It’s a good time to be a football fan. College Football 25 made a grand return last month, Madden NFL 25 releases worldwide on Friday, August 16th, and we’ll soon be seeing regular-season games across the country on the college and pro level.

If you like career modes in your sports video games, College Football 25 and Madden NFL 25 provide an amazing experience. You can begin a college career in CFB 25’s Road To Glory mode, chase the Heisman Trophy and a national championship, and then export your player for use in Madden NFL 25’s Superstar mode.

We spent some time in Superstar mode ahead of launch, and while CFB 25 and Madden NFL 25 provide two notably different styles of football, there are a few features we’d love to see adopted from the pro to the college side.

1. Being able to call your own plays is a game-changer

Via EA Sports

In Madden NFL 25, the entire playbook is open to you, which gives you far more flexibility and opportunities to succeed depending on your position. The level of freedom you have as a quarterback in Superstar mode is incredible – especially compared to College Football 25’s Road To Glory.

On the college side, you’re a prisoner of your coaches for the majority of your time at the NCAA level. Earning coach trust will increase the amount of times you can audible into some other play, but in general, you run what’s being called by the staff. As a simulation of the college experience, it totally makes sense. College quarterbacks are not entering the huddle, mentally flipping through the entire playbook and playing free jazz down the field.

Here’s the thing though: NFL quarterbacks aren’t doing that either! They’re largely relying on coordinators and making adjustments as necessary. Yet opening the playbook doesn’t harm the experience in Madden NFL 25, it enhances it. This is a video game. Let’s bend the rules a bit and go with what’s fun.

2. In-game quest lines give you something to chase

Via EA Sports

Week-to-week progression in College Football 25 is very good. You’re earning XP to upgrade your player, you’re juggling academics and practice, and hoping to break into the list of Heisman favorites.

What CFB 25 is missing is Madden NFL 25’s quest system. There are dozens of in-game and season-long achievements to chase, from rushing for three touchdowns in a game to becoming your conference’s player of the week. There’s tracking throughout the game letting you know how close you are at all times to completing the next quest. It’s simple, but quests provide some in-game motivation to hit that next threshold, even if the outcome of the game is already decided.

3. Superstar progression is a bit smoother

Via EA Sports

Throughout your journey in Superstar mode, you’ll earn points that you can apply to upgrade various core skills. As a quarterback, you can boost your throw power, accuracy at different levels of the field, and a host of agility-related stats.

In CFB 25, as in earlier entries in the series, stat upgrades are unlocked in separate buckets like “accuracy” and “IQ,” and investing points in those categories will upgrade multiple individual ratings at a time. The difference between these two systems is that your progress happens in chunks in the college game, and more gradually in Madden. Want to be a rushing quarterback in CFB 25 and boost those Quickness ratings? You might have to spend several games farming up the SP to be able to afford the high cost.

It’s a personal preference thing, but I prefer Madden’s progression system.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: What College Football 25 can learn from Madden NFL 25’s Superstar mode