Madden 19: Minnesota Vikings Player Ratings, Roster, Depth Chart & Playbooks

Published: Dec 16, 2018, 10:42 am Updated: Sep 28, 2020, 11:50 am

The Minnesota Vikings have never won a Super Bowl, but not for want of trying. They have made four Super Bowl but lost them all, including three between the 1973 and 1976 seasons. In recent years the Vikings have made it to two NFC title games but lost both. In 2009 they came within reach of a Super Bowl berth but Brett Favre threw and interception. In 2017 they had a miracle win against the Saints to make the NFC title game but were then routed by Philadelphia. They come into Madden 19 with a deep and talented roster and a new quarterback in Kirk Cousins, can you lead them to their first Lombardi trophy?

*All stats correct at time of writing

Team Rating

The Minnesota Vikings are rated 81 overall in Madden 19. It's not a terrific rating, with 13 teams scoring higher, but it's not awful either. The Vikings offense gets an 81 rating, in main due to a poor offensive line and just an average quarterback, but the offense if far more playable than its rating thanks to a lot of talent at receiver and running back. The strength of the Vikings roster is on defense, where they get a huge 87 rating. Only three teams have a better defensive rating.

Harrison Smith, Strong Safety (OVR 94)

Age: 29

Development Trait: Superstar

Contract: 4 years/$36.07 million

2018 Cap Hit: $7.59 million

Best Stats: Pursuit (93), Play Recognition (92), Awareness (92), Hit Power (92), Zone Coverage (91), Acceleration (91)

Harrison Smith was a first-round pick for the Vikings in 2012 and immediately won his way into the starting lineup. His rookie year he picked off three passes and scored two touchdowns, which was just a taste of things to come. As Smith grew in the NFL he turned into one of the best safeties in the NFL, a brilliant tackler and rangy in coverage. He comes into Madden 19 with 17 career interceptions along with 9 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and 4 touchdowns and was named first team All-Pro in 2017.

Adam Thielen, Wide Receiver (OVR 94)

Age: 28

Development Trait: Star

Contract: 3 years/$11.67 million

2018 Cap Hit: $3.56 million

Best Stats: Catching (96), Spectacular Catch (96), Catch In Traffic (95), Short Route (95), Medium Route (95), Release (94), Acceleration (93)

Adam Thielen was never meant to be an NFL player. He went undrafted in 2013 and one came to the Vikings as a free agent because he had gone to school in the state and was invited to a rookie tryout session. He was a bit-part player for the first three years, making just 20 catches in total, but his ability was improving every season, and in 2016 he became a key piece of the offense, making 69 catches for 967 yards and 5 touchdowns. In 2017 he took another step forward and became one of the most impressive receivers in the NFL. He made 91 catches for 1,276 yards and four scores, displaying amazingly precise route-running along with excellent athleticism. He comes into Madden 19 as a deadly player, and with Stefon Diggs makes one of the best receiver pairings in the NFL

Everson Griffen, Defensive End (OVR 90)

Age: 30

Development Trait: Star

Contract: 5 years/$48.5 million

2018 Cap Hit: $9.4 million

Best Stats: Power Moves (91), Play Recognition (88), Awareness (88), Acceleration (87), Tackle (86), Strength (85)

Everson Griffen was a fourth-round pick for the Vikings in 2010. He didn’t start a game for the Vikings until 2012, and even then it was just one four the first four years of his career. However, being a slow-starter didn’t stop really hamper Griffen. Minnesota continued to invest time into him and after solid pass-rushing results as a role player, in 2014 he started every game and registered 12 sacks. From then on Griffen was one of the most consistent pass rushers around. In the last 4 years he has picked up 43.5 sacks, 49 tackles for loss, and 101 QB hits.

Kirk Cousins, Quarterback (OVR 84)

Age: 30

Development Trait: Quick

Contract: 3 years/$79.5 million

2018 Cap Hit: $26.1 million

Best Stats: Play Action (94), Throw Power (92), Short Accuracy (90), Throw Under Pressure (90), Awareness (86)

Kirk Cousins was fourth-round pick for the Washington Redskins in 2012. He was never meant to be their starter as the Redskins took Robert griffin III second overall that year too. However, as injuries and poor play hampered griffin, Cousins got his chance. He took over the starting job in 2015, completing 70 percent of his passes for 4,166 yards and 29 touchdowns. Cousins was impressive in his three years as the Redskins starter, but Washington were loath to commit to him, and after 13,000 yards and 81 touchdowns he moved to Minnesota as a free agent before the 2018 season.

