Today we go through all the QB releases in Madden that have a name attached to them to find out who has the fastest release at different distances.
Verbal Script:
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Subscribe for more content like this. If you find yourself here for the first time and are looking for more test results, check out last week’s testing videos on defensive tackles and pack pull odds.
So as for my method on how I tested QB releases. I traded players to the Steelers until I got 19 quarterbacks. I edited each of these players to different QB’s throwing motions.
I tested short, medium and long throws.
I recorded each QB throwing each route then watched the instant replay. I went frame by frame from when the QB started his motion to when the ball left his hand. Unfortunately, Madden only outputs in 30 frames per second so I was only able to get it precise down to 1/30th of a second.
We’ll start with long throws. It seems to me every QB has the same mechanics when throwing deep. After running through each QB and them all having the same release times on bombs of 17 frames, I went through and compared mechanics between each player. Sure enough, they are all the same.
(go through mechanics)
But I remembered a unique pump in 15 when I did this testing that isn’t here in 16 when throwing deep. And yes, I did this same recording in Madden 15. Unfortunately, this never became a video in 15 because the file corrupted before I could get all the way through.
So to answer my question I booted up 15 and recorded it. And sure enough, the pump is there. Watch as one hand leaves the ball while the ball is pumped up. So I said, maybe they had unique mechanics for each QB throwing deep in 15 that they don’t in 16. Well, I was wrong. The throw deep animation is different in 15 than 16, but it’s the same for each QB. I gave Gradkowski Brady’s mechanics and Landry Jones Rodgers’ mechanics. They both had the same throw deep technique that Roethlisberger has.
So to sum up throwing long bombs. every QB in Madden 15 and 16 has the same throw deep release time. In Madden 16 that time is just over half a second. Or 17/30th’s of a second to be precise.
On to medium throws. This is where things differ and you see some QBs are faster than others. If you want the fastest release, get Tom Brady. I timed him at 10 frames or 1/3 a second on his release. Most every other QB fell into the 11 to 13 frames time. I have a spreadsheet at the end where you can see all the data yourself. Other notable players were Aaron Rodgers and Ryan Fitzpatrick timed between 10 and 11 frames.
In other notes, I found having to turn your body to the receiver resulted in 2 frames difference. And throwing across your body like a lefty having to throw to the right resulted in a 1 frame penalty.
And I’m not going to claim I discovered and tested all animations for throwing. So some of these QB’s could be better at throwing on the run animations or the myriad of others out there.
But one test I did with a couple of QBs are medium length bullet pass. It surprised me that it only took 10 frames to throw that while short and medium in my test it took them 12 frames. It did seem there was an animation for bullet passes up the field that was quicker than passes to the sideline or short.
As for the short animations, Everyone basically was between 11 frames and 12 with only one guy reaching 13 frames which was Matt Cassel. So everybody gets the ball out similarly fast when throwing short. And I do not know why some short times are longer than the medium times. If you have an idea, let me know in the comments.
And for the solid performers like Brady and Rodgers, I went back and tested them again to make sure I didn’t screw up the first time. They tested the same the second time around.
But if I were to choose a guy, I’d go with Brady. He clearly had the best medium throw release and even though he wasn’t the fastest short, it’s only 1 frame difference between him and the best short. And even though Fitzpatrick had a great time in both short and medium, I don’t want to use Fitzpatrick in MUT.
Like I said in my last video, gold studs will be added each week so this list through promotions like Football outsiders and Team of the Week amongst others. So this list could look very different in February. But anyways, I’m going to try and give you the best options at each position for different styles of gameplay, whether that is run heavy or pass, 3-4 or 4-3, a mobile QB or pocket passer and other various styles.
And before going forward I want to say thank you to Muthead for having all these stats.
I’m not sure yet if I want to maximize my style bonuses as those styles over 90 get +5 to certain stats.
Without further ado,
QBs:
Pocket passer: There are a few different players you want depending on your play style. But there isn’t much that is more important that throw power for a pocket passer. Because when you are in the pocket and looking at routes between zones, every moment is important once you decide to throw the ball. Don’t let the defenders have any more time than necessary to defend the pass.
But if you are the guy who likes to throw between zones in the middle of the field I like Matt Stafford here. Because his middle accuracy is good and that’s where a lot of your throws will take place when you need to thread the ball. Joe Flacco is another good candidate if you like to throw the ball a little deeper.
If you primarily throw short routes, I’d say get a mobile QB, but for a pocket passer go with Philip Rivers because his play action is so high and you can fool LBs to biting on it easier if you like to call the play action.
