Kurt Benkert didn't become a household name as an NFL quarterback, but found his claim to fame on YouTube explaining the real nuts and bolts of how football plays work to Madden NFL players. That makes him the perfect person to host EA Sports Madden NFL 26 deep dive video. Benkert has been heaping praise on Madden 26 for weeks now. Of course, they flew him to Orlando, so it's fair to take his or any EA Gamechanger's feedback in that context.
This year's biggest buzzwords are QB DNA and Coach DNA. I think we all remember how EA made a big deal about Patrick Mahomes' Superman-style passes last year. I don't think I saw that animation a single time in hundreds of hours playing the game.
At least in this deep dive, we saw interesting QB specific moves. There was Kyler Murray evading everyone and doing a cross body throw that probably shouldn't have worked. Bears second-year stud Caleb Williams has his patented jump throws. Josh Allen had some quick forward tosses that looked more option plays than passes. I'll be completely sold when I see these happen consistently in game.
As I mentioned, Benkert is on EA's payroll at this point, but he has to know the ridicule he'll get if Madden 26 lays a big fat egg after he hypes it up. He has deleted the tweet now, but he promised the biggest update to franchise mode in over a decade.
EA promises coaches will be smarter and more authentic on both sides of the ball thanks to years of Madden's AI analyzing data. Coaches such as Dan Campbell will be far more aggressive, and the coach suggestions will reflect that. Defensive coach suggestions will reportedly take the opponent's tendencies into account, making it harder to run the same money plays over and over.
Player movement on both sides of the ball is more explosive, according to Benkert. Admittedly, I've heard a lot of content creators say this since the beta and they weren't all EA Gamechangers. Will Madden 26 finally be the one we've been waiting for? We'll find out August 14.