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Madden 18: Every NFL team’s best Madden player ever

By David Austin Bumpus

HOUSTON - DECEMBER 1: New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady passes under pressure from Houston Texans J.J. Watt during the first quarter at Reliant Stadium on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013. (Photo by Jessica Rinaldi for The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
HOUSTON - DECEMBER 1: New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady passes under pressure from Houston Texans J.J. Watt during the first quarter at Reliant Stadium on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013. (Photo by Jessica Rinaldi for The Boston Globe via Getty Images) /
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Bengals Chad Johnson
Bengals Chad Johnson /

Cincinnati Bengals: Chad Johnson

Originally Corey Dillon was going to take the spot on this list, but the Cincinnati Bengals rushing legend never cracked over a 93 overall rating in any of his Madden appearances with the team. Enter Chad Johnson, or Chad Ochocinco, and you have a truly magical Madden player to work with.

Johnson took a little while to get his Madden rating to where he likely wanted it towards the beginning of his run with the Bengals, but once he peaked, he was one of the best receivers in the game. He jumped 10 overall points from 2005 to 2006, going from 85 to 95 overall rather quickly, but nothing can beat his appearance as a 98 overall in the 2008 version of the game.

Alongside T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who also appeared in the 90s overall when he was on the team in the duo’s golden days, Johnson was a star to have on your offense in games. Carson Palmer could just chuck the ball up to the Bengals star and he’d likely blaze defenders with his speed to end up in the end zone with ease.

Although you couldn’t get a lot of the unique celebrations into the game that Johnson used to use, especially when he had a new one almost every week, Johnson was still very entertaining to play with in his Madden days.

Nowadays, however, the only way you can play with him in the game is if you actually play with him in real life, but it doesn’t take away from how great he was in his prime in Cincinnati.