I think one of the problem is that the game have a steep learning curve and the allocation draft is just too complicated for a new comer to handle properly as it is his first step in the game; then after he acquire some experience, he realise how screw he is compare to other team and get demotivated and finally drop his team by the end of the first season.
Features that mislead players during the allocation draft include (imo):
- The auto-draft chart is misleading on what type of player you should select
- The position experience and conditioning plummet the current overall grade of young players compare to veterans. Though, those stat will probably be in the 90’s early in the regular seasons for future starters.
- Poor grade in one category doesn’t mean the player is not capable to perform but he will perform to a minimum standard. For example, 00 in max speed doesn’t mean the player is immobile and isn’t a red flag for linemen and even QB.
- Grades are not intrinsic of the performance in the field you have to take into account physical attributes such as weight to actually predict the performance of the player.
And I am pretty sure I miss some important points there by lack of complete understanding of the game mechanic.
Maybe creating “rookie GM†league with specific features and alerts, and which would work like a tutorial, might help new players to getting started before taking the big dive in an allocation draft.
