Madden 19: Detroit Lions Player Ratings, Roster, Depth Chart & Playbooks

Published: Jan 08, 2019, 11:02 am Updated: Sep 28, 2020, 11:50 am

The Detroit Lions have long been at the foot of the NFC North. While the Packers and Bears have storied histories and the Vikings have tales of heart-break, the Lions have failure in their history. They haven't made a Super Bowl since the merger, with their last NFL championship coming in 1957. They haven't won the NFC North, their last divisional title came in 1993, and their last playoff win was in January 1992. With such a poor history the team and fans are desperate for success. While there have been bright spots and some amazing players, this is a franchise that is crying out for a new direction. They hired Matt Patricia from the New England Patriots to be their head coach coming into the 2018 season, but can you take over the team and lead them to glory?

*All stats correct at time of writing

Team Rating

The Detroit Lions have a 76 overall rating in Madden 19. It's not a strong rating, with only four teams rated the same or lower. However, there are bright spots to the Lions team. The offense receives an 81 rating, which puts them above a good number of teams, and thanks to Matthew Stafford's presence they can play better than that if you master your playbook and reads. Defensively Detroit aren't good. They get a 77 defensive rating which is only better than two teams in Madden 19.

Damon Harrison, Defensive Tackle (OVR 94)

Age: 29

Development Trait: Superstar

Contract: 3 years/$26.04 million

2018 Cap Hit: $7.47 million

Best Stats: Block Shedding (96), Impact Block (95), Tackle (94), Play Recognition (94), Awareness (94), Strength (93), Finesse Moves (72)

Damon Harrison went undrafted in 2012 but soon latched on with the New York Jets. By 2013 he was a starter for them at nose tackle and was soon regarded as the best run-stopping defensive lineman in the league. In 2016 he joined the giants as a free agent and bought his considerable talents to their defense, quickly becoming the darling of statistics companies like Pro Football Focus for his run-stuffing ability. He came to Detroit via trade before the deadline in 2018 and immediately improved the middle of their defense too.

Darius Slay Jr, Cornerback (OVR 88)

Age: 27

Development Trait: Star

Contract: 3 years/$18.7 million

2018 Cap Hit: $5.64 million

Best Stats: Speed (94), Acceleration (93), Agility (93), Zone Coverage (89), Play Recognition (88), Man Coverage (87)

The Lions drafted Darius Slay in the second round of the 2013 draft. In his rookie year Slay was heavily targeted by opposing quarterbacks but showed enough promise to become a starter in his second year. Slay's potential was evident but he took some time to produce at the highest level. However, in 2017 he had a breakout season, putting up a league-high 8 interceptions and making the Pro Bowl for the first time as well as being named an All-Pro. Coming into 2018 he is a cornerstone of the Lions roster and has become a player that opposing teams try their best to avoid.

Marvin Jones Jr, Wide Receiver (OVR 87)

Age: 28

Development Trait: Quick

Contract: 3 years/$23.08 million

2018 Cap Hit: $6.81 million

Best Stats: Spectacular Catch (95), Jumping (91), Speed (90), Acceleration (90), Deep Route (90), Agility (90), Catching In Traffic (88), Catching (87)

Marvin Jones came into the NFL as a fifth-round pick for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2012. As a rookie he saw little action, making just 18 catches, but in 2013 he came to prominence with 51 catches and a remarkable 10 touchdowns. Injury sidelined him for the whole of 2014, but when he came back in 2015 he made 65 catches for 816 yards. In 2016 he moved to Detroit as a free agent and flourished thanks to an expanded role. He had his first 1,000+ yard season in 2017 and comes into the 2018 season with 2,031 yards and 13 touchdowns in two years with the Lions.

Matthew Stafford, Quarterback (OVR 83)

Age: 30

Development Trait: Star

Contract: 5 years/$99.8 million

2018 Cap Hit: $18.6 million

Best Stats: Throw Power (98), Play Action (86), Short Accuracy (86), Throw On Run (83), Throw Under Pressure (81)

Matthew Stafford was Detroit's reward for their 0-16 season as they took him with the first overall selection in the 2009 draft. He played just 13 games in his first two years in the NFL, but in 2011 Stafford exploded with 5,038 yards and 41 touchdowns. Both are career-highs, but Stafford has been a very consisted passer for the Lions, not missing a game since the start of the 2011 season and averaging 4,465 yards and 27 touchdowns a year, which is production many teams would love to have. At the age of 30 Stafford is now an established NFL quarterback and is regarded by many to be capable of leading a team to the Super Bowl if the supporting talent is there.

