The Official NCAA 14 Flexbone Offense Thread

[volwalker]

All things involving the Flexbone Offense can be posted here. I am motivated and excited to be completely devoted the this offense in NCAA 14. Please post gameplay strategy, recruiting strategy, you name it. I know that a recruiting thread for this offense has already been created, but I felt it was best to have everything under one thread. I am quite foreign to this offense mainly due to being unable to execute this offense properly in previous NCAA games.

Let this thread be central hub of all things Flexbone!

[BrockOchoGOAT]

Re: The Official NCAA 14 Flexbone Offense Thread

This is just an observation, but I think the flexbone is much more realistic this year. Both human and CPU. It feels better, has quicker reads, and looks more realistic.

Does anybody have any flexbone tips for me?

[MBFranchise]

Re: The Official NCAA 14 Flexbone Offense Thread

I put this in the recruiting thread but I think it serves as an intro here too. Here's a write up I did for my dynasty. I don't have NCAA14 yet but I would guess most of the same principles apply. This echoes most of the what the other guys were saying. I like to have a heady QB, one true WR (I call X), one TE/WR hybrid (I call Y), a strong B-Back, and quick A-Backs (I call one A and one Z). As with any offense, some of the terminology or position names may be different.

COACH’S CLINIC

Offensive Philosophy: The Flexbone wants to stretch the field both horizontally and vertically. The offense attacks the defense horizontally by having multiple ball carriers threaten the various zones of the defense (the famous “phases” of the option). The offense attacks the defense vertically by threatening the line of scrimmage with four vertical threats, the X, Y, A and Z. Our Y and Z are both hybrid positions that allow us to line up in any of our formations with the same personnel on the field. That way, the defense can never guess our formation or playcalling intentions based off of our huddle. Many people characterize this as a “running” or “triple option” offense, and while those are important parts of our offense, they are not the only parts. The Flexbone is a derivative of the Run-And-Shoot, and many of the passing concepts remain. We are not afraid to put the ball in the air. That being said, we won’t pass if we don’t have to.

Q (Quarterback): You would think the first thing we look for in a quarterback would be speed, but it isn’t. The most important trait a Mechanicsburg quarterback can have is decision-making. Our offense runs at its best when our quarterback makes good decisions. The next question to be asked is can the quarterback move when he has to? He doesn’t need to be a speed merchant, but he needs to make the defense pay if he is ignored. Size wise, the quarterback does a good amount of inside running, so we want him to be big enough to be able to absorb a few hits. That being said, the quarterback that can make a quick decision and get vertical up field is exactly the type of guy we are looking for.

X (Wide Receiver, Split End): The X is the closest thing we have to a true wide receiver in our offense. He is split out wide on the line of scrimmage in all of our formations, and he fulfills the role of a prototypical wide receiver. We want the X to be able to run routes and catch the football. Ideally, we look for large, possession type receivers that are also willing to block downfield. He also runs most of our downfield routes. For our deep passes, the element of surprise plays a large role.

Y (Wide Receiver, Split End, Tight End): The Y is the first of our hybrid positions. The Y is responsible for both lining up wide as a split end and also being attached to the formation as a tight end. Because of this, we look for a very specific type of athlete to play the Y. He needs to be big, but he also needs to be able to run routes against the opponent’s secondary. It also allows us to get a big body out in space to act as a lead blocker on our outside running plays.

A (A-Back, Slot Back, Wing Back, Running Back): Our A-Back is most like a Tailback in traditional offenses. On most of our option plays the A-Back will be the pitch man, so speed is the desired trait here. Size is not a necessity, as most of the A-Back’s running will be to the outside. The A-Back will also run routes, so being able to catch the football is a plus. He doesn’t have to be six feet tall or weigh two hundred pounds, but speed and acceleration are key.

B (B-Back, Fullback): The B-Back is the bruiser in our offense. A majority of his runs are going to be quick-hitting dive plays that try to catch the defense on the wrong foot. Running between the tackles is the primary trait of the B-Back, and any additional speed to break long runs is a bonus. The B-Back rarely goes out for passes and is more likely to stay in for pass protection. That being said, in most Flexbone offenses the B-Back is actually the feature back and receives the most amount of carries.

