Culture of Hoops

Madden NFL 16: Top Rated Running Backs

Image courtesy of Madden NFL 16/EA Sports.

Image courtesy of Madden NFL 16/EA Sports.

With all the improved gameplay in Madden NFL 16 surrounding the passing attacks it’s easy to forget about the run game. I mean, Pete Carroll forgot about his running game at the end of the Super Bowl and look at how that worked out for him. With that said, let’s look at top rated rushers in the latest rendition of Madden.

Marshawn Lynch (96 OVR) – Clearly the guys who work on this metrics are Seahawks fans. A 99 Stiff Arm, 98 Trucking, and 89 Strength are for sure close to accurate for one of the leagues elite runners. I do have a hard time swallowing a 94 Juke Move on a guy like Lynch. Also, a 91 ELUS/88 ACC/85 SPD don’t seem to mix with a back in his 30’s that likes to run over people more than he runs around them. Still, Lynch is an elite back and should be a highly ranked player. I wonder if there is a “Interview” stat? I wonder if he’s only part of the game so he doesn’t get fined?

Adrian Peterson (95 OVR) – I take it back. The guys working on the game are not Seattle fans. They are guys in their 30’s who feel like they are not at all past their prime and are propping up running backs as there way of rebelling against aging bodies. It’s not that Peterson doesn’t deserve the 88 Strength and 94 Trucking. The 90 SPD and 92 ELUS have me baffled for a guy who’s been out of football for a year and who is over 30. Peterson could easily come back and be the best back in the league again, however, he could also come back and loose a starting spot before the Minnesota Vikings get a bye-week. The metric guys should have hedged their bets here.

Jamaal Charles (94 OVR) – This rating I agree with. Charles is one of those amazing combinations of skills that are truly rare, and he’s shown he can do the work year after year. You would expect this sort of player to have great numbers across his metrics board, and he does. A 97 Juke, 94 Spin, and 86 Catching. That catching number is the highest you are going to see for a running back, showing off what a spectacular dual threat he is. Pair it up with 92 SPD/92 ACC/98 AGI and you’ve got your self a truly elite back.

DeMarco Murray(94 OVR) – This is a really tough one to gauge. If you based the Murray metrics entirely on the performance from last year the numbers here are pretty accurate. A 96 Trucking, 97 Stiff Arm, 95 ELUS, and 94 Spin Move are all about what I saw from Murray last year. I feel like the 89 SPD/91 ACC/98 AGI is inflated as there is no way Murray is just a hair slower than Charles and Peterson. Murray had a hard time outrunning linebackers at various points throughout the season. Where this rating fails is the fact that no rusher has ever been successful after carrying the ball as many times as Murray did this past season. Also, he’s injury prone, and that doesn’t seem to factor into the ratings. I’ve said publicly that I don’t see Murray breaking 1,000 yards this season, and was hoping the ratings would have reflected that.

Le’Veon Bell (94 OVR) – The ratings here makes just about perfect sense. Bell showed elite level running last year and the metrics reflect that, along with some expected growth. A league best 99 Carrying coupled with 83 Catching makes him a very reliable backfield presence. The burst and wiggle are there with 88 SPD/95 ELUS/97 JKM. I actually think is 84 Trucking number is a little on the low side, but overall the rating here is really sound.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

To Top