the game from a real life NFL standpoint. Good stuff going on with this team.

[Datninja619]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Defensive Gaps, Alignment, Assignment, Technique, Blocking & Much M

This is amazing. As some one that has played D1 college football, this is legit. All of the terms they used we used as well. It will be awesome seeing this in action. I wished they would have given us a video to coincide with the blogs. I really hope I will be able to use real football knowledge to beat cheesers online.

Madden really got this right. I played safety in college and the first thing we did was identify the strength of the offense as indicated by the blog. The auto flip feature is HUGE!!!!!! I would manually do this on ever play. Next I would have to know what kind of run fit player I was. Usually it was a force or cutback in Cover 3 or a pass first fill player in cover 2. I am blown away that got all of this in the game. I salute you madden.

Same with me playing MLB in college. In our college defense, the strength of the defense would change based on the package we were in and the play call it's self. Quick example, If we were in Nickle strong, I'd call the strength based on 2+ WR side, Wide field side, OR even QB throwing hand (left or right)

If I come out in a Nickle Strong Blitz in Madden, I'd want the blitz on the STRONG side haha. If I say 4-3 Will blitz, I'd want the weak side backer to blitz.

I guarantee this will be the most satisfying Madden defensively for me. People may not think about it now, but this makes drafting for DEPTH more important. Example, on 3rd and short your going to want to sub in your best run stuffers (Blockshed, strength, tackle, etc) and have them align to the strength of the offense.


I'm going to try not to get tooooo excited and raise my expectations though. Just having this strength flip is an improvement.

Hopefully this means we are closer to DB assignments.

[SolidSquid]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Defensive Gaps, Alignment, Assignment, Technique, Blocking & Much M

This is going to be awesome I think. Especially if it's executed properly. Run fits, gap assignments, playcalls that matter, this is going to be just great to see in action.


The only thing I fear by this... if it does work as designed, I can just imagine all the "The run game is broken!", "There's no gaping holes for me to hit", "It's broken because I can't get more than 3 yards per carry" complaints that are going to follow. Hopefully they don't end up adjusting to cater to that crowd. The ease of use, and big gains for outside run plays in Madden 16 shows the glaring need for this type of system to be implemented.


It's so great to see this Madden team implementing things into the game from a real life NFL standpoint. Good stuff going on with this team.

That's what scares me too. They are always so quick to nerf things instead of giving people tips on how to be better. I get it, for a casual all this stuff must have their head spinning but if skills trainer has been improved running though it a couple of times should be enough to help casuals learn. Hell even I'm gonna run through the trainer a couple times to get acquainted to things.

[SolidSquid]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Defensive Gaps, Alignment, Assignment, Technique, Blocking & Much M

Same with me playing MLB in college. In our college defense, the strength of the defense would change based on the package we were in and the play call it's self. Quick example, If we were in Nickle strong, I'd call the strength based on 2+ WR side, Wide field side, OR even QB throwing hand (left or right)

If I come out in a Nickle Strong Blitz in Madden, I'd want the blitz on the STRONG side haha. If I say 4-3 Will blitz, I'd want the weak side backer to blitz.

I guarantee this will be the most satisfying Madden defensively for me. People may not think about it now, but this makes drafting for DEPTH more important. Example, on 3rd and short your going to want to sub in your best run stuffers (Blockshed, strength, tackle, etc) and have them align to the strength of the offense.


I'm going to try not to get tooooo excited and raise my expectations though. Just having this strength flip is an improvement.

Hopefully this means we are closer to DB assignments.

As a Linebacker my whole life I can't agree more. Defense is actually going to involve strategy now, the only thing missing is tiered play calling. I hope that's where they are heading. I wanna call the package, front, stunts, coverage and blitzes, if I make a bad combination and leave a gaping whole somewhere then that's on me.

[Datninja619]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Defensive Gaps, Alignment, Assignment, Technique, Blocking & Much M

The only thing I fear by this... if it does work as designed, I can just imagine all the "The run game is broken!", "There's no gaping holes for me to hit", "It's broken because I can't get more than 3 yards per carry" complaints that are going to follow. Hopefully they don't end up adjusting to cater to that crowd. The ease of use, and big gains for outside run plays in Madden 16 shows the glaring need for this type of system to be implemented.

I think to counter that early on, the Dev team built those running assist, such as the lane assist. Those assist plus lowering the sliders, should give the Devs plenty of ammo to fire back at the "I barely average 100 yards per game folks".

We shall see though!

[SolidSquid]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Defensive Gaps, Alignment, Assignment, Technique, Blocking & Much M

I think to counter that early on, the Dev team built those running assist, such as the lane assist. Those assist plus lowering the sliders, should give the Devs plenty of ammo to fire back at the "I barely average 100 yards per game folks".

We shall see though!

