With the official ratings now released, I am starting the Madden 21 Analytics series. Today we will be covering a stat I call the Youth Power Index, or YPI, for short. The YPI is designed to look at the contingent of players on a roster 26 years of age or under and evaluate how well the roster is setup for future success.
Madden 21 Analytics
The Best
- Browns: The Browns find themselves sitting in the top sport for the second year in a row according to the YPI. In rare air, the Browns are powered by five players over 85 OVR (1 of 3 teams). Their edge comes from nine players in the 75-79 range. this is consistent with a lot of the top stronger teams.
- 49ers: San Francisco just missed out by half a point from catching the Browns. However, they made a huge leap from their #13 spot in last years rankings. With four players in the 85-90 range, the 49ers have serious firepower for the future.
- Ravens: Obviously with Lamar Jackson being the cover athlete, it is safe to assume the Ravens would be towards the top of this list. However, it is actually the other roster member who carried the day with seven players above 80. A good showing for being 2nd in the league.
- Cowboys: Anchored with two elite offensive weapons in Amari Cooper and Zeke Elliot, the Cowboys have plenty of youth on both sides of the ball. The Cowboys also possess a strong base of youth with a total of 10 guys between 75 and 84.
- Redskins: The second NFC East team on the list, and probably the most shocking in the top five, the Redskins are a sneaky good team in terms of youth. While the Redskins lack the 90+ players people gravitate to, they possess 8 players between 80 and 89, ranking best in the league.
The Worst
- Rams: Placing among the top ten just a year ago, the Rams have now bottomed out all the way to number 28. Jalen Ramsey is an elite; however, the lack of talent in the mid tiers (75-89) really bring the Rams down to the bottom of this list.
- Bears: The Bears are another top 10 from a year ago who find themselves at the bottom this season. The only difference between the Bears and Rams is a single player in the 90+ tier for the Rams versus one player being a tier below in the 85-89 grouping.
- Patriots: Now, here is one that surprises no one. The consistently old Patriots are yet again one of the oldest teams. Checking in at the exact same spot as last year, the Patriots just slightly missed out on the Bears by a tenth of a point due to the lack of players in the 85-89 tier.
- Vikings: The Vikings are actually top heavy with a player in both the 90+ and 85-89 tiers. The issues for the Vikings is the lack of youth in the next two tiers. This team probably would have been much higher had it not been for the trade of WR Stefon Diggs.
- Jets: This is not only a bad team, it’s a bad team which lacks talent in it’s younger players. With only one player on the list between 80-99 they are worst in the league in this range. They lead the league in players 26 and under between 70-75; however, this is more a depth tier than star.
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