Madden NFL 26’s 99 Club has one weird omission I just don’t understand.Maddengames assign each player a series of numerical ratings from one to 99, representing their skill in six categories: Speed, Strength, Agility, Change of Direction, Injury, and Awareness.They’re then given an overall rating(OVR) based on these ratings and their overall performance.
The 99 Club is an unofficial group ofMaddenplayers who share just one characteristic:they all have the maximum possible OVR of 99. This is an incredibly exclusive club,with just seven membersthis year - an increase over last year’s six. That said, this year’s list is missing an exceptional player who deserved to make the cut, diversifying the 99 Club while celebrating his own achievements, but he’s sorely missing.
Madden NFL 26’s 99 Club Needs Partrick Surtain II
Surtain Certainly Deserves A Spot
Patrick Surtain II, cornerback for the Denver Broncos, deserves a spot in this year’s 99 Club, but he’s locked into a 97 rating perEA’s rating system.
Surtain is an excellent player - last year’s AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year and the highest paid defensive back in NFL history, he’s certainly earned his keep in the real-life big leagues. But inMadden, he’s a little lower rated than you might expect, with just a 91 in COD, a 90 in AGI, and a 92 in INJ.
That leaves the rest ofMadden26’s 99 Club with a bit of a problem:there’s only one defensive player in the bunch, Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett. There’s no defensive back at all. Adding Surtain to the mix would help diversify the list, making for a
If it started handing out 99 OVRs like candy, they’d become meaningless.
And look, I get it.Madden has to keep the 99 Club small: if it started handing out 99 OVRs like candy, they’d become meaningless. And offensive players do tend to be bigger names that would draw outrage if they were left out of the Club.
Even so,it’d be nice to seeMadden’s ratings highlight a more varied selection of players. Players like Surtain deserve to be ranked among the best in the league.
Everything Else About NFL 26’s 99 Club Looks Great
The 99 Club Is Stacked
Other than this omission, though,Madden 26’s 99 Club is looking pretty great. There’s certainly no shortage of talent, with Eagles RB (andMadden 26cover star) Saquon Barkley heading up the team.
Besides Saquon, Bills QB Josh Allen, Bengals WR Ja’marr Chase, Browns DE Myles Garrett, Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, Vikings WR Justin Jefferson, and Eagles RT Lane Johnson also made the cut for this year’s 99 Club. It’s a great group, representingsome of the best players and strongest teams in the NFL right now.
Of course, some players are disappointed thatnone of last year’s 99 Club members made the cut this year. Even so, it’s hard to blameMadden 26for wanting a little more variety, elevating a new class of athletes to the top rankings.
At the end of the day, though, OVRs don’t really matter all that much. There’s scarcely a difference between a 97 and a 99 anyway, and, depending onwhat mode you play, even a lower-ranked athlete can perform well with the right placement and training. That said, it still hurts whenMadden NFL 26snubs deserving players.
