Whether you are a sim player, spectate your games, or take full control on the field, player ratings matter. In Maximum Football, each player has 42 different attributes that roll up into his overall rating. Here are 7 things you need to know about ratings in Maximum Football.
1. All ratings will roll into seven high-level categories that will give you a quick look at a player’s strengths and weaknesses.
Each player in Maximum Football has seven category ratings that are the aggregate score of individual ratings underneath it. These categories and their respective ratings include:
- Core: speed, acceleration, determination, strength, jumping, stamina, agility, discipline, injury resistance
- Passing: passing IQ, release speed, deep throw accuracy, medium throw accuracy, short throw accuracy, pocket presence, throw on the run, arm strength
- Rushing: running IQ, stiff arm, break tackle, spin, truck, juke
- Receiving: catching, break press, catch in traffic, route running
- Blocking: run blocking, pass blocking, blocking power, blocking agility
- Defense: defense IQ, tackling, pursuit, press, man defense, zone defense, deep zone defense, block shedding, DL bull rush, DL spin, DL swim
- Special Teams: kick power, kick accuracy, punt power, punt accuracy
The aggregate ratings for each category give you a quick look at how good a player is at different aspects of the game.
2. Discipline ratings affect the consistency of your players’ performance on the field.
Even if a player is talented, it doesn’t mean that they are going to play each down equally well. The discipline rating helps to capture this reality. The higher a player’s discipline rating is, the more consistently they will play and the less mistakes they will make.
3. Run Blocking and Pass Blocking Explained
Offensive linemen Maximum Football have a number of different ratings that impact their abilities. Run blocking and pass blocking are two of these.
Higher run block ratings allow the lineman to turn defenders more effectively and push them back more effectively, creating running lanes.
Higher pass block ratings impact the lineman’s ability to maintain a clean pocket and pick up blitzing defenders. Lower pass block ratings will allow the opposing defender to push the lineman back into the pocket.
4. Different offensive line ratings offset the effectiveness of defensive line moves.
As you would expect, defensive linemen have a rating that determines how effective their moves are at beating their blocker. These include spin, swim, and bull rush ratings. There is also a general Block Shedding rating that determines how easily the lineman can beat blocks without using moves.
Offensive linemen have respective counter ratings that offset these moves’ effectiveness. Blocking agility directly counters spin and swim, while blocking power counters the bull rush. Generally, the idea is that an offensive lineman with a block power equal to his opponent’s bull rush rating will win against the move 50% of the time with the chances for success moving up and down based on the difference in ratings. This is complicated further by the weight of the player, so if the player is heavier he will get an additional advantage, and if he was moving faster than his opponent when the contact was made he will get another additional advantage.
5. Three different IQ ratings impact the player’s decision making ability.
Think of IQ as a more specific awareness rating, impacting how well players make different position-specific decisions. Passing IQ determines how well QBs read and respond to different pass coverages and who they decide to throw to. Running IQ affects how well the running back sees the field and decides what hole to hit. A higher defensive IQ allows a player to make better decisions in zone coverage and when deciding whether to play the pass or run post-snap.
6. QB skill is a combination of eight different passer specific ratings.
In addition to Passing IQ, seven other QB skills combine to determine your quarterback’s abilities. There are three categories for Throw Accuracy: Short (up to 10 yards), Medium (between 10-20 yards), and Deep (20 yards or further). Throw on the run assesses your quarterback’s accuracy when scrambling. Pocket presence influences their ability to navigate the pocket and make throws under pressure. Arm strength determines the distance of their throws.
7. Defenders have different ratings for zone coverage and deep zone coverage
We have deep zone, normal zone, and man coverage assignments for defensive players in pass coverage. Normal zones encompass Hook zone, middle zones and flat zones.
Within deep zones and normal zones the defender has multiple options for how to cover the zone: they can shade to the left, right, top or bottom of the zone. In zone and deep zone coverages the defenders will dynamically pickup and let go of receivers that enter and exit their zones. When no threats are in their zone they can help a defender in the zone next to them. If the QB starts to scramble zone defenders will assess the threats in their zones, and if they have none they will pursue the scrambling QB. Zone defenders will abandon their zones if there is no threat in the zone, and no threat coming towards the zone. When they abandon the zone they will help another defender with their coverage assignment or blitz in to the QB.
Deep zone defenders’ main priority is to not let any receiver get behind them. And not to get confused when multiple threats enter their deep zone.
Man coverage defenders stick to the receiver that they are assigned to. Smarter man coverage defenders can predict where receivers will be cutting in their routes. This helps man defenders keep up with shifty receivers as they make sharp cuts in their routes.
Play Maximum Football Later This Year
Maximum Football is coming to Steam Early Access later this year with console versions of the game releasing after that. Wishlist the game on Steam and join our Discord community to keep up with the latest news and information about the game.