Today I’m going to go through rookies and whether it would be smart to invest in them to make the sets for next year’s dynamic ratings. So we need to project both their playing time and if they are going to be productive for their teams. Their Madden rating won’t go up without both.

And make sure to check out rookie ratings in the base game here. Take every one of those base overall ratings and subtract about 6 points or so to get their starting MUT rating.

Jared Goff – QB

According to ESPN’s staff writer Nick Wagoner, Jared Goff will be the opening day starter. They said they are re-vamping the passing offense this year which would make sense with the investment they just made in Goff. But we’ll see if Tavon Austin, Kenny Britt and Lance Kendricks can be the guys Jared Goff wants them to be. It would be surprising to say the least if his production as a rookie QB puts him among the league’s best. Invest here with high skepticism.

Rating: 3 (1-5 with 5 being the best bet)

Carson Wentz – QB

He might not be active on game day since Philly has a three QB carousel. Wentz is a long term project as talked about by Eagles staff. Bradford is number one for the Eagles right now and Chase Daniel is the highest paid backup in the league. He’s paid better than a lot of starters right now. Both Bradford and Daniels would have to be injured for Wentz to see the field. Not a smart set to invest in. But then again a lot of us invested in beanie babies so do what you want.

Rating: 1

Ezekiel Elliot – HB

Girlfriend problems but it’s been said that she’s trying to blackmail him. I wish I was worthy of blackmail, that’s my kink. We’ll see how that turns out but in football news it’s been reported that he’s already earned the number 1 spot over McFadden and Morris. Big props to McFadden’s broken elbow earned from trying to save his phone from falling. Hashtag just Dallas things.

Rating: 5

Derrick Henry – HB

Backing up DeMarco Murray at the moment. Either Murray is ‘Dallas Murray’ and Henry is only a support player getting 5-10 touches a game or Murray is ‘Eagle Murray’ and Henry takes the reins early on and gets 15-20 touches. If the latter Henry will be an okay investment with the only concern being that the Titans line is one of the worst in the league. I’m not overly optimistic about anyone running behind it like I’m not overly optimistic anyone will remember the Titans this year.

Rating: 2

Corey Coleman – WR

He’s the starting WR in Cleveland who stands 5’11 and 190 pounds. WR’s that are good in Madden are tall and fast. He’s not tall but he’s fast as he ran a 4.37 at his pro day. His starting speed should be 93 or so which is valuable. But will he be productive and will his stats rise during the season? How much do you trust Josh McCown and RG3 to get him the ball? RG3 is a better deep ball guy so if you get Coleman hope RG3 gets the keys to Cleveland as Coleman goes streaking as well as the best of them. For me I trust the situation about as much as I would Adrian Peterson with my kids.

Rating: 3

Braxton Miller – WR

It’s hard to see him making a major impact on the field next year. But he’s fast and that’s valuable in Madden. His projected lack of targets makes him a hard sell if you are looking for him to make plays and improve through the year. So take him if you want a playmaker early on but don’t expect his value to hold steady or go up through the year. He’s like a gas station burrito, great for a quick fix but you won’t be too happy with yourself a little down the line.

Rating: 2

Laquon Treadwell – WR

He’s slow and even though he might get targets in Minnesota, slow WR’s have no place in Madden unless they can block well. HIs 58 run blocking on his 95 overall card doesn’t bode well for his Madden 17 card. I would pass on this set like we pass on Grandma’s potato salad. Get me sick once, shame on you, get me sick twice, I won’t get sick again.

Rating: 1

Hunter Henry – TE

What a great name. It’s no Hannah Hunt but it’s close. Madden’s not in love with his run blocking but he’s got great athleticism. Will he overtake Antonio Gates to get a bunch of targets, yards and TD’s as a rookie? It’s within the realm of possibilities with his skill set. I don’t know if the chances of that happening are particularly high.

Rating: 2

Ronnie Stanley – LT

Offensive tackles coming out of the draft have not performed particularity well in recent years. The Ravens have one of the best right sides in the league in Zuttah, Yanda and Wagner. The loss of Kelechi Osemele hurts the left side. So Stanley gets the starting nod and has as good of a chance at any rookie to provide production.

Rating: 4

Laremy Tunsil – RT (in Madden)

He’s moving to guard this year from his position of tackle in college. I’m not high on interior linemen making enough noise to move up or down ratings. Too bad his coaches can’t pay for his Madden rating to up for us.

Miami had a bad o-line last year but it does look a little better this year. I’m not a fan of investing in guards and I think you’d have to be in a gas mask of smoke to think he’d be a good one to invest in.

