Pocket Passer’s Guide
I’m writing this guide because I feel that the other guides for the quarterback position do not take into account the different types of quarterbacks within the pocket passer mold. Although the differences may not be as extreme as comparing an elusive back to a power back, there is a big difference in builds when comparing a gunslinger to a game manager.
Team plays a major role in a quarterback’s performance and most of a quarterback’s struggles can be traced back to the team around him. There are ways for a quarterback to alleviate a problem in a team’s dynamic through his build, but there is no cure for a bad team.
This is just a guide and should not be used as the Quarterback Bible. It is a collection of ideas from some of the best quarterbacks in GLB. Within every specialty there is plenty of leeway within the build, so personal preference plays a big part in your quarterback's build.
Information here will change due to changes within the game dynamic and as the position evolves.
Attributes and what they do:
Quarterbacks have only three main attributes that deal with throwing: Strength, Vision and Throwing. Confidence plays a big role in a quarterback’s performance, but it relates more to the team around the quarterback.
Strength, Vision and Throwing are the main attributes as they are calculated into the passing equation every time the quarterback throws a pass. Confidence plays a secondary role as it only comes into effect during certain situations.
Three Main Attributes
Throwing: This is the main attribute for the position and should be treated as such. It improves pass quality and accuracy. It makes the ball easier to catch and harder to intercept. I also believe throwing plays a role in how far a quarterback can throw the ball, although it doesn’t have as big of an impact as strength.
There is a debate on the effect throwing has past a certain point, but that is mainly addressed in what type of quarterback you want to build.
Strength: Obviously, this is the main attribute that deals with how far a quarterback can throw the ball. It also affects how fast the ball gets to the receivers, so it plays an important role in interception prevention.
There is a debate on whether or not strength plays a factor in dropped passes, but it is largely unconfirmed at this point.
Vision: This skill’s main purpose deals with reading defenses, finding the open receiver and picking up blitzes. It gives your quarterback a football sense or intelligence. It also has some role in how accurate your quarterback is, although in a smaller capacity than throwing.
Secondary Attributes
Confidence: By far the most important secondary attribute. The skill’s main purpose is lowering the effect of moral loss after a sack, interception or missed pass. It also plays a role in what your quarterback does after reading a blitz, like keeping him calm while being hurried.
This skill becomes a main attribute depending on how bad your offensive line and receivers are. If you are under constant pressure, it does not matter how high your strength, vision and throwing are, your quarterback will not perform well. Confidence will help you perform better on a bad team. That being said, confidence cannot be ignored completely even on a good team because even good teams have bad games.
Stamina: This not only keeps you in the game longer, it helps you play at the top of your game by not tiring as easily. A quarterback with high stamina can play on hard intensity without seeing any negative side effects. At the lower levels, most teams run a two quarterback system, but the higher level a team is, the more it will rely on just one quarterback.
As of level 24, my quarterback can play on hard intensity with 35 stamina and never have a problem with energy or leave the game.
I’ve also run a few tests to see if the amount of throws effect energy level and it was very inconclusive.
Speed: Basically how fast your quarterback can run. Has no effect on how a quarterback throws, but does affect your quarterback when he is outside of the pocket.
Agility: This skill does not have any effect on throwing, but is more important in your quarterback’s performance than speed. It helps your quarterback move inside the pocket, moving up when he feels pressure from the outside and moving outside the pocket if he feels pressure inside. Also while scrambling for first downs, this has a bigger effect than speed as the quarterback needs to get into open space quicker.
The scrambling attributes (speed and agility) can be useful on any Pocket Passer specialty, but not enough to spend any skill points on. By training speed and agility to a decent level, it could set you apart from the competition by adding another dimension to your game, so training them early in the second year would be acceptable.
There seems to be a consensus view that the scrambling attributes lower sack numbers and scrambling for first downs has recently seen a boost as evidence to posts on the QB position board. Even Peyton Manning will scramble for first downs when it comes down to it.
Special Abilities
Special abilities should be used as complements to your attributes and should not be used to make up for the lack of something in your build. Don’t spend any points on them until you are happy with your quarterback’s build.
That being said, it doesn’t mean special abilities aren’t important. They can set you apart from everyone else depending on what you specialize in.
Pocket Presence: This is basically the confidence SA. Like it reads, you keep a cool head under pressure
Tight Spiral: Arguably the most important SA. It effects pass quality, making the ball easier to catch and harder to intercept. It is no more important on longer passes or shorter passes, although people that rely on longer passes tend to have lower throwing. (see Gunslinger)
Pump Fake: This SA is used to trick the secondary. It does not happen on every pass attempt, but when it does, it helps the receiver gain an extra step. Although the effect and frequency of the SA has been reduced, it is still highly effective.
