Pre-Season Interviews
Pre-Season Interviews
AFC North
Samcuso
Team: Cincinnati Bengals
Location: Erie, Pennsylvania
I: Have you had the chance to keep up with the new features being added to the game at all?
S: Ya I’m not aware of all of them, but I’m definitely looking forward to the target passing and the defensive matchup changes.
I: Are you excited for Longshot at all?
S: Hell yeah, I think that should be pretty sweet
I: What about it interests you?
S: Huge fan of my player in NBA2k, and always loved creating a guy in Madden…it’s something new in Madden so I think it’s a good idea. I hate the ultimate team stuff so why not lol.
I: I can’t get into MUT either. I tried MUT and FUT, but neither one gave me the desire to continue to return to the feature.
Which offseason moves by the Bengals are you most excited about, or which took you by surprise and made you feel that the coming season might be a little harder than previously thought?
S: I’m pumped for the young guns John Ross and Mixon, those two will give me a bunch of different options on offense. I’m worried about my OL though, if Dalton can’t be protected I’m screwed.
I: Hopefully some of the updates they did to the OL will help keep Dalton upright! The Bengals seem to be going in the right direction and definitely made it easier for Madden players to build the team around what they have.
How do you feel you stack up in your division? You came in kind of late last year, so did you get to play any of your current division rivals last year? Do you have a plan of attack or are you keeping it close to your chest?
S: Last year I came in late, and really couldn’t build the team the way I would…I’m exicted to take this from the ground up. My division should be solid, a ton of great players and teams…the key for me this time around will just be to play my game and don’t over think it…by any means!
I: I suffer from overthinking as well. Do you tend to lean towards building your offense or defense first?
S: For me, it’s all about the defense.
I: I’m the same, it is much easier to draft good defensive pieces at any point in the draft.
Are there any improvements you think could be made, or any new features we can add?
S: As of now, no. If I think of anything I will let you know.
I: Last but not least, what’s some stuff about you?
S: I’m a die-hard Raiders fan. I’m a huge hip-hop head, but not the shitty new stuff more like the classics. Movie-wise Godfather 1&2, Wolf of Wall-street, Zoolander and Fear in Loathing.
I: Any specific hip-hop artists? Where you live at the moment?
S: Erie, PA home of James Connor, Fred Biletnikoff and Bob Sanders. Kanye West, Jay-Z, Outkast, Wutang, Kenrick Lamar, J-Cole and Lil Dicky.
I: Wu-Tang and Lil Dicky are great! I’ve never been a fan of Kanye really, he just never caught on with me unfortunately.
That’s all I’ve got for this interview, I appreciate you taking the time to answer everything! I look forward to playing you this season, I believe we have one match-up!
Someonescoat
Team: Cleveland Browns
Location: Portland, Oregon
I: Have you been able to keep up with any of the new updates that will be in the game?
S: No
I: The biggest additions are target passing, Longshot, and improved defensive AI. Target passing allows you to throw it to a precise spot on the field, rather than having to throw only to open guys (although the feature can be turned off to go back to normal). Longshot is a new story mode similar to The Journey in FIFA 17. You control a player and you have to guide him from high school to the pros, playing in only the big games in his journey to make it to the NFL. It has cut-scenes, but the biggest gripe people seem to have is that you never end up playing in an NFL game, and that the story supposedly only takes four hours to complete. However, there are different endings, so it might be worth replaying. The defensive AI has been adjusted to make sure players don't wander out of their zones, and now we can decide who covers which receiver. Any opinions on those changes?
S: No comment Mr. Goodell
I: None of that excites you, or makes you wish they had kept it the same?
S: Change is fun, just don’t care too much
I: That is true, especially with the new game engine. Maybe it is a good thing they didn’t totally overhaul everything.
What do you think of the offseason moves by the Browns? Are you looking forward to playing with anybody, or did they throw you some curveballs you weren’t expecting at all?
S: I’m super excited to play as the Browns. New OL and defensive rookie studs…and of course the man with the golden arm Cody Kessler.
I: Haha you aren’t starting Brock? If they put Josh Gordon in the game, you should be pretty set as far as offense goes.
What do you think about the other players in your division? Do you think it will be a close race?
S: I really hope Gordon is on my roster, it seems like I have some nice pieces. I have no idea who else is in my division, but I know it’s not Dome…cause he’s a bitch.
