Madden 22: NFL fans unhappy with rookie face reveals leaked on Instagram

The hype around Madden 22 is real, or so it seemed for quite a while.

NFL fans are understandably itching to get their hands on the latest edition of Madden, but it appears the graphics are a tad underwhelming.

On Thursday, the faces of the rookies were leaked through an Instagram post. 'Picksixpod' posted a compilation of each of the rookies in real life and compared them to their virtual doppelgangers. The results were... let's go with surprising.

The majority of the comments on Picksixpod's post are negative. Some have poked fun at the uncanny resemblance, others have been trying to hypothesize an explanation for why they look the way they do, and some are simply frustrated.

Madden's history of issues

Graphical issues have been a constant for the Madden franchise. Most players have a gripe that the game looks the same year after year.

Animations are seldom improved, texture quality rarely changes, facial expressions are constantly wacky, and more. There are entire YouTube channels dedicated to pointing out every graphical flaw in Madden each year.

While the graphics have gradually improved over the years, most would agree they tend to fall short of other top sports offerings. The NBA 2K series, for example, does a much better job of constantly putting out some of the best graphics in the industry.

However, the specific issue of disappointing rookie graphics is not a new problem. For instance, when the ex-Denver Broncos rookie running back Phillip Lindsay came to Madden 19, he was missing his trademark long hair, something that was a large part of his persona. A subsequent patch fixed the issue, but the damage was done.

Phillip Lindsay

There have been other issues with the facial graphics as well. In the create-a-player mode, customization options are limited, leaving only a handful of faces to choose from when creating a player.

One of the longest-running problems plaguing Madden has been their graphics and presentation. The commentators still have lines in Madden 21 that were in Madden 17. The Super Bowl presentation was reused several years in a row. The sideline players and coaches have animations that are quite rough around the edges.

Until the graphics and presentation are fully addressed, Madden will continue to have moments when fans poke fun at the game and the game developers.