Learning to read and pick rookie ratings is an important part of scouting and recruiting in Madden NFL 25. When building a team in Madden's revamped Franchise Mode, players frequently come across up-and-coming athletes with promising stats. These rookies are often the most sought-after players when it comes to trades and new signings.
While there's something to be said for scanning Madden's rows and rows of rookie stats, it can be helpful to go into the game with an idea of who to look out for. These are some of the best rookies to recruit in Madden NFL 25.
The Top 20 Rookies In Madden NFL 25
Madden's Best Rookies & Their Stats
Player Name | Starting Team | Position | OVR | SPD | STR | AGI | JMP | INJ | STA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Joe Alt | Los Angeles Chargers | RT | 79 | 71 | 89 | 72 | 70 | 98 | 88 |
Marvin Harrison Jr. | Arizona Cardinals | WR | 79 | 94 | 57 | 91 | 93 | 86 | 90 |
Brock Bowers | Las Vegas Raiders | TE | 78 | 89 | 75 | 86 | 84 | 91 | 86 |
Dallas Turner | Minnesota Vikings | ROLB | 78 | 90 | 76 | 84 | 94 | 90 | 84 |
Olumuyiwa Fashanu | New York Jets | LT | 78 | 69 | 88 | 64 | 78 | 95 | 87 |
Amarius Mims | Cincinnati Bengals | RT | 78 | 70 | 91 | 70 | 65 | 86 | 83 |
JC Latham | Tennessee Titans | LT | 78 | 63 | 94 | 60 | 68 | 96 | 84 |
Jonathon Brooks | Carolina Panthers | HB | 77 | 90 | 70 | 90 | 85 | 88 | 82 |
Laiatu Latu | Indianapolis Colts | DE | 77 | 84 | 77 | 81 | 78 | 79 | 83 |
Malik Nabers | New York Giants | WR | 77 | 93 | 61 | 92 | 95 | 92 | 90 |
Troy Fautanu | Pittsburgh Steelers | RT | 77 | 72 | 87 | 70 | 79 | 93 | 85 |
Talliese Fuaga | New Orleans Saints | LT | 77 | 68 | 93 | 63 | 78 | 92 | 87 |
Caleb Williams | Chicago Bears | QB | 76 | 86 | 65 | 85 | 83 | 94 | 89 |
Trey Benson | Arizona Cardinals | RB | 76 | 93 | 77 | 85 | 83 | 86 | 86 |
Quinyon Mitchell | Philadelphia Eagles | CB | 76 | 94 | 66 | 90 | 90 | 92 | 88 |
Rome Odunze | Chicago Bears | WR | 76 | 91 | 65 | 87 | 93 | 87 | 87 |
Jared Verse | Los Angeles Rams | LOLB | 76 | 86 | 84 | 80 | 84 | 90 | 84 |
Chop Robinson | Miami Dolphins | LOLB | 76 | 90 | 73 | 81 | 83 | 89 | 82 |
Terrion Arnold | Detroit Lions | CB | 76 | 90 | 58 | 93 | 88 | 93 | 89 |
Byron Murphy II | Seattle Seahawks | LE | 76 | 77 | 86 | 67 | 80 | 90 | 78 |
Madden 25 players are ranked on a scale of one to 100, across six main categories that describe their skills in different facets of the game. Those categories are SPD (speed), STR (strength), AGI (agility), JMP (jumping power), INJ (injury resistance), and STA (stamina). These splinter off into a plethora of other stats too numerous and specialized to list in full, but as a basic rule, if a rookie has high base stats , they'll have high specialized stats as well. Each player is also given an OVR, or overall rating of all their abilities. The following table contains the top 20 rookies in Madden 25 by OVR, but also compares their base stats
Joe Alt, a new recruit from Notre Dame to the Los Angeles Chargers, leads the pack as one of two top rookies in Madden 25. As a right tackle, his specialties are in strength, stamina, and injury resistance. For more specific stats, he excels in many different varieties of blocking, but his strongest suit is Impact Blocking at 88. Tied for first place is Marvin Harrison Jr., son of the Colts wide receiver of the same name. Like his father, Harrison is fast with a shocking 94 speed, 93 acceleration, and 93 jumping. He also excels with an 84 in catching.
Tips For Picking The Best Rookies In Madden NFL 25
How To Make The Best Rookies Count
But simply snatching up the rookie with the highest OVR won't always work. For one thing, these players will be hotly contested, and the teams that drafted them first will be hard-pressed to hang onto them. As a result, it's important to watch the news feed on Madden's redesigned Franchise Hub, and keep an eye on up-and-coming rookies and free agents unhappy with their contracts.
Players can also speed along their rookie recruitment on draft night by researching early and often. The best rookies are liable to be selected in the first couple of rounds. If the player's team doesn't have an early pick, they may want to have multiple backup rookies on standby. Even if they don't get their first-choice, highest-stat player, they can develop their second- or third-choice picks into star players by utilizing Madden's updated coaching options to their utmost potential.
In a similar vein, once players get their preferred rookies, they'll need to take certain steps to keep them. It's important to learn what kind of coaching they respond best to, and continue to select dialogue options that reflect that. Pushing them in dynamic storylines can help them achieve stretch goals, increasing their motivation and making them overall stronger players.
While these top 20 rookies are among the most promising new recruits, there are many other options who will surprise players with their rapid improvement across Franchise Mode seasons. So, while picking the cream of the crop is a shortcut to success in Madden NFL 25, players can still put together solid teams by recruiting lesser-known rookies.
