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NCAA Defense Base Playbook

BuckeyeNut

New Member
Hey guys, wanted to get a feel for what base playbook you prefer and how you specifically use them. I am always trying out new defenses trying to find one that works for me (I suck horribly at defense in NCAA/Madden) and want to get a feel for what you guys have had success with or what you guys feel is the best to run.

In NCAA, I recently started using 4-2-5 and am thinking of switching to the 3-3-5 playbook to get some more exotic blitzes and more pressure. What do you think?
 

TXHusker05

Well-Known Member
NCAA Moderator
Hey guys, wanted to get a feel for what base playbook you prefer and how you specifically use them. I am always trying out new defenses trying to find one that works for me (I suck horribly at defense in NCAA/Madden) and want to get a feel for what you guys have had success with or what you guys feel is the best to run.

In NCAA, I recently started using 4-2-5 and am thinking of switching to the 3-3-5 playbook to get some more exotic blitzes and more pressure. What do you think?

My defense is a custom playbook but 4-2-5 based. I think 4-2-5 gives the most flexibility between run and pass defense. Cover 3 is my base coverage, with the ability to go with an inverted Cover 2 if necessary. I don't run very much man coverage, which I think separates me from most users still playing NCAA.

Seems like most users are in 425/335 these days and it is for good reason, it gives you the best balance of run and pass defense and you can stay in the 425/335 no matter what personnel your opponent is putting on the field. When you base out of a 43/34 and your opponent goes spread, you're stuck with personnel mismatches or you have to go to the far less developed Nickel/Dime stuff.
 

TXHusker05

Well-Known Member
NCAA Moderator
3-4 & Nickel are my go-to sets these days.

Do you leave base personnel on the field when someone goes 11 personnel? Or do you match with Nickel?

I would love to be able to rationalize a 4-3 or 3-4 but it seems like everyone and their mother spends the entire game in 10 & 11 personnel which makes it useless unless you've got some superstar OLBs. I've considered a 3-4 base defense with converted safeties at OLB to create sort of a pseudo dime look for that but finding those types of safeties is tough. I happen to have one this year, the FR FS I recruited this season is a beast and would be as good a LB OVR as he is FS and SS. Just can't rationalize going 4-3/3-4 when everyone is in spread.

I do have some 4-3 in my custom even front book, but it is more of a short yardage/heavy personnel grouping.
 

JSU Zack

How do I IT?
Do you leave base personnel on the field when someone goes 11 personnel? Or do you match with Nickel?

I would love to be able to rationalize a 4-3 or 3-4 but it seems like everyone and their mother spends the entire game in 10 & 11 personnel which makes it useless unless you've got some superstar OLBs. I've considered a 3-4 base defense with converted safeties at OLB to create sort of a pseudo dime look for that but finding those types of safeties is tough. I happen to have one this year, the FR FS I recruited this season is a beast and would be as good a LB OVR as he is FS and SS. Just can't rationalize going 4-3/3-4 when everyone is in spread.

I do have some 4-3 in my custom even front book, but it is more of a short yardage/heavy personnel grouping.

Depends on what they're doing. Spread to run is 3-4. Pass happy is nickel.
 

NavyHog

Well-Known Member
Utopia Moderator
NCAA Moderator
I have 4 (actually 6-7) super stud LBs in the Powerhouse. Couple guys with 90 speed, JRs and SRs, with MCV and ZCV in the low 80's. I wouldn't have a problem with them in some sort of a zone, but I would still worry about them matched up in man to man.
 

TXHusker05

Well-Known Member
NCAA Moderator
Depends on what they're doing. Spread to run is 3-4. Pass happy is nickel.

I wonder if you could get away with a single 3-4 formation with DBs formation subbed into the OLB spots to counter pass heavy people. Nickel is such a bland formatoin with really predictable zone concepts and bad blitz concepts. Any time someone goes Nickel against me I know I'm going to torch them because of how generic the coverages are.

I have 4 (actually 6-7) super stud LBs in the Powerhouse. Couple guys with 90 speed, JRs and SRs, with MCV and ZCV in the low 80's. I wouldn't have a problem with them in some sort of a zone, but I would still worry about them matched up in man to man.

My LBs in Powerhouse are great, but there are really only two of them. They were my two best defenders last year and just Sophomores plus I added a really good Freshman. All 3 are athletic types I trust in coverage and my LBs have to be good in space since they're responsible for the entire middle of the field in my defense. Were I someone who played a lot of man, I would get in the habit of recruiting those mid-80s speed safeties with good coverage ratings to position change to LB. It seems like those players go unrecruited every year because mid-80s speed safeties get torched playing safety but at LB they'd be golden.
 

nofx94

Active Member
In my dynasty I have my defense set up on a multiple playbook so I can adapt personnel year to year. I found that SSs were very easy to recruit at a high level when contrasted with linebackers and anyway it's more practical because 10 and 11 personnel are just the way things are done by most offenses now, real life or gaming; online or offline.