Having to play with the indicators on would certainly hurt some of their pride lol

[Brightline]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Defensive Gaps, Alignment, Assignment, Technique, Blocking & Much M

Another Madden NFL 17 blog has just arrived going over defensive gaps, run fits and so much more. This one is filled with great information.

Let's go over a bit:


This is a much needed change in the series. For too long we've called defensive plays like they're offensive plays -- which was completely inaccurate. To be moving in a more sim direction is always welcome, especially in an area most every football game hasn't been close to right on since the dawn of gaming.


This is a nice touch and completely awesome (and much welcome).


This is a great layer that, when combined with the previous assignment/flip options makes for a compelling layer of defensive strategy that you must go into. Compare this to previously calling a play and hot routing defensive players and you can instantly see why this is a huge upgrade.


I'm not 100% certain how this will fully play out, but it sounds promising and certainly deeper than what we've seen out of Madden when it comes to line play over the past several years. The PRC rating sounds like a nice touch and addition.

For more information on Madden's defensive improvements, including techniques as well as improvements to blocking, check out the full blog post at the link.

Source - Madden 17 Gameplay Deep Dive - Defensive Gaps and Run Fits

HUGE news for Bryce Petty, I think this will really accelerate his development!

[Datninja619]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Defensive Gaps, Alignment, Assignment, Technique, Blocking & Much M

As a Linebacker my whole life I can't agree more. Defense is actually going to involve strategy now, the only thing missing is tiered play calling. I hope that's where they are heading. I wanna call the package, front, stunts, coverage and blitzes, if I make a bad combination and leave a gaping whole somewhere then that's on me.

I miss that tier oplay calling too. I remember being a freshman or soph in high school and not even knowing the concept of what I was selecting in the other game lol. If the Madden team went that route, they'd definitely have to have it be an option. similar to the gameflow introduction years ago.

Back to the blog though! I think the defense will involve deeper strategy now (for those who want it). By having the Force effectiveness by driven by PRC, this will make it important to have a veteran on the team. A situation player, as they call it IRL. Even if a safety has 78 SPD, if he has 95+ play rec, best believe I'm putting him in the box or 3rd and 3!


Side Note: I'll flip a lid if formation subs is here.

[Allball76]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Defensive Gaps, Alignment, Assignment, Technique, Blocking & Much M

I miss that tier oplay calling too. I remember being a freshman or soph in high school and not even knowing the concept of what I was selecting in the other game lol. If the Madden team went that route, they'd definitely have to have it be an option. similar to the gameflow introduction years ago.

Back to the blog though! I think the defense will involve deeper strategy now (for those who want it). By having the Force effectiveness by driven by PRC, this will make it important to have a veteran on the team. A situation player, as they call it IRL. Even if a safety has 78 SPD, if he has 95+ play rec, best believe I'm putting him in the box or 3rd and 3!


Side Note: I'll flip a lid if formation subs is here.

Agree vets play Rec needs to be mort important than rookies skill level that's why it take some rookie a few years to make impact .

[kyle81]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Defensive Gaps, Alignment, Assignment, Technique, Blocking & Much M

Does anyone know if these gap assignments affect pass rushing or blitzing in any way?? Does this give Dlinemen pass rush lanes now?? Hopefully it makes end contain a thing.

[mvb34]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Defensive Gaps, Alignment, Assignment, Technique, Blocking & Much M

I hope we can get a camera angle like the God view from the defense side so that I can better play the assignments...

[mrprice33]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Defensive Gaps, Alignment, Assignment, Technique, Blocking & Much M

Just got confirmation from Clint that gap assignments do not change dynamically with changing the alignment of the DL. How does everyone feel about that?


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[Scott]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Defensive Gaps, Alignment, Assignment, Technique, Blocking & Much M

Just got confirmation from Clint that gap assignments do not change dynamically with changing the alignment of the DL. How does everyone feel about that?


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Little bit of a let down, but not a huge deal.

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[mrprice33]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Defensive Gaps, Alignment, Assignment, Technique, Blocking & Much M

I think it's to negate potential nanos


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[Big FN Deal]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Defensive Gaps, Alignment, Assignment, Technique, Blocking & Much M

Just got confirmation from Clint that gap assignments do not change dynamically with changing the alignment of the DL. How does everyone feel about that?


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Is this just presnap or throughout the play, meaning, in the blog Clint spoke of two stages where the assignments dynamically adjusted, before and after the snap, so I'm confused as to what happens once the ball is snapped if the alignment is changed? So is Clint saying if you change the alignment of the DL it won't dynamically do anything and the assignments will be static based on the original playart the entire play, ie like it's been in past versions or they just won't dynamically adjust presnap but still do so after the snap, based on trying to diagnose/read the play?

Understand my confusion lies in I'm trying to understand how/why changing alignment presnap would negate anything that's supposed to happen post snap.