Outil Playart College Football 25
CFB25 Pre-Snap Guide
Before the ball is snapped in CFB25, you have a chance to read the field, make adjustments, and set yourself up for success. This part of the game is called pre-play, and learning how to use it effectively can give you a huge edge on both offense and defense. In this guide we aim to help you understand how to read what the Play Art is showing you, what adjustments you can make before the ball is snapped, and how to find mismatches.
What Does CFB 25 Play Art Show?
Play art is a visual guide that shows where each player is going, what type of route or responsibility they have, your specific assignment as the user-controlled player, and the overall structure of the play. Depending on whether you're on offense or defense, it looks a little different:
On offense, play art shows you:
- Play Type (pass/run/play action/option)
- Blocking assignments for linement and backs
- Run directions for run plays (inside, outside, zone, option, etc)
- QB responsibilities (dropbacks, option, RPO reads)
- WR Routes
Passing Plays
- Red Line - Primary Receiver's Route
- Yellow Line - Secondary Receiver Routes
- Dark Blue Line - Player Blocks then becomes Checkdown Option
- Light Blue Line - Player Starts the play in Motion
- X - Eligible Receivers
- ⏺ - Blockers & QB
- ■ - Center
- ▟▙ - Player dropping back slightly to block defensively
- ▜▛ - Player aggressively pushing forward to block
CFB 25 Running Plays
- Red Line - Running Back's Route
- Yellow Line - In option plays the QB can hand off to the player running the yellow line's route by holding that players button or they can keep it and follow the red route.
- Light Blue Line - Player Starts the play in Motion
- ⏺ - Blockers & QB
- ■ - Center
- ▜▛ - Player aggressively pushing forward to block
CFB 25 Defensive Play Art
On defense, play art shows you:
- Coverage assignments (man or zone)
- Blitz paths (which defenders are rushing the QB)
- Gap responsibilities for run defense
- Spy assignments (tracking the QB)
CFB 25 Zone Defense - Basics
- Dark Blue Circle
- Outside Third R/L - Covers the deep third of the field on either the right or left side
- Strength - Strong against deep sideline throws (corner, fades, streaks)
- Weakness - Vulnerable to curls, flats, and middle passes
- Best in - Cover 3
- Deep Half R/L - Covers the deep half of the field
- Strength - Strong against sideline routes (better than outside third), posts and fades
- Weakness - Vulerable to curls, flats and middle passes
- Best in - Cover 3
- Middle Third - Covers the middle of the deep field
- Strength - Strong against deep posts and seam routes
- Weakness - Does not help on the sideline
- Best in - Cover 3 or Cover 1
- Light Blue Circle
- Soft Squat - Covers flats but baits throws on short routes
- Strength - Strong Pick Potential
- Weakness - Missing picks gives up catches
- Best in - Playing against someone using frequent quick throws
- Hard Flat - Covers flats but more aggressively than Soft Squat
- Strength - Shuts down screens, quick outs and checkdowns
- Weakness - Can be beaten by corner routes or anything deeper. Low pick potential
- Best in - Short Yardage situations and against screen heavy opponents
- Cloud Flats - Cover short to intermediate routes. Deeper than hard flats
- Strength - Strong against flat and short corner routes
- Weakness - Slower to close out on screens and passes to the flat
- Best in - Cover 2, Tampa 2 or against curls and corners
- Dark Purple Circle
- Quarter Flat - Covers short zones in match coverage
- Strength - Great against trips or bunch formations
- Weakness - Must be aware of the offensive scheme
- Best in - Cover 4 or pattern matching zone defenses
- Curl Flat - Covers the curl to flat area
- Strength - Defends short outs, curls and checkdowns well
- Weakness - Deep/Sharp breaking routes
- Best in - Zone blitzes and against flats
- White Circle
- Hook Curl R/L - Covers middle zone between numbers and hashes
- Strength - Defends slants, drags, short ins and curls
- Weakness - Deep passes and flats
- Best in - Slant heavy or quick pass offenses. Cover 3 and 4.
- Light Green Circle
- Middle Read - Covers middle zone, but reads the QB
- Strength - Versatile. Can cover deep if there are no underneath routes
- Weakness - Requires high awareness. Gives up underneath route if not recognized
- Best in - Tampa 2
- 3 Rec Hook - Mirrors the 3rd receiver
- Strength - Strong vs Trips and Bunch sets
- Weakness - Need to recognize who the 3rd receiver is
- Best in - Guarding TEs and slot receivers
- Vert Hook R/L - Covers vertical routes and hook zones. Hybrid of curl/flat and hook
- Strength - Good vs seam routes, quick hooks and inside curls
- Weakness - Bad in flats and vs quick receivers
- Best in - Guarding TEs and slot receivers
- Small Yellow Circle
- QB Spy - Shadows the QB behind the line of scrimmage
- Strength - Strong vs Dual Threat QBs. Prevents scrambles up the middle
- Weakness - No Pass Coverage Help
- Best in - Guarding mobile QBs in spread offenses, especially on 3rd and long
- Red Arrow - Players that are rushing the QB
- X - Defensive Backs
- ⏺ - Linebackers
- ■ - Defensive Lineman
- Symbol (no circle or arrow) - players in Man Coverage
CFB 25 Play Selection Options - Offense
There are several tabs to look through which can be confusing to newer players to figure out which play to call. In the game there is a Coach's Recommendation tab which will generally try to give you the best play for the situation you are in, but players complain that there isn't much variety and sometimes the plays they choose do not make sense. But for new players, it is a good place to start.
CFB 25 Plays by Player
Here you can choose which player you want to be the main target. You select the player's name and a list of plays will show up where that player will be running the red routes. This option can be useful if you have a star player that has a major advantage against the defense.
CFB 25 Plays by Formation
If you are well versed in formations in football this can be a good option for deciding plays to run. You can choose between different formations like Gun for shotgun plays, or strong for heavy blocking plays and within these formations you can use the left stick to cycle through different packages. Within those packages you will have x amount of plays to choose from. This screen shows how often you use certain formations and how many yards you average while using it.
CFB 25 Plays by Concept
Concept is similar where you select between different play concepts (run, option, quick pass, medium pass, deep pass, PA pass, screen pass) and within those concepts you can select different types of plays. In the screenshot above, you can see that we picked the Run concept. Now we can use the bumpers to select different types of runs. From there we will get a list of options of plays to run. If you ever find a play you love, you can double tap the icon of the play to add it to your favorite plays.
CFB 25 Plays by Play Type
Play Type is an even more simplified version of Concept where you choose between pass, run, option, RPO, or Special Teams plays. Concept generally gives a little more specialization to the type of play you want to run.
CFB 25 Plays by Personnel
Personnel lets you choose plays based on what positions you want on the field. If you want a jumbo package with multiple Tight Ends and Backs, this is the place to easily find those plays. Select the position group you want to use and then select which play.
CFB 25 Plays by Favorite
Favorites is a place where all of your favorited plays will be listed. Once you get comfortable with your playbook and find plays that work for you, save them to easily be found here.
CFB 25 Plays by Recent
This will show all of the plays you ran recently. If you loved a play you ran a few plays ago but can't find it, it will be in this tab.