The New Madden 20 QB Scramble Mechanic Is The Biggest Change No One Is Talking About

EA Sports is introducing a new scramble mechanic in Madden 20 that was mostly overlooked by the general gaming media. It makes sense. After all, who really cares about a new scramble mechanic?

At EA Play, developer Clint Oldenburg took to the presentation stage and went over all kinds of new and exciting improvements to Madden 20.

Oldenburg spent a grand total of 16 seconds talking about the new scramble mechanic but don’t let that fool you. Maybe you don’t know it yet, maybe even EA doesn’t know it yet, but the new scramble/pull down mechanic will have broad implications for how Madden 20 will be played.

Here is the exact quote for those that weren’t able to watch:

“The first is the new scramble mechanic or pull down mechanic. What this does is gives you the ability on a passing play to pull down the passing icons with a button press, become a ball carrier with full access to all the spin moves, juke moves, ball carrier moves, and then you can bring back your icons with the same button press and throw it at any time. It makes any quarterback a dual threat.”

Lets take a quick look at a few Madden 20 gameplay clips of the much improved QB mobility.

Looks awesome right? It could be a nightmare to defend, especially if you find yourself in a matchup against Lamar Jackson or Michael Vick in Madden 20 Ultimate Team, but all in all it looks like a fun time.

We don’t yet have any details on exactly what button you press to toggle the passing icons on/off but that is a minor detail that really isn’t all that important.

Depending on how you feel, this could be awesome or it could be a huge concern.

In the marketing department approved clips that the Madden developers shared with us at EA Play, the quarterback scrambles were reasonable even if slightly unrealistic.

The reality of what happens in actual online games of Madden between 2 elite level users 4 months into a Madden season isn’t as clean as the vetted clips that we were shown. Plays in these games can get ridiculous and even somewhat outrageous.

Some of the plays we’d see in Madden 19 with quarterbacks were outrageous (not to mention mind-numbingly frustrating for defenses). And that all happened while QBs were artificially slowed down (with no RB moves) anytime they were behind the line of scrimmage.

Given the new QB scramble mechanic, who knows what we will now end up seeing. Just think about combining that with Patrick Mahomes’ no look pass/throw across his body with perfect precision X-Factor ability.

Madden 15 was the last time quarterbacks had their regular speed in the backfield and weren’t artificially slowed down. You couldn’t spin or juke but EA Sports did introduce the evade stick which helped quarterbacks avoid potential sacks.

Obviously, a full arsenal of running back moves like juke, spin, stiff arm, etc are a lot more powerful than an evade stick so this is just a starting point of what can be done. Expect quarterbacks in Madden 20 to be a lot more powerful.

Let’s take a look at a few clips graciously shared with us from the YouTube account of longtime Madden School supporter, Dannysbest559.

I bet you didn’t click into this article expecting to see Colin Kaepernick absolutely shred the San Diego Chargers but here we are.

Random side thought: And they said that the crossbody no-look passes with perfect accuracy were a new feature added to Madden 20. Surprise! It was in the game 5 years ago.

Lets take a look at another clip showing a young Derek Carr making the Cowboys defense look silly.

Depending on how you view Madden, the 2 clips above could either be awesome or incredibly cheesy.

This type of QB play is something we can reasonably expect in Madden NFL 20. QB contains are designed in a way that will be very effective at keeping the quarterback in the pocket this year but will not provide much pressure at all.

A good Madden player will be able to identify a defense with QB Contain assignments right away and then make a decision to just stay in the pocket and pick apart the defense.

If the defense doesn’t have QB contains, you’ll be able to use your quarterback to scramble around and make plays like the ones above.

What are your thoughts on quarterbacks having full speed and all of the classic running back moves behind the line of scrimmage? Let’s play “Lit or Nah” QB Scramble Edition in the comment section below.

Check out all the recent updates and information in our Madden 20 news center.