Candis R. McLean
It’s that time of the year again, when we all shell out $60 or more for an annual roster update. EA Sports’ Madden 19 drops on Friday, August 10th. The Madden 19 Hall of Fame Edition, featuring a Cowboys jersey draped Terrell Owens on its cover, will be released a few days earlier on Tuesday, August 7th. Before we get into gameplay or how you’re going to flip Nick Foles (80 OVR) in franchise mode like a Howie Roseman boss, let’s talk about the Eagles element of the game.
I’ve been playing this game since Madden 98. Yes, a time where there was no cover athlete. There was just John Madden pointing in an ominous direction and fragmented players with a gliding stride. The growth of the game has taken fans from enhanced graphics, to that horrible vision cone era, to hit sticking, and beyond. For decades I’ve watched the elaborate “It’s in the game” intro knowing that to play with the Eagles meant work. Seasons in which you had stellar skill position players like D Jax or Terrell Owens, were marred by Ellis Hobbs or Byron Maxell at corner. For Eagles and Madden fans, the game provided a landscape for you to purge your roster frustrations (coughs in Casey Matthews) and easy as the clicking cut or trade. Today is a new day. This year the Philadelphia Eagles are the highest rated team on the game.
For the first time in years, the Eagles are the default exhibition team. They’re the team that everyone will want to play with after years of Seahawks and Patriots groupies crawling out on online play. This year’s game will provide you with the most dominant offensive and defensive roster in the league. Let’s take a dive into the ratings that Fly Eagles Fly nation received.
Offensive Highlights
MVP candidate Carson Wentz is the 10th ranked quarterback on the game. I typed that blinking in red. The Wentz Wagon has an overall rating of 86. Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles sits at 80, and Nate Sudfeld closes the fold with a 64 rating. There was a little back and forth between the Eagles and EA Sports over Nick Foles’ catch rating. Eventually, EA bent the knee and pumped up Saint Nick’s hands. To highlight the backfield, the roster sits at Ajayi (86), Clement (77), and Sproles (83). The skill positions include two 90 plus options with Ertz (91) and Jeffrey (90). Nelson Agholor (84) and Mike Wallace (83) are closely ranked. They also both crack the 90 plus barrier in speed and acceleration.
The offensive line is almost completely a 90 and over club. Brandon Brooks (93) is the highest rated lineman. Kelce (92), Johnson (91), Peters (91), and Wisnewski (79) complete the dominant group.
My suggestion is to put the player minimum speed threshold on low and destroy lives.
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Defensive Highlights
The highest rated defensive player on the roster is Malcolm Jenkins (94). Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox have identical ratings of 93. The defensive line is packed with 80 plus options including Jernigan (83), Bennett (88), Long (81), Barnett (80), and Ngata (80). The deepness of the line is a formation subpackage dream. Bradham is the highest ranked linebacker with an 85 overall rating. Fresh off his injury, Jordan Hicks (81) is the only plus 80 linebacker on the roster.
The secondary features one of the highest ranked corners that the Eagles have seen in years on the game. Ronald Darby is an 86 overall and is highlighted by his 93 speed and 92 acceleration rating. Jalen Mills and Rodney McLeod both have 81 ratings. The rest of the corner group is filled in by Jones (77), Douglass (75) and Maddox (69).
You’ll be praying to the injury gods when it comes to safety. If either Jenkins or McLeod goes down, you’ll have the pleasure of starting Chris Maragos (68).
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Eagles fans, it’s our season in so many ways. Madden 19 has added some new elements to the game including hyper-precision passing. But for many of us, it will pail in comparison to the realization that the last Eagles Superbowl we’ve seen wasn’t an animated version on Franchise Mode. Enjoy being at the top of the game’s pyramid for a year and revel in the opportunity to reaffirm this fact to your friends with each victory.
For the complete rankings and ratings of every player in the league, click here.
You can follow Candis McLean on Twitter (@CandisRMcLean) and e-mail her at [email protected].