The revolutionary dual-threat quarterback combo of old school and new school. Michael Vick became the first quarterback to rush for 1,000 yards (1,039 to be exact) in a season during 2006, shortly after landing on the famous Madden 2004 cover, where he and his 95 speed became one of the best virtual athletes in the history of gaming. Lamar Jackson, perhaps more than any other quarterback in history, embodies the trail Vick blazed and even donned the Madden 21 cover, released last year, 19 years following Vick being draft No. 1 overall in 2001.

Jackson, the 32nd and final draft pick from the 2018 first round, became just the second quarterback to rush for 1,000 yards in a season during his MVP 2019 season, a feat he repeated last year, becoming the first QB to run for 1,000 yards in multiple seasons. Jackson’s 1,206 rushing yards from 2019 stand as the NFL record for quarterbacks. Not only is the connection obvious to us, they know it, too.

Steel Curtain frontman and Hall of Famer “Mean” Joe Greene is widely regarded as one the greatest defensive tackles in NFL history. Unfortunately, his career spanned from 1969 to 1981, so his counting or tracking stats aren’t as impressive as those who came after. In fact, sacks started being recorded in 1982, immediately after Greene’s retirement. Don’t even bring up pressures and more advanced tracking utilized now. Still, Greene made 10 Pro Bowls in the first 11 years of his career, was the Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year in 1972 and 1974, a four-time All-Pro, and a four-time Super Bowl Champion with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Enter Aaron Donald, who, as a defensive tackle, might be the best pass rusher in the league. Through seven seasons, he’s recorded 85.5 career sacks in 110 games, reaching double figures in five (including each of his last four) and as many as 20.5 in 2018. Donald similarly has made a Pro Bowl in each of his seven seasons, is a six-time All-Pro, and is a three-time AP DPOY, having won the Award in 2017, 2018, and 2020. He might be even meaner than the O.G., but if Madden wanted to show love to elite and historical defense, this is your combo.

Jim Brown’s still one of the best players in NFL history, having rushed for 12,312 during his nine-year career, having made nine Pro Bowls and eight All-Pros. The then 6-foot-2 232-pound fullback even led the Cleveland Browns to their only NFL Championship, which they won in 1964. His running style has been adopted by many other backs throughout football history, none more today than Derrick Henry.

In this pass-heavy NFL, the 6-foot-3, 250-pound Henry, as big of a running back you’ll ever see, rushed for 2,027 yards last season, the fifth-most in NFL history. He also became just the eighth to reach 2k yards. It’s a feat Brown never achieved during the days of 14-game seasons, but Brown did lead the NFL in rushing through eight of his nine years, with a high of 1,863 yards in 1963 season.

Still, if there’s a running back torch-passing that needed to be done stylistically, these are your guys. Again, in a passing league, Henry has rushed for 3,567 regular season yards in his past 31 games (two seasons). He also ran for 446 in the 2019 playoffs, where the Titans went 2-1 and came within a game from their first Super Bowl appearance in 20 years.

It’s arguable that no cornerback had a better peak as a shutdown defender than Darrelle Revis at the height of his powers. In his 11-year-career that spanned from 2007-2017, the seven-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro developed a reputation for being as good of a one-on-one defender as we’ve seen in the sport, highlighted by his 2009 season. Of all the elite receivers who visited Revis Island, no one recorded more than five receptions or 58 yards, a list that included Andre Johnson, Steve Smith, Chad Ochocinco/Johnson, Roddy White, Randy Moss twice, and Terrell Owens twice. He was also the No. 1 cornerback from the Pro Football Focus era.

Today, Jalen Ramsey has been consistently the closest thing resembling that.

Through five years in the league, Ramsey’s made four Pro Bowls and two All-Pro teams. PFF ranks Ramsey as the second-best CB currently after Green Bay Packers’ Jaire Alexander, though he just rose to stardom last year, making his first Pro Bowl in his third season as a professional. In the history of Madden, it’s seldom that a defender dons the cover, much less a corner. The most recent defender actually was a corner: Richard Sherman on Madden 15. The only defenders to precede him were the aforementioned Polamalu on Madden 10 and Ray Lewis on Madden 2005.

All that said, you could also obviously go with Deion Sanders and Ramsey, of course.

Jerry Rice is, to some, both the best wide receiver and best football player of all time. He was an ahead of his time pristine route-runner who surgically dismantled secondaries during a 20-year-career that lasted until 2004. Rice set many of the receiving records that the current crop of wideouts are chasing, some of which have already broken, and is one of the most influential players regarding how the game is played today.

The current best route-runner in the league, by many accounts, is Davante Adams of the Green Bay Packers, who might have to prove as much without Aaron Rodgers this season, depending on how that goes. Rice made 13 Pro Bowls and 10 All-Pro teams, so Adams has a long way to go, but four consecutive Pro Bowls after coming into his own in 2017 isn’t too shabby, either. Adams goes into the 2021 season as the best receiver in the NFL, according to PFF.

The play styles aren’t necessarily similar, but both Drew Brees and Russell Wilson are instrumental in how we’ve developed our collective feelings surrounding undersized quarterbacks. Brees fell to the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft primarily because of his size, as did Wilson 12 years later, though to the third round. Brees, at 6-feet tall, managed to navigate a 20-year-career accumulating in 80,358 passing yards, 13 Pro Bowls, one All-Pro, and one Super Bowl. Wilson’s reached seven Pro Bowls in nine years, has one Super Bowl title, and hasn’t even missed a game in his career. Both are the two most known modern examples of “undersized” quarterbacks, and they’ve put together Hall of Fame resumes in different ways.

Also deserving of a nod in this trend is Fran Tarkenton. Listed at 6 feet and 190 pounds, the Hall of Famer made nine Pro Bowls in 18 seasons, including a 1975 MVP Award. For the next generation of QB’s in this vein, look to Kyler Murray, who is probably on track to cover Madden someday, too.