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Madden 20 Face of the Franchise Tips - Teams, How to Get Drafted, and More

Here's our walkthrough for Madden 20's Face of the Franchise mode, featuring all the NFL teams, how to get drafted, and more.

Longshot might have been the story mode for Madden releases of past years, but the Face of the Franchise mode in Madden 20 is the single player component for this year. In our complete Madden 20 Face of the Franchise walkthrough, we'll be detailing which college teams you can sign with, how to positively impact your NFL Draft stock, and much more, taking you through every major decision in the story mode.

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Face of the Franchise Walkthrough

In the rest of this Madden 20 Face of the Franchise walkthrough, we'll be guiding you through the entire mode. Just below, you can find a list of all the significant steps this guide will cover, that are key moments in the story mode.

  • Choosing a college team.
  • Dialogue choices and options.
  • Playing in the National Finals.
  • Attending the NFL Combine.
  • Answering media questions.
  • Attending the NFL Draft.

What is Face of the Franchise?

If you played a Madden over the last two years, then you'll be pretty familiar with how Face of the Franchise works in Madden 20. It's a heavily scripted story mode, which sees you starting out from the backup ranks of a college team, and ascending all the way to NFL stardom.

In Face of the Franchise, you'll be making decisions as your player created character, as well as partaking in NFL games. It's up to you to make the choices that you think give you the best chance of being drafted to an NFL team, which is the end goal for the entire Face of the Franchise mode.

Roster Choice

When you first set out on your journey in the Face of the Franchise mode of Madden 20, you'll be asked to select a roster. Below, we'll break down the two choices you're given.

  • Use Preseason Roster - Selecting this option loads up the roster of every team from before the 2019/20 NFL season kicks off. This way, everything will start from scratch, with zero players injured.
  • Use Active Roster - This option starts you out with the most recent roster update for Madden 20. This means any updates made to the game's roster during the 2019/20 NFL season will be reflected in your journey.
Your roster options for Face of the Franchise. | Hirun Cryer/USG, EA

Player Customization

Before you get going with your journey in Face of the Franchise, you're going to be given the chance to create your very own player character. Below, we'll present you with all the options you can choose and change when selecting a player.

  • Skin Tone
  • Starting Head
  • Hair Style
  • Hair Color
  • Beard Style
  • Beard Color
  • Eye Color
  • Voice
The player creation options for Face of the Franchise. | Hirun Cryer/USG, EA

Madden 20 Teams

After you've created your player character in Face of the Franchise, it's time to immediately sign with a college team. This is going to govern the team that you play with, right up until the NFL Draft and through the NFL Combine. Below, we'll list out the college teams you can pick to play for.

  • Clemson
  • Florida
  • Florida
  • LSU
  • Miami
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Texas
  • Texas Tech
  • USC
Select a college team for Face of the Franchise. | Hirun Cryer/USG, EA

Choices

When you first get off the bus in the Face of the Franchise mode, you'll be stopped by a security guard who thinks you're event staff. The security guard then asks you who you're here to play. Don't worry about this question, because there actually isn't a wrong answer here. Instead, all you're doing is manually selecting the team that you want to play against.

Immediately after your encounter with the security guard, you're stopped by a reporter. She's going to ask you about your style of play. Again, this is a choice that you have all the power over, and this choice is going to determine your play style as a QB for the rest of Face of the Franchise. The four options are:

  • Strong Arm - Excels at throwing the ball down the field and making long passes.
  • Improviser - A QB that isn't afraid to pull off some trick plays.
  • Field General - A more balanced QB that excels at short and medium passes.
  • Scrambler - A QB that isn't afraid to take off and run with the ball.

After you make your choice here, you'll get an update that your "QB archetype has been updated." Basically, your choice here is going to determine the type of QB you want to be going forward in Face of the Franchise. Based on the descriptions above, make your choice based on how you'd like to play.

You'll get somq questions to decide your player type. | Hirun Cryer/USG, EA

Your next choice is to decide your personality. With this choice, you're going to be dictating your personality going forward in Face of the Franchise. It's pretty important to keep in mind that the end goal in Face of the Franchise is getting drafted by an NFL team, so you want to make yourself as appealing as possible. Below, you can find the four choices for your personality:

  • Intense - Somewhere between the dedicated player and the superstar icon.
  • Leader - A more dedicated player with less controversy surrounding them.
  • Entertainer - The more flashy player, an entertaining QB always draws the headlines.
  • Team Player - The more humble and appealing QB.

