Bring Back Classic Usering – Stop Nerfing Defensive Control

Hello EA team,

I want to give feedback on defensive usering in Madden 26. Right now, it feels like unless a defender is perfectly squared to the quarterback or receiver, pressing Y/△ often does nothing. Even when I read the play correctly, react in time, and I’m in position, my defender won’t animate.

In earlier Maddens, this wasn’t the case:

• Madden 25 (25th Anniversary): If you were near the ball and pressed Y/△, your defender would make a play. That rewarded good reads and anticipation.
• Madden 15: User lurks became legendary because timing and positioning actually mattered, and pressing the button triggered real attempts on the ball.
• Madden 21: Even more recently, user control still felt impactful. If you had the right coverage and timing, you could punish bad throws.

That balance made defense fun, fair, and competitive. It created a true skill gap where good players could bait QBs, and bad reads were punished.

In Madden 26, this element feels gone. Offenses can spam posts, slants, and crossers without fear because users can’t get animations unless they’re in perfect leverage. Meanwhile, CPU defenders can still react in ways that the user can’t, which removes the incentive to user-control safeties and linebackers.

Please bring usering back to the standard of Madden 25, Madden 15, and Madden 21 — where pressing Y/△ in position was enough to make a play. That’s what separated Madden from other football games and what made playing defense satisfying.

Thank you for reading and considering feedback from players who value user skill and control.

— A long-time Madden fan who wants defense to feel rewarding again