I can't speak for anyone else in regards to time frame but I know for me personally it took me almost close to two years to finish my 1990's All Decade File
http://www.operationsports.com/forum...playbooks.html
I started working on the file using Madden 13 and luckily someone was kind enough to convert the file to Madden 25 other wise I wouldn't have finished the project because I refused to start all over again.
I'm much like you I prefer to create entire squads and I won't leave off Long Snappers or backup players even if they didn't play much....
I'm very detailed oriented and I'll research just about every player on the roster which is why there's no way I could get a file out in less than 6 months that would never happen with the amount of time it takes to 1st gather information then rate the players.
The problem with Madden is that EA doesn't allow you to edit existing players appearance, height or weight.....
If they did that then creating 30 teams + 50 players per team would go much quicker for me.....
I very rarely create a player using a CAP because I hate seeing a 30 year old veteran player being listed as a rookie....So only as a last resort will I use CAP's.
I heard this years game is amazing and the graphics are top notch but I've been fighting the urge to even open up my Madden 15 do to other roster commitments right now...
Chances are by the time I even get the urge to start creating teams again I wouldn't have it done until Madden 16 releases and hopefully there would be away to convert rosters by that time.