EA Sports slowly released its ratings for the new Madden 26 video game on Wednesday and Thursday, and Arizona Cardinals rookies, along with former local college stars Cam Skattebo and Tetairoa McMillan, will make their debut in the video game.
Cardinals tight end Trey McBride made quite the jump from Madden 25 to 26, where he is now rated 92 overall. Last year, he was only given an 82 overall.
His highest abilities in the game are awareness (95) and jumping at 94.
McBride’s 2024 season included being fourth in catches with 111 while picking up 1146 yards. From his stats, EA decided to put McBride third overall in tight end rankings.
Here’s who else made the top 10 list:
George Kittle (San Francisco 49ers), 98 overall
Travis Kelce (Kansas City Chiefs), 93 overall
Trey McBride, 92 overall
Mark Andrews (Baltimore Ravens), 91 overall
Brock Bowers (Las Vegas Raiders), 90 overall
David Bjoku (Cleveland Browns), 89 overall
T.J. Hockenson (Minnesota Vikings), 88 overall
Dallas Goedert (Philadelphia Eagles), 87 overall
Sam LaPorta (Detroit Lions), 86 overall
Evan Ingram (Denver Broncos), 85 overall
Safety Budda Baker continues to remain in the 90s from last year and ties with McBride as the highest-rated Cardinals player in Madden 26.
Baker was second in solo tackles last season with 95, which helped increase his Madden rankings by two. Part of Baker’s strongest traits in the game will be stamina at 96 and awareness at 93.
His rating puts him in the top 10 for a consecutive year at No. 4. Here’s where other safeties join Baker.
Jessie Bates III (Atlanta Falcons), 95 overall
Derwin James Jr. (Los Angles Chargers), 93 overall
Xavier McKinney (Green Bay Packers), 93 overall
Budda Baker (Cardinals), 92 overall
Minkah Fitzpatrick (Miami Dolphins), 92 overall
Antoine Winfield Jr. (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), 91 overall
Kyle Hamilton (Ravens), 90 overall
Kerby Joseph (Lions), 90 overall
Brian Branch (Lions), 89 overall
Harrison Smith (Vikings), 88 overall
Walter Nolen III and Will Johnson debuted in the 70s for ratings on Madden
The first two picks for the Cardinals selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, Walter Nolen and Will Johnson, received a 77 and 75, respectively.
While they didn’t make the top 10, they still were the highest-rated Cardinals rookies.
Nolen was selected 16th overall out of Ole Miss and has been performing well in training camp. Part of the defensive tackle’s traits come with a 90 in toughness and 88 in acceleration.
Johnson was selected in the second round out of Michigan. Johnson’s highest abilities are acceleration at 90 and speed at 89.
Other Cardinals rookies included the list are:
Jordan Burch, 73 overall
Denzel Burke, 70 overall
Cody Simon, 69 overall
Kitan Crawford, 66 overall
Hayden Conner, 65 overall
What do other rookie ratings look like?
McMillan was selected eighth overall by the Carolina Panthers from Arizona.
As he is in training camp, the rookie earned a rating of 77, failing to make the top 10 amongst rookies at number 15.
Of the highest abilities, he has a stamina of 94 with an 89 in agility and speed.
He is expected to start for the Panthers.
McMillan’s college rival, Cam Skattebo, received a lower rating of 73.
Madden gave his highest skills in toughness with a 95 and stamina at 94.
Skattebo is making his name well-known with the New York Giants despite being picked in the fourth round.
Here’s who made the top 10 rookie list:
Travis Hunter (Jacksonville Jaguars), 84 overall
Ashton Jeanty (Raiders), 83 overall
Abdul Carter (Giants), 81 overall
Mason Graham (Browns), 80 overall
Will Campbell (New England Patriots), 79 overall
Jalon Walker (Falcons), 79 overall
Kenneth Grant (Dolphins), 78 overall
Jahdae Barron (Broncos), 78 overall
Mykel Williams (49ers), 78 overall
Maxwell Hairston (Buffalo Bills), 78 overall
Madden 26 comes out on Aug. 14.
