We are headed down the home stretch of the regular season in the NFL, and it’s become evident that certain players have separated themselves from the pack. These players are playing at the top of the game, often blowing past expectations and cementing themselves as among the best at their positions. Still, sometimes their achievements and elite skills aren’t yet reflected in Madden 26.
On no side of the ball is this dynamic more apparent than on offense. Whether it’s in the passing or running game, some players are incredibly underrated even after all the in-season roster updates have come out. Here are the most underrated players at each offensive position in Madden.
Quarterbacks
- Drake Maye (Patriots) – 89 OVR
- Jordan Love (Packers) – 85 OVR
- Jared Goff (Lions) – 88 OVR
Maye, Goff, and Love are numbers 2, 3, and 4, respectively, in terms of passer rating in the 2025 season (with Matthew Stafford as number one and Sam Darnold rounding out the top five). Goff sits at second in passing touchdowns with Maye at third and Love tied for fifth. Goff and Maye also all sit in the top five (along with Prescott, Stafford, and Mahomes) in terms of yards per game this season, with Love also in the top ten. Given this statistical dominance in real life, you would think they would rank among the top five QBs in Madden 26, but alas, they all sit below 90 OVR.
Acknowledging the generational talent of Mahomes, Jackson, Allen, and Burrow, and setting them above the rest of the pack. As well as acknowledging that Matt Stafford has been the best statistical QB of the year, that puts our three QBs at between 6th and 10th in the game alongside Dak Prescott and Baker Mayfield. If you slot them at those positions in order of passer rating, given that Lamar Jackson is currently the fifth best QB with a 94 OVR and Baker Mayfield is tenth best with an 87 OVR, that means Drake Maye should be a 93 OVR (+4), Jared Goff should be a 91 OVR (+3) and Jordan Love should be a 89 OVR (+4)
Running Backs
- Blake Corum (Rams) – 75 OVR
- De’Von Achane (Dolphins) – 88 OVR
- Javonte Williams (Panthers) – 85 OVR
Blake Corum is the most interesting of the three because he is a lot more underrated, mainly due to his being the second running option on a pass-focused offense, but you can see in the numbers just how good he is. 5th in yards per carry, third in broken tackles per carry, and 2nd in the success rate of runners with over 100 carries. He definitely deserves to be 80 OVR (+5) at least.
De’Von Achane leads the league in yards per carry, is third in yards per game, and fifth in broken tackles, but is only the eleventh-best RB in terms of Madden rating. The only players that I could argue are better than him in the game are Jahmyr Gibbs, Jonathan Taylor, James Cook, Saquon Barkley (skill-based), Derrick Henry (skill-based), and Christian McCaffrey, making him the seventh-best running back in the game, which is currently good enough for a 92 OVR (+4).
Javonte Williams is another running back in the top ten in most statistical categories and is currently underrated. If he moved up to number ten, he would be an 88 OVR (+3).
Wide Receivers
- Emeka Egbuka (Buccaneers) – 81 OVR
- Wan’Dale Robinson (Giants) – 82 OVR
- Tetairoa McMillan (Panthers) – 82 OVR
- Jameson Williams (Lions) – 83 OVR
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Seahawks) – 94 OVR
Robinson, McMillan, Egbuka, and Williams are all in the top 20 receivers in receiving yards but are all outside the top 20 in Madden ratings. Put them all at 20th, and they’d be at 86 overall, which would be an increase of five points for Emeka Egbuka, four for both Robinson and McMillan, and three for Jameson Williams.
As for Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the under rating isn’t as severe as with the others, but it’s still very apparent as he’s been obviously the best receiver in football this season by far, but still has only seen his player rating improve to fifth best in Madden. It’s evident to me that they need to improve this number to reflect his monster 1,400+ yard season, which could easily eclipse 1,800 by season’s end and perhaps even threaten 2,000 yards and Calvin Johnson’s record of 1,964. Giving him a chance to justify a 99 overall next season, but for now, he should at least be at 97 OVR (+3).
Tight Ends
- Harold Fannin (Browns) – 77 OVR
- Kyle Pitts (Falcons) – 79 OVR
- Jake Ferguson (Cowboys) – 83 OVR
Harold Fannin was one of my favorite players in CFB 25, and he’s proven to be a great NFL talent as well, putting up the sixth most receiving yards this season for a TE, seventh most receptions, and 12th most TDs. Averaging out those numbers to make him an even tenth-best TE and leaving room for the injured George Kittle, that still puts him at eleventh-best tight, which should give him an 84 OVR (+7). Kyle Pitts has been fourth among TEs in receptions and yards, but he has only one TD on the year. In my eyes, that puts him slightly above Fannin in terms of overall rating, perhaps at 85 OVR (+6) to make him the ninth-best TE in the game.
As for Jake Ferguson, he is already rated pretty high, at 83 OVR to make him the 13th best TE in Madden, but he deserves better. He’s third among tight ends in touchdowns, second in receptions, and tenth in receiving yards, making him roughly the fifth to seventh best tight end in the league, depending on what you value more. In Madden, that type of ranking would give him an OVR of around 88 (+5).
Offensive Linemen
- Alaric Jackson (Rams) – 81 OVR
- Mike McGlinchey (Broncos) – 80 OVR
- Charles Cross (Panthers) – 84 OVR
Offensive Linemen are hard to evaluate because there aren’t a lot of stats to look at, but based on team running games and sacks allowed, it’s clear that there are three teams that are head and shoulders above the rest: the Rams, Broncos, and Panthers. If you look at those three O-lines in Madden, you can see that some key players are vital to the success of their lines that Madden isn’t respecting.
I would argue that each of these three players should get at least a 3-point boost in OVR, if not more, given their team’s success in the trenches and their critical role in making it happen.
