Home
Strategy Guide
Madden NFL 10: Potential Superstars Part II

We're back with week two of our look at potential superstars in Madden. This week, we are looking at the defensive side of the ball.

Defensive Ends


Mario Williams - 95 OVR, Excellent speed and acceleration, average awareness, average tackling, excellent power and finesse moves, average block shedding, excellent pursuit, poor play recognition.

Tyson Jackson - 77 OVR, Average speed and acceleration, average awareness, excellent tackling, good power moves, and average finesse moves, excellent block shedding, average pursuit and play recognition.

Michael Johnson - 72 OVR, Excellent speed and acceleration, terrible awareness, average tackling, average power and finesse moves, average block shedding, average pursuit, terrible play recognition.

My Top Picks: There are not many players to choose from in the "A" potential category, but there are many players to choose from a level below that.

My Pick: Tyson Jackson. My second pick is not on the list (Gaines Adams).

Defensive Tackles


Sedrick Ellis - 85 OVR, Average speed and very good acceleration, excellent strength, above-average awareness, good tackling, good power moves, very good finesse moves, very good block shedding, good pursuit, average play recognition.

Domata Peko - 83 OVR, Average speed and good acceleration, excellent strength, good awareness, good tackling, very good power moves and average finesse moves, excellent block shedding, above-average pursuit, below-average play recognition.

B.J. Raji - 79 OVR, Average speed and OK acceleration, excellent strength, poor awareness, good tackling, very good power moves and above-average finesse moves, very good block shedding, above-average pursuit and play recognition.

Pat Sims - 77 OVR, Average speed and very good acceleration, excellent strength, average awareness, very good power moves and poor finesse moves, above-average block shedding and play recognition, below-average play recognition.

Jarron Gilbert - 65 OVR, Average speed and very good acceleration, average strength, terrible awareness, below-average tackling, above-average power moves and very good power moves, average block shedding, terrible play recognition.

My Top Picks: Sedrick Sims is a well-rounded player and will be rated in the 90s by the second season. B.J. Raji is powerful and will be a top DT in two seasons along with Pat Sims.

My Pick: Sedrick Ellis. Second pick is B.J. Raji.

Outside Linebackers


Lamarr Woodley - 85 OVR, Good speed and very good acceleration, good strength, good awareness, good tackling, excellent power moves and above-average finesse moves, excellent block shedding and pursuit, and good play recognition.

Aaron Curry - 84 OVR, Very good speed and excellent acceleration, above-average strength and awareness, very good tackling, above-average power moves and very good finesse moves, good block shedding, excellent pursuit and good play recognition.

Keith Rivers - 83 OVR, Very good speed and excellent acceleration, above-average strength and awareness, very good tackling, average power moves and finesse moves, good block shedding, excellent pursuit and above-average play recognition.

Brian Cushing - 82 OVR, Good speed, very good acceleration and strength, above-average awareness, very good tackling, above-average power moves and average finesse moves, good block shedding, excellent pursuit and above-average play recognition.

Rey Maualuga - 81 OVR, Good speed and very good acceleration, above-average strength, average awareness, very good tackling, very good power moves and above-average finesse moves, very good block shedding, excellent pursuit and above-average play recognition.

Clay Matthews - 78 OVR, Good speed and excellent acceleration, above-average strength, good tackling, good power moves, above-average finesse moves and block shedding, good pursuit and above-average play recognition.

Brian Orakpo - 76 OVR, Good speed and very good acceleration, good strength, average awareness, good tackling, very good power moves and average finesse moves, very good block shedding, excellent pursuit, average play recognition.

Robert Ayers - 75 OVR, Good speed, acceleration and strength, average awareness, good tackling and power moves, average finesse moves, very good block shedding, excellent pursuit, and good play recognition.

Larry English - 74 OVR, Good speed and acceleration, above-average strength, average awareness, above-average tackling and power moves, very good finesse moves, above-average block shedding, excellent pursuit and above-average play recognition.

My Top Picks: Tough list to choose from as all these players are either already good or will be amazing in the future. You can trade for any one of these players, but you will have to give up top draft picks for all the top rookies. I would look at Keith Rivers, Rey Maualuga and the powerful Brian Orakpo.

My Pick: Keith Rivers. Second pick is Rey Maualuga. Brian Orakpo would be there as I would move him to LE.

Middle Linebackers


Patrick Willis - 99 OVR, Excellent speed, strength, acceleration, awareness, tackling, above-average power and finesse moves, excellent block shedding, pursuit and play recognition.