Z (A-Back, Slot Back, Slot Receiver, Wing Back, Super Back, Running Back): The Z-Back is the second of our hybrid positions. The prototypical Z-Back combines the traits of a good A-Back and Slot Receiver. This guy is the “slot ninja” in our offense. Speed and acceleration are valued over size and strength. In some formations he will line up like a wing and receive option pitches. Sometimes the Z will line up out farther as a flanker in the slot. Here the Z will run deep routes to make the defense cover the entire field. The Z-Back should be your player that is most dangerous with the ball in his hands, and moving him around lets you emphasize those talents.

Offensive Line: What we look for in offensive linemen, no surprise, is speed and athleticism. Since we veer the end man on the line of scrimmage, it is more important for our linemen to be able to get to the second or third level rather than be a road grader. Obviously we look at run blocking over pass blocking, and we are able to recruit smaller and quicker linemen that other schools may have overlooked.

[volwalker]

Re: The Official NCAA 14 Flexbone Offense Thread

I put this in the recruiting thread but I think it serves as an intro here too. Here's a write up I did for my dynasty. I don't have NCAA14 yet but I would guess most of the same principles apply. This echoes most of the what the other guys were saying. I like to have a heady QB, one true WR (I call X), one TE/WR hybrid (I call Y), a strong B-Back, and quick A-Backs (I call one A and one Z). As with any offense, some of the terminology or position names may be different.

COACH’S CLINIC

Offensive Philosophy: The Flexbone wants to stretch the field both horizontally and vertically. The offense attacks the defense horizontally by having multiple ball carriers threaten the various zones of the defense (the famous “phases” of the option). The offense attacks the defense vertically by threatening the line of scrimmage with four vertical threats, the X, Y, A and Z. Our Y and Z are both hybrid positions that allow us to line up in any of our formations with the same personnel on the field. That way, the defense can never guess our formation or playcalling intentions based off of our huddle. Many people characterize this as a “running” or “triple option” offense, and while those are important parts of our offense, they are not the only parts. The Flexbone is a derivative of the Run-And-Shoot, and many of the passing concepts remain. We are not afraid to put the ball in the air. That being said, we won’t pass if we don’t have to.

Q (Quarterback): You would think the first thing we look for in a quarterback would be speed, but it isn’t. The most important trait a Mechanicsburg quarterback can have is decision-making. Our offense runs at its best when our quarterback makes good decisions. The next question to be asked is can the quarterback move when he has to? He doesn’t need to be a speed merchant, but he needs to make the defense pay if he is ignored. Size wise, the quarterback does a good amount of inside running, so we want him to be big enough to be able to absorb a few hits. That being said, the quarterback that can make a quick decision and get vertical up field is exactly the type of guy we are looking for.

X (Wide Receiver, Split End): The X is the closest thing we have to a true wide receiver in our offense. He is split out wide on the line of scrimmage in all of our formations, and he fulfills the role of a prototypical wide receiver. We want the X to be able to run routes and catch the football. Ideally, we look for large, possession type receivers that are also willing to block downfield. He also runs most of our downfield routes. For our deep passes, the element of surprise plays a large role.

Y (Wide Receiver, Split End, Tight End): The Y is the first of our hybrid positions. The Y is responsible for both lining up wide as a split end and also being attached to the formation as a tight end. Because of this, we look for a very specific type of athlete to play the Y. He needs to be big, but he also needs to be able to run routes against the opponent’s secondary. It also allows us to get a big body out in space to act as a lead blocker on our outside running plays.

A (A-Back, Slot Back, Wing Back, Running Back): Our A-Back is most like a Tailback in traditional offenses. On most of our option plays the A-Back will be the pitch man, so speed is the desired trait here. Size is not a necessity, as most of the A-Back’s running will be to the outside. The A-Back will also run routes, so being able to catch the football is a plus. He doesn’t have to be six feet tall or weigh two hundred pounds, but speed and acceleration are key.

B (B-Back, Fullback): The B-Back is the bruiser in our offense. A majority of his runs are going to be quick-hitting dive plays that try to catch the defense on the wrong foot. Running between the tackles is the primary trait of the B-Back, and any additional speed to break long runs is a bonus. The B-Back rarely goes out for passes and is more likely to stay in for pass protection. That being said, in most Flexbone offenses the B-Back is actually the feature back and receives the most amount of carries.

