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The Madden NFL series has been around since 1988 and has given gamers the chance to control their favorite players and teams at their fingertips. Over the years, certain stars in the game have become known for their dominance over the virtual gridiron. We’re talking about those overpowered players who were incredibly fun to use and incredibly frustrating to go against. Today, we’re counting down the 10 most unstoppable NFL players in Madden history.
10. Madden NFL ’96 — Barry Sanders
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Through the late 80s and into the 90s, the virtual gridiron was ruled by Bo Jackson who was a dominant force on the wildly popular Tecmo Bowl games. With EA needing its version of Bo, star running back Barry Sanders saw a massive update for Madden NFL ’96. In a more simplistic game than we see today, there weren’t many adjustments available to slow down Sanders. Defensive play-calling wasn’t as sophisticated, and Sanders had much higher ratings than anybody else on the field. He demolished defenses in 16-bit glory.
9. Madden NFL 2003 — Marshall Faulk
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Madden NFL 2003 cover athlete Marshall Faulk was the quintessential do-it-all back. Faulk is one of just three players in NFL history to record over 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving in the same season. On Madden, a skilled user could double that output. Faulk had no weaknesses in his skill set in the 2003 version. This was also around the peak of the “spin” move being exceptionally overpowered in the game. Even if the defense sold out to try and stop Faulk, they’d have no luck stopping the rest of the “Greatest Show on Turf” offense.
8. Madden NFL 2005 — Ray Lewis
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Madden NFL 05 finally gave some love to the defense. Introducing the “hit stick” allowed big hitters to jar the football free with devastating tackles. Of course, the biggest beneficiary of this addition was the most feared defender in the league, Ray Lewis. The Baltimore linebacker was essentially a heat-seeking torpedo on the field. He was just as fast as most offensive players, and typically twice as strong. It also helped that the rest of the Ravens’ defense was elite. Good luck trying to move the ball on a defense that featured Ed Reed, Chris McCallister, and Terrell Suggs.
7. Madden NFL 09 — Chris Johnson
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A player is undoubtedly overpowered when users pick a team solely to use that player. The Tennessee Titans weren’t an exceptionally stacked team in Madden NFL 09. The only reason people picked the Titans was to use star running back Chris Johnson. The East Carolina product famously set an NFL Combine record with a 4.24 40-yard dash. In his second season with the Titans, Johnson became the sixth player ever to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season. Speed has always been king in Madden and Johnson was a few steps faster than anybody he took the field with.
6. Madden NFL 21 — Tyreek Hill
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As we mentioned with Chris Johnson, speed has always been a vital attribute in Madden. This one rating has allowed players who didn’t find much success in the NFL to be completely overpowered. Think of guys like John Ross, Dri Archer, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Taylor Mays, and others who were mediocre NFL players but incredibly fun to use on the video game. Tyreek Hill is an example of what happens when a legitimate speedster is also one of the best players in the league. Running go routes to Hill when he was still on the Chiefs was an automatic touchdown every time.
5. Madden NFL 06 — Peyton Manning
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Madden NFL 06 saw one of the most controversial mechanics added to the game — the QB ‘vision cone’. In an effort to bolster pocket passers, EA implemented a feature that rewarded elite quarterback play. The ‘cone’ was meant to represent a QBs eyes. Throws made outside of the cone were assessed a major accuracy penalty. This seemed like an obvious attempt to weaken scramblers. A low-rated player’s cone may have appeared as merely a sliver. While an all-time great passer, such as Peyton Manning, could essentially see the entire field.
4. Madden NFL 20 — Lamar Jackson
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Lamar Jackson’s play style is a perfect fit for the virtual gridiron. Not only does he have great speed and elusiveness, but he’s also an accurate passer with elite arm strength. Combining all of those skills was more than enough to make him unstoppable on Madden. However, EA took it a step further with the introduction of ‘player abilities’. These were unique augments granted to the best players in the league. Jackson was given an ability titled ‘Escape Artist’ which gave him increased speed scrambling out of the pocket. QB scrambles have long been a staple in Madden. ‘Escape Artist’ made Jackson impossible to stop.
3. Madden NFL 08 — Devin Hester
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Continuing the theme of ‘speed’, no player has ever achieved the level of Devin Hester. The legendary return man received an unfathomable 100-speed rating in Madden NFL 08. No stat had ever gone over 99 up until then. And, nobody has ever reached the century mark in speed ever since. Of course, it made Hester a nightmare to bring down on kickoffs and punts. But, it also made him a viable receiver who could easily take the top off of defenses.
2. Madden NFL 08 — Randy Moss
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Sticking with the 08 version, we have to give some credit to the best receiver in Madden history, Randy Moss. The Hall of Fame receiver wasn’t just one of the fastest players in the game, he was also one of the tallest. Moss’ legendary physical profile was perfectly tailored to excel in video game form. He could outrun just about every DB or snag one-handed catches through traffic. Defending him as a member of the New England Patriots in Madden NFL 08 was almost entirely impossible with Tom Brady tossing him perfect passes.
1. Madden NFL 2004 — Michael Vick
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Was there any other option? Michael Vick in Madden NFL 2004 is easily the most overpowered player in the game’s history. He’s in the argument for the most overpowered athlete in any sports game. He’s on a short list of unstoppable video game characters across any genre. Vick graced the cover of the game after an electric NFL season. Never before had we seen a quarterback as the fastest player on the field. Oh, and if you ever got bored of running away from defenders with ease he was equipped with a cannon of an arm. Vick’s video game form ruined many friendships. Some house rules included banning the Falcons from being used entirely in Madden NFL 2004. That’s how you know Vick was completely overpowered.
