Who is RB 1?

In a Vanguard meta 0 AP balance beam is mana

I have Seahawks 50/50, LoB boost, all three tt boosts (one is only 4/5), plus Lynch, Alexander, AP, and Franco Harris. I also run Hester and Lockett as my returners.

Even with all that, I think William Perry was potentially/arguably RB1, third down RB1, Power Back 1,  FB 1, and returner 1.

AJ Dillon is an absolute DEMON

Rhamondre Stevenson

is a very underrated card. Dude is a beast, I’ve had him in my lineup since he dropped as rb1 since I have a pats theme team. He’s never fumbled, always get through the first defender and half the time more.

mberezoski said:

I have been using Walter Payton since he came out as RB 1 and I am kind of getting bored. I am just wondering if there are any other RB's that I should consider testing out.

I’m just keeping Walter

peatrick said:

Probably Marshawn Lynch, followed by Walter Payton.  I'm still using a slightly boosted (25/50 Bitch Pigeons + Legion of Boom chems) Shaun Alexander, to get him to max 99 SPD and have a kind of ridiculous amount of AP invested into him.

• 1AP Truzz
• 0AP Tank
• 1AP Angry Runs (this is less impactful now that basically everyone has Secure Tackler or Tackle Supreme)
• 2AP Jukebox
• 0AP First One Free (this kind of sucks, barely mentionable, but it's baked on)

In a perfect world i'd also have 1AP Energizer, but using that elsewhere at the moment.  Having both Tank + Truzz is wonderful to ensure we can actually hold onto the ball, which was the primary motivating factor behind my choices here.  Lots of effort for just one card, but Shaun is nearly as shifty a runner as Jamaal Charles, while being almost as physical as a big Brandon Jacobs style runner.  I haven't tried Walter (nor BeastMode), or even Perry... seeing a TON of all three.  There's a LOT of really decent featured backs at the moment.

Bitch pigeons is the best thing I've heard in a long time. Thank you sir for making my day!

Skankersores said:

Bitch pigeons is the best thing I've heard in a long time. Thank you sir for making my day!

I wish i could take credit for that... totally stolen from one of my high school best friends, who also happens to be a lifelong 49er fanatic.  You are most welcome, please continue to spread the joy and share the good word.

mberezoski said:

I have been using Walter Payton since he came out as RB 1 and I am kind of getting bored. I am just wondering if there are any other RB's that I should consider testing out.

Your prayers have been answered, Gibbs looking pretty fantastic.  Let us know how he plays!

peatrick said:

I wish i could take credit for that... totally stolen from one of my high school best friends, who also happens to be a lifelong 49er fanatic.  You are most welcome, please continue to spread the joy and share the good word.

More of a "lurk artist" here but I've gotta say, I enjoy the positivity and helpfulness in all of your posts, Peatrick. As someone running the LOB boost along with 15 "bitch pigeons" for my DAL TT, I've seen more of your posts pop up in my research. Rare breath of fresh air in this community. Wish the upvote feature (big W by the GG staff this year) was here on the forums as well to filter out that noise and elevate the helpful posts like yours.

Khoale37 said:

More of a "lurk artist" here but I've gotta say, I enjoy the positivity and helpfulness in all of your posts, Peatrick. As someone running the LOB boost along with 15 "bitch pigeons" for my DAL TT, I've seen more of your posts pop up in my research. Rare breath of fresh air in this community. Wish the upvote feature (big W by the GG staff this year) was here on the forums as well to filter out that noise and elevate the helpful posts like yours.

Thank you for joining in the fun and commenting.  After an extremely long, decade(s) break from "simulation" fatball, i just started getting back into Madden and created my very first MUT squad back in December `22 (during M23 cycle) after my son convinced us to buy a couple black friday sale sports titles.  And well, i got suckered into this Ultimate Team stuff.

I absolutely adore playing virtual GM and find myself obsessing over wanting to min/max my roster.  EA certainly doesn't make it easy on newer or more casual players.  Had it not been for the wonderful people in the community holding my hand and teaching me the ropes, well... i would have thrown in the towel long ago.  I've been as toxic as the next guy from time to time, but trying to take the high road and at this point i'm on a quest to pay it forward in an attempt to help more people have fun with this game.

PLEASE don't be shy about asking any and all questions you may have.  My DMs are open if that is better, but i would encourage you to make some of your own posts/comments/threads, as i'm hardly an expert.  Can always count on the community to challenge bad (and good) ideas and help fill in gaps in my knowledge.  Assuming you can tolerate my somewhat unhinged, rambling, stream of consciousness style writing.  No pressure, but thank you again for reaching out, love to hear feedback from folks; good, bad or other.

We're all learning this stuff together.  Props to EA for having a game that continues to evolve and change well into summer.  I have tons of gripes, but trying to make the best of the situation.

Gibbs

theperkness said:

I just went to sell JC for Gibbs, and decided to fill for now with Jonathan Brooks.

He gets an even BETTER stack for 0 AP AND all 32 team chems, JB is my #1 now and we'll see if Gibbs eclipses tomorrow, but it seems unlikely.

Thanks for this insight.  I have yet to build any of the RP sets, can't really give up the small handful of Redzone Royale players that i'm actively using on the roster.  Appreciate this type feedback.  I'm about to go give Gibbs a try, after having a wonderful time with Shaun Alexander.  Although, knowing I had an always-active Truzz allowed me to become somewhat careless with my running style.  Gonna need to avoid those Hit Sticks, i assume.  Tank is decent, but not gonna save my hide as it often did when paired with Truzz.

Any of the other RP truly elite?  Was eyeballing the receiver and perhaps cornerback.  Will need to eventually take a deep dive into these players.

peatrick said:

Thanks for this insight.  I have yet to build any of the RP sets, can't really give up the small handful of Redzone Royale players that i'm actively using on the roster.  Appreciate this type feedback.  I'm about to go give Gibbs a try, after having a wonderful time with Shaun Alexander.  Although, knowing I had an always-active Truzz allowed me to become somewhat careless with my running style.  Gonna need to avoid those Hit Sticks, i assume.  Tank is decent, but not gonna save my hide as it often did when paired with Truzz.

Any of the other RP truly elite?  Was eyeballing the receiver and perhaps cornerback.  Will need to eventually take a deep dive into these players.

Heck yeah bro, I was truly surprised how good Brooks ability stack was and how well he played, I think Gibbs is #1 now with baked on FOF + FT, whereas with Brooks I've got FOF as my charge up XFactor, but I've gotta determine if I wanna use any of my remaining stack on what at surface looks to be a marginal upgrade.

Seeing Gibbs gets Balance Beam free is huge though, I had never tried it, but as I acquired more Vanguards I was finding I was often stumbling on or even getting tackled by pancaked defenders, which made finding lanes a little more difficult with so many defenders getting free tackle and shed abilities, plus seemingly cleared defenders still being able to affect me.

But once I activated Balance Beam I noticed a HUGE difference in how easily my RB manuevered past caked defenders, with seemingly no slowdown and not wasting my free break tackle or juke. Once I felt this diff I was able to start running a lot more freely without having to think about whether my path might get disrupted by a defender who couldn't hit me but could stumble me or indirectly tackle me, and it's been an incredibly noticeable difference in my confidence running the ball and freeing my mind to think about moving past the next STANDING defender. It feels like Perry back on the OBJ grind all over again :D

FWIW I never tried nor considered Balance Beam until yesterday, and only think it's useful for running when you have guys that cake. I recommend trying it out and curious how you find it!

ED is RB1a

FRIDGE IS RB1b

Together sharing snaps are a PROBLEM…