Warrior General Games

I have Run and Scramble frequency set to Often, but he almost never takes off running. Is there something I need to change in the QB Options tactics?

the short answer is that it's complicated.

A QB deciding to scramble or run on a pass play depends on what the defense does, the QB's ability to recognize it, and lastly the physical ability to do it. You're only L7, there's no way the QB can execute that kind of play. You need Vision, Agility and Speed in the 80s as a bare minimum, and even then it's not really reliable.

On top of that, it's not coded well. The QB has a passing stance, and his mobility is handicapped, that's what "scramble" means. Then he has to switch to running stance to get his full abilities, but the split second he does, no matter where he is on the field, every defender automatically crashes the LoS trying to kill him.

If you were to buy that team, then you could set offensive tactics and use designed QB runs. It'd cost you some flex, but you'd have a much better experience.

Originally posted by DIphoeniX
I have Run and Scramble frequency set to Often, but he almost never takes off running. Is there something I need to change in the QB Options tactics?

I suspect you're speaking about this fella? https://glb.warriorgeneral.com/game/player.pl?player_id=4768813

If so I can offer just a few things.
#1 it's a very young rookie dot. It's vision is low (and should be if you're properly addressing Throwing or Speed for now) so it cannot see incoming blitzers very well. It's Agility is also low for now so it cannot avoid sacks very well either. For that reason, you'll see a LOT of teams blitz at rookie level.
#2, your RQb is on a CPU team. This means your O-line is crap at protection.

If I had a RQB in the same situation I would probably do the following;

#1, get with a human owned team. If not an option then;

#2, I would do my settings as follows;

-50 Bullet
-100 Open man
Scramble - Often
Run - Often
Blitz Reaction - Throw early
Dump Pass - Often
Throw away threshold - Aggressive
Favor long pass - No

Right now it's about all you can do since a CPU team won't do play specific actions based on the archetype of the dot playing at the time.

Originally posted by Theo Wizzago

#2, your RQb is on a CPU team.


Actually this. Going against a human owned team that set defense tactics and has non-cpu dots in the roster will always be tough.

So here are my thoughts on how to force it:

Scramble Frequency - Often
Favor Open Man on that slider, otherwise it doesn't matter.
1) scout out opponents defense and choose plays where any given route is very covered
2) set up custom progressions for "designed run plays" out of called passes and target a single receiver for all progressions, that "very covered" receiver
3) maintain a high vision build, do not try to run with 60 vision, you will need to see the path to run to decide to run it, also the higher vision should help stop your qb from forcing a bad throw into coverage
4) quick read SA, a qb seems to be notably more likely to scramble after they pass through the "preset progression" stage and start making stuff up
5) high confidence, because a level of composure is required to outlast a "hurry" long enough to decide to run without forcing a terrible pass

I have had some success with increasing the odds with this in peewee, so I don't see why it wouldn't work even better if optimizing for this specific interaction.

thanks a lot for these answers. helps a lot. so does it make sense to even focus on speed first or second IF he wont have the vision (or confidence) to properly utilize the scramble (given that he'll likely be on a cpu team for the rest of the season?)

Originally posted by DIphoeniX
thanks a lot for these answers. helps a lot. so does it make sense to even focus on speed first or second IF he wont have the vision (or confidence) to properly utilize the scramble (given that he'll likely be on a cpu team for the rest of the season?)

Mathematically, you should hit Agility first. That's less fun though.

Originally posted by DIphoeniX
thanks a lot for these answers. helps a lot. so does it make sense to even focus on speed first or second IF he wont have the vision (or confidence) to properly utilize the scramble (given that he'll likely be on a cpu team for the rest of the season?)

Originally posted by TJ Spikes
Mathematically, you should hit Agility first. That's less fun though.

This. When I build my running-only QBs, I always start by pushing Agility first. It's a Major... might as well let the math do the heavy lifting for you. Remember, no matter how fast your QB is, the defense is going to have a lot of dots who are just as fast -- or probably faster -- than your QB, since Speed is a Minor on Scrambler-Archetype QBs. So, any successful running-only QB is going to need a LOT of Agility, so you can make quick cuts and find gaps in the defense to rush through.

However, while I push Agility first with my build, my EQUIPMENT goes into Speed. Speed is still VERY important for an all-running QB. But pumping Agility up is what's going to help you make up for the fact that Speed is only a Minor.

