Playbook Suggestion Needed

I'm looking for a new playbook that fits my current personnel.

Personnel:

QB: slow, decent arm (89), but very accurate (93)

RB: have two guys with 93 speed and 95+ acceleration as well as one with 96 break tackle (elusive back though) and one with 89 break tackle (more power runner) who also has 72 catching.

FB: decent runblocker but nothing much else to write home about

WR: #1 is a VERY talented route runner with some good moves after the catch ; #2 is a true freshman with 90 spectacular catch and the best receiver on my roster at catching the ball in traffic (87) - have some height but no real speed (fastest guy is 88 speed/90 acceleration) - none of my guys are spectacular at catching the ball though (78 is the highest catch among them)

TE: only have 1 available to me (other one is absolutely terrible anyway but I redshirted him) and he's definitely nothing to write home about in the speed department but he's a nasty blocker with decent catch/catching in traffic (77/78)

OL: some talent but it's definitely a bit rough around the edges (low to mid 80s in most of all categories with my RT being the best)


What I'd like to know is what offense best fits my personnel? I'm usually a pro style tight formation kind of guy, but with only one TE, I'm a bit limited in what I can do there (and putting my FB at the #2 TE position pretty much makes it where I can't throw to him at all and he's just really not that good at that position). I was thinking about going more I-form, Strong-I, Weak-I stuff with maybe some Maryland or Power-I stuff as well but I'm really not sure if that's a good idea with how mediocre my runblocking is.

Then I thought about going more spread formations with lots of passing, but then none of my receivers are all that great at catching the ball either so I'm not sure what direction to go.

Maybe try a Multiple book that doesn't have any 2 TE sets and has limited option plays. Might be good to get a book that has the Wildcat with the HB talent you have.

I know you said your line is not great at run blocking, are they clearly better at pass blocking? If so, you may consider the Spread or Air Raid or R&S. If not, I wouldn't worry with the line, I'd just look at my skill guys for the answer.

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Originally Posted by steelerfan

Maybe try a Multiple book that doesn't have any 2 TE sets and has limited option plays. Might be good to get a book that has the Wildcat with the HB talent you have.

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I had the same talent last season and went with the Auburn playbook because I had a dual threat QB so I definitely know what you're talking about there. My 2nd string RB was a beast in those Wildcat setups and as a WR on the auto motion option plays and such.

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Originally Posted by steelerfan

I know you said your line is not great at run blocking, are they clearly better at pass blocking? If so, you may consider the Spread or Air Raid or R&S. If not, I wouldn't worry with the line, I'd just look at my skill guys for the answer.

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It's really a mixed bag. I tried to set it up so that my better pass blockers are on the left side and my better runblockers are on the right side, but it's really just a mixed bag.

LT - PBK 77 RBK 76 IBL 76 RBS 80 RBF 83 PBS 82 PBF 81
LG - PBK 91 RBK 88 IBL 89 RBS 90 RBF 88 PBS 77 PBF 81
OC - PBK 93 RBK 85 IBL 76 RBS 82 RBF 89 PBS 78 PBF 80
RG - PBK 76 RBK 77 IBL 71 RBS 85 RBF 84 PBS 76 PBF 77
RT - PBK 94 RBK 89 IBL 86 RBS 85 RBF 87 PBS 87 PBF 83

Like I said, decent, but really a mixed bag of decent guys. Sadly, most of them are upperclassmen so it's gonna be tough sledding next season as well.


I've definitely tried out some Multiple books, but it's hard going through the game and not knowing what some of the offenses even are, much less not knowing what's in them.

Have you looked over G's playbook spreadsheet? That might help you find a Multiple book that doesn't use much 2 TE sets. I think that's where I'd start. I'd use the spreadsheet, find all the Multiple books, eliminate ones without the Wildcat, then narrow it further by dropping any with a lot of 2 TE sets. If you have anything left after going through that process (lol), take them into practice and see what you like.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by steelerfan

Have you looked over G's playbook spreadsheet? That might help you find a Multiple book that doesn't use much 2 TE sets. I think that's where I'd start. I'd use the spreadsheet, find all the Multiple books, eliminate ones without the Wildcat, then narrow it further by dropping any with a lot of 2 TE sets. If you have anything left after going through that process (lol), take them into practice and see what you like.

