How important is footwork on an elusive back? What is the recommended level?
Forum > FAQ's, Player Guides and Game Help > Elusive Back- Footwork?
dredgar
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Originally posted by ShadyMcCoy
How important is footwork on an elusive back? What is the recommended level?
50minimum
How important is footwork on an elusive back? What is the recommended level?
50minimum
Oofty
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Not trying to dodge the question, but it really just depends what kind of elusive back:
- If you're going with less than 99 sprinting and favoring Surge for the inside run (think Barry Sanders or LaDainian Tomlinson), I've anecdotally seen a good deal more big runs on the inside, provided Quickness is also fairly high.
- For sprint-to-the-sideline backs (think Chris Johnson in his prime), footwork doesn't come into play nearly as much. BUT... because footwork is what is checked on counters, 8-10 points can mean the difference between switching directions fast enough (or at least that much faster than the defense reacts) to hit the corner outside the tackle.
Personally, I think footwork is generally pretty underrated right now, but it just depends on what you're trying to do with your dot. You're really better off deciding early if you want to save your SP by getting bare-minimum footwork at around 50 or sucking it up and going with 65-75. Going somewhere in the mushy middle seems to generally mean not getting the best value per point. For some types of running playbooks, high enough quickness and top speed makes up the difference. For others, the opposite is true: high enough footwork makes up for not having top-end speed or quickness, since you footwork allows you to dodge tacklers over a given distance in less time.
If you want a perfect example of this, try experimenting with an elusive back with Gold Surge, 95-100 sprinting, 85-90 quickness, and 40-45 footwork. The way the RB gets around the LBs on inside runs almost seems to expose himself to more nearby tacklers. It's really different from how a Gold Surge, 95 sprint, 80 quickness, 70 footwork back does it. Another thing to watch for or keep in mind is that the time it takes to complete a Juke is a good deal faster on higher footwork back, who seem to maintain more speed after the Juke.
^ For what it's worth, it might even be helpful to think about it by looking at different builds on the d-line all using Spin Cycle: higher footwork seems to speed up the completion of the spin, with a tighter radius. In a nutshell, if the objective is to minimize the time to the QB, your best bet probably isn't 85 sprint and 35-40 footwork.
- If you're going with less than 99 sprinting and favoring Surge for the inside run (think Barry Sanders or LaDainian Tomlinson), I've anecdotally seen a good deal more big runs on the inside, provided Quickness is also fairly high.
- For sprint-to-the-sideline backs (think Chris Johnson in his prime), footwork doesn't come into play nearly as much. BUT... because footwork is what is checked on counters, 8-10 points can mean the difference between switching directions fast enough (or at least that much faster than the defense reacts) to hit the corner outside the tackle.
Personally, I think footwork is generally pretty underrated right now, but it just depends on what you're trying to do with your dot. You're really better off deciding early if you want to save your SP by getting bare-minimum footwork at around 50 or sucking it up and going with 65-75. Going somewhere in the mushy middle seems to generally mean not getting the best value per point. For some types of running playbooks, high enough quickness and top speed makes up the difference. For others, the opposite is true: high enough footwork makes up for not having top-end speed or quickness, since you footwork allows you to dodge tacklers over a given distance in less time.
If you want a perfect example of this, try experimenting with an elusive back with Gold Surge, 95-100 sprinting, 85-90 quickness, and 40-45 footwork. The way the RB gets around the LBs on inside runs almost seems to expose himself to more nearby tacklers. It's really different from how a Gold Surge, 95 sprint, 80 quickness, 70 footwork back does it. Another thing to watch for or keep in mind is that the time it takes to complete a Juke is a good deal faster on higher footwork back, who seem to maintain more speed after the Juke.
^ For what it's worth, it might even be helpful to think about it by looking at different builds on the d-line all using Spin Cycle: higher footwork seems to speed up the completion of the spin, with a tighter radius. In a nutshell, if the objective is to minimize the time to the QB, your best bet probably isn't 85 sprint and 35-40 footwork.
Edited by Oofty on May 31, 2018 11:50:19
Edited by Oofty on May 31, 2018 11:47:53
Edited by Oofty on May 31, 2018 11:41:02
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