With the 10-hour early access coming out Thursday, it’s officially Madden week! I know we’re all excited for this CFM cycle in particular, because of the new and improved buffs CFM will be getting. Let’s hope EA doesn’t flub this up and make another generic mode. This will be my attempt to write a non-biased power ranking report of who I think will fare the best over the course of the inaugural season of TOP M22. Keep in mind these are my opinions, so feel free to disagree. Without further ado, here we go:
- Warren | Chargers — The 3-time champ from M21 and all-but-de facto best user in the league, this ranking should come as a surprise to no one. Warren is going to be a force for the entire cycle, per usual, and gets a pretty damn good team to start with. Young QB Justin Herbert is a HUGE upgrade from Jacob Eason last cycle and the defense has some serious playmakers to start with. Expect to be on your toes when playing this user.
- Danny | Cowboys — Danny is coming off what might be considered an off-cycle for him, considering he only made 1 SB appearance and walked away with no rings. Regardless, we all know this is no user to sleep on. Danny is taking over a Dallas team that is STACKED offensively and only needs help on the defensive side. One of his biggest strengths is making the most of what he’s given, so I still expect his defense to be in the top 3rd of the league despite their ratings. Expect at least a NFCCG appearance from this powerhouse season 1.
- Donny | Chiefs — Another terrifying user to play against with an even scarier team to start the cycle with is the Jamaican sensation himself. “Double Dragz” Donny is going to be operating with a whole lot of firepower and there is no doubt in my mind that he will make the most of it. Tons of talent on this team and within this user, he is a playoff lock for season 1. You better prepare your mental accordingly when you face him, or else you might catch yourself throwing a controller when facing this deadly offense.
- Fin | Lions — Notice anything about the first 4 users? They all made a super bowl appearance in TOP M21. Fin has got nothing to prove, or so he says, and has decided to go with his favorite team, the Detroit Disappointments. This roster is.. well, less than stellar. However, that cannot be said about its user. Fin is a sports junky and knows how to use your weaknesses against you. The best way to match-up against him is to take away what he likes to do best. The problem is, that can change every season and he’s always got a plan b, and c, and d, etc. He says that he probably won’t be competitive in season 1 because of his roster, but I’m not buying it. I expect at least an 11-6 record for this stellar user.
- Khalil | Bills — Am I going to catch flak for rating myself this high? Probably. Do I give a f***, absolutely not. I won’t go on and on about how I’m severely underrated by the league and how I had a top 5 overall record last year. Instead, I’ll just say that I am excited to be here and ready to make a bigger splash than I ever have before. It’s Josh Allen time baby!
- Jordan | Dolphins — While I hate rating a division foe this highly, I have to give credit where credit is due. From what I’m told, this is a former TOP madden champion and a consistent playoff user in M21 last cycle. Jordan is inheriting a sweet sweet roster and I am definitely looking forward to the upcoming battles we will have. There’s speed everywhere, a great secondary in his defense, and a young QB. This roster is every Allen B’s dream, and he will be competitive year-in and year-out.
- Allen B | Ravens — What the hell TOP Madden team draft choices 1-11?! Y’all let Allen B, king of speed, have the fastest QB/WR combo in the game? The league is going to be on notice with this offense. The ravens are one of the best starting rosters in the game and, paired with this user, will probably be a season 1 top 5 offense after all is said and done. Allen B’s usual strategy of having his players exclusively try and improve their 40-yard-dash times during practice might work out well this year with how nice the roster is. The only thing that will stop Allen B from success with this juiced roster is mid-season stat suspensions…
- Steel | Broncos — 3 users in the AFC West in the top 8.. phew that is a rough division. This user may be known for his complaints, but he is solid on both sides of the ball. While not quite Lamar Jackson, he still has a QB with some wheels and I expect him to do well with what he’s working with. If you are a fan of solid players over the age of 27, this is the user to trade with, he’s gonna have them all on the block. In all seriousness though, he is very likely to make the playoffs even with his rough divisional schedule.
- Pest | Jags — Pest is a GOOOOOOD user who really only gets penalized in my eyes because of roster strength. He easily could be top 5 on this list from user skill alone, but the roster is young. However, that doesn’t mean to sleep on him. Pest is a lethal passing user, and is going to turn TLaw into an XF if he isn’t one already. I expect this user to be the main obstacle in anyone in the AFC South’s way who thinks they will win that division. Lookout for them Yagoowars.
