04-02-2023, 01:20 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-04-2023, 06:43 PM by xenosthelegend. Edited 1 time in total.)
When I started my journey on ISFL earlier this week, I was completely directionless. I decided to make my character a tight end, because I wanted to make an all-around player who could age well and hang around to help a potential contending franchise. Now that I've learned about how this game works, I've found my inspiration: the Blocking Tight End archetype.
According to @jollyjiggs post, the second-rarest archetype is blocking tight end. That's crazy to me, considering how many blocking tight ends there are in real life. There are like a half-dozen good pass-catching tight ends on the planet at any given time.
After having a conversation about EPA/Target by position in the Discord, I really do think there's value to a blocking tight end, even in the passing game, as long as they have the Blocking TE trait that states that it makes it so the tight end is targeted less on passing plays. It doesn't mean that the tight end is running fewer routes (ie: he's not pass blocking more so you don't have to spend more on pass blocking) just that the quarterback is going to look another way. That's great, as most passes are out of three-receiver looks anyway and receivers have a much higher EPA/Target than the tight end position. The answer to improving a passing offense's efficiency might not be a good tight end, but deleting the tight end from the list of potential targets.
Enter: Suave Cruz.
Cruz is going to be my test case in seeing if this is the truth. I don't know when the last tight end who had the Blocking TE trait played, but there isn't one currently. I am very interested in seeing how it impacts the tight end target percentage numbers. My ultimate goal is to either set the all-time ISFL tight end pancakes record (which I'm trying to calculate currently) or a franchise's all-time pancakes record for a tight end during this exercise.
Below is my three-year plan on how I plan to get Cruz good enough that he can actually see the field with his off-meta skillset in the ISFL.
Year 1
The most important thing to me is getting the Blocking TE trait. It doesn't matter how good I can block if I'm exposed as a pass-catcher and I'm not going to be good enough to be solid on both sides of position early on. The thresholds for that trait are 80 in strength, 70 in pass blocking and 70 in run blocking. I'm still not fully convinced that pass blocking is really needed for elite tight ends. When I looked into the all-time pancake numbers for DSFL tight ends, only a couple of them ever had a season in which they gave up more than two sacks. Even at the ISFL level, it appears that running backs give up way more sacks than tight ends do. I think it's much more likely that tight ends are out there running routes while running backs are in the protection than the other way around. The hope is that Blocking TE deletes the tight end as a target on those plays, leading to a focus on the receivers who are better catchers, faster and further down the field. I'm hoping I can win a ring off of the back of the other pass-catchers on my team.
I'm going to work under the assumption that I'll be able to bring in 170 TPE per year. I have no idea if that's too low or too high. I was told that's about average, but I could have been told wrong.
For my first 170 TPE, I'm going to use that to get me to the 80 strength treshold and 70 run blocking threshold that will allow me to get Blocking TE. I'm still going to need to bump up my pass blocking, which can only go up to 60 if I have 170 TPE allotted for the season.
Here's what I hope Cruz looks like going into next offseason:
Year 2
My understanding is that a player of this caliber will probably get drafted, even if it's later in the draft. In Year 2, I expect that I'll probably be sent back down to the DSFL, as I won't be close to being good enough to be fielded at the ISFL level. My intelligence is too low to even take advantage of Blocking TE, as I'll be a magnet for penalties. I won't be able to catch anything sent my way and if a ball is thrown to me, I'll either drop or fumble it. This is going to take some time to make a viable blocking tight end.
Adding another 170 TPE sounds great, but I'll only have access to another 80 due to the TPE cap at the DSFL level. The good news is that a banked 90 TPE means that I'll basically be able to afford Blocking TE the moment I actually join a ISFL roster (as a role player.)
The way I'll spend the 80 TPE is by getting my intelligence to a baseline 60, my endurance to a baseline 60, bringing my pass blocking to my threshold mark of 70 and slightly improving strength and run blocking. Below is what I hope to look like after Year 2:
Year 3
With a banked 80 TPE and another 170 expected TPE coming in, I'm hoping that Year 3 is when my development really starts to kick off and I can contribute to a roster.
I'll be able to buy Blocking TE at this point and bring my strength to a maximum value of 90, which should help me be the fiercest blocking tight end known to pancakes. Even after that, I should have another 45 extra TPE to spend elsewhere. Let me know what you would add TPE to on the player builder below, as it's about the last thing I have mapped out:
At this point, I should be able to contribute as a blocking TE2 who dissuades the quarterback to pass to him and/or a blocking FB who dissuades the quarterback to pass to him. Everything is up from here, as I hope to develop as a pass-catcher and as an overall player from this point on.
--
If I understand regression correctly, here's what the TPE would look like for a 12-year ISFL career for my blocking TE, assuming I bring in 170 TPE per year:
Year 1: 170 TPE to start season->340 (DSFL sent down)
Year 2: 340->510 (role player)
Year 3: 510->680 (role player)
Year 4: 680->850 (role player/starter?)
Year 5: 850->1020 (starter)
Year 6: 1020->1190 (starter)
Year 7: 952->1122 (starter)
Year 8: 842->1012 (starter)
Year 9: 708->878 (starter?)
Year 10: 527->697 (role player?)
Year 11: 348->518 (role player)
Year 12: 207->377 (role player)
Even in Year 12 with the Blocking TE ability, I should be able to look like this by the time the playoffs start:
Hopefully, on a cheap contract with the ability to dissuade quarterbacks from throwing to me, I can still hang around at that point.
