Category Budget Team

Best Cheap Budget Gold Players in Madden Ultimate Team 17

Gutfoxx 2 Comments

QB – Derek Carr – Can scramble with good throw power, throw accuracy stats and throw on the run a great hybrid QB at the beginning of the game that can do most everything well.

HB – David Johnson – Fast but expensive. You’ll see that some teams have gold players that are pricier just due to the MOTM set. David Johnson is one of them. His price isn’t as bad as it use to be but if you want a similar player for a third of the cost, get Latavius Murray instead.

HB – Charles Sims III – 3rd down back – Great Pass Blocker and pass catcher. 87 speed is the absolute minimum we can take from this position. Ideally it’d be over 88.

HB – Chris Ivory or LeGarrette Blount – short yardage and trucking. Ivory is faster so he has more in game use but Blount is the best at absolutely running dudes over. Highest trucking and just a gigantic person.

New Derrick Henry might be the best gold back in the game right now but he’s going for almost 30k. Definitely not a budget player.

WR – Demaryius Thomas – 16k right now. Is the blocking worth it? I think so. Run blocking is that important to me that I’d pay out the nose for it.

WR – Sammy Watkins – Equally as expensive as Thomas above. But wide runs with the ability to audible to passes is the most effective offense now. Being able to seamlessly transition makes you deadly. Otherwise everyone would just run TE’s at WR and be done with it.

WR – Amari Cooper – Same reasons as those above, just a little worse than either one of them and not as good of a pass catcher.

WR – John Brown – Burning speed and route running makes this man deadly on any route.

WR – Tavon Austin – Speeeed.

WR – Brandin Cooks – Always great to have one more burner than you might need. Someone that you can plug into the lineup anywhere that you can trust to get open on a drag route.

TE – Delanie Walker – 87 run block with 82 speed. I would like the speed to be high but that run blocking is another o-linemen out there. Beautiful.

TE – Craig Stevens – 85 run block with 80 speed. Great run block, low speed and can’t run a route. But how many two TE sets do you have?

TE – Jared Cook – These two TEs are similar fast with decent run block.

TE – Ladarius Green – 87 speed on the TE so you can sub in and run drag routes.

LT – Jason Peters

LG – Andrew Norwell

C – Joe Berger

RG – Kevin Zeitler

RT – Phil Loadholt – I got linemen with high run block as the game starts and ends on the run. If the run/pass glitch stays in the game then look to get better pass blockers because running against the tell is very hard to do.

3-4 Defense

LE – Derek Wolfe – Insane blockshed for a gold at 92. Blockshed is the most important stat for a 3-4 DE. 84 power move isn’t terrible, not great, but not terrible.

RE – Olivier Vernon – Again crazy blockshed at 92. This time he has 91 power move to go along with it. You’re thinking, what’s the downside? Well, his price is high as he’s a 84 overall. Get Jabaal Sheard if Vernon is like good chocolate and too rich.

DT – Linval Joseph – High blockshed and power move. Ideal for a DT. If you want a non-84, get Damon Harrison who is a little cheaper

LOLB – Anthony Barr – If you didn’t do the solo for the Von, or if you did but after using him get Barr as he’s the most versatile player on this defense. Can play zone, rush the passer and is a great user.

MLB – Ryan Shazier – Best user in the game at launch. Fast and can jump.

MLB – Bobby Wagner – The best non-user gold LB, a little expensive at launch here though. Go with Wesley Woodyard or Deone Bucannon as good even less expensive golds.

ROLB – Jadeveon Clowney – Good speed, great blockshed and decent pass rushing moves. You have an LB core that can be ushered in any position. Great flexibility for your defense.

CB – Desmond Trufant – This is the best gold card in the game. Insane stats, there’s a reason he goes for a pretty penny on the auction house. Just look at it for yourself. If he’s a

CB – Jalen Ramsey – Budget beast. High speed, acceleration, agility, jumping with good blockshed. His intelligence stats are a little low but you can’t have everything. A physical beast that you won’t hate having in your lineup.

CB – David Amerson – The number 3 and 4 corners need good speed and blockshed. His zone coverage is a little lower than I’d like by 86 man coverage is good enough this early in the game.

CB – Stephon Gilmore – Same as Amerson, speed and blockshed as the nickel and dime corners replace LBs and if your opponent runs inside zone out of a wide set you will need good blockshed to shut it down.

FS – Devin McCourty – 84’s are more expensive than I’d like but he has a good mix of intelligence stats with the minimum required speed we need from a safety. A solid all around performer that compares favorably with a lot of elite safeties. If you want to go even more budget, Adrain Amos has 90 speed and can do a lot of good for you as the safety net of your defense. I’m very close to saying Amos is the better player too. So it might be worth it just to get him for the huge cost savings.