He’s not even in the NFL and is already involved in two scandals. At least it makes for easy jokes. And I’ll always go for cheap laughs.

Rating: 2

DeForest Buckner – LE

A 3-4 RE moving onto a team he’ll retire from. You can take that either as he’s really loyal or he’ll be gone before his rookie contract is up.  Him, Armstead and Ian Williams should provide a decent front 3 in their 3-4 scheme. He’ll start at the beginning of the year and should be productive enough in the 49ers scheme to get some points added. He won’t rack up the numbers like JJ Watt but I’d say he’s a fairly good bet to improve through the year.

Rating: 3

Joey Bosa – RE

Buckner is a 3-4 end and Bosa is a 4-3 end. Madden still can’t properly balance 4-3 defensive ends with 3-4 OLBs. So even though Bosa might be one of the more productive rookies, his card will always be nerfed by his competition at 3-4 OLB. He’ll be the starting left end in San Diego and should have all the opportunity to increase in rating. I’m not a fan of his balanced pass rush ratings they gave him in the base game so I think his stats improving won’t help him too much as it’s generally better to be high in either finesse or power moves. A jack of all trades but a master of no pressure.

Rating: 3

Kenny Clark – DT

Sitting behind Letroy Guion, Clark is not a starter in Green Bay. I’d put money that he’ll factor in with some play time through the year. I doubt he’ll get enough without an injury to Guion to realistically keep up with the rest of MUT’s overalls increasing. Unless something unforeseen happens, I don’t see a hugely productive rookie year from him.

Rating: 1

Sheldon Rankins – DT

Currently listed as the starter in New Orleans he’s a much better bet to get playing time than Clark. Unfortunately that playing time is in New Orleans where their levies hold up much better than their defense. But just having PT makes him the safer defensive tackle to get upgrades through the regular season. He was drafted 12 overall so the talent and opportunity is there for a solid season ahead.

Rating: 4

Leonard Floyd – LOLB

On the depth chard he’s currently sitting behind Lamar Houston in Chicago who has himself a pretty big free agent deal to earn. I do expect plenty of rotation on the field for Floyd even with Houston and McPhee there.

But unless he comes out like gangbusters I don’t see him playing full time and racking up a ton of statistics. The benefit of Floyd is that he’s 6’6 with decent speed. Will it be enough to make him a great user early? I’m not in love with the spec catch in 16 but we’ll see how much love they give it in 17. He’s a solid person to own early on but I don’t know how much ceiling he has sharing playing time in Chicago.

Rating: 3

Darron Lee – MLB

Currently behind both Erin Henderson and David Harris on the Jets depth chart. He still hasn’t signed his rookie contract so watch out for that. He’s got really good speed for a linebacker so he might have the makings of very good user at the beginning of the year. I worry with a potential camp holdout (although it’s doubtful). On the positive, Henderson is just a guy. I do expect Lee to see the field quite frequently through the year so with the way he runs, Darron Lee should provide good value for your team next year.

Rating: 4

Shaq Lawson – ROLB

He underwent shoulder surgery and should be back by November. That’s a little late in the year to get value for your team. And even if he was healthy, Rex Ryan took one of the best pass rushers of our generation and made him average. I can’t see it going better for Shaq this year.

Rating: Negative sideways 8

Jalen Ramsey – CB

Didn’t have a ton of interceptions in college so he might not put up the huge numbers that Madden devs want to see in order to increase his stats through the year. But that’s about it for the negative things I’m going to say about Ramsey. Barring injury I think he’s the best player to go after for the set seeing as he’s fast and at 6’1 tall enough to be a very good Madden corner. He should get plenty of playing time in Jacksonville so that’s not a worry. I would go after this man like Jacksonville chases British fans.

Rating: 5

Eli Apple – CB

Even faster than Ramsey and the same height. I only worry about his production on the field not giving us the same upgrades though the year that we might get with Ramsey. But still a very good choice for an early corner for your team with the added small chance he’ll get decent upgrades.

He’s currently the 3rd corner in New York behind DRC and Janoris Jenkins. He’s more comfortable on the outside but he’ll need to find a fit rotating around with the other two at the nickel. Optimistically he’ll keep up with other players in MUT and his speed and height make him a good early corner for your team.

Rating: 4

Karl Joseph

He’s coming off an ACL tear that limited him to 4 games last year in college. Reports are that he’ll be ready for training camp. Short for Madden at 5’10 but should have good hit power and speed in game. If he comes back healthy I can see him being a very productive and good safety in real life but nothing to write home about in Madden due to his small stature.

Rating: 3