B/R Experts Debate All 32 Choices for Madden Cover Athlete

Writer’s Pick (Kelley): Is it just me, or is this the ‘pity’ matchup? You take one of the smallest players in the league and pit him against the guy who dropped one of the easiest touchdown passes ever and then blamed God. If Johnson wins, I want him on the cover dropping a pass in the end zone. If Woodhead wins, I want him on the cover in a shot with Vince Wilfork to teach kids compare and contrast. Ultimately, I have to go with Woodhead, mainly due to his fame on Hard Knocks.

Writer’s Pick (O’Donnell): Woodhead burst onto the scene for the Patriots after being released by the Jets this past year, and Johnson erupted to become the Bills’ leading receiver after two quiet years on the bench. Woodhead is a tremendous talent, but he’s part of a team that does not need a Madden cover; Johnson is the complete opposite. His numbers were spectacular last season, and he will pull off the upset over the Patriot scat back.

Editor’s Pick (Brautigan): Some of the same reasoning here as I used for Ndamukong Suh: The Buffalo Bills had a 4-12 record this past season, and any video game with Steve Johnson as its “star” sounds pretty terrible. And Danny Woodhead didn’t piss off the big guy upstairs.

Danny Woodhead has my vote throughout this entire tourney, so I was happy to play tiebreaker here. Chalk one up for the little guys!