Madden 17 Wish List: 10 Things EA Sports Can Add to Build on Last Year's Success

Madden NFL 16 was one of the best releases in the series' history. That's a big statement when you consider the iconic virtual football game has been made for 27 years and counting. From a game-play and feature standpoint, Madden 16 offered the best balance of options, realism and fun EA Sports has ever delivered.

But that was last year. It's likely EA Sports is still in the development cycle for Madden 17. With the game likely to be released in August 2016—as has become tradition—now is the time to start publishing wish lists in hopes that developers at EA Tiburon might grant a few of the wishes.

This list ranges from the most simple concepts to the more large-scale ideas for the Madden brand. Take a look.

Turn Down the Aggressive Catch

Odell Beckham Jr. of the New York Giants made one of the greatest catches in NFL history during the 2014 NFL season. He also had one heck of a rookie year overall. 

Subsequently, he became arguably the most popular player in the league—almost overnight. Also as a fallout to his spectacular year, OBJ won the Madden 16 cover vote, and his amazing catching ability proved to be infectious for the game's developers.

The "aggressive catch" option should absolutely be in the game, but its power needs to be turned down just a bit to maintain and match the rest of the game's authenticity.

As it is—without any alterations to the sliders—elite receivers are capable of making catches on a weekly basis that would overload the storage space of NFL Films' hallowed hard drives. That shouldn't be.

It's a video game, I get it, there's supposed to be an element of flair. However, when someone makes a spectacular catch, I should be like: "Oh my God, did you just see that," not like "well, you know, Alshon Jeffery is a really good receiver."

The great catches were a little too common.

More Inaccurate Passes

There have been noticeable strides made with Madden's overall passing system, but there's still room for improvement. Most passes still are either caught or dropped by a receiver (butter fingers or jarred loose), or batted down or intercepted by a defender.

In the real NFL, there's a good number of passes that hit the ground because they are simply over or underthrown. The pass may be thrown behind or in front of the receiver. Others are air-mailed out of a receiver's reach.

The point is: The ball hits the ground without any player on the field touching it.

This result is still mostly missing from Madden game play. You will see it in some instances; it's mostly when you're throwing on the run with a QB who doesn't excel in that situation or when you've tried to lead a guy too much. 

If the accuracy was turned down a tad and there were more variances of the ball's flight and path added, it would encourage more people to take control of the receiver to adjust to passes. That's essentially what the best receivers do on a regular basis.

Make It a Little Easier to Block a Field Goal or Punt

Blocked field goals and punts don't occur every week in the NFL, but they do happen. How many Madden gamers have ever seen either in their time playing the game?

I'm sure some have, but I've been playing the game since its inception, and I think I can count the amount I've seen on one hand. This is a delicate balance, because the developers don't want to give cheesers room to find an exploit in the game play.

That said, in an effort to create the most realistic game-play experience, it would be great to see this aspect of the game addressed.

More Realistic Weather

The weather looks awesome in Madden 16, but it has little to no effect on the game play. Aside from the occasional slip by a quarterback or receiver, playing in the snow is no different than a perfect day in San Diego.

In games with high wind, passes should be affected, not just kicks.

When it's snowing or raining, there should be more drops and fumbles. In games where the temperature is high, fatigue should be more common. Incorporating these elements and having the commentary team speak about it would offer a much-needed dose of realism to the game play.

More Realistic Injury Presentation

The frequency of injuries in Madden 16 is decent. It would be nice to see lineman injured, but even more than that, the way injuries are presented needs a makeover.

When you're watching an NFL game, you never find out the full extent of an injury while the game is in progress. In Madden, there's a full and complete diagnosis by the next quarter.

Obviously the game's logic and probability formulas will have the details of the injury determined instantly. However, if you're playing in a Connected Franchise, it would be awesome to be forced to wait until after the game to find out the specific injury and the expected time the player will miss.

Fake press conferences or ESPN-like announcements would be a great way to break the news about more serious injuries. 

