#1 2025-06-25 21:16:10

Jimekalmiya

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Registered: 2024-11-06

Posts: 42

The Key Player for Every AFC East Team in Madden 26

Some players are simply more critical to a team’s success than others in Madden. Whether it’s because a team is lacking depth at a certain position or one player is vital to the success of other positions on the field, one player can absolutely make or break an entire team’s season.

Starting today, we’ll be publishing a new series of articles that showcase our picks for this “make or break player” for every team in the league. The articles will be broken up by division, and we’re starting with the always fun AFC East. In 2025, though, the AFC East is looking the most intriguing it has in years; Buffalo looks vulnerable for the first time in several seasons, the Patriots have loaded up on both sides of the ball, the Jets have a new QB, and Miami is… well they’re usually going to be competitive with a healthy team and if they’re playing in warm weather.

Below, you can see our choice for every AFC East team’s make or break player, and why that player is so crucial to the team’s success in Madden 26 and in real life.

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CB Christian Benford, Buffalo Bills

It’s only fitting we start this list with the reigning AFC East champs for the past five seasons. Buffalo is coming off another heartbreaking AFC Championship loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, and while the Bills should be competitive as always, their time at the top of the division could be coming to a close.

Of course, the Bills’ most important player is quarterback Josh Allen. If he goes, the team will generally follow. However, this list is more about figuring out which player, aside from the star, could catapult the team into success or drive them into the ground by playing poorly. Our pick for that player on the Bills is cornerback Christian Benford.

During the offseason, Buffalo lost a few different key pieces in the secondary, making Benford’s play more important than ever. He’s set to go as the defense’s top defensive back, and he could 100% keep the Bills in some games by shutting down the opposing offense’s top receiver. However, if he regresses, it’s likely he drags the entire defense down with him. Not even Josh Allen could overcome the defense not contributing their fair share, and that might be enough for another AFC East team to squeeze in to claim the division title. If Benford can continue to play like a CB1, though, the Bills are still easily the favorite to win the AFC East.

LT Will Campbell, New England Patriots

Now let’s talk about one of the most fascinating teams to watch in the 2025 NFL season. After an abysmal 4-13 season in 2024, the Patriots reloaded in a major way. The team brought in a new coaching staff, signed savvy veterans and under-the-radar players, and absolutely nailed the NFL Draft.

More specifically, the Pats targeted their needs in the draft, and no need was larger than at left tackle. New England chose the top LT in the draft in LSU’s Will Campbell, and while it’s not fair to put so much pressure on a rookie, that’s how New England has set themselves up this season. We saw how much poor offensive line play plagued the Patriots in 2024, and that especially relates to quarterback Drake Maye. Maye was running for his life constantly after he took the starting reins, and most of that running came as a result of pressure from the left side.

Now, Will Campbell has to step in, provide stability for Drake Maye and the offensive line, and make sure the offense can utilize all of their new weapons. If it turns out Campbell’s arm length really is an issue or he just can’t keep up with NFL edge rushers, though, the Patriots’ season will fall into turmoil faster than Drake Maye can escape the pocket. However, if Campbell can truly be the answer at left tackle, we might see New England finish with double-digit wins given their easy strength of schedule.

RB Breece Hall, New York Jets

The New York Jets are a major question mark heading into the 2025 NFL season. They parted ways with QB Aaron Rodgers and replaced him with Justin Fields, who arguably has the most to prove out of any player in the NFL this season. However, unless Fields turns into an MVP-caliber quarterback, he won’t play the biggest role on the Jets’ offense.

Instead, that job falls to running back Breece Hall, who turned in a disappointing junior season after breaking out in 2023. While his stats weren’t too far from his 2023 performance, Hall just didn’t impact games in the same way as he did the year prior. This put more pressure on Rodgers and the receivers, and more often than not, that led to the Jets getting behind in games.