I hope I don't break down and pick this up. each year the last 4 years, family/in-laws have always either bought it for my birthday; or given a gamestop gift card. last year I was just irritated wtih the game. I played it quite a bit for maybe a 3 weeks to a month, and it has sat on the shelf collecting dust ever since.
I ventured into MUT for the first time last year, grinding through whatever to get packs etc. and the MUT gameplay actually felt entirely different to me. Not sure if that's a real thing or not; but it just had a different feel. Is it possilbe they have 2 sets of code or whatever to run Franchise and MUT?
I also liked to play connected Franchise as a LB, or as a CB. But what would grind my gears is, it didn't matter if you did your role / job in the defense. to get development points (I think that's what it's called) you - as a defender - basically had to let a player catch a pass, then tackle / let him get open so a play would come your way. Same as a LB; if you did your job in the run game / played your assignment / gap...there was no reward.
So after grinding like that for hours and hours...you're better of just running all over the field doing what ever you want. If I recall, I 'think' NBA 2K used to give you points / reward you for playing the role in the offense / play.
that's when i shelved it. I like to play sim style; so just running all over, no regard to assignment or even the defense that is called...bummed me out. Getting intercepted playing QB when throwing a 20 yd pass downfield by a MLB 10 yds from LOS was irritating. getting sucked into blocks as a defender was irritating.
maybe I'm just getting older, or tired of playing a game with the same lingering issues year after year; or a combo of both...I don't play nearly as much Madden as I did a decade ago.