But mobile QBs –
Best compromise for throw short and medium – Go with 76 overall Marcus Mariota – 88 speed, 90 acceleration, 90 throw power, 90 short, 91 medium. But don’t chuck it deep or take a hit from a defender with him due to 71 throw deep and 54 carrying.
If you want someone with better carrying and throw power, there’s 84 overall Cam Newton. Unfortunately, his accuracy stats aren’t that good so stick with Mariota if you want a running QB.
RB – I think you should have Dri Archer as a back to run your tosses.
75 overall Jerick McKinnon can be your number 1 running back.94 speed, 88 elusiveness and 93 Carrying.
84 overall LeSean McCoy is interesting due to his 99 agility but he’s pushing the envelope for budget as he’s over 9k on the Xbox One and higher on the other consoles. And that’s why you won’t hear me recommending golds 74 and under. Because they are rare due to the way packs are set up and set that require them.
Another rotation stud would be Todd Gurley’s 77 overall. 91 speed, 91 truck, 91 carrying and all around solid other stats. He’s the poor man’s Adrian Peterson.
Your short yardage back should be 79 overall LeGarrette Blount to use in FB dives or goal line work. 250 pounds with 96 trucking.
Receiving back – 77 reggie bush and 78 Shane Vereen are your men here. Get whichever is cheaper. And if that guy drops some balls for you, quicksell him and buy the other.
Full back – I use them primarily for blocking and sub in my receiving HB or TE when I want to catch passes. Since all the run blocking FBs are expensive right now, I suggest going with a TE and putting him there. Ben Hartsock and Lee Smith are good, but they are slow for tosses. Craig Stevens is your best bet here. But remember Hartsock and Smith, I’ll reference them in a bit.
Tight Ends – Two types, receiving and blocking.
Receiving – I like a guy that is fast with high route running and obviously that has good hands. Being tall doesn’t hurt. The best receiving TE is Jordan Cameron. But take a second look at Tyler Eifert because his catch in traffic is good at 90 if you find your TE gets hit a lot as he catches the ball.
Blocking – remember what I said earlier about Ben Hartsock and Lee Smith. Get them to block. But to get the best run blockers, you want Tackles that you can sub in here at TE while those TE’s are subbed in at WR. The tackles you want are King Dunlap 81 overall who has 94 strength and 96 run block. The other tackle you should get is Greg Robinson, who I know is a 73 overall, but he’s very cheap for a low overall gold. He has 96 strength, 90 run block and 85 accel and 75 speed.
a guy who is a jack of all trades is Delanie Walker, can run block at 81, can catch a little, decent route running for gold TEs, and has decent speed at 85. He’s short though so he can’t go up and get the ball like a tall TE could. He’s a good guy to get to sub out a WR on runs.
LT – Now we get to the big uglys (like yo mamma) Luckily EA made linemen smarter this year. But I base my offense around running the ball, so we’ll start there. I don’t pull my tackles like I did a little in 15 on counters because they don’t seem to be as effective as last year. So we will throw impact block out the window. I look first at strength, then run block, pass block then end up with awareness and speed stats. But more than any other position, LT needs to be well balanced.
My guy at this position is Taylor Lewan. 90 strength, 91 run block, 84 pass block, 85 accel, 76 speed which is really good for a LT. His biggest problem is his low awareness. But I’ll see how much that effects his output
LG – You have to decide if you want a puller or a straight ahead grinder here. Both inside and outside runs are valuable this year. Gabe Jackson 77 overall is a great straight ahead grinder. But Ronald Leary might be the best run blocking, both straight ahead and pulling guard you can get. 95 run block, 89 impact and 88 strength along with average speed at 63 and 76 acceleration.
But the guard I’m going to get is Orlando Franklin 84 overall, It was a tough decision between him and Kelechi Osemele, but I’m going with the guy who has higher strength, speed and acceleration. He has a lower impact block which hurts, but unfortunately nothing is cut and dried better when you are looking at guys around the same overall.
If you are a pass first offense, I’d still use Orlando Franklin.
C – I don’t pull my center except on screens, which are powerful, so speed is needed but not high on the list of needs. I want a strong center to deal with defensive tackles. I really like Corey Linsley, but I’m concerned about the awareness. I might just take him but see if screens start to suffer with his low awareness. Corey Linsley also has the second highest pass block of gold centers so stick with him in that scheme too.
RG – Alex Boone 83 overall is awesome. 90 strength, 93 impact block with 85 awareness. He’s not that fast and has low stamina, but it’ll have to do. If you can go out and get Brandon Brooks, do, he’s 85 and looks great with the exception being stamina.
