Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Not only has Robert Griffin III played a major role in transforming Mike Shanahan‘s offense and thus provided more reasons why dual-threat quarterbacks and read-option can work as a legitimate NFL element, Griffin is also revolutionizing the way people play Madden.
The Washington Redskins quarterback was referenced as a primary inspiration for programming changes in Madden 25 that allow greater freedom for running in the open field.
“Last year was an incredibly special year when you look at the quarterbacks. The RG III’s, the Russell Wilsons, the Colin Kaepernicks – they really changed the way offenses play in this league,” Anthony Stevenson, Sr. Director of Marketing for EA Sports, said via USA TODAY Sports. “It feels so much different – the pistol offense, the read option – it feels a lot different to me than the wildcat where you might throw in a couple plays but in a couple of years it kind of faded away. … This is personnel driven and you’re talking about the future quarterbacks that are going to be the Pro Bowlers for the next ten to 15 years and take the torch from the Peyton Mannings and Tom Bradys.
“We wanted to make sure we represented that in this year’s game so we have a campaign called Run Free. … We’ve gone from roughly eight moves to 38 different moves you can do. The thing that players like RGIII are so good at is putting different moves together at one time. In the past if you were going to do a spin move in Madden, you’d have to complete your spin move before you could do something else. These guys today start with a spin move and then decide ‘I’m going to plant real quick and juke right.’
As someone who always chose the Pittsburgh Steelers in Madden 2001 so that he could use Kordell Stewart to pull “personalized jukes,” I find this to be an amazing development in the video game franchise. It’s been ages since I’ve played a video game — and I’m a New York Giants fan — but I’m actually kind of excited to try out the Redskins in Madden 25.
Thomas Emerick is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @ThomasEmerick, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