I had been running a 3-3-5 with 3-4 and 4-3 for changeup but I'm now running 4-2-5 because I've continued to have great defensive linemen (currently have two 90+ ovr 300+lb DTs) and I only have two great linebackers; plus it makes more sense considering how difficult I've personally found it to recruit defensive ends over 260.

I've also just typically been intrigued by the 4-2-5 because it's different variations in execution have led to success at TCU and VT for a long time and recently Ok State and Baylor.

There are some cool blitzes and change ups in a 3-3-5 okie and split, as well, though. And i started running the bear front as my primary after watching some VT games. You can get a look more realistic to what they do by just hitting the show blitz toggle in game on a 4-2-5 normal look,though.

And 3-3-5 stacks ability to switch to a 3-5-3 makes it such that you don't really need traditional base defenses in your playbook if you don't want them.

3-4 has a good capacity for defending various offensive sets, especially if you can play zone and your linebackers are fast. It's just that running it realistically can be difficult because of the relative dearth (in my experience) of large defensive ends.

The great thing about the spread defenses is that you're less likely to need to switch formations whereas with 4-3 and 3-4 you are guaranteed to have to run nickel and probably dime sometime during a game.

Enviado desde mi XT1064 mediante Tapatalk
 

BuckeyeNut

New Member
In my dynasty I have my defense set up on a multiple playbook so I can adapt personnel year to year. I found that SSs were very easy to recruit at a high level when contrasted with linebackers and anyway it's more practical because 10 and 11 personnel are just the way things are done by most offenses now, real life or gaming; online or offline.

I had been running a 3-3-5 with 3-4 and 4-3 for changeup but I'm now running 4-2-5 because I've continued to have great defensive linemen (currently have two 90+ ovr 300+lb DTs) and I only have two great linebackers; plus it makes more sense considering how difficult I've personally found it to recruit defensive ends over 260.

I've also just typically been intrigued by the 4-2-5 because it's different variations in execution have led to success at TCU and VT for a long time and recently Ok State and Baylor.

There are some cool blitzes and change ups in a 3-3-5 okie and split, as well, though. And i started running the bear front as my primary after watching some VT games. You can get a look more realistic to what they do by just hitting the show blitz toggle in game on a 4-2-5 normal look,though.

And 3-3-5 stacks ability to switch to a 3-5-3 makes it such that you don't really need traditional base defenses in your playbook if you don't want them.

3-4 has a good capacity for defending various offensive sets, especially if you can play zone and your linebackers are fast. It's just that running it realistically can be difficult because of the relative dearth (in my experience) of large defensive ends.

The great thing about the spread defenses is that you're less likely to need to switch formations whereas with 4-3 and 3-4 you are guaranteed to have to run nickel and probably dime sometime during a game.

Enviado desde mi XT1064 mediante Tapatalk
nofx94, I just want to make sure I am understanding you correctly. You have your defensive playbook set as the Multiple Defense for recruiting reasons and then you have it customized to a more 4-2-5 and 3-3-5 defense. I just want to make sure I am getting that right, because that is an idea I should have been using for my dynasties that I never thought of using.

Also, I was wondering how much you guys blitz versus go back in coverage. I know that the playcalling on defense is predicated on situations within the game, but I always seem to be wrong. I have some friends that almost never blitz and then I have some that blitz close to 95% of the time. What are your guys' preferences towards playcalling defenses?
 

nofx94

Active Member
nofx94, I just want to make sure I am understanding you correctly. You have your defensive playbook set as the Multiple Defense for recruiting reasons and then you have it customized to a more 4-2-5 and 3-3-5 defense. I just want to make sure I am getting that right, because that is an idea I should have been using for my dynasties that I never thought of using.

Also, I was wondering how much you guys blitz versus go back in coverage. I know that the playcalling on defense is predicated on situations within the game, but I always seem to be wrong. I have some friends that almost never blitz and then I have some that blitz close to 95% of the time. What are your guys' preferences towards playcalling defenses?
Ya that's correct. The idea was just to be able to move back and forth between different systems as time and personnel necessitated but I've never been able to run a 4-3/3-4 base consistently because every team offense bases out of 3/4-wide.

As far as being situational, what I try to do but don't always succeed at is to just put yourself in the position of the offensive coordinator and then run your defense against what you think you'd run offensively in that moment. I also blitz a lot just because it's something I've always thought made sense philosophically, zone or man.

Enviado desde mi XT1064 mediante Tapatalk
 
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