Getting pressure on the quarterback is the key to a good defense in any Madden game. In Madden 17 you will need to be able to quickly identify the best pass rushers to make your team better.
You could be looking at who to select in a fantasy draft, figuring out who to target in Madden Ultimate Team, who to start between 2 pretty even defensive ends, or possibly you are looking to draft a sleeper rookie in franchise mode.
In all of these situations, you will need to know which attributes are important and which can be ignored. We analyze the top 5 most important pass rushing stats (in no particular order) below.
Speed/Acceleration – You want a defensive end or rush linebacker that is able to get to the quarterback quickly if he comes in untouched. High speed ratings and high acceleration ratings will make this happen. The less time the quarterback has to throw, the better chance you will get a sack.
Block Shedding – This attribute determines how well your defender will get off his block. Some say it is only relevant to the run game, but others claim that a high block shed rating will allow you to get after the quarterback faster as well. Either way, a player with a good block shedding rating will make your defense much better.
Finesse Moves – The finesse rating is pretty much exactly as it sounds. How well a player gets around offensive lineman with moves such as a spin. This rating affects things like the spin move or swim move.
Power Moves – A high power move rating will allow you to overpower most offensive lineman. This allows you to over power your opponent with moves such as a bull rush.
Awareness – This attribute gets overlooked so much in Madden games. A high awareness rating essentially makes your guy smarter in Madden 17. He’ll make more plays and it will help with all your other ratings and is something that isn’t too hard to upgrade in connected franchise mode.
Ideally, you will have a combination of all 5 of these attributes.
Most other ratings for defensive ends and rush outside linebackers are just noise and can safely be ignored. What ratings do you look for in your pass rushers? Let us know in the comments section.
I want some hit power too because when he hits the qb I want the ball coming free.
That is completely understandable. Would you substitute hit power for any of the top 5 in this article?
Id sub tackle rating for finesse.
what good is any of these ratings if a player cant wrap up and just bounces off
the ball carrier or cant disengage to make a tackle?
In this case, by the time the offensive player is able to break the tackle, 3 more defenders will be there to wrap him up.
i would combine finesse and power moves, they are usually one or the other, so then you can throw tackle in Or maybe acceleration
Good point. Usually you don’t get someone with both, but there are some that have high ratings in both.
high agility,strength and power move combined cant be stopped. these are the traits i look for in franchise drafts. playing on all madden i had a rookie dt with an overall rating of 72 playing as a de in a 3-4 and destroyed the all time single season sack record. i know thats one of the easier records to break but i did it with ease with a player rated at 72. i think agility is one of the most overlooked ratings in madden but its especially important on defense
I tend to value these same five as well, but I break it up a bit according to where the player is coming from. I like my blindside rushers to have the best speed/acceleration possible and a focus on finesse moves with power moves being replaced by tackling (or hit power if he also has great strength). Anyone rushing from the center or the right side I prefer to have focus a bit more on power moves, replacing finesse moves with hit power or tackling. It may not make much actual difference, I don’t know, but I feel that it matches up better with the typical physical abilities & skill variances of left & right tackles.
What about strength?It never seems to matter in madden but it matters on the field
Play recognition, you can have speed and moves but if you over running plays and out of position every time,none of that does any good.
Play Recognition, and I would only sub it in place for a low Power/Finesse move.
How do my defensive ends rush the quarterback. I play with Miles Garrett and all he do is spin around?