If you pass first, get David DeCastro’s 84 football outsiders version. 96 strength, 91 pass block. His awareness is a little low at 78 though.
RT – I like a mauler here. I’m going to go with Phil Loadholt 82 overall until I see him get beat around the edge too often and need to invest in a faster tackle. 95 strength, 92 run block, 85 aware, 81 acceleration. Only 80 pass block, but we’ll see if that’s a big problem.
For a pass blocking RT, get Lane Johnson, although his stats aren’t that amazing like Zach Strief, he doesn’t have the debilitating problem of being slower than a snail. Lane has 80 speed and 87 acceleration compared to Strief’s 54 speed and 70 acceleration. I think Strief would be beat around the edge to often. Lane Johnson only has 87 pass block and 86 strength, but he does have 92 run block and 89 impact block. There just aren’t that many fast pass blocking right tackles that are any good.
Wide Recievers –
If you are a run first scheme, you probably want to sub in a TE in for the WR in the direction you are running on each play. But if you don’t want to do that, your number 1,2 and 3 WRs should have excellent run blocking. The guys you want are Anquan Boldin, Michael Floyd and Donte Moncrief. Alshon Jeffery is another solid choice.
I would suggest having James Jones Team of the Week or Mike Evans on your team as a player that can beat man press coverage. Mike Evans would be good to beat the coverage then go deep for the jump ball because he’s 6’5.
That James Jones 83 overall also has amazing catch in traffic at 96 so he can be your possession guy to catch 3rd down passes if your TE is being usered effectively by the opponent.
If you like to run WR screens or just want a shifty WR to catch the ball short and run well, juking and spinning out DBs, get Tavon Austin 75 overall. 95 speed, 98 agility, 94 elusiveness, 94 spin, 97 juke move. He’s also a good kick returner.
But if you want the Madden 16 cheat code at WR, get Breshad Perriman. Many offenses right now are based around sending him deep and having him out run the defense. He’s very expensive though.
But if you are a pass first offense, do you throw it down field? In the middle or short? Or a mix?
Keenan Allen has a 95 route running. I wish it was 96 because of the feet chop on post routes, but it is still amazing. Maybe look at him for a precise middle passing game.
Martavis Bryant offers a nice blend of height and speed. 6’4 with 91 speed. Okay catching stats on him.
Our Budget Series continues with Gold Goons. Watch the video above or read my script below. Enjoy!
LE – I’m going to run a 4-3. At the ends I’m going to want someone to be speedy to contain the passer but with decent blockshed to help against the run. Unfortunately, there aren’t any good 4-3 left defensive ends. But fear not. We have alternatives like pass rushing linebackers to save the day for obvious passing situations and run stuffers for short yardage.
So as a tangent I really like finesse move over power move for defensive ends. I don’t know why, but Dee Ford on my silver studs with his high strength and finesse move gets more pressure than my other linemen combined on that squad and they all have power moves.
In addition, I had Jadeveon Clowney as my right end for a really long time on my main squad. He had 0 impact on games and he has a 91 power move. I’m going to avoid power move on my DEs this year and see what I get.
But I’ll answer who my 4-3 DE would be at the end of the right end segment.
As to the 3-4, you need someone strong with good blockshed at each position on the defensive line. Having 3 DTs is a strategy that would work. But at LE I want Stephen Paea 78 overall. 99 strength, 84 blockshed, which is a little low.
RE – For the 4-3 It really depends if you consider the combined Randy Gregory a gold or an elite. He’s a really solid player at 4-3 RE, basically the best on out right now, and pretty cheap. Otherwise Lawrence Sidbury can rush the passer effectively, Vic Beasley is a stud and you could move a fast outside linebacker here. But for dollars to donuts, Randy Gregory 84 overall is the choice at both defensive end spots in a 4-3.
For the 3-4, I want Mike Devito, 80 overall. 91 strength, 89 blockshed.
DT – This one is pretty easy and a combo I’ve been running on my main squad which runs the 4-3, Dan Williams and Brandon Williams. Both high strength, high blockshed mean SOBs.
Although if you hate screens enough, get someone like Jonathan Babineaux or Henry Melton who can recognize the play and have a decent shot at chasing it down with their okay speed.
for the 3-4, either of those Williams’ work. But I’ll choose Dan Williams. As an aside, if you really want to shut down the run, put Dan Williams at RE and put Damon Harrison at NT. MLB: I’ll user this position. I might still use Nate Askew due to his speed, catching, jump and height. But this is a golds goons so I have to go with Ryan Shazier and his shefter star card that coming out Thursday. I’m really hoping that thing has no improvements to intelligence stats and all of them to physical so he can be a user god. I’m probably going to be let down, but a boy can hope.
