Madden NFL 17: The Five Biggest Changes Needed for CFM

Feature Article

Submitted on: 09/20/2016 by Mike Lowe

For more information about this topic, check out Mike Lowe's accompanying YouTube stream.

Madden 17 is easily the best Madden ever made, and the numerous threads and stories already floating around Operation Sports -- mine included -- have been praising the game even before its official release. So how can Madden 18 be an even better experience next year? First and foremost, I think it starts with Connected Franchise mode.

So here's my top five things I'd like to see in Madden 18's Connected Franchise mode.

1. Injury Model Overhaul

This topic could be its own story in and of itself. The injury system in Madden has been the one true arcade element in a game that has -- luckily for us -- really focused hard on being more of a simulation football experience. What Madden 18 needs is an injury system not 100 percent dependent on the collision system as it is now. You'll never see an offensive line injury in a fully played game, unless that lineman recovers a fumble, gets tackled and then gets hurt. It's not the most realistic experience, and it does have an impact on CFM because there's no real reason to worry about depth on your offensive line.

Aside from the system overhaul, Madden 18 should include a weekly designation system where players are listed as either out, doubtful, questionable, probable or healthy. Throughout the week -- perhaps in a mode where we sim not on a weekly basis but day-by-day throughout the week -- an injury status can be updated, and could even improve or regress as you creep closer to kickoff.

2. Expand Game Planning, Coordinators And Coaching Staff

I actually really like the new game planning features in Madden 17 as they are a nice blend of "important but not overwhelming." Where I could see Madden 18 expanding on this would be in the depth of information being delivered, and by whom that information is delivered.

As I mentioned above, having a day-to-day sim instead of a weekly sim would not only allow for some streaming of information about injuries, but also in regards to game planning.

Let's say that on Monday, a day when NFL teams typically meet to review film on the previous week's game, your quarterback's coach may come into your office (think NBA 2K) and say, "I noticed on the game tape that Romo was favoring his ankle towards the end of the game, coach. I think he might be hiding an injury."

This would then prompt you with a decision to either confront Tony Romo, risking upsetting him (personality traits, please!), or you could take your chances with what may or may not be an increased injury risk, but leaving Romo's respect for you intact.

However, the real focus on expanding game planning would come later in the week when you receive a game planning report from both your offensive and defensive coordinator -- people who should be actual characters in CFM.

These reports would deliver information such as your opponent starting a rookie backup at right tackle and how that can be exploited in your defensive game plan.

Your offensive coordinator might then tell you that your opponent's top two cornerbacks are out this week, and that you should focus on exposing their depth in the defensive backfield by running multiple receiver sets.

There are many options that can be worked in, especially if we see a reincarnation of EA's Head Coach daily sim schedule that even had travel days schedule for Fridays. Do you give your team free time on the flight, or are you having another film session mid-flight?

3. Worthy News Coverage

The news section is probably the biggest eye sore in the entire Madden 18 CFM experience. The news screen is something I don't even click on anymore because all it looks like to me is a bad dating site with a bunch of profile pictures and one-liners.

Instead, let's see a weekly highlight show showing us actual game action from all 16 games around the league. Show me top plays, top performers, box scores for every game, playoff pictures, previews of the upcoming draft and drama around the league (another perk that could work well in using a daily sim schedule and player personalities).

During the week, let's hear the radio show that Madden used to have, and could update even on a daily basis as new stories are being developed through the week.

For a league with 32 humans, allow for members of the league to make their own shows streamed straight from YouTube.

4. More Substitution Options

Madden 17 patched in formation subs this year, an answer to one of the community's biggest wishes. Now, let's take it a step further by allowing for more options such as:

Play percentages (instead of formation subs)
Positional matchup locks such as locking your CB1 on their WR1 no matter where he lines up.
Make the system smart too -- it should know the difference between a preseason game and a playoff game where you or the AI are more likely to start that injured superstar.

5. Expanded Stats -- That Aren't Broken

While I'm one of the first to stand up and say Madden 17 is a great game this year, I'm disappointed to see so many errors still existing in the way their stats are being calculated. Some of these include:

Fumble recoveries being counted as doubled in simulated games (accurate on the player screen, doubled in the team stats screen).
Kicker (and punter?) stats not showing up from played games.
Kickoff stats not being recorded if you use your punter on kickoffs.
Simulated games still thinking the kickoff line is the 30-yard line (only about 25 percent of simulated kickoffs are touchbacks).
"Thrown At" and a handful of deeper statistics simply not being tracked in played games.

