Warrior General Games

When creating a defensive philosophy for a new team, what contributes to your decision on how to build it?

1. Do you build to stop the meta?
Currently the meta is S* HBs running. Are you build mainly run stuffers who can tackle? Is your defense geared towards stopping that awesome S* HB in your tier/league?

2. Do you build to stop the offenses in your league?
After you see who is in your rookie league, you know you will be facing them the rest of your teams career. Do you decide then which direction to go?

3. Do you build to stop the offenses in your tier?
After you see who is in your tier, you know you will be facing them the rest of your teams career. Do you decide then which direction to go?

4. Do you build towards your strengths?
If you, personally, are good at building a pass defense, do you build/manage mainly pass defenders? And vice versa for the run.

5. Do you build a balance defense?
Do you build a combo of run stuffers and pass defenders, not heavily over building towards one or the other? This is a solid way to build if you can do it, but you will always have a disadvantage vs pure pass/run teams.

I do a combination of 1 and 2. I care more about the league than the ladder. I also know if I cannot stop the meta, my zone defense is screwed. My league (Sophomore Black Mamba) top teams are mainly running teams. Jedi Order, Fury, Blue Ridge.... Also the meta right now is power/conditioning/speed S* HBs, so I NEED to stop the run. As evident in my recent scrims vs Atlantic City, who boasts 3 S* WRs, my defense can't stop the pass worth a shit.

I will eventually get my pass defense better, but stopping the run is my main focus.

I have found that building for balance works best. It is ok to have some specialty guys. (blitzer, strength CB, maybe a cover LB) But when you build for balance it doesn't completely kill you when the meta switches one way or another heading into your final seasons.

SA's like brick wall and death grip have really helped bring down the power meta to a manageable spot for most teams that haven't completely neglected tackling skills. At this point it is really all about setting up your defense right. Some of the best run stopping plays aren't very good against the pass. Some of the best pass defense plays are really bad against the run. Really a pick your poison and hope you outlast the opponent.

Originally posted by bhall43
I
SA's like brick wall and death grip have really helped bring down the power meta to a manageable spot for most teams that haven't completely neglected tackling skills.

After seeing your team use brick wall to stone wall opposing S* HBs, I will be adding it to most of my run stuffers.

I watch how GE builds his defense, then do the exact opposite.

Originally posted by DeeVee8
I watch how GE builds his defense, then do the exact opposite.

Your defense would have been destroyed today, then.

http://glb2.warriorgeneral.com/game/game/340328 - Run Stuffers

What bhall said. Certain positions basically HAVE to be balanced. Others, such as LB's and CB's, you can toss some builds in that are more specialized.

Before you build players, you need to build the DC philosophy. What plays are you going to use most? What are the weaknesses of those plays? Can you mix / match the play with others to offset thr weaknesses?

What formations does this mean you'll use? What are the roles of each player in those formations?

How many formations can each player play in? Do you have the roster and cap space to build what you need?

I build players with the idea of handling a heavy run team, a balanced team and a pass heavy team. You need a strategy for each. Your teams run to Vet is 7 seasons (9 with Career Boosts). That's 350 or 450 days. It's hard to go all in on stopping the current Meta once you realize that.

Pretty much what Xars said. If you run a lot of plays out of 5-2, it's probably a safe call to have more than 2 DT's on your roster. If you run a lot of 3-4, you're probably going to want to have some extra depth at the LB position.

As for a defense as a whole, I like to build as balanced as I can. I obviously have my Pass Rush DE's and DT's, my Run Stuffers, and then a combo player or two. CB - I always build two CB's that are great run stoppers in case I get that pesky 100% run team. The key is having multiple depth charts that match playbooks and opponent strategies to fully utilize these different builds.

My first attempt I didn't really think much further then where I wanted S*'s.

My next team I have been working at for the past 3 seasons, and in 2 seasons will be starting it. I basically have been doing what Xars was talking about, where I determined which plays I wanted to use to defend against all 3 types of teams, and then have slowly been determining what player types I needed to complete the roster, and aimed for as few S*'s as possible to preserve cap room for the O S*'s.

But basically it all revolves around a couple plays for each formation that are similar enough in roles that the builds at each position don't have to vary too much except in a few places, so that the players can build to maximize their effectiveness at the few plays I will run. I've been fine tuning the roster, I think I have maybe 12 different iterations I've done so far to achieve maximum efficiency.

The Offense is designed to overwhelm any defense that specialized too much in either direction by being capable of going 100% run, or 100% pass in any game due to a nice sprinkling of S*'s across a few different positions.

Originally posted by MileHighShoes
My first attempt I didn't really think much further then where I wanted S*'s.

My next team I have been working at for the past 3 seasons, and in 2 seasons will be starting it. I basically have been doing what Xars was talking about, where I determined which plays I wanted to use to defend against all 3 types of teams, and then have slowly been determining what player types I needed to complete the roster, and aimed for as few S*'s as possible to preserve cap room for the O S*'s.

But basically it all revolves around a couple plays for each formation that are similar enough in roles that the builds at each position don't have to vary too much except in a few places, so that the players can build to maximize their effectiveness at the few plays I will run. I've been fine tuning the roster, I think I have maybe 12 different iterations I've done so far to achieve maximum efficiency.

The Offense is designed to overwhelm any defense that specialized too much in either direction by being capable of going 100% run, or 100% pass in any game due to a nice sprinkling of S*'s across a few different positions.


At that point wouldnt having them be 50/50 run pass be the most optimal thing to do? with obvious adjustments to tweak to run or pass more I personally feel like the teams that youd beat by going full run or full pass for a game would be the same teams youd beat by just staying the course of 50/50.

Originally posted by Schauer

At that point wouldnt having them be 50/50 run pass be the most optimal thing to do? with obvious adjustments to tweak to run or pass more I personally feel like the teams that youd beat by going full run or full pass for a game would be the same teams youd beat by just staying the course of 50/50.

Yeah most games would be 50/50, but it would be fully capable of going 100% either run or pass in any game. The whole point is centered around an Offense that can do either, and doesn't have to always be balanced if it decides not to.

Doesn't really take much to operate at a 100% pass or run level from game to game. Really just a superstar at HB and you are pretty much there. Then you can either have 2 TE's that are combo or 1 RTE/1 combo/1 blocker.

The oline is easy. FB's are useless in the receiving game and really kinda in the run game for the most part as well. WR's are easy to do without being Superstars though its nice to have them.

Really there are very few choices need to be made.

- Carry 2 QB's? Rusher and Passer

- 2 or 3 TE's?

- How many superstars can I fit?

Originally posted by bhall43
Doesn't really take much to operate at a 100% pass or run level from game to game. Really just a superstar at HB and you are pretty much there. Then you can either have 2 TE's that are combo or 1 RTE/1 combo/1 blocker.

The oline is easy. FB's are useless in the receiving game and really kinda in the run game for the most part as well. WR's are easy to do without being Superstars though its nice to have them.

Really there are very few choices need to be made.

- Carry 2 QB's? Rusher and Passer

- 2 or 3 TE's?

- How many superstars can I fit?

Yep pretty much this, it's why I aimed for as few S*'s as possible on Defense, and only at critical positions, Just a CB, SS, and DE. Then a S*K, and you guessed S* HB, S* TE, S* WR, and the rest is a mystery... muahahahaha.

I like moxie on my d.