All players over 90 overall in this thanksgiving set have a milestone to reach on Thanksgiving. We’ll get to them in a bit. Those between 85-89 do not. Here is EA’s blog so I won’t bore you going over each set and how to obtain each player. Every card I talk about over 90 overall is dual styles so they’ll help you there if you are struggling although there are some great resources from cmaddog on the MUT sub to help you through the challenges.

Also a little bit of news before we get started, Here’s a link to $50,000 Madden Challenge Tournament that EA is putting on. Looks like a nice little cherry for ranked draft champions and to see who the top Madden players are. Let me know what you all think of it.
Link to all players on muthead: http://www.muthead.com/16/players?filter-program-16=59&

Cam Newton – 93 overall

Playing Dallas on Thanksgiving. Their defense is average to below average in points allowed. I’d say the 3 TDs is a little less than a 50/50 shot. Cam has 21 TDs passing and rushing through 9 games.

This card compares very favorably to Donovan McNabb’s 95 overall in everything except throwing accuracy. Cam’s deep is especially atrocious at 84. Everything else about this card is spades and if he hits his 3 TDs and the extra overall goes to accuracy, we have the best QB in the game right now by a mile. If he doesn’t, I’m not sure if the throw deep doesn’t irreparably harm this thing. Compare this card to Mariota’s 88. You’ll pay the extra coin for Cam for strength, trucking, 4 throw power and play action but are losing 2 speed and 11 points in accuracy spread between the 3 categories.

Barry Sanders 98 overall

I don’t think I have the words for this card that can do it justice. I mean what can you say about this card that hasn’t been said about the Mona Lisa. Dri Archer speed with enough elusiveness to dodge prison time like OJ in the 90’s. 100 elusiveness, 101 agility. The only downside to this card is his trucking and what his price will look like.

Randall Cobb – 92 overall

Will get to a 96 overall if he catches 10 or more passes. He’s only had two 10 reception games in his career with both coming last year. I’d give this a 5-10% chance at happening.

But this card has okay speed with very good route running and catch in traffic. His poor release mean’s he’ll be a tough place to go to on 3^rd down against an opponent running a man press scheme. He’s not better than Amari Cooper’s 91 so I don’t see myself using Cobb.

Jason Witten – 92 overall TE.

With 2 TD’s he goes up to a 95. 2 TD’s in 1 game in 2015, 2 in 2013, 1 in 2010. I’d give this a 5% shot of happening. About as good as my shot of taking a shower on any certain day.

But this card as it stands is a little slow with unimpressive run block. EA should give Witten better run block. But his height combined with catch in traffic and awareness gives him some value as a goal line and 3^rd down converter.

Matt Forte – 91 Overall HB.

With 140 yards from scrimmage he goes up to a 94. His injury situation makes this a very dicey call and not one I would bet on. Like I should have learned not to bet after losing my first 4 stacks of high society in high end man-splattering. That’s where two people are pushed off a building and the first one to hit the ground wins. A tip for you kids out there, never bet on the guy with a baggy shirt.

But onto his card, he is a 3^rd down catching back plain and simple. His speed and running skills really limit his every down usefulness. And because he’s only a change of pace back, his 99 stamina is wasted.

Walter Thurmond 91 overall CB.

IRL he’s a safety on the Eagles but for now he’s a CB in game. He goes up to a 97 overall with 2 picks on Thanksgiving. I’ll give this one a less than 5% chance of happening.

The card has 93 speed with 94 man coverage and 90 zone. His press at 82 makes using him in man press a very bad idea. 88 play rec is decent and his high agility at 95 makes changing direction and jumping routes easier. But overall I do not recommend this card as he isn’t a great corner for any one scheme. His blockshed being 47 makes him bad for a nickel corner too.

Stephen Tulloch – 91 overall MLB

10 tackles or more has him up to a 94. This one has a better chance at happening than the previous couple. I’d put it at 30-35% unless he celebrates a sack and gets injured again. But even if he is a 94, based on his 91 overall stats, he isn’t fast enough to play MLB in Madden 16. MLB’s need speed to get to the edge on tosses and make tackles on speedy WRs on drag routes. He also only has an 88 blockshed so he isn’t all that great as a guard shedder on inside dives or zones. This is not a card you want to own for what his price will be.