So in a 3-4 at MLB one position will be the user of Nate Askew/Ryan Shazier, the second should be a good run stopper with high play rec. Speed isn’t as necessary because the 3-4 does a better job at shutting down the outside run. The second MLB should be focused on stopping the run up the middle with high blockshed.
I kind of like Daryl Washington’s mix of skills with decent speed. But I’m going to try a better run stuffer, I’m going with Stephen Tulloch to start. High pursuit, blockshed, 93 play rec, 90 awareness, we’ll see if his smarts are able to put him into good spots his speed isn’t able to.
LOLB: I want someone who plays the run well in a 4-3. Because when I’m in a 4-3, 46 or 3-3-5 alignment, which is the only time this player is on the field, his first job is to stop the run. Pass coverage skills are secondary but still needed. In the end, I’m going to go with Nigel Bradham. 86 speed, 87 accel, 91 hit power, 93 pursuit, 84 zone coverage.
For this position in a 3-4, you want a pass rusher who can also help against the run. This battle comes down between Jayrone Elliott and Bruce Irvin, Finesse moves vs. power moves. I’m going to go with 81 Jayrone Elliott off the bat and see how he plays. Even though he is 4 points slower than Irvin, he’s got a significant strength and finesse move advantage.
ROLB: for the 4-3 want someone stout against the run but also really good in coverage. A tall task for a gold linebacker. Lavonte David is obviously a great choice, but he’s 1 overall too high. If this was 15 and 85s were still golds, I’d tell you to scoop him up.
But, for what you want out of a 4-3 ROLB, 83 overall Sean Lee fits your criteria. 95 play rec, 93 pursuit, 83 zone coverage, 83 hit power, 92 tackle, 87 awareness, 89 acceleration, he’s a little slow at 82 though. But overall, you couldn’t ask for a much better player at this position.
In a 3-4 I’d go with Jadeveon Clowney Because he has 88 speed with 92 acceleration and 91 power moves. I tried him in a 4-3 at end and he made no plays for me. We’ll see if having him play his natural position changes anything.
CBs
You need to decide whether you want a smart guy or a dumb one with great physical attributes. But 4-3 and 3-4 secondaries can play very similar to each other so I won’t be differentiating between the two.
In addition, you need to decide what your main defense will consist of. What will you use, man or zone to stop the offense. Now you don’t need to run just one or the other because mixing coverages is the key to success in defense. But you should pick one to go to as your main shut down. We’ll start with man press corners even though the scheme might not be to terribly effective just with gold corners.
For man-press, I’d go with:
Jimmy Smith 84 – 94 press, 90 man coverage. But 88 speed unfortunately
Xavier Rhodes – 91 press, 87 man, 90 speed
Marcus Peters – 91 press, 86 man, 90 speed
At Dime you could put a very capable Team of the Week LaDarius Gunter
-89 speed, 88 press, 84 man coverage
And take two looks at Shefter’s star Damarious Randall, he’s fast with decent man coverage, his press is unfortunately low at 84 though.
If you style your defense to put you above a 90 on man coverage, all of a sudden those man coverage and press stats start to look quite elite and your scheme much more effective. Jimmy Smith goes up to 99 press and 95 man coverage. Those are better than any corner in the game.
But don’t sleep on their zone coverage rating either. They all have upper 80’s so you aren’t missing much by dropping them into zones as opposed to man to keep the offense guessing.
If you want to mainly play zone with your corners, I like to have tall guys on the outside. Although I have heard from a few sources that height doesn’t matter as much this year. I think of it like this, height doesn’t factor into overall, so it’s basically a free stat that doesn’t cost you on overall. Unfortunately, the market does adjust for height. But in a cover 3 base, the outside guys should be tall for the lob streak. So my recommendation is Darius Slay and LaDarius Gunter at the number 1 and 2. I’d recommend Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie but he’s 15,000 coins so he really isn’t too budget. He’s both tall and in a captain set so he’s unfortunately someone that might just be too high priced for the so called budget status. But if it’s later in the year and you are watching this, check his price. He might be in your zone.
But your nickel corner in this scheme should be someone with high play rec and blockshed to stand up to the run on the inside. William Gay is the ideal corner for you. 91 awareness, 61 block shed, 90 play rec, 85 zone, 72 tackle and 69 hit power. Don’t ask him to play man for you though. But if you use him exclusively in zone as your nickel corner, you should have a great player for your scheme.