SS – Ron Parker or Tyvon Branch – They both strike me as very similar players. Tyvon better against the run with his much better blockshed and Ron the more intelligent with high zone and play rec.

4-3 Defense

LE – Carlos Dunlap – This description is for both ends, they both have good blockshed to fight against the run and pretty good pass rushing moves. Not extraordinarily fast or exciting, they both will perform well for you. The solo Von would make a good DE in Dunlap’s place.

RE – Cliff Avril – But I will say Avril is the better of the two DEs and if you don’t mind running OLB’s out of position, look to pick up Jadeveon Clowney’s 80 overall card.

DT – Linval Joseph – Solid blockshed and power move to be our pass rushing DT but still good enough against the run to be stout in the middle.

DT – Damon Harrison – A big body with good blockshed to hold up against the run. Best not left in to rush the passer but most 4-3 sets will have a DT 2 in there. Look to sub out in dime formations.

LOLB – Anthony Barr – he’s the most versatile player on this defense. Can play zone, rush the passer and is a great user.

MLB – Ryan Shazier – Best user in the game at launch. Fast and can jump out of the stadium.

ROLB – Lavonte David – The perfect 4-3 OLB combination of speed, play rec, zone and blockshed. Just the ideal for the position.

CB – Desmond Truant – This is the best gold card in the game. Insane stats, there’s a reason he goes for a pretty penny on the auction house. Just look at it for yourself. If he’s a

CB – Jalen Ramsey – Budget beast. High speed, acceleration, agility, jumping with good blockshed. His intelligence stats are a little low but you can’t have everything. A physical beast that you won’t hate having in your lineup.

CB – David Amerson – The number 3 and 4 corners need good speed and blockshed. His zone coverage is a little lower than I’d like by 86 man coverage is good enough this early in the game.

CB – Stephon Gilmore – Same as Amerson, speed and blockshed as the nickel and dime corners replace LBs and if your opponent runs inside zone out of a wide set you will need good blockshed to shut it down.

FS – Devin McCourty – 84’s are more expensive than I’d like but he has a good mix of intelligence stats with the minimum required speed we need from a safety. A solid all around performer that compares favorably with a lot of elite safeties. If you want to go even more budget, Adrain Amos has 90 speed and can do a lot of good for you as the safety net of your defense.

SS – Ron Parker or Tyvon Branch – They both strike me as very similar players. Tyvon better against the run with his much better blockshed and Ron the more intelligent with high zone and play rec.

Best Budget Silver Studs in Madden Ultimate Team 17

Gutfoxx 1 Comment

This year on offense you want to run the ball first and last. HB stretch and HB dive is the name of the game. So we want fast RBs, WR’s that can run and run block and an o-line that can push.

QB – Mike Vick – Throw power is a must in Madden. And so is scrambling ability. These combined with his decent accuracy stats for a silver makes him hands down the best silver QB in my opinion.

HB – Orleans Darkwa (unless you were gifted Dri Archer), He’s got decent speed at 88. And from the time I’ve spend playing and watching the game, you want a back with high trucking this year. So he’s got the combo of speed and trucking. Always rotate your backs. Fumbling happens a lot this year so you don’t want any of them to have low stamina. Rotate between this player and Derrick Henry and then put C.J. in for any passing situations. Knile Davis is also a solid back but his carrying is a little lower than Darkwa’s.

HB – C.J. Prosise for 3rd down, decent speed, pass catching and pass blocking.

HB – Derrick Henry for short yardage. He’s tank in football pads.

FB – Nikita Whitlock – Solid run block, speed, awareness and impact block. Not great at catching the ball. If going on a route, sub in C.J. Prosise to run the route for Nikita.

WR – 2 ways to go with this – pure speed where you get Phillip Dorsett, Breshad Perriman, Jakeem Grant, J.J. Nelson or you can go with a mix of good run blocking and speed and get Jaron Brown, Sammie Coates and Nelson Agholor. I’m going to try the latter and mix in Dorsett or Perriman.

TE – James Hanna, Garrett Celek – Speed and run block. The top two stats TEs need for your team. Hanna and Celek have the best mix of stats at silver TE in order to allow you to run the ball and allow them to get separation when running routes like drags, slants and out routes. Unfortunately route running is low but it’s a silver card and you can’t have everything. And when you can’t have everything, you choose the best things, run block and speed.

LT – Garry Williams – Running the ball will be key in Madden 17, especially stretch plays. These guys all have top end run blocking skills for silver linemen.

