Madden 19 Running Tips - How to Run the Ball, How to Run a Read Option in Madden

There's absolutely nothing equal to a strong run game in Madden 19, and it can completely change the balance of an entire game. In this Madden 19 running guide, we'll be walking you through how to run the ball in Madden 19 effectively, to ensure you're always picking up yards no matter which running play you go to.

But if you instead need any additional help on any other areas of the latest iteration of Madden, you’ll want to head over to our full Madden 19 guides hub. It’s in this guide that you can find all the basic tips and tricks you need to dominate the game, as well as a complete list of changes that EA has made for this year’s game.

Madden 19 Running the Ball Tips

Firstly, the main thing you need to know when running the ball in Madden 19 is the formations that you should be using. The general rule of thumb is that the more players there are with your QB and running back in the backfield, the more chance you have of gaining significant yardage on a run play.

Therefore, the two best running formations in Madden 19 are the I formation, and the Strong formation. This is mainly because you have a fullback with your running back in both these formations, so once your running back gets the ball, the fullback is ready to block the first defending player coming at them. Another good formation to use for running is the Pistol, as it can feature another running back in the backfield, playing the role of the fullback and looking to block players for your running back.

Secondly, you’ll want to know what sort of running play you should be picking, in the appropriate situation. It all depends on how much yardage you need to pick up on the play. If you only need a yard or so, if you’re on the goal line or in a third and short scenario, then you’d be better picking a play like the Fullback Dive, or the Close Sweep. These plays focus on getting the ball into the hands of a running back as quickly as possible, while also providing your back with players ahead of them that can block.

But, you’ll need to take into account where the defensive players on the field are lined up. If a cornerback or safety moves down nearer to the line of scrimmage before the snap, you know it’s a blitz play, or if there’s at least two linebackers in the defensive formation, this indicates your opponent is likely geared up to stop the run. You can either audible to a pass play in this situation, or you can flip the play with the right analog stick, to make sure your running back is going in the opposite direction from the linebackers.

Finally, you need to know which type of running back to use in which situation. There are two types of backs in Madden 19: power, or speed. Le’Veon Bell is a great example of a power back, as someone who boasts excellent trucking and strength ratings, while a player like LeSean McCoy is a prime example of a speed back, a player that boasts high ratings in speed, elusiveness, and agility.

A power back excels at running through opposing players, while a speed back is great for stretching the field and running around defenders. If you’re ever unsure of what type of back you’re dealing with, head into your team’s depth chart, and check out the stats of the player that we mentioned above. Then, you can call the appropriate running play for your back, for example you might want to rather call a straight Dive play with a power back, or a Sweep play with a speed back.

Madden 19 Read Option Guide

Made infamous by the 49ers a few years back, the 'option' play is still very much alive and well in Madden 19. If you're unfamiliar with how it works, the QB starts off with the ball at the snap, and one or more running backs will run by the QB, giving your passer the oppoortunity to offload the ball and let the back run with it, or keep it, and run with it themselves.

If you want to perform the read option play successfully, you need to play close attention to the defensive end. Before the snap, hold the right trigger to bring up the play art, and you'll see a symbol hovering above the defensive end, signalling that you need to be keeping an eye on this player once the ball is snapped.

Once the ball is snapped, you need to be quick with your read on the defensive end. If he stays in position, waiting to see where the ball goes, you need to press X/A immediately, to hand the ball off to the running back. But if he bites on the play, and goes after the running back, then let everything play out, since your QB will keep the ball if you don't press anything.

Reading this one defensive player is the key to pulling off a successful read option. The read option is definitely one of the more risky plays in Madden 19, and it's going to take some practice to master.

This brings us to the end of this particular Madden 19 guide, but there’s plenty of other guides on the game here at USgamer. You can head on over to our Madden 19 offensive money plays guide, where we break down the best plays in the game, or our Madden 19 MUT guide, for a complete beginner’s guide to the most popular mode in the game.