deadfaulkner Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 (edited) Cheapcatch and I were curious a couple of months back about who lines up where on kickoffs and kick returns. He did the work of figuring it out, but I couldn't find the file he made, so I went back and looked at it again. All I did to figure out who was where was use a manager to give only one player on the roster a different skin color than everyone else, and then see where he appeared. Rinse and repeat. The return team lines up the same for every team: Note: The player you put at KR doesn't change the rest of the team. For example, if you use WR1 to return kicks, there is still another WR1 in the position you see labeled in the photo above. In other words, two of the same player is on the field. How the kickoff team lines up, on the other hand, depends on whether the team runs a 3-4 or 4-3 defensive scheme. In original TSB3, I think only Buffalo, New England, Pittsburgh, Green Bay, and Carolina use the 3-4 defense. Here's how those teams line up on kickoffs: DL1 doesn't appear, as he makes way for the kicker. Other than that, this kick team lineup is pretty logical from top to bottom. 4-3 teams are a little less logical in their kick team lineup: DL4 goes where DL3 used to be, DL3 goes to where LB3 was, and LB3 goes to the spot occupied by LB4 in the 3-4 kickoff team. Knowing this doesn't net you a whole lot most of the time, but at the very least it's interesting for onside kicks. Cheapcatch calculated that the general probability of an onside kick recovery for teams with average players is just shy of 40% with a perfect kick (i.e. no kicking meter showing at all), and we left that study there. However, I think it's pretty much a given that better players (esp. players with higher HITTING POWER and MAXIMUM SPEED) going to increase those chances: they're better able to get downfield and bash players out of the way. The fact that recovering an onside kick is actually possible is one reason why I love TSB3, but they're a little too recoverable. So, every TSB3 competition I've ever heard of has some rule in place to limit when it's legal to perform one - in our league, for example, you are only allowed to execute an onside kick if you're trailing in the 4th quarter. Given that, it's hard to imagine editing your lineup in-game to maximize your chances of recovery - you'd have to anticipate needing an onside the last time your defense was on the field. However, I do think it conveys certain advantages. For example, I am fairly confident that the two most important players are the guy two spots above the kicker (LB2 in both schemes) and the guy directly below the kicker (LB4 in 3-4 schemes, LB3 in 4-3). In several slow-motion replays of different onside kicks by different teams, I found that these were the two who shot to the middle quickest, and made nearly every recovery. For me, I prefer playing nickel defense, so putting a good player at the LB2 spot isn't viable - that's always going to be my third-best linebacker, since I want my best two on the field for defense. However, I will start putting my best linebacker at LB3 (for 4-3 teams) or LB4 (for 3-4). If you're playing any of the other three defenses, though (goalline, normal, or dime), you can use this information to maximize your lineup by putting your best linebackers in those positions. Also, one other thing to note is that DL1 isn't on the field no matter what, so it doesn't seem wise to put your best defensive lineman at that position. Kickoff returns are hard enough to stop in any case, so you definitely want your best people on the field. For my part, I have always thought that stud DL players are most effective at the NT/DT positions anyway, so you're not losing anything on defense to keep this small fact about kickoff teams in mind when setting your defensive lineup. Edited September 30, 2013 by deadfaulkner CheapCatch and Knobbe 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkenGamer Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 Good info. Ill look into seeing if we can hack it so backups play special teams minus kicker/returners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Can you also show punt return teams? I noticed that the Packers punt return team is different than most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadfaulkner Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 Can you also show punt return teams? I noticed that the Packers punt return team is different than most. Sure. I have a couple of other things on my plate right now but I'll put those up soon. It wouldn't surprise me if Green Bay is different, given that they're one of the few 3-4 teams. Knobbe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 It's irritating because when I put Reggie White where I like him on the DL he ends up not being on the punt block team. Funk dat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TecSpectre Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 hey honkey, i'm not sure you'd want that as a hack for tsb3... if all your special teams guys were your backups, you'd have terrible special teams generally and you'd see an increase on returns against you. I would be curious to know if R&S teams like Det, Jax, Atl use the same formula. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheapCatch Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 True. Good point. Needs only minor tweaks, such as removing the QB from the kickoff team, and replacing him with the 5th Offensive Lineman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.