I agree last-gen's were great.... some of them. But I think that next-gen has a few good ones too. Here are the ones i wanna see in the coming maddens:
Last Gen:
Rushing attack
DB Swat
LB Chase and Tackle
Lineman Challenge
Kicker and Punter Drills
Next Gen:
QB Challenge
WR/DB Route Running drill
Offensive Linemen Drill
Personally I couldn't stand last-gen's QB drills. I've never heard of anyone practicing throwing by getting hit by tennis balls and throwing through rings. I think the next-gen version is much better however I do think that they need to implement a wide array of routes instead of just having like 5. (I would also like the vision cone back but that's just me)
While I do love the DB Swat Drill from last gen, I also think that Next-gen's is good too (or at least a good Idea). I think it is very realistic. And with better animations and better AI by the cpu, I think it'll be the most realistic.
The rushing attack drill is pretty much the same on both -gens as it should.
For the linemen challenge I think they should use the virtual trainer one they on madden 09. I'm not saying they should keep the virtual trainer, but I think it should be played the same. I hated the fact that you had to go through 5-6 linemen to get like 4-5 flags. it should be just an entire line (or i guess an entire side) that you go up against and take reps. 7 out of 10 and you pass.
Speaking of which, I like the tier playing from last-gen. If you passed rookie, you went on to pro and so on. I think they should make it like that again in franchise mode. That way you can get warmed up and you get the option of continuing or not. Also if you don't do so well in like say pro, but you know you're good at all-madden for some reason, you can continue.
They should keep the offensive linemen drill, except tweak it a little bit and improve the AI logic. some times a SPEED back will try to go up the middle when he could've just outran everybody on the outside....
As for the unfair advantage stuff.... if you don't like the advantage, then don't play them. I think the cpu should be able to advance their teams likewise but if they don't, who cares? You don't
have to play them.
Also they should bring back the practice game mode in franchise again. Idk y they took that out. It sucks when you can't practice with the team you've assembled to see how they'll perform.