[FrustratedFinFan]

Well Joe, you can rationalize it all you want....but people don't run their EF teams much like NFL teams at all. Those 10 man front lines aren't some sort of rarity....they are common. Why? Because those loopers are gonna' get you. Sure...it should make the "D" vulnerable....and for the truly gifted coaches (with well built teams) it does. But, on average, those 10 man and 9 man fronts do just fine. Zone coverage is not the norm in EF, but it is very common in the NFL. Most folks simply jam or turn the EF receivers at the line of scrimmage and that gives them the few seconds they need for their looper to get in and sack or at least rush the QB. I guess you could have rules that prevent jamming the WR...but that doesn't seem to be a good fix. A good coach, with a well tweaked squad can beat press coverage....but it isn't easy if the other coach knows his stuff. Come on....don't tell me EF is just like the NFL...it ain't. Figures with arms that hook or hinder a player simply by physical design are truly unlike the NFL. Sure, you can rationalize it and say it is like "holding"....but isn't that a penalty in the NFL? EF is quite simply EF. Once you start to look at it like a game and get over the hang ups of trying to make it work like the NFL, it makes the EF game easier. I know others will have different opinions, but Bill Porche opened my eyes to the reality and once I started to embrace that concept my game improved by quantum leaps!

By the way, I agree with you about creating linemen who move well laterally...but this tends to require ITZ dials to work well....and my experience is that ITZ dials don't create great strength. So...it will likely require a good plan to use the ITZ linemen to use their lateral movement more like a trap block. Not so much to push, but just to buy a split second. I think Reggie Rutledge would be the expert on this stuff. Maybe slide a tackle out to hit a looper, use the FB to seal the inside and then run in the hole where the tackle was? Timing would be everything here....The FB would need to be speedy and strong....the RB somewhat slower to give time for the blocks to get set. Pursuit from a backside looper would be my biggest fear....maybe run this play to the weak side and get the extra blocking and time to execute using the TE on the back side? I can see this working against those 9 and 10 man fronts. But man....it is all about EF physics more than emulating a real NFL play.