The 2025 NFL Scouting Combine has concluded, and we finally have some concrete data regarding the new rookies who’ll be debuting in Madden 26. This combine (and their pro days) is the one time that we see how their actual physical metrics compare to those of their fellow rookies and veterans already in the league.
My stance (along with many others) is that Madden is consistently bad at player ratings. It’s been a joke for over a decade and probably longer. They don’t quite know how to depreciate aging stars, they veer away from statistics, they are wildly inconsistent, and it’s so bad they decided to lean into it and create a “Madden rating adjuster hotline” as a marketing gimmick. However, what really ticks me off and is the most egregious failure year after year, in my opinion, is the rookie ratings.
For years now, Madden has decided that being a rookie means you’re subpar at best and complete and utter garbage the rest of the time. Regardless of the hype or accomplishments of a player, Madden will underrate rookies, not just in terms of position-specific traits, which take time in the league to develop, but in general ratings, too.
EA uses a really loose set of guidelines when it comes to these general traits despite there being hard data and numbers to support your numbers. The general ratings are speed, acceleration, strength, agility, awareness, jumping, injury, stamina, and toughness. In this article, we will set awareness, injury, stamina, and toughness to the side and focus on the other five.
These five tools—speed, acceleration, jumping, strength, and agility—are all vigorously tested at the combine. For the players who decide to participate (a lot of stars unfortunately sat this one out, but we’ll get their numbers at their pro days), you get a clear picture of where they are, at least athletically speaking, compared to the rest of the league.
Madden should utilize these numbers and adhere to rigid guidelines to create the ratings consistency the game has lacked.
Perhaps the reason they don’t utilize these numbers more is because it’s hard to compare all the players on the same scale. After all, each position group is unique. That’s a good sentiment, but we live in the real world, and the players don’t get a speed boost just because they weigh 350 pounds. That said, I want to break the participants up, not to grade them on separate scales but rather to highlight the dominant athletes of different sizes. If we didn’t break this up, you would see a lot of sub-200-pound receivers and corners and think that that’s all this draft class has to offer.
This class has impressive prospects of all different shapes and sizes. I will break them down into weight classes like you would see in boxing: lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, and heavyweight. I’ll show you the top 10 performers at a drill among all participants and then the top five performers at each weight class that were not fully represented in the “all players section.”
Let’s take a look at these numbers!
Speed Ratings
Xavier Worthy broke the all-time 40-yard dash record with a 4.21 time last year, and Madden gave him a 98-speed rating, which was ridiculous. He broke the record! Give him a 99, for goodness sake. Anyone who hits or beats a 4.25 should be awarded a 99 overall. It’s only been done three times: Xavier Worthy (4.21), John Ross (4.22), and Chris Johnson (4.24). Of course, Ty Hill deserves a 99-speed rating as well, despite not running a 40-yard dash.
If you take 40-yard dash times as the true measurement of speed (and the NFL tends to do just that), these should be the fastest rookies in next year’s game, and what their speed rating should be (as determined solely by the 40-yard dash time). The scale slides down unevenly to match the typical variance of speeds found in the NFL.
Fastest Of All Players (All Lightweights Under 220 Pounds)
- Maxwell Hairston, CB, Kentucky – 97 speed (4.28)
- Matthew Golden, WR, Texas – 97 speed (4.29)
- Darien Porter, CB, Iowa State – 96 speed (4.30)
- Dont’e Thornton, WR, Tennessee – 96 speed (4.30)
- Bhayshul Tuten, RB, Virginia Tech – 95 speed (4.32)
- Caleb Ransaw, CB, Tulane – 95 speed (4.33)
- Chimere Dike, WR, Florida – 94 speed (4.34)
- Jaylin Lane, WR, Virginia Tech – 94 speed (4.34)
- Jacob Parrish, CB, Kansas State – 94 speed (4.35)
- Zah Frazier, CB, UTSA – 93 speed (4.36)
Fastest Welterweights (220-259 Pounds)
- Nick Emmanwori, S, South Carolina – 93 speed (4.38)
- Kain Medrano, LB, UCLA – 91 speed (4.46)
- Omarion Hampton, RB, North Carolina – 91 speed (4.46)
- James Pearce Jr., EDGE, Tennessee, – 90 speed (4.47)
- Quinshon Judkins, RB, Oklahoma State – 90 speed (4.48)
Fastest Middleweights (260-299 Pounds)
- Shemar Stewart, DE, Texas A&M – 86 speed (4.59)
- Jah Joyner, DE, Minnesota – 86 speed (4.60)
- Jordan Burch, DE/DT, Oregon – 83 speed (4.67)
- Landon Jackson, DE, Arkansas – 83 speed (4.68)
- Ethan Downs, DE, Oklahoma – 83 speed (4.69)
Fastest Heavyweights (300+ pounds)
- Jared Wilson, C, Georgia – 77 speed (4.84)
- Armand Membou, OT, Missouri – 75 speed (4.91)
- Darius Alexander, DT, Toledo – 74 speed (4.95)
- Derrick Harmon, DT, Oregon – 74 speed (4.95)
- Jonah Savaiinaea, OT, Arizona – 74 speed (4.95)
Acceleration Ratings
Acceleration hasn’t been easy to time in the past, but over the last three years, NFL’s Next Gen Stats have been able to calculate a player’s acceleration in yards per second squared by graphing the MPH data onto the time of the 40 to find the maximum increased burst in speed during the run.