So after the stat tracking gets cleaned up, Madden 18 should focus on adding to their statistical analysis. Here are some examples that could all be tied into ratings, even awareness for user-controlled players:

-Quarterbacks: Great/bad throws,stats broken down by a throw's distance, red zone stats, comebacks/two-minute offense stats, QBR stats

-Running Backs: Created runs and missed holes by running backs

-Receivers: Catch percentage (catches divided by targets), bad routes, great catches

-Offensive Linemen: Sack percentage (sacks divided by pass play participation), run blocking success percentage (successful blocks divided by opportunities)

-Defensive Linemen: Pass rush percentage including knockdowns, hurried throws, blocked passes, sacks (Number of pass rushing stats generated divided by pass play participation), rushing yards against runs to their gap

-Linebackers: Tackle percentages (number of tackles divided by participated plays), pass rush percentage (see: defensive linemen), pass defense percentage (see: defensive backs), out of position, missed tackles

-Defensive Backs: Passes defensed percentage (catches allowed divided by participated pass plays), big plays allowed, out of position

So what do you think of these potential additions to Madden 18's Connected Franchise mode? What else would you like to see the Madden team work on for next year to enhance Connected Franchise mode?

You can follow Mike Lowe on Twitter @mikelowe_OS and on YouTube.

Member Comments

# 41 Sheba2011 @ 09/21/16 10:15 PM

An actual scouting system and not just revealing in-game stats. Something that would offer up some level of difficulty and actually produce draft studs and even better first round draft busts.

# 42 Toupal @ 09/21/16 11:38 PM

Madden definitely needs this.... but this is just a fraction of what needs to be done.

Historical stats need to be kept better track of

Awards need to be updated

Edit draft classes BEFORE the draft

Hall of fame

Create an expansion team

Team Relocation

Better build a stadium

Play games that you don't have to have user control over

The list could go on...

# 43 knockinJs @ 09/22/16 06:18 PM

Bring back the run/pass ratio for simming games. If I have a nasty OL and a stud RB, I should be able to run the ball 65% of the time if I please. Vice versa if I have a scrub at RB and a good QB. I don't want to run 350 times on the season.

# 44 BJNT @ 09/22/16 10:53 PM

I'd add more focus in preparation for the draft. Like the East West Shrine Game, Senior Bowl, Combine, and Pro Days. Also now that NBA 2k has done it. Why can't we get an expansion mode on Madden?

# 45 thecove @ 09/23/16 01:51 AM

I'll add my two cents but first let me say that I've been playing Madden since the Genesis days and have been a franchise mode player since it was first introduced to the series. However, I stopped with Madden 10 when the franchise mode began showing its age as a result of neglection. I gave a couple of Maddens on PS4 a shot but ultimately was not happy with Franchise mode and kept playing Madden 10.

I saw they were close last year and after researching online about Madden 17 I bit the bullet and have been extremely happy to come back to the game.

I realize I've missed quite a bit, so forgive me if I'm missing a way to make these happen. I'll further qualify this by saying I only play offline franchise mode.

At any rate here are my hopes for the future:

1. Resigning / renegotiating contracts before last contract year. This is the lifeblood of salary cap management in the NFL. If I see a player is going to impact my cap in a few years and I need to make cap space to sign FA's or rookies, I want to work to get more deferred money in that contract. I'm not far along in my current franchise but I can see where I might want to renogotiate some of my veteran contracts.

2. Signing Draft Picks. Somebody, anybody tell me how / why this was taken out of franchise mode. The old standard was to sign top picks to long contracts. But I also used to sign my 6th - 7th round diamonds / project picks to long term contracts with a low yearly salary and zero to minimal sigining bonus. This would allow me to keep those picks until my veteran at the position retired or regressed. And if the draft picks were busts, I could cut them with minimal cap impact. This is part of life as a GM running a franchise.

3. Assigning Captains. Its such a little thing. I dont know why it got removed. But its also a part of being a coach in the NFL, deciding who are your Captains. You know who your leaders are with your franchise, you should be able to assign it.

4. Bring back expanded looks at Yearly Award candidates. As it stands now, you can only see MVP / Coach of the Year candidates in season. I used to love seeing if any of my rookies were up for Off/Def ROY and I'd sometimes give them a few extra targets / defensive series to try to secure the award.

5. Getting back to contract negotiations, show the year by year contract breakdown in the negotation screen. Giving me a chance to see how cap crippling year 5 of my offer will be, at the very minimum will give me a mental note to renogtiate at some point. It also affords me the chance to look at my other contracts and see if I'm heading to salary cap hell with this new contract.

