Football season is fast approaching, meaning we as football fans have two important decisions to make. The first is to decide which fantasy football league to join, and the other is to pick your team for Madden 20 Franchise Mode. Now let’s be honest, you’re most likely going to start off Fantasy Football 2-4 and blame the whole season on an injury that occurred in the preseason.

While we will be covering Fantasy Football as draft season approaches and throughout the season, I am now here to talk about the best teams to pick for your Madden 20 Franchise Mode based on the type of team you are targeting: Contender or Rebuild. I also wrote about the best players to trade for, so check that out as well.

Contenders

Kansas City Chiefs

This is not my boldest take here as the new player mobility, X-Factor and Superstar abilities are built for Mahomes… and he has damn near every single one of them. With the new abilities added into the game the offense will be loaded. Kelce has the “Double Me” ability that allows receivers to aggressive catch everything. Also, fortunately for Madden users, the only person that Hill will be abusing in Madden 20 will be opposing defensive backs as he too should be a lock for an overpowered X-Factor trait.

Cleveland Browns

The Browns season is highly anticipated for the first time this decade, and that is being generous. The offense will be entertaining to use with a quality young QB in Baker Mayfield. LSU tandem Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry will be running routes alongside David Njoku at TE. Cleveland also features a strong run game with Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb leading the way. Defensively? Well they have a Defensive End in Myles Garrett, a sure fire pick to have an X-Factor ability and will serve as an anchor for a stout group of newly acquired pass rushers (Sheldon Richardson, Olivier Vernon). Oh, and they have a rising star in CB Denzel Ward as well as rookie CB Greedy Williams who should be easy to develop into an upper echelon defensive back.

New Orleans Saints

The Saints will have Drew Brees, Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas as guaranteed X-Factor Superstars on offense. They will also have one of the best CBs in Marshawn Lattimore who will be aided by a consistent pass rush by Cameron Jordan.

Now with Brees on his way out the door, this is more for players that are either only going to play a couple seasons or want to develop a Quarterback in the draft. If that is the case, the Saints have an outstanding young core to build around.

Honorable Mention – Chicago Bears

Rebuilds

Arizona Cardinals

For the people who are interested in long-term franchises, the Cardinals are absolutely the way to go. While the Cardinals will have some veteran talent in Patrick Peterson and Chandler Jones, the team is built around the youth. Star RB David Johnson will be rumbling into the endzone as he enters his fifth season with the new-look Cardinals. The Cardinals drafted Kyler Murray as their franchise QB with the first overall pick. With his combination of speed, athleticism, arm strength, and accuracy, Kyler is a perfect QB to go into Madden 20. EA has put a focus on a new mobility engine that now allows QBs to become runners behind the line of scrimmage and Murray will benefit massively from that. He will also benefit from rookie receivers Andy Isabella and Hakeem Butler, who could be a steals if developed correctly. On the defensive side, they drafted CB Byron Murphy with the 33rd pick, DE Zach Allen in the 3rd round, and S Deionte Thompson in the 5th round. This core of rookies is deep and could carry your franchise for at least a decade should you decide to play that long.

Washington Redskins

The Redskins have a knack for putting a really bad team on the field, but they accidentally put a great draft class together. Haskins will be easy to mold into a star as long as you can accept the fact that he will not be dominant in the run game. Montez Sweat will be a cheat code considering his 40 time should warrant 90+ speed coming off the edge. Haskins favorite weapon at Ohio State (WR Terry McLaurin) will be following him to Washington as well as Bryce Love who could be a hit or miss prospect. Landon Collins is a player you can built a defense around and Josh Norman should have some elite years left in him. Overall this would be a solid place to begin a long-term rebuild.

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens are in a weird stage of being somewhat competitive but not quite in the hunt. Lamar Jackson will be a much better player in Madden 20 than he currently is in real life. The new additions to the game cater towards his play and his arm can be developed. Marquise “Hollywood” Brown will be his new favorite toy, who has a 4.33 40-yard dash under his belt. He lacks size for an outside receiving threat, but he makes up for it in burst and skill. The additions of RBs Mark Ingram and rookie Justice Hill should help take the pressure off Jackson’s arm, as well as his own ability to scramble. This is a team I could see being carried by the 200 new RPOs and Trick Plays that EA will be rolling out in Madden 20. The defense leaves a lot to be desired, but someone who plans on making a multi-season rebuild should be able to put a quality product on the field while having a lot of fun offensively and drafting defensive players heavily.

Carolina Panthers

Cam Newton may be the most exiting player to use in Madden 20 excluding Mahomes and Rodgers. While Rodgers couldn’t quite put down a small cup of beer, his X-Factor ability makes it literally impossible to get picked off by the AI when in the zone.

Back to the Panthers – Newton will have the ability to make insane plays outside the pocket and his weapons will help aid the madness. Christian McCaffery is an absolute freak of nature out of the backfield and can double as your starting slot WR should you decide to do so. D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel will be way better in Madden 20 than they are in real life, and Greg Olsen will be around at least one season. Dontari Poe and Gerald McCoy should be a disruptive duo up the middle, with Luke Kuechly and Shaq Thompson right behind them. While Thompson is the only young part of that defensive core, the team could compete immediately with some user skill, and they have a young core to draft around. Also Will Grier is awesome, probably won’t impact your team but he’s good enough to start and Newton will be taking a lot of hits as you try to figure out this new mobility engine.

This list either helped you find your team or left you more confused with eight new options. Either way I hope you enjoyed my breakdown of the best teams to use in Madden 20 Franchise Mode. If you disagree I’m sure you will leave a respectful comment that is not hurtful at all, as is custom on the Internet.

Madden 20 Franchise Team