In the years that we have acceleration data, safety Millard Bradford has had the best time with 9.21, and only two other players have surpassed 9.00. Only 14 other players ran between 8.99 and 8.00. This year was a big flop when it came to acceleration, with only one player over 7.00
Best Acceleration Of All Players (All Lightweights Under 220 Pounds)
- Marques Sigle, S, Kansas State – 92 ACC (7.12)
- Jason Marshall Jr., CB, Florida – 90 ACC (6.66)
- Arian Smith, WR, Georgia – 89 ACC (6.52)
- Trey Amos, CB, Ole Miss – 89 ACC (6.49)
- Dont’e Thornton, WR, Tennessee – 88 ACC (6.38)
- Darien Porter, CB, Iowa State – 87 ACC (6.31)
- Maxwell Hairston, CB, Kentucky – 86 ACC (6.22)
- Sam Brown Jr., WR, Miami – 85 ACC (6.11)
- Billy Bowman Jr., S, Oklahoma – 85 ACC (6.11)
- Chimere Dike, WR, Florida – 84 ACC (6.08)
Best Acceleration For Welterweights (220-259 Pounds)
- Nick Martin, LB, Oklahoma – 83 ACC (5.96)
- Nick Emmanwori, S, South Carolina – 83 ACC (5.95)
- Francisco Mauigoa, LB, Miami – 81 ACC (5.81)
- Eugene Asante, LB, Auburn – 81 ACC (5.76)
- Carson Bruener, LB, Washington – 80 ACC (5.66)
Best Acceleration For Middleweights (260-299 Pounds)
- Tyler Batty, DE, BYU – 79 ACC (5.71)
- Ethan Downs, DE, Oklahoma – 77 ACC (5.55)
- Sean Martin, DE, West Virginia – 77 ACC (5.47)
- Molokai Matavao, TE, UCLA – 77 ACC (5.47)
- Robbie Ouzts, TE, Alabama – 72 ACC (5.17)
Best Acceleration For Heavyweights (300+ Pounds)
- Eli Cox, C, Kentucky – 82 ACC (5.88)
- Zeke Biggers, DT, Georgia Tech – 77 ACC (5.52)
- Kelvin Banks Jr., OT, Texas – 76 ACC (5.44)
- Josh Conerly Jr., OT, Oregon – 76 ACC (5.44)
- Anthony Belton, OT, North Carolina State – 75 ACC (5.37)
Jumping Ratings
While we know that jumping in Madden usually refers to vertical jumps, I wanted to include the broad jump because it adds a level of data that helps smooth out the edges of these ratings.
Last year, Malik Nabers jumped 42 inches in the vertical and 10 feet nine inches in the broad jump, receiving a 96-jumping rating. This year, we have some guys who can match or even beat that.
