This week's Ultimate Legends are Willie Anderson, Rodney Harrison, and LTD Shannon Sharpe. You can earn Willie Anderson and Rodney Harrison through sets, but the LTD Shannon Sharpe will only be available in packs for 48 hours. You can see all of the versions of these Ultimate Legends and their full ratings below:
Shannon Sharpe
Willie Anderson
Rodney Harrison
What do you think of these Ultimate Legends?
Tonight, 32 of the best players in Madden will be competing for a winner-take-all prize of $1,000 live on Twitch. Who do you think has what it takes to win it all?
What: Friday Night Football, sponsored by Grubhub
When: Friday (5/24) at 8:00PM ET
Where: Watch on https://www.twitch.tv/mutheadtv
Bracket: https://challonge.com/muthead_fnf_16
Drops: Yes
Giveaways: Every hour
Want some insight into what it takes to win one of these tournaments? Check out our Friday Night Film Study below:
With $1,000 on the line, make sure to tune in tonight at 8PM ET to see who will be crowned this week's FNF Champion. Don't forget to use the code TOUCHDOWN to get $10 off your first Grubhub order!
This morning EA released Fan Appreciation, which includes 10 solo challenges that lead to a NAT 99 OVR JuJu Smith-Schuster. These solos are only available until May 27th. There are also some special deals in the Store.
You can see JuJu Smith-Schuster's full ratings here:
What do you think about this new JuJu Smith-Schuster item?
During their Gameplay Deep Dive stream EA brought on Game Designer Anthony White to talk about playbook improvements, RPOs, and trick plays in Madden 20. This article will cover the highlights, but make sure to check out the full stream here.
Run/Pass Options, or RPOs, are something that the Madden community has been asking for as they've become more popular in the NFL. This year, EA delivered by adding over 200 RPOs into the game (with more to come as the year goes on).
There are three main types of RPOs in Madden 20:
Peek RPO. The Peek RPO is very similar to a read option. After the snap you "peek" at a conflict defender and try to decide whether to hand the ball off to the HB or pass to a wide receiver. In Peek RPOs, the quarterback is not a ballcarrier.
Read RPO. The Read RPO is just like the current triple option. You'll have the ability to hand off to a HB, take off with the QB, or pass to a wide receiver.
Alert RPO. The Alert RPO is based on pre-snap reads. The offense will have the ability to run the play in different ways depending on what you see before you snap the football. These plays can transform from hand-offs to smoke screens, bubble screens, or lookies (quick slants) depending on your formation.
Anthony White talked about how playbooks will be very dependent on the team and how they run their offenses in real life. The Patriots playbook might not have a lot of RPOs, but teams like the Eagles and Chiefs will.
Another thing mentioned was that each teams' playbooks will more closely resemble their real-life counterpart. The LA Rams, for example, will no longer have an I-Form formation, and instead all of their under-center plays will be some version of a singleback set. This type of attention to detail (and the ability to update playbooks throughout the year) should expand the meta and allow for a variety of offenses to find success in Madden 20.
One more thing worth noting is that EA has updated the tech they use to coordinate handoffs in Madden 20. They now have the ability to involve multiple players, which opens up the possibility for improved jet sweeps, reverses, and even trick plays like the Philly Special.
Look for RPOs, jet sweeps, and trick plays to play a much bigger role in Madden 20 than ever before.
After watching EA's Gameplay Deep Dive stream, which change are you most excited about in Madden 20?
EA Sports just announced a ton of gameplay improvements, including many legacy fixes that users have been asking about for years. In this article we'll go over some of the changes and how they could impact you in Madden 20. For a complete breakdown of everything EA has announced, make sure to check out their livestream here.
One of the first things that Clint Oldenburg mentioned was improvements to the passing trajectory. In the past, the ball would leave the quarterback's hand and travel at a trajectory so low that defenders who were nowhere near the landing spot would still be able to make the interception. This year, the ball will travel higher and slower, which should make for more realistic feeling throws.
Alongside the trajectory changes are limits to the lurking linebackers and their ability to jump up to intercept passes. Now, if a defender is a certain distance away from the landing spot he won't be able to reach the ball as it goes over his head. Instead, you'll get an animation of the defender jumping for the ball but coming up short, as well as some in-game feedback that will give you an explanation of what happened.
Here are some other gameplay changes that EA mentioned:
Pump Fakes. In Madden 20, pump fakes will matter a lot more than ever before. Double-tapping a receiver's icon will pump fake toward that receiver, allowing you the ability to control who your QB is pump faking toward. On certain double-moves there will be a window in which the pump fake has an increased chance at getting the defender to jump the route early. Some quarterbacks (like Ben Roethlisberger) will have a pump fake Superstar Ability that will make their pump fakes even more powerful.
Refactored QB Pressure Penalties. EA has changed the way pressuring the quarterback affects their ability to make passes. Pressure will have a higher impact than before, but better quarterbacks will have the ability to resist pressure and still make accurate throws. In-game feedback, which we'll talk about more below, is much improved, and the reasons your throws are accurate or inaccurate will be more clearly explained in Madden 20 than they are this year.
Rushed Get Ups. Players who fall down with the football but who haven't been touched down (like on a diving fumble recovery), will finally have the logic to get up quickly to try and continue the play. It's worth noting that offensive linemen will not have this advanced logic and will still get up slowly in these situations.
Fast to Fun. One of the goals EA had for Madden 20 was to make it "more playing, less watching." The way they achieved this was by shortening pre and post-play cut scenes, including completely removing the huddle break and ensuing jog to the line of scrimmage. Now, after you call your play, you'll be at the line of scrimmage with your players already in their positions. The play-clock and accelerated clock features have been tuned to account for this change.
On-field Trainer. In-game feedback has been changed to be more dynamic, informative, and helpful. The game will learn your tendencies and suggest ways that you can improve by teaching you features that you either don't know about or don't use often. The in-game feedback system is much more comprehensive than ever before and will give you real-time feedback on what you're doing right and wrong.
Playcall Screen. The playcall screen in Madden 20 has been changed to include information like who your Superstars are and what their abilities are. This will make it easier for users to get their best players involved in crucial situations.
Which of the gameplay improvements that EA mentioned during their stream are you most looking forward to testing out in Madden 20?