Top Five 'Next-Gen' Madden Rookies

[PGaither84]

It is obvious the article writer never used the 49ers.

Alex Smith came into the game with 87THP and 86THA and 73 Speed. How does that make this list at all, let alone above J. Russ?

Next, what about Vernon Davis? His OVR rating was intentionally manipulated by keeping his Run blocking rating a 52. If you only raise it up to a messily 68 or so, his overall rating shoots through the roof to nearly a 99. This is because he has "all the tools" to be great. It wasn't until he caught 13 TDs two year ago that EA decided to stop manipulating his ratings to keep his OVR low.

There are countless examples of ratings manipulation to alter someone's OVR rating. For example, Haloti Ngata has around 68 or so finesse moves. He is a great player and deserves his 98 or 99 OVR rating, but if you reduce that Finesse moves rating [which doesn't matter for a bull rusher] to a low 52 rating, like Vernon Davis's run blocking was, then Ngata's overall rating plummets to somewhere between 89-92.

The OVR rating is a joke. Unfortunately player's "true ratings" are inflated or deflated in the game in order to manipulate their OVR.

[GoC Brian]

Its gotta come down to the fact a guy like Davis HAD all the physical tools but wasn't putting it together. If he his the physical tools in madden, it can't simulate him just not "putting it together". That's just how Madden's made.

What I would LOVE to see them do is do away with the shown Overall Number and instead keep their Physical attributes high and drastically lower all skill attributes (IE: Pass Blocking and Run Blocking for OL, Bull and Finese moves for DL, etc. etc) so the top players are in the 80's or so and mid-rangers are in 60's or 70's. 90's obviously for eventual/potential HOF players. This way instead of having to edit a guy like Cribbs' speed to up his overall (that's how they made him so much better the year he really went off as a returner) you can just up his other attributes and he'd have his speed.

The problem then is they'd have to find a way to make Physical attributes be secondary to skill attributes.

[PGaither84]

Firstly, In real life Davis missed a good portion of his rookie year. Secondly, his real weakness was two fold:

1.) Attitude. Until Sing put him in his place, he played with a bad attitude. there is no stat for that. Video game Vernon Davis is a beast, always has been. As I said, his only in-game weakness was his vastly underrated 52 run blocking. As a weapon, he was one of the best you could have on your team.

2.) Route running. Davis had a hard time finding a hole in the one and sitting in it. In a video game, that doesn't matter.

My point is that not a lot of people used/knew about how good Vernon Davis was in Madden 07. It didn't help that his OVR rating was manipulated to keep it lower. You can't cover davis in Man in Madden with a linebacker thanks to his 92 speed and 96 acceleration [madden 07.] Also, he was very hard to tackle in that game as well. His large frame and 97 or so jumping ability also helped.

If any of you have madden 07, PS3 of PS2 era, try him out. Also, try him out with a good QB. Flag routes and Texas plays are where he can really tear a defense up. So many times have I droped a 15+ yard pass out to VD and either watch him run away for the score, or truck stick right through a corner/safety/both.

In real life, the 49ers and Alex hardly threw his way last year. For some reason they thew the ball to Ginn a LOT. There is a reason why a some people lost their jobs.

[CarryTheWeight]

On the topic of rookies playing better in Madden than in real life, I have to bring up the Bills' Aaron Maybin. Just a dominant edge rusher in Madden 10. I was in the backfield on nearly every down...tackling for losses, forcing incompletions or sacking the quarterback. Aaron's speed and finesse-move ratings were off the charts. As Bills training camp ended that year, I was excited to see how he'd perform in real life. No such luck.

Madden 11 eventually saw Maybin's overall rating drop nearly ten points due to his barely-there performance in 2010. I expect it to drop even more in Madden 12 after another year on the bench. Despite that, he's still a pretty good player in 11, and he usually tends to progress very well in Franchise mode. To think Maybin eventually led the league in sacks in both my Madden 10 and 11 franchises blows my mind.

On a similar note, the woefully disappointing Brian Brohm progressed to a 99 OVR rating and overtook Aaron Rodgers for the Green Bay starting job in a (original Xbox) Madden 09 franchise. Only in videogames, I guess...

[PrettyBoyTroy]

Patrick Peterson

[freekbird]

While I agree that Peterson should be the highest rated rookie, he will not be the best to play with. For kind of the same reason he wasnt the first pick....how much impact does one corner really have on a game? Apart from using him in the return game you can just throw to the other side.

I think Newton will be the guy everyone uses in madden, for the same reasons that Vince Young was. Size, speed and a solid arm add up to a dominant madden player, regardless of real life intangibles....hes sort of the Calvin Johnson of QBs haha.

[scottyo60]

does anyone know what madden that vince young came from?

[darocknessmonstah]

@sniperhare...Maurice Drew is his real name, he added the Jones after his grandpa died, and he didn't change his name until after he was drafted, after they made the madden rosters...know your superstar player.