Your next choice comes in the locker room, just before your debut game. Below, we've outlined the choice that you have to pick between, just before the game.

  • Agree With Coach - Keep the game plan simple.
  • Agree With Isaiah - Go with a more advanced gameplan.

Basically, your choice here is to be daring and stick your neck out, or play along and stick to the orders of your coach. Then, at halftime of the semi-final game, you're presented with another choice. If you're up and winning at the half, you can pick to either take all the credit yourself or defer to your teammates and share out the credit. Again, play into the role of the sort of QB that you want to be in Face of the Franchise.

Take the side of the coach, or Isaiah. | Hirun Cryer/USG, EA

After the game, you'll get approached by a child called Emily. Her dad will tell you that she has a request for you at the Championship finals: throw for four touchdowns. It's hardly an easy ask or feat, and Face of the Franchise doesn't explicitly reveal what the bonuses are for you if you do complete this task.

Your next significant choice will be during halftime of the National Championship game. No matter if you're winning or losing, Isaiah will take you to one side and ask you to give then ball to him more in the second half. Your options here are to 'agree' or 'disagree' to give him the ball in the second half of the game.

Again, the only thing riding on your choice here is the sort of player you want to be. Choose 'agree' if you want to be more of a team player, or select 'disagree' if you'd prefer to have all the glory of the Championship final game to yourself.

Combine

The NFL Combine is where things really heat up if you're looking to be drafted at a high position. You'll firstly be placed in a series of throwing drills at the Combine, where your task is to throw a bullet pass to the receiver, leading them into the highlighted position on the field.

This is actually a lot easier than it sounds. Simply analyze the play art before pressing X/A to snap the ball, and see where the receiver is going to run. Then, when the receiver is a few meters outside the target zone, throw a bullet pass ahead of them on their route. This will guarantee they'll catch the ball with both feet inside the zone.

Just one of the NFL Combine drills. | Hirun Cryer/USG, EA

The next significant challenge is to throw to the running back, in the same fashion. This can become a little tricky, particularly on the RB wheel routes where you need to lead the running back upfield. Remember to leave a ton of room in between the receiver and the zone—it's more likely that they'll catch the ball early but still get their feet in the zone.

Questions

To round out the NFL Combine, you're placed before the media, with a series of questions. When you're asked about playing for the New York Giants, select 'I'd be lucky' to raise your team player rating.

The barrage of media questions after the Combine. | Hirun Cryer/USG, EA

The next question is meant to assess your biggest quality as an NFL QB. Out of the two options, we'd recommend selecting 'calm under pressure,' which raises your rating as a leader. If you'd rather raise your 'entertainer' level, select the option for you to boast that you can 'read an NFL defense.'

Next, you're asked about critics who say you're not yet ready to play in the NFL. For this question, although the option 'they're right' might not seem like the correct choice, being able to critique yourself actually raises your leader rating again.

Draft

The end goal of Madden 20's Face of the Franchise mode is to be drafted number one overall (obviously). To begin doing this, you need to win both games you play as a college QB. This means winning the semi-final, and the National Championship final games.

Secondly, you need to be a team player throughout your time playing in college. This means selecting the option to defer credit to your teammates at halftime during the semi-final game. Then, you need to 'agree' with Isaiah Streets if he asks you to get him the ball more during the Championship final game, and then make sure you complete at least several passes to him in the rest of the game.

Succeeding at the NFL Combine is of paramount importance. There are 24 drills in total, and how many you pass will generally dictate which team you're drafted by. Note that you can never be drafted by NFL teams with star quarterbacks already, like the Patriots, Packers, Colts, and others.

It all comes down to being invited to the NFL Draft. If you get invited to the Draft, you'll be drafted to either the Oakland Raiders or the New York Giants. However if you don't get the invite to the Draft, you'll be drafted by either Miami or Cincinnati. You can never go undrafted in Face of the Franchise.

If it's more Madden 20 coverage you're after, then you can check out any of our guides pages here at USG. You can head over to our Madden 20 Face of the Franchise guide for a full walkthrough of the story mode, or our Madden 20 Ultimate Team Solo Battles guide for a rundown of all the rewards. Alternatively you can check out either our Madden 20 offensive money plays guide, or our Madden 20 defensive money plays guide for some of the best plays in the game.

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