I personally didn't have a problem with the way depth charts were done before. To me, one of the more enjoyable aspects of the game was, after the recruits were added, taking the time to meticulously pour over every formation to make sure that the right personel was on the field, no one was playing while too fatigued, and that my listed starters were getting playing time. Along with the mysterious and ridiculous formation IQ, having this part of the game taken away or at least dumbed down to the point of "click, click, click, done" is what bothers me the most.
I started playing this game, and continue to do so, because I like football. I'm a fan of the game, that's the bottom line. Maybe it's just me, but I enjoy studying player's attributes, their strengths and weaknesses, and deciding what role they should play on the team and therefore what formations they should be on the field for. Anything that gives me more control over my roster, and thus the outcome of games, I'm in favor of.
I recognize that you do not want to simply revert back to the way depth charts were done before, so some sort of combination of the two could, in my opinion, work just as well. What I would suggest is having an advanced depth chart page similar to how it was done before, where the coach can view their 3-4, 5-2, I-Form, ND Box, etc.. Only now, instead of being able to set every position on the field, you could have the ability to set just a few (3 or 4), formation specific positions. For example, in the Nickel defense, maybe the coach could set their defensive ends, to get their best pass rusing defensive linemen on the field, their top linebacker to get a coverage guy in, and their nickel back. For the 4-4 maybe be able to set their DTs, ILBs, and S. On offense, let the coach decide their TE and RB in the ND Box and Trips as they would obviously want a different type of player at those positions for those two formations. This could be done for each position and would still keep teams from having mass 10 player substitutions between plays, since that is, for some reason, the desired result.
Aside from the new, and in my opinion far too generic way of setting depth charts, there are two or three glaring issues that have to be addressed relatively quickly. Please fix the fatigue/substitution problem. The need for depth has been completely eliminated, which is really detrimental to the entertainment level of the game. Right now it looks like a team could get by with 3 RBs, 7 OL, and 6 DL, and without the ability to substitute freely that effectively renders about 25 of a team's 50 players completely pointless.
Also, talent has to be the overriding factor in deciding the outcome of games. It has to be, otherwise what's the point? Personel decisions and gameplanning should also play a role and should be the deciding factor when two evenly matched teams meet up, but there comes a point when the talent descrepancy is just too wide and no amount of coaching should be able to overcome a team being a 35 point underdog, especially if that team is SIM controlled.
Thanks for reading, and I apologize for the long, rambling post, but I just had a few things that I wanted to get out there.
P.S
Show us the formation IQ or do away with it completely. I'd be fine with just having a player's GPA and GI determine their IQ and have Formation practice eliminated entirely.