Saquon Barkley chosen for cover of Madden 26

[MJS]

That was an incredible hurdle for sure and he had a heck of a season. Good for him.

 

Do they ever put defensive players on the cover? I seem to remember Troy Polamalu was on it once?

[Doc Brown]

1 hour ago, HardyBoy said:

 

The Giants don't belong anywhere close to that list in my opinion

They have the worst record of the three the last two years.  Eating $22.1m in dead cap for Daniel Jones this year.  Counting on Russell Wilson.  Yikes.

Edited yesterday at 01:48 AM by Doc Brown

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

4 hours ago, Jerome007 said:

Dude is impressive, always has been, and his backwards hurdle was crazy. But the Eagles OLinemen have a LOT to say about how good he was. He wasn't bad or washed with the Giants, just no good OLine for him then. And Josh is no doubt the MVP.

 

Idk. You don’t rush for 2K unless you are supremely talented and I don’t recall anyone coming close to those numbers w/ that current Eagles line. And he did so after their HOF center retired. 

[Simon]

12 hours ago, Walking Tall said:

Deserved. Guy is a stud.

 

And one of the genuinely best kids in the NFL as well.

[Buffalo716]

3 hours ago, MJS said:

That was an incredible hurdle for sure and he had a heck of a season. Good for him.

 

Do they ever put defensive players on the cover? I seem to remember Troy Polamalu was on it once?

Ray Lewis iirc I think Richard Sherman too

[HardyBoy]

6 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

They have the worst record of the three the last two years.  Eating $22.1m in dead cap for Daniel Jones this year.  Counting on Russell Wilson.  Yikes.

 

They've recently enough won super bowls and they basically have had one qb somewhat bust after having Eli Manning for an entire generation.

 

The Jets and the Browns though...

 

The Giants are also going through an active rebuild and used their worst record two seasons ago to draft Neighbors who looks like he has the chance to be a hall of fame receiver.

 

The Jets and the Browns though...the Browns?!

 

 

[Doc Brown]

33 minutes ago, HardyBoy said:

 

They've recently enough won super bowls and they basically have had one qb somewhat bust after having Eli Manning for an entire generation.

 

The Jets and the Browns though...

 

The Giants are also going through an active rebuild and used their worst record two seasons ago to draft Neighbors who looks like he has the chance to be a hall of fame receiver.

 

The Jets and the Browns though...the Browns?!

 

 

I wasn't factoring history because of course the Giants are way more successful of a franchise than the Jets and Browns.  I was talking about present and future outlook.  Nabers and Carter should be elite but it doesn't matter until they get their QB.  Not a Jaxon Dart fan.  It seems the Eagles and Redskins are the cream of the crop of that division for the next few years.

[HardyBoy]

1 hour ago, Doc Brown said:

I wasn't factoring history because of course the Giants are way more successful of a franchise than the Jets and Browns.  I was talking about present and future outlook.  Nabers and Carter should be elite but it doesn't matter until they get their QB.  Not a Jaxon Dart fan.  It seems the Eagles and Redskins are the cream of the crop of that division for the next few years.

 

So it's Nabers eh? Lol, thanks for correcting me gently on that one 😅 

 

So basically you're doing the in the moment QB Purgatory rankings...you think those are the top three (in a bad way) teams?

[ShakAttack]

Think we all know what the cover image is going to be as well. I’d be shocked with Anything other than the “backwards hurdle” 

[The Jokeman]

16 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

Poor Joe Schoen.  It's why he should've traded Barkley as soon as he got there to another team with a terrible offensive line.  Who has it worse?  Jets, Giants, or Browns fans.

Jets as what do they have at QB? Justin Fields to me has shown he isn't starting material.  At least the Giants have hope Dart and the Browns have hope with Shadeur and Gabriel. 

