Warrior General Games

Ok..gotta toss this out there. After 7 seasons, has anyone else also noted that the WR1 slot is so heavily favored that the sim oftentimes forces the pass to that slot?

I am sure that there are WR's out there that succeed in other slots but after a careful analysis of numerous games, the # of passes to the WR1 slot, many times, equals or far exceeds the total of passes to all other WR slots (even when running 5 WR formations).

I think a lot of people avoid this by putting everyone under the universal WR and leaves the numbered slots blank

my first full season i was the #1 WR but the guy in the #3 slot had better stats.
after moving to another team, my best success came when i was used as the #3 WR.
i had better stats than #1 & #2 but not used in as many plays.
i'm thinking it was probably because i had more energy coming off the bench.
now i'm on a team that doesn't use the WR1-5 designations so we all rotate positions.

It could also be that as the #1 or #2 receiver you are covered by better DB's and sometimes also double teamed. Routes and OC'ing factors in as well.

#3 slot gets the better matchups against backup DBs - so season stats are very often better

who gets targetted also depends on who the QB has down as their top target - so if you want the #1 slot not to be so heavily favoured - get the QBs to put the #2 guy down as their top target

Also - I believe but don't quote me - under pressure with no obvious open target QBs will tend to target the possesion guys - based on higher likelihood of hanging on to the ball if it is thrown their way - wouldn't you?

i have seen good OCs make great use of the WR1-5 slots - switching up who lines up where depending on the game plan/playbook/opposition DBs/ plus just mixing it up so that the D can't match up their DBs - since it easy to watch game footage and figure out who the speedsters and possession guys are

Originally posted by LSD
#3 slot gets the better matchups against backup DBs - so season stats are very often better

who gets targetted also depends on who the QB has down as their top target - so if you want the #1 slot not to be so heavily favoured - get the QBs to put the #2 guy down as their top target

Also - I believe but don't quote me - under pressure with no obvious open target QBs will tend to target the possesion guys - based on higher likelihood of hanging on to the ball if it is thrown their way - wouldn't you?


Not sure about that...great question though. At AA+ leagues, the QB does not have much time at all and the number of times the QB throws to WR1 is so skewed in relation to the total throws to ALL OTHER slots that I really see a disconnect here but wtf do I know.

I O/C'd for several seasons through ALL the changes and, at the end of the day, the best results that I found was the basic rotational system and not utilizing the custom slots. Problem is that "promises" made to attract players oftentimes create big time problems when the team gets promoted. Level 30 WR's that are PROMISED that WR1 is theirs creates such havok when the team gets promoted to AA and has level 50+ WR's that never get a shot at WR1 because of the promises....something for me to keep in mind for the next team I move to.

I recall reading that the QB favours WRs with higher catching ... which seems especially to be the case this season.

I use the Custom WR slots and find that it adds something useful to my gameplanning. However, this season our lowest level WR has jumped up to lead our Receivers on receptions and TDs. I have had him in to backup WR1, backup WR2 and start at WR4. Even considering the number of WR5 sets we use, he is getting a awful lot of passes thrown his way. The only explanation I have for it, is that this guy has the highest Catching on the team (not the fastest, nor the jumpiest, nor down as our QBs favourite target ... and therefore not often the most open receiver). Perhaps it may be too early to tell ... but It seems like this factor has been 'turned up' this season as I just can't stop our QBs trying to throw the ball his way.

Do you tend to put your Possession Receivers in at the WR1 slot?

Does you have any other possible explanation (without me giving away our tactics or opening up all our WRs builds)?

Qbs Perfered target

Originally posted by WizardofWar
Ok..gotta toss this out there. After 7 seasons, has anyone else also noted that the WR1 slot is so heavily favored that the sim oftentimes forces the pass to that slot?

I am sure that there are WR's out there that succeed in other slots but after a careful analysis of numerous games, the # of passes to the WR1 slot, many times, equals or far exceeds the total of passes to all other WR slots (even when running 5 WR formations).



As a WR owner who has had his WR lead his team in yards and TD's from:

The 5th spot once
The fourth spot once
The third spot 3X

I'd say no. I've never really noticed it. The #1 guy does get far more attention if he is (as he should be) the best and most productive WR on the team. If the team doesn't start the best WR, he'll still probably get the best stats.

Well, I've been the 1st string WR for the first 6 games of the season and I would like to say that I think I have the best build out of all of the team's receiving corps. With those 6 games, I've had 17 receptions for 203 yards and 2 TD's. I'm also currently 5th for receiving yards for the team. So, I'll would also say no that #1 receiver is favored.

