Changing positions and then back changes abilities and overall

[Ryon24]

I looked on here to see if this has been posted, but didn’t see it, so I’m sorry if this has been covered. I found that if you change a player’s position then change them back to their original position it will change their overall and abilities. In some cases I have even noticed certain ratings changing, but for the most part it appears the ratings stay completely the same while the overall drops up to 15 points.

I started testing this out with different positions and it is the weirdest thing. I moved a HB to WR and then back to HB and his overall dropped 13 points. His ratings all stayed the same, but his abilities changed. I did this with my backup QB where I moved him to HB and back to QB and he stayed the same overall while my starter dropped 4 points, and my 3rd string went up 1 point. QB seems to be the least impacted. Also, like I said this is changing the player’s physical abilities as well. They keep the level of each ability, but the ability itself changes. I tried to keep changing positions to see if it would continue to change the abilities as this would help to get certain ones you want at certain levels, but once it changed once it didn’t change again.

Has anyone else played with this more than me or figured outwhy this is happening?

This has me wondering if the new overall is their real overall or if the old one is and does it even matter when it comes to gameplay.

[jello1717]

Re: Changing positions and then back changes abilities and overall

It’s changing their tendency (I.e. power vs elusive vs receiving).

The OVR is weighted based on tendency (I.e. I’d guess a receiving back’s OVR goes up more with catching than a power back).

Abilities are tied to tendency. I.e. every single power back can only have the same 5 abilities and every single elusive back can only ever have the same 5 abilities (some of which might overlap power backs, but some will not).

[Ryon24]

Re: Changing positions and then back changes abilities and overall

Ah. I see that now, thank you. My TE who was a vertical threat 81 overall changed to a blocking TE and is now a 54 overall. Why is it changing their archetype and how do you change it back?!

[jyod21]

Re: Changing positions and then back changes abilities and overall

Ah. I see that now, thank you. My TE who was a vertical threat 81 overall changed to a blocking TE and is now a 54 overall. Why is it changing their archetype and how do you change it back?!

If you change position from the player card, outside of the position change stage in the offseason, the game seems to default to the same archetypes for each position. Blocking TE is one of them. If you change his position during the offseason stage, and then change it back to TE, he will change back to a Vertical Threat and his overall will be 81 again. I don't know if its intentional or not that it occurs like that in season.

[DLev4552]

Re: Changing positions and then back changes abilities and overall

I actually believe changing positions of every player during the offseason week to do so is OP, and borderline an exploit that needs to be patched. You can unlock multiple abilities for free by spamming this across your entire roster. If a player has spent his skill points on skill upgrades instead of abilities and has the minimum attributes required for ability unlocks, you can unlock ALL of them simply by changing his position. If he has certain attributes that are better suited to a different position entirely, you can switch him that permanently and he will earn all new abilities instantly.

Does that work if you change them back and forth in the same offseason?

Let's say you have a Deep Threat WR with 98 speed, but he hasn't unlocked Takeoff yet because he didn't have enough Skill Points.

Are you saying that if you change him to CB and then change him back to WR in the same offseason, he is now a Deep Threat WR with gold Takeoff without spending and skill points to do so?

[DLev4552]

Re: Changing positions and then back changes abilities and overall

Yup. There is some risk involved because the player can sometimes change archetypes (based on attributes, I assume). There is no risk however when doing this with OT, OG, DE, OLB, and S. You should do it 100% of the time with them for free abilities by just moving them to the other side of their position. Often, it is worth the risk to do all of the players that you identify key attributes for ability unlocks. One other thing to be wary of is if a player has a position-specific mental ability (like QB with Field General), they will lose that ability if they are changed to a position where that is invalid. And then you will not earn it back if you switch again.

I would concerned with skill caps, also. Like changing Deep Threat WR with 98 speed and 5 caps but no Take Off ability unlocked yet. You are saying you can change him to "HB - Receiving Back", then back to "WR - Deep Threat" in the same offseason week and now he has the gold Take Off ability for free.

But does he now have 9 caps because it re-rolled his skill caps?

[Potatoes002]

Re: Changing positions and then back changes abilities and overall

I would concerned with skill caps, also. Like changing Deep Threat WR with 98 speed and 5 caps but no Take Off ability unlocked yet. You are saying you can change him to "HB - Receiving Back", then back to "WR - Deep Threat" in the same offseason week and now he has the gold Take Off ability for free.

But does he now have 9 caps because it re-rolled his skill caps?

From my testing, I did not notice skill caps changing when reverting back to the same position AND archetype. But with just the archetypes changing, I noticed better and worse skills caps.

Some benefited me, but others I permanently screwed up when I could not put them back at their original position with their original archetype, even during the offseason position changes stage… and they turned out worse.

It’s a gamble lol

[jeffhamm]

Re: Changing positions and then back changes abilities and overall

I actually change players positions all the time during the season.

QBs become Scramblers
RBs become Receiving backs (Don't do this one)
FB/TE become Blocking
WR become Deep Threats
Any OL becomes Pass Pro
DE/DT/OLB become power rushers
MLB becomes Field General
CB becomes slot
FS/SS becomes hybrid
K/P becomes Accurate

I like to recruit Run Stoppers all along the defense(DE/DT/LB/FS/SS for the high Block Shed, Tackling, and hit power. I then change them as freshmen and redshirt them. Works best for 3-4 defenses since your OLBs are pass rushers.

For OL I prefer the agile OL with high Impact Block and Lead Block and then convert them to Pass Pros. I don't recruit pass pros.

Some of the best results come from TE though. Recruit a Vertical Threat TE and change to blocking. You get the speed and catching from the original archetype and then develop the blocking.

The best part about this method is when you change them the ovrall drops so the skill up faster upgrades are cheaper because the archtype change.