On The Third Day of ISFL-mas

JPach · (This post was last modified: 12-24-2020, 04:13 AM by JPach.)

TIGHT ENDS
What’s new for Tight Ends in DDSPF21?

FORMATIONS, SHMORFATIONS!!
Let’s be real here – as far as offensive players go, Tight Ends are sometimes an afterthought. They don’t typically put up the same kind of numbers that a Wide Receiver or a Running Back does, and don’t have the whole, “hey look I’m cool” thing that Offensive Linemen have going on. I think a cause of that is there really aren’t a lot of times you need more than one TE. Heck, some teams even play WRs or RBs at TE sometimes! New in DDSPF21, some playbooks are coming outfitted with plays from two new formations – Shotgun 4 Wide Receiver and Jumbo. Shotgun 4WR is exactly what you think – a formation with 4 Wide Receivers – while Jumbo enlists two Tight Ends, a Fullback, and a single Wide Receiver. These breathe a little more life into the Tight End position and will open up even more strategy for teams looking to utilize their players and take advantage of matchups.

YOU CAN SEE THE BALL MOVE ON PASS PLAYS!!
Okay so I’m cheating by using this header yet again, but it’s cool for Tight Ends, too. Now you can see the ball move through the air on every play where a pass attempt is made!

ARCHETYPES FINALLY FEEL DIFFERENT!!
Thanks to some Tight End specific traits in the new system (more on that later) the updated Tight End archetypes finally feel and play different from one another. Do you want to be the kind of Tight End who lines up and just knocks the snot out of a Linebacker or Defensive Back, and aren’t interested in catching the ball? You can do that now! Do you want to be a receiving threat who actually gets targeted? We have a trait for that, too!

POSITIONAL ELIGIBILITY CHANGES!!
This bit of news is just as big for the Sim Team as it is for the players. No longer will a Tight End (or RB but this is TEs time to shine so butt out) playing at an outside WR spot have to be designated as a Fullback in the sim! So, that means if you happen to have no Wide Receivers, you can still field a team of all Tight Ends! Portland Pythons Season 24 management rejoice!

What’s going on with my archetype?
If there is one glaring issue brought on from the limitations of DDSFP16, it’s that players really don’t feel any different. Thanks to the improved sim logic and the new Trait system, we have been able to create diverse Tight Ends that fill different roles better than before. To that end, we have collapsed some old Tight End archetypes, and are introducing three for players to choose from. Each of these performs differently than others, so there will be some interesting choices for teams to make when it comes to creating their strategies and building their teams!

VERTICAL THREAT
Some Tight Ends are really Wide Receivers with a little more meat on their bones. The Vertical Threat is a player that combines the speed and agility of a Wide Receiver with the size of a Toyota Prius. They create matchup nightmares for Defensive Coordinators and add an extra downfield weapon for offenses.

POSSESSION TE
NFL fans from the last 15 years know that there are three constants in life: death, taxes, and Jason Witten catching a pass on third down. The Possession Tight End is a sure-handed pass catcher that often times ends up a Quarterback’s best friend. They know how to be in the right place at the right time, and are the ultimate safety valve.

BLOCKING TE
Do you miss the old days when Tight Ends were just an extension of the Offensive Line? Look no further, friend! The Blocking Tight End adds another big body to the offensive front, and helps turn an offense into the 1960’s Packers. If your idea of stats is 10 pancakes in a game, then the Blocking TE is for you!

What are these Traits I keep hearing about?
New to DDSPF21 is the idea of Traits. As your player progresses and increases in ability, you will eventually unlock the opportunity to apply Traits to them. These will have real impacts on how your player performs. For Tight Ends the available traits are:

-RECEIVING TE
One limitation with DDSPF16 is that you can be a fully maxed out TE, and unless your team plays you at the right position in the right formation, you might not get more than three targets a game. Receiving TE looks to remedy that, as a player with this trait will get slightly more balls thrown their way, and when they have the ball in their hands they will be significantly faster to boot!

-BLOCKING TE
The other Tight End specific trait is the Blocking TE trait. Where Receiving TE makes your player more of a presence in the passing game, this trait does the opposite. It makes the QB look elsewhere on pass plays and makes your player a stronger blocker.

-ATHLETE
Makes your player more athletic, and for Tight Ends it makes them faster when they have the ball in their hands.

-ROLE MODEL
Role Model is the same for everyone – it makes your player less likely to commit penalties.

THIRD DAY OF ISFL-MAS DOUBLE FEATURE!!??
Since we started posting these position reveals on Monday, the most common question we’ve had is, “how do we unlock traits?” So, for a double feature today, we wanted to give you just a little peek into how the traits system will work. Keep in mind we won’t give detail on specific traits. This is strictly to give you an idea of how the system will work.

HoW dOeS iT wOrK?!?!?!
Applying a trait to your player will have two requirements: first, you must reach certain thresholds in specific attributes. Second, you then have to buy the trait with TPE in order to apply it. Every trait available will have different attribute requirements. These requirements might force you to deviate from the obvious build path, so don't expect to rush max Speed and be able to claim all the traits at the same time!

WoW tHaT's AwEsOmE, So HeCkIn' SmArT!
The idea behind going with a system like this is that it encourages both player agency in their builds and gives players more options with how to progress their players. With the introduction of the traits system, it will make earning and applying TPE to your player feel more fun and more impactful. Are you going to save up to target that big ticket trait straight away? Or are you going to focus on applying that TPE to your attributes like normal and worry about the traits later? If you take the first path, you might fall behind initially, but you'll be in great shape later on! Likewise, players ignoring the traits for now might be able to carve out a significant performance advantage against their rivals