LG – Donald Thomas

C – Brian De La Puente

RG – Patrick Omameh

RT – Michael Bowie

Madden 17 Budget Players – Silver 4-3 defense

Gutfoxx 1 Comment

The 4-3 has 4 defensive linemen and 3 linebackers. The defensive tackles are in the middle to stuff the run with the ends outside the offensive tackles to contain it. In the NFL, teams like to have a defensive tackle to rush the passer in the b-gap and one big boy to stop the run in the a-gap. In Madden its a little different. The pass rushing DTs are too big of a liability against the run so I like two players in the middle to stop the run with high blockshed.

The defensive ends on the other hand will be responsible for both stuffing the run and rushing the passer. So we want guys with good speed to be able to get to the outside to contain both the run and any mobile QBs. You don’t want someone with 60 speed trying to chase down Cam Newton. So guys with good speed and pass rushing moves are needed at the ends. Fortunately for us in Madden 17, QB scrambling is nerfed so we need to focus as much on getting off the block as chasing down QBs.

The linebackers in the 4-3 do not rush the passer nearly as frequently as those in a 3-4. The linebackers tend to play more pass coverage and let the D-Line do the pass rushing. So you want high zone coverage and play rec out of your linebackers in the 4-3.

So here is the optimized gold lineup for the 4-3, if you run any exotic blitzes where you drop a defensive lineman into coverage or rush a linebacker, adjust accordingly.

LE – Devin Taylor – Left end in the 4-3 is probably the weakest spot for any silver position in the game. I had a hard time deciding who to put here as there weren’t many great cards.

RE – Danielle Hunter – Whereas left end is bad, right end brings us a stud that has really good speed, blockshed and pass rush moves. Hunter is a very strong card for a silver.

DT – Terrence Cody – One of the biggest SOBs in the game. Highest blockshed silver DT, high strength. Ideal for the 3-4 DT. Just slow as molasses so make sure he isn’t in the game on obvious passing situations. Make sure he is DT #2 on your depth chart.

DT – Josh Chapman – Same reasoning as Cody. Big and good blockshed. 70 speed means he can chase down QBs as your 3 technique.

LOLB – A.J. Klein – If your LOLB is on the field, you are in a base package of 4-3. So the chances that the opponent is running the ball is high. You need someone to stop that run effectively. 81 blockshed with 81 speed means you have a nice combo. You can get someone faster like Mike Morgan or Mike Mohamed with good zone coverage to help against the pass but I think Klein fits the style of 4-3 LOLB in Madden best.

MLB – Zaviar Gooden – (user) 86 speed is great for a LB user. His 66 blockshed is a liability but he’s a user, run around blocks instead of through them.

ROLB – Deion Jones – 85 speed with 82 blockshed is good for an LB and someone that would make a good user if need be. If you want to go with a player with higher play rec I don’t fault you. Pick up James-Michael Johnson in that case.

CB – 1. Trae Waynes, 2. Anthony Brown – Speed is the name of the game at corner and it’s the end all be all we look for in silver players. Here we lose a bit of blockshed for top end speed in our outside corners.

CB – 3. James Bradberry, 4. Sanders Commings – Fast and has decent blockshed at 65. The nickel and dime corners will sacrifice some, but not much speed for more blockshed.

FS – Antwon Blake – 89 speed is crazy for a free safety. For our standard cover 3 scheme we need someone really fast and that can diagnose plays. He actually has pretty decent play rec for a silver, his zone coverage at 71 is a little low though. Unfortunately we have to sacrifice blockshed here but our front 7 having the highest blockshed possible should make up for it. He can sweep by and clean up without having to take on blockers.

SS – Sean Richardson – Tall and fast. Has good zone coverage and okay blockshed for playing in the box. His pursuit is underwhelming. I wouldn’t be mad if you went with Ryan Murphy instead due to his great mix of stats and height.

Best cheap budget silver players in MUT 17 – 3-4 defense

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The 3-4 is based on having defensive linemen to take up blocks and get double teamed in order to let your LBs make plays. So we want guys with the highest blockshed possible along the defensive front and speed in the LB corps to run the field and make plays.

Speed is the most OP stat in the game, your MLBs need it to make plays from sideline to sideline. Your user needs speed to make any plays at all. Your OLBs are primarily pass rushers who ned speed to chase down fast QBs and RBs outside. The 3-4 OLBs also need to have high blockshed and power or finesse moves because they’ll be rushing the passer both from the standard 3-4 set and in other formations like nickel and dime packages where the DE’s move to DTs and OLBs move to DE.

To stop the run in the game of football you need a total defensive effort. In my opinion, blockshed is the 1st, 2nd or 3rd most important stat on all positions on defense. Even cornerbacks.