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Oh damn. I forgot about G's spreadsheet.

Thanks for the suggestions steeler.

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Originally Posted by morsdraconis

Oh damn. I forgot about G's spreadsheet.

Thanks for the suggestions steeler.

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No worries. Let us know what you find.

So, I've found two different playbooks that I think would work well for me.

Run Balanced

Florida State

My only issue is both have some formations in them that I won't be using and the Florida State playbook doesn't have the Power-I formation which I freakin' LOVE in the Run Balanced playbook.

The breakdown of the formations goes like this:

Florida State

Ace - Big
Ace - Bunch Base
Ace - F Pair Twins
Ace - Slot Flex
Ace - Y-Trips
I-Form - Normal
I-Form - Tight
I-Form - Twins Flex
Pistol - 4WR Trio
Shotgun - 5WR Flex
Shotgun - Bunch
Shotgun - Normal
Shotgun - Normal Flex Wk
Shotgun - Split Slot
Shotgun - Spread
Shotgun - Trio Open
Shotgun - Y-Trips HB Wk
Weak I - Twins Flex


The Florida State playbook has some great stuff. Ace Bunch Base is a great formation with some automotion to give you the 2 back look with your FB lined up at the normal TE flex spot and your TE lined up in the middle bunch spot. It has this weird setup though where the last 5 plays in this formation have the third WR lined up at the TE spot and the TE lined up at the FB spot of the bunch giving you the conventional Bunch formation look for those 5 plays (End Around, PA Receiver Slide, HB Slash, Corner Strike, and Flanker Drive).

Ace F Pair Twins is another interesting formation in the playbook as it has the FB lined up at the Twin TE spot on the strong side and the Twin WRs on the weak side giving you a balanced formation. It lacks a pitch out play but does have Dive, Zone, and Stretch plays as well as H back motioning in for a Weak Zone and Counter Strong play (as well as PAs off of both looks) with one being the PA off of the weak Zone play resulting in a Z spot play (VERY cool stuff). Even has a Bubble Screen and Fake Bubble HB Draw play in there as well which are always nice to have.

Also has some great I-Form Twins Flex and Weak I Twins Flex stuff that are some of my favorite formations and plays like: I Form Twins Flex China Special, I Form Twins Flex HB Blast, I Form Twins Flex Flanker Curl, Weak I Twins Flex X Dig (great seam fly pattern combined with a mesh concept with the deep dig route by X and the shallow crossing route by the TE with a leaking HB to the middle on the curl), and Weak I Twins Flex Toss Weak.

Really the only issue is the amount of Shotgun plays and how reliant those formations are on a QB with some wheels (and how most of the passing plays requires more time than my offensive line will probably give me) though I REALLY like the Slant Bubble play in Shotgun Spread as well as the Post Hi-Lo play out of the same formation and the HB Direct snap play is definitely an interesting wrinkle.

Overall, I really like some of the concepts presented in the book, but it's a bit limiting in what formations I'm probably going to use.


Run Balanced

Ace - Big
Ace - Slot
Ace - Twin TE Slot
Ace - Y-Trips
I-Form - Big
I-Form - Normal
I-Form - Twin WR
Jumbo T - Big
Power I - Weak
Shotgun - Bunch HB Str
Shotgun - Split Slot
Shotgun - Spread Flex
Shotgun - Y-Trips HB Wk
Strong I - Twins
Weak I - Normal

The Run Balanced playbook is a pro style smashmouth football orgasm. Power I Weak is one of my favorite formations in this game. It's disgusting what you can do with that formation with just 9 plays. The Double Cross play out of that formation is Man Coverage's worst nightmare, especially with talented HBs that can stretch the field and catch the ball. Don't much care for the HB Screen play in this formation though as you have to really throw it early for it to have any real setup at all because the lineman don't run far enough outside to act like a normal screen play (it's more a quick swing pass with blockers than a true screen play. The formation is definitely missing a zone read play or pitch play to the 2nd RB to the strong side of the formation but, overall, it's a VERY fun formation to use.

