*Jayce Tuck and the offensive lines

JuOSu · 11-20-2017, 08:03 AM

One of the biggest changes of the off-season came in the form of overhauled offensive lines. Teams were now able to buy bots to play on the offensive line and it changed the league dramatically. Some of the best talent in the league now switched positions. We have seen new Quarterbacks, new running backs, new defensive player. Overall, offensive lines have gotten dramatically better, as we have these bots in place now. With all the changes in the league, one player has suffered the most: Superstar Jayce Tuck.

Jayce Tuck has been arguably the best player of the NSFL since the creation of the league. No player has dominated his position as obviously as Jayce Tuck has.

In three seasons, Tuck leads the league with 71 sacks. Sabercats Dan Miller is second on that last with 45. Just look at what a difference that is! Jayce Tuck has two of the three best sack seasons and three of the top ten sack seasons. Last year he destroyed his own record when he got 32 sacks in one season.

So what has Jayce Tuck done since the rules have changed? Well, he has been stifled. He doesn't look like that same dominant player right now and Arizona has suffered a bit through that. After 8 games, Tuck has a disappointing four sacks this season, an output that he had in several games last year. But this year, he is struggling. Right now he is still third in the league in tackles for loss, so he is not completely falling off, but his sacks have been lacking. He also has many less tackles than last year.

So what does this mean? Well, it means offensive lines are doing what they are supposed to now. Will they be forever dominating Defensive Ends? I doubt it. We will see Jayce Tuck strike back eventually. But it is an interesting change. From 32 sacks to less than 10 in a season (at least most likely).

How will he react to this struggle? Will he try even harder to get back to the top? We have only seen him have dominance and success, never struggle and failure.

I personally believe we will see Tuck back soon enough. Maybe even this year in the playoffs. Tuck is still a superstar, no matter what and teams will game-plan against him.

Arizona still leads the league in sacks but the league as a whole is having a much lower pace for sacks. The offensive line changes really are making a huge difference.

So far this year, there have been 6.625 sacks per game (both teams combined), while last year there were 9.410 sacks per game. So basically every game has three sacks less. It is easy to see what a huge difference this rule change made. Overall though, I do think this is a good step for the league and makes the league more competitive and realistic.

One other thing is also clear, if these rules are continued, Jayce Tuck will easily have the all time record for sacks in a season forever. No one will ever even get close to 32 again. And I have a feeling he will still continue to grow his lead on the all time sack list well and once his career is over, he will have an incredible lead on anyone else on that list.

Jayce Tuck is a superstar, no doubt about it. Even with these struggles, I doubt anyone feels differently. I think he will end up with 9 sacks this year, but bounce back next year with 15 sacks and lead the league again.

What are your own predictions?

TheWoZy · 11-20-2017, 08:47 AM

Nothing will happen

kckolbe · 11-20-2017, 09:30 AM

I am expecting a bounce back as well, but only because I expect bot OL to get more expensive, forcing teams to take lower quality. This year, EVERY team took the best available. That's not realistic, and shows they were priced too low.

I think that a 350 bot should cost around 4 million each as opposed to 2.5. Don't get me wrong, a number HAD to be picked, but that initial number was too low.

timeconsumer · 11-20-2017, 10:03 AM

(11-20-2017, 11:30 AM)kckolbe Wrote:I am expecting a bounce back as well, but only because I expect bot OL to get more expensive, forcing teams to take lower quality. This year, EVERY team took the best available. That's not realistic, and shows they were priced too low.

I think that a 350 bot should cost around 4 million each as opposed to 2.5. Don't get me wrong, a number HAD to be picked, but that initial number was too low.

I would argue they got the OL price/TPE right. Instead what we're seeing now is how the strength of DL over the course of several nerfs was really based around balancing them against 50 TPE opponents. Perhaps it's time to bring DL back up to where we started.

kckolbe · 11-20-2017, 10:10 AM

(11-20-2017, 09:03 AM)timeconsumer Wrote:I would argue they got the OL price/TPE right. Instead what we're seeing now is how the strength of DL over the course of several nerfs was really based around balancing them against 50 TPE opponents. Perhaps it's time to bring DL back up to where we started.

If EVERY TEAM only buys the MOST EXPENSIVE version, then clearly the price was too low. Your other point is valid, though.

AsylumParty · 11-20-2017, 10:38 AM

(11-20-2017, 12:10 PM)kckolbe Wrote:If EVERY TEAM only buys the MOST EXPENSIVE version, then clearly the price was too low. Your other point is valid, though.

The only reason they're buying the most expensive bot is because only tier 2 is unlocked. You're not likely to see every team spend 35m (7x5) on their o lines when we hit top tiers

**37thchamber** · 11-20-2017, 10:41 AM

(11-20-2017, 05:10 PM)kckolbe Wrote:If EVERY TEAM only buys the MOST EXPENSIVE version, then clearly the price was too low.

Erm, it's perhaps worth pointing out that the best bots available this season are only tier 2... The majority of the Hawks active roster is above that level. And we're one of the less active teams. I'd bet the OL situation changes next season when tier 3 bots are unlocked. Possibly tier 4 will be, as well I think.

So yeah. The pricing for a 350 TPE bot seems about right. Obviously everyone will get the best available if the best available isn't actually that good comparing to the league's active players. The pricing seems about right when comparing to player contract minimums.

**manicmav36** · 11-20-2017, 10:51 AM

(11-20-2017, 11:41 AM)37thchamber Wrote:Erm, it's perhaps worth pointing out that the best bots available this season are only tier 2... The majority of the Hawks active roster is above that level. And we're one of the less active teams. I'd bet the OL situation changes next season when tier 3 bots are unlocked. Possibly tier 4 will be, as well I think.

So yeah. The pricing for a 350 TPE bot seems about right. Obviously everyone will get the best available if the best available isn't actually that good comparing to the league's active players. The pricing seems about right when comparing to player contract minimums.

You hit the nail on the head.

TheWoZy · 11-20-2017, 10:54 AM

So can we nerf LB and buff DE please?

bovovovo · 11-20-2017, 10:55 AM

(11-20-2017, 11:03 AM)timeconsumer Wrote:I would argue they got the OL price/TPE right. Instead what we're seeing now is how the strength of DL over the course of several nerfs was really based around balancing them against 50 TPE opponents. Perhaps it's time to bring DL back up to where we started.

+1 on this

It's very good that DL performance has been brought down to Earth, but I'm thinking their stats will only go down even more when some teams start using the higher tier bots