Upgrading the Secondary in CFM

[penacho]

Since EA upped the XP cost to upgrade coverage attributes to a ridiculous level, it's not really worth the XP. It's on the level with physical attributes such as speed and strength where you add a player to your squad who already has those attributes high so you don't waste gobs of XP on them. Now we'll have to target guys who also have coverage skills - or compromise on coverage skills vs speed vs strength etc - and focus on upgrading them with XP elsewhere.

The question is, where do we focus our XP to influence coverage without actually spending XP on coverage? Should we spend it on AWR and PRC? AWR seems obvious as coverage attributes are essentially AI attributes and AWR is AI. What about PRC? With better PRC will they recognize route concepts better, or do they only recognize fakes, pass vs run better? Is AWR better for coverage or is PRC?

[Manning2Harrison]

With corners losing confidence for every game in which they do not have a pick, you're going to be spending more hours on restoring confidence than on development.

[penacho]

If you win the game you still receive a + confidence boost. Any thoughts on the XP discussion?

[Greencollarbaseball]

Put points into PRC and Pursuit. It seems like guys break on the ball better I'd they have a higher Pursuit rating. I personally have not seen a difference in guys with higher coverage ratings playing better than guys with average ratings, but I have seen guys with better coverage with higher Pursuit. I don't know why though.

[penacho]

Interesting, I hadn't thought about pursuit - thought it was more for closing on tackles. Has anyone tested this? Any other thoughts?

[Firestarter333]

From what I tested was that man & zone cover affected how closely a DB played the WR, PUR was how quickly they closed in on the ball carrier, and PRC how quickly they reacted to the ball once it left the QB's hand. So ideally IMO if you want to bait the QB to think a WR is open & have the DB jump the route you would want a high PRC, high acceleration corner with decently good cover skills

[penacho]

Yeah, I've done a little research. These are for Madden 25 - but I don't think much has changed (except maybe Impact Blocking isn't pancakes anymore, instead now it may be block duration based on the upgrade screen). It seems upgrading AWR and PRC is the way to go, maybe sprinkling in some PRS - if just focused on coverage. If tackling skills, PUR is definitely useful.


Info

Awareness (AWR) - This rating has a huge effect on the players overall rating. There are multiple aspects of the game this rating improves: Blockers will set-up and react to blocking lanes better, wide receivers will look for the ball faster on routes, defenders react to the ball faster in the air for zone and man coverage, defensive lineman will react to the run and slip screens faster.

Pursuit (PUR) - If a player is unblocked or sheds a block, this rating determines the ability of the defender to catch up to the ball carrier. This rating is basically closing speed and is separate from regular speed rating, but a high speed, high pursuit player can bring the fast blitzes.

Play Recognition (PRC) - The rating determines how well a defender reacts to the run or pass as well as how well they defend specific routes. In addition, a lower PRC player will tend to bite on play action more often. High play recognition defensive lineman (80+) will react to the slip screen more consistently.

Man coverage (MCV) - How well the player will cover the offensive player when man to man coverage is called. Determines chance of fakeout, used vs. Route Run. Determines the time it takes to cover a cut, used vs. Route Run. Determines the reaction time when in man-coverage assignment. Determines tackle skill chance when in man-coverage assignment, used with AWR. Determines when a defender can break out of ‘play ball’ (when the ball is in the air). Determines the knockout chance of a tackle during the catch, used vs. Catch in Traffic.

Zone coverage (ZCV) - How well the player will cover the field in their respective zone, when zone coverage is called.Determines tackle skill chance when in zone, used AWR. Determines accuracy of leverage on receivers when in zone. Determines the time it takes for the DB to track the ball when in zone. Determines knockout chance on a tackle during a catch, used vs. Catch in Traffic.

Press (PRS) - How well the defender will "press" the WR at the line of scrimmage when press coverage is called. Higher PRS rating will cause the WR to have a longer delay when starting their routes. Higher RLS players will beat PRS attempts more often.

[Throne_Taker93]

When did this update happen?