When playing Franchise Mode in Madden NFL 23 you have to find a good balance between making your team the best it can be to win games in the moment, while also making sure you’re lining the team up to be able to have success years into the future.
The main way this is done is by ensuring that outside of the vets playing for your team, you’re putting time and resources into acquiring, developing, and keeping talented young prospects. Even if right now they’re riding the bench behind an elite veteran, they can step up and produce elite numbers for you themselves once that veteran retires if you develop them well.
But not every prospect is capable of developing into an elite, or even good player for you. Some players may have too low of a starting skill level, be too old to have time for you to properly develop, or simply not have a very high skill ceiling. This is where Madden 23’s player development traits (or “dev traits”) come into play.
Every player in Madden 23 has one of the four possible development traits (these can change, as we’ll discuss later). These dev traits help to guide and determine how quickly a player can develop their skills and what heights their game can reach over the course of their career.
It’s important to know what a player’s dev trait means for the future outlook of both them and your franchise team. Learn all about them in today’s guide for Madden 23 Development Traits.
The Four Tiers of Player Development Traits
In Madden 23, there are four different tiers of development traits that a player can possess. They are Normal, Star, Superstar, and Superstar X Factor in ascending order.
A player’s level of dev trait is important to determine how good they can become in the future, as a higher dev trait means that a player will require fewer XP points to earn a skill upgrade.
The AI teams will see players with higher development traits as more valuable than a normal dev player of equal age and overall.
Due to this, they’ll command a higher price tag in free agency and require more and better assets to trade for compared to their normal dev counterparts (this means a high dev trait player can fetch you a bigger return in a trade as well!).
Normal Development Trait
The normal development trait is the most common dev trait you’ll find on players in Madden 23. Normal, as the name implies, is essentially the default dev trait for players.
A normal dev trait will be signified with a bronze color on both their dev trait symbol and as a tint to their background when viewing your team in the “adjust lineup” screen of Franchise mode.
A player with a normal dev trait will see no impact on the amount of XP points required to go up a skill point.
Star Development Trait
The star development trait is the next level up after normal and is the first tier to see any advantages in skill progression.
A star dev trait will be signified with a silver color on both their dev trait symbol and as a tint to their background when viewing your team in the “adjust lineup” screen of Franchise mode.
A player with a star dev trait will need 25% fewer XP points to earn a skill point upgrade compared to that of a normal development player. For example (using simple math for the sake of the example): if a player with a normal dev trait needs 100 XP points to go up a skill point, a player with star dev would only need 80 XP points (assuming factors such as age and current overall are the same).
Superstar Development Trait
The superstar development trait is the next level up after star and is the first tier to give the player access to abilities (for players with an OVR rating above 70).
A superstar dev trait will be signified with a gold color on both their dev trait symbol and as a tint to their background when viewing your team in the “adjust lineup” screen of Franchise mode.
A player with a superstar dev trait will need 35% fewer XP points to earn a skill point upgrade compared to that of a normal development player. For example (using simple math for the sake of the example): if a player with a normal dev trait needs 100 XP points to go up a skill point, a player with superstar dev would only need 65 XP points (assuming factors such as age and current overall are the same).
Superstar X Factor Development Trait
The superstar X factor development trait is the next level up after superstar and is the highest tier a player can have. It’s also the only dev trait tier to give players access to zone abilities.
A superstar X factor dev trait will be signified with a red color on both their dev trait symbol and as a tint to their background when viewing your team in the “adjust lineup” screen of Franchise mode.
A player with a superstar X factor dev trait will need 50% fewer XP points to earn a skill point upgrade compared to that of a normal development player. For example (using simple math for the sake of the example): if a player with a normal dev trait needs 100 XP points to go up a skill point, a player with superstar dev would only need 50 XP points (assuming factors such as age and current overall are the same).
Hidden Development Trait
If you scout well during the pre-draft process, you may be able to land yourself a player with a star or better dev trait.
If you draft a rookie with a development trait of star or above, it will appear as a hidden development trait. A hidden dev trait will be signified with a blue color on both their dev trait symbol and as a tint to their background when viewing your team in the “lineup” screen of Franchise mode.
The player’s development trait will continue to show as a hidden dev trait until they’ve played at least 500 snaps, at which point their true dev trait will be revealed. You can view how many snaps they’ve currently played by looking at their player tab.
You can always look at their dev trait by going into the edit player menu for them, but I personally find the suspense and surprise of the reveal more fun!
While a player has a hidden dev trait, the game will treat their skill progression as if they have a superstar dev trait regardless of what tier their dev trait actually is. This means that until those 500 snaps have been played, they will only need 35% less XP points to earn a skill point upgrade compared to that of a normal development player.
Development Trait Progression/Regression
If you have a young player you like with a low development trait, all hope isn’t lost for them. Players can go up and down dev trait tiers over the course of your Franchise Mode.
All dev trait changes take place in super bowl week and are based on the statistical performance of the player over the course of the season.
A player can earn a dev trait upgrade if their position-relevant stats finish towards the top of the league, with the criteria for an upgrade being harder for players with higher dev traits (a player with a superstar dev trait will need to finish higher to earn an upgrade than a normal dev player, for example).
A player will also be guaranteed to upgrade a dev trait tier if they earn a yearly award such as MVP, Best WR, Rookie of the Year, etc.
The backend process for dev trait regression, meanwhile, is a bit more complex. After all the players who have earned an upgrade have gotten it, the game will check to see if the number of players with each dev trait in your league has gone over the max number allowed for each tier.
This max number can be set in the “dev trait management” section of the franchise settings, so make sure those sliders are to your liking before progressing to super bowl week.
When you reach super bowl week make sure to take a look at your team for any changes in your players’ development traits!
Players that have higher dev traits will also suffer from age-related regression at a slower and less severe pace than that of their normal dev counterparts.
Superstar and Superstar X Factor Abilities
Players that have either a superstar or superstar X factor dev trait will also have access to superstar abilities on top of their quicker progression.
A player will unlock their first superstar ability at 70 OVR, and they’ll unlock the second superstar ability at 85 OVR.
These abilities will be active at all times, and can greatly improve a player’s play level and impact on the game.
Zone abilities, meanwhile, are only available to players with a Superstar X Factor dev trait and are only active when a player manages to enter the zone.
Due to this, zone abilities will be active much less often than the previously mentioned superstar abilities, but they make up for it by being much more powerful and game-changing than their superstar counterparts.
Final Words
Development traits in Madden 23 are the key to determining and guiding the future prospects and success of both individual players and your franchise team as a whole, which is why it’s important to be familiar with each tier of dev trait and how they can impact your players both in terms of progression and on-field production.
If you’re able to successfully scout, draft, sign, and keep the various high-dev trait players you’ll come across over the course of your time playing Franchise Mode, you’ll be able to ensure that your team will have elite star players to lead you to victories and championships for years to come.
Speaking of developing future prospects, we also have a guide to the best young players to trade for in Franchise Mode. Be sure to check that out next!
