Alright, I used to do card reviews a few years ago but I took a long break from Madden to focus on school, but I’m back to playing Madden. I just completed the Ray Lewis set and those 4 cards will be my first reviews on Madden 20!
Earl Thomas (92): (93 with sprinter and RS Chem)
Price I paid: 240k
Play Rec: I put this first because he is an absolute animal when it comes to his play rec. I replaced 90 Calvin Johnson with him and I thought his height and speed would make him hard to use, but believe me his play rec makes up for it. He is all over the field on every single play, he’s making tackles on both sides of the field and constantly in perfect position to make the right play!
Zone Coverage: It was a toss up between zone and play rec for which was better, he is phenomenal in zone coverage. He had 4 picks for me in my first 5 games of weekend league. Sometimes the AI in this game can be just idiotic and not jump routes at all, not Earl. Earl jumped so many routes for me and came up with so many interceptions. His height isn’t as big of an issue as I thought it would’ve been either, he jumps so high to snag interceptions and like I said he’s just always in perfect position. The best zone safety I’ve used all year.
Man Coverage: my defensive scheme doesn’t really use man on man with my safety too much so I had to branch out and just man him up on tight ends and slot wideouts a lot, and he did alright. He was able to keep up with the tight ends pretty well but would get burnt on quick slants by wideouts and corner routes. Definitely wouldn’t buy Earl to be a man to man safety.
Tackling: I don’t have any abilities on him, and he still tackles super well. He got trucked by 92 Jim Brown once really badly in my entire weekend league run but other than that I didn’t notice and really badly missed tackles. He made a bunch of plays in the backfield and always made the tackle or set someone else up to make the tackle if he missed it. Definitely a reliable tackler especially at safety.
Hit Power: SURPRISING, that’s all I can say. I played me entire weekend league with him and he forced at least 5 fumbles, he was always coming up and laying hitsticks which was really really surprising for me. I’m a Seattle seahawks fan so I knew Earl was a big hitter, but EA always seems to disrespect his hit power, but this year he just plays above an 84 hit power. Definitely enough to get the job done.
Overall: (9/10) Couldn’t be much happier with the card, I will definitely be keeping Earl on my team, he’s NAT for me but even if he wasn’t he’s easily the best FS in the game right now and I would definitely suggest picking him up if you have the coins.
Worth it?: I paid 240k, and with Dawkins going for a similar amount I would definitely say go with Earl, you won’t be disappointed. His zone and play rec are absolutely elite over Dawkins. Definitely worth it if you have the coins!
Let me know any other players you guys would like reviewed! Any feedback is appreciated :)
This was an awesome review, and super helpful because now that he’s much cheaper I wanted to look at him as my FS. I was trying to decide between him and Dawson but even just having his power up card at an 87ovr he’s so good and now I will be definitely buying Earl! Thanks again for this review!
What zones were u using him in cover 2,3,4? I wanted to know with all the cover 3 beaters out there how good is he in cover 3 also I have mined chemed out with 98 zone and was wondering if adding zoned out would do anything or is his zone high enough that I do not need zoned out
He plays great in everything but sometimes moss will get him on a streak in cover 2 if it’s wide side and u don’t shade him over a little. Cover three beaters can beat him only if u have moss or holt or cooks and only if u don’t have a good click on. He covers everything in cover 4 and doesn’t really get beat over the top.
Alright, I used to do card reviews a few years ago but I took a long break from Madden to focus on school, but I’m back to playing Madden. I just completed the Ray Lewis set and those 4 cards will be my first reviews on Madden 20!
Earl Thomas (92): (93 with sprinter and RS Chem) Price I paid: 240k
Play Rec: I put this first because he is an absolute animal when it comes to his play rec. I replaced 90 Calvin Johnson with him and I thought his height and speed would make him hard to use, but believe me his play rec makes up for it. He is all over the field on every single play, he’s making tackles on both sides of the field and constantly in perfect position to make the right play!
Zone Coverage: It was a toss up between zone and play rec for which was better, he is phenomenal in zone coverage. He had 4 picks for me in my first 5 games of weekend league. Sometimes the AI in this game can be just idiotic and not jump routes at all, not Earl. Earl jumped so many routes for me and came up with so many interceptions. His height isn’t as big of an issue as I thought it would’ve been either, he jumps so high to snag interceptions and like I said he’s just always in perfect position. The best zone safety I’ve used all year.
Man Coverage: my defensive scheme doesn’t really use man on man with my safety too much so I had to branch out and just man him up on tight ends and slot wideouts a lot, and he did alright. He was able to keep up with the tight ends pretty well but would get burnt on quick slants by wideouts and corner routes. Definitely wouldn’t buy Earl to be a man to man safety.
Tackling: I don’t have any abilities on him, and he still tackles super well. He got trucked by 92 Jim Brown once really badly in my entire weekend league run but other than that I didn’t notice and really badly missed tackles. He made a bunch of plays in the backfield and always made the tackle or set someone else up to make the tackle if he missed it. Definitely a reliable tackler especially at safety.
Hit Power: SURPRISING, that’s all I can say. I played me entire weekend league with him and he forced at least 5 fumbles, he was always coming up and laying hitsticks which was really really surprising for me. I’m a Seattle seahawks fan so I knew Earl was a big hitter, but EA always seems to disrespect his hit power, but this year he just plays above an 84 hit power. Definitely enough to get the job done.
Overall: (9/10) Couldn’t be much happier with the card, I will definitely be keeping Earl on my team, he’s NAT for me but even if he wasn’t he’s easily the best FS in the game right now and I would definitely suggest picking him up if you have the coins.
Worth it?: I paid 240k, and with Dawkins going for a similar amount I would definitely say go with Earl, you won’t be disappointed. His zone and play rec are absolutely elite over Dawkins. Definitely worth it if you have the coins!
Let me know any other players you guys would like reviewed! Any feedback is appreciated :)
How many bats does this QS for as NAT?
Couldn't have said it any better myself(great review). I also thought his height would be an issue but dude is an automatic pick machine
Keep it up bro, great to see reviews like this
This was an awesome review, and super helpful because now that he’s much cheaper I wanted to look at him as my FS. I was trying to decide between him and Dawson but even just having his power up card at an 87ovr he’s so good and now I will be definitely buying Earl! Thanks again for this review!
What zones were u using him in cover 2,3,4? I wanted to know with all the cover 3 beaters out there how good is he in cover 3 also I have mined chemed out with 98 zone and was wondering if adding zoned out would do anything or is his zone high enough that I do not need zoned out
He plays great in everything but sometimes moss will get him on a streak in cover 2 if it’s wide side and u don’t shade him over a little. Cover three beaters can beat him only if u have moss or holt or cooks and only if u don’t have a good click on. He covers everything in cover 4 and doesn’t really get beat over the top.