Also included is the Jumbo T Big Formation that is another VERY fun formation to use. While definitely more of a running formation than a passing formation, the different directions that you can run the ball with this formation makes it VERY difficult to stop.

Normal Strong I Twins boasts yet again one of my favorite passing plays in China Special and while missing my favorite running play (HB Blast) in the formation, it has another beautiful play in Drive using one of the fundamental route combos in the shallow crossing route and the deep dig route to abuse zone coverage over the middle. Adding to the passing concepts is the Deep Comeback play that gives you the Slant to curl route by the TE to beat zone over the middle along with the deep comeback route by the flanker combined with the inside post route to attack the deep middle of the field with the HB leaking into the weak side flats to keep the defense honest; overall, a truly spectacular passing play.

The issue with this playbook is the reliance on a dual threat QB for the undercenter formations like I-Form Twins that has numerous option plays in it and an option passing play as well as formations like Shotgun Bunch HB Strong that only has one non-QB option involved running play in it (a HB Sweep play to the weak side of the formation).


So, that's where I'm at now. I've pretty much settled on one of those playbooks but they both have things in them that I don't like and they both have things in them that I LOVE. Hard for me to choose especially since it seems like the H back stuff in the Florida State playbook can sometimes be inconsistent in the blocking department.

i'm also looking for a new playbook. i've been using usc in an offline dynasty (along with their playbook) and am desiring a change after 3 years. i'd like to stay with something thats primarily run based- lots of ace, i form, strong/weak i, and few shotgun formations, and a wildcat formation too... i'm very terrible at running the option, so i'd like to avoid those plays as much as possible.

i have 2 very fast qb's (mid 80's speed) with mid-high 80's arm strength and accuracy. also one qb that fits the mold of a pocket passer- high 80's arm strength and accuracy
6 runningbacks on the roster- 2 fairly balanced, 2 speed, 2 power backs
fullbacks- fairly good blockers and pass catchers....dont get a lot of opportunities to run the ball
receivers are big and fast. everyone is a minimum of 90 speed
tight ends are fairly good blockers and pass catchers
o-line is pretty balanced- not really anyone who's a pass or run blocking specialists

Wisconsin and Stanford are two GREAT balanced playbooks with good running and passing concepts (and a little bit of shotgun in each but no wildcat).

Most teams that have the wildcat are predicated on the option running game, unfortunately (or, at least, the ones that I can think of).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by morsdraconis

Wisconsin and Stanford are two GREAT balanced playbooks with good running and passing concepts (and a little bit of shotgun in each but no wildcat).

Most teams that have the wildcat are predicated on the option running game, unfortunately (or, at least, the ones that I can think of).

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thanks for those suggestions mors.....guess this just furthers the need for some kind of playbook creator

MVP, out of curiosity ... why would you want/bother to have mid-80s SPD QBs if you don't want to run the option? Unless those QBs were already on the roster, and then c'est la vie.

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Originally Posted by baseballplyrmvp

thanks for those suggestions mors.....guess this just furthers the need for some kind of playbook creator

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If there were a playbook creator where I could choose my formations from those that already exist and then choose my plays within each formation from all the plays already built for those formations I would one happy NCAA player.

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Originally Posted by JeffHCross

MVP, out of curiosity ... why would you want/bother to have mid-80s SPD QBs if you don't want to run the option? Unless those QBs were already on the roster, and then c'est la vie.

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i am absolutely terrible at running any kind of option- zone read, triple option, speed option, etc....i swear, every time i try to run it, it always results in a turnover. lol

but my recruiting style for qb's (while playing as a top school) is to look for guys with a minimum of B throw power and B- accuracy. speed isnt even something i look at, but it just so happed that those recruits had great arm strength and accuracy, as well as terrific speed, and above average awareness. plus i was listed as their top school, so i was kind of obligated to go after them....