Can someone explain RPOs to me?

[Atomeric]

First EA sports game and I'm very confused by how RPOs are supposed to work. The tutorial for them says to hold the snap button (A on my xbox controller) to keep the ball and go for a pass, but it seems like that doesn't actually work half the time. Half the time, the QB hands off the ball anyway, and sometimes the QB won't even be able to pass but will automatically start rushing forward instead.

There seem to be multiple sub-types of RPOs based on what the QB does by default and can be forced to do, but I can't figure out how to tell which are which. I've been avoiding RPOs entirely but I would like to know how they're supposed to work so I have access to more plays, since I imagine they're useful enough to learn.

[♫Arctic_Monkeys♪]

- RPO Read / Peek: you can hold A/X after the snap to keep the ball with the QB. Depending on the design, you'll then be able to pass or run.

- RPO Alert / Glance: these are basically handoff-or-quick-pass plays. You generally can't keep the ball indefinitely with the QB, which is why it sometimes looks like the handoff gets forced even when you're trying to hold A/X.

Some RPOs are designed as QB keepers, while others only give you a choice between a handoff and an immediate throw. If the QB starts running automatically, that's usually because the specific RPO is built around a QB keep rather than a traditional dropback pass.

Another thing that trips people up is that the pass window is very short. On many RPOs, if you hesitate even a moment, the game commits to the handoff automatically.

My advice is to go into Practice mode and specifically compare RPO Read, RPO Peek, and RPO Alert plays.

[n3xusx3n]

Think of RPO's this way. You are replacing one of your offensive players into a space that has been vacated by the defense. So when you're reading space for an RPO, you simple need to identify which player could potentially leave the occupied space. If he leaves, you throw, if not you run the play as designed. Also the rule of 5 in the box becomes automatic give to the runner.

[Atomeric]

Originally posted by n3xusx3n:

Think of RPO's this way. You are replacing one of your offensive players into a space that has been vacated by the defense. So when you're reading space for an RPO, you simple need to identify which player could potentially leave the occupied space. If he leaves, you throw, if not you run the play as designed. Also the rule of 5 in the box becomes automatic give to the runner.

Your comment encouraged me to look up videos explaining the option process. I messed around in free practice and found I can't consistently read the defender, so I'll probably keep avoiding read RPOs for now. Glance and peak RPOs seem to have weird routes or timings, so those are out too. Alert RPOs with a bubble route seem great, although I'm doing those based off pre-snap looks which is probably not ideal. Speed options are also nice. The video I saw had some sort of trick with keeping the ball with the QB sometimes but I couldn't get any value out of that in my practice, so I'll just keep pitching every time to keep my QB in good shape. It would be nice to be good with everything, but as long as I have a few decent option plays I think I'm in a good spot.

[FirstToDie]

I really wish you could change the keep/hand the ball off mechanic. My old brain can not replace decades of pressing "A" for the QB to hand the ball off. Doing nothing would allow your QB to keep the ball, run or pass.

Now pressing "A" results in the QB keeping the ball, and doing nothing results in your QB handing the ball off.

To me, that is completely backwards and worked perfectly before. Now, you have to press "A" to keep the ball, then press another button to pass to a receiver. Two button presses, sometimes in quick succession, instead of one for a simple RPO.

Might just be my opinion, but seems overly complicated and nothing gained.

[kofine05]

Originally posted by FirstToDie:

I really wish you could change the keep/hand the ball off mechanic. My old brain can not replace decades of pressing "A" for the QB to hand the ball off. Doing nothing would allow your QB to keep the ball, run or pass.

Now pressing "A" results in the QB keeping the ball, and doing nothing results in your QB handing the ball off.

To me, that is completely backwards and worked perfectly before. Now, you have to press "A" to keep the ball, then press another button to pass to a receiver. Two button presses, sometimes in quick succession, instead of one for a simple RPO.

Might just be my opinion, but seems overly complicated and nothing gained.

Same for me. It is so hard changing when i have beaten it into my brain to do it the exact opposite.

[DZ]

Originally posted by kofine05:

Originally posted by FirstToDie:

I really wish you could change the keep/hand the ball off mechanic. My old brain can not replace decades of pressing "A" for the QB to hand the ball off. Doing nothing would allow your QB to keep the ball, run or pass.

Now pressing "A" results in the QB keeping the ball, and doing nothing results in your QB handing the ball off.

To me, that is completely backwards and worked perfectly before. Now, you have to press "A" to keep the ball, then press another button to pass to a receiver. Two button presses, sometimes in quick succession, instead of one for a simple RPO.

Might just be my opinion, but seems overly complicated and nothing gained.

Same for me. It is so hard changing when i have beaten it into my brain to do it the exact opposite.

Its EA, what do you expect. If they actually played their own game they might have a clue.