Offense
Quarterbacks
The QB position is the most important position in Madden, hands down. I’ve got five top quarterbacks ranked in the 2005 PTF draft pool. I think general consensus is that Alex Smith, Derek Anderson and Aaron Rodgers are all potentially elite QB’s pre-skew. Alex Smith is 22 years old 71 AWR, 87 THP, and 86 THA. Derek Anderson is 24 years old with 65 AWR, 92 THP, and 93 THA and Aaron Rodgers is 23 years old with 63 AWR, 95 THP and 80 THA. Teams will need to decide whether they favor the younger Alex Smith or the older but better thrower in Anderson. Two other quarterbacks I think are worth mentioning: David Greene and Andrew Walter. Greene is 23 years old 56 AWR, 89 THP, and 85 THA and Andrew Walters is 22 years old 6‘6“, 55 AWR, 88 THP, and 87 THA. Again, all of this is pre-skew. There would be a couple other of guys that I would have my eye on as well depending on the skew.
Running Backs
The RB class is not all that impressive. I have five guys highlighted here as well. Probably most teams will be focused Frank Gore who is 22 years old, 212 lbs., 95 SPD, 67 STR, 91 AGI, 99 ACC, 80 CAR, and 80 BTK. Maurice Clarette is also intriguing to me. He’s 234 lbs., 91 SPD, 91 AGI, 97 and ACC, but he has some major flaws and then you have guys like Ronnie Brown, who are good overall but lack strength like Clarette. Brandon Jacobs is potentially one worth taking a flyer on as he is 6’4, 264 lbs. and quite strong. At 246 lbs., Eric Shelton is another guy worth potentially looking at.
Fullbacks
The FB class is always a small class in Madden. There is one player that would be a decent interest to me and his name is Rick Razzano. He’s 6’3” 227 lbs. with good speed strength and above average agility and acceleration. However, he only has 41 AWR. I’m just not sure how functional that can be. The other four fullbacks in the class simply lack the athleticism to be taken seriously.
Wide Receivers
The WR class is one of the strongest positions in the draft. I think part of this comes from the fact that the original rosters lacked talent at the position other than AWR and CTH. And so the draft classes that we’ve been going through haven brought additional size and speed to the overall rosters. This year’s class will be no different. By my count, there are at least nine wide receivers of interest and that does not include at least one wide receiver, who is mocked to go in the first round that is not on my list. You can probably add to that another two or three wide receivers that will skew up and become valuable for teams. I also think, to a certain degree, GM’s have done a really good job of utilizing different types of wide receivers to enhance overall offensive production. I would think that we’re gonna see at least 12 wide receivers taken in the first three rounds. I don’t know how many will go in round one, but this will be one of the main positions emphasized in the early rounds of the draft.
Tight Ends
The TE position does not have the elite level talent like we’ve seen in previous years. I have four guys on my short list. All of them have flaws. It’s hard to know how other GM’s will evaluate these tight ends and also what happens to these tight ends in the skew. Several of them could be really good if they receive a favorable skew, particularly in agility and acceleration. Those tight ends that I’m referring to include Patrick Estes, who’s a monster, Heath Miller and Alex Smith. One other tight end to keep an eye on is 20-year-old Adam Bergen. Teams that value youth will be paying close attention to Bergen and his skew.
Offensive Tackles
I’m going to separate out the offensive tackle position from offensive guard and center positions since the offensive guards and centers can potentially be interchangeable. One thing that has been clear in the first few seasons of Primetime Football is what GM’s thought of the offensive lineman on the original rosters. The athleticism of those players was subpar to say the least. But you’re seeing as additional classes present themselves an uptick in athleticism. It’s worth noting though that with a lot of these players, athleticism is packaged together with a lack of AWR, PBK, and RBK. So team are having to make the choice between polished players and athletic players. It’s pretty rare that you find both. This class actually offers one of those players who has both in Michael Roos. I would say he is a top five, at worst top 10 player, in this draft. Some GM’s might not love his age at 23 years old. But he’s off the charts in athleticism and he is a play now, polished blocker. A few other guys to keep your eye on at the position are Jamal Brown, who is another published blocker, but his AGI and ACC are unimpressive. Players like Daniel Loper, Calvin Armstrong and Adam Terry offer the athleticism that teams are looking for, but the AWR that teams are not. It will be interesting to see where those three players go. I do think they all go within the first two rounds.
Offensive Guards & Centers
Because I value AGI and ACC in all offensive lineman, there are only two players that I have highlighted at the guard position. Both of those players still have low agility, but they are athletic pre-skew and have over 80 PBK and over 80 RBK. Those two players are Elton Brown, who is 21 years old 6’5”, and 338 lbs. and Claude Terrell who is 22 years old, 6’2”, and 330 lbs. Maybe there are a few other guys that could potentially skew up, but I just don’t like any of these guys that much. The center position offers what I think are two higher athletic lineman, but again the agility is just unimpressive. Jason Brown and Richie incognito Jr. are the two that would seem of interest to me. I personally don’t think that either should go in round one but incognito might.
