Madden 21 will come to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X when the next-gen consoles launch, and with the NFL season underway, now is a great time to start planning what team you’re going to play with. If you’re the type of player that likes to take a bad team and rebuild them from scratch, there are a lot of great options this year, but where do you start?

There are obvious starting points this season, with a lot of young and talented NFL teams. But there are also some great teams with rebuild potential flying under the radar. Others may look great on the surface, but further digging proves they aren’t up to snuff.

10 REBUILD: New England Patriots

It may be strange to think of it, but the New England Patriots are in a semi-rebuilding mode in real life. With the departure of longtime quarterback Tom Brady, the Patriots are now relying on one-time league MVP Cam Newton to run the offense.

Still, there are a lot of great pieces to play with, including one of the best defenses in the NFL. That side of the ball is mostly set, with most of your work coming on offense. If you play as the Patriots, you’ll need to either sign Newton to a long-term deal or find a permanent Brady replacement. Then you must revamp the aging wide receiver corps. and the offensive line.

9 AVOID: New York Jets

The New York Jets are a perennial punching bag for not only their division, the AFC East, but the whole league. Having miraculously won 7 games in 2019, the team looks to be on the come up. But not so fast. The Jets won just 14 games the previous three years combined, their head coach has an abysmal 39% winning percentage, and they have huge question marks on offense, most notably at quarterback.

Running the Jets means trying to find a quarterback to replace the struggling Sam Darnold. Beyond that, you’d need to completely rebuild this team from the ground up, as they’re missing big playmakers on offense and defense.

8 REBUILD: Carolina Panthers

Having walked away from Cam Newton and Greg Olsen, and losing Luke Kuechly to early retirement, the cupboard is looking bear for the Carolina Panthers. But take a closer look, and you’ll find there are a few key pieces here, as well as a potentially great coaching staff with head coach Matt Rhule and offensive coordinator Joe Brady.

You’re not going to find a lot of great players to build your Ultimate Team on this roster, but you’re still looking at a lot of talent. Christian McCaffrey and DJ Moore anchor a solid offense. On defense, you have a ton of rookies being led by Brian Burns and Shaq Thompson upfront.

7 AVOID: New York Giants

Like the Jets, the other NFL team in New York always seems to be in trouble. Surprisingly, Madden 21 rates the New York Giants as the 10th best offense in the league. Despite stud running back Saquon Barkley, it’s hard to see how they came up with that statistic.

Featuring the young and untested Daniel Jones at quarterback, the offense is struggling in real life, with no weapons at receiver or tight end. The bright spot for the Giants has been their defense, not giving up more than 16 points in a game so far this season.

6 REBUILD: Miami Dolphins

This may seem like an odd choice, as the Dolphins have been bad for a long time. That’s exactly why they’re a great candidate for a rebuild, though. They’ve got a great, young core of players in defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, tight end Mike Gesicki, cornerback Xavien Howard, and of course rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

The young talent is spread throughout the offense and defense, with a solid line on defense and offense. The pieces for a great team are already in place, as is the coaching staff. Your job would be to simply add a handful of complementary pieces, and develop the talent you already have.

5 AVOID: Detroit Lions

Like the Jets, the Lions always seem to be the doormat of the NFL. In Madden 21, that’s true here as well. Starting quarterback Matt Stafford is coming off a serious back injury, and he’s getting long in the tooth with no serious back up who can replace him in the long-term.

On defense, the team lost star cornerback Darius Slay and are replacing him with an unproven rookie. In the 2020 season, the team has given up 21 or more points in each of their games, while the offense has only scored more than two touchdowns in a game once.

4 REBUILD: Washington Football Team

Despite all the off-field disasters for the Washington Football Team, the on-field prospects look good for the future. New Head Coach Ron Rivera has a proven track record, and the team has had a string of fantastic drafts, nabbing quarterback Dwayne Haskins and defensive end Chase Young.

What’s great about Washington is their depth. If Haskins doesn’t work out at quarterback, you’ve got Kyle Allen and Alex Smith ready to replace him. If Young gets hurt Montez Sweat and Ryan Kerrigan can pick up the slack. Like with the Dolphins, there’s a lot of great young talent here, you just have to coach them up.

3 AVOID: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

It’s probably a good thing Tom Brady left the Patriots because the fact of the matter is the 43-year-old isn’t what he used to be. He may be rated 90 overall in Madden 21, but the real-life version doesn’t reflect that. Nor does his favorite target, tight end Rob Gronkowski. Even if they are good in the game, they’re both so old they won’t last long anyway.

The Buccaneers gave up everything for these two players and to win now, meaning their future prospects don’t look good. They don’t have a backup plan at quarterback, and while their offense may look good on paper, their defensive performance leaves a lot to be desired.

2 REBUILD: Arizona Cardinals

Like all the best candidates for a rebuild, the Arizona Cardinals are young and they don’t have a long history of losing. This team was built around a high powered offense, led by second-year quarterback Kyler Murray, wide receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Christian Kirk, and head coach Kliff Kingsbury. Best of all, you got the second-best wide receiver in the NFL via trade for almost nothing.

The defense needs work, but it’s far from bad. The offensive line could also use some work, but the benefit of a quarterback like Murray is that he’s fast and mobile, so he can avoid pressure well.

1 AVOID: Houston Texans

The Houston Texans are in a bad place, and its entirely the fault of their head coach and GM, Bill O’Brien. The Texans autocrat has shown a bloody determination to jettison the best players from the team, often getting little to nothing in return. This leaves what was a great team two years ago in a nightmare scenario with little talent and poor future prospects.

Yes, the Texans have one of the best quarterbacks in Deshaun Watson. But aside from him, there’s not much here. He has no support around him with the loss of DeAndre Hopkins and Kenyan Drake. Worst of all, you don’t have a pick in the first or second round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

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