3-3-5 tips

[ktbits1234]

i'm in a teambuilder dynasty and since a lot of my core players on defense graduated i would like to try something new and play a 3-3-5 defense. i would like tips on what kind of players i should recruit and what type of play i should run (zone vs man, blitz vs 3 man rush, cover 2 or cover 3)

thanks

[fcboiler87]

You need good cover free safeties and corners because they will do the majority of coverage. Your strong safeties should be big hitters because they are typically outside linebacker type of players. The 3-3-5 is intended to be a very aggressive defense so you end up playing a lot of man (or at least that's how I play it). Some people complain that it is a poor run defense, but I will argue that they are not playing aggressively enough. If you run the 3-3-5 and don't blitz much, you're asking to get beat by the run because you only have 3 defensive lineman. If you are aggressive and you blitz a lot from all over the places and play man cover to go along with it, it can be a very effective defense. A little cover 3 and 2 in there with your blitz packages can be effective as well. But I usually and blitzing at least one guy every play (which makes it equate to a 4 man front, but it is unpredictable because the offense supposedly doesn't know where the blitzer is coming from). But often, I blitz 2 or even 3. It's my new favorite defense on the game because it is different, aggressive, and if ran properly, effective. Back to your recruiting question, you need your defensive lineman to be faster, agile guys because they are going different places with all the blitzers. The same could be said for your linebackers so that they can both cover and be fast in blizting. A slow linebacker is naturally a poor blitzer.

My best advice is to be aggressive! Let me know if you have any other questions.

[ktbits1234]

thanks
if i understood well it's basically a speedy agressive defense with a lot of blitz. i'm a bit surpised when you my d-line needs to be agile and fast? i thought i would be better to recruit big run stopping guys since it's only a 3 man front?

[KingV2k3]

Your LBs will be making most of the plays defending the run, so good TAK and AWR is important...

You need a huge NT to clog up the middle with a high STR rating, which is also a good quality to have in at least one DE...

I think of the RDE as a end / tackle hybrid and the LDE is ideally more of a speed / pass rusher...

I'd play as the NT and make sure he engages at least a guard and the center...or use him to "set a pick" for one of the ends by engaging a OG and OT...

Don't fprget to "pinch" the line on prob run downs on occasion or slant them to one side or another on pass downs...this seems to create more opportunites to at least hurry the QB...

I rush 4 unless it's late in the game or half and a more "Prevent" look is called for...

The straight 3 man rush generally gives the QB waaaaay to much time to pick you apart...

Vary the 4th guy rushing between LBs first, safties second and a rare corner blitz...

5 man rush sparingly...

When you "pinch" the line and call a DE contain play, it can be very effective defending option runs or screen passes...

Lastly, this game calls for a solid SS, they, along with the MLBs, make the most plays...

Highest AWR players (not highest OVR) should determine who's where on the depth chart...

This has been my experience, hope it helps...

Enjoy!

[ashamael]

A lot of what the above poster said I 100% agree with, but here's the rundown on how I play my defense.

*I use a good mix of zone and man coverage with my 3-3-5, depending on my personnel. I probably use more zone blitzing than man, but I use a lot of man, too. Early on in the building process, my Strong safeties are not often yet the strength of my defense, but later on they will be. When you end up with strong safeties with speed in the 90s who have great man AND zone coverage, this defense turns golden.

*I use the Stack and the Split mostly. Only occasionally do I use the Bear and I never, ever use across.

*I agree with having a speed rushing left end. That guy always dominates for me. My right end is typically a bigger run stuffer. I often end up with a blitz from the right side (either the ss2 or the rolb), so this guy functions more as a DT than an end. However, I still work hard at recruiting high spd/high acc ends... I just usually put the faster one on the left and best tackling on the right.

*I absolutely do not agree that you need a huge Nose-Tackle. In fact, a speed rushing NT is superior to the run blocking one. If all three of your lineman are superior speed-rushing types, you'll have to blitz less. You can get away with dropping 8 and dominating with your pass rush. HOWEVER, this is NOT realistic so I tend to favor searching out bigger, run-stuffing Noses anyway.

*I also like to play as the Nose, because I can control multiple blockers (where-as the computer will not). When you do this, you'll really notice that your top playmaker(s) at linebackers and safeties will start making more of the plays. It's really awesome to see that stud MLB actually not only leading your team in tackles, but dominating that lead. You actually feel like your players start playing up to their attributes when you're controlling the nose.

*As I said earlier, the Strong Safeties are your bread and butter for this defense. Every season I make sure and try and find absolute studs to recruit for this position. Sometimes you can't find them as a natural SS... but you'll find FS that can easily move over. Also, my best SS have actually come in as athletes. Look for A- or better speed with B- or better in the man/zone coverages and reasonable tackle and strength ratings. Once you look at them for a while, you'll quickly figure out what athletes are meant to be CBs and which Ss.