Dime corners aren’t on the field a lot but you should get someone Gay-ish to play there like Alterraun Verner, good stats to hold up in the run and pass.
FS – Do you want someone fast? Do you want someone intelligent? Someone to play in the box to stop the run? Someone over the top in cover 3 or cover 1 and 2 man? Or play man to man in a blitz scheme?
There are many different roles you can have your safety play. And having a capable defender back there can be the difference between a good defense and a great one. But unfortunately, gold safties can’t do it all, so you’ll have to pick what you want from your player and call plays that fit their strength.
The guy I’m going with is Reggie Nelson.
89 Speed, 92 accel, 91 agility, 87 zone, 94 jump, he can play man in a pinch with 77 man, his awareness of 81 is okay. his downside is the 74 play rec and the lowish tackling and hit power. It’ll be interesting to see if the low play rec hurts my run defense or if he gets fooled on play action frequently.
But I like him mostly to play deep in a blue zone to help against streaks with his jump, and his acceleration and speed to get to the sideline to help with those deep passes against the corners. I think of all my defenders I’ve picked so far, I feel the most unease with this one due to that play rec.
There aren’t any good man to man gold free safeties. If you want a guy that can run it, get Devin McCourty 87 overall. I ran with him for a long time and that dude is a stud. Or you could always move a corner there if you want someone good at man to man at a cheap price.
For a run stuffer at FS get LaRon Landry, he’s fast and hits like bull. He’s also great for kickoff team.
But it would be interesting to try someone like 82 Charles Woodson out. He’s slow but he’s got the only awareness above 91 for a safety in the game. He’s got 94. And there is only one other safety above an 87 awareness. That was a purposeful decision by the developers, to leave awareness low on these safeties that they aren’t too smart. Basically, the seams are open right now against cover 3. Wait until later in the year when we get free safeties who have smarts like Woodson and Speed like Dezmond Southward. Those 20 yard completions will turn into picks like they were in 15.
Strong Safety.
Everything I said above about Free Safeties applies to Strong Safeties. But to reiterate, gold safeties kind of suck. Their play rec and awareness are all bad. If there was one position on your entire team that should be elite, it’s your safeties.
But in the cover 3 that I’m going to be playing, a strong safety with good play rec is important in order to diagnose the run to help shut it down.
The best gold Strong Safety is 84 overall Nate Allen, the football outsiders card
89 speed, 91 acceleration, 80 awareness, 81 play rec, 87 zone coverage. Good catching stats, okay height at 6’1. His downside is that he isn’t a hard hitter and his tackling is only a 74, which I guess isn’t terrible when compared to his competition. He’s an all around good player.
If you’d like a man strong safety you should look at Tyvon Branch who has 91 speed and 94 acceleration along with 78 man which is high for a strong safety. Again you might be better with a corner here due to their much higher man coverage skills.
For the kicking game, at kicker get gold Brandon McManus if you can afford him. If not, get his bronze card.
At punter get Tress Way. If he’s too expensive get silver Marquette King or bronze Robert Malone.
Sponsor: Silver Studs. Give Gutfoxx a call if you want a Silver Stud either for your ear or your bachelorette party. I’m a full service business.
EA doesn’t add silvers or bronzes as the year goes on so this video should be good for anyone looking to build a budget team at any time in the MUT 16 season.
As you learned in my last video on offensive silver players, they top out at 71 this year. And that will be the cap for players in this video. And again, I apologize as this video is lengthy as I explain my choices for each position. I will post my script on my website for those that would rather read than listen. Look in the description for the link.
Before putting together a defense, you need to decide whether to use a 3-4 or a 4-3. I will be starting the year with a 4-3 because 3-4 LBs early can’t play coverage if you drop them into zone at all. As the year progresses and more of them have that skill I might switch over.
And this breakdown of defense will be especially important for draft champions because if you see these players in your generated lineup, then you might want to pick another player because of how effective these cards are for silvers.
We’ll start with cornerbacks, Watching Madden 16 clips and playing Madden 15, having good scheme corners is the second most important position behind QB.
CB #1 – Keith McGill – 6’3, 69 overall, 87 speed, 96 accel, 86 agility, 90 jump, 82 zone, 71 hit power. Bad: 76 man, 47 awareness, 64 play rec. Good in a deep cover 3 only.
Byron Jones – 6’1 67 overall, 97 jump, 89 speed, 90 accel, 93 agility, 81 zone, bad catching, 52 awareness, 49 play rec, 70 man coverage. Cover 3 deep corner
Tharold Simon – 70 overall, 6’3 86 speed, 87 acceleration, 86 agility, 84 jump, 80 hit power, 66 aware, 69 play rec,
6’1 with 97 jump or 6’3 with 84 jump? which is more valuable? I’m not sure. But Simons other stats give him a big leg up on Byron. Although Byron’s smaller legs are like a friggin frog legs with the way he can jump.
