“The best defense is a good offense.” – Military Adage
Without dispute, to win games you will need an offense that can put points on the board, sometimes in a hurry. Finding the right balance between run and pass will depend on the personnel you have, injuries to players during the season, and the players you acquire in the post season through the draft and free agency.
If you’ve managed your cap well, you should have no difficulty protecting your most important players, signing a free agent or two, and getting your rookies signed. If you haven’t managed your cap, or the team you are running has a cap that is a disaster, you’ll need to make some difficult decisions to get it under control again. Remember, competitiveness ensures you have ready cash for coaching salaries and player bonuses, ready cash ensures you remain competitive.
The Offense
The offense consists of five areas you need to focus on when building your team; quarterbacks, offensive line, running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends. Knowing how each area fits in your franchise’s scheme will help you build an effective and efficient offense that will perform well on game day throughout the season.
Quarterbacks
Hands down the most important position and most expensive position on a football team is the quarterback. Plan on spending the most time and cap space finding and keeping a franchise quarterback. Franchise quarterbacks elevate the play of the team around them and run the offense. When looking for a QB, look for size, Throwing Power (THP), Short-Medium-Deep Accuracy (SAC, MAC, DAC), Break Sack, and Throw Under Pressure (TUP). Throwing Power is one of the most if not most important ability to scout in a potential QB because THP rarely changes regardless of the number of development points devoted to “Strong Arm Quarterback”. Every other attribute on the list develops as you develop your QB through training and XP earned through playing games. Look for a THP of at least 90 if not higher. If you have a QB that has the strength to make all the throws, you can develop their Accuracy and Awareness.
Offensive Line
Having a great QB who can put the ball on a dime at 80 yards means nothing if he’s always running for his life behind an offensive line that is patchwork at best. Regardless of position on the offensive line, a good offensive lineman starts with strength. Controlling the line of scrimmage often depends on the raw physical strength of the front five. Start by drafting or signing offensive linemen that have good size and a minimum strength of 85. You will also want to pay attention to Run Block Strength (RBS), Run Block Footwork (RBF), Pass Block Strength (PBS), Pass Block Footwork (PBF), and Impact Blocking (IB). Toughness is a good one to look at but not critical.
Running Backs
Getting a good running back or running back tandem will allow you to control the clock, neutralize blitz-happy defenses while wearing them down, which allows you to set up the play action pass. The type of running game you want to establish depends on your personality. Personally, I love to have a “two headed monster” style of running game similar to what the Steelers, 49ers, and Dolphins ran for years. This style of game play relies on having a power back as my #1 running back and an elusive running back as my #2. The power back serves as the hammer while the elusive back serves as a change of pace back that can catch defenses off guard after the power back has ground them down. For your power back you will want a bigger running back with good ratings for Break Tackle, Carrying, Strength, Trucking, and Vision. Your elusive back should have good Acceleration, Agility, Carrying, Change of Direction, and Juke abilities. Regardless of which back you want, they should have high Injury, Stamina, and Toughness ratings.
Wide Receivers
Being able to make a big play not only makes the game exciting, it can keep your team alive in close games. When looking at prospective receivers you need to look beyond a receiver’s speed rating. Having a receiver with a speed rating of 95 means almost nothing if they have an acceleration of 84. The two abilities that should always be a factor when signing a receiver are acceleration and change of direction. Acceleration serves two purposes. First, it gives a receiver a quick first step off the line of scrimmage and possibly an advantage over the defender. Second, acceleration allows receivers to reach top speed faster when they come out of their cuts on routes or once they release from the press of a defender. The second rating you should look at is Change of Direction. Change of Direction determines how fast the receiver makes a cut on their route before they can accelerate to finish running the route. Acceleration and Change of Direction together can make a receiver of average speed invaluable in the slot where he may line up opposite the Nickel or Dime back, or even a fast linebacker, and could result in a mismatch. Release and Catching are the final two attributes you should look at when reviewing WRs. Release helps determine how fast a receiver can beat press coverage and move into their route and Catching is critical if you want your receiver to be the go to for your franchise QB.
Tight Ends
Finding the right pair of tight ends for your offense depends on what type of offense you run. Do you have a bruising, power run scheme similar to the Tennessee Titans? Maybe you run more of a West Coast Style Offense like the Eagles or the Chiefs where the TE is more receiver than blocker? Typically, I try to have one blocking TE and one receiving TE to give my team a little more flexibility on offense. For blocking TEs, you should look at strength, pass blocking, run blocking, and impact blocking. Speed, release and route running are all secondary abilities. Blocking TEs match up against linebackers and pass rushing defensive ends, so their skills need to reflect these situations. Receiving TEs on the other hand need good speed, acceleration, catching, change of direction, and release abilities. Receiving TEs often match up against linebackers and safeties in coverage and they need the ability to beat the press, create separation, and run medium and deep routes much like WRs.
Obviously, the strategies outlined above are only suggestions. Every team is different, every Madden player has their own style. This is just a tool to help you look in the right direction when putting together an offense for your franchise. In the end, it’s all about having fun and playing some Madden.
Regards,
Johncow
2cowsgaming.com 