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+---- Thread: *Building the Ultimate Running Team (/showthread.php?tid=28664)
*Building the Ultimate Running Team - charlit - 01-03-2021
With the transition to a new sim and the creation of new archetypes, teams could go a lot of different directions when constructing their rosters next season. What if a team, instead of having the goal of winning games, simply wants to be the best rushing team in ISFL history? This is what this article sets out to answer. Simply put, what archetypes and positions would a team want to be a great rushing team?
The first position we will look at is QB. These are the five different QB archetypes: Gunslinger, Pocket Passer, Field General, Scrambler, and Mobile. The two options that stick out for a team that wants to run the ball are the Scrambler and Mobile archetypes. Both of these builds have a trait that bodes well with running the ball. This trait is called “Dual Threat”, defined as making it so the QB “scrambles more often. Much faster when running with the ball”. This trait seems very important to helping the run game since more runs should = more rushing yards. The dual threat trait also only costs 50 TPE, so it's an easy buy for any team that wants to run the ball. The next question to ask is, what’s the difference between the Scrambler and Mobile archetype. The big difference I see is that the scrambler archetype has a max speed of 100, while the mobile archetype has a max speed of 95. Both of these are high, but the scrambler’s max speed is higher than that of most of the defender archetype’s max speed. In fact, only the cover corner archetype has an equal speed of 100. Meanwhile, the mobile archetype has a max strength of 80, compared to the scrambler archetype’s max speed of 65. Still, the 100 speed is too important to pass up, so a QB with the scrambler archetype should best help a team rush the ball.
The next position I will discuss is running back. With the change to a new sim, hopefully running backs will be able to break off more plays for huge gains. Currently, the leader in the ISFL in rushing yards has a long of 14. This isn’t an anomaly, as the longest rush of anyone in the top 4 in rushing yards is 19 yards. In order to break off long runs in the new sim, the speed back archetype is perfect. This archetype has a max speed of 100, as well as multiple traits that increase a player’s speed when rushing the ball. With this team having two running backs, having the other RB have the power archetype could create a dynamic duo. The power running back has higher strength than the speed archetype, while also having a max speed of 95. Pairing one RB of the speed archetype with a power archetype running back should result in a lot of rushing yards!
Now, let’s discuss the most exciting position on the offense. This position is the offensive line. The transition to a new sim should place a higher emphasis on having offensive linemen. With our current sim, human offensive linemen were often exclusively played at the tackle position. This should no longer be the case, and a team having 5 human offensive linemen could be a much bigger boost to the team than it would be in the past. There are three offensive linemen archetypes: mauler, athletic, and balanced. In order to be a great rushing team, having 5 offensive linemen with the mauler archetype is a must. First, these players will have the highest strength of all the archetypes. They are also tied for having the highest max run blocking of any archetype. Having high strength and run blocking should help them clear holes for both their QB and RBs to run through. However, while the mauler archetype has the right attributes to help a team run the ball, what truly sets them apart is their size. These players stand at a whopping 6’7ft and 325 lbs. While I don’t know how size factors into the new sim, one would imagine these players are going to be hard to get past. And, with pancakes in the new sim actually having an impact instead of being just for aesthetics, these players will hopefully be the best at placing defenders on the ground. Offensive linemen also have access to a trait that should greatly improve their effectiveness. This trait is called “Tenacious Blocker”, and costs 150 TPE. This trait is simply described as making players “ much better at blocking”. One would imagine that having 5 offensive linemen with the tenacious blocker trait would do wonders for the running game. While perhaps not realistic, having 5 offensive linemen with the mauler archetype who have max stats + all traits would make the running game transcendental. Considering it costs 1245 TPE to max all stats + buy all traits for the mauler archetype, perhaps if a team had all of its best defensive players covert to the OL this could be close to possible? Remember the goal of this hypothetical team is not to win games, but to have as many rushing yards as possible, So, perhaps having a defense composed of 50 TPE players so the opposing offense can quickly score is for the best.
Another position that is important for running the ball is tight ends. While there are three TE archetypes, the only one that matters to us is the blocking archetype. With this team ideally running as few passing plays as possible to maximize rushing yards, the ability for these TEs to run routes matters little. What we want to focus on is the fact that blocking TEs are fairly competent as blocking and are much better at blocking than other TE archetypes. The blocking TE archetype has a run blocking max of 85, and a strength max of 90. While I don’t know how TE’s lower weight and height factor into their ability to block, judging off their attributes alone, they don’t seem much worse than offensive linemen. The blocking TE archetype also has the trait “blocking TE”. This trait is defined as making players “Much better at blocking. Less likely to be targeted with a pass.” Being less likely to be targeted with a pass is important in case the team accidentally runs a passing play. One would hope that if it’s possible to run 3 TE sets in the new sim, then the QB will likely just take off running if a passing play is called if all TEs have the blocking TE trait. These TEs would also do a great job blocking down field once their QB starts scrambling.
The last position I want to talk about is wide receiver. You may be wondering, why does WR matter for a team that only wants to run the ball? My answer is to this question is: you want to keep the defense guessing. If the opposing defense sees that your team doesn’t even have any WRs, they will focus on shutting down the run. Now, if the team has a single speed receiver, they could hopefully run some deep routes and draw defenders away from the ball. Perhaps the offense could even throw in a couple of passing plays to make sure the defense at least tries to also defend the pass.
Now, here is what the hypothetical roster of this elite running team would look like when on the field.
QB: Scrambler
RB: Power or Speed
WR: Speed
TE: Blocking, Blocking, Blocking
OL: LT: Mauler, LG: Mauler, C: Mauler, RG: Mauler, RT: Mauler
There you have it, 11 players that have the sole goal of getting as many rushing yards as possible. This team could rotate between their speed and power back depending on the situation. This was a fun article to write, even if it may not be realistic to see any ISFL teams construct their roster like this. It’s awesome how the new sim and archetypes allow teams to construct their teams in a lot of new ways. I’m excited to see how everything plays out next season, and if any teams try to specialize when constructing their rosters (i.e., focusing on the passing or running game).
RE: Building the Ultimate Running Team - mithrandir - 01-03-2021
Didn't even mention fullbacks