The "Madden 22" cover athlete may have been leaked.
A GameStop located in a Pennsylvania mall has a sign up that encourages people to reserve their copy of the game. On the sign is the apparent cover of the upcoming game, featuring Titans running back Derrick Henry. The cover is in the same style as the updated look from "Madden 21."
The sign was located by TikTok user @jordanr03.
@jordanr03 Here’s my proof I’m the Madden 22 cover leaker. ##Titans ##Madden ##NFL ##fyp ##foryoupage
♬ original sound - Jordan
MORE: Full history of "Madden" cover athletes
If Henry is the athlete chosen, he'd be a logical choice. I explained why in my predictions for the next athlete. Henry was my No. 2 candidate behind MVP winner Aaron Rodgers. But "Madden" has already gone with a quarterback in three of the past four years, so moving on from that position makes total sense.
Henry is the best candidate at his position, considering that he's coming off a 2,000-yard season, and an Offensive Player of the Year award. He'll also be the first active running back on the cover since Peyton Hillis in "Madden 12."
While this may seem pretty early to already know the cover athlete, think back to last year when Lamar Jackson leaked that he'd be on the cover. He did so on April 21 of last year, so it wouldn't be out of the question for EA Sports to already have their guy.
Of course, a full announcement won't come until later. Last year's cover wasn't announced until mid-June.
But if Henry is the cover athlete, it'll be interesting to see whether that leads to new game mechanics. In this year's "Madden," online users pass the ball nearly every play. It seems possible that EA Sports introduces some new running back features to help encourage people to run the ball a little more. "Madden" has done this in the past, most notably with the introduction of the Hit Stick when Ray Lewis became the first defensive player on the cover.