ALL of these items were in the mode before and just added more levels to the simulation / immersion. Its these little details that can put a game over the top by giving sim players the opportunity to exercise.

# 46 ajra21 @ 09/24/16 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thecove


	I'll add my two cents but first let me say that I've been playing Madden since the Genesis days and have been a franchise mode player since it was first introduced to the series. However, I stopped with Madden 10 when the franchise mode began showing its age as a result of neglection. I gave a couple of Maddens on PS4 a shot but ultimately was not happy with Franchise mode and kept playing Madden 10. I saw they were close last year and after researching online about Madden 17 I bit the bullet and have been extremely happy to come back to the game. I realize I've missed quite a bit, so forgive me if I'm missing a way to make these happen. I'll further qualify this by saying I only play offline franchise mode. At any rate here are my hopes for the future: 1. Resigning / renegotiating contracts before last contract year. This is the lifeblood of salary cap management in the NFL. If I see a player is going to impact my cap in a few years and I need to make cap space to sign FA's or rookies, I want to work to get more deferred money in that contract. I'm not far along in my current franchise but I can see where I might want to renogotiate some of my veteran contracts. 2. Signing Draft Picks. Somebody, anybody tell me how / why this was taken out of franchise mode. The old standard was to sign top picks to long contracts. But I also used to sign my 6th - 7th round diamonds / project picks to long term contracts with a low yearly salary and zero to minimal sigining bonus. This would allow me to keep those picks until my veteran at the position retired or regressed. And if the draft picks were busts, I could cut them with minimal cap impact. This is part of life as a GM running a franchise. 3. Assigning Captains. Its such a little thing. I dont know why it got removed. But its also a part of being a coach in the NFL, deciding who are your Captains. You know who your leaders are with your franchise, you should be able to assign it. 4. Bring back expanded looks at Yearly Award candidates. As it stands now, you can only see MVP / Coach of the Year candidates in season. I used to love seeing if any of my rookies were up for Off/Def ROY and I'd sometimes give them a few extra targets / defensive series to try to secure the award. 5. Getting back to contract negotiations, show the year by year contract breakdown in the negotation screen. Giving me a chance to see how cap crippling year 5 of my offer will be, at the very minimum will give me a mental note to renogtiate at some point. It also affords me the chance to look at my other contracts and see if I'm heading to salary cap hell with this new contract. ALL of these items were in the mode before and just added more levels to the simulation / immersion. Its these little details that can put a game over the top by giving sim players the opportunity to exercise.

1. the 2011 CBA prevent rookies from being extended before their final year. madden clearly decided it was easier to have this rule for all contracts.

2. the 2011 CBA sets rookie contracts for four years max with first round rookie having a team option for a fifth year. madden, since 2011, has reflected this.

3. yes, that would be nice. M10 had this IIRC.

4. they are there. use your trigger button to find them when you are looking at the MVP/coach of the year winners.

5. that would be helpful.

# 47 ajra21 @ 09/24/16 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayD


	Restricted free agents would be great as well. Some kind of a player morale feature would be nice if implemented properly.

given PS now exists, this is the realistic next step.

draft a 69 OVR rookie in the seventh round whom i place on the PS for a year. when i re-sign him, he�s on a one year deal.

he then plays well & gets XP�d up to 74 OVR and now he�s gonna be a FA?

# 48 ajra21 @ 09/24/16 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sir psycho


	Great list, can't argue with anything you said. A couple things I'd like to see, that you didn't mention: -A more realistic progression/regression system. Regression shouldn't be set in stone. Not every player regresses at the same age. Progression/regression also shouldn't be based on stats. Players don't get better from putting up better stats, they put up better stats because they got better(or the situation around them improved). And they also don't get worse from failing to meet some stat goal. The whole system is so backwards, but the team seems to really love their XP system, so I doubt we'll get that changed. -The option to hide or obscure rating. I've typed on here plenty of times about why this would be great and add realism, but I'm going to just leave it at the one sentence because I'm lazy right now, and it's a longshot to ever make it in(even though it was sort of in in the past with rookies). Which brings me to my next point.... -I absolutely should not be able to see how good my player is, the instant I draft him. That's a horrible system. It completely ruins the draft. "Hey, this QB from Michigan looks pretty good, hopefully he can fit in my starting lineup right away." Looks at screen: "You reached. This player is ranked 310 out of xxx)" Yeah, that's sim. It's just like in real life when the Raiders drafted Jamarcus Russell, looked at a little message and then didn't even bother signing him. Then, with this knowledge, they drafted a QB in round 2(they visited him 3 times, so they saw he had a true value of early 1st-round) who was much better and was able to start right away. Oh right, in reality, they had to pay him a lot of money, and wasted a couple years trying to see if he would work out. And to go with that, the scouting system is so messed up that you can see their "true value" when you scout them three times, which makes me put in house rules to never scout a player more than twice. I don't expect anything I suggested to make it in. Mike Lowe's list is much more realistic, and I hope all of his suggestions do make it in.