Defense
Defensive Ends
I have two players at the DE position highlighted because they are unique players in my mind. I think neither of them are starters. In fact, I think they’re both career backups. It’s one of the worst defensive end classes I have ever seen. There are only two players that have over 80 ACC. Cameron Wake is one of those players. But he has 26 AWR and 55 TAK. I just don’t think many teams are gonna go after that. The other player is Dan Cody who has 39 AWR and 59 TAK. And I don’t think that many teams are gonna be interested in that. This is a historically bad defensive end class. Unless of course, you factor in the outside linebackers, who are potentially eligible to switch to the position.
Defensive Tackles
I have a similar grade on the DT class as I do on the DE class with the exception of the fact there are a few more defensive tackles who might actually be able to play in the league. I have two DT’s highlighted: Jonathan Babineaux and Anthony Bryant. Bryant goes 360 lbs. with really good athleticism so I tend to think he is going to go in round one. I’m not as sure about Babineaux, who lacks the strength that most teams look for.
Outside Linebackers
The OLB position could be sneaky good in this draft, but you just never know because there is such a wide variance in the speed skew. I mentioned earlier that there may be a couple of players here that would be candidates to be moved to defensive end. Two individuals in particular are Shawn Merriman and Demarcus Ware. I suspect both of these players skew up. Merriman needs maybe a little more speed and Ware needs substantially more acceleration. I think both could happen, in which case you have two stud defensive ends. As far as the players that will need to play at the outside linebacker position, preskew, Lorenzo Alexander looks elite except for the TAK, but I think you can overlook that. And then you have guys like Derrick Johnson, Nick Speegel and Brady Poppinga to just name a few.
Middle Linebackers
The MLB class has some athleticism and sneaky good hands. However, it lacks the size that you would hope for in a star caliber MLB. Alfred Fincher is probably the best MLB pre-skew then you have guys like Pat Thomas, Lofa Tatupu and Jonathan Goddard. All four could be significant contributors and Fincher could be a star.
Cornerbacks
The CB class reminds me exactly of what I said about the WR class just on the defensive side of the ball. Relative to the strength of the current roster at the position, this CB class is going to be an upgrade. I’ve got no less than 14 players highlighted in the class with a couple of more depending on the skew that could be really good adds. At the top of this class for me would be Ron Bartell, Antonio Perkins and Brandon Browner. The first two have superior athletic profiles. Browner is 6’4” with 72 CTH. I think all three of those guys, assuming their skews don’t take them down, are first round caliber. I also think Mike Hawkins probably makes it in the first round too, it’s just going be one of those drafts at the position.
Free Safeties
FS is an intriguing position in this draft class. Will a team take a gamble on an uber-elite athletic free safety who is only 5’8”? Jim Leonhard is that guy and he profiles really well in athleticism ,assuming that he doesn’t get slaughtered in the skew. And then you have other, safer bets like Justin Beriault, Kurt Campbell, Kerry Rhodes, and Gerald Sensabaugh. One more guy to mention here is Vincent Fuller. He’s 21 years old, 6‘1“ 92 SPD, 99 AGI, and 96 ACC but he only has 38 AWR.
Strong Safeties
The SS class in my mind has two guys as potentially starter worthy: Andre Maddox is one. However he’s 24 years old so I’m pretty confident no one is gonna touch him until probably at least round three. Then there is Antrel Rolle, who is one of the top five players preskew in this draft. He is clearly the best defensive player in this draft and he’s 21 years old. Depends on who wants to draft a safety early, but he is almost certainly going to go in the top 10.
Kickers and Punters
Nobody likes idiot kickers but you need them in this game. Robbie Gould, pre-skew, is looking outstanding with 94 KPW and 93 KPA. Dave Renner also has 96 KPW, but his KAC is 79. You can get that up pretty quickly assuming that the KPW stays where it is. There are only three kickers in this draft so if you need a kicker, there’s just not much to go for. The same can be said for punter. There are only two punters in the class so hopefully most teams have found their punter via free agency or are prepared to go with a punter with 99 KPW and 69 KAC like Reggie Hodges.
Summary
Overall, I really like the draft class. I have liked each of the draft classes that have come out in the PTF. Will and the team have done a really good job of injecting variety and not just immediate studs into the classes. It has really forced GM’s to be thoughtful and resourceful in the building of their rosters. I decided to do a general overview of the draft class as opposed to a mock draft primarily because we have tons of mock drafts and I don’t actually know team needs very well. It’s a little bit easier to just look at the draft class and make some observations. Speaking of which, I’ll leave you with one more observation. After multiple passes through the draft class I have a total of 74 players that are targeted. That’s a pretty decent amount of players targeted compared to previous years. Some of these players are going to skew down. I totally understand that. But there will be players that will skew up that won’t even be on my current radar as well so good solid depth through I think three rounds at least.
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