Madden NFL 26 has a new cast of Rookie Premiere athletes you can recruit to your Ultimate Team, but you'll want to get some on your squad more than others. The potential of a strong rookie can help shape your team's success, as fresh talent can breathe new life into struggling parts of your organization.
The Rookie Premiere program was an established feature of Madden 25, where players could complete challenges and missions to earn 99 OVR Rookie Premiere cards. These cards would make excellent additions to anyone's Ultimate Team, but the ones you had in Madden 25 don't carry over exactly into Madden 26. As such, you might have to pull new Rookie Premieres to get the athletes you want.
Best Rookie Premieres In Madden NFL 26
Try To Obtain The Strongest Athletes From This Year's Draft
Madden 26 Kansas City Chiefs
Madden 26 Kansas City Chiefs
Within the Madden 26 Rookie Premiere program, you can find up to nine different all-star Rookies from different card draws in Ultimate Team mode. Each of these rookies has an 85 OVR rating, giving them a great spread of stats immediately as you recruit them. However, like all potential players, some of these rookies have scores skewed into unique specialties.
Below is a list of all the Rookie Premiere athletes you can get, but keep in mind that none of them are in Madden 26's 99 Club until after you help them grow stronger:
Luther Burden III (Chicago Bears)
Jihaad Campbell (Philadelphia Eagles)
Emeka Egbuka (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
TreVeyon Henderson (New England Patriots)
James Pearce Jr (Atlanta Falcons)
Tate Ratledge (Detroit Lions)
Josh Simmons (Kansas City Chiefs)
Xavier Watts (Atlanta Falcons)
Will Johnson (Arizona Cardinals)
Technically, any of these athletes are great choices for your Ultimate Team, but some stand out for above-average traits. From my experience, Jihaad Campbell, Xavier Watts, TreVeyon Henderson, and Luther Burden III are perhaps the "best" from this year's crop of rookies, solely for how well-balanced their stats are.
Depending on a player's position, they will have different stats that you can improve as they play for your Ultimate Team. Try to focus on increasing a rookie's best traits to put them on a fast track to the 99 OVR club quickly.
Jihaad Campbell is an incredibly powerful tackler, using superior acceleration to close on opponents faster than many other defensive rookies can boast. Meanwhile, Xavier Watts is excellent at multiple zone and man coverage plans, creating a situation where combining defensive rookies can give your team great protection against an opponent's gameplan.
Both TreVeyon Henderson and Luther Burden III are offensive playmakers in their own right too, with the former being a centerpiece to any rush-focused scheme. Henderson's ball control is almost singular among rookies, while Burden has the strength and height to be a receiving weapon any quarterback would love to have.
How To Get The Best Rookie Premieres In Madden 26
Import Past Players Or Earn Rewards To Redeem Them
Madden NFL 26 Steelers player jumping into the air during a celebration
Madden NFL 26 Steelers player jumping into the air during a celebration
Those looking to rebuild a team in Madden 26 or take over an established franchise will want to get a few Rookie Premiere athletes fast. One of the easiest ways to get Rookie Premiere players is to import them from Madden 25 using your EA Account. Doing this will allow you to import up to four different rookies from your past team, but they will immediately have their stats reduced to match the 85 OVR of Rookie Premiere players in Madden 26.
When you buy Madden 26, you get four Rookie Premiere packs simply for buying the game, giving you a chance to get a rookie player. The ones from the list mentioned earlier will be your available options, but there is no guarantee of which four athletes you'll obtain.
Some players of Madden 25 may be able to log into Ultimate Team during certain times to earn a 99 OVR Rookie Premiere player for free. This could be one of your picks to transfer into Madden 26 as you try to gain other rookies from new sources.
Thankfully, the Rookie Premiere program in Madden 26 is extremely similar to how it was before, giving you chances to earn more high-stat rookie players by earning rewards. When you complete challenges tied to Redzone Royale Sets, you can unlock a Rookie Premiere Player eventually.
Ultimate Team Rookie Premiere Sets can be gained through Redzone Royale players, who are unlocked when you meet different goals or objectives in the game. Unfortunately, the Rookie Premiere Sets you get through this method don't allow you to choose a specific rookie from the ones available, as the cards you earn are still determined randomly.
While you might not have a way to get the "best" rookies you want through the Premiere program, any of the newly drafted athletes are still strong competitors that can be great additions to your Ultimate Team. Depending on which Rookie Premiere cards you get in Madden NFL 26, you could reshape your organization to best bring out the talents of the athletes you do recruit.