Madden 25 New Progression Changes in Connected Franchise Mode

Thanks and credit goes to UTC for the following info:

Let’s face it; the player progression factor in Madden NFL 13 for players was way better than the potential grade that was in Madden NFL 12. In Madden NFL 25, progression is back but with some pretty significant changes that not only reward your players who can put up some good numbers but also the regression older players face as they hit their decline. On a recent trip to the EA studios, I got a chance to view some of the changes this year in progression that will make you think twice about keeping that old RB on your team.

Please note that some of these figures are not final and are still being tuned but I will let you in on the thinking behind some of the changes being made this year.


Young Players vs. Old Players

With last year’s progression system it was hard moving those old guys out of the lineup because they were getting better than they probably should have been. Meaning a guy like Michael Turner, who is 34 years old in one of my leagues and is still a 89 in the year 2016; that’s 4 years into my CCM. There is no way Michael Turner is still playing at 34, let alone should he be able to produce on the field.

So this year they changed all of that. If you are old, you get very limited XP, very limited. So if you have a Carson Palmer on your team it’s going to be very hard for you to progress him, virtually impossible. If you meet all your weekly goals for Carson Palmer you may get about 50XP. Same goes for Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. If you are old and you are good, you have basically maxed out your potential and will be earning just enough to offset your regression. Last year they gave you so much XP that you were still able to progress the older guys, this year they are looking to fix that. Someone like Matt Schaub would get normal XP for meeting his weekly goals and someone like RG3 would get more than normal XP for meeting his weekly goals. The younger you are the more XP you’ll earn for meeting your weekly goals. So a 21 year old is going to get more than a 24 year old who will get more than a 27 year old; the younger your guy is the more XP they will be able to gain in with their weekly goals.

It’s not only the fact that you can’t progress older players very well but the regression of older players will make you feel like you just wasted your time progressing them all season. I simmed a whole year and guys like Michael Turner, Fred Jackson, Leon Washington, and Willis McGahee just regressed so bad. I forgot to write down the numbers but they regressed pretty to a point that some teams let them go into Free Agency; which should happen.

Depending on how long you plan on running your Connected Franchise, it may be time to get rid of those old guys and let the younger guys get some playing time because regression can sneak on you quick and that 31 year old 91 OVR player could be a 84 OVR player at the end of the season.



New Coaching Levels

Last year the game shipped with no traits for Coaches and CPU Coaches rarely bought any traits. That will change this year as coaches will already have some traits and will buy some traits. Last year also the Coaches level went from 1-4 and this year the levels with go 1-30. Coaches like Mike Shanahan will be at a level 30 while guys like Chip Kelly will be at a 1. The significance of the levels is that they work as a multiplier for traits that you buy. If you buy a progression trait for your QBs to get more XP, it will be multiplied by the level. So when you create a new coach you start off as a level 1 and you buy a progression trait it will have very little effect on your team than if someone like the fake Bill Belichick bought the same trait. These levels affect Weekly, Season, and Milestone Goals.



Break Out Stars

The last thing I wanted to touch on for this article is something that’s being tuned right now but looks really good and that’s the emerging superstar aspect of the NFL. Almost every year we get players in the draft that come out with a low grade by the scouts but after a productive season, a breakout season, they remain an integral part of that team for years to come. I’m talking about the Doug Martins of the world and the Alfred Morris’ of the world that nobody had on their radar and put up phenomenal seasons as a rookie. In Madden NFL 13 these guys would only progress but so much, maybe 1 or 3 points overall, but now in Madden NFL 25 they can go from a 72 to an 85 and continue to be a good player for that team. This is still being tweaked because the dev team doesn’t want 30 new guys having break out seasons; there needs to be some kind of balance. I’m positive that EA can pull this off just by the seasons I was able to progress through. Obviously a lot of what I saw was still being tuned but I like that aspect. In last year’s game, you could have a 70 rated running back run for a whole bunch of yards but more times than not you’d look for another running back in the draft because he wasn’t developing as fast as you’d like.



Some other things have been changed with progression as well:

Milestones Goals have been reduced.
Season Milestones also helps breakout players by giving more XP.
Season Goals take into account of your development trait, players overall, and age.
If you win awards as a young player that is bad, you’ll get a boost in awards.
You’ll get XP just for putting up stats even if you don’t meet your weekly goals.