- Willie | Bears — Possibly the number 1 sports gambling junkie in the chat, Willie rounds out the top 10. Another NFC North user, Willie is also a former TOP Madden champ. He’s back with the bears and gets to put on for the people with a Black QB running the show in Chicago. Justin Fields is Madden QB gold too. Just call him mini-Lamar. Willie is a good user who couldn’t make things shake last cycle despite having the league’s best offense in KC. Maybe playing with his hometown team will light a fire for some Beamen Magic. He is a sneaky pick to make some waves this season.
- Arlen | Buccaneers — If you took out the QB position, Arlen hands down has the best roster in the league. He will start off with the GOAT commanding his offense and a scary-ass defense. No seriously, they are freaking dominant. Go take another look at their ratings. Arlen is another user who is usually pretty successful and this roster will help him continue in that fashion. I have Arlen coming out of the NFC South season 1 and, with his M21 playoff rival (Warren) out of his conference, Arlen is a sleeper for me to make the NFCCG season 1.
- Ptown | Rams — Ptown is going to be good all cycleand I feel bad for the NFC West guys. The Rams are, in my opinion, one of the most underrated rosters for a CFM. They have 2 99s to start at vital defensive positions along with a solid offense to work with. If Ptown can mitigate his own mental mistakes he makes when he is up big, he will be in a good position to make the playoffs in season 1. He won’t have to try that hard either, as Aaron Donald will likely be in your backfield every play. OLs Beware!
- K1ng | Packers — K1ng is a good user who had an up and down cycle in TOP during M21’s cycle. After taking the Rams to the season 1 NFCCG last year, he couldn’t quite ever quite make it back to that point. Still, making the champ game in your first season is impressive. I think that he will build on that success (or beginner’s luck as some might call it) and possibly compete for his first ever TOP Madden superbowl this cycle. The roster he starts with is built for it, and he has the coaching mind to get it done. K1ng is a defensive coordinator irl and applies much of his knowledge to his Madden game. Expect him to be a tough matchup every week.
- Troy | Steelers — Don’t think for a second that because this roster looks unappealing that you will be able to sleep on matchups against the Steelers. Troy is another football junky who knows the game and how to make the most of his favorite team. He turned Chase Claypool and my high school classmate, Anthony McFarland, into superstar talents last year (before Chase was boosted by EA) and I expect the same type of success this season. Troy will be another competitor for the AFC crown each and every season.
- PittJas — The Seahawks are consistently an underrated roster in Madden and somehow fell to 23 this year, after falling to 30 last year. PittJas is a user who, admittedly, I don’t know too much about. What I do know is that he competed for a playoff spot in several seasons last year, beat Warren a few times, and has a pretty dope roster to start with. Far from the legion of boom that they once were, starting a cycle with Bobby Wagner and Jamal Adams is still pretty sick. I recommend everyone go look at their X-Factor abilities and then come back to this post when I predict that he will lead the league in forced fumbles.
- Ty | Football Team — Despite what I saw in the only cycle I’ve ever played with him, Ty is a good user. I don’t know what the hell happened last cycle, but I’m going out on a whim here and saying he makes a jump back to glory this cycle. The roster is nice, really only lacking in QB and OL (which is pretty much the reason he is at 17) and young as well. Expect no time to throw the ball when facing this monstrous dline, led by another former classmate of mine, Chase Young.
- Frank | Cardinals — The twitch superstar himself, Frog Squad leader Frank is back baby and this time he’s in power. Frank has joined the CM team for this cycle and has taken his newfound responsibility to the Desert. This roster is sick and was the most coveted during the team selection process. Unfortunately for everyone, a CM took them. Frank didn’t have the best madden 21 cycle but did show some promise during moments of last year. He also had a pretty sh***y roster, so we have to cut him some slack. This year, the roster he gets to command is dope and has firepower everywhere. I have a feeling he’s going to make me eat my words for ranking him this low, especially with all that extra practice he has following TOP’s M21 end.
- Joey | Colts — Hellcat is so hard to predict. One season he might be 3 games below .500 and the next season he will go 13-3, including a W against Warren. This year he’ll be working with the Colts who…are quite honestly a pretty good madden team. Playing against a user like Warren 2x a season will make anyone better, and now he is free from the shackles of having him as a rival. If Joey can make light of a pretty poor QB situation in Indy, he’ll make some waves again this cycle.
- JSmoove | Falcons — JSmoove! The neighborhood smoove-talker, he has won over all of our hearts with his kind words and thoughtful messages. Playing with the Falcons has been a challenge now for a few maddens, but rookie Kyle Pitts might change that stigma. He is going to be funnnnn and I surely believe Mr. Smoove will make it work. Jsmoove may not have made the playoffs last cycle after taking over the Giants in the few seasons he was here, but he is a good user. He was just placed in an unfortunate situation playing in a great division. This year, there will definitely be a little more wiggle room to flaunt his talent. Show sum smoove, we are all rooting for you.