*Contrary to the way the defense plays IRL, your FS is about the least important guy on the field. In almost every play I call, he is in a deep zone. Because of this, high speed, play recognition and zone coverage are the most desirable traits for me. If you're the type that plays as the FS every play, then you'll disagree with me. But when I'm playing the Nose, it's all about the SSs and the LBs.

*For my OLBs, speed, acceleration, play recognition and zone coverage are of the upmost importance to me. These guys are almost always dropping back in coverage or blitzing. The only time I really depend on these guys for man coverage is when I call the SS Dogs play. The pressure from this play is immense once you get some good SSs, so you don't get burnt too much.

*My MLB will be asked to do it all, so I will often move my best overall linebacker here before spring training. Speed isn't as key here to me, but I still try and get 80+. I look for play recognition and tackling more than speed and acceleration. I also want good man and zone coverage here, because like my OLB, he'll be dropping back a lot... and he'll almost always end up on a TE when in man coverage. I really like running the Man Cover 1 out of the stack, too, so he ends up covering the middle of the field. Overall, I feel his impact all over the field more than just about any one particular player (each SS dominates his side).

*Corners I tend to look for man coverage more than zone, but I want really good zone, too. I don't look for high press coverage because I almost never press while in the 3-3-5 sets and depend more on the pass rush and their natural covering abilities to keep me on the good side of 3rd & longs.

For third and really long on obvious passing downs against teams who don't run no huddle, I will switch to a standard nickel or dime, but most of the time I don't leave the 3-3-5. In those nickel & dime situations (especially the dime), I tend to formation sub my 2nd best pass rusher in at RE and move my normal starting RE over to the RDT spot. Or sometimes I'll just sub in a pass-rushing type DT in. I like to have a couple of guys on my team to do these roles specifically, just so that I don't get stuck in the recruit X amount of players at Y positions with Z abilities.



I tend to keep the following depth:

5+ defensive ends. 2 being speed rushers & 2 being stronger tacklers, fifth being whichever seems more likely to graduate first

4+ defensive tackles. with one being a speed-rusher type, other 3 Nose

9+ linebackers. 5 outside, 4 inside.

4+ corners. Always have to have these guys, but I since I tend to use nickel/dime packages sparingly, I don't go deep here. Often I'll use my SS depth on the CB depth chart to keep guys from getting pissed off.

3+ free safeties. I think the minimum requirement here is 3 for the 3-3-5, but that's dumb, since only one FS starts. Still, often the 3rd FS on my team is redshirted and gets moved to SS the next season.

4+ Strong safeties. I usually carry 5 but bare minimum I have is 4. When I mass-sub at the end of the game, I'll replace both of my SS. EA really needs to fix the depth charts where you can put all the ones you need to carry on the depth chart. Anyway, for my younger guys I typically put deep on the depth chart at CB and FS (CB5 & FS3) as well as load up my kickoff teams with 'em. These guys are the core of my team and tend to rack up huge stats (so they go pro quickly), so keep a lot of them on hand!

[bigrice25]

good advice in this thread.

i primarily run 3-3-5 and the way i run it the SS are the most important guys on the field they have to be able to blitz, cover ant tackle, i usually end up recruiting hard hitting free safeties and moving them to SS.

I like my OLBs to be able to cover so sometimes i convert the slower SS to OLBs,

The FS seems to not be as important because usually the cpu just drops him waaaay back in coverage.... sometimes i play as the FS, or tackle.

The Dline is up to your preference, i like pass rushing DEs but then your gonna be vulnerable to the run.

I zone blitz alot and play straight man. I really dont like the man blitz because sometimes your guys wont line up right and they wont be able to get to who they have to cover.

and the cover align doesnt work in the 3-3-5 so simetimes u get some funky matchups where a LB would be covering a slot receiver when there is a SS closer to that receiver, but they will have the SS covering a RB or TE.

If a team really wants to pound the ball on you your gonna be in trouble though... if a team starts to run it inside on me i usually go 3-4, there is one 3-4 package i the playbook.

[ashamael]

oh yeah the man alignments are way crazy. Some of them you can work around:

If you are in a man alignment and you end up facing twins left (right side of defense), you can audible to the OLB Fire play out of the Stack. The CB will cover one guy and the SS will cover the other.

HOWEVER, if they go twins right, your SS acts dumb and wants to cover a HB while the MLB wants to cover the slot receiver. When this happens, I end up calling an audible to a zone play.

I use Man Cover 2 under from the stack a lot. If they have 3wr with 2 left/1 right, you don't have to do anything. If they are 2 right/1 left, just audible and flip the play. You'll be fine.

Here's how I have my audibles set up:

x - (stack) Cover 3 (not exact name, but it's not the contain one, it actually rushes 3)
y - (stack) Storm Red
a - (stack) Cover 2
LB - (stack) OLB Fire
RB - (stack) SS Dogs

I think it's important to have both man and zone to audible to because of the whack alignment issue.