Vertical jumps will be listed in the first parentheses in inches, and the broad jumps will be listed in the second parentheses as feet.inches
Best Jumping Of All Players (Mostly Lightweights Under 220 Pounds)
- Nick Emmanwori, S, South Carolina – 98 jumping (43) (11.6)
- Jaylin Noel, WR, Iowa State – 96 jumping (41.5) (11.2)
- Kitan Crawford, S, Nevada – 95 jumping (41.5) (10.8)
- R.J. Mickens, S, Clemson – 94 jumping (41.5) (10.1)
- Sam Brown Jr., WR, Miami – 94 jumping (41.5) (NA)
- Bhayshul Tuten, RB, Virginia Tech – 94 jumping (40.5) (10.10)
- Landon Jackson, DE, Arkansas – 93 jumping (40.5) (10.9)
- Jaylin Lane, WR, Virginia Tech – 93 jumping (40) (11)
- Shemar Stewart, DE, Texas A&M – 92 jumping (40) (10.11)
- Caleb Ransaw, CB, Tulane – 92 jumping (40) (10.9)
Best Jumping Welterweights (220-259 Pounds)
- Nick Emmanwori, S, South Carolina – 98 jumping (43) (11.6)
- Teddye Buchanan, LB, California – 91 jumping (40) (10.5)
- Carson Schwesinger, LB, UCLA – 89 jumping (39.5) (NA)
- Collin Oliver, LB, Oklahoma State – 88 jumping (39) (10.6)
- Terrance Ferguson, TE, Oregon – 87 jumping (39) (10.2)
Best Jumping For Middleweights (260-299 Pounds)
- Landon Jackson, DE, Arkansas – 93 jumping (40.5) (10.9)
- Shemar Stewart, DE, Texas A&M – 92 jumping (40) (10.11)
- Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, DT, Georgia – 81 jumping (36) (10.4)
- Jalin Conyers, TE, Texas Tech – 80 jumping (35.5) (10.1)
- Jahvaree Ritzie, DT, North Carolina – 80 jumping (35.5) (9.6)
Best Jumping For Heavyweights (300+ Pounds)
- Grey Zabel, OL, North Dakota State – 81 jumping (36.5) (9.3)
- Jalen Travis, OT, Iowa State – 78 jumping (35) (9.4)
- Zeke Biggers, DT, Georgia Tech – 77 jumping (34.5) (9.3)
- Josh Conerly Jr., OT, Oregon – 75 jumping (34.5) (8.7)
- Armand Membou, OT, Missouri – 75 jumping (34) (9.7)
Strength Ratings
The bench press isn’t the be-all and end-all of strength. Arm length has a lot to do with it. The longer the arms, the harder the reps are because it’s a longer distance from chest to full extension. Arm length is an important modifier to include to make sure we aren’t supercharging a player’s strength in the game just because they have short little arms.
Andrew Vorhees performed 38 reps with 32-inch arms to receive a 97-strength rating in Madden. Although reps and inches aren’t comparable measurements, combining these two numbers can create a (relatively) fair scale to compare players on.
The first parentheses will include the number of reps completed, and the second parentheses will include their arm length in inches.
Strongest Of All Players (Mostly Heavyweights 300+ Pounds)
- Armand Membou, OT, Missouri – 93 strength (31) (33.5)
- Luke Kandra, OG, Cincinnati – 93 strength (33) (31.5)
- C.J. Dippre, TE, Alabama – 92 strength (32) (32)
- Ethan Downs, DE, Oklahoma – 91 strength (32) (31)
- Jackson Slater, OG, Sacramento State – 91 strength (31) (32)
- Sean Martin, DE, West Virginia – 91 strength (28) (35)
- Mike Green, EDGE, Tulane – 91 strength (28) (35)
- John Williams, OT, Cincinnati – 90 strength (29) (33.5)
- Darius Alexander, DT, Toledo – 89 strength (28) (34)
- Clay Webb, OG, Jacksonville State – 88 strength (29) (32)
Strongest Lightweights (Under 220 Pounds)
- Donovan Edwards, RB, Michigan – 77 strength (23) (30)
- Jaylin Noel, WR, Iowa State – 77 strength (23) (29.5)
- Upton Stout, CB, Western Kentucky – 75 strength (21) (30)
- Jarquez Hunter, RB, Auburn – 75 strength (21) (30)
- Nohl Williams, CB, California – 73 strength (19) (30.5)
Strongest Welterweights (220-259 Pounds)
- C.J. Dippre, TE, Alabama – 92 strength (32) (32)
- Mike Green, EDGE, Tulane – 91 strength (28) (35)
- Barryn Sorrell, EDGE, Texas – 87 strength (28) (32.5)
- Kaimon Rucker, EDGE, North Carolina – 86 strength (27) (32.5)
- Teddye Buchanan, LB, California – 83 strength (26) (31.5)
Strongest Middleweights (260-299 Pounds)
- Ethan Downs, DE, Oklahoma – 91 strength (32) (31)
- Sean Martin, DE, West Virginia – 91 strength (28) (35)
- Ty Robinson, DT, Nebraska – 87 strength (28) (32.5)
- Tyler Batty, DE, BYU – 86 strength (27) (33)
- Ahmed Hassanein, EDGE, Boise State – 86 strength (27) (32.5)
Agility Ratings
The three-cone drill is probably the best test of agility in the combine. Only about a third of the participants competed in this event, so we’re working with incomplete data. However, I still want to celebrate the guys who competed and dominated in this drill. The fastest three-cone drill in the combine’s history was in 2018 when CB Jordan Thomas completed it in 6.28, which is far and away the best time and probably deserves a 100 rating.
A more realistic elite time was Jaxon Smith-Njigba two years ago when he ran a 6.57, but anything above a 7.0 is really solid.
