Madden 24 is now available through an early release special and like all football fans, the first thing we’re doing here at Vikings Central is playing the game as our favorite team. About midway through the first quarter as the purple and gold, I started to think back to all the Madden games I’ve played before. This brought up a great question: what would a Vikings team look like with the top Madden players from each position from different editions of the game?
Luckily, this was a question that could be answered with a bit of internet sleuthing. I looked back at each edition of Madden to find out the players that were highest rated at each position throughout the years and pulled together a roster that would make John Madden himself proud. Here is the Vikings All-Madden team.
Offense
QB:
- Daunte Culpepper, 98 overall – Madden 06
RB:
- Adrian Peterson, 99 overall –Madden NFL 25
FB:
- Jim Kleinsasser, 92 overall – Madden 06
WR:
- Justin Jefferson, 99 overall – Madden 24
- Randy Moss, 98 overall – Madden 03
- Adam Thielen, 94 overall – Madden 20
- Stefon Diggs, 93 overall –Madden 20
TE
- TJ Hockenson, 90 overall – Madden 24
LT
- Bryant McKinnie, 96 overall – Madden 09
LG
- Steve Hutchinson, 98 overall – Madden 07
C
- Matt Birk, 96 overall – Madden 05
RG
- Randall McDaniel, 99 overall – Madden 99
RT
- Phil Loadholt, 90 Overall – Madden 15
Three Takeaways:
- Going into my research I had a pretty good idea of some players that would top the list, but I was surprised at the best ranking of certain offensive players. For example, I was surprised that Culpepper was rated as high as a 98 overall in Madden 06. I was also surprised that for all his success, Randy Moss never received a 99 overall with the Vikings.
- Another surprise was the strength of the Vikings offensive line. I was especially impressed given the weakness of the position group for the past decade. With no player ranked lower than 90 overall, the All-Madden Vikings offensive line is actually of the stronger position groups on the entire roster.
- Narrowing down the receiver pool was the most challenging task of the entire team-building process. Since the launch of Madden, the Vikings have been blessed with an embarrassment of riches at the WR position. With Jefferson and Moss as locks to make the team, pro bowlers like Sydney Rice and Percy Harvin were left off. Surprisingly, Chris Carter also did not make the roster as he was toward the end of his career as the modern version of Madden came into development.
Defense
DE
- Jared Allen, 99 overall – Madden 11
DT
- Kevin Williams, 97 overall –Madden 08
- Pat Williams, 98 overall – Madden 09
DE
- Everson Griffin, 92 overall – Madden 19
OLB
- Napoleon Harris, 88 overall – Madden 06
- Chad Greenway, 90 overall – Madden 12
MLB
- EJ Henderson, 92 overall – Madden 09
CB
- Antione Winfield, 93 overall – Madden 06
- Xavier Rhodes, 92 overall – Madden 19
FS
- Harrison Smith, 97 overall –Madden 19
SS
- Robert Grifith, 90 overall – Madden 02
K
- Ryan Longwell, 96 overall – Madden 12
P
- Mitch Berger, 93 overall – Madden 02
Three Takeaways:
- As expected, the All-Madden Vikings defensive line is terrifying. The position group is arguably the franchise’s strongest in real life and the game matches that fact. The big surprise of the group is the Pat Williams is ranked higher than Kevin Williams, despite Kevin being the more heralded of the two in real life.
- The Vikings’ weakest position group on the roster is most likely linebacker. While I wouldn’t have picked that before diving in, after my research it actually makes sense. The Vikings have had decent players at the position over the last 30 years, but few All-Pro level players.
- Eric Kendricks must have bullied some EA developers as a child. That’s the only explanation I can think of as to how he was snubbed so terribly over his career. In real life, Kendricks has earned All-Pro honors, but in Madden he’s only broken the 90 overall threshold once.