Game Ready: How the Denver Broncos Stack Up By Position In Madden 11

The Madden 2011 player ratings are out now, and the Denver Broncos look to have an interesting place in the AFC West, according to the game.

One of the more shocking things of note in the AFC West is that the game pretty much paints the picture of divisional gridlock.

And when Vincent Jackson and Marcus McNeill are subtracted from the Chargers roster, Kansas City appears to be to beat on offense.

The Broncos offense is arguably third best in the division for the game, while the defense looks to be tops.

As far as the roster is concerned, however, Denver only has four players with overall ratings of 90+. That seems to match up with the trend of players being separated more severely by the ratings system, and matches up well with the rest of the division.

While the Madden ratings on offense might appear harsh to the casual observer at first, it is important to remember that roster updates come along fast and frequently in the new age of gaming.

Still, unless your a defensive tycoon ,or unless the ratings change pretty dramatically, this isn't the best team to play with online.

I'll present the offense first to show you why.

Wide Receivers And Tight Ends (Ratings Are Overall)

Daniel Graham, TE (81)
Eddie Royal, WR (76)
Jabar Gaffney, WR (75)
Brandon Stokely, WR (74)
Demaryius Thomas, WR (74)
Brandon Lloyd, WR (70)
Eric Decker, WR (69)

While the receiving corps certainly start off without any clearly dominating number one player, I expect that someone will be forced to develop into that role.

Obviously, fans will look towards Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker to show their worth in real life, but the Broncos receiving corps was mostly all Brandon Marshall last year.

His loss definitely hurts the team's usability in Madden. Most of these ratings are pretty fair.

Expect them to change during the season, perhaps making the team more viable.

Keep in mind that while Graham is ranked number one now, it isn't because of his catching rating in the game.

Running Backs (Ratings Are Overall)

Knowshon Moreno (82)
Correll Buckhalter (78)

If you're playing with the Broncos in Madden, Knowshon Moreno is going to be the player to lean on. His acceleration is an impressive (97) and his agility is a (96).

Buckhalter is a viable back up, but his player ratings in other categories make his overall four point difference with Moreno misleading at best.

Quarterbacks (Ratings Are Overall)

Kyle Orton (80)
Brady Quinn (71)
Tim Tebow (70)

Now here's my suggestion. Start Tim Tebow IN THE GAME ONLY. When you look deeper into his stats, you realize he mixes great acceleration (90) with solid speed (79).

He also has linebacker-type strength (84) mixed with (96) stamina, (88) jumping, and (88) throwing power.

His accuracy is suspect in every category, but still, his long distance accuracy (79) is slightly better than Orton's (77).

If the Denver Broncos are going to be your team of choice, you're better off letting Tebow run, sometimes throwing short balls to Moreno and an occasional bomb pass Eddie Royal.

Heck, if you need an outlet in the middle, you can throw it to Graham and hope he muscles his way out of things.

It might work and it might not. But as far as the game is shaping up, Kyle Orton's advantage on mid-range passes is killed by his lack of receivers.

And please, for any Broncos fans who read my articles frequently, please know that this is only my recommendation for how you should play Madden 11.

Offensive Line (Ratings Are Overall)

Ryan Clady, LT (98)
Ryan Harris, RT (85)
Chris Kuper, RG (82)
Russ Hochstein, LG (78)
Maurice Williams, LG (77)
Zane Beadles, RT (68)
Seth Olsen, C (67)
Tyler Polumbus, LT (67)
JD Walton, C (64)

Well, the Denver Broncos should have an above average offensive line in the game. I disagree with the ratings on the rookies, but they should fix that relatively quickly with roster updates.

In real life, I think the Broncos have a superior offensive line, anchored by the brilliant left tackle Ryan Clady. He is the highest rated player on the Denver roster, according to Madden.

The quality of the offensive line should make this a team that you can afford to run the ball with, which coincides with my suggested Tim Tebow strategy.

At least you'll know that if you head left, you'll get a couple of yards off of Clady's rating alone.

Linebackers (Ratings Are Overall)

Elvis Dumervil, ROLB (93)
DJ Williams, MLB (88)
Robert Ayers, LOLB, (72)
Mario Haggan, MLB (72)
Akin Ayodele, MLB (70)
Jarvis Moss, ROLB (66)

Well, the linebacking corps is going to be led by Elvis Dumervil (who has great experience leading after rewriting the book on sacking the quarterback for the entire NFL last year).

His rating is slightly lower than I expected, and I am very disappointed with the Madden raters for what they said about this group.

Ayodele is better than they give him credit for being, and DJ Williams is a staple at middle linebacker. Ayers will be better than they are predicting too.

Again, I am going to assume they'll fix this during the season. But as far as I'm concerned, EA Sports blew it on this category.

Defensive Line (Ratings Are Overall)

Jamal Williams, NT (87)
Jarvis Green, DE (78)
Justin Bannan, DE (77)
Ronaldo Fields, NT (76)
Ryan McBean, DE (73)

The Broncos feature a completely new defensive front this year, and they should be ferocious. Led in the center by Jamal Williams, the Denver defense should feature greatly improved run stopping ability.

I also think Green and Bannan were underrated by EA Sports here, and should be a little bit higher, but examination of the key defensive line categories reveals that their ratings are deceptive.

This line should be potent in the game.

Secondary (Ratings Are Overall)

Champ Bailey, CB (95)
Brian Dawkins, FS (90)
Andre' Goodman, CB (82)
Darcel McBath, FS (74)
Renaldo Hill, SS (74)
Alphonso Smith, CB (69)
Perrish Cox, CB (67)

The Broncos Secondary is led by veterans Champ Bailey and Brian Dawkins, both of whom are stellar in the game. Expect Andre' Goodman to continue as a great number two cornerback, as well, keeping his rating intact.

The Broncos secondary should pull in a solid number of interceptions in Madden, and will help you give fits to people picking passing teams. Again, I expect EA Sports to improve a couple of these players as things move along.

Perrish Cox will likely be one of the kick returners for Denver in the game, and his other ratings reflect that.

Conclusions

The Broncos definitely have a solid game defense, and could be an appealing team for players who want to use a creative offense.

To get the most enjoyment out of Denver in Madden 11, the best route to go is probably using Tim Tebow's legs and toughness to run some sort of professional version of the option.

Obviously, Madden has become one of the most frustrating and simultaneously rewarding games known to man through its developing history, and this year's game will likely still have some glitches.

The Denver Broncos could be a team to use to exploit those, particularly if this is another Madden game where speed and strength kill.

Have fun playing with your franchise!