In the below list, place players in the position I have them. The lineup has been optimized to run the 3-4 scheme. If you have exotic blitzes that drop linemen into coverage, adjust the depth chart or sub in players accordingly. You don’t want Terrence Cody in coverage.

And when making budget lists, don’t focus much on chemistry. Guys below the elite level don’t benefit enough from the small chemistry boosts you receive to build your lists around it.

LE – Daquan Jones or Vance Walker – Highest blockshed LEs. I prefer Daquan because he’s bigger and strength plays a minor role in 17 when o-linemen and d-linemen hit each other according to the developers. I have trust issues with the developers but I can’t go against them until I see something proves otherwise in regards to strength in 17.

RE – Danielle Hunter or Randy Starks (depending on if you believe in strength) High blockshed to hold against the run. Danielle is also really versatile with his high speed. He’d be great in a 3-3-5 scheme. Might even be the best silver card in the game with his high speed/blockshed combo.

DT – Terrence Cody – Biggest SOB in the game. Highest blockshed silver DT, high strength. Ideal for the 3-4 DT. Just slow as molasses so make sure he isn’t in the game on obvious passing situations. You can get Josh Chapman if you want someone with a little more speed here.

LOLB – Emmanuel Ogbah – Highest blockshed. You’re getting sick of me saying that? Also, 84 speed is elite for an LB at the start of a game.

MLB #1 – Zaviar Gooden (user) 86 speed is great for a LB user. His 66 blockshed is a liability but he’s a user, run around blocks instead of through them.

MLB #2 – Andrew Gachkar – The 2nd MLB is a tough choice, because you need them to be good at just about everything. Need good speed, play rec, zone coverage, pursuit and blockshed. But generally you want the blockshed a bit higher because in passing sets this player won’t be on the field. I feel Gachkar’s combo of all of them suits us well.

ROLB – John Simon – 83 speed is good, so is 84 blockshed and 80 power moves. A solid budget beast. His acceleration is lower than I’d like but life ain’t perfect.

CB – 1. Trae Waynes, 2. Anthony Brown – Speed is the name of the game at corner and it’s the end all be all we look for in silver players. Here we lose a bit of blockshed for top end speed in our outside corners.

CB – 3. James Bradberry, 4. Sanders Commings – Fast and has decent blockshed at 65. The nickel and dime corners can sacrifice some, but not much speed for more blockshed.

FS – Antwon Blake – 89 speed is crazy for a free safety. For our standard cover 3 scheme we need someone really fast and that can diagnose plays. He actually has pretty decent play rec for a silver, his zone coverage at 71 is a little low. Unfortunately we have to sacrifice blockshed here but our front 7 having the highest blockshed possible should make up for it. He can sweep by and clean up without having to take on blockers.

SS – Sean Richardson – Tall and fast. Has good zone coverage and okay blockshed for playing in the box. His pursuit is underwhelming. I wouldn’t be mad if you went with Ryan Murphy instead due to his great mix of stats.

Budget 4-3 defense – best cheap gold players MUT 16

Gutfoxx 3 Comments

The 4-3 has 4 defensive linemen and 3 linebackers. The defensive tackles are in the middle to stuff the run with the ends outside the offensive tackles to contain the run. In the NFL, teams like to have a defensive tackle to rush the passer and one big boy to stop the run. In Madden its a little different. The pass rushing DTs are too big of a liability against the run so I like two players in the middle to stop the run.

The defensive ends on the other hand will be responsible for both stuffing the run and rushing the passer. So I want guys with good speed to be able to get to the outside to contain both the run and any mobile QBs. You don’t want someone with 70 speed trying to chase down Mike Vick. So guys with good speed and pass rushing moves are needed at the ends.

The linebackers in the 4-3 do not rush the passer as frequently as those in a 3-4. The linebackers tend to play more pass coverage and let the D-Line do the pass rushing. So you want high zone coverage and play rec out of your linebackers in the 4-3.

So here is the optimized gold lineup for the 4-3, if you run any exotic blitzes where you drop a defensive lineman into coverage or rush a linebacker, adjust accordingly.

LE – 84 overall Jadeveon Clowney – 4-3 Defensive ends are terrible. Put linebackers here for better production and this Clowney is one of the best in the game at getting to the QB. His speed and acceleration will chase down a lot of scrambling QBs. He also holds up okay in the run game with 87 blockshed. (Backup Dan Williams 84 overall DT for run stuffing situations or opponents that exclusively run the ball)

RE – Anthony Barr 84 overall – Great Speed and power move to hunt down those mobile QBs (Backup Michael Brockers 83 overall DT for run stuffing situations or opponents that exclusively run the ball)

DT – Damon Harrison 83 overall. Some people love a pass rusher and a run stuffer for their DTs. In real life I support this. In Madden I want two run stuffers with high blockshed.

