Madden 19: 9 Best Rookie And Veteran Players By Position
7. Runningback - Saquon Barkley (OVR 82) & Le'Veon Bell (OVR 96)
Coming out of the 2018 Draft in second place is exactly where Barkley sits among rookies, with the second highest rookie overall rating at 82. Already at a higher overall than most starting runningbacks, Barkley has huge potential upside and could develop into one of the stars of the future.
Acceleration, speed and agility all in the 90s makes Barkley a serious threat. He is primarily a running back rather than a catching back as he only has a catcher rating of 72. This does not mean he can’t be successfully used for screen passes and short routes effectively, but its best to focus on the powerhouse style of running similar to the style Leonard Fournette used to tranform the Jaguars organisation.
Barkley is a day one starter and extremely easy to control. When the user manages to understand the burst run concept Madden has introduced, huge plays will soon follow.
Barkley will want to emulate Bell in his NFL career and rightly so. Le’Veon Bell is one of the most dominant, explosive players to hit the halfback role and with his hybrid style of play can double as a receiver creating a duel threat for short route running at an 80 rating.
Any user will want Bell in their team on Madden, which is stark contrast to the real world position he finds himself in where his antics have finally given Pittsburgh reason to question his commitment and integrity over a contract holdout. Contract issues aside, Madden captures Bell's patient wait for a gap to open perfectly, somewhat hesitant to run until an open lane has formed. His patented juke moves sit at 96 and break moves of 92 make it like trying to stop a freight train when he punctures through the o-line. Unless you are coming against the Jag's D, Bell can pretty much trample over any defence around.
Surprisingly, Bell has extremely good stats as a third down runningback when blocking is more often than not the main focus. Bell has a pass block rating of 96 and run block rating of 88, creating a solid pocket for the quarterback when needing a passing play. He is all around one of the best players in the game.