Full Roster & Depth Chart

QB	OVR	Speed	Throw Power	Short Accuracy	Medium Accuracy	Deep Accuracy	Throw Under Pressure	Play Action
Kirk Cousins	84	78	92	90	84	81	90	94
Trevor Siemian	69	74	87	82	77	75	80	80
Kyle Sloter	65	79	91	79	76	76	69	71

HB	OVR	Speed	Agility	Elusiveness	Carrying	Juke Move	Catching
Dalvin Cook	85	91	93	87	86	87	68
Latavius Murray	80	91	89	75	88	86	66
Ameer Abdullah	76	89	90	79	81	91	66
Mike Boone	70	90	86	76	86	82	67

FB	OVR	Speed	Strength	Carrying	Pass Block	Run Block	Lead Block	Impact Block
CJ Ham	71	83	77	79	72	56	73	51

WR	OVR	Speed	Agility	Catching	Short Route	Medium Route	Deep Route	Catch In Traffic	Spectacular Catch	Release	Jumping
Adam Thielen	94	90	93	96	95	95	89	95	96	94	91
Stefon Diggs	93	91	93	97	92	92	89	91	95	87	89
Aldrick Robinson	74	91	93	80	77	78	83	75	75	58	87
Laquon Treadwell	73	87	87	81	76	74	70	80	80	71	94
Chad Beebe	64	86	86	80	72	66	63	77	77	57	79
Brandon Zylstra	64	85	83	79	69	71	68	78	78	70	82

TE	OVR	Speed	Agility	Catching	Short Route	Medium Route	Deep Route	Run Block
Kyle Rudolph	86	77	81	96	81	78	71	57
David Morgan II	72	72	74	79	62	59	54	66
Tyler Conklin	69	79	78	78	64	62	64	55
Kevin McDermott	51	72	70	60	50	45	40	53

OL	OVR	Speed	Strength	Pass Block	Run Block	Lead Block	Impact Block
Pat Elflein	75	62	88	76	77	79	81
Mike Remmers	74	66	85	75	76	74	76
Brian O'Neill	74	79	82	76	78	84	82
Riley Reiff	72	65	85	75	75	84	83
Tom Compton	72	70	90	73	77	78	80
Nick Easton	71	68	82	73	75	76	75
Brett Jones	71	68	84	80	73	78	77
Aviante Collins	69	78	86	73	77	80	79
Danny Isidora	68	72	85	72	71	80	81
Rashod Hill	68	62	78	72	74	82	81

DE	OVR	Speed	Agility	Power Moves	Finesse Moves	Block Shedding
Everson Griffen	90	83	80	91	83	83
Danielle Hunter	87	88	85	77	87	85
Stephen Weatherly	73	82	77	65	76	67
Tashawn Bower	68	79	75	76	65	73
Ade Aruna	67	84	75	67	72	72
Hercules Mata'afa	64	80	77	63	67	70

DT	OVR	Speed	Strength	Power Moves	Finesse Moves	Block Shedding	Impact Block
Linval Joseph	89	76	98	82	57	90	92
Sheldon Richardson	86	71	88	86	73	80	90
Tom Johnson	73	60	80	79	66	77	87
Jaleel Johnson	71	66	82	75	68	76	77
Jalyn Holmes	70	78	87	74	66	76	85

OLB	OVR	Speed	Agility	Tackle	Hit Power	Play Recognition	Pursuit	Man Coverage	Zone Coverage
Anthony Barr	84	87	89	86	86	86	86	65	73
Ben gedeon	77	81	78	80	84	75	84	57	64
Eric Wilson	68	86	85	81	72	56	79	58	64

MLB	OVR	Speed	Agility	Tackle	Hit Power	Play Recognition	Pursuit	Man Coverage	Zone Coverage
Eric Kendrick	80	85	82	81	85	88	84	65	77
Kentrell Brothers	67	78	79	85	81	58	77	61	70
Devante Downs	65	78	80	82	76	58	81	57	66

CB	OVR	Speed	Acceleration	Agility	Man Coverage	Zone Coverage	Press
Xavier Rhodes	88	81	80	90	87	85	95
Trae Waynes	79	84	83	86	78	76	80
Mike Hughes	74	89	81	94	81	75	82
Mackensie Alexander	74	90	81	90	75	70	80
Holton Hill	73	89	80	88	76	73	75
Marcus Sherels	69	89	84	93	70	67	64
Craig James	65	89	89	87	72	69	72

