Warrior General Games

Originally posted by juggernaut56
i've liked towering man, swat ball combo for a while. salvaged a few dot's while dcing this way. been testing this out since around season 20. one dt had 48 pd's in usapl his first season after the change with a below average build. i have two de's set up to knock down passes currently. to me, speed seems to be key. there is a certain sweet spot where he can stay in a lane longer and without being blocked as the ot is setting the pocket, quicker throws with slower guys.... and the de wouldn't get blocked at all for the easy swat. my de's also have diving tackle..... with the extra jumping they have, figured it couldn't hurt.

http://goallineblitz.com/game/player.pl?player_id=3085261
http://goallineblitz.com/game/player.pl?player_id=3213641

This goes along with what I've read elsewhere. Having a lower speed helps because it prevents engagement from occuring. It appears you can't swat a ball while engaged with a blocker, or at least it's harder. That'd be a great question for the next Q&A.

As for what Time Trial recommended, I agree that an investment in Wall might have helped. The issue wasn't tackling for my guys, it was the "knocked around" effect that occurs when engaged with an O-lineman on running plays. It was quite common for my guys to get thier dot jerked to a bad position while being blocked. They stopped runners when the runners got to them commonly, it's just that it'd be 2-4 yards downfield instead of at the line or 1 yard. If the above discussed "lower speed is better for deflection opportunities" idea is true though, first step would be a big no-no for a deflect build. Low speed to cover screens wouldn't be harmful either, since even with my current builds, I find that DEs will deflect many passes to the flats. In fact, it's entirely possible that this helps prove that avoiding engagement with linemen is key for deflections, since they don't get blocked on screens during the throw. My DEs have always deflected x2 or x3 more passes than my DTs, purely because they swat down balls to the shallow outside.

Originally posted by Galithor
I'm convinced that at 6'8", there's nothing you can do to not get beaten on the line during a running play on a regular basis. At the pro level against solid opposition anyhow. Sure my guys got thier stats on pass deflections and did well enough on other typical D-line stats... but in real games against tough teams, they were rarely factors.

I don't think you have to be 6'8" by any means to use towering man effectively. Here's a guy I built awhile back, only had towering man on him for a couple of seasons and only had 3 swat ball, but he did okay at 6'3" deflecting passes and was solid against the run: http://goallineblitz.com/game/player.pl?player_id=1925003

Originally posted by TrevJo
I don't think you have to be 6'8" by any means to use towering man effectively. Here's a guy I built awhile back, only had towering man on him for a couple of seasons and only had 3 swat ball, but he did okay at 6'3" deflecting passes and was solid against the run: http://goallineblitz.com/game/player.pl?player_id=1925003

It's not that you NEED to be 6'8" to use it... it's just that it works better the taller you are. I've used this effect at other positions (like Power WR) with quality results (as far as it helping with INT's, catches, and PD's/swat ball). I agree you can be 6'2" and still be effective... I just believe the taller you are, the more effective your dot will be.

How important is vision for a DT or DE to swat a ball at the line?

Originally posted by Theo Wizzago
It's not that you NEED to be 6'8" to use it... it's just that it works better the taller you are. I've used this effect at other positions (like Power WR) with quality results (as far as it helping with INT's, catches, and PD's/swat ball). I agree you can be 6'2" and still be effective... I just believe the taller you are, the more effective your dot will be.

you need to be 6' 3" to have the Towering man skill, so 6'2" you cannot have the skill

Originally posted by jcbroman
How important is vision for a DT or DE to swat a ball at the line?

not as important as jumping.

Originally posted by cymaddux31
you need to be 6' 3" to have the Towering man skill, so 6'2" you cannot have the skill

Didn't catch that even though I knew that. Good one Cy.

Originally posted by cymaddux31
not as important as jumping.

So what are the most important skills on a DT for pass deflecting. Obviously jumping, but a couple of threads have said agility is important too. Anybody know the order of importance for skills on pass deflections?

Hmm... order of importance... I'd guess vision is up there. Ya can't deflect what you can't see coming. Gotta pass the vision check first to see the pass coming. Then, perhaps, jumping is #2... gotta get up high enough to deflect the pass. I'm just not sure that even though those 2 skills are in order of ACTION... they might not be in order of importance. Just thinking out loud here so anyone else with a better viewpoint feel free to drop in yer 2 centavos.

I think the reason agility would be important is to be able to break the pass block, especially on the inside. You probably get a penalty to knocking the pass down if you are fully blocked at the time.

I use big strong players to knock the ball down, most of them are using a power pass rush tactic to keep them from moving to the outside. In that case, I would say that strength is very important for the kinds of pass deflect builds I use.

I don't think jumping is even over 60 on any of my PD linemen.

Originally posted by Time Trial
I think the reason agility would be important is to be able to break the pass block, especially on the inside. You probably get a penalty to knocking the pass down if you are fully blocked at the time.

I use big strong players to knock the ball down, most of them are using a power pass rush tactic to keep them from moving to the outside. In that case, I would say that strength is very important for the kinds of pass deflect builds I use.

I don't think jumping is even over 60 on any of my PD linemen.

How many PDs are we talkin here?

Doesn't seem like a few PDs would be worth the general suckiness of power pass rush.

Originally posted by Fumanchuchu
How many PDs are we talkin here?

Doesn't seem like a few PDs would be worth the general suckiness of power pass rush.

What the DEs lack in sacks, they make up for in hurries and PDs.

The DE linked in the OP is averaging 30 PDs a season since he started using towering man. Considering how awful my secondary is right now, any pass that doesn't make it passed the LoS is 70% likely to have saved a long gain.

Originally posted by Fumanchuchu
How many PDs are we talkin here?

Doesn't seem like a few PDs would be worth the general suckiness of power pass rush.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.

Adding some deflection ability to purpose built run stuffers is actually pretty easy to do, and probably not a bad idea. You are bound to occasionally get in a situation where the offense will try to pass against your run D.

I don't think I'd ever recommend building a power pass rusher with the hopes of getting deflections tho.