Turn Shoulder: Probably the least important SA for the pure fact that no one has really figured out when/if this works. It is supposed to decrease sacks, but I’ve never seen many broken tackles inside the pocket.
Field General: The most expensive SA, and largely the biggest enigma of the group. There is no way to tell when the skill is set off and what impact it has, but how it reads, when it does it makes the team around you better.
It should be noted that the Field General SA is not as useful on a winning team as the players confidence and moral does not really need a boost.
On the Run: Although this is in the scrambler passing tree, a pocket passer could use this skill as it is important for any passer to throw on the run.
Dump Pass: Same as on the run. Although it is in the scrambler pass tree, all quarterbacks dump the ball off to a running back, even if you have it on the lowest setting.
Starting Your Quarterback
At lower levels, mainly under level 20, there is not much differentiation in a quarterback’s build. It would be wise for a quarterback to reach the soft cap in vision, strength and throwing before working on any other attribute. What order you reach these soft caps will mainly be dependent on what type of quarterback you would like to build.
In your quarterback’s first season in the level 13 capped leagues, you will generally split time with another quarterback. Treat it as a developmental year. Unless you plan to spend your career with the team, I would advise not to build your quarterback around this team.
Pick a goal with your quarterback’s build and stick with it, no matter if your quarterback struggles early. For the most part, quarterbacks at this level struggle mainly due to a poor team, and lack of balance in your build due to not enough SPs. So, no matter what you do with your build, nothing will change.
At these levels, you can also sacrifice stamina to achieve hitting soft caps earlier which will make your quarterback stronger in the long run.
There is a debate going on the effects of some attributes compared to others, mainly with the effect of confidence. I believe your quarterback will be best achieving soft caps in all three main attributes before working on SAs, worrying about confidence or raising anything to the second soft cap. Once this is achieved, and you get stamina to a decent level, you can branch off into specializing your quarterback.
Specialized Quarterbacks
Within the Pocket Passer mold lie three main sub categories: Gunslinger, Game Manager, Field General.
Picking one of these sub categories will be influenced mainly by what type of system your quarterback is in.
If the team relies heavily on speed receivers and long passes you would be better as a Gunslinger. If your team is mainly a running team that throws short passes and relies heavily on your quarterback's accuracy, you will need to build a Game Manager. If you’re in a very pass heavy offense, you’ll be better as a Field General.
Each one of these builds can be changed due to preference, but for the most part they will follow a certain pattern. Throwing is still the most important attribute and no matter what build you have, throwing should always be the highest attribute, or within a few points of the highest.
Gunslinger: The strong armed passer. Focus mainly on strength while keeping throwing at a reasonable level. By picking this build you will sacrifice a little vision on your quarterback. Although this can be debated, confidence can be sacrificed, but no attribute can be sacrificed completely. If your Gunslinger is struggling, a boost in confidence might be your answer as longer passes have a greater opportunity to be intercepted and a greater chance to be sacked.
Gunslingers rely more heavily on the team than other specialization and should be avoided if there is any weakness on the offensive line or at receiver.
SAs to focus on: Tight Spiral is the most important as you will throw into tight coverage more than other quarterbacks and pass quality seems to have more of an effect on longer passes. Pump fake would also be a good SA for this build, as it will help create separation with your receivers.
Example build:
http://goallineblitz.com/game/player.pl?player_id=596110
Game Manager: The west coast type quarterback. This type of quarterback will thrive on a weaker team, where other types of quarterbacks will struggle. Main focus is vision, while keeping throwing at a reasonable level. You will sacrifice strength for higher throwing and vision, while raising confidence to a higher level.
Confidence plays a very important role in this build, so your main three attributes change to Vision, Throwing and Confidence.
SAs to focus on: Field General and Pocket Presence.
Example Build
http://goallineblitz.com/game/player.pl?player_id=29836
(Also it could be noted although Jeff Garcia will not share his build, he is an expert in the game manager build.)
Field General: All-Around QB. You will raise Throwing, Strength and Vision together with this build, and you can’t sacrifice confidence completely. This build relies more on SAs than other builds as no attribute is raised super high. Once Throwing, Strength and Vision reaches the first soft cap, focus on SAs and confidence, before raising the main three attributes together to the next cap.
This quarterback will take longer to develop, but has more flexibility within the team.
SAs: Tight Spiral is most important followed by Field General then Pocket Presence. Pump Fake could also be a good SA.
Example build:
http://goallineblitz.com/game/player.pl?player_id=625377
(also unionhardhitter7 uses a field general build, and although his build is not open right now, he will be willing to help)
A special thanks for this guide goes to: jeffgarcia, kr0n, nightstar289, Tricon, Kisin, Swampbeast, packers0491, XerxesBlackmage and unionhardhitter7 on top of many more who gave me access to builds. Without these people, this guide would not be possible.