FS	OVR	Speed	Acceleration	Agility	Play Recognition	Man Coverage	Zone Coverage
Andrew Sendejo	83	83	88	85	85	71	83
Anthony Harris	74	87	89	88	78	68	74
George Iloka	74	85	89	87	74	70	74

SS	OVR	Speed	Acceleration	Tackle	Play Recognition	Man Coverage	Zone Coverage
Harrison Smith	94	87	91	80	92	80	91
Jayron Kearse	65	85	88	69	60	59	69

ST	OVR	Kick Power	Kick Accuracy
Dan Bailey (K)	77	92	83
Matt Wile (P)	76	92	81

The Vikings team may not rate that highly, but their roster is full of talent. On offense Kirk Cousins (94 play action, 92 throw power) is a solid quarterback and he has a ton of weapons around him. Running back Dalvin Cook (91 speed, 89 break tackle) is good, and at receiver the pair of Adam Thielen (96 catching, 95 short route) and Stefon Diggs (97 catching, 92 short route) are perhaps the best wide receiver duo in Madden 19. It doesn't stop there either, with Kyle Rudolph (96 catching, 81 short route) providing a serious threat from tight end. Where the Vikings offense does struggle is on the offensive line, but if you can get the ball out of Cousins' hands quickly then this is an offense that can keep the scoreboard moving.

Defensively there are several impressive players at every level. On the defensive line you get edge pressure from Everson Griffen (91 power moves, 88 awareness) and Danielle Hunter (90 acceleration, 87 finesse moves) while Linval Joseph (98 strength, 90 block shedding) and Sheldon Richardson (86 power moves, 84 acceleration) eat up space inside. At linebacker Anthony Barr (87 speed, 86 tackle) and Eric Kendricks (90 acceleration, 81 tackle) can cover every blade of grass and make all the tackles.

In the secondary Xavier Rhodes (87 man coverage, 85 zone coverage) is an excellent shutdown corner and there is youthful potential in Mike Hughes (81 man coverage, 75 zone coverage), Mackensie Alexander (90 speed, 75 man coverage), and Holton Hill (89 speed, 76 man coverage), while Harrison Smith (92 play recognition, 91 zone coverage) is one of the best strong safeties in Madden 19.

Minnesota Vikings Playbook - Offense

I Form Pro

I Form Slot Flex

I Form Twin TE

Strong I Pro

Strong I Wing

Weak I Pro

Weak I Wing

Near Jumbo

Singleback Ace

Singleback Ace Pair

Singleback Ace Slot

Singleback Bunch Ace

Singleback Deuce Close

Singleback Dice Slot

Singleback Wing Pair

Singleback Wing Slot

Singleback Wing Tight

Pistol Ace U Off

Pistol Strong

Shotgun Ace Offset

Shotgun Bunch

Shotgun Doubles Offset

Shotgun Doubles Offset Wk

Shotgun Doubles Y Off Wk

Shotgun Doubles Y-Flex Offset

Shotgun Eagle Trey

Shotgun Empty Base Flex

Shotgun Empty Bunch Wide

Shotgun Split Panther

Shotgun Stack Y Off Wk

Shotgun Trey

Shotgun Trey Y-Flex

Shotgun Y Off Trips Wk

Shotgun Y Trips Wk

Wildcat Trips Over

The Vikings offensive playbook has more unique looks than most. It has a bonus couple of Wildcat plays and the Near formation, a tight, heavy, set that is good for short yardage situations. Along with all that you get the usual blend of singleback and shotgun sets. The Vikings have Deuce Close which is always good, and Shotgun Trey Y-Flex which is a personal favorite. Shotgun Empty Bunch Wide is a really nice empty set that forces safeties to declare their coverage early, and Shotgun Split Panther is a nice misdirection formation.

Minnesota Vikings Playbook - Defense

4-3 Normal

4-3 Over

4-3 Over Plus

4-3 Under

4-3 Wide 9

46 Normal

Nickel Normal

Nickel Double A Gap

Nickel 3-3-5 Wide

Nickel Wide 9

Big Nickel Over G

Dime Normal

Quarter Normal

Quarter 3 Deep

Goal Line Defense 5-3-3

Goal Line Defense 5-4-2

The Vikings defensive playbook is a pretty standard 4-3 playbook. You do get a 46 Normal formation to load the box and a very nice Nickel 3-3-5 Wide formation that can mix pressure and coverage really well. Otherwise it is pretty standard though, which is a little disappointing given Mike Zimmer's status as a defensive minded head coach.