DT – Brandon Williams 84 overall. Same reasoning as above.

LOLB – Nigel Bradham 80 overall

MLB – (USER) Nate Askew (25 coins from EA marketplace) or Telvin Smith 83 overall.

ROLB – Sean Lee 83 overall or Telvin Smith 83 overall for more speed but less play rec

I would not suggest basing your scheme on man coverage with gold players. But it is good to mix it in to confuse the opponent. I am basing these recommendations on you playing zone cover 2,3, or 4 80% of the time.

CB – Ladarius Gunter 84 overall. Tall, decent speed, zone coverage and the second best blockshed for gold corners which is very important with the amount of outside runs this year.

CB – Darius Slay 81 overall – Tall, fast, okay zone. I heard that he plays above his overall.

CB – Quinten Rollins 84 overall – Good blockshed and tackle for an inside corner. Also his zone coverage is pretty good.

CB – Bradley Roby 81 overall – Usually a man specialist because I like to call cover 2 man out of Dime or Quarters in long passing downs.

FS – Dwight Lowery 84 overall – Good speed, zone and play rec. Ideal for a deep defender.  (Jimmy Ward if you run a lot of man)

SS – Nate Allen or Ron Parker both 84 overall. You can’t go wrong with either of these playmakers. I’ve heard great things about both.

Running offense – Best Cheap Budget Golds Players – MUT 16

Gutfoxx 3 Comments

If you want to put together a very run heavy offense on a budget, get the below players.

I have placed players in order they should appear on your depth chart. So the number 1 WR should be in the number 1 WR spot, 2 in 2, etc. If you want to sub in guys to get your styles above 90, then go right ahead! Have fun building your team.

QB – Johnny Manziel 84 overall is the top option here for running QBs but he’s 15k, Cam Newton’s 84 is great for the option offense and so is Marcus Mariota’s 76 if you promise me you’ll always slide with your QB and not take a hit. Otherwise get Matt Stafford for pocket passing situations.

HB – 1. Duke Johnson 79 overall – First down runner. OR Charcandrick West 82 overall TOTW has 93 speed with 92 elusiveness, 96 accel and 93 juke and would be a good alternative. OR Karlos Williams 84 overall TOTW if you want more trucking in your back but still great speed.

  1. Dri Archer 70 overall MF if you can afford it –For outside runs and tosses. If not his base silver does a good job getting out wide.
  2. Chris Ivory 84 overall TOTW for inside runs and short yardage
  3. Reggie Bush 77 overall for catching passes out of the backfield

Don’t let Duke get fatigued. Use Archer and Ivory generously.

FB –Patrick DiMarco 81 overall RTTP. After playing the game for a while I’ve come to realize awareness at this position is most important. A TE will suffer an awareness drop when moved to FB. All FBs are expensive but get Patrick DiMarco’s 81 overall RTTP card which has 82 awareness with 83 run block and 80 impact.

WR – You must get 91 Amari Cooper. Either do Journey 2 for him which isn’t too tough or scrape enough coins together. He is a gamechanger. You will get production from him that you won’t get from other players around his price level. He’s the game’s best value right now.

  1. Amari Cooper 91 overall (replace with Dorial Green-Beckham 83 overall until obtainable. Huge deep threat this DGB is.)
  2. Michael Floyd 84 overall TOTW
  3. Keenan Allen 83 overall 95 route running 93 CIT. Great for 3rd downs.
  4. Tavon Austin 75 overall – 95 speed for drags and beating man coverage with speed. Also should be your kick and punt returner.

TE

1. Craig Stevens 77 overall 85 run block, 84 speed, 90 acceleration.

  1. Delanie Walker 83 overall 81 run block, 85 speed, 84 acceleration.
  2. Ladarius Green 83 overall 92 speed, 94 accel. Fast TE to sub in for drags and flats out of split close.

LT           1. Joe Staley. 84 overall. By far and away the best balanced. 92 run block, 88 pass block, 85 awareness

               2. King Dunlap 81 overall. 94 run block to sub in at TE when you need extra help on the edge

LG           1. Andrew Norwell 84 overall RTTP. If you pull your guards more on tosses get Clint Boling who has 83 awareness

C             1. Ryan Kalil 84 overall if you don’t plan on passing much at all.

RG          1. Kevin Zeitler 84 overall

RT           1. Lane Johnson 84 overall

               2. Derek Newton 80 overall (same reasoning as King Dunlap)