- agreed, aged 29yo is too young for some and too old for others.

- have long believed no rookie should have an OVR until after his rookie season and that in no way he should have a development trait until then either.

- yes, seeing your second round WR is 66 OVR just makes you think “right, still gotta draft a WR then.”

# 49 ajra21 @ 09/24/16 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by patsfan1993


	Historical Context I have no idea who won the Super Bowl in 2018. No idea who was ROY in 2020.

yeah, this has been a problem for a while M10 had menus showing the previous awards etc.

# 50 ajra21 @ 09/24/16 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redsox4evur


	Yea the NFLPA will NEVER allow that.

it has pretty much been agreed that real life suspensions will never be reflected in the game. wonder if a game will ever be made when non-real players can get suspended. my guess? no.

# 51 ajra21 @ 09/24/16 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigOrangeVol4Life


	I would like to see offensive and defensive coordinators in the game as well as QB, RB, WR, D-line, LB, secondary, and special teams coaches in the game. It would be cool to have their ratings fluctuate from their performance and see promotions and firings over a course of multiple CFM seasons. For example, New England's offensive coordinator leads a top 5 offense for 3 seasons in a row. The Titans fire their head coach and hire New England's offensive coordinator to replace him and he brings a lot of concepts on offense that he used with the Patriots. You would then see maybe the Patriots promote their WR coach to take over their offensive coordinator duties. You would see a lot of shuffling with new coaches hiring former assistants they worked alongside at their previous stops, etc. Also, I think all head coaches, coordinators, and assistant coaches should be able to be edited. A perfect example is New England's generic head coach in Madden 17. You should be able to edit his name and appearance to match real-life coach Bill Belichick.

i�m fairly sure the coaches union would be against this.

# 52 ajra21 @ 09/24/16 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Senator


	I love all five of those in the topic. I'd add these: 1) Allow us to turn off salary cap in roster edit 2) Fully editable and movable coaches and coordinators: let me edit them, and switch coaches from team to team. 3) NO MORE XP: I want a better, more realistic progression/regression system

1. you can turn off salary cap.

(do you mean when you edit a player in his last year of a contract when he has already signed an extension and it re-distributes the player’s salary into the current year & it takes the team over the cap? yeah, that is damn annoying.)

3. i’m kinda surprised they haven’t given the option to have CPU progression or XP progression.

# 53 ajra21 @ 09/24/16 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thudias


	How about something as simple as setting the gameday active roster?

have long wondered if this would occur. think it is one of those things that many football fans either don�t care about or aren�t aware of its existence in real life.

# 54 Spitfirex007 @ 09/25/16 11:09 PM

I definitely like the the injury idea. Its very basic as is. As far as gameplan. Its nothing more then a gimmick. I like the idea of day to day operations. The ability hold players out of practice, scout certainly players to give your team an advange, scouting college players needs completely redone.NCAA had a pretty good system. Do something similar. There is so much they could do here. As far as a news section. 2k fans have been asking for a weekly show for years. But I doubt we will ever see it. Hell we can't even get a good half time show. But at this point, Id settle from a NFL.Com layout. Show scores, injury news, stat leaders etc. Some mention the radio broadcast. Id even be happy with that. CF to me is boring. The ugly twitter layout is an eye sore. I have no connection to the league. Just do game after game.

Few other things I think are a must.

1. Custom draft classes.
2. Locker room chemistry / personality
3. Veteran leadership. Gives extra XP to rookies. Can also tie in to chemistry
4. Suspension / fines. Probably something NFL won't allow. But would add to realism
5 This would tie more into presentation . But multiple broadcast teams
6 Deep creation tools for team relocations. Add expansion teams
7 The daft is boring. Give it a full presentation overhaul
8. Probowl needs to be playable. Put the awards front and center. Historical stats. In year 5, I want to see who the superbowl in 2019. Who was mvp etc.
9. Custom leagues. Let me move Seattle back to the AFC. Put Steelers, Denver and Pats in the division etc.
10.More realistic leagues/Scores. The Broncos and Pats both had losing season my first season. Browns won the AFC north and jets went 14 and 2. Like WTF?

