Hey Madden fans! This was one of the biggest weeks of the Madden Ultimate Team season with both the release of Team of the Year and the beginning of Season 4. This week’s top 10 list is focused on the best players that were revealed on EA's stream Wednesday night, which includes players that can’t be earned yet.
Top 10 Team of the Year and Season 4 Players in MUT 23
1. 99 OVR John Madden (LT)
It was quite a surprise to all of us to see Coach Madden for the first time in the game as a player. EA really delivered on this one. If you pick up Madden, you won’t need to touch your left tackle for the rest of the season. He’s the first lineman to get Secure Protector (0 AP) and Threat Detector (1 AP) for just 1 AP total. He has 99 awareness and nearly perfect blocking ratings. Madden gets team chemistry for all 32 NFL teams and Legends chemistry. You can earn him by completing his set which requires any two 98 OVR TOTY Champions or Honorable Mention players. You also get two 98 OVR TOTY players back as BND items.
2. 99 OVR Calvin Johnson (WR)
If you check out Calvin Johnson’s abilities section on his database page, it’s basically a wall of discounts. For his 0 AP ability, you get to choose from Deep Out Elite, Red Zone Threat, Short In Elite, Short Out Elite, and Slot-O-Matic. You can then combine it with 1 AP options like Route Technician, Honorary Lineman, WR Apprentice, and more. There are way too many combinations to list here. Calvin is 6’5” with 98 speed, top-end receiver ratings everywhere, and he gets Legend chemistry and team chemistry for every NFL team. He starts at 91 OVR and you can max him out once you hit level 50 on the Season 4 Field Pass.
3. 99 OVR Trevon Diggs (CB)
Diggs is another player that’s completely free, but it will take a while to earn him. He is unlocked at level 71 of the Season 4 Field Pass. Like Calvin, EA just threw a pile of discounted abilities at him. You can build him as a zone corner with something like Pick Artist, Flat Zone KO, and Deep Out Zone KO. You could run him in a man coverage scheme instead with Pick Artist and Inside Shade. Both of these setups are 2 AP each. Diggs can do it all, but it will be interesting to see what other CBs look like by the time we are able to unlock Diggs.
4. 98 OVR Josh Allen (QB)
Josh Allen was getting a lot of attention before Ken Stabler was released later in the day yesterday. If you missed out on Stabler, Allen is one of the best options at QB right now. He has 94 speed, 99 throw power, 99 throw power, 99 break sack, and 99 break tackle. Allen can equip Hot Route Master (2 AP), Set Feet Lead (1 AP), and Fearless (1 AP) for 4 AP total. He has the Slinger 4 release animation which is one of the best.
5. 98 OVR Jalen Ramsey (CB)
Ramsey is very similar to Trevon Diggs. He doesn’t have quite as many ability discounts, but he can run both of the combinations for man and zone we discussed for Diggs for the same AP cost. He also has 95 hit power which is exceptional at the cornerback position. Ramsey has 98 speed, 98 man coverage, 97 zone coverage, and 98 jumping. He’s going to excel in any defensive scheme.
6. 98 OVR Trent Williams (LT)
Trent Williams would be getting more attention right now if he weren’t outshined by John Madden. Other than Madden, Trent is the only player in the game that gets Secure Protector for 0 AP. He has 99 awareness with 98 run block and 96 pass block. Unfortunately, Madden and Williams are both left tackles and neither player gets a secondary position, so you’ll lose chemistry if you run one of them out of position.
7. 98 OVR Nick Bosa (RE)
Bosa is one of the best pass-rushers in the game. He gets Double or Nothing for 0 AP and Edge Threat Elite for just 1 AP. If you play the CPU, this combination will absolutely dominate. The downside is that most of your human opponents are running Edge Protector or Secure Protector to counter this. Parsons is another great pass-rusher in Team of the Year, but we ultimately went with Bosa for this spot due to the fact he has the better pass-rush traits and ratings.
8. 98 OVR Justin Tucker (K)
We know most of you aren’t getting excited about a kicker, but it’s hard to imagine a better kicker than TOTY Tucker. He has the biggest boot in the game with 99 kick power. When kicker abilities actually work as intended, he gets great discounts too.
9. 98 OVR Tyreek Hill (WR)
Tyreek is the first player with 99 stock speed of MUT 23, so you don’t need a theme team to get him to max speed. He also has 98 acceleration, 98 agility, and 99 change of direction. Tyreek gets Short In Elite for 0 AP along with Short Out Elite and Grab-N-Go for 1 AP each.
10. 98 OVR Patrick Surtain II (CB)
Surtain is yet another great cornerback that made the list. He's 6'2" with 98 speed, 98 man coverage, 96 zone coverage, and 99 press. He gets Pick Artist for 0 AP just like every relevant CB at this point, along with the following meta abilities for just 1 AP each: Acrobat, Deep Out Zone KO, Deep Route KO, Medium Route KO, and Mid Zone KO. Based on how his ability slots are laid out, you'll almost be able to pick any two of those.
Give Us Your Feedback
This was one of our most difficult lists for several reasons. Obviously, we don’t have a ton of reps with these players or against them since we had to lock in our picks the same day these players were released. Some of them aren’t even obtainable yet. Also, there wasn’t a huge gap in the quality of Team of the Year players. There were probably 20 players that could have reasonably made this list. We would love to hear where you disagree with us most and what you would have done differently.
Thanks again to Hurc and Hodgey of the MUT.GG Discord server along with PIHCAM and TreyThomas of Huddle.gg for their analysis that led to this list.
I hope you have a great weekend!