Jon Beason - 94 OVR, Good speed and excellent acceleration, above-average strength, excellent awareness and tackling, average power and finesse moves, very good block shedding, excellent pursuit and play recognition.

Jerod Mayo - 88 OVR, Good speed and excellent acceleration, above-average strength and awareness, excellent tackling, average power and finesse moves, excellent block shedding, pursuit and good play recognition.

Curtis Lofton - 86 OVR, Above-average speed and strength, good acceleration and awareness, excellent tackling, average power and finesse moves, excellent block shedding and pursuit, very good play recognition.

Paul Posluszny - 82 OVR, Above-average speed, strength and acceleration, good awareness, excellent tackling, average power and finesse moves, good block shedding, very good pursuit and excellent play recognition.

Lawrence Timmons - 79 OVR, Good speed, excellent acceleration, above-average strength and awareness, good tackling, very good power moves, excellent finesse moves, above-average block shedding, excellent pursuit, and average play recognition.

James Laurinaitis - 78 OVR, Above-average speed and strength, good acceleration, above-average awareness, excellent tackling, below-average power moves, average finesse moves, good block shedding, excellent pursuit, and very good play recognition.

Tavares Gooden - 66 OVR, Very good speed, excellent acceleration, average strength and awareness, above-average tackling, average power moves, finesse moves, block shedding, excellent pursuit, average play recognition.

My Top Picks: One standout player for me is Lawrence Timmons. He is very good at pretty much everything and has great speed. Tavares Gooden would be excellent on special teams, and his overall rating is very deceiving because he will eventually be a beast of a player.

My Pick: Lawrence Timmons. Tavares Gooden is my second pick, and he is definitely one to watch as the years progress.

Defensive Backs


Darrelle Revis - 96 OVR, Excellent speed and acceleration, very good awareness, average tackling, good pursuit, very good play recognition, excellent man and zone coverage, very good press coverage.

Leon Hall - 86 OVR, Very good speed and acceleration, above-average awareness, average tackling, good pursuit, good play recognition, very good man, zone and press coverage.

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie - 85 OVR, Excellent speed and acceleration, above-average awareness, poor tackling, average pursuit and play recognition, excellent man coverage, good zone coverage, average pressing.

Aqib Talib - 84 OVR, Very good speed, excellent acceleration, average awareness, poor tackling, above-average pursuit, average play recognition, very good man coverage, good zone coverage, very good press coverage.

Tracy Porter - 83 OVR, Excellent speed and acceleration, above-average awareness, poor tackling, above-average pursuit and play recognition, very good man coverage, good zone coverage, above-average press coverage.

Brandon Flowers - 81 OVR, Good speed, excellent acceleration, above-average awareness, below-average tackling, excellent pursuit, above-average play recognition, very good man and zone coverage, and above-average press coverage.

Sean Smith - 80 OVR, Very good speed and acceleration, average awareness, average tackling, good pursuit, average play recognition, very good man coverage, above-average zone coverage, very good press coverage.

Leodis Mckelvin - 80 OVR, Excellent speed and acceleration, average awareness, average tackling, above-average pursuit, average play recognition, very good man coverage, good zone coverage, above-average press coverage.

Antoine Cason - 78 OVR, Very good speed and excellent acceleration, above-average awareness, below-average tackling, good pursuit, average play recognition, good man and zone coverage, below-average press coverage.

Josh Wilson - 77 OVR, Excellent speed and acceleration, average awareness, average tackling, good pursuit, average play recognition, good man, zone and press coverage.

Malcolm Jenkins - 75 OVR, Good speed, excellent acceleration, below-average awareness, average tackling, good pursuit, average play recognition, good man, zone and press coverage.

My Top Picks: Aqib Talib is getting better and better -- his rating has gone up a lot since Madden was first released. Tracy Porter has excellent speed. Brandon Flowers is a very good cornerback, and his ratings will rise dramatically after just one season.

My Pick: Brandon Flowers. Second Pick was a close one, but I will go with speed and that is Tracy Porter.

Free Safety


LaRon Landry - 87 OVR, Excellent speed and acceleration, above-average awareness, good tackling, excellent pursuit, average play recognition and man coverage, good zone coverage, below-average press coverage.

Michael Griffin - 86 OVR, Very good speed, excellent acceleration, above-average awareness, average tackling, good pursuit, above-average play recognition and man coverage, good zone coverage and above-average press coverage.

Tanard Jackson - 86 OVR, Very good speed and acceleration, average awareness, above-average tackling, good pursuit, above-average play recognition and man coverage, excellent zone coverage and average press coverage.