Then you have a whole stable of corners at 6’2 who provide good height and decent other stats. with high 80’s speed to keep up with this year’s WRs.
Marcus Cooper – 68 overall – 6’2 88 speed, 86 acceleration, 81 agility, 90 jump. 74 hit power. 70 man, 74 zone, 65 awareness, 60 play rec
But there are two bronze 6’3 guys that you can get if you are doing a bronze squad.
Tommie Campbell – 61 overall, 6’3, 86 speed, 88 acceleration, 86 jump, 89 agility, 77 hit power
Stanley Jean-Baptiste – 63 overall, 6’3, 83 speed, 87 accel, 89 agility, 95 jump. Will be perfect to stop the deep lob streak. You just have to hope he can get back there with his 83 speed. 42 aware, 52 play rec. Might be better as a safety.
Nickels:
Tracy Porter 68 overall
Drayton Florence 70 overall Both with okay intelligence stats. Like a Gutfoxx in school.
The main difference between Silvers, golds and above is the intelligence stats. The physicality is very similar between them all. And with a nickel, you want an intelligent SOB to pick passes and read run vs. pass. The choices aren’t great here and you’ll probably not see a ton of production, but those were my choices for nickel/dime CBs. If I were to choose between these two, I’d pick Porter for his speed and catch advantage. Even though his zone is significantly worse.
But taking it further, DJ Moore – 91 agility, 87 acceleration, 90 jump, 68 aware, 76 play rec, 82 zone coverage, 47 block shed, 77 catch, 77 spec catch, 74 catch in traffic. All amazing for his level. What’s the catch you ask? Well, he has 82 speed. I think I’m going to try him at nickel/dime and see if that speed makes him unplayable or if his intelligence makes up for it. Although, I’m pre-disposed to thinking he won’t be able to make plays. Like Riley Cooper in real life.
I might just say screw the intelligence and go for an all speed lineup with silvers and see if that works. If so, I’d still take my huge outside CBs, but put on the inside:
User corner –
Onterio McCalebb – 59 overall, 94 speed, 91 accel, 91 jump, 92 agility, 76 spec, which is 2nd best for silver corners, bad hit power though at 44. And only 5’10. If I don’t use the speed lineup, I would totally have this guy as my number 5 CB for special teams sweeper on the edge and a guy I could sub in at nickel to user.
If you are looking for a stud man corner in silver, I got what you need: Ronald Darby – 92 speed, 88 agility, 90 acceleration with 84 man coverage. Very good stats for a silver if you want to run a man scheme. There are some other decent ones for this scheme, but I would suggest not running a man scheme with silver players unless you want to lose.
But back to the speed lineup. I might run with a pure silver speed lineup on defense. That way, when one guy makes a mistake, there are 10 other hellscreamers there to cover up because they can close so quickly. In that case, go with guys like Greg Ducre and Darryl Morris at CB.
Add in the fact that Zfarls is saying outside tosses work well this year, we’ll want guys who can get to the edges quickly. But that may be more for LBs since DBs start on the outside in nickel and dimes.
And keep in mind top end WRs like Antonio Brown, Calvin Johnson, Dez Bryant and Julio Jones all have 88-89 speed. You won’t need a ton of it early to keep up. Unless the opponent puts Breshad Perriman or Mario Alford on the outside on a streak.
FS: Cooper Taylor: 68 overall, 6’4 88 speed, 88 acceleration, 89 jump. His other stats aren’t anything to write home about. If he isn’t your starter, have him as your number 2 FS both for his special teams ability and for his height being able to knock the ball down on hail mary’s at the end of half and game.
For the speed lineup, get Lonnie Ballentine or Dezmen Southward, Dezmen is 6 feet tall, 92 speed, 92 agility, 93 acceleration, 97 jump, 79 hit power. Special teams stud. Bad catching though like my catches of the common cold every couple of friggin months.
But Lonnie Ballentine is better, 61 overall, 6’3, 91 speed, 92 accel, 85 agility, 88 jump, 89 hit power. 42 aware, 59 play rec. hooves for hands
If you want someone with a good blend of skills back there, get Usama Young. 71 overall, 6’0, 87 speed, 92 accel, 92 jump, 73 aware, 67 play rec, 79 zone.