Custom Draft Classes

Guys like Floyd Maximus have had to get creative in an effort to customize their draft classes. Because there's no college football game with which to import rookies into Madden anymore, it would be nice if EA Sports went the same route 2K has with NBA 2K.

Every year, hardcore gamers like myself create and upload draft classes to extend their enjoyment of NBA 2K. Some of them are fictional, and others are meant to mirror the real-life crop of players headed to the pros.

NFL draft classes are far more extensive, but I'm willing to bet there are gamers in the Madden community who would put in the time and effort to make a draft class of at least the first four rounds of players.

EA Sports should turn its community loose and allow it to create and share draft classes.

More Freedom with Team Relocation

The ability to relocate your franchise was right on time considering recent events in the NFL. The only issue with relocating a team in Madden 16 is that there are some annoying limitations.

First off, you're only allowed to relocate to a few cities. Gamers should be able to take their team to Anchorage, Alaska, if they want to.

Secondly, the re-branding of the franchise has to be done via a template-based system. I hate to keep bringing up NBA 2K16, but in 2K Sports' awesome hoops title, there's almost no restrictions during the relocation and re-branding process.

You're even given the freedom to upload a new logo and completely redesign the uniforms and arena. Hey, EA, can we get some of that with Madden?

Allow Gamers to Customize Their Uniforms, Logos and Stadium in Ultimate Team

Madden Ultimate Team (MUT) is a wildly successful and fun mode, but that doesn't mean it's perfect. The acquisition of players via pack openings and auctions is thrilling and addictive. That said, there's still a slight disconnect between the team owner (that would be you) and the players on the team.

Right now, you have to acquire home and away jerseys and a home stadium through the starter pack of virtual cards, and you can upgrade along the way. Wouldn't it be better if gamers were able to customize their team uniforms, logos and stadiums?

OK, I promise, this is the last time I'll say this, but in NBA 2K's MyTeam—which is a clear copy of Ultimate Team—you're allowed to do all of those things. The same can be said for MLB: The Show's card-collecting mode called Diamond Dynasty.

For whatever reason, EA Sports has yet to deliver this to its fans.

The weird thing is: The mother of all create-a-team options was pioneered by EA Sports back on the NCAA Football series. The Team Builder app is still one of the greatest creation tools in the history of sports video games.

It sure would be nice to see it re-introduced for use with Ultimate Team. How about the Ultimate Team Builder? Come on, you know you love it.

Allow Gamers to Use Unlocked Legends from MUT in Connected Franchise

Every week, MUT is energized with the access to the new legend cards made available to fans. If those unlocked legends were also playable in Connected Franchises, it would be ideal.

Many gamers would love to have an epic fantasy draft that includes the likes of Deion Sanders, Jerry Rice and others. That's part of the appeal of the epic, new Draft Champions mode.

It's also a potential incentive for gamers who wouldn't otherwise play MUT to try it. Perhaps they initially give the mode a spin to unlock legends but find that they really enjoy the journey of building a team. 

That's a win for everyone involved.

Launch a Season-Long eSports Initiative

In November 2015, EA Sports unveiled its Madden Challenge eSports event. It's a grandiose tournament of sorts that centers around the aforementioned Draft Champions mode, and it will culminate the week of Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara, California. 

It's great to see EA throwing Madden into the eSports ring, but there's room for more.

A season-long series that ran parallel with the real NFL season would be something fans might find interesting. Could anyone go for a YouTube show called Madden House (I totally made that up)?

Essentially, 32 of the best Madden players would be brought into a facility for four days. They'd play through an entire season of a Fantasy Draft Connected Franchise mode. The 32 guys and girls would each have features done on them to push their own individual notoriety in the community.

The draft could be one episode, and each week of the CF season could be its own episode as well. Every time a player wins a game, he or she would win a cash prize with the ultimate goal of winning the grand prize for taking the Super Bowl.

If presented properly, a show like this could permanently claim Madden's place in the world of eSports.

Even a hardcore gamer like me can't think of everything. If there's something else you'd like to see added to Madden 17, leave your suggestions in the comments section.