Eric Weddle - 84 OVR, Good speed, very good acceleration, good awareness, good tackling, excellent pursuit, above-average play recognition, average man coverage, above-average zone coverage, poor press coverage.

My Top Picks: Not many to choose from as this is a unique position, but you can move players who are cornerbacks to free safety as long as they are good at zone coverage. LaRon Landry would be my top choice here. Eric Weddle is also a very underrated player.

My Pick: Laron Landry.

Strong Safety


Kenny Phillips - 78 OVR, Excellent speed and acceleration, below-average awareness, above-average tackling, very good pursuit, poor play recognition, average man coverage, good zone coverage, below-average press coverage.

Tyrell Johnson - 75 OVR, Very good speed and excellent acceleration, below-average awareness, above-average tackling, good pursuit, below-average play recognition, average man coverage, above-average zone coverage and terrible press coverage.

My Top Pick: To be honest, I would not go for either of these players. I would go to the free agency list and get Derrick Brooks, who is a 77 overall ROLB with a B rating. Edit his position from ROLB to SS and he will go up to 91 overall and have A potential. I would use him for one year if I need a strong safety and then look for someone new in the Draft or free agency.

My Pick: Derrick Brooks.

 

 

This article was originally penned by Brad from AskMadden.com, it is one of many articles in a continuing series highlighting ways to improve your game in Madden NFL 10. Check out AskMadden for more great tips, hints, and strategies!


Madden NFL 10 Videos
Member Comments
# 1 Bballplaya72 @ 12/16/09 02:16 AM
You seriously moved Derrick Brooks to SS?

Wow. Never in 1,000 years...
 
# 2 masterkembo @ 12/16/09 10:53 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by firrea80
This thread fails especially for passing on Patrick Willis.
The thread is about A potential guys under a certain age that are (somewhat) easy to trade for.

I'm assuming that Willis is next to impossible to trade for in a franchise.
 
# 3 jvaccaro @ 12/16/09 10:55 AM
nice read


I moved Landry to SS and have Merriweather at FS

Also, I moved LaMarr Woodley and Brian Orakpo to DE and they absolutely dominate
 
# 4 jvaccaro @ 12/16/09 10:56 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by masterkembo
The thread is about A potential guys under a certain age that are (somewhat) easy to trade for.

I'm assuming that Willis is next to impossible to trade for in a franchise.
It took me 2 1st round picks and a good young OLB to get Willis for my Pats franchise
 
# 5 teebee @ 12/16/09 12:57 PM
Brooks at Safety

W T F
 
# 6 z ROCKnROLLA z @ 12/16/09 05:03 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by teebee
Brooks at Safety

W T F
Why donīt you try him and see how he plays. I tell you, you will be amazed at how well he will play.
SS is a position that can add another LB hence the 46 scheme.
 
# 7 the_steve @ 12/16/09 06:45 PM
If you are going to include Mario Williams then how about Shaun Phillips. They guy is often forgotten, but he is a great OLB and can rapidly develop into a beast OLB/DE and hes only 28. You can also get trades through during the rare occasions that Merriman is not injured
 
# 8 scoota500 @ 12/17/09 01:37 AM
Brandon Flowers could be a superstar! lol
 
# 9 Hassan Darkside @ 12/17/09 11:37 AM
I traded for Larry English in my Franchise. For some reason SD doesn't seem to be high on him. He's went from a 74 to an 85 in 2 seasons now.
 
# 10 trick02 @ 12/17/09 03:00 PM
ill take the guys you dont want and **** you up right now and 5 years down the road. (BTW ill take some B pot guys since OVR mean ****..but the guy posting this doesn't understand)

DE - Calias Cambpell, Aaron Maybin
OLB - Lamar Woodley, Aaron Curry
MLB - Patrick Willis,Jon Beason
CB - Darrell Revis, Malcolm Jenkins
FS - Antrel Rolle
SS - Kenny Phillips
 
# 11 Palo20 @ 12/17/09 03:31 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bballplaya72
You seriously moved Derrick Brooks to SS?

Wow. Never in 1,000 years...
It would be nice if the game didn't allow a 77 OVR LB go to a 91 OVR SS.
 