SS: This position starts and ends with Taylor Mays, 71 overall, 6’3, 92 speed, 91 agility, 94 accel, 95 jump, 86 hit power, good blockshed for a silver at 68, 70 spec catch. Should be your user to start the year.
And since we are basing our defense around a cover 3 where our SS plays in the box, if you don’t user the SS and get Taylor Mays, (get him for special teams anyways) play rec is of the highest importance. A very nice, well rounded card with high end play rec for a silver is Jimmy Wilson, 70 overall, 70 play rec, 74 aware, 86 speed, 86 accel, 86 agilility, 88 jump. A nice balanced card. Not as sexy as Taylor Mays though. Wilson is the Toyota of silver SS.
RE –
4-3
I hate that Vic Beasley just misses the cutoff at 72 overall. Hint, Hint. 88 speed, 87 strength, 89 accel, 86 finesse moves. I wouldn’t look at silver DEs with him there.
Danielle Hunter 61 overall would be a good bronze DE with 87 speed, 90 accel. Not great on the pass rush moves or blockshed though. But if a team is killing you on the run, switch to a 4-6 formation and sub a 3-4 DE to play the run.
But I think Randy Gregory 68 overall is a good silver 4-3 RE. 84 speed, 88 accel, 78 strength, 87 finesse moves and good pursuit at 87. If you back him up with Mario Edwards jr who has 88 strength and 87 block shed with okay speed, you’ll be money against the run.
For a 3-4, you want a heavy, strong man who can shed a block. Arthur Jones, 71 overall is the best man for the job. 337 pounds, 92 strength with good balanced stats across the board. I wish his blockshed was a little higher than 83 though, but life can’t be all puppies and hand grenades.
LE
Larry Webster 63 overall, 86 speed, 84 agility, 90 accel, 83 finesse move. Low on the strength so he won’t be great against the run.
Arik Armstead would be a good backup here to protect against the run. 91 block shed with an 85 strength. And I’m going to take this opportunity to tell you all to backup your hard drives.
3-4
Can’t do too much better than Cam Thomas for silver players. 94 strength, 85 block shed out of a 64 overall. Haven’t seen such a nice package since Adriana Lima broke on the scene.
DT
You want strength and blockshed here. Powermoves are a plus to get some QB pressure along with awareness and play rec to see the screens coming.
There are two types of DT, a 3-4/nose tackle, who lines up nearest the center, and a 3 technique, who lines up outside the guard and should be better at pass rushing.
For the 3-4/nose tackle, it all depends on how much you value speed out of your DT. I don’t value it much, but I think it is a little necessary to possibly stop screen passes. But here’s the thing with these players, I doubt any Silver DT is recognizing a screen pass. So I will take little concern with it until I see from the game tape that my DTs could have made plays with a little more speed, be it QB pressures or just missing an RB on a blockshed.
So, I’m going to start the year with Terrence Cody, 70 overall, as my nose tackle. He’s the slowest thing outside of time in chemistry class at 45 speed, but he has 97 strength and 89 block shed at 349 pounds. He will demand a double team up the middle on runs, allowing my LBs to get free. He won’t be great on powers or counters, but DTs aren’t really making plays on those.
If my Cody is too slow, mama’s gonna buy a Torell Troup, 320 pound with 94 strength and 94 blockshed and 66 speed. If your Torell doesn’t shine, mama’s gonna buy a Jesse Williams, 70 overall.94 strength, 86 blockshed with 79 accel and 74 speed.
But as for the 3 technique, I’d ideally like a guy who can disrupt screen passes. And as I said, there aren’t really those guys in the silver DT market. Either because they are too slow or too dumb. The closest you’ll get is 71 overall Ryan Pickett, 85 play rec, 86 awareness, 88 strength and 80 blockshed. He’s only got 60 speed and 71 acceleration. Basically a poor man’s wilfork. So try Pickett and see if he works against those screens, otherwise, I’d put Cody or Troup at your nose and Jesse Williams at your 3 technique.
OLB
We need to talk about Nate Askew. You know earlier when I said Taylor Mays should be your user. Well….Nate Askew is 57 overall, 6’4 92 speed, 86 agility, 95 acceleration, 75 hit power, 71 catch, 65 spec catch. He’s the linebacker version of Taylor Mays. Get him for special teams at least. Otherwise, he’s a godly user linebacker if you don’t feel comfortable usering your SS. He’s a better user than Ryan Shazier and bar none, the best user LB to start the game.
But other than that, in a 3-4, you want your OLBs to rush the passer, contain the passer and hold up in the run game. They might drop a little, like a small deuce, but mostly, they are rushing the passer.
In a 4-3, you want your non-usered LBs to be smart and play against the pass and run well.
