Play Maker

Many of the teams used online are built based on an offensive or defensive philosophy, yet when you look around the league at the current NFL teams or even at the historical teams, success has not been so much dependent upon the style of football played as it is upon the individuals who played. The risk takers, the game changers, and yes, the play makers, these are the guys that teams count on to convert that 3rd down, to break it open for a long run, or go deep for a touchdown catch.

A team that has a play maker is always a threat, and never out of the mix until the clock reaches zero. Make no mistake, opponents fear the playmakers. They know they are hard to contain and nigh impossible to stop. So, how do you build a team based on a play maker? First, we need to understand how we determine the balance of a team.

Point Spread

In order to understand the balance of the team, we are going to assign a point value to the Gold, Silver, and Bronze players. Gold players are worth 3 points, Silver players are worth 2 points, and Bronze players are worth 1 point.

2x Gold Players x 3 points = 6 points
3x Silver Players x 2 points = 6 points
6x Bronze Players x 1 point = 6 points

With this value system, each tier has 6 points to spend, and there are 18 points in total. A balanced team will have 9 points spent on offense, and 9 points spent on defense. An offensively oriented team will have 10+ points spent on offense, where as a defensively oriented team will have 10+ points spent on defense.

Play Maker Team Types

Anyone who has played APF2K8 online competitively knows that the game favors the offense (as well it should). With that in mind, a team that is built around a play maker must start with the offensive weapon who will be the play maker. There are four choices for building a play maker team. The team can have 1 Gold WR, or 1 Gold HB, or if you want to go all out, then 1 Gold WR and 1 Gold HB, or 1 Gold TE and 1 Gold HB..

One of the benefits of a team built around a play maker(s) is that it frees up star spots that can be used for other positions. There are really only two types of play maker teams, one is a defensive team built around a single Gold Wide Receiver or Gold Halfback, and the other is a balanced team built around a Gold Wide Receiver and a Gold Halfback or a Gold Tight End and a Gold Halfback (basically a receiver / runner combination). Let’s take a look at how these teams would be structured.

Defensive Team (offense = 7, defense = 11)
Gold – WR/HB 3
Gold – CB 3
Silver – QB 2
Silver – CB 2
Silver – ILB 2
Bronze – TE 1
Bronze – HB 1
Bronze – OLB 1
Bronze – OLB 1
Bronze – DE 1
Bronze – SS/FS 1

Balanced Team (offense = 9, defense = 9)
Gold – WR/TE 3
Gold – HB 3
Silver – QB 2
Silver – CB 2
Silver – ILB 2
Bronze – TE 1
Bronze – CB 1
Bronze – OLB 1
Bronze – OLB 1
Bronze – DE 1
Bronze – SS/FS 1

Where does your strength lay? Are you good at anticipating your opponent’s calls and calling the proper defensive plays to stop them? Do you struggle stopping them? If you struggle stopping your opponent, then you should take the balanced team. What? Take the balance team you say? But I can’t stop them? I need more defense. Wrong! If you can’t stop them with your play calling, then all of the defensive players in the world aren’t going to help you. Your best bet is to stack up on offense and shoot it out with them on the boards. Now, if you are good at defensive play calling, then guess what, you get a boost! Take the defensive team. It will help you get more turn overs and instead of being a weakness, it will be yet another threat. Once the type of play maker team has been decided, it’s time to take a look at the Gold players and select the play makers.

Selecting the Play Maker(s)

There aren’t too many options at Gold Wide Receiver. Let’s take a look at who is available.

Gold Wide Receivers
  - Fred Biletnikoff (Deep Threat, Clutch, Durability, Soft Hands)
  - James Lofton (Deep Threat, Durability, Speed Burner)
  - Jerry Rice (Break Away, Clutch, Leadership, Route God, Soft Hands)
  - Raymond Berry (Route God, Bumper, Tough in Middle, Possession Receiver, Secure Ball)

Of the four guys listed above, the two best options are going to be Jerry Rice and Raymond Berry. Why? Because of the Route God ability. Guys with the Route God ability can run routes like nobody’s business. Cornerbacks can’t keep up with them, and safeties are regularly burned while trying to defend against them.

Now, if you want to select a Halfback, then you are going to have a few other options available. Let’s take a look at the Gold Halfbacks that are available.

