New batch of Madden Ultimate Team MVPs give much-needed updates to Alvin Kamara and Ezekiel Elliott

More new Team MVPs have joined Madden 19 Ultimate Team on Tuesday, marking just six teams left without their second 97 overall player.

In this latest batch of updates, a handful of notable names received long overdue upgrades, including two popular running backs, Ezekiel Elliott and Alvin Kamara.

On top of that, a new House Rules edition was released March 19 and will be available for PS4, Xbox One and PC users until March 21 at 10:30am ET, with the unique aspect awarding eight points for every completed two-point conversation.

Kamara’s speed will make it difficult to unseat a handful of popular options in the meta.

Much like 97 overall WR Davante Adams, who was released in the previous batch of Team MVPs, Kamara will struggle to be a consistent difference maker unless slotted into a Saints theme team given his 93 Speed. 

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97 Elusiveness and 97 Agility will make him no slouch, and Kamara finally has some receiving stats to match his real-life abilities, ranking just behind Christian McCaffrey in the majority of the pivotal categories, but for most people the latter option would make more sense to use if you want a receiving back.

Elliott has the necessary speed and strength, but is a step below a handful of options when it comes to an all-around running back.

If Kamara is essentially a slower version of NFL Combine 97 overall Christian McCaffrey, Elliott is a step down from both players, boasting 96 Speed but less Elusiveness (-5) and Break Tackle (-2) while not getting close to similar receiving stats. 

A massive Strength difference (+9) will still make the Cowboys running back a load to take down, and it’s nice to see some of these similar running backs stand out in certain areas, but a larger emphasis on the differences could do wonders for generating more unique, but balanced, items.

Ford is as much of an upgrade for 49ers theme teams as he is for the Chiefs.

The decision to slow release the majority of the Team MVPs certainly seemed to benefit EA, given they managed to kill two birds with one stone, releasing two “team” MVP cards for players no longer on the respective roster. 

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Dee Ford, who was traded to the 49ers shortly after Odell Beckham and Antonio Brown, but evidently wasn’t a big enough name to elicit unique card art, will ultimately get a San Francisco Power-Up option likely as soon as this weekend.

Flowers might as well be considered a NFL Free Agent promo item, and should see a Power-Up soon.

The same can be said for Trey Flowers, who signed one of the largest contracts of the 2019 offseason thus far, but curiously was left off the NFL Free Agency promo. 

Ignoring the fact EA essentially created a promo specifically designated for a player such as Flowers, only to essentially waste the Team MVP spot to provide a new update for Lions fans, it’s fair to say both of the newly moved “MVPs” are solid upgrades upon lackluster previous items.

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No one will cry for Patriots fans in the Madden community, particularly given New England has one of the best overall theme team rosters available currently in MUT, but it’s a bit lame to see EA take this stance instead of giving an upgrade to another deserving Chiefs (Chris Jones anyone?) or Patriots player, given the real benefit goes to the 49ers and Lions theme teams, respectively.

Despite Cooks’ high speed, the lack of spin move will likely hinder his 97 overall item.

It’s not all doom and gloom for Patriots theme teams, since the Rams 97 overall WR Brandin Cooks can ultimately slot into the aforementioned AFC East lineup. 

Given the likes of John Ross and Chris Johnson saw stock 99 Speed items as part of the NFL Combine promo it’s a bit disheartening that Cooks only received a 97 overall Speed item, but we’d be remiss to mention it’s essentially splitting hairs given the team chem options available.

80 Spin Move will likely destroy the value of this card given the current meta, but for people not interested in meeting the threshold, there’s not much to dislike about the former Saints, Patriots and current Rams receiver.

Desir can fit into a variety of theme teams, but 93 Speed means he’ll “have” to in order to be useful.

The final Team MVP is about as indiscernible as you can get for a 97 overall item. Pierre Desir was certainly worthy of an upgrade given his previous highest overall was an 87 overall NFL Playoffs card, but with 93 Speed and 92 Jump, there isn’t much that separates him from other non-descript slower cornerbacks.

Perhaps the only noteworthy thing about Desir is the fact he can fit into multiple theme teams, including the Browns, Chargers and maybe even Seahawks, who rostered Desir on their practice squad throughout much of the 2016-17 season.

The reward structure is arguably the bigger deal, rewarding a 97 overall NAT Team MVP by winning 10 games.

As mentioned earlier, the new House Rules gives users eight points for every completed “two-point” conversation, meaning the H2H rotating game mode could see people score as many as 14 points for every touchdown.

The more important news, however, is that 10 wins guarantees the random 97 overall non-auctionable/tradeable Team MVP, as opposed to a 6-0 win streak which has been utilized in the past.

This format was used in last week’s House Rules and seemed to generate plenty of positive support, so it’s refreshing to see EA stick with something that has worked without any extra strings attached. Of course, a 6-0 streak at any point will reward a plethora of coins plus Series 5 trophies, so there is some incentive to put together a winning streak.