[stinkubus]

The scheme system is a good start, but it needs some refinement. There are too many strategically dominated archetypes. Just off the top of my head Agile OL, West Coast QBs, Power HBs, Slot WR, Run Stuff LBs, and Man CBs should never be drafted and developed down those paths because their favored attributes are inferior. You can get lucky with upgrade RNG, but you'd be starting on a much stronger foundation, almost always, with another option and that sort of forces your hand scheme-wise.

Some of the upgrades need to be toned down, too. If you work all year to max out a specific position group or two on each side of the ball you can achieve some pretty insane upgrades in just one season. Not necessarily to OVR but to specific attributes that have a huge impact on performance like ZCV, CIT, MAC, DAC, etc.

I've done the first season four different times now and by the start of year two I always have a CB, MLB, and FS who are over the 90 ZCV threshold, and the only one getting upgraded down a zone/coverage path is the CB! The MLB is a Field General and the FS is a Hybrid. There's almost no point in playing year two or beyond because the AI has no hope of passing on me. Almost everywhere they try to go one of my AI defenders can probably jump the pass for a swat/pick.

Also please put some work into auto-generated draft classes. At a minimum they should have athleticism ratings that allow them to stay on the field with players from the existing stock rosters! Everyone in the draft is so slow compared to the default roster and I can't imagine why that was done.