(No names will be revealed in the article) So people can give their honest opinions without having to worry about being called out for people that disagree with them!

RPO spam have become what I would say is the “meta” for OCs in this season. With the current state of Madden, who blames them?

Better run blocking, quick pass options, and easy ways to get your skill players out in space. That’s everything an OC should be looking for. However defensively it has become pretty hard to stop. Is that due to poor users? Poor DCs? Or maybe is it too overpowered?

I’ve gone around asking almost 20% of the entire server to gain a sample for this article. Through it I have seen multiple views.

One person says:

While another has told me:

However the most interesting take I’ve heard on this topic was made when one player said:

This take on the “meta” made me think, if we were to limit the rpos, would we not just complain about the absurd defensive blitzes? Madden in general is bad at programming, A gap blitzes have dominated this year all year. Along with your usual blitzes that are able to cause instant pressure. These defensive blitzes have cause for havoc on the offensive end. QBs are forced to run more, they are forced to look for short passes, and they are forced to change their play style.

Maybe it isn’t the RPOs? Maybe it seriously is the user skill. One player said “Last I checked RPO was nerfed from last year, all you need nowadays is 3 good users. Unlike dline usering if you can’t handle RPOs now it’s just a skill issue. User it.” I think honestly he isn’t wrong. He seriously might be right. If we are to limit rpos, we would have to limit defenses as well. But what if we didn’t change anything?

What if all we changed was maybe put a position lock? Well some thought that was a great idea while other simply said, “no.” I like the idea of an offensive position lock personally. But I’ll get into that in the next paragraph. I think overall from what I have heard, the genuine belief is yes. It’s boring. Yes, it’s hard to stop. But if you are good enough, it is definitely stoppable. There shouldn’t be a limit.

Now position lock, I originally heard the thought to have position lock offensively to prevent the double user TE blocking. Those user blocks would cancel out the abilities of the DL and cause chaos. But a teammate of the man who recommended it said there is an easy way to stop the double user block. Cut stick the hell out of them. Blow that shit up.

So here is the main reason why I say position lock. Stats. Top RBs are getting outperformed by other RBs that aren’t even usering the RB. The QB is! I find nothing wrong with that. If the QB wants it, he can have it. However we are a league with awards and players that aren’t even doing anything are on pace to win some of the trophies. Easiest way to prevent that, the QB running it gets the stats. This would make for an insane MVP stat line and truly have some of the best statistical seasons the league has ever seen. But players that aren’t usering the RB shouldn’t be getting the stats.

At the end of the day, Mr Hexi is ironically right. We are a comp league. Not a sim league. We are playing for money. It is not right to flat out ban this strategy. Is it annoying yes. Is it kind of a toxic thing to do, sure. Does it require any sorts of skill, no. Does it mean they are good, no. But we aren’t looking for realism. we are playing madden.

Maybe next season we go for a “sim” look. More realistic options and rules enforced. But as for this season, I think we don’t need to necessarily change a thing. We are doing just fine. The only thing maybe is control how the stats are imputed. I don’t believe players who aren’t using their labeled position should get the stats.

Regardless, everyone can do it. Nothing stopping you from doing it. While jukebox is OP, they still are facing legitimate players and playing legitimate games. Overall, the league is doing well. The users are the problem. Hope we all can enjoy the rest of the season and come back to this topic after.