Z (A-Back, Slot Back, Slot Receiver, Wing Back, Super Back, Running Back): The Z-Back is the second of our hybrid positions. The prototypical Z-Back combines the traits of a good A-Back and Slot Receiver. This guy is the “slot ninja” in our offense. Speed and acceleration are valued over size and strength. In some formations he will line up like a wing and receive option pitches. Sometimes the Z will line up out farther as a flanker in the slot. Here the Z will run deep routes to make the defense cover the entire field. The Z-Back should be your player that is most dangerous with the ball in his hands, and moving him around lets you emphasize those talents.

Offensive Line: What we look for in offensive linemen, no surprise, is speed and athleticism. Since we veer the end man on the line of scrimmage, it is more important for our linemen to be able to get to the second or third level rather than be a road grader. Obviously we look at run blocking over pass blocking, and we are able to recruit smaller and quicker linemen that other schools may have overlooked.

Thanks for posting this MBFranchise. I was just fixing to ask you to post this from the other thread but you beat me to it.

[volwalker]

Re: The Official NCAA 14 Flexbone Offense Thread

The biggest thing I need to know about this offense is formation selection. I plan on using GT's playbook to get a feel for the offense, but when you watch them play the use the Flexbone Normal formation 80% of the time even though there are several more Flexbone formations to use. I am curious on how others go about this.

Also, the other question I have is related to position changes and player rating dropping because of it. Do any of you Flexbone guys worry about player's ratings taking a significant dive when you switch them around? Converting TEs to WR or a big HBs to FB would seem to hurt their overall value. Any advice on this would help. Thanks.

[Timeetyo]

Re: The Official NCAA 14 Flexbone Offense Thread

The biggest thing I need to know about this offense is formation selection. I plan on using GT's playbook to get a feel for the offense, but when you watch them play the use the Flexbone Normal formation 80% of the time even though there are several more Flexbone formations to use. I am curious on how others go about this.

Also, the other question I have is related to position changes and player rating dropping because of it. Do any of you Flexbone guys worry about player's ratings taking a significant dive when you switch them around? Converting TEs to WR or a big HBs to FB would seem to hurt their overall value. Any advice on this would help. Thanks.

My plan is to primarly play out of the normal formation and cycle through the others to pick up a few other formations with plays that i love that i can sprinkle in to my playbook.

For the conversion - I believe this is only an issue if you are simming games as that seems to rely heavily on OVR rating. I have done enough moving players in the past that I am not too worried about the lost rating on conversion. This is also mitigated by picking athletes to start with (HB/WR athlete for A backs, HB/RB athlete for QB, etc). The one with the largest negative is the TE>WR, but if you get a decent recieving TE he should do just fine at WR.

[volwalker]

Re: The Official NCAA 14 Flexbone Offense Thread

When I play dynasty mode I always like to start out as an OC and earn better jobs down the road. Because of this I would usually use SuperSim but come to find out it doesn't work properly. Hopefully they fixed that in 14. The opponent's drives would barely take a minute. Anyway, thanks for easing my mind on the position change situation Timeetyo.

Could you explain a little further on how you recruit your QBs? I don't think I have heard of that strategy before.

[Timeetyo]

Re: The Official NCAA 14 Flexbone Offense Thread

When I play dynasty mode I always like to start out as an OC and earn better jobs down the road. Because of this I would usually use SuperSim but come to find out it doesn't work properly. Hopefully they fixed that in 14. The opponent's drives would barely take a minute. Anyway, thanks for easing my mind on the position change situation Timeetyo.

Could explain a little further on how you recruit your QBs? I don't think I have heard of that strategy before.

The way they have worked athletes is to give them a base set of skills that would work for 2-3 positions. For example, you may have an athlete with good rushing and recieving skills that shows as 69 OVR athlete. When you go to change positions you'll notice he'll likely be something like 69 HB, 70 WR, and 40s everything else. This guy could be either a HB or WR - or in the flexbone - makes a perfect A back.

For the QB, you want someone who could be either a competent QB or RB. This means you will look for both running skills (speed, accelaration, spin, juke, etc) as well as decent throw power & accuracy. Although this isn't always true, these players often make better run first option guys than recruiting for 'scrambling' QBs. I've noticed in past NCAA games that if recruiting a guy with the same stars and overall, the athlete is typically a bit faster but a bit less accurate than a similar scrambling QB - but this is a worthwhile tradeoff. And if you get a 5* one - he just breaks the game. My last one from '13 left after his junior season as 95 spd, 97 accel, 91 THP, 88 THA. It just wasn't even right for opposing defenses.

