5 NFL players destined to be on Madden cover in the future

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Madden, NFL, Christian McCaffrey (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

1. Christian McCaffrey, RB, Carolina Panthers

While Christian McCaffrey is only three years into his career, the Stanford product is already one of the most dynamic running backs in NFL history. According to NFL Research, McCaffrey is the first running back and fourth player overall in league history with 100 or more receptions in two of his first three seasons.

Matt Forte set the record for receptions in a single season by a running back with 102 in 2014. However, McCaffrey broke that record by snatching 107 passes in 2018, which also set a Panthers single-season franchise record. This past year, McCaffrey raised the bar even higher by recording 116 receptions. To put that in perspective, when Todd Gurley earned a First-Team All-Pro selection in 2018, he recorded 59 receptions. McCaffrey nearly doubled that last year while still rushing for more yards than Gurley did in 2018.

McCaffrey also became the third running back in NFL history to record 1,000 rushing and receiving yards in a season, joining Roger Craig and Marshall Faulk. For years, analysts and fans speculated about which running back would become the next player to accomplish the historic feat. Where players like Le’Veon Bell and Forte failed, McCaffrey succeeded.

Right now, McCaffrey is the best running back and offensive weapon in the NFL. He’s more productive than Saquon Barkley and more versatile than Michael Thomas. No skill player approaches his level of impact on the game. So, while running backs like Barkley, Nick Chubb and Ezekiel Elliott could make cases for future Madden covers, McCaffrey should receive a cover before any of them.

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Unfortunately, the league’s best running back is stuck on a team that recently committed to a long-term rebuild. After the Panthers hired head coach Matt Rhule and gave him a seven-year deal, Carolina made McCaffrey the highest-paid running back in NFL history. He signed a four-year, $64 million contract extension that keeps him in Carolina through the 2025 season.

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