Written By: Deloz

This has been said by many obviously but I still feel it warrants a deeper look. Lets first list the reasons why EA put this in the game...

1)To stop people from being able to base their offenses off of sprinting backwards/rolling out(giggles)
2)To create a sense of having a set drop you have to take for certain passing plays(giggles louder)

When thinking about reason one...do I really need to say anything? That 1 second the game forces you to stand in the pocket does absolutely nothing to force more pocket passing. The only plays that override it are screens and Gun Y Trips-Z Spot.

There is even a play is Gun Empty Y Flex called QB Dash Comeback....where the auto drop back causes the most absurd thing.

If you don't press anything and allow the auto drop back, the QB will begin to roll out...stutter step backwards/sideways, then finally give you control.

If you press the left stick at the snap to control him ASAP you will get the standard shotgun 1 sec hitch step. Why doesn't this play allow immediate rollout like Z Spot? Having the autodrop in this play be rollout/stutter step/rollout is just so silly and broken.

Reason 2 above is totally useless because why have a set step QB drop when the offensive line doesn't change its protections for the different drops?

Overall Ive always been a Madden guy but 2K football has had different protections for different passing plays for a loooong time.

Example:In a play in Madden like Gun Flip Trips Deep Fork(a deep passing play)....the o-line would follow you farther backwards into the pocket to allow as much time as possible. In a quick pass play they would play like they do now and just try to stand their guy up at the line of scrimmage.

To have an auto drop back and not have this is just not logical. Wouldn't the auto drop back not even be necessary if you were penalized in accuracy for throwing a pass while sprinting backwards? Wouldn't rolling out be not nearly as effective if flat blue zones worked correctly?

So what does the auto drop back ultimately do? Give the blitz about a 1 sec head start on the QB any given play. Ditch the useless r-stick avoid stuff and just make the QB move like that with the L stick in the pocket. That coupled with sprint back passes being off target would eliminate alot of problems, and make useless bandaids like the auto drop back and the icons disappearing unnecessary.

I know tech isn't perfect but all of those things seem reasonable to be able to tune with the math that powers Madden. There's some elements of real football that cant be duplicated yet I know but these things aren't one of them and that's why they're so frustrating.

Thanks for reading guys and thanks to TML for the opportunity...more to come.