I think I have a solution to the issue with the O line. I wrote this for an exercise on Forage; I am currently a student in a computer science program.  

Interactive Offensive Line Feature Proposal

Overview

This feature would allow users to modify the behaviors of the offensive line in EA Sports College Football. Users would gain control over the play style and strategy of their offensive line through granular customization options. The offensive line would be divided into left, center, and right sections, with further differentiation between tackle and guard positions. Additionally, successful blocks, passes, and rushing attempts would be rewarded through an internal experience point system, allowing individual player objects to develop over time based on their accumulated experience.

Value Statement

Including this feature would enable users to access higher difficulty levels while fine-tuning their playing style to match their preferences. The system would contribute a sense of unpredictability similar to real-world games, creating more authentic gameplay experiences. This additional layer of offensive line customization would allow users to strategize their plays on each down, and in career mode's Road to Glory, it would enable players to develop their teams in alignment with their personal coaching philosophy.

This enhanced complexity would encourage users to evaluate opposing teams' abilities to penetrate the offensive line, addressing a significant issue that many players identify as problematic: the artificial weakening of offensive lines at higher difficulty levels. By incorporating progressive development at the positional level through a numeric attribute system that calculates collective odds for each line segment to hold, break, or accidentally allow penetration, users would carefully cultivate and build their teams. These features would compel users to consider diverse strategies rather than relying on repetitive play calling.

Solution

The implementation begins by dividing the offensive line into left, center, and right sections, with potential expansion to include tackle and guard distinctions, creating up to six separate zones. Users can toggle behaviors for each zone, starting with a default setting where linemen contrast their approach between aggressive and cautious blocking while reacting to defensive movement. Users can also select more aggressive behavior, causing that specific section to engage as quickly as possible.

The drawback of aggressive settings would be increased vulnerability to opposing teams penetrating compromised line segments due to overly zealous blocking. Conversely, users can toggle to more cautious settings, where that section becomes less inclined to quickly engage opposing players but maintains blocks for extended periods, which much of the gaming community would appreciate.

Each offensive line player would operate with a hidden attribute system, similar to the individual value system found in early Pokemon games. In those original games, defeating specific monster types awarded experience points in categories like special attack, attack, defense, and evasion. For the offensive line, attributes would include strength, ability to coordinate with other section members, adaptability under changing scenarios, and response time.

Once the play begins, the offensive line engages, and successful blocking that keeps pressure off the quarterback for more than three to four seconds, combined with cumulative yardage gains throughout downs or touchdowns, would award experience points within those attribute categories.

Evaluation Statement

Adding this feature would address the problematic artificial weakening of offensive lines that occurs at higher difficulty levels. In reality, a top-tier team's offensive line would not necessarily collapse against a bottom-ranked team simply because difficulty settings have been modified. Providing granular complexity that allows users to specifically define behaviors for offensive line segments and modify their positioning between aggressive and cautious approaches offers diversity in playing styles while eliminating repetitive play calling.

The system would theoretically extend to opposing teams, so when they successfully break through an offensive line, those individual players would receive experience rewards. Over time, both computer-controlled teams that users face would adapt somewhat to practiced plays or coaching styles. The system could provide bonus experience for successfully protecting the entire line, offering multipliers for success rates and crucial additional seconds for quarterback protection. When playing online, users would need to carefully consider opposing team strategies.

This might require additional features like scouting reports on teams, enabling users to strategize optimal practices for addressing opposing offensive lines. This would compel system users to continually adapt and expand their playbooks as the community essentially conducts an arms race regarding offensive line employment methodologies against both computer and human opponents.

The software could display metrics showing users the potential effectiveness of their subgroups and the line as a whole. Even with these metrics, users would still encounter randomness from computer or human opponents, closely mimicking real-world football dynamics. Users playing offline would experience enriched gameplay against teams that have adapted to their play styles. This benefits casual users by allowing them to play at higher difficulties without being penalized by artificially shortened passing windows. Additionally, it makes teams more adaptable and precisely tuned to individual user preferences.

As this represents a more realistic football simulation, it would provide enhanced granularity and more authentic outcomes. When playing online, users would not need to worry about specific techniques or plays being repeatedly exploited but would instead need to carefully consider their strategic approaches. This diversity in gameplay would engage users continuously without requiring microtransactions or cosmetic modifications.

Other games in different genres have implemented similar systems. Pokemon, as mentioned previously, featured hidden values, but the ability for characters to change and develop over time more closely resembles the nemesis system in Shadow of War, where players might encounter and defeat an adversary, only to face them later with adaptations to previously exploited vulnerabilities.