Madden finally gave fans what they had been asking for with its #FixMaddenFranchise campaign, winning EA’s attention as promised since day one. Madden 22 set Ultimate Team and Face of the Franchise aside to ensure Franchise mode delivered. While fans still await promised changes such as overhauling scouting practices for next year, most were pleased with what turned up this time around – here are some helpful tips and techniques on establishing an iconic Madden 22 franchise similar to that seen with Steelers of yesteryear or Cowboys of 90s or Patriots teams of years past or future!
Are You an Up-and-Coming NFL Star, an Innovative Head Coach or a Lifelong Franchise Owner? Within Madden 22 Franchise Mode there are three paths you could take as either owner, coach or player; we suggest opting for owner mode for an immersive experience and leaving coach path only as an option if that is what interests you most. If it’s football you love the player path provides quick and straightforward fun; otherwise the owner path provides more scope.
To maximize your Madden 22 Franchise mode experience, opt for Owner. As owner, there’s nothing that stops you from doing everything from playing every game and hiring and firing coaches and personnel to moving teams and more! Don’t let being an Owner overwhelm you; in future sections we will discuss that aspect as well.
Quality of Life
No matter if it is your first Madden 22 experience or returning veteran, making quality-of-life adjustments before beginning can make life as an NFL player, coach, or owner much simpler. Here are a few ideal settings you should change under League Settings tab to make life much simpler in Madden 22!
To locate League Settings: for Team page > Options.
Selected Franchise Settings. Select League Settings for League Changes (prior to starting new franchise). As this setting can change at any time via League Settings tab – here are a few that might interest you:
Difficulty
There’s no advantage to playing on Rookie or All-Madden difficulties – simply select one that meets your skill level, increasing it when necessary when games become tedious. All-Madden should be the goal if playing online; beating both CPUs on All-Madden will enable you to perform well against other players; in doing so, All-Pro difficulty becomes active by default and will become much tougher; think of this like swinging a weighted baseball bat!
Practice Injury
Turn this option off. NFL players get hurt during practice all of the time in real life; if your Madden 22 franchise strives for hyper-realism, that may be fine; otherwise if you prefer breaking more realistic rules for video gaming purposes then practice at any intensity without fearing one of your stars tearing their ACL – just don’t overdo it, leaving your team fatigued on Sunday!
Quarter Length
This one can be tricky. By default, six-minute quarters may feel tedious; however, longer quarters provide more opportunities to reach weekly goals. Example: Your weekly passing goal could be 250+ yards – this may not be possible with shorter quarters on All-Pro/Madden difficulties – yet different goals like throwing two touchdown passes may fit more easily within your time constraints. As our quarters tend to switch back and forth between MUT and Franchise modes, keeping things consistent between MUT and Franchise is also crucial – something which we’ll cover later.
Accelerated Clock can often prove problematic when trying to read or make adjustments; you should opt instead for chew-clock tempo when playing games. Accelerated Clock may exacerbate problems more than it helps when making reads and adjustments.
At the bottom of your league settings you will find several user team help settings you can set to auto or manually, depending on which elements need your control versus those handled by the CPU. Making life simpler by changing these options to automatic may include:
Preseason Cut Days for Contract Negotiations and League Advancement For contract negotiations, switch this feature off whenever one of your star players wishes to negotiate for more money – no sense allowing DaVante Adams go because you want his deal renegotiated without paying him more! Pay him what’s owed him now.
League Advancement will automatically skip over to the following week once your game ends, so make sure that before beginning that week you have gone through your order of operations for that week – with any necessary settings being left at manual settings (scout college players, bid on free agents and manage practice reps as appropriate).
Fantasy Draft To maximize Franchise mode in Madden 22, running an initial fantasy draft is key. A fantasy draft allows you to build the team of your dreams through careful selections in this initial redrafting of every team roster in all leagues – simply choose wisely when making selections! For this to work: To conduct one: To Do an Initial Draft:
From the Franchise screen, select Create New League. When asked whether online or offline is better for your team needs, online should always win; when selecting team roles (being that we’re doing a fantasy draft, most things change aside from head coaches and stadiums), select Use Active Roster instead. From here select Create New League before online versus Offline as appropriate before choosing team type with head coaches/stadiums remaining the same; when picking team roles (player, coach/owner etc). Once created you may also set rules about online/offline competition among teams (which should remain unchanged). From here select Create New League before online /offline mode as shown above (online/offline option will display). From here select Use Active Roster;
Start off your season right by switching over to fantasy draft mode, then proceeding with your season.
If you choose the player role, your fantasy draft will be simulated and you may end up on an unexpected team (we picked Dallas Cowboys but ended up on Denver Broncos). To draft your team directly however, select either coach or owner role instead and let’s examine how that team would draft itself:
How to Draft the Ideal Team in Madden 22
As anyone familiar with fantasy football will attest, draft order seems random; we ran it four times and ended up getting Cowboys and Buccaneers twice each as the 2nd pick and Patriots once, followed by Raiders at 8th and then Raiders as 31st. This indicates the draft order does not follow NFL season schedule in 2020 when Buccaneers would automatically have last pick as Superbowl champions determining each draft order outcome.
Now what? Well, there are two choices before you. Either start another franchise until a good pick appears (we did this with Raiders and got second). Or simply accept whatever choice comes your way and play along as best you can; remembering draft snakes means getting last pick in first round will get first in second.
Whom should you draft first?
If playing an offline solo franchise, my top tip for drafting is keeping the draft paused. Doing this allows time for you to consider each pick before making your choice.
Make sure to select an elite offensive player such as Travis Kelce, DaVante Adams Patrick Mahomes or Lamar Jackson first when picking players – this may vary depending on who’s available and can best benefit your team. Select a quarterback early or else risk being stuck with Matt Ryan, Ben Roethlisberger, Gardner Minshew or Marcus Mariota as your only options for quarterbacking your fantasy team.
While Ryan or Roethlisberger may seem suitable in theory, their lack of mobility makes them inferior choices in modern NFL. If your plan involves building a pass-heavy team (Tom Brady may be available to you), consider choosing an agile quarterback such as Josh Jacobs for optimal results if possible – Matt Ryan did win an All-Madden Super Bowl, after all! So choose wisely. But remember, mobility shouldn’t be your sole determinant when building running football teams!
Be mindful of your core needs on the left side of the screen and fill them based on available players with OVR ranks of 100 or better. Don’t take twice an identical position while selecting players; let the CPU auto-draft your backup players once your starting lineup has been chosen.
Draft an Impactful O-Line Drafting an effective offensive line cannot be overemphasized in fantasy football drafts. Once you’ve assembled your QB, WR1, HB and top TEs such as Kelce or another top option in Kelce), build your offensive line by starting from left or right tackle, working through to guards/lg/c or center and all three centers before adding your wide receivers (70+ OVR is fine); but an ineffective offensive line can make or break a team! As seen above in our 20th Round Draft where top-tier wide receivers remain available!
Defensively, target top cornerbacks to round out your linebacking core and defensive line. CBs may still be available; a devas