Aaron
Team: Baltimore Ravens
Location:
I: Have you been able to keep up with some of the changes announced for Madden 18?
A: Yeah, some. I heard about the single player story mode. That seems to be the big change for this year. I love the Madden franchise, but they had been in a cycle of not changing much in the way of gameplay which made it hard to get too excited.
I: I feel the same way! It seemed like every odd-year release they would come out with a new feature, but they have definitely stagnated since Madden 25.
What do you think about the offseason moves the Ravens made?
A: Ravens did the best they could with the cap room they have. They addressed a lackluster offense adding Woodhead and Maclin. Their biggest issue is injuries, they can’t escape that bug. Two years in a row they lose a TE; Watson last year, Pitta this year (again). They just don’t have the offensive firepower to play Pittsburgh twice a year.
I: I feel bad for Pitta, he broke out hasn’t been able to play more than like three games since. He had a promising career. It will be interesting to se what happens with Pittsburgh once Roethlisberger is gone.
How do you think your division in Madden will play out? Think you have a shot?
A: I don’t know, it’s my first year playing these guys so it will be tough. I think I have a shot, but we shall see. It should be a competitive division this year.
I: It will be interesting to see how everything develops since we’ve got like ten new guys this year!
NFC North
Dez Caught It
Team: Green Bay Packers
Location: Berkeley, California
I: Which new features in Madden 18 are you excited about the most?
D: The new story mode seems really cool, mostly I like roster updates though. I like having my team be as accurate as possible.
I: What do you think of the other players in your division? Think it will be a tight race?
D: I don’t know much about the other guys in the North, but I am going into each game taking them seriously, for real football. As for real life, I’m a Cowboys fan, and I believe everybody in the NFC East can contend.
I: That’s true, even the Redskins are good and we haven’t been able to say that since the ‘70s!
Any improvements for the league? Either how things are ran or new features that you would like to see?
D: I think we should continue to do sim style and make sure people are enforcing that. I believe that makes the game more fun and interesting. Other than that, I’ll let you know if something comes up!
I: Awesome! What are some things about yourself?
D: I really like Game of Thrones right now, but don’t watch a lot of movies. I’m playing Elder Scrolls Online right now and a little Overwatch in addition to MUT.
I: GOT is great, I need to get caught up though. ESO is a lot of fun, me and some buddies got it on release day, but I had to sell it cause I couldn’t connect to the servers after a month or so. What’s your character set up like? Some of the other guys play Overwatch, you guys could team up!
D: I have a red-guard Templar who I’ve invested all magika into, which actually makes him very well-rounded as having the ability to be a healer or a tank. I use duel-wield to do more damage, but my second load out is one-hand and shield for my healing abilities.
I: I like Red-Guard as well, aren’t they the ones that are immune to poisons? What level are you?
D: They might be, I haven’t looked. I’m level 46 right now.
I: Oh nice! I think I was level 15 or so when I stopped playing. I’ll probably pick it up now that they just released that expansion. Where do you live at the moment?
D: I’m living in Berkeley, CA right now studying statistics at UC Berkeley. I’m originally from Bakersfield, CA.
I: Home of 924 Gilman! I’m jealous haha. Is there a certain job you’re aiming for with that degree?
D: Data analysis or actuarial work
I: What is actuarial work?
D: An actuary gives insurance companies, of all kinds, the information about how much they should charge their customers by using probabilities and regression foruulas based on the likelihood of accidents
I: Oh okay, I’m sure companies ay pretty well for stuff like that
D: Yeah it is one of the higher paying jobs out there with just a bachelor’s degree requirement.
I: Think you will stay in CA after you get your degree?
D: Probably, but I’m open to other places
I: You could sell insurance to all the dipshits who build their houses right on the beach here in Florida!
D: Lol true!
I: Thanks a lot for taking the time to do this interview, this should be a great year, seems like we have a good group of guys.
D: No problem! I’m excited to test my skills this year
AFC South
xSlamfist
Team: Jacksonville Jaguars
Location: Yuba City, California
I: What is your opinion on the updated offensive features in the new game, like target passing and the updated offensive line AI? Are there any you are particularly excited about? What about improvements for defense, like coverage adjustments, and smarter zone AI?
