The number one pick? In Madden I would easily go with
Revis.
Man coverage is the most powerful positional rating in Madden, or at least in '09, M10 and M11 it was. When I did/do fantasy draft in Madden 11, if I loaded up on CBs with high Man coverage ratings and young players who progress to have high ratings... the computer and my friend's didn't have a chance.
Man Coverage might as well be called the "Psychic" rating, as it determines how psychic your corners are in Man. If it is high enough, they can [and will] run routes
ahead of a receiver before they make their breaks or cuts.
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If you have a lower 1st round pick then I suggest looking at Vernon Davis. Unless they drastically altered his ratings for Madden 12, he is the most physically gifted TE in the game [speed, acceleration, agility, and jump] along with being the best or second best run blocking TE. He isn't the best route runner and he doesn't have the best hands, but neither of those ratings are bad either and they have never been a liability for me
Beyond that, when doing a fantasy draft, I value offensive linemen really high. There are 5 important positional ratings for offensive linemen in Madden:
- Pass Blocking Strength - How well they do against power moves by the defense
- Pass Blocking Footwork -How well they do against finesse moves and how quickly Tackles can drop back to form a pocket.
- Run Blocking Strength - How long they can hold a block. Measured against Block Shedding.
- Run Blocking Footwork - How well they can push a defender that they are currently blocking on a run play.
- Impact Block - A modifier to help determine the likely hood of a pancake block.
Of these 5 ratings, very few offensive linemen in Madden have an 85+ rating in all of these categories. With 32 teams in the NFl and 5 starting offensive linemen per team, that is 160 starting linemen. There are not nearly that many good linemen in the game. If you want an advantage up front, I suggest you spend most of your top 10-15 picks locking up an All-Star line before someone else does. You can argue that the pass blocking ratigns don't matter as much in thegame, but run blocking ratings most certainly do.
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Finally, I suggest a 3-4 defense myself. I may be in the minority here, but I am not all that impressed with the pass rush that you get out of DEs in the 4-3. I would rather have 3 big and powerful defensive linemen up front and a stable of fast and talented linebackers who can flow sideline to sideline, drop back into coverage, or go after the QB on any given play.
There are a number of DEs and DTs with low OVR ratings but high Block Shedding and Tackle ratings. Take a look at the roster page and sort by those three ratings, and write down the names [and OVR] of players who have 90+ in those ratings. Some Sleepers in Madden 11 to look out for were: Mike Devito - RE 78 OVR, Red Bryant - RE 76 OVR, Isacc Sopoaga LE 72 OVR, Ron Brace - LE 68 OVR, Dan Williams - DT 74 OVR, Terrence Cody - DT 72 OVR, Linval Joseph - DT 71 OVR, and Torell Troup - DT 68 OVR.
10-06-2011, 08:29 AM
