For all brand new players this year, I thought I would put together a quick write up on where to focus your attention as you try out Madden during this free to play weekend. I also see there is a 25% discount on All Madden edition so I imagine we may have some new players jumping in right now. wondering where to start The following will get your team upgraded ASAP without spending anything and is meant to give you the quickest sense of progression in the shortest amount of time as far as upgrading your team goes.
The solos available at this point in time should all be completed to 100% at some point but I'm recommending the following order with the number of solos you should complete within each group initially before moving on t the next group of solos as well as the expected time to complete each solo/set of solos, the rewards you will gain and a brief description of reasoning for why I recommend the solo group in the order provided. All time estimates are on next gen where load times are faster.
All program name links are from the News section of this site as provided by WizzLe if you ever need additional information for any specific program I highly recommend going there first. I have also tried to provided filters from this site that narrow down what choices you will have for rewards so you can plan accordingly.
Solo Group: Start Your Ultimate Team
Number of solos to complete: 4
Estimated Time to Complete: Less than 2 min per most solos, about 10 min total
Rewards: 78 OVR Joe Burrow QB
Reasoning: I have this at the top because I'm not sure if anything is locked for new players, i.e. whether or not all solos show before you complete this set. There are only 4 solos total for this so it should take around 10 min to complete, I say get it over with but if the other solos are visibly immediately to you, you may be able to skip this altogether and just do it when bored later since the reward will not last long on your squad.
Solo Group: Team of the Week
Number of solos to complete: 8
Estimated Time to Complete: Less than 2 min per most solos, about 20 min total
Rewards: 1 83 OVR per the filter here - TOTW - 83 OVR and 1 87 OVR per the filter here - TOTW - 87 OVR
Reasoning: You get your choice of 1 from the following 83s, WR, DT, HB, K, RE, QB and 1 from the following 87s, WR, HB, TE, CB, LOLB, WR, for what will most likely end up being around an 20 min of your time. 1 low elite player and 1 high elite player who will be immediate upgrades and a little longer lasting depending on position you choose in that short amount of time is great return to time spent.
Solo Group: Captains
Number of solos to complete: 4 for the 85 OVR Choice and 18 to get the tokens to upgrade to 88 OVR
Estimated Time to Complete: Less than 2 min per most solos, about 10 min total for the 85 OVR and a bout 45 min for the tokens to boost to 88 OVR
Rewards: 1 85 OVR Captain who can be upgraded to 88, you pick from Keyshawn Johnson, Larry Csonka, Sam Adams, and Eric Allen whose starting stats are here - Team Captains - 85 OVR, if you click any of the player names above, the link is for their upgraded stats that you will get once you complete the token challenges
Reasoning: You get an immediate starter who will be upgraded as the year progresses for what will most likely end up being just under an hour of your time. Most teams have a gap at FB so get that if you need to cover theme team needs, otherwise go DT for this choice as WR is congested and you can get several other great players in this spot and the CB is too short to be viable with the chuck it up and pray meta we see in H2H often.
Solo Group: Legends
Number of solos to complete: 40 give or take
Estimated Time to Complete: Less than 2 min per most solos, about 60-90 min total
Rewards: 4 81 OVR and 4 82 OVR per the filter here - 81-82 Legends Boom Players
Reasoning: You get an 82 QB, FS, CB, TE and your choice of 4 from the following, SS, HB, CB, C, LE, LT, WR, LOLB for what will most likely end up being around an hour or hour and a half of your time. 8 low elite players who will be immediate upgrades for your starter squad in that short amount of time is great return to time spent.
Solo Group: All Madden
Number of solos to complete: 14 give or take
Estimated Time to Complete: Less than 5 min per most solos, about 80 min total
Rewards: 1 86 OVR OOP Randy Moss CB whose stats are here - Randy Moss OOP CB - 86 OVR
Reasoning: You get a solid CB in Randy Moss for what will most likely end up being just under 90 min of your time. 1 high elite CB who will be an immediate upgrade and last for some time as CB1-4 is a great way to boost your team.
Solo Group: Campus Heroes
Number of solos to complete: 25 give or take
Estimated Time to Complete: Less than 5 min per most solos, about 120 min total
Rewards: 1 87 OVR Tim Tebow whose stats are here - Tim Tebow - 87 OVR and 1 87 OVR per the filter here - Campus Heroes - 87 OVR
Reasoning: You get a solid QB in Tim Tebow if you focus on the Campus Hero objectives viewable in the Field Pass to get Helmet Stickers and 1 out of 32 available 87s for what will most likely end up being around a couple of hours of your time. 2 high elite players who will be immediate upgrades and last for some time depending on position you choose is a great way to boost your team.
Solo Group: Ultimate Kickoff
Number of solos to complete: 48
Estimated Time to Complete: Less than 5 min per most solos, about 120 min total
Rewards: 1 87 OVR Terron Armstead whose stats are here - Terron Armstead - 87 OVR
Reasoning: You get a solid LT in Terron Armstead if you focus on the Ultimate Kickoff objectives and stats that are viewable in the Field Pass to get XP to get to level 7 which will most likely end up being around a couple of hours of your time. This starting LT will be an immediate upgrade and is a great way to solidify a position that many don't find appealing to spend coins on.
Solo Group: Headliners
Number of solos to complete: 50 give or take
Estimated Time to Complete: Less than 5 min per most solos, about 180 min total
Rewards: 1 86 OVR Derrick Brown whose stats are here - Derrick Brown - 86 OVR
Reasoning: You get a solid DT in Derrick Brown if you focus on the Headliners objectives and stats that are viewable in the Field Pass to get XP to get to level 6 which will most likely end up being around a couple of hours of your time. This starting DT will be an immediate upgrade and is a great way to solidify a position in the middle and comes with inside stuff which is a great run stopping ability.
Conclusion
The above gives you the quickest sense of progression for key rewards that will quickly improve your team by providing 16 elites that will be immediate upgrades from your starting team. As you can see, the total time is about 8 hours of gameplay to grind all rewards which is why I tried to order it to show you progress in the shortest amount of time to motivate you to keep going and get through it. You can go in whatever order you see fit, do also keep in mind that because of the way the field pass is designed, you should make sure you review what stats and objectives you need to do so you can hone in on those while doing these solos. A great way to be as efficient as possible as you build up your team.
Additional Helpful Topics
Feel free to use the following if you need additional help and be sure to ask questions in the forums and Discord, so many are helpful and willing to share knowledge on this site.