Full Roster & Depth Chart

QB	OVR	Speed	Throw Power	Short Accuracy	Medium Accuracy	Deep Accuracy	Throw Under Pressure	Play Action
Matthew Stafford	83	75	98	86	82	80	81	86
Matt Cassel	65	69	84	82	74	74	74	76

HB	OVR	Speed	Agility	Elusiveness	Carrying	Juke Move	Catching
Kerryon Johnson	81	88	85	77	90	85	71
LeGarrette Blount	79	85	82	69	89	83	59
Theo Riddick	79	87	94	85	82	90	72
Zach Zenner	72	87	81	66	87	81	64

FB	OVR	Speed	Strength	Carrying	Pass Block	Run Block	Lead Block	Impact Block
Nick Bawden	67	82	80	73	65	68	82	66
Nick Bellore	63	79	78	68	67	62	75	67

WR	OVR	Speed	Agility	Catching	Short Route	Medium Route	Deep Route	Catch In Traffic	Spectacular Catch	Release	Jumping
Marvin Jones Jr	87	90	90	87	81	88	90	88	95	84	91
Kenny Golladay	84	90	88	90	85	83	82	89	91	83	85
TJ Jones	76	90	92	84	77	78	76	83	81	68	82
Bruce Ellington	75	90	94	83	80	78	75	83	77	69	90
Brandon Powell	65	86	86	78	75	72	69	77	78	60	78
Andy Jones	65	88	89	76	64	65	66	75	74	69	96

TE	OVR	Speed	Agility	Catching	Short Route	Medium Route	Deep Route	Run Block
Luke Willson	75	86	83	78	68	65	61	69
Levine Toilolo	72	76	74	79	64	59	56	56
Michael Roberts	72	77	77	80	66	62	56	59
Jerome Cunningham	66	81	77	70	66	61	55	65
Don Muhlbach	56	65	61	52	45	40	35	61

OL	OVR	Speed	Strength	Pass Block	Run Block	Lead Block	Impact Block
TJ Lang	86	63	89	89	77	67	85
Frank Ragnow	81	73	92	80	83	85	85
Taylor Decker	79	65	90	82	74	85	84
Rick Wagner	79	65	87	80	80	87	89
Graham Glasgow	75	68	89	78	79	76	78
Tyrell Crosby	70	65	87	74	76	80	78
Kenny Wiggins	68	54	84	72	72	77	76
Leo Koloamatangi	65	58	83	74	72	76	77
Joe Dahl	63	66	84	71	75	51	76
Andrew Donnal	63	62	77	70	73	62	74

DE	OVR	Speed	Agility	Power Moves	Finesse Moves	Block Shedding
Ezekiel Ansah	82	84	81	81	74	78
Da'Shawn Hand	82	78	84	80	69	83
Romeo Okwara	75	77	75	79	75	73
Ricky Jean Francois	73	62	77	75	55	81
Kerry Hyder Jr	72	75	73	69	81	72
Eric Lee	69	81	88	61	70	66

DT	OVR	Speed	Strength	Power Moves	Finesse Moves	Block Shedding	Impact Block
Damon Harrison Sr	94	62	93	83	72	96	95
A'Shawn Robinson	79	66	86	80	66	80	86
Mitchell Loewen	71	74	87	75	71	76	82
John Atkins	61	60	81	70	53	72	81

OLB	OVR	Speed	Agility	Tackle	Hit Power	Play Recognition	Pursuit	Man Coverage	Zone Coverage
Devon Kennard	76	83	77	86	77	76	81	58	69
Christian Jones	75	81	84	83	83	76	82	53	61
Eli Harold	72	86	83	77	84	71	78	49	59
Jalen Reeves-Maybin	68	83	83	77	82	66	77	71	66
Nicholas Grigsby	67	87	81	78	78	56	78	50	63
Steve Longa	67	82	83	84	76	56	74	50	61

MLB	OVR	Speed	Agility	Tackle	Hit Power	Play Recognition	Pursuit	Man Coverage	Zone Coverage
Jarrad Davis	74	85	83	79	87	77	84	50	56
Kelvin Sheppard	66	80	74	81	86	73	75	55	67
Trevor Bates	61	80	83	80	78	48	78	54	63

CB	OVR	Speed	Acceleration	Agility	Man Coverage	Zone Coverage	Press
Darius Slay Jr	88	94	93	93	87	89	84
Nevin Lawson	76	90	89	90	74	71	66
Marcus Cooper Sr	74	89	88	83	73	74	78
Mike Ford	74	90	92	94	75	73	76
DeShawn Shead	72	87	89	88	76	75	76
Teez Tabor	71	87	90	92	70	69	77
Jamal Agnew	70	93	91	91	75	71	71
Dee Virgin	66	90	94	88	69	73	79

