Quote:
Originally Posted by patteeu
Is there a difference between playing a RT as a LT and playing a LT as a RT given the tradition of NFL teams playing their better players on the left side? Alternatively, are LTs with a given stat profile rated more highly by the sim than RTs with the same stat profile so that playing them on the opposite side works out better for LTs than RTs?
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Players are generally rated on the same types of attributes, so an LT could be better than an RT at some things and not as good at others. Traditionally, for example, one would expect an RT to be better at runblocking and an LT to be better at pass blocking. But you can certainly have a guy who's really, really good at both.
So I guess the answer is that they are all judged by the same standard. LTs may be naturally better (i.e., higher ratings) because that's a high-dollar position so it may draw the better players, but there's no other reason for an LT to be rated higher. And since people generally play the position for which they're best suited, moving an LT to RT will slightly degrade his skills in position-specific areas. For example, he may degrade a little in run-blocking because his run-blocking rating assumes that he's blocking in space, and a RT position doesn't match that situation as well.
A better example might be moving an RT to fullback. An RT is naturally a better blocker than a fullback when a guy is right in front of him, but if you move him to fullback he's blocking in space on the move, so his rating is going to decline significantly. If he's really good, he might still be a fine blocking fullback, though. However, he might not be as good as a really good fullback who's naturally inclined to blocking in space on the move.
The bottom line is that it's a common sense judgment. If you move a guard to LT, he's probably still going to run block well, but not as well as he blocks inside a phone booth. And his pass blocking will likely be much worse than it would be at guard, because that's a very different type of blocking assignment.