It's no surprise when an NFL player is a fan of the Madden NFL video games. The series has been a mainstay in the football video game community for decades and is the only officially licensed NFL simulation game on the market. New Orleans Saints QB Derek Carr is apparently a big fan of the series for its ability to teach NFL coverage schemes.
Carr recently appeared on Chris Long's Green Light Podcast. Long, who in retirement has become a huge fan in Madden, wanted to know how Derek Carr breaks down defenses in real life, so Long can translate that to Madden.
“I would say just find the safeties, because in Madden they’re going to tell the story,” Carr said. “I will say this, Madden does a good job of showing coverages. It sounds funny, but I would teach guys coverages off of Madden. I’ve taught my nephews off of Madden. They do a really good job, I will give them credit.”
It is interesting to hear that Carr taught his nephews about NFL coverages with Madden. It does make sense as a good teaching tool because it is widely available — and it certainly helps when your NFL QB uncle is walking you through it.
“So I would say just see the safeties and when in doubt if you’re playing with the Saints, it’s always okay to check it down to AK (Alvin Kamara),” Carr said, “that’s always a good decision.”
Maybe there is something to what Carr is saying. He only threw 8 interceptions last year, which tied his 2nd lowest total since he entered the NFL in 2014. There is no doubt that having a solid grasp of NFL coverages can help QBs limit turnovers.
For what it's worth, Derek Carr’s Madden 24 rating is a 75. This ranks him as the 21st best QB in the game. We're sure that Carr would dispute that rating.
Saints coaches recently praised QB Spencer Rattler. Is Carr's starting job in danger?
The New Orleans Saints were thrilled when QB Spencer Rattler fell to the fifth round of the 2024 NFL Draft. They drafted Rattler with the hopes of developing a possible secession plan after Carr's contract expires. In the meantime, he can be a developmental backup.
However, Saints head coach recently heaped praise on Rattler. He believes that Rattler can compete with Carr in training camp right away.
“I think the plan is that he comes in and really basically competes and we'll let the cards kind of play out as they do,” Allen said. “We were excited about the fact that we got into the fifth round and he was still there. I think you know from where we had him graded on our board we felt like this player was probably more of a second or third round talent, and the fact that he was still sitting there in the in the fifth round I think a lot of that has to do with the fact there were six quarterbacks already taken in this draft uh and that's a little bit of a unique position in terms of the draft. So the fact that he fell all the way to us to the fifth round we're really excited about that, he's got tremendous talent.”
This may be partially coach speak, but it is important to note that Carr does not have the full-throated support of his head coach that he is the unquestioned QB1.
It will be interesting to track this possible positional battle as we inch closer to NFL training camps.
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