X: The target passing seems like something they say every year, so I’m a little skeptical about how it will actually function in-game. The offenseive line AI is a gift from God himself. Last year I feel like I would have won more games, maybe even a super bowl if I had been able to run the ball effectively. The poor AI had a lot to do with my issues running the ball. The coverage deal is something I’m going to have to get comfortable with. It seems great in theory, but could be very poorly executed.
I: That is a good point about the defensive adjustments. For all we know, they focused more on passing and Longshot, and then threw the coverage stuff in there at the end.
Do you plan on spending time in Longshot?
X: I actually do plan on spending time in Longshot. I’m a sucker for game modes like that. I’ve been playing madden since Madden ’92 on Sega Genesis, so anytime you get something to break the monotony it is pretty cool.
I: I think the fact that it has several endings helps make thing interesting!
What about your division? Think you can win it?
X: I don’t really know who is in my division, so I can’t really speak on winning the division. All I can say is that I’m confident in my ability to play this game.
I: That’s a good mindset to have for sure!
Let’s focus on some stuff outside of Madden. Favorite movies, music you like?
X: I’’m really weird when it comes to movies, I don’t really re-watch them so it’s hard for me to pick a favorite. I’ve been really into all of the super hero movies lately. My Musical taste is all over the place. I’m really into hardcore/punk rock, metalcore, metal mostly…but I really enjoy 90’s/early 00s hip-hop and R&B as well. My dad listened to a lot of jazz growing up so I have a huge soft spot for jazz to this day.
I: Spider-Man was really good, it will be interesting to see what happens in Thor and Infinity War Part One. Give me one favorite from each genre!
X: Suburban Scum, Gods Hate, King Nine, Queensway, Trail of Lies, Harms Way; Big L, Old-School Jay-Z, Nas; Dave Koz, Fat Burger
AFC West
Smithar
Team: Kansas City Chiefs
Location: Hershey, Pennsylvania
I: Which of the new features in the new game are you most excited about?
S: Being able to lock my CB to a specific WR throughout the game.
I: I’m pretty excited for that feature as well, I feel like that will help the teams that are less stacked even out the playing field a bit.
Do you have plans to spend some time in Longshot, or is that one of those things you can take or leave?
S: I’ll probably check it out to practice passing, but I’m sure EA is using it as a test similar to The Journey, which may have expanded features in the future.
I: I’m just hoping they don’t completely stop innovating CFM to focus on Longshot in future installments.
Any offseason moves by the Vikings that you are excited for or angry about? I’m sure you are excited to have Teddy Bridgewater!
S: There are quite a few additions through the draft that I’m excited for. Cook and Hodges (for Madden purposes), but I really think we fucked up not focusing on revamping our offensive line.
I: I was hoping the Jets would take Cook, but I was happy to see him go to the Vikings.
What do you think about your division? Think it will be an interesting season?
S: Yea, for sure madden-wise and in real life.
I: Hopefully it all works out and there are no major injuries!
What are some things about you?
S: Sounds cliché, but music-wise I like literally everything; that’s why I get fucked up and go to music festivals…Been liking Portugal The Man a lot recently. Bonnaroo is my sacred place lolol. As for TV, I like Game of Thrones and Dexter.
I: Even country??? I’ll have to check out PTM. Dexter is a good show, but I was hitting gravs a lot back then so I can’t remember exactly where I left off. GOT is great, I still haven’t seen the two most recent seasons though.
Any suggestions on how the things could run more smoothly in the league, or features you would like to see added in the future?
S: Ha some country, not as much though lol; PTM is pretty dope. It would be cool to delegate a commish to make an upgrade for a player for each team…For instance, if you wanted to change a guy from normal to quick development. Or maybe make a guy clutch or something…Almost like that player put in extra work in off-season to get better.
I: That is an interesting idea. I don’t know if it would be fair to change the dev trait, but a lot of the other traits don’t have quite as much of an impact as that one. I will see if we can work something like that out though!
Last question before we wrap up, where do you live at the moment? I think it will be interesting to see the spread of everyone in the league.
S: Hershey, PA! Yea, I figured if everybody did a dev trait it will give them somebody they could focus on improving that season.
I: Like the candy! Maybe we could do something where if a player wins player of the week, they get quick dev for a week or two in-game or something.
Thanks for doing this, we don’t play in the regular season in 2017, but I look forward to beating you in the super bowl!
S: Yup Chocolate World is right down the street lol
AFC East
zporter92
