Posted August 1st at 10:00am.

When we covered offensive lines, I mentioned that they were the foundation of an offense’s success. That would mean the defensive line’s job is to bring that foundation to the ground. D-linemen are essential to stopping an offense, as they can slow the running game to a crawl and potentially prevent a throw from even leaving the quarterback’s hand. And D-tackles are the main force pushing up the middle. Here are the top 5 D-tackles looking to stop your offense cold in Madden 18.





1. Ndamukong Suh, Miami Dolphins When playing Madden, it’s generally a good idea to keep the ball carrier away from Suh. He’s basically just a wall. Suh’s Strength rating is a whopping 98. That makes him the strongest player in Madden 18. To stick with that theme, he’s got a 92 Tackle and 95 Hit Power, which is also the strongest among D-tackles. Mental note: don’t run towards him.





2. Geno Atkins, Cincinnati Bengals Atkins isn’t as strong as Suh, few human beings are, but he’s still strong enough to disrupt plays. His 90 Strength is quite a bit lower that Suh’s ridiculous 98, but Atkins has the advantage with a Power Move of 93 to push past a block. Another handy attribute is a 92 Play Recognition. So manually controlling another player and letting the AI handle Atkins isn’t the worst idea.





3. Fletcher Cox, Philadelphia Eagles Cox is a unique talent among DTs with regards to Madden Ratings. With an 89 Strength, which is still good, he’s the weakest of the top five DTs. However, he matches Suh’s 92 Tackle and has an 80 Speed, making him the fastest DT of this top tier group.





4. Gerald McCoy, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Enter Gerald McCoy. His Strength is 92, so he’s one of the stronger ones in the group. McCoy is more of a traditional DT – an obstacle for the O-line as opposed to an attacker as he only has a 69 Speed. But he’s a great addition to your roster if you have someone else attacking off the edge.





5. Damon Harrison, New York Giants Let’s get this out of the way – Harrison is slow. 54 Speed makes him the slowest of the top 5 by far. But he’s one of the more reliable DTs in Madden 18. He has a Strength of 93, 94 Tackle, and a 95 in Awareness and Play Recognition. He also scores a 94 in Block Shedding. So he makes up for his lack of quickness with a reliable set of skills to get past the O-line. That Speed might not sound impressive, but keep in mind that O-linemen are rarely fast themselves. Harrison’s top five spot is well deserved.