Warrior General Games

im building a coverage LB and he is my first and only LB. what VAs do you suggest? any build advice would be good to.

Ball Hawk is the first choice for a coverage LB.

The second is under debate. I'm a fan of Long Reach although I've see some good things with Jackhammer too. Additional vision is never a bad thing either.

I wouldn't load up on ballhawk, 5 or so is a nice boost but too much imo hurts more than helps. I'd probably put 5-10 in jackhammer, and then go for either football genius or something that helps with tackling like DnG or power tackling, but not something that gives a reroll chance...those are useless for tackling.

Originally posted by Darren McFadden
I wouldn't load up on ballhawk, 5 or so is a nice boost but too much imo hurts more than helps. I'd probably put 5-10 in jackhammer, and then go for either football genius or something that helps with tackling like DnG or power tackling, but not something that gives a reroll chance...those are useless for tackling.

I can understand if Darren is not a big fan of Ballhawk or Long Reach. Based off his stats he seems to be a much more balanced LB with some solid seasons under his belt, but definitely not a specialized coverage LB.

Based off of my experience with Ball Hawk/Long reach beginning with season 8, I saw an incredible difference when it came to coverage. In all of my previous seasons combined I had just over 20 PD's. The last two seasons, i had 80. I only had 4 interceptions in previous seasons, the last two I had 8 (3 of them ran back for TD's). Did anything change with my focus on building my player? No, I stuck to my plan; the only difference are those VA points, not to mention the fact that those seasons were played against much more difficult opponents.

When thought about, it makes sense. Ball Hawk will let me keep up with not just TE's and FB's anymore but also HB's and WR's. And once I'm always in position to make a play, if I dont make it the first time, well guess what... I get a re-roll to make the play again.

What Darren said is correct. Long Reach is not going to help you make a tackle... but if no one is catching the ball, then what tackle are you not making? Does this help you in the run game? No. Am I terrible in the run game? No, and once again this thread is listed for coverage LB's.

This is not meant to belittle what Darren said at all. He's provided some great advice in these forums, and if you're looking for more of a balanced LB then heed his words. I just happen to disagree with him when it comes to coverage LB.

Long Reach is the biggest waste of VA points ever. Put it in something else. Ballhawk yes, Longreach HELL NO. Why do coverage LB's somehow swear by it... but most CB's won't touch long reach with a 10 foot pole...

For my LB I use 3rd down stopper and Jackhammer.

Originally posted by notgoing2argue
For my LB I use 3rd down stopper and Jackhammer.

definitely good options there. You could also consider clutch as well.

I like football genius, ball hawk, and power tackler.

Originally posted by misled
Long Reach is the biggest waste of VA points ever. Put it in something else. Ballhawk yes, Longreach HELL NO. Why do coverage LB's somehow swear by it... but most CB's won't touch long reach with a 10 foot pole...

Thank you for your insightful opinion.

My opinion is one of many and when it produces results they way it does it makes it difficult to argue. In the end Beware94, you'll take what you hear from this forum, mix it with what kind of playmaker you want, and come to your own conclusions.

Good luck!

Originally posted by Latinhokie
Originally posted by misled

Long Reach is the biggest waste of VA points ever. Put it in something else. Ballhawk yes, Longreach HELL NO. Why do coverage LB's somehow swear by it... but most CB's won't touch long reach with a 10 foot pole...

Thank you for your insightful opinion.

My opinion is one of many and when it produces results they way it does it makes it difficult to argue. In the end Beware94, you'll take what you hear from this forum, mix it with what kind of playmaker you want, and come to your own conclusions.

Good luck!

I'm sorry to come off the way I do... it's only natural for me. It's a curse. But alas, the math is there to back up that your veteran points could be used for more useful things than that. I'd take 10 ball hawk and 5 jackhammer over 15 long reach anyday. Or 15 ballhawk and 15 jackhammer for example. Not that I'd do that. But those options are far better.

imo if you're going to put VP into a VA that gives you a chance to reroll, you should be able to reroll on *100%* of your misses. instead you will only reroll on 45% of them? that's crap and terrible math imo. if you win 50% of those rerolls (doubtful, since you failed for a reason and none of the factors into the calc change) it's still only helping you 23% of the time. more like 15% though. so 15 VAs and what you get is something that most likely doesn't help on over 15% of your pass deflection attempts. I think you can get a lot more out of 15 VP than that.