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90+ Overall QB and WR... but sparse targeting

By Phaldun
10/31/2022 2:51 pm
I absolutely cannot figure this out in the Paydirt League. So my QB, Powell, is about maxed out in look off defender, field of vision, as well as most other vital things he would need, but for some reason he very rarely throws to my best 2nd year WR, Chase. My Ja'Marr Chase WR is an overall rating of 93 and produce some quality results on any team, but no matter what in every freaking game my QB simply does not throw to him. I have tried putting Chase in every starting WR position for whole games at a time, no change. I have tried to mess with the overides in the depth chart and even tried lowering the Misc fatigue level on WRs and putting him in right under the starters, no change.

My QB Powell does have one vital flaw and that is his Intelligence. It is a 75 so therefore every 25% of snaps, he will forget what play he called... .probably not target Chase on those plays... I get that...............So my backup QB, Wood, is good enough to start on many teams with an overall of 87. His Intelligence and Discipline are all the way up, as well as look off defender and field of vision. GUESS FREAKIN WHAT? Same result..... same dayum result when I started him instead for 3 games in a row.

I am noticing that Chase is getting open quite frequently on the game films, so what in theeeeee H.......E....... double hockey sticks is going on here? Why isn't my top flight receiver getting many more looks and throws his way, even with a quality QB that I know sees him open? I have tried just about everything I can think of and it is a shame when I have such a high quality receiver, but never get to really use him. Yes I have also tried looking to see the plays that other owners use when their WRs get to run 60+ yards to paydirt after THEY get passes thrown to THEIR top WRs'. So please..... anybody....... tell me what I am doing wrong here.

Re: 90+ Overall QB and WR... but sparse targeting

By Legendruthless
10/31/2022 4:53 pm
Phaldun wrote:
I absolutely cannot figure this out in the Paydirt League. So my QB, Powell, is about maxed out in look off defender, field of vision, as well as most other vital things he would need, but for some reason he very rarely throws to my best 2nd year WR, Chase. My Ja'Marr Chase WR is an overall rating of 93 and produce some quality results on any team, but no matter what in every freaking game my QB simply does not throw to him. I have tried putting Chase in every starting WR position for whole games at a time, no change. I have tried to mess with the overides in the depth chart and even tried lowering the Misc fatigue level on WRs and putting him in right under the starters, no change.

My QB Powell does have one vital flaw and that is his Intelligence. It is a 75 so therefore every 25% of snaps, he will forget what play he called... .probably not target Chase on those plays... I get that...............So my backup QB, Wood, is good enough to start on many teams with an overall of 87. His Intelligence and Discipline are all the way up, as well as look off defender and field of vision. GUESS FREAKIN WHAT? Same result..... same dayum result when I started him instead for 3 games in a row.

I am noticing that Chase is getting open quite frequently on the game films, so what in theeeeee H.......E....... double hockey sticks is going on here? Why isn't my top flight receiver getting many more looks and throws his way, even with a quality QB that I know sees him open? I have tried just about everything I can think of and it is a shame when I have such a high quality receiver, but never get to really use him. Yes I have also tried looking to see the plays that other owners use when their WRs get to run 60+ yards to paydirt after THEY get passes thrown to THEIR top WRs'. So please..... anybody....... tell me what I am doing wrong here.


Targeting has to do with the play calling. Each play has a set of target % by position. This is probably due to the play design on options 1-5. In the NFL they say the QB will go through his reads. My guess is he is not being targeted because you don't have plays that throw heavily his way.

Look at this sheet here by setherick to give you an idea on where he should be lined up for each play:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VP__j-GH2aOtvjKa6Vc3ExVrC_rd_0O1jZ7VSj3f9Gc/edit#gid=1137370292

Re: 90+ Overall QB and WR... but sparse targeting

By Mcbolt55
10/31/2022 5:37 pm
I think your reply is the crux of his complaint. Supposedly he /is/ calling the plays with said wr in position to be primary target and it still isn’t happening. Yet the same things tend to work when his opponent tries it.
Last edited at 10/31/2022 5:38 pm

Re: 90+ Overall QB and WR... but sparse targeting

By Legendruthless
10/31/2022 5:50 pm
Mcbolt55 wrote:
I think your reply is the crux of his complaint. Supposedly he /is/ calling the plays with said wr in position to be primary target and it still isn’t happening. Yet the same things tend to work when his opponent tries it.