Ha Ha Clinton-Dix – 89 overall FS

The rest of these cards do not have milestones to reach and are only one style. Ha Ha has 91 speed, 91 zone, 86 play rec, 89 hit power. An all around very good free safety. How does he compare to Glover Quin’s 92? Not amazingly so. I would still rather have Quin but if Ha Ha’s price is much less than Quin’s he would be a great pick up. Ha Ha is a better tackler than Quin but everything else is pointed in Quin’s favor.

Kawann Short – 89 overall DT

Playing as the best DT in the league this year, Kawann Short’s card unfortunately doesn’t live up to it for me. His 87 blockshed at 74 speed isn’t ideal. He won’t help much against the run. 94 power move is very good of course. So if he’s not too expensive and you want an interior pass rusher, there are many more much worse than Kawann.

Randy Gregory – 88 overall RE.

This will be the nano blitzer’s dream if they discover new A or B gaps after the patch. 89 speed with 95 acceleration that can move down to DT for those nanos. But as a straight pass rusher, his 95 finesse move combined with the aforementioned speed stats means he’s a 4-3 scheme’s wet dream. This card combined with Clowney’s 84 overall at the two end spots on your line will make a mean pass rush with speed to keep the edge against and chase down roll out passers.

Corey Linsley – 87 overall Center

92 run block, 90 pass block, 93 impact block. Solid and should be a cheap center. Although should be’s are falsities. The Barry set could drive his price north like birds in the summer. Nothing really else to say about this card.

Jordan Matthews – 87 overall Wide receiver.

93 speed with 95 acceleration. 91 spec at 6’3 and 95 catch in traffic. His 85 release hurts but he’ll be a productive if not an unspectacular WR for you. Nothing here stands out except for his very low run blocking. His low elusiveness, juke and spin means he won’t be shedding many tacklers once he has the ball. So he isn’t good like Tavon on drags. So if you are on a budget, this is a solid number 1 or 2 WR that you sub out when you need to run the ball. Just be careful about tipping your hand.

Manny Ramirez – 87 overall RG

90 run block, 83 pass block, 87 impact block with low speed stats. 90 awareness is awesome but I’m not a big fan of the mix of these stats on a guard. I pull my guards and pass too often to use Manny on my team.

Mike Tolbert – 87 overall full back

Depending on how you use your full back Tolbert is either a very good or a complete pass. He has 77 run block and 75 impact. If you use your FB as a lead blocker, pass on Tolbert. 82 speed and 90 acceleration with decent catching and trucking stats. You can use him as a FB dive or a receiver out of the backfield. He doesn’t exactly excel in these areas compared to other FBs or TEs but he will perform decently for you. In addition his 88 awareness means he won’t screw up too many assignments if you run with him as a lead blocker once in a while.

Ameer Abdullah – 86 overall half back

Top tier acceleration with decent speed and elusiveness. An okay mix of receiving skills. I wouldn’t want this guy as my bell-cow, but he’s got an interesting mix of stats with his 97 juke and 94 agility. I just don’t see the explosive ability or exceptional receiving abilities out of someone with only 84 carrying and 87 stamina. I would pass on Ameer. We’ll get to a much better HB soon.

Brent Celek – 86 overall TE

Top tier blocking TE that can also catch a pass once in a while. And when I say once in a while I mean it. Do not use him as a primary receiving target. He’ll be good as TE number 2 or 3 on your team but 80 catching means he will let you down like Rick Astley would never do.

Christian Jones – 86 overall MLB

Very good speed stats at 88 speed and 96 acceleration to go with 87 zone coverage. He’ll be great as a user or non-user MLB in coverage. Unfortunately he has deficiencies against the run with 84 blockshed and 80 play rec. But he will get to the edge against toss plays with his speed and 92 pursuit. Might be worth giving a try just to use the speed and 6’3 height.

Jeremy Langford – 86 overall HB

His silver card was a stud for me. 95 speed with 94 acceleration on this card is something you want to pay attention to. 91 trucking means we have a very unique back. A power back that runs fast. 95 spin and 96 stiff arm means you can dry laundry by hitting the b button and iron it with the hot metallic arm he throws at defenders. His catching stats aren’t bad either. If his price gets to a reasonably low level, this will be a stud budget baller and is much better than his turkey promo competition Ameer Abdullah.

Byron Jones – 85 overall CB

The first thing that stands out is that you’ll give him your money even when you are in an alley in another state. That’s how good his jump is. 99 jumping stat. 89 zone with very low play rec but decent speed, acceleration and agility. I think it would be interesting to see him go against the Calvin’s of the world and see if that extraordinary jumping helps against those long bombs.