How to Fantasy Draft in Madden 26

Madden 26 brings back Franchise mode once again, allowing players to take control of their favorite team and craft it into their ideal version of itself. That means you can change up your roster, manage the salary cap, relocate the team, and of course lead it to Super Bowl glory. While it's possible to just pick up your favorite team from where they currently are at the beginning of the 2025 season, there's also an option to start with a fantasy draft. This enables you to draft currently rostered NFL players from different teams to create your own dream team. Here's how to fantasy draft in Madden 26.

Madden NFL 26 rookies predict their ratings

Madden NFL 26 Rookie Ratings: Players Try to Predict Their Overall Score

NFL rookies predict their own OVR ratings Madden NFL 26, and some are expecting a lot of respect from the developers at EA Sports.

Posts

By Matthew Schomer

How to Fantasy Draft in Madden 26 Franchise Mode

Look Out for the Settings

To fantasy draft in Franchise mode, select 'Franchise' from the main menu and then select the option to create a new save. From here, choose the 'Roster File' option when creating the league, and then select the franchise you'd like to manage. After you've chosen your team, you'll reach the Customize screen, where you can choose the 'Starting Point' option under the More Options heading.

Select this and choose the 'Fantasy Draft' option. Once you've done this, select the 'Start Playing: Fantasy Draft' option at the very top of this screen to begin your Franchise mode.

This will then lead to a quick fantasy draft video before bringing you into the draft itself. You'll now be drafting in a random position out of the 32 teams in the NFL. For example, as the Baltimore Ravens, I was 28th in round one of the draft. You can then choose to make your selection, pause the draft timer to give you more time to figure out your next pick, or skip ahead in the draft altogether instead.

While you'll be able to draft players from other teams, this means that your players are also up for grabs by other teams. For example, the Detroit Lions drafted Lamar Jackson with the second pick in the first round of the draft, meaning I lost my franchise QB. While this certainly means your version of the franchise will have a completely unique feel, it can also mean you're at a disadvantage if you draft poorly, so keep this in mind.

I'd recommend focusing on drafting some of the fastest wide receivers or a fast Quarterback to give you plenty of options when it comes to making big offensive plays.

How to Change Fantasy Draft Settings in Madden 26

madden 26 franchise fantasy draft settings

Before choosing the 'Start Playing' option above, go to 'League Settings' and scroll down until you find three fantasy draft settings:

Draft Presentation
Draft Timer
Fantasy Draft Order

'Draft Presentation' allows you to change how much presentation there is around the draft, while Draft Time can be used to turn off the clock when you're making your own picks (though you can also just leave it on and pause the timer during the draft if you need to).

The most important of these settings is the 'Fantasy Draft Order.' Here, you can choose between Standard and Snake.

In Standard, each round of the draft will have the same order, whereas in Snake, it'll be reversed every round. For example, if you pick first in the first round, you'll pick last in the second and first again in the third.

Rating block community and brand ratings Image