--
If you have any suggestions for me, please let me know! If I'm wrong about something, please let me know! I really want to break some sort of record with my first player, so any guidance helps. This is my plan for my player, as it stands today. I think the ISFL's contract structures can potentially lead to some really interesting contracts for lower-level role players later in their careers, if users are willing to play a more limited role in an attempt to chase rings. Maybe I'll write about that on another day.
According to @jollyjiggs post, the second-rarest archetype is blocking tight end. That's crazy to me, considering how many blocking tight ends there are in real life. There are like a half-dozen good pass-catching tight ends on the planet at any given time.
After having a conversation about EPA/Target by position in the Discord, I really do think there's value to a blocking tight end, even in the passing game, as long as they have the Blocking TE trait that states that it makes it so the tight end is targeted less on passing plays. It doesn't mean that the tight end is running fewer routes (ie: he's not pass blocking more so you don't have to spend more on pass blocking) just that the quarterback is going to look another way. That's great, as most passes are out of three-receiver looks anyway and receivers have a much higher EPA/Target than the tight end position. The answer to improving a passing offense's efficiency might not be a good tight end, but deleting the tight end from the list of potential targets.
Enter: Suave Cruz.
Cruz is going to be my test case in seeing if this is the truth. I don't know when the last tight end who had the Blocking TE trait played, but there isn't one currently. I am very interested in seeing how it impacts the tight end target percentage numbers. My ultimate goal is to either set the all-time ISFL tight end pancakes record (which I'm trying to calculate currently) or a franchise's all-time pancakes record for a tight end during this exercise.
Below is my three-year plan on how I plan to get Cruz good enough that he can actually see the field with his off-meta skillset in the ISFL.
Year 1
The most important thing to me is getting the Blocking TE trait. It doesn't matter how good I can block if I'm exposed as a pass-catcher and I'm not going to be good enough to be solid on both sides of position early on. The thresholds for that trait are 80 in strength, 70 in pass blocking and 70 in run blocking. I'm still not fully convinced that pass blocking is really needed for elite tight ends. When I looked into the all-time pancake numbers for DSFL tight ends, only a couple of them ever had a season in which they gave up more than two sacks. Even at the ISFL level, it appears that running backs give up way more sacks than tight ends do. I think it's much more likely that tight ends are out there running routes while running backs are in the protection than the other way around. The hope is that Blocking TE deletes the tight end as a target on those plays, leading to a focus on the receivers who are better catchers, faster and further down the field. I'm hoping I can win a ring off of the back of the other pass-catchers on my team.
I'm going to work under the assumption that I'll be able to bring in 170 TPE per year. I have no idea if that's too low or too high. I was told that's about average, but I could have been told wrong.
For my first 170 TPE, I'm going to use that to get me to the 80 strength treshold and 70 run blocking threshold that will allow me to get Blocking TE. I'm still going to need to bump up my pass blocking, which can only go up to 60 if I have 170 TPE allotted for the season.
Here's what I hope Cruz looks like going into next offseason:
Year 2
My understanding is that a player of this caliber will probably get drafted, even if it's later in the draft. In Year 2, I expect that I'll probably be sent back down to the DSFL, as I won't be close to being good enough to be fielded at the ISFL level. My intelligence is too low to even take advantage of Blocking TE, as I'll be a magnet for penalties. I won't be able to catch anything sent my way and if a ball is thrown to me, I'll either drop or fumble it. This is going to take some time to make a viable blocking tight end.
Adding another 170 TPE sounds great, but I'll only have access to another 80 due to the TPE cap at the DSFL level. The good news is that a banked 90 TPE means that I'll basically be able to afford Blocking TE the moment I actually join a ISFL roster (as a role player.)
The way I'll spend the 80 TPE is by getting my intelligence to a baseline 60, my endurance to a baseline 60, bringing my pass blocking to my threshold mark of 70 and slightly improving strength and run blocking. Below is what I hope to look like after Year 2:
Year 3
With a banked 80 TPE and another 170 expected TPE coming in, I'm hoping that Year 3 is when my development really starts to kick off and I can contribute to a roster.
I'll be able to buy Blocking TE at this point and bring my strength to a maximum value of 90, which should help me be the fiercest blocking tight end known to pancakes. Even after that, I should have another 45 extra TPE to spend elsewhere. Let me know what you would add TPE to on the player builder below, as it's about the last thing I have mapped out:
At this point, I should be able to contribute as a blocking TE2 who dissuades the quarterback to pass to him and/or a blocking FB who dissuades the quarterback to pass to him. Everything is up from here, as I hope to develop as a pass-catcher and as an overall player from this point on.
--
If I understand regression correctly, here's what the TPE would look like for a 12-year ISFL career for my blocking TE, assuming I bring in 170 TPE per year:
Year 1: 170 TPE to start season->340 (DSFL sent down)
Year 2: 340->510 (role player)
Year 3: 510->680 (role player)
Year 4: 680->850 (role player/starter?)
Year 5: 850->1020 (starter)
Year 6: 1020->1190 (starter)
Year 7: 952->1122 (starter)
Year 8: 842->1012 (starter)
Year 9: 708->878 (starter?)
Year 10: 527->697 (role player?)
Year 11: 348->518 (role player)
Year 12: 207->377 (role player)
Even in Year 12 with the Blocking TE ability, I should be able to look like this by the time the playoffs start:
Hopefully, on a cheap contract with the ability to dissuade quarterbacks from throwing to me, I can still hang around at that point.
--
If you have any suggestions for me, please let me know! If I'm wrong about something, please let me know! I really want to break some sort of record with my first player, so any guidance helps. This is my plan for my player, as it stands today. I think the ISFL's contract structures can potentially lead to some really interesting contracts for lower-level role players later in their careers, if users are willing to play a more limited role in an attempt to chase rings. Maybe I'll write about that on another day.