Gold Halfbacks
  - Barry Sanders (Branching Tackles, Cutback, Quick Feet, Speed Burner, Finesse)
  - Earl Campbell (Branching Tackles, Workhorse, Stamina, Power)
  - Emmitt Smith (Arm of Steel, Branching Tackles, Workhorse, Durability, Goalline Dive)
  - Gale Sayers (Return Spec, Break Away, Quick Feet, Speed Burner, Finesse)
  - Leroy Kelly (Return Spec, Durability, Soft Hands)
  - Marcus Allen (Clutch, Branching Tackles, Cutback, Soft Hands, Goalline Dive)
  - O.J. Simpson (Break Away, Quick Feet, Speed Burner, Finesse)
  - Paul Hornung (Clutch, Leadership, Soft Hands)
  - Thurman Thomas (Arm of Steel, Stop on a Dime, Soft Hands, Finesse)
  - Walter Payton (Leadership, Durability, Goalline Dive, Scissors, Finesse and Power)

Before you select a Halfback, you need to ask yourself whether or not you are good at running the ball. Can you read a defense? Can you setup a run? Do you know when flipping the play works, and when it only messes up a run? If you can truly run the ball, then a fast Halfback is your best bet. Barry Sanders, Gale Sayers, and O.J. Simpson are all good choice for guys that can run the ball. Now, if you struggle with running the ball, and have trouble getting past the line of scrimmage, then you’re going to want a guy that can break a tackle or two. If that’s the case, then you need to take Earl Campbell or Walter Payton, with Earl being the best choice of the two.

Gold Tight Ends
  - Jackie Smith (Bulldozer, Durability, Soft Hands)
  - John Mackey (Return Spec, Break Away, Durability, Speed Burner)
  - Mike Ditka (Tough in Middle, Leadership, Bulldozer, Durability, Strength)
  - Shannon Sharpe (Route God, Speed Burner)

If you are going to be running the ball up the gut and plan on breaking a lot of tackles, then a Gold Tight End is an excellent addition to a Gold Halfback such as Earl Campbell or Walter Payton. Gold Tight Ends can knock down several defenders and carve a path through the defense where none existed. In addition to their tremendous blocking ability, many of the Gold Tight Ends are deadly pass threats and in particularly deadly over the middle. Looking for a Tight End to throw defenders to the side like rag dolls? Then Mike Ditka and Jackie Smith are excellent choices with Ditka being the better choice thanks to the Strength Bonus ability. Looking for a Tight End to handle defenders and be a huge threat in the passing game? Then Shannon Sharpe and John Mackey are the clear choices with Shannone Sharpe being the favorite due to the Route God ability.

Surrounding Cast

Once the play maker or play makers are selected, the surrounding cast needs to be put in place. There are several routes to take for the surrounding cast. Build a team that can stuff the run, build a team that can defend against the pass, or build a team somewhere in the middle.

To stuff the run, a team would contain two Defensive Ends and two Defensive Tackles with a couple of Outside Line Backers to back them up.

To stop the deep pass, the team would have all star players at the Corderback and Safety positions, Inside Linebacker, and a Defensive End plus Defensive Tackle combination to collapse one side of the line and pressure the quarterback.

To build a team somewhere in the middle, there must be Star players at both Cornerback positions, Stars at all Line Backer positions, and at least one Defensive Linemen (Tackle or End). For the sake of this article, we will only go into detail on the balanced build.

Based on the way the game plays, it’s typically easier to stop the run than it is the pass. For that reason, it’s suggested to go heavy at the linebacker position and stack them with pass coverage. This gives you more speed at the linebacker position to stop the run just by putting stars in the linebacker positions, with the added benefit of pass coverage for short to medium routes.