# 55 Spitfirex007 @ 09/25/16 11:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by msdm27


	The bold bothers me to no end! It's like Madden gets to have it both ways: This year: Why is feature X not in the game? - We don't want to half bake it Next year: Why is feature X just recently put in the game not working as the real nfl or why is it so bugged? - Hey, we just installed that feature, so we're building a foundation for it, we can expand upon it. Rinse, wash, repeat! People can say what they want about finite resources but the real problem is those resources that are allocated are not used properly. Take practice squad for example, so many years saying if it made it in, it would be fully fleshed; then we finally get it in and..... For starters one cannot recreate a real-life practice squad, and the AI logic for it beyond flawwwwwwwed. And if we wanna talk about selling things to EA's biggest scapegoat (marketing), wouldn't "Big decisions" (LOLOLOL) be the perfect timing to approach marketing about overhauling the injury system? Nah, let's just create a new UI for it and call it day. "But hey, players can come back early from injury!" - Yeah, at the cost of a ridiculous amount of attributes that makes ZERO sense. Player A is 1 week away from returning, do you want to play him? if you do, he will have -15 SPD, -10 THP and -10THA whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.... How is dat dude just one week away from returning? To get back to the article and not rant too much, I believe the biggest change needed for CFM in M18 is..... TESTING! Just test the mode, just one time, before releasing it. Please! It is really frustrating to get a mode that is filled with bugs (IR-bug anyone?) and poor AI logic EVERY SINGLE YEAR!

Dude I know right? In years time we get "Big Decisions" Which is completely worthless. We get "gameplan" Which is nothing more then practice drills for extra XP. Then they call it the deepest franchise in Madden yet. It sad that a game made in 2015/2016 can't compete with a game thats 12 years and 2 gens olders. How these people can say they are proud of their product is beyond me.

# 56 cream6 @ 09/29/16 04:37 PM

I would love to see:

1. Old school formations and playbooks return to the game. I miss the multiple split formations from Madden 25
2. Madden would really be alive if NCAA ever return the gaming world. I still play madden 25 because of NCAA Football. It really help with immersion of the game.
3. The ability/freedom to edit draft classes in the scouting process, especially for offline users.
4. The ability to create a coach as an owner would be great.
5. HC, offensive, and defensive carousel similar to the days of NCAA 14.

C'mon EA, you can do this. Please 😩😩😭😭🏈🏈

# 57 Sparky302 @ 09/29/16 05:59 PM

I think one of the biggest complaints that CFM gamers have is that everyone can dominate All-Pro, and when they step up to All-Madden the game changes to the point that it becomes "cheap" and the CPU "cheats". Want to keep A TON of sim players happy? There's a SIMPLE solution. You create a fifth default difficulty and place it in the middle of All-Pro and All-Madden. Maybe create a "Pro Bowl" difficulty as the third (middle) setting, and then go up to All-Pro, then All-Madden. 3/4 of these slider forums and crazy experiments to get the difficulty right wouldn't even have to exist, because people would actually be happy with the gameplay. I'm not a programmer, or anything close, but this seems ridiculously easy, and would solve a lot of the complaints that people have. You could probably do it in a tuner update. It's not like you have to overhaul the whole game.

Short version: The game needs a fifth default difficulty level to alleviate the AP/AM dilemma.

# 58 thecove @ 10/19/16 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajra21


	1. the 2011 CBA prevent rookies from being extended before their final year. madden clearly decided it was easier to have this rule for all contracts. 2. the 2011 CBA sets rookie contracts for four years max with first round rookie having a team option for a fifth year. madden, since 2011, has reflected this. 3. yes, that would be nice. M10 had this IIRC. 4. they are there. use your trigger button to find them when you are looking at the MVP/coach of the year winners. 5. that would be helpful.

#1 If true that is complete laziness on EA's part. As I said in my original post, renegotiating veteran contracts before they get to the last 2 years of their current contract, which are always the most expensive, is essential to salary cap management. I'm fine with conforming to the CBA for the rookie contracts but there is no excuse for throwing veteran contract negotiations into the same bucket.

#2 It's good that they incorporated the CBA terms but I'd still like to negotiate the rookie contracts as part of running my franchise.

#3 Every time there is a new console, EA seems to strip the neg gen Madden of features that should simply carry over. I actually don't even get Captain badges on ANY of my players, unless it's being assigned to guys lower on the depth chart.

#4 I noticed that after I posted the comment above. I stand corrected.

#5 Once again, another feature stripped from earlier gen Madden. Seeing the entire structure of the contract offering is so essential to proper salary cap management.

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