# 12 z ROCKnROLLA z @ 12/17/09 04:20 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by trick02
ill take the guys you dont want and **** you up right now and 5 years down the road. (BTW ill take some B pot guys since OVR mean ****..but the guy posting this doesn't understand)

DE - Calias Cambpell, Aaron Maybin
OLB - Lamar Woodley, Aaron Curry
MLB - Patrick Willis,Jon Beason
CB - Darrell Revis, Malcolm Jenkins
FS - Antrel Rolle
SS - Kenny Phillips
How do I not understand...Do you understand that this is a list about players under 24 and A potential, This was to define and create a list of elite potential players and was created over 2 months ago, If I put B rated players and players over 24 the list would be crazy and will taken me to the end of days to create.
I thank you for those kind words and respect for the hard work and time that it took me to create this list.
 
# 13 z ROCKnROLLA z @ 12/17/09 04:22 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by the_steve
If you are going to include Mario Williams then how about Shaun Phillips. They guy is often forgotten, but he is a great OLB and can rapidly develop into a beast OLB/DE and hes only 28. You can also get trades through during the rare occasions that Merriman is not injured
You are correct and I have moved him to RE before, but due to his age he did not make the list. He is a very good player otherwise.
 
# 14 KBLover @ 12/17/09 05:18 PM
I'd take Kenny Philips and work with him. I mean if the list is to highlight young A potential studs-to-be...why take Derrick Brooks?

I'd take the young potential super star over an quite old vet, even if he does have a 91 OVR at the same position. Philips could probably get there as well and be much younger than Brooks.
 
# 15 Bballplaya72 @ 12/18/09 05:33 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Palo20
It would be nice if the game didn't allow a 77 OVR LB go to a 91 OVR SS.
You're right.

In my first franchise I was the Bengals and signed Brooks as an OLB to mentor Malaluga, and Rivers.

That's sim.

Moving a 37-year old who has played exclusively at LB his entire career to SS, where he will have to play more coverage than he did when he was 26 and could move, is just outright ridiculous.

I dont care if the game makes him a 91. It would never happen in real life. Switching OLB's to DE's is one thing. Making Derrick Brokes a SS is just ridiculous.
 
# 16 Marsh43 @ 12/21/09 09:37 PM
FS Charles Godfrey from the Panthers is a beast after a year or so. Great speed, hard hitter, good hands, good play recognition.
 
# 17 KBLover @ 12/21/09 11:11 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bballplaya72
You're right.

In my first franchise I was the Bengals and signed Brooks as an OLB to mentor Malaluga, and Rivers.

That's sim.

Moving a 37-year old who has played exclusively at LB his entire career to SS, where he will have to play more coverage than he did when he was 26 and could move, is just outright ridiculous.

I dont care if the game makes him a 91. It would never happen in real life. Switching OLB's to DE's is one thing. Making Derrick Brokes a SS is just ridiculous.

Madden might need a positional familiarity rating or something. Just like in baseball games where a 1B doesn't necessarily play good SS because of the demands of the positions.

That said, OVR is just an arbitrary rating. It probably needs to weight coverage much more highly for CB/FS/SS, but it doesn't really mean much, imo.

Might be rated too highly. I don't know what his ratings are (don't usually look at 37 year old FAs).

If Brooks could play good safety on the field, that would be a bit of a problem, though he probably could in a 46 package as the SS plays the "4th linebacker" a lot of times.
 
# 18 Madden Head @ 12/31/09 02:25 PM
Just what really is the point of these "stratagy guides" anyway? They are not only out of date, too specialized, and often garbage. When writing a stratagy guide, I would take one of three points of views. 1.) Stratagy guide on how to run a simulation franchise. 2.) Stratagy Guide on how to best min/max, and "cheat" the computer to be the most stupid overpowered super franchise ever, ie. break the game. 3.) Fantasy Draft stratagy guide.

The 1st option doesn't have you moving a OLB to SS just because he goes from a 77 to a 91, the 2ed option isn't any fun to me at all and would get boring FAST, and the 3rd is a little tough because "ratings don't matter" when it comes to drafting Offensive and defensive linemen. It's hard to ru na simulation fantasy draft when you don't have to build a solid line on both sides of the ball [see option 2]

Why make a guide on the top A potential players from some random updated roster and set the mark at 24 yers old? Why not just make a guide of "sleeper" players to look and trade for? For example, take OLB Paris Harilson of the 49ers #98 and trade for him and place him at DE in a 4-3 scheme. He not only goes up to a great DE, but in real life, he does a great job this year in rushing the passer and applying pressure off of the edge. Take old corner backs and move them to FS if you are lacking in that department.

I guess I am just angry that articles like these are featured on OS when they are so bad...
 

Post A Comment
Only OS members can post comments
Please login or register to post a comment.