Suggested Team Builds

Balanced Team #1 (9 offense - 9 defense)
WR - Jerry Rice (Break Away, Clutch, Leadership, Route God, Soft Hands)
HB - Barry Sanders (Branching Tackles, Cutback, Finesse , Quick Feet, Speed Burner)
QB - Randall Cunningham (QB Evade, Quick Feet, Rocket Arm, Scrambler, Speed Burner)
CB - Lem Barney (Ball Hawk, Coverage Bonus, Return Specialist, Speed Burner)
ILB - Nick Buoniconti (Leadership Bonus, Pass Coverage, Wrap Up Tackler)
TE - Peter Metzelaars (Possession Receiver, Tough in the Middle)
DE - Dexter Manley (Bull Rush, Pass Rush Bonus, Speed Burner, Strength Bonus, Swim)
OLB – Brad Van Pelt (Coverage Bonus, Reach Tackle)
OLB – John Anderson (Coverage Bonus, Loose Ball Magnet)
CB – Terry McDaniel (Ball Hawk, Coverage Bonus)
FS – Eugene Robinson (Ball Hawk, Coverage Bonus)

Balanced Team #2 (9 offense - 9 defense)
TE - Mike Ditka (Tough in Middle, Leadership, Bulldozer, Durability, Strength)
HB - Earl Campbell (Branching Tackles, Workhorse, Stamina, Power)
QB - Randall Cunningham (QB Evade, Quick Feet, Rocket Arm, Scrambler, Speed Burner)
CB - Lem Barney (Ball Hawk, Coverage Bonus, Return Specialist, Speed Burner)
ILB - Nick Buoniconti (Leadership Bonus, Pass Coverage, Wrap Up Tackler)
TE - Peter Metzelaars (Possession Receiver, Tough in the Middle)
DE - Dexter Manley (Bull Rush, Pass Rush Bonus, Speed Burner, Strength Bonus, Swim)
OLB – Brad Van Pelt (Coverage Bonus, Reach Tackle)
OLB – John Anderson (Coverage Bonus, Loose Ball Magnet)
CB – Terry McDaniel (Ball Hawk, Coverage Bonus)
FS – Eugene Robinson (Ball Hawk, Coverage Bonus)

Defensive Team #1 (6 offense - 12 defense)
WR - Jerry Rice / Raymond Berry
CB – Rod Woodson (Ball Hawk, Leadership, Loose Ball Magnet, Return Specialist, Run Coverage)
QB - Randall Cunningham (QB Evade, Quick Feet, Rocket Arm, Scrambler, Speed Burner)
CB - Lem Barney (Ball Hawk, Coverage Bonus, Return Specialist, Speed Burner)
ILB - Nick Buoniconti (Leadership Bonus, Pass Coverage, Wrap Up Tackler)
TE - Peter Metzelaars (Possession Receiver, Tough in the Middle)
HB – Tony Nathan / Dave Meggett / Christian Okoye / Natrone Means **
DE - Dexter Manley (Bull Rush, Pass Rush Bonus, Speed Burner, Strength Bonus, Swim)
OLB – Brad Van Pelt (Coverage Bonus, Reach Tackle)
OLB – John Anderson (Coverage Bonus, Loose Ball Magnet)
FS – Eugene Robinson (Ball Hawk, Coverage Bonus)

Defensive Team #2 (8 offense - 10 defense)
HB - Barry Sanders / OJ Simpson / Gale Sayers / Earl Campbell / Walter Payton
CB – Rod Woodson (Ball Hawk, Leadership, Loose Ball Magnet, Return Specialist, Run Coverage)
QB - Randall Cunningham (QB Evade, Quick Feet, Rocket Arm, Scrambler, Speed Burner)
CB - Lem Barney (Ball Hawk, Coverage Bonus, Return Specialist, Speed Burner)
WR - Don Maynard (Bump Buster, Deep Threat, Route God, Soft Hands, Tough in the Middle)
TE - Peter Metzelaars (Possession Receiver, Tough in the Middle)
DE - Dexter Manley (Bull Rush, Pass Rush Bonus, Speed Burner, Strength Bonus, Swim)
ILB - Scott Studwell (Leadership Bonus, Signal Stealer)
OLB – Brad Van Pelt (Coverage Bonus, Reach Tackle)
OLB – John Anderson (Coverage Bonus, Loose Ball Magnet)
FS – Eugene Robinson (Ball Hawk, Coverage Bonus)

** Bronze Halfbacks
Dave Meggett - Ankle Breaker, Return Specialist, Soft Hands, Stop on a Dime
Tony Nathan – Soft Hands
Christian Okoye (Battering Ram, Branching Tackles, Strength Bonus, Workhorse)

Take Tony Nathan or Dave Megget if you are looking for a speed back. If you plan on running it up the gut and breaking a tackle or team then take Christian Okoye or Natrone Means.