Madden 26 Overhauled Several In-Game Mechanics For Jaguars Rookie Travis Hunter
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Madden NFL 26 is coming this summer, and when it arrives, you’ll find that the team at Tiburon has done something it hasn’t done before: It’s added a new player ability based on a rookie. The game’s library of X-Factor and Superstar abilities is a lengthy one that gets new additions every year, but Travis Hunter is the first rookie to inspire the team to think up a new one.
The ability is called Iron Man, and it’s designed to let Hunter play both sides of the ball more effectively. Hunter comes to Jacksonville with the bona fides to play both wide receiver and cornerback, and football experts everywhere are wondering if he can become the NFL’s version of Shohei Ohtani: a two-way superstar the likes of whom only come around once in a generation, if that.
Madden developer Tiburon had to find a way to make this work in-game. Typically, a player who might play on both offense and special teams gets winded more easily, and a tired player is more likely to get hurt, commit penalties, or fumble if they’re a ball carrier–not to mention slow down, of course. Because Hunter is expected to play both offense and defense, and has shown, at least in college, an ability to do this remarkably well, the Iron Man ability essentially rewrites his stamina drain. This allows him to fend off fatigue and the game’s Wear and Tear injury system, which Madden 26 is adopting from College Football 25 and 26.
