Madden 13: Play Recognition and Awareness Attributes broken down

[QuietStorm]

Off subject... What part of Chesapeake your from rleake?

[Champ]

Someone should make a list of the FAs with their adjusted THA. I just did a few of them in excel for my madden league with my friends because I was tired of playing with Ponder. I went with Billy Volek.

[rleake15]

It's been a while guys. I've been busy with work and going to get my Accounting degree. I'll try to get more data up as I have spare time, but this stuff takes a chunk of about 27 minutes per season of data (which equals about 4.5 hours for one position, one set up, per spreadsheet).

In response to some of the questions:
I've tested THA, TAS, TAD, TAM, THP, AWR, and PRC on user-controlled QB's and noted the responsivenss of each rating on gameplay. Each time I used Playmakers' All-Pro sliders on slow, normal, and fast gameplay with a speed threshold of 0, 27 (my preffered setting), 50, and 100. I do not lead throws when I test QB accuracy. The area-specific ratings (THP, TAS, TAM, TAD) have the greatest effect on user-QB gameplay. AWR and PRC seem to have little or no effect at all. I did note that a higher AWR rating, despite user control, allowed me to more consistently escape sacks with the right thumbstick once or twice per dropback (twice being VERY rare). With a lower AWR rating, I experienced somewhat uncharacteristic animations when using the right stick. That being said, I saw no noticeable difference on accuracy or the types of passes that were intercepted (ie- DB's dropped some wide open picks and they made some aerial acrobatic picks sometimes as well).

I'm excited to test gameplay effects on RB's and receivers of the AWR rating. Let me know some of your thoughts to that end.

[rleake15]

@QuietStorm - born in Portsmouth and went to school at Western Branch. Living in the Hickory/Great Bridge area now.

[JMeist]

Thanks for doing all this. Not sure if you've thought about offensive lineman but I swear awareness has to have an impact on them. For example take a look at Derek Sherrod on the LT on the Packers. Great all around blocker 85 in IMP, RB, and PB. Awareness is awful. Dude let's people fly by him. I believe he has decent accel too. Bryan Bulaga I believe may be the same case. Good blocker, not sure his awareness, but gives up a good amount of sacks.

[x0xHumblex0x]

It's been a while guys. I've been busy with work and going to get my Accounting degree. I'll try to get more data up as I have spare time, but this stuff takes a chunk of about 27 minutes per season of data (which equals about 4.5 hours for one position, one set up, per spreadsheet).

In response to some of the questions:
I've tested THA, TAS, TAD, TAM, THP, AWR, and PRC on user-controlled QB's and noted the responsivenss of each rating on gameplay. Each time I used Playmakers' All-Pro sliders on slow, normal, and fast gameplay with a speed threshold of 0, 27 (my preffered setting), 50, and 100. I do not lead throws when I test QB accuracy. The area-specific ratings (THP, TAS, TAM, TAD) have the greatest effect on user-QB gameplay. AWR and PRC seem to have little or no effect at all. I did note that a higher AWR rating, despite user control, allowed me to more consistently escape sacks with the right thumbstick once or twice per dropback (twice being VERY rare). With a lower AWR rating, I experienced somewhat uncharacteristic animations when using the right stick. That being said, I saw no noticeable difference on accuracy or the types of passes that were intercepted (ie- DB's dropped some wide open picks and they made some aerial acrobatic picks sometimes as well).

I'm excited to test gameplay effects on RB's and receivers of the AWR rating. Let me know some of your thoughts to that end.

nice work.............

[rleake15]

@ JMeist - I can tell you the impact of AWR on offensive lineman for sure. There just isn't enough time to run sim stats for that set of players on top of the current groups I still have in queue.

AWR, for any offensive lineman, affects his ability to read blocks (ie - see a defensive shift and adjust his blocking "route" accordingly). The effect is most noticeable on stunts, zone-down blocking, and delayed blitzes from linebackers, corners, or safeties. If you've ever had a delay blitz coming off the edge resulting in an untouched path to the QB, chances are you were the beneficiary or the victim of an offensive lineman with a bad AWR rating.

Many attribute this same feature to the footwork ratings, but this theory is incorrect. The PBF and RBF only affect the linemans' ability to use their ACC and AGI ratings to get to a spot. For example, a lineman with 80 AGI and 70 ACC seems like a great zone blocking lineman, but a poor RBF rating impedes his ability to use those features to get to the point of attack or to adjust to defensive changes. Similiarly, a high footwork rating doesn't help much if the lineman has poor AGI and/or ACC.

A good player to test this with is Redskins' LT Trent Williams. He has great physical attributes, average awareness, and superb footwork ratings. In CCM mode, the greatest improvement to his game is an increase in the AWR rating. With this change, I've noticed more consistency in his ability to read and react on run and pass blocking assignments.

Another good player to measure these ratings with is Ravens' RT Michael Oher. His PBF and AWR ratings are insufficient to handle a decent pass rush. He will, often times, neither see nor be able to adjust to blitzes from his side. As in real life, this can be mitigated with a heavy dose of "Hey diddle diddle, Ray Rice up the middle (and off tackle)" followed by an aerial assault via play action. Oher excels in run blocking and struggles less with pass blocking in one on one settings where he doesn't have to make a clutch decision on who to block.

In summary, the difference between AWR rating and the footwork/physical ratings is simply this:
AWR allows the AI lineman to "see" changes
Footwork/physical allows the lineman to get there

With a combination of 85 AWR, 85 PBF/RBF, 80 ACC, and 70 AGI you will almost never see free runs on your QB (barring a jailbreak blitz, nano blitz, etc.). Upon a quick examination of starting lineman for each team, I can tell you the best line resides in Baltimore or Boston (New England). Each player starting in the Ravens/Patriots' systems exhibits decent AWR, PBF, RBF, ACC, AGI ratings with a few exceptions. Understandably, these lineman also have high OVR ratings.

You'll notice I mentioned the Ravens' line here, but said above that Oher has a terrible AWR rating (68) and PBF rating (also 68). Again, there are exceptions to the rule, but there are also ways to use these bad ratings as an advantage against your opponent. I mentioned above the use of play action, but there are several measures to take the heat off of an underwhelming lineman. Use draw plays, option, read action, traps, counters, misdirections, and anything else at your disposal to put your lineman in a position not to excel but to avoid being overwhelmed by the defense. Lineman are not on the field to be playmakers (although they do make amazing plays sometimes).