We’ll start with 3-4 OLBs. Finesse move was generally held to be better than power move in 15. Time will tell as we move along to 16.
But if you run the 3-4 and want finesse moves, take a look at starting the year with Dee Ford as your LOLB and Corey Lemonier as your ROLB.
Dee has 86 speed, 87 strength, 86 agility, 86 accel, 88 finesse moves, 88 pursuit. Lemonier has 86 speed, 92 acceleration, 92 hit power, 87 finesse moves, and 86 pursuit. They should be able to provide some heat from the outside.
And Dee Ford and Corey Lemonier both match up well vs the 4-3 ends I mentioned earlier. I might give them a shot at DE in a 4-3.
But if you are okay with power moves, a true stud ROLB in a 3-4 or a 4-3 DE spot will be Cornelius Washington 68 overall. 88 speed, 93 strength, 91 acceleration, 88 powermoves, 79 blockshed. His agility is a little low and his intelligence stats aren’t great. But he’ll be a stud setting the edge and rushing the passer.
But, for my 4-3 OLBs,
ROLB Jonathan Casillas 71 overall is pretty smart and pretty fast. 86 speed, 85 agility, 87 accel, 76 aware, 88 pursuit, 83 zone coverage and 80 play rec
LOLB is looking kind of weak for 4-3 OLBs. It might have to be the position I user. But it’s looking like Emmanuel Lamur might be the guy that I stick there if I don’t user the position. 70 overall, 84 speed, 90 acceleration, 73 aware, 82 pursuit, 74 play rec, 75 zone,
MLB – Obviously a lot of talk has been about Shazier and his ability to be usered, but we found a different one. I’m talking Askew. He has less hit power, but more speed and accel, 3 inches and is much better at catching. So if we don’t get gold shazier, and put a silver stud here, you’re not going to have to view Askew poorly.
Jamar Chaney – 79 play rec, 88 accel, 83 speed, 75 aware, 84 pursuit. Not great, but the MLB mainly needs to be around the ball on runs, and this guy accomplishes that. Would like a higher block shed than 72, but I’ll have to see if it negatively effects him badly getting blocked a lot.
Kick/Punt returner. Need high speed and kick return. Best silver guy is Trindon Holliday. Try and get to the edge with your lead blocker sealing it off.
So we just went through this, but my ideal lineups are:
Silver 4-3
LE: Cornelius Washington
RE: Dee Ford
DT: 3 tech: Ryan Pickett (Jesse Williams)
NT: Terrence Cody
ROLB: Jonathan Casillas
MLB: Jamar Chaney (Nate Askew)
LOLB: Emmanuel Lamur
CB 1: Keith McGIll
CB 2: Tharold Simon
CB 3: DJ Moore (sub out if you notice speed killing you)
CB 4: Tracy Porter
CB 5: Onterio McCalebb
FS 1: Usama Young
FS 2: Cooper Taylor
SS 1: Taylor Mays (Jimmy Wilson if user Askew)
3-4
LE: Cam Thomas
RE: Arthur Jones
DT: Terrence Cody
ROLB: Cornelius Washington
MLB: Jamar Chaney
MLB: Nate Askew
LOLB: Dee Ford
CB 1: Keith McGIll
CB 2: Tharold Simon
CB 3: DJ Moore (sub out if you notice speed killing you)
CB 4: Tracy Porter
CB 5: Onterio McCalebb
FS 1: Usama Young
FS 2: Cooper Taylor
SS 1: Taylor Mays (Jimmy Wilson if user Askew)
Alright, let me know if you have any disagreements.
Guess a number between 0 and 1 to the thousands decimal place and whoever is closest to the numbers I chose gets one of three prizes. Those three prizes are GT Brandon Browner, UL Adrian Peterson and 100000 coin bronze player bought from them. Also, Shane Werley, Daniel Zhou and Leythan contact me to claim your prizes from the giveaway Thursday.
Today we go through everything revealed in a twitch stream last night. From the sets, to MUT Master, to Tim Tebow 90 overall, franchise game mode, Draft champions, Legends and much more.
So EA has copyright claimed the Leaked twitch stream video. They had not done that as of my recording so I’m sorry that you aren’t able to see the footage.
So listen to my analysis of Madden 16 gameplay with Madden 15 gameplay going on in the background. All we need to do is wait a few days to play it but I’m sorry you won’t be able to watch it for yourself.
This morning’s video is about all the MUT 16 news that’s fit to print. I also talk about the giveaway that happened and the one that will be happening on my channel on Thursday/Friday and the big one on Saturday.