A DB with 99 speed and not pressing should not get beat on a streak?? right??

Martyr1968 said:

In theory a lot of it depends on COD, reaction time , acceleration, Play rec....a DB with 99 speed shouldn't get beaten in a straight up footrace by a card with lower speed...but coverage is different. I've seen slower NFL players beat faster ones on streaks ...if the DB doesn't immediately clear his hips and burst into a full sprint, it's possible , sure....but if play rec is high, COD is high, accel is high, etc...then yeah, that's just Madden for you.

Agreed. Devontae Adams isn’t the fastest receiver in the NFL but his release package helps him beat corners faster than him in on vertical routes.

Martyr1968 said:

In theory a lot of it depends on COD, reaction time , acceleration, Play rec....a DB with 99 speed shouldn't get beaten in a straight up footrace by a card with lower speed...but coverage is different. I've seen slower NFL players beat faster ones on streaks ...if the DB doesn't immediately clear his hips and burst into a full sprint, it's possible , sure....but if play rec is high, COD is high, accel is high, etc...then yeah, that's just Madden for you.

reaction time how you calculate that?

[Almost entirely inferred information for which little is published, but this seems the most likely and correlates to the experiences of most:] 

Regarding SPD, the issue is that RNG tweaks speed in every instance where speed will be calculated, and apparently that happens on a play-by-play basis. After all other SPD-modifying factors are considered (fatigue, stamina, etc.; injury doesn’t apply in MUT), there is a final random determination of what the SPD will be for a given player. That never exceeds 99. So whereas for example a 95 SPD Wide Receiver, Halfback, or Tight End may run anywhere from between 91 and 99 SPD (not certain on the range), anything higher than 99 in the case of the Cornerback simply gets limited, but you can still roll lower on the final RNG check. Therefore, you get times where “slower“ players outperform “faster” players, and the “faster” players will be outpaced more frequently by “slower” players as the 99 threshold is reached.

RNG is the price paid to reduce a tendency toward a more formulaic and predictable result for each play.

While faster is always better in theory like others have said with how the game is coded the wiser players know that speed only takes your player so far. I'd rather have a heavy 80 speed lineman with 99 IBL and 99 RBK over a 99 speed lineman with 80 IBL and 80 RBK for example. Then to add another layer to that we are pretty much at the point where stats matter less and less with thresholds and it is all about abilities and X-Factors which this game is ruled by.