In years past, scouting in Madden’s franchise mode really just came down to analyzing each player’s NFL Combine stats and base grades for a few key attributes. Now, in Madden 23, the entire scouting process has been altered to offer a much more in-depth and authentic experience.
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In this guide, we will break down everything you need to know about how to scout in Madden 23’s franchise mode.
Everybody knows that building a team for long-term success in Madden 23 requires good scouting. Making use of the draft to bring in young talent that can lead your franchise into the next decade. Obviously, this requires you to be methodical and strategic throughout the entire scouting process.
So, to help you get started, we’ve laid out the basics about how to scout during every stage of the process in Madden 23 franchise mode.
1) Choose your draft class and hire/assign scouts (Week 1)
In the first week of the regular season, you will get to hire/assign scouts and choose your draft class. Both of which can be selected from the home screen within franchise mode. When it comes to hiring and assigning scouts, it’s important to note that each scout has a different position of specialty and talent. As indicated by their respective tier, with tier 3 being the best and tier 1 being the worst.
When trying to decide which scouts to hire and where to assign them, the best thing to do is look at the region breakdown. Which is a screen that will show you the draft class’s strengths and weaknesses in each region of the country and nationally. From here, you should make sure to set your tier 3 scout as the national scout. This way you can use their boosted scouting to analyze as many prospects as possible.
The general idea is to use your team’s strengths to hire and assign scouts accordingly. Keep in mind that each scout has two positions of expertise, so, you’ll receive the most scouting bonuses if you assign a scout to a region that has strengths in both. After you’ve chosen your draft class and scouts, you will then be able to take a first glance at the different prospects.
2) Regional Focus Scouting and Mock Draft (Week 3)
Over the course of the regular season, the scouts you have chosen and assigned will automatically scout for you. Keep in mind that the higher-tiered scouts will produce more information on each prospect. At any point in the season, you will be able to check in and see how the scouting process is going.
After week 1 of the regular season, the next step in the scouting process comes in week 3 with the regional focus scouting. Which is essentially where you’ll decide what positions each regional scout should be focusing on. To do this, you will need to “set focus scouting” on each of the regional scouts from the region breakdown screen and choose specific positions for each scout.
Another key element in week 3 is the mock draft, which is a prediction of what player each team will take based on their needs where each player is projected to go in the draft. As the season progresses, the mock drafts will become more accurate but this still provides you with a general idea of how each player is being viewed.
3) National Focus Scouting and Mock Draft 2 (Week 8)
After week 3 of the regular season, the scouting process begins to die down a little bit leading up to week 8. At which point it’s then your responsibility to take a more in-depth look at the prospects. At this point in the season, you will now be able to look at a second mock draft that can help to provide more solid information as to how players have been progressing throughout the college football season.
Related: All Relocation Teams in Madden 23 Franchise Mode
You will also be able to set the main focus for your national scout in week 8. Similar to the regional scouts in week 3, you can set the focus for your national scout from the region breakdown screen. Once this is set, you can just sit back and let your scouts do the rest of the work, occasionally checking in to see what new information has come out about certain prospects.
4) Prospect Spotlight and Focus Scouting (Week 11)
Week 11 offers players the opportunity to dive even deeper into the scouting pool, beginning with a prospect spotlight. At this point in the season, members of your coaching staff will give you a prospect spotlight which prompts you to take a closer look at a specific prospect that has been highlighted. This will allow you to further analyze said player and assess their skills and fit with your team.
Also, players will be given the chance to participate in focus scouting in Week 11 as well. Which will allow them to select three prospects to further analyze. For this stage of the scouting process, it’s best to focus on players that aren’t currently being scouted heavily. This way you can learn more about some of the lesser-known players in this year’s draft class.
5) Combine Results and Mock Draft 3 (First Stage of Offseason)
After week 11 of the regular season, your next action in the scouting process won’t come until the first stage of the offseason. Which falls one week after the Super Bowl. This is where the final mock draft comes into play, which by far offers the most accurate depiction of each player and where they will end up. Since the NFL season standings have been finalized and the draft order is set in stone.
Once free agency hits, you’ll be able to view how each of the prospects faired in the NFL Combine. Which measures each of their physical attributes such as their speed, strength, agility, and more. These help to provide a good base of knowledge for how each player will translate to the NFL but obviously, prior scouting can help to further solidify an opinion.
6) College Pro Day, Private Workouts, and Mock Draft 4 (Free Agency)
Mock drafts 3 through 5 will all be relatively similar since not much has changed in terms of NFL positioning and player performance. However, mock draft 4 gives you an update on each player’s conditioning and can help to provide assurance with the NFL Draft inching closer.
This stage of the scouting process also provides you with the college pro day results for each prospect. Which feature the same drills as the NFL Combine, but serve as more of a confirmation of a player’s attributes. Think about it like this, if a player’s performance is the same at the combine as it is at their pro day, then there’s a good chance the overall grade and assessment of said player is pretty accurate.
The last tool you can utilize in the scouting process is private workouts. Which appear in the final stage of the offseason just before the NFL Draft. Here, you will be able to choose another three players you’d like to learn more about and gain more information on them by holding a private workout.
After you’ve completed the private workouts, the scouting process is officially over! Meaning you should be fully equipped on draft day to acquire all of the talent necessary to take your franchise to the next level.
That’s everything you need to know about how to scout in Madden 23 franchise mode. If you’re interested in more Madden content, be sure to check out our guides section here at Gamer Journalist. Where you can find information like how to request a trade in Madden 23 face of the franchise mode or how to set realistic game sliders in Madden 23.