[Hellisan]

Great thread! I think of this as a D that can be run more than one way. But, how I tend to run it is as more of an aggressive, man-to-man defense. I like to try and keep a guy deep (when possible) but am not afraid to go zero coverage either as I'm convinced that my particular team will get to the QB very fast.

Most teams that are running the 3-3-5 don't have the most incredible personnel to run it. In that case you don't want to blitz QUITE as much, you want to bend but don't break most of the time, but turn it up and go for the big play sometimes too. As San Diego State, recruiting hasn't been easy going. My best players have been transfers. So if you are building up a team I suggest cutting to around 68 players to leave room for a couple transfers.

Lean on the JUCO players if you need to, there are some BEASTS and usually the CPU will not go after these guys until late in the year. Once you get the prestige then you can go toward more traditional team building. I have uploaded an image of my roster and I will talk about each position, how it either fits my mold, or somewhat doesn't, or if I'm just looking to replace the guy. Note, this is in the year 2016.



These are just my starters. Note that it's a pretty young team overall, I have never been an OVR guy I go by the other ratings for the most part but I highlighted OVR and then the important ratings (for me) for each position are highlighted yellow.

LE Bennett - I have 3-4 DE's with better OVR ratings than him, but he is a man beast who is going to do nothing but get better. The size is just perfect at 300 lbs. He already has 2-3 sacks and has caused fumbles, I think of this guy as a poor man's Reggie White. He is exactly what I want at the position.

DT Bradford - JUCO recruit. Redshirted one year. 4 sacks in 3 games, just dominating early in his career at SDSU. HUGE and STRONG, with sufficient ratings at all the important categories. Exactly what I want, but I want a freshman one! lol. Don't worry about the lack of speed. At the range they are at the ACC is all that matters and he ragdolls blockers and eats up the play in the backfield.

RE Jordan - he's been very effective. He is not the optimum, I'm recruiting a JUCO monster that might take his place next year that's 6'4, 280. Can't always get the perfect guy for every position, he at least has a lot of what we require like the block shedding, pursuit, and pass rush moves.

LOLB Knox - He's a solid OLB. We'd like more of a pass rusher here, and we'd rather have a 6-2 or taller guy. But while size is nice, it is not totally necessary. It's more important for me at SS, where they will be playing man coverage on the inside routes or playing zone in a position to use their size outside the hash.

MLB Newell - I was worried about his lack of speed (had a really fast guy last year) but I can already tell Newell is going to be exactly what I want at the MLB position. Quickness (ACC AND AGI) are very important. They play in the pile a lot. For the defense to be really effective he needs to be a good pass rusher and with 84-85 pass rush moves, he fits the bill. Has 3 touchdowns scored in his first three games, two FR, one INT. Basically I'm looking for a Vilma type here. Better size would be nice, but isn't necessary.

ROLB Daniels - Well what can you say. He's an absolute MONSTER. He transferred over. It was tough him sitting out a year seeing his ratings rot on the bench. But they get an EXTRA year of improvement that normal players don't get so transfers turn out to be awesome a lot of times. He's exactly what I want, a Derrick Brooks type. Man coverage is key so that you can free up your strong safeties to blitz sometimes. He is adept at man and zone coverage. Sucks we lose him, but we have a kid that will be almost as good (eventually) that we are about to sign.

CB Miller, Vaughn - I play a blitzing, man-to-man defense and so I need awesome speed and acceleration. While size would be nice, the speed to keep up is much more important. Nobody can get open against these two and they're just sophomores.

SS Mangum, Coleman - In my defense (the way I run it) I want man coverage guys. By sheer coincidence both of these guys are horrible in zone but typically when I play them in zone it's pretty basic stuff. Drop deep or play the flats. Suffice to say their strengths make up for their shortcomings. In this game these are almost always converted FS's, and both of these guys are (because the SS's are too slow). Young had a better zone coverage rating so he stayed at FS, and I moved these guys to SS. If these guys are fast and can play man, then you don't have to come off the field EVER in a 3-wide set and sometimes even when it's 4-wide. Sometimes I'll blitz both even against a 3-wide, then manually have the closest SS cover the slot then hot route the OLB that was on him to blitz. That way I'm sending 5, an OLB, SS, D-Line, and have a FS deep with great coverage on the slot.

FS Young - The only guy in the Defensive backfield who isn't playing man defense most of the time. He has to be a good tackler. In over 2 he will often be playing in a great position to make a big play just behind the linebackers. Good play recognition and awareness are really key, as is the zone coverage rating. He doesn't have to be a burner, but if he is, that's great. Note... In run stuff situations he becomes almost like a middle linebacker. You will be run blitzing and he will usually be on the HB. His job will be to aggressively fill whatever hole is left. For me, the block shedding isn't too important for him because he's usually the guy that comes free.