Ratings have never had such a huge effect over the results of gameplay as they do in Madden NFL 16. Make sure to test your assumptions and get players with high ratings in positions to make plays.
Acceleration (ACC) — How quickly a player gets to top speed.
Key Position: HB, WR, DE, OLB, CB
Agility (AGI) — How quickly and tightly a player is able to cut.
Key Position: HB, WR, CB
Awareness (AWR) — How smart a player is on the field; a good Awareness rating is great for CPU-controlled players.
Key Position: All positions
Ball Carrier Vision (BCV) — How well a CPU-controlled player can find holes in the defense and use moves.
Key Position: HB, WR, QB
Block Shedding (BSH) — How good a player is at getting off a block while trying to defending the run.
Key Position: DE, DT, OLB
Break Tackle (BTK) — How well a ball carrier can break tackles against a defender. This plays against a defender’s Tackle rating.
Key Position: QB, HB, FB, WR
Carry (CAR) — How well a ball carrier holds onto the ball; a higher number means a lower chance of a fumble.
Key Position: HB, FB, QB, WR
Catch (CTH) — How well a receiver can catch and hold onto the ball; a higher number means fewer dropped passes.
Key Position: WR, TE, HB
Catch in Traffic (CIT) — How well a receiver is able to catch and hold onto a ball in traffic. A higher number means a better chance of hanging onto the ball when being tackled by a defender.
Key Position: TE, WR, HB
Deep Accuracy (DAC) — This affects how accurate a quarterback is on throws over 40 yards.
Key Position: QB
Elusiveness (ELU) — How good a player is at using elusive moves to get away from defenders. Elusiveness is more common in speed backs.
Key Position: HB, WR, QB
Finesse Moves (FMV) — How good a player rushing the QB is at using a finesse move to get off blocks. An example is a swim move.
Key Position: DE, DT, OLB
Hit Power (POW) — How hard a defensive player can tackle a ball carrier. A higher number means more hit stick and fumble chances.
Key Position: OLB, MLB, FS, SS
Impact Blocking (IBL) — How good a player is at making blocks in the open field. The higher the rating, the bigger the chance for a big block that can knock an opponent off his feet. These are more common in the special teams return game.
Key Position: Offensive linemen, FB, TE
Injury (INJ) — How good a player is at staying healthy. The higher the rating, the less of a chance a player will get injured during the game and over the course of a season.
Key Position: All Positions
Juke Move (JKM) — How well a player can use a fake step juke move to get away from defenders. The rating can affect the tightness of the move and the amount of ground covered when juking.
Key Position: HB, WR, QB
Jumping (JMP) — How high a player can jump.
Key Position: WR, TE, CB
Kick Accuracy (KAC) — How accurate a player is when kicking a field goal, punting the ball, or kicking off.
Key Position: K, P
Kick Power (KPW) — How far a player can kick a field goal, punt the ball, or kick off.
Key Position: K, P
Man Coverage (MCV) — How well a defender can stick with his receiver while he is running his route. The higher the number, the closer he will play his assignment. This rating goes up against a receiver’s Route Running rating.
Medium Accuracy (MAC) — This affects how accurate a quarterback is on throws between 20 and 40 yards.
Key Position: QB
Key Position: CB, FS, SS
Overall (OVR) — This rating provides a great snapshot of a player’s attributes. Although you need to dig deeper to find out exactly what type of player you have, this will allow you to make quick decisions about whom to start.
Key Position: All players
Pass Blocking (PBK) — How well an offensive lineman is at blocking a defender who is rushing the QB on a passing play.
Key Position: Offensive line
Play Recognition (PRC) — How quickly a defensive player identifies what type of play the offense is running. A higher rating means less of a chance to be fooled on play action and the quicker the player will attack the line on run plays.
Key Position: OLB, MLB, FS, SS
Power Moves (PMV) — How good a player rushing the QB is at using a power-style move to get off blocks. An example is a bull rush move.
Key Position: DE, DT, OLB
Press (PRS) — How good a defender is at lining up in front of a WR and not letting him off the line of scrimmage. The higher the number, the better the defender will be at playing bump-n-run coverage. This goes against a receiver’s Release rating.
Key Position: CB, FS, SS
Pursuit (PUR) — How good a player is at taking proper angles to track down a ball carrier.
Key Position: OLB, MLB, FS, SS
Release (RLS) — How good a receiver is at getting off of press coverage. The higher the rating, the better chance he has to beat press coverage. This matches up against a defender’s Press rating.
Key Position: WR
Return (RET) — How good a player is at catching the ball on special teams.
Key Position: KR, PR
Route Running (RTE) — How well a receiver can run sharp routes that can get him space from the defender. This will determine separation against a man-to-man defender based on the defender’s Man Coverage rating.
Key Position: WR, TE, HB
Run Blocking (RBK) — How good an offensive lineman is at blocking a defender on a rushing play.
Key Position: Offensive line, FB, TE
Short Accuracy (SAC) — This affects how accurate a quarterback is on throws under 20 yards.
Key Position: QB
Spectacular Catch (SPC) — How well a receiver is able to go up and make jumping or unique catches. A higher number means a better chance of amazing catches over defenders.
Speed (SPD) — How fast a player runs.
Key Position: All players except offensive linemen
Spin Move(SPM) — How well a ball carrier can use a spin style move to get away from defenders. The rating can affect the tightness of the spin radius.
Key Position: HB, WR, QB
Stamina (STA) — This affects how long a player can stay in the game before becoming tired. The higher the rating, the more snaps a player will have before having to rest.
Key Position: All positions
Stiff Arm (SFA) — How good a ball carrier is at using his free hand to ward off tacklers.
Key Position: HB, WR, QB
Strength (STR) — How strong a player is and how well he can stand his ground or get pushed during a line battle.
Key Position: Offensive and defensive lines
Tackle (TAK) — How well a defensive player can tackle a ball carrier. A higher number means a lower chance of broken tackles.
Key Position: OLB, MLB, FS, SS
Throw Accuracy (THA) — How accurate a QB is when throwing the ball. A higher number means more consistent throws downfield.
Key Position: QB
Throw Power (THP) — How fast and far a QB can throw the ball. A higher number means better downfield throws.
Key Position: QB
Trucking (TRK) — How good a player is at using power moves to run over defenders. Trucking is more common in power backs.
Key Position: HB, FB, QB
Zone Coverage (ZCV) — How well a player will track his receiver in zone coverage. The higher the number, the more he will be able to cover a play in his zone during a pass play.
Key Position: OLB, MLB, CB, FS, SS