FS	OVR	Speed	Acceleration	Agility	Play Recognition	Man Coverage	Zone Coverage
Glover Quin	80	85	90	85	80	73	79
Tracy Walker III	73	89	91	81	69	75	75
Charles Washington	65	90	90	87	66	57	61

SS	OVR	Speed	Acceleration	Tackle	Play Recognition	Man Coverage	Zone Coverage
Quandre Diggs	80	87	87	65	83	78	80
Tavon Wilson	78	86	87	71	82	74	72
Miles Killebrew	73	87	89	74	73	54	64

ST	OVR	Kick Power	Kick Accuracy
Matt Prater (K)	80	94	87
Sam Martin (P)	78	96	83

The Lions roster does have talent, but there also a number of holes you'll need to fill in Franchise Mode. With Matthew Stafford (98 throw power, 86 short accuracy) under center the Lions have the most important piece of the puzzle, and around him are the weapons to create a deadly passing game. Marvin Jones (95 spectacular catch, 91 jumping) and Kenny Golladay (91 spectacular catch, 90 speed) are talented receivers that can win against man coverage. Rookie Kerryon Johnson (90 carrying, 88 speed) leads the way at running back and is supported by LeGarrette Blount (91 trucking, 91 acceleration) and Theo Riddick (94 agility, 90 juke move) who can provide brute force and a threat in the passing game.

The Lions have invested along the offensive line in recent years, with Frank Ragnow (92 strength, 85 impact block) their most recent first-round pick while Taylor Decker (90 strength, 82 pass block) handles the blindside blocking well.

Defensively the Lions are less impressive. They have nice players on the defensive line such as the monstrous Damon Harrison (96 block shedding, 95 impact block) and fellow defensive tackle A'Shawn Robinson (86 impact block, 86 strength) as well as edge threat Ezekiel Ansah (89 acceleration, 88 power moves), but they lack depth up front and then come in short at linebacker, though Jarrad Davis (90 acceleration, 87 hit power) is a quality young player. Darius Slay (94 speed, 89 zone coverage) leads the secondary at cornerback and has help at safety from Glover Quin (90 acceleration, 79 zone coverage) and Quandre Diggs (87 acceleration, 80 zone coverage).

Detroit Lions Playbook - Offense

I Form Pro

I Form Slot

I Form Twin TE

Strong I Pro

Strong I Slot Flex

Strong I Y Off

Weak I Pro

Singleback Ace Pair

Singleback Ace U Off

Singleback Bunch Base

Singleback Deuce

Singleback Dice Slot

Singleback Wing Pair

Singleback Wing Slot

Singleback Y Off Trips

Pistol Doubles

Pistol Doubles Y Off

Pistol Open Slot

Pistol Strong Slot Open

Pistol Wing Flex

Shotgun Bunch Wide

Shotgun Double Y Flex Off Wk

Shotgun Doubles

Shotgun Doubles HB Wk

Shotgun Doubles Y Off

Shotgun Doubles Y Off Wk

Shotgun Eagle H Tight

Shotgun Empty Base Flex

Shotgun Empty Y-Flex

Shotgun Split Flex

Shotgun Spread Y-Slot Wk

Shotgun Stack Y Off Wk

Shotgun Trips TE Offset

Shotgun Trips Y-Flex

Shotgun Y Off Trips Wk

The Detroit Lions offensive playbook is not as spectacular as you may hope. There is a nice balance between I formation that will let you pound the rock when you need to, along with a lot more Pistol formations that you normally get, but this comes at the expense of Singleback formations. You lack money formations like Singleback Deuce Close, and while the Shotgun set is fairly deep and does have 3 empty formations to spread the ball around, you don't have formations like Shotgun Trio. Trips Y-Flex is a good one you will want to familiarize yourself with, but if you aren't comfortable with doubles formations then you may want to use a different playbook for the Lions.

Detroit Lions Playbook - Defense

3-4 Odd

3-4 Solid

3-4 Under

4-3 Over

4-3 Under

Nickel Normal

Nickel 3-3-5 Wide

Nickel 3-3-5 Odd

Nickel 2-4-5 Double A Gap

Big Nickel Over G

Dime Normal

Quarter Normal

Quarter 3 Deep

Dollar 3-2-6

Goal Line Defense 5-3-3

Goal Line Defense 5-4-2

The Lions defensive playbook is very nice. It is one of just a handful of "multiple" defensive playbooks, meaning you can switch between 3-4 and 4-3 fronts all game. This requires some careful personnel management, but it makes your defense much harder to read for an opponent. Along with those changing fronts you get a good selection of nickel packages, including the rare Nickel 3-3-5 Odd which will confuse a lot of opponents.