Excellent input all...now this is productive.

Ok...here are some rough numbers..I will share some basic numbers as well. (I am only referring to two WR's here....starting WR1 and WR2)

WR1 lvl 54
speed 104
agil 64
jump 55
vis 60
catching 63.43
sa 2-4-1-0-0
7-5-5-2-3

WR2 lvl 50
speed 100
agil 70
jump 55
vis 58
catching 62
sa 4-4-3-2-0
7-5-2-1-1

Production this season:

WR1 28 catches 548 yards
WR2 20 catches 232 yards

Ironically enough, my OC finally agreed to test my theory of WR1 being favored (QB NOT have preferred receiver set so we can eliminate this from the possiblities)...check out the results when my WR2 was put in custom slot starting WR1.

My WR2 who got to start as WR1 (against the toughest team we face this season..not a cupcake so another thing we can eliminate that could have possibly skewed the results): 7 catches / 95 yards.

The normally starting WR1 who I switched with and started at WR2 - 1 catch / 9.5 yards.

For the most recent game, we got switched BACK to normal rotation. Normal guy at WR1 and I went back to WR2....results:
WR1 - 6 catches 156 yards
WR2 - 1 catch 18 yards

There definately appears to be sand in the vaseline here!

Please continue this discussion..I value any and all input. We do run a heavy number of 5WR sets so EVERYONE gets a shot at being on the field. Perhaps next post, I will tally ALL the passes and to what slot they went to. This may be a very productive exercise.

Interesting results. I wonder if your result might be to something to do with your playbook, where (in the default playbook) there are more plays where the WR1 gets the first look than the other slots.

This is contra to the problem I am having with my offence. I cannot seem to get the ball into the hands of our top speedster often enough with him at WR1 (no QB favourites set). This is because he is being well covered by the oppositions top CB. Meanwhile our backup WR2 (with higher catching) is getting more looks per game.

Originally posted by Paul W Davey
Interesting results. I wonder if your result might be to something to do with your playbook, where (in the default playbook) there are more plays where the WR1 gets the first look than the other slots.

This is contra to the problem I am having with my offence. I cannot seem to get the ball into the hands of our top speedster often enough with him at WR1 (no QB favourites set). This is because he is being well covered by the oppositions top CB. Meanwhile our backup WR2 (with higher catching) is getting more looks per game.



Paul, I took a look at your team and depth chart. Might I suggest trying this: You currently have general WR rotational slots filled ALONG WITH the custom slots. The sim is a bizarre black box and this may be confusing it somehow resulting in lineup's that you did not intend.

Next game or so, try EITHER the WR general rotation OR utilize the custom slots...see how that works.

If you fill in a custom input it overrides the general input for that position.
If you fill in all custom inputs the general input may as well not exist, for all intensive purposes it does not.

The "problem" can possibly be attributed to a number of things:
The routes your OC selected favor the #1 WR
The CBs you face are pretty much even so no WR is favored heavily in the matchup, and as a result-
The WRs you have are mostly even thus making the QB checkdown favor WR#1 most because WR#1 is supposed to be your "star receiver."

The QB checkdown uses vision to factor in: WR depth, WR openness, WR match up/coverage, WR route distance/completion, the QB's tactics for release, and pressure on the QB. Given this he's still prone to making mistakes and will sometimes target the "wrong" receiver in his calculation.

Originally posted by Daddy Warbucks
If you fill in a custom input it overrides the general input for that position.
If you fill in all custom inputs the general input may as well not exist, for all intensive purposes it does not.

The QB checkdown uses vision to factor in: WR depth, WR openness, WR match up/coverage, WR route distance/completion, the QB's tactics for release, and pressure on the QB. Given this he's still prone to making mistakes and will sometimes target the "wrong" receiver in his calculation.

@Daddy - I am totally with you there. I use the general WR slots to tell the sim what the depth chart order is for the WRs in one single list - for use in the QB checkdown. The WR slots override it for who lines up where.

@ Wizard - thanks for looking into it WizardofWar ... but as you can see this is not the problem I am having. My WRs line up where I want them ... it is just that I can't get the ball to my WR1 Speedster enough and the SIM throws to my backup WR2 / WR4 a fair bit more. This has to be more of an issue of CB coverage though.

Sorry to take the attention away from your original issue. In your team, is the OC now manually moving your Receivers into all sorts of different positions each game to try to get everyone a touch of the ball?