Who Should Be the Next Madden Cover Athlete?

Each year, Madden Football comes out with a brand new game and a new cover athlete to headline the game. Although many criticize the game’s lack of newness with each new version, the cover athlete that is selected is still very interesting to many of those who enjoy playing this game. This most recent cover featured Christian McCaffrey, who had a stellar campaign a year ago but was sidelined for most of the season this year. With the football season now over, who is likely to be selected for the Madden cover next year?

1. Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase - Cincinnati Bengals

This electric combination of Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase absolutely set the league on fire last year, which helped Chase win the receiving triple crown with over 1,700 yards and 17 touchdowns. These two were absolutely amazing statistically and made for exciting football for NFL fans to watch. Although they didn’t win very much because of such a terrible Bengals defense, this duo will probably be one of the most dynamic duos in the NFL this next season. With Madden never featuring a quarterback and wide receiver duo before, this next cover would make history as the first one to do so if they did a cover with Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase.

2. T.J. Watt - Pittsburgh Steelers

It has been several years since the cover athlete of Madden was a defensive player. The last cover athlete to feature any defensive player was Richard Sherman, back with Madden 19. There is no defensive player more deserving over the past few years than T.J. Watt of this honor. Although Watt didn’t win Defensive Player of the Year this year, he still put together another outstanding season with 11.5 sacks and six forced fumbles. He has been one of the most dominant defensive players for years, and he is already the face of the Pittsburgh Steelers franchise, so it isn’t a stretch to say that he could be the face of the next Madden game.

3. Saquon Barkley - Philadelphia Eagles

Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey have reinvigorated people’s interest in the running back position, so it would make sense that running backs would be featured on the cover of Madden in back-to-back years. With a fresh start to Barkley’s career after leaving the New York Giants, he absolutely exploded on the scene in Philadelphia behind a terrific offensive line that allowed him to go for over 2,000 yards and 13 touchdowns this season. This type of success should continue into next year, assuming that the offensive line and Barkley can stay healthy. In addition to the Eagles beating the Chiefs in the Super Bowl and preventing the Chiefs from a three-peat, Saquon Barkley makes a lot of sense to earn the honor of being proclaimed as the Madden cover athlete.