There are tons of individual ratings for wide receivers in Madden 16. Many of them are useless, some have a minor effect, and a couple of them are very important. A wide receiver’s pass block attributes may effect his overall rating but in terms of actual gameplay it serves no purpose whatsoever.
Below, we go over 3 rating attributes that stand out from the rest in Madden NFL 16.
Spectacular Catch
Spectacular catch is the hardest catching skill to upgrade in connected franchise mode. Many newer Madden NFL gamers will focus exclusively on the catch attribute while ignoring spec catch and catch in traffic. That is a huge mistake. Just about any wide receiver in the game will catch a pass when he is wide open. It doesn’t matter much whether he has a 60 catch rating or a 99 catch rating. The majority of plays you will want your receiver to make will involve a spectacular catch animation, so make sure you have a wide receiver that has it.
Speed
Speed is the #1 attribute that all pro Madden gamers look for. If a wide receiver doesn’t have speed, he won’t be all that effective (outside of mega studs like Larry Fitzgerald). Any experienced Madden gamer would take an 99 speed receiver that is only 85 overall instead of an 85 speed receiver that is 99 overall. If you can’t get separation, you can’t make plays. Like the spectacular catch attribute, the speed rating takes a lot of work to improve in a connected franchise.
Height
Looking back on the most dominant wide receivers in Madden history, you don’t think of wide receivers like Wes Welker. The guy is awesome on Sundays and has great ratings in Madden, but because of his height he isn’t as dominant as he should be. Guys who have made an impact and been truly dominant in Madden games are the Randy Moss or Calvin Johnson type that possess the Spectacular Catch, Speed, and Height combination. Height cannot be upgraded ever within connected franchise mode so keep that in mind when choosing players in franchise or Ultimate Team.
If you can get a wide receiver with at least 2 out of the 3 of these attributes in Madden 16, you will have a dangerous passing game. What other attributes do you look for in wide receivers?