Blitziscomin Maze

There was a lot of chatter in the slack group chat regarding how the formations and playbooks work. Everyone had their own understanding and there were questions from all corners, all hoping to understand what was going on. I still have no clue but I am hoping the information provided below by blitziscomin will clear things up a bit for everyone or maybe it will make the waters more murky. Either way I hope everyone manages to grab some nuggets from his work.

Blitz's Guide to Offensive Formations and Playbooks

Here is a guide to how I approach my offensive formations and playbooks. I have tinkered a lot with how to set these up and this article is a summary of what I think I know at this moment.

One item to note before we embark on this journey is this, in an area where I am sure every coach has different opinions and experiences. I am not saying this is the only way to do it - simply this is the way I approach it.

I think you can be successful with any numbers in the Passing %. My personal philosophy is any formation that is vague will utilize the QBs GI and Formation IQ to determine if a play is successful or not.

I'm going to dive in by posting screenshots of Trips Formations and Playbooks I have used in the past. These aren't currently used by me but it should show enough to help understand what I want to do.

Trips Run Formation

I use separate running formations and passing formations.

Items to note: QB Rushing and WR User 2 are younger players usually. Great place to get them playing time and starts but not hurt the offense too much.

Trips Pass Formation

This was my base passing formation in Trips. This passing formation used my RB Speed for Very Short and Short zones, TE Possession and WR Deep for Medium zone, and WR Deep and WR Possession for Long and Deep Zones. WR User 1 wasn't in the top two receivers in any zone so I wouldn't expect him to catch any balls.

I'll post some screenshots below that show different Passing % numbers to tweak formations.

Trips Passing Formation Focusing on WR Deep

This formation has the WR Deep receiver as the primary option at all route depths. This formation will need some assistance in the playbook - but it shows another variation of how to set Passing %. When I say the formation needs assistance in the playbook I mean I wouldn't use this formation unless I had 1-2% entered in all zones other than the zone I wanted to pass to the WR Deep at. So, if I wanted to pass it to him at Long I would have my playbook set at Very Short 2%, Short 2%, Medium 2%, Long 92%, Deep 2%. The engine will figure out what depths all the receivers run, but WR Deep should be the primary receiver.

Trips Passing Formation Force Throw

This formation is the easiest to make sure you throw the ball to the receiver you want. If your best receiver is WR Deep and you want to throw Pass Medium just set your playbook for all depths at 1-2% (to make sure other receivers run routes and draw coverage) and set Medium at 92-95%. Your QB will throw it to your WR Deep at Medium depth. (I make sure my QB has high STR, GI, T, and formation IQ where I force a throw.

This type of formation can be very useful to isolate receivers versus defenders you want to take advantage of.

The Playbook

The playbook is where everything comes together. A couple of things worth noting: I view the Pass % as the QB progression. The top two progressions will be the two the QB passes to the most. I personally like to have a clear progression for my QB to follow - meaning I don't like to have the same number at multiple route depths (the sim will rely on QB GI if you don't specify).

This playbook above is for a 1st and 10. I am giving the sim three play options: Run, Pass, and Five Iso pass play (only at midfield).

If the sim selects Trips: Pass the QB progression will be Medium (45%) then Long (30%) and if he has time Deep (15%) then Short (10%). The Trips: Pass formation has TE Possession as the primary receiver at Medium depth and WR Deep as the primary receiver at Long depth. I would expect WR Possession to run Deep route and RB Speed runs the short route. No receiver will run the Very Short route.

If the sim selects Trips: Five Iso then all five depths should be ran by receivers. Medium will be the first progression (40%) and then Long (30%) and Deep (20%) and both other depths should be ran. I will double check the play-by-play to make sure receivers are running the depths I think they should. *Note: I didn't include the Five Iso formation screenshot in this - sorry about that :)

Diagnostics

When something isn't running smoothly I will always look at the Expanded Play-by-Play to see if things are working how I think they should. Here are a few expanded play-by-play from today's game.

This play-by-play tells me my first QB progression Randall (Medium) was open so QB passed it to him:

Defense lines up for a run. Michael Thomas takes the snap and drops back to pass. The defensive line gets a good first step. Thomas throws to Randall (Parker) at the KSU 16 (Medium). Randall makes the catch. Randall is tackled by Johnson at the KSU 17 . 9 yards on the play.

This play-by-play tells me Edwards (Long) was first progression. Rodriguez (Deep) was second progression. Randall (Medium) was third progression:

Defense lines up for a pass with a cover Medium. Michael Thomas takes the snap and drops back to pass. Thomas can't get the pass off to Edwards (Johnson) at the KSU 30 (Long). Thomas can't get the pass off to Rodriguez (Johnson) at the KSU 27 (Deep). Thomas throws to Randall (Johnson) at the KSU 42 (Medium). Randall makes the diving catch and is down. 7 yards on the play.

This play-by-play tells me Rodriguez (Deep) was first progression, Smith (Long) was second progression, and Edwards (Medium) was third progression:

Defense lines up for a pass with a cover Long. Michael Thomas takes the snap and drops back to pass. The defensive line gets a good first step. Rodriguez (Duran) is covered at the KSU 22 (Deep). Thomas can't get the pass off to Smith (Adams) at the KSU 35 (Long). Thomas throws to Edwards (Felix) at the KSU 40 (Medium). Edwards makes the catch. Hernandez gets a hand on Edwards to bring him down at the KSU 42. 9 yard gain.

If I didn't like what I saw in the expanded play-by-play I could go adjust the QB progression so he looks at other receivers/depths first. If I don't like my completion percentage I will look to see if I am throwing too many long passes, etc.

Well ladies and ladies there you have it. The wisdom of the great blitziscomin, now you know what he does, go ahead and try and stop him. I bet you will not be able to do so. This has cleared up a few things for me and given me a few things to think about. I think I will try some of the ideas I have picked up here in a few games. If there is anyone else who has a different way of looking at things do not hesitate to get in touch. Until the next time, take it easy.