[volwalker]

Re: The Official NCAA 14 Flexbone Offense Thread

It seems that you use your A-backs in the passing game alot. I don't remember enough of last years flexbone playbook to see what the passing game was like.

Is your passing game pretty simple?

[Slackarelli]

Re: The Official NCAA 14 Flexbone Offense Thread

I'm Home!!!

[Slackarelli]

Re: The Official NCAA 14 Flexbone Offense Thread

The biggest thing I need to know about this offense is formation selection. I plan on using GT's playbook to get a feel for the offense, but when you watch them play the use the Flexbone Normal formation 80% of the time even though there are several more Flexbone formations to use. I am curious on how others go about this.

Also, the other question I have is related to position changes and player rating dropping because of it. Do any of you Flexbone guys worry about player's ratings taking a significant dive when you switch them around? Converting TEs to WR or a big HBs to FB would seem to hurt their overall value. Any advice on this would help. Thanks.

it depends on how they line up.

If they come out in a balanced two safety look then you should use normal. ALL of my audibles are out of the normal formation.

If they get into a single safety look (either with their play call or by moving people) use the unbalanced formations. You will always have an advantage to one side or the other. Also when they come out in a single safety look they are open for a four vertical play out of normal and the trips formations. Keep that in mind.

I sometimes use Close against the 3-4 defense. I tend to use it more vs the computer than a user though. It gives me a way to continue to run my plays without the computer "figuring" me out.

To answer your second question use ATH wherever you can. This offense isn't built the way other offenses are, and I wish they would at least allow us to switch new recruits over with no AWR loss, but it is what it is.

[Timeetyo]

Re: The Official NCAA 14 Flexbone Offense Thread

Slackarelli -

I know you listed strength as a key attribute, but I am not sure how you prioritze the other attributes. Could you do me a favor and do the following as it would likely be very helpful for myself and others to get an idea of what you are looking for:

Go into recruiting and look at only 3* backs (and ATH if there are any) for a given recruiting class. From there if you could pick out a few that you would target (interest doesnt matter in this scenario) and what key attributes lead you to them.

For example (completely making this up):

HB1 - STR - X; SPD - X, ACC - X

I think this would help and we could easily scale this up or down to project this into the level player we are recruiting (based on school).

Thanks!

[GaSouthern]

Re: The Official NCAA 14 Flexbone Offense Thread

In last years game, the only way to get a QB fast enough to execute this offense at an acceptable rate was to recruit ATH with acceptable throw power and accuracy.

I have not played 14 yet (i'm at work and it is waiting for me at my house) but I suspect that they have not overhauled the recruiting skills because the FB's and QB's in the game are never fast enough which causes me to use HB's in the B-Back position and Ath's in the QB position.

[Timeetyo]

Re: The Official NCAA 14 Flexbone Offense Thread

How is everyone doing with the triple option? I am having mixed results with Georgia State vs other 1* teams and I am wondering if it is my fail reads, poor play selection, or my team not having the personel to make it work. I sim 1/2 my games, so overal stats won't help much with the CPU messing with the averages, but here is a typical game:

A - 15-150
Z - 8-65
QB - 20-60
B - 8-35

A few things that I know are going on are:
- I am still missing 2-3 reads to the B back a game - so that's eating into his carries and dropping the QB's avg as he eats the -2
- My QB isn't fast enough to make them pay for letting him keep it. I've had some huge runs but they are far and few between. Normally i can tell i am *just* that close to turning the corner and miss it

So with that said - any idea why the following are happening:
- B back even when read correctly is not that effective. Although he is averaging around 4 YPC, it is coming in spurts that are not helpful for maintaining drives (1,10,-1, 1)
- The % of runs to the B back is way lower than expected (even if you added in what i mis-read)

[volwalker]

Re: The Official NCAA 14 Flexbone Offense Thread

I am getting the same results. I have only played one game but have been in practice mode for several hours. In both instances the B back, even when read properly just isn't very effective for whatever reason. Yeah I get a couple of yards everytime but the B back just doesn't come off the ball fast enough. That and he seems to come off the outside hip of the guard too.

I guess I still need to test some more stuff, but the B back situation concerns me. I thought the B back was the main feature back in this offense but it seems to be the exact opposite? My A back gets the vast majority of carries because 9/10 the defender always goes for the QB. In NCAA 06 (my standard for football video games) there always seems to be a balance of who the defender would go after.