Madden NFL 19's Franchise Mode Detailed

Raychel Sanner

Published: Jun 14, 2018 11:41 am

EA Sports recently posted a new blog detailing what’s new to Franchise mode this year in Madden NFL 19.

Player Archetypes

On player archetypes and the new overall ratings which vary based on which archetype you are seeking:

Madden NFL 19 introduces a new way to progress and classify your players in Franchise with the Archetype Progression system. Each position is now broken up into two-to-four styles used to grade the player. For example, the quarterback position now has four styles: Field General, Scrambler, Strong Arm, and West Coast. Matt Ryan may be an 88 OVR West Coast, but only a 78 OVR Scrambler. On the other hand, Deshaun Watson may be an 82 OVR Scrambler but only a 79 OVR West Coast. These archetype OVRs make it easy to evaluate a player’s strengths and weaknesses.

Also here’s a list of Archetypes by Position:

QB: Strong Arm, Scrambler, West Coast, Field General

HB: Power Back, Elusive Back, Receiving Back

FB: Blocking, Utility

WR: Deep Threat, Possession, Red Zone Threat, Slot Receiver

TE: Vertical Threat, Possession, Blocking

OL: Agile, Power, Pass Protector

DL: Run Stopper, Speed Rusher, Power Rusher

MLB: Field General, Pass Coverage, Run Stopper

OLB: Pass Coverage, Run Stopper, Speed Rusher, Power Rusher

CB: Man-to-Man, Zone Coverage, Slot Corner

S: Zone Coverage, Run Support, Hybrid

K/P: Accurate, Power

Coaching Schemes

And when it comes to building your roster, you’ll need to build them around the new coach schemes. The players you fit within your roster have to match your scheme to maximize their development and talent.

Start by choosing an offensive and defensive scheme. To make your decision easier, scroll through the available schemes to see how many players on your roster are a Scheme Fit. Each scheme looks for a specific Player Archetype for each position. For example, the West Coast Zone Run scheme looks for Agile offensive linemen. All offensive linemen that are Agile will have a puzzle piece Scheme Fit icon denoting they’re a match. This helps you find the players that best fit your team. The scheme fit icon is visible in Free Agent Bidding, Trading, Scouting, Drafting, and more.

The list of schemes that’ll be in Madden NFL 19 include:

Offensive Schemes

West Coast Zone Run
West Coast Power Run
Vertical Zone Run
Vertical Power Run
Multiple Zone Run
Multiple Power Run
Spread
Run and Shoot

Defensive Schemes

Base 4-3
Multiple 4-3
Base 3-4
Multiple 3-4
Tampa 2
46 Defense

Import Draft Classes

Also, despite not having an NCAA Football game to import draft classes from — the Madden team has made it possible to create draft classes to import into Madden anyways.

Creating and sharing a draft class is easy. Start with an auto-generated class and edit as much or as little as you want. While on the main Scouting menu, press the “Edit Players” button to kick off the process. Choose to edit the current class or import/download another one. If you edit the current class, then you will be taken to a spreadsheet that reveals everything about the 450 players in the current draft class. Easily move players up and down the draft projection using the “swap” and “insert above” tools. Select each player and edit his Player Info, Appearance, Equipment, Ratings, and Player Traits.

Specialist Positions

New to Madden this year are new specialist positions on your depth chart which will allow you to more closely customize your roster and fill it out with niche players. These will automatically be subbed into specific formations.

Nickel and Dime defenses now use Rush Left End (RLE), Rush Defensive Tackle (RDT), Rush Right End (RRE), Sub Linebacker (SUBLB), and Slot Cornerback (SLCB) positions. These players are best for downs when the offense is likely to be throwing the ball. For RDT, RLE, and RRE, this means that the run stoppers are leaving the field and the pass rushers are stepping in. The CPU won’t put in a player that has low pass rush moves in this position. For Sub Linebacker, the best pass coverage linebacker will fill this spot. Your Slot Corner will be the best players on your team using the Slot Corner OVR, but will not fill with CB1, CB2, FS1, or SS1 unless their archetype is Slot Corner.

New Player Ratings

Also new this year are 11 new player ratings.

Break Tackle: Determines broken tackle success for ball carriers vs standard tackles (not Hit Sticks or Cut Sticks).
Break Sack: Determines whether the QB will escape a sack inside the pocket.
Throw Under Pressure: Determines passing accuracy when throwing under pressure.
Run Block Power: Determines success chance for Drive, Down, and Power Double Team blocks on plays like Toss and Power O.
Run Block Finesse: Determines success chance for Zone, Reach, and Zone-Double Team blocks on plays like Outside Zone and Stretch.
Lead Block: Determines success chance for blockers leading from the backfield or pulling from the line.
Pass Block Power: Used versus defensive power moves.
Pass Block Finesse: Used versus defensive finesse moves.
Short Route Running: Used when running short routes (Slant, Drag, etc.).
Medium Route Running: used when running medium routes (Curl, Dig, etc.).
Deep Route Running: Used when running deep routes (Corner, Streak, etc.).

There’s More

We won’t spoil all the surprises for Madden NFL 19’s Franchise Mode, but you can read the rest on EA’s site.

We will continue to have more coverage of Franchise as we move forward towards release in a couple of months!