Also, I disagree with TJ saying that going Agility first is less fun. Trust me, I have PLENTY of fun early on with my Agility-first rushing QBs. They do just fine early on, and they do just fine all the way up to Natty Pro. (World League is another story... but I'm working on it!)

All that and keep your passing short. Some screens... some plays with plenty of short routes and dump offs. Also avoid ANY out routes. Your QB won't have the strength to throw long passes accurately... even WITH the Bort Bump to low level passing. Out routes are the one's where he's likely to get picked off most. Over the middle... close to the LOS... dink and dunk... nickle and dime.

Originally posted by Theo Wizzago
All that and keep your passing short. Some screens... some plays with plenty of short routes and dump offs. Also avoid ANY out routes. Your QB won't have the strength to throw long passes accurately... even WITH the Bort Bump to low level passing. Out routes are the one's where he's likely to get picked off most. Over the middle... close to the LOS... dink and dunk... nickle and dime.

at low levels agreed - at higher levels you can do more routes

You guys seem to be missing the question

He wasn’t asking advice on how to make a good scrambling qb or how to make him do well...

He asked how to increase the chance of his qb deciding to run on called passing plays.

Curious about the answer myself, wondering if any of you long term guys have managed to manipulate this mechanic at all. It’s amazing how wide open to qb scrambles a vast majority of pass plays are.

Originally posted by Stoned Beaver
You guys seem to be missing the question

He wasn’t asking advice on how to make a good scrambling qb or how to make him do well...

He asked how to increase the chance of his qb deciding to run on called passing plays.

Curious about the answer myself, wondering if any of you long term guys have managed to manipulate this mechanic at all. It’s amazing how wide open to qb scrambles a vast majority of pass plays are.

We had 2 'dual threat' QB's last season and no passing QB and finished at the top and made the playoffs before getting dumped finally. We passed well and ran well and we pretty much did what I posted... stuck to the short passing game and set for scramble as much as possible as well as some designed QB runs. Mind you this was top level Casual but the premise is the same. You're trying to >make< the QB scramble to take advantage of their skills. As you point out, if set right they will run when there's a decent hole. However... I noticed they always seem to still be looking to pass even when almost ready to cross the LOS. I've SEEN them pass within a yard or two of the LOS... with a clear path before them... so that's why I say keep your passing mostly short. There's no way to force the RQB to NOT pass when scrambling.

I'm not supposed to give advice anymore, but I will say one thing. It makes no sense to do speed first with any QB, even a scrambler. Realistically even if you are only taking vision and throwing to 75 you STILL should do those before speed. Its just math. It will hardly take any time, because of the advantages of 3 majors. You can literally get your agility to where you never have to touch or train it ever again and have it finish base 100- by level 10 or 11. Why would you not do that? You will never get 100 speed for what its worth, even if you do speed first. As far as competition goes, a high agility/low speed runner is comparable to a high speed/low agility runner for the most part, and by the end of season 2 you will have nearly as much speed as if you had done that first anyhow. Add to that the fact that agility helps QBs in the short passing game, and the choice should be obvious. All that said, I would echo the recommendation to get on a team that knows how to use running or scrambling QBs. On a cpu team you won't be used right and if you're relying on scrambles to get your rushing yards, without even having the offense AI set up for that, well good luck with that because i doubt it will work that well.

Originally posted by Jeff Williams
I'm not supposed to give advice anymore

Because of the restraining order...?

Because your advice sucks...?

Because the last time it caused the downfall of civilization...?

Really... why...?

Originally posted by Stoned Beaver
You guys seem to be missing the question

He wasn’t asking advice on how to make a good scrambling qb or how to make him do well...

He asked how to increase the chance of his qb deciding to run on called passing plays.

Curious about the answer myself, wondering if any of you long term guys have managed to manipulate this mechanic at all. It’s amazing how wide open to qb scrambles a vast majority of pass plays are.

Theo said it right off the top.
Scramble and run frequency set to often, open man set to 100. There is only one thing i'd change. Blitz reaction should be 'run play as normal' if you want to run as often as possible, you don't want to throw early and often. However, none of that is going to make much difference if the team isn't set up right for it. In fact, it will probably make you worse if you set blitz reaction to run play as normal without any adjustments by the team, but i assume you will maybe run slightly more often that way. What you really want is your tactics set to what Theo said, and to be on a team that uses QB running plays