[ShakAttack]

7 hours ago, Buffalo716 said:

Ray Lewis iirc I think Richard Sherman too

Also Troy Polallamalamu

[HereComesTheReignAgain]

The hurdle was cool and all, but it is so overhyped.  He already had the first down and only gained a couple yards after the move.  It wasn't a move to get a vital first down.  It didn't precede a long run or TD.  It was a between the legs dunk when a layup would have produced the same result.

[DapperCam]

15 hours ago, Jerome007 said:

Dude is impressive, always has been, and his backwards hurdle was crazy. But the Eagles OLinemen have a LOT to say about how good he was. He wasn't bad or washed with the Giants, just no good OLine for him then. And Josh is no doubt the MVP.

 

Some of the TDs Barkley scored the holes were so big I could have run through them.

 

Barkley did special things when he got to the second level, but the blocking was really amazing. Compare to Henry, who usually has contact around the line of scrimmage and has to shrug a guy off or drag him for 3-4 yards. Imagine that dude with the Eagles o-line!

[DapperCam]

10 hours ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

Idk. You don’t rush for 2K unless you are supremely talented and I don’t recall anyone coming close to those numbers w/ that current Eagles line. And he did so after their HOF center retired. 

Miles Sanders went from 5 yards per carry, 1300 yards, and 11 TDs with the Eagles to 3.3 yards per carry, 400 yards and 1 TD the next season. 
 

Swift last season had 4.6 yards per carry (1 yard per carry fewer than Barkley), but 100 less touches.

 

I think that shows even mid-tier RBs can put up borderline elite stats with the Eagles o-line. What made Barkley have such a great season is he can beat LBers and DBs to break more long ones, where mid-tier RBs get tackled.

[billsfan714]

Joe Schoen's talks with Mara about Saquon, his worth and his potential replacements on hard knocks will go down in history as some of the dumbest words to ever come out of a GMs mouth.

[dcinmuncie]

19 minutes ago, billsfan714 said:

Joe Schoen's talks with Mara about Saquon, his worth and his potential replacements on hard knocks will go down in history as some of the dumbest words to ever come out of a GMs mouth.

good thing we weren't on hard knocks when doug whaley was gm.

 

i cannot imagine how many idiotic things would have been uttered. 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

On 6/2/2025 at 3:16 PM, Doc Brown said:

Poor Joe Schoen.  It's why he should've traded Barkley as soon as he got there to another team with a terrible offensive line.  Who has it worse?  Jets, Giants, or Browns fans.

Yeah those suffering Giants fans who got to watch the best defensive player in NFL history and see their team win 8 Championships including 4 SuperBowls.  Must be rough to follow the G-men

Jets have a SuperBowl win and a few AFC Championship appearances in this century.  

Nothing can compare to being a Browns fan.  The drive, the fumble, losing your team, and now the worst trade in NFL history.  

[SirAndrew]

46 minutes ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

Yeah those suffering Giants fans who got to watch the best defensive player in NFL history and see their team win 8 Championships including 4 SuperBowls.  Must be rough to follow the G-men

Jets have a SuperBowl win and a few AFC Championship appearances in this century.  

Nothing can compare to being a Browns fan.  The drive, the fumble, losing your team, and now the worst trade in NFL history.  

They’re fine anyways, they just move on to Yankees baseball, and will return when the Giants are good someday. 

[K D]

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/saquon-barkley-hints-that-he-could-retire-as-soon-as-next-year-eagles-star-wants-to-go-out-like-barry-sanders/

 

[Doc Brown]

1 hour ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

Yeah those suffering Giants fans who got to watch the best defensive player in NFL history and see their team win 8 Championships including 4 SuperBowls.  Must be rough to follow the G-men

Jets have a SuperBowl win and a few AFC Championship appearances in this century.  

Nothing can compare to being a Browns fan.  The drive, the fumble, losing your team, and now the worst trade in NFL history.  

I was talking about right now.  You could pry add the Saints fans to that list.  Maybe the Fish fans too.