After taking my break from Madden for a few years and coming back late last year, one thing I've grown to love is HR. I love the short/quick games w/ different rule sets. One of the games I really enjoyed during my break was Fortnite (yea I know...snicker away). Fort was/is great about constantly changing up gameplay and having multiple gametypes to play @ any time. Kept the game fresh.
HR is also a great way to get in a quick H2H game w/o the commitment of a 30-40 min game. Let me load in a game, play around, and be done in 5-15 min.
Even if the rewards were crap, I think I would exclusively play HR (and squads) if it was always an option, and just forgo seasons/WL altogether. C'mon EA, make it happen!