No it is his problem. I looked at his last few games and Chase is lined up incorrectly to receive targets. Hence why I put the target list in there. He needs to override him correctly, or just put him at WR3 which has more targets than any other WR.

He has him at WR1 from what I have seen, and the plays he is calling rarely throws there.

Re: 90+ Overall QB and WR... but sparse targeting

By Legendruthless
10/31/2022 5:51 pm
Also looking at his stats, Chase has 11 targets, his Te leads the team with 14. So he is getting targeted just not as much as he would like I am guessing.

Re: 90+ Overall QB and WR... but sparse targeting

By ArmoredGiraffe
10/31/2022 6:05 pm
Generally for most passes the receiver who "finishes" their route first is the first player to be targeted is what I've always understood. I'm on my phone otherwise I would try and find my source for that. There are also times that a player is not considered open by your QB based on coverage/opponent player skill. You do have insanely talented players but you're not force feeding Chase how you think you are from the logs I saw.

You seemed to be calling slant routes where Chase has the slant but getting targets to those routes has been incredibly difficult in 4.6. You're calling long passes which will end poorly more than a completion. If you want to target a specific position you need to pick several plays that target that position often. Drag routes, out routes, and hitches are the ways that I try to force feed targets to certain players. Players running slants, go routes, or deep posts are much less likely to get targeted.

If I was you I would keep Chase at WR1 so he's always on the field and change your passing play selection to plays you think will target him the most. Wait 4 games before going through the games and taking note of how often he was actually targeted and if the target has any value(if he's actually going to gain yards.) The biggest thing is that sometimes it takes time before your QB really starts hammering specific players on specific plays and you just need to weather that out. There will always be more games for you to try and feed crazy good players for crazy good stats :)

Re: 90+ Overall QB and WR... but sparse targeting

By Phaldun
10/31/2022 9:16 pm
I read all replies and it is very appreciated. There is also the probability that most owners in that league understand that threat and are doing a good job keeping him from the ball on most games.

I'm going to absorb all advice here, but my phone won't let me access that link. I will go on the desktop later and see it. Im currently busy watching my Bengals get eaten by the Browns on Halloween.

I get the slow study of what works on what plays. I was theorizing that there might be a kinda preferred route buff on several, or maybe all, plays regardless of the QB skills and the relievers running on each route. So maybe the link and advice here can help me utilize good recivers better.

Thank you.

It is a nightmare for the Bengals now. Happy Halloween.
Last edited at 11/01/2022 12:22 pm

Re: 90+ Overall QB and WR... but sparse targeting

By Phaldun
11/01/2022 12:28 pm
Legendruthless wrote:
Look at this sheet here by setherick to give you an idea on where he should be lined up for each play:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VP__j-GH2aOtvjKa6Vc3ExVrC_rd_0O1jZ7VSj3f9Gc/edit#gid=1137370292


Thanks for this link opportunity Legendruthless, but I have also tried on my desktop computer and it goes to Google Sheets, but then says access denied. Is there another way I can see what is on this link?

Re: 90+ Overall QB and WR... but sparse targeting

By Legendruthless
11/01/2022 12:29 pm
Phaldun wrote:
Legendruthless wrote:
Look at this sheet here by setherick to give you an idea on where he should be lined up for each play:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VP__j-GH2aOtvjKa6Vc3ExVrC_rd_0O1jZ7VSj3f9Gc/edit#gid=1137370292


Thanks for this link opportunity Legendruthless, but I have also tried on my desktop computer and it goes to Google Sheets, but then says access denied. Is there another way I can see what is on this link?


My bad I created a google sheet. It was originally something else from setherick. I’ll set it as open for anyone to see

Re: 90+ Overall QB and WR... but sparse targeting

By Phaldun
11/04/2022 3:12 pm
Ok so I spent just a little bit of time on that spreadsheet you linked. What I decided to do is look for a few with high yards and throw to percentages. What I did notice is that Chase had 5 receptions against Warthog's Browns. This is much more than the average of about 1 per game before. Even when we lost that game I would call that progress.

Your sheet is 7 pages long and I don't think it includes all plays right? Perhaps it is just the ones that work the best?