- Nekko | Giants — The first new user on this list is going to Nekko. Taking over his New York Football Giants, Nekko has his work cutout for him playing in a division that also sports Danny and Ty as users. The Giants, however, are actually a very sneaky roster. I had them in my top 10 list and they shouldn’t have fallen to 31. The true question for Nekko will be whether or not he will be able to deal with Danny Dimez. He is the true drawback. Nekko is an irl buddy of mine but I have never seen him play madden before. No doubt, he’ll be looking to prove himself this season.
- Nubes | Raiders — Da Raiduhs are going to be commanded by new(?) user Nubes. Idk anything about the guy but he’s gonna have to fight and claw for every win playing in this division. We haven’t seen a member of the AFC West on this list since *checks notes* oh yeah the other three were in the top 8. That’s a tall order. That division is a bloodbath. On the brightside, the roster does boast some nice pieces that include Ruggs and Waller. If he can dev this team up, who knows maybe he can compete for the playoffs in future seasons. I just don’t see it for season 1 in that division though.
- Digga | Jets — Digga is going to be mad at me ranking him this low, but alas, here we are. I am very familiar with Digga’s talent and I do believe he will be a perennial contender to make the playoffs… after season 1. The Jets roster is, well, ass to put it lightly. The extra draft capital will surely help turn it around in 2022 and beyond. But season 1 will be as tough as eating a bowl of nails for breakfast (without any milk).
- Bogey | Titans — Bogey was a newcomer to the league last year and had a tough go of it, having to take over the revolving door AKA the M21 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This year he has a much better team and gets to do things his way from the start, which will hopefully yield better results. He has the team to do it too. The Titans are a good roster. Though,he is in a division with some pretty decent users, so he will have to work for it.
- Grid | Panthers — The resident oldhead is checking in at 25 with one of the best CFM defensive rosters in the game. Grid had a frustrating time in M21, having to user the Falcons last year before calling it quits mid-season. But he is back and ready for vengeance. Unfortunately, this roster needs some work and he will definitely need to do some major improvement at the QB position if he is going to make it to the playoffs, but look out for this roster down the road.
- Derek | 49ers | Derek is taking over another underrated roster in the 49ers this cycle (tbh the whole nfc west outside of AZ is but I digress). The M22 rookie QB class is surely going to be fun to use and Derek gets to user one, the North Dakota State standout, Trey Lance. With weapons on both sides of the ball, Derek will definitely be able to have some fun in San Fran. The only thing that is going to stand in the way of Derek and success is Derek. Time for him to buckle down if he wants to nab some victories with this roster.
- Harpdaddy | Eagles — Idk anything about the guy but the roster is going to need some work. With no love in the QB department, Harpdaddy’s gonna have a challenge for sure. The Eagles got passed up by two fans who both could’ve had them if they desired, and both chose elsewhere if that says anything. Good luck Harpdaddy, but this is a tough roster to take over in season 1.
- Shrimp | Browns — Shrimp gets to use his favorite team (I’m jealous of everyone who got theirs) this cycle and boyyyyyy is it stacked. There is talent and youth EVERYWHERE on this damn team. There was no shot this team was falling past the top 10, and tbh it should’ve been selected #1 overall. Either way, Shrimp has some improving to do on the football IQ side of things if he wants to make the most of this roster. I believe he can step up and fight for a playoff spot at some point, but the AFC is stacked.
- G$ | Saints — This roster is actually kinda dope. G$ can have some fun here, especially if he utilizes that unique 2QB combo the irl Saints like to sport. We will have to see how G$ decides to play his cards, but I expect this to be more of a long term project vs a season 1 stunna.
- Big Homie | Texans — We knew someone HAD to take them, but they actually aren’t the worst roster in the league, and that’s only because of Deshaun. But, I mean that’s really it, it’s really just Deshaun. Everything else will have to be built up from the ground and it just won’t be ideal for a season 1 run. Sorry Big Homie.
- EG Artist | Pats — This is the real worst roster imo. No real bright spots anywhere except for the DBs, which are old. This roster is tough to take over. EG is here because he mods fins streams so I say we all need to make sure Fin isn’t editing his players behind our backs… lol jk. EG will have to follow up a cycle in which the streamer he mods for won a ring with this roster. Those are definitely big shoes to fill, and it won’t be filled in season 1.
- Tony | Bengals — Fun fun fun team goes to Tony. I like the roster but I’ll need to see more from Tony in order for him to jump up in this ranking. Good luck charlie.