Most Agile Of All Players (All Lightweight – Under 220 Pounds)
- Tez Johnson, WR, Oregon – 97 agility (6.65)
- Darien Porter, CB, Iowa State – 95 agility (6.71)
- Hunter Wohler, S, Wisconsin – 95 agility (6.72)
- Jaylin Lane, WR, Virginia Tech – 94 agility (6.75)
- Jacolby George, WR, Miami – 94 agility (6.77)
- Daniel Jackson, WR, Minnesota – 93 agility (6.78)
- Kitan Crawford, S, Nevada – 92 agility (6.81)
- Jaylin Noel, WR, Iowa State – 92 agility (6.82)
- Chimere Dike, WR, Florida – 92 agility (6.82)
- Arian Smith, WR, Georgia – 92 agility (6.82)
Most Agile Welterweights (220-259 Pounds)
- Donovan Ezeiruaku, EDGE, Boston College – 89 agility (6.94)
- Harold Fannin Jr., TE, Bowling Green – 88 agility (6.97)
- Jay Higgins, LB, Iowa – 86 agility (7.01)
- Thomas Fidone II, TE, Nebraska – 86 agility (7.01)
- Barryn Sorrell, EDGE, Texas – 85 agility (7.06)
Most Agile Middleweight (260-299 Pounds)
- Jalin Conyers, TE, Texas Tech – 89 agility (6.94)
- David Walker, EDGE, Central Arkansas – 82 agility (7.14)
- Tyler Batty, DE, BYU – 80 agility (7.21)
- Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins – 78 agility (7.28)
- Jah Joyner, DE, Minnesota – 77 agility (7.33)
Most Agile Heavyweight (300+ Pounds)
- Tate Ratledge, OG, Georgia – 75 agility (7.38)
- Caleb Rogers, OG, Texas Tech – 73 agility (7.43)
- Carson Vinson, OT, Alabama A&M – 71 agility (7.51)
- Drew Kendall, C, Boston College – 69 agility (7.56)
- Ty Robinson, DT, Nebraska – 69 agility (7.58)
Most Athletic Players At The Combine
1: Nick Emmanwori
- 93 speed
- 84 acceleration
- 98 jumping
- 77 strength
- ? agility
Nick Emmanwori came into this event already listed as one of the top two safeties in the draft class, but his electric performance here will surely push him up into the number one position.
He jumped out of the building with near-record-setting numbers for his size (6-foot-3, 220 pounds). He then went on to post a sub-4.4 40-yard time and bench 20 reps. He didn’t participate in the three-cone drill, but given his incredible athleticism displayed in the other drills, we can assume he would be quite good at it.
His ratings are similar to those of Derwin James and Isaiah Simmons. Few other players have the same speed-to-strength combo.
2: Armand Membou
- 75 speed
- 64 acceleration
- 75 jumping
- 93 strength
- ? agility
You may look at his raw athletic stats and not be impressed, but you have to remember that he’s 332 pounds, and he’s moving like a tight end, albeit a slow tight end but a tight end nonetheless. When you look at what’s in the league, these numbers are extremely impressive.
Very similar to Jordan Mailata’s numbers, with mid-70s speed and jumping, 60s acceleration, and massive strength, these two guys are near the top in terms of athletic tackles who’ll be in the game next year.
3: Darien Porter
- 96 speed
- 88 acceleration
- 84 jumping
- ? Strength
- 95 agility
Look at those ratings. I mean, my god, you would think that we are looking at a top-10 pick, at least if we didn’t know any better. Darien Porter is good, but he’s still probably a mid-round talent, which is a shame because his natural talent is incredible.
Porter didn’t do the bench press, which probably would have dampened his ratings, but he did do the three-cone drill and crushed it, getting second place among all participants just behind tiny Tez Johnson, whose body was perfectly made for the drill. Porter also crushed the 40 and even jumped quite well, although that is not his strong suit.
The obvious comparison is to Tariq Woolen, one of my favorite players in Madden 25. If you switch agility and acceleration, Porter’s stats are eerily similar to Woolen’s.
4: Tyler Batty
- 79 speed
- 81 acceleration
- 77 jumping
- 86 strength
- 80 agility
Batty put up solid drill after solid drill and was incredibly consistent throughout. After all of it, he comes out with a really pretty rating sheet, with nothing too great but nothing too bad. He is just an excellent player.
The numbers are very close to those of A.J. Epenesa of the Bills, who also has 79 speed, mid-80s strength, and high-70s jumping. Batty beats him out at acceleration and agility, though.
5: Jaylin Noel
- 92 speed
- 84 acceleration
- 96 jumping
- 77 strength
- 92 agility
While he’s not Courtland Sutton’s size, he does have Courtland Sutton’s attributes. He’s incredibly strong for a receiver, he can keep pace and even beat quite a few corners with his speed, and he goes over the top of defenders using his leaping ability to make plays.
Noel dominated the bench press for his size and demonstrated fantastic jumping and agility abilities. I’m going to leave you with the fun word combo of agility ability. Try saying that three times fast.
Published: Mar 5, 2025 09:16 am