Earlier this week, EA Sports released the player ratings for Madden 10. And now, with the NFL Draft in the rearview, and nothing else to do between now and training camps, we'll ponder the important questions. Like: How is [Player who is obviously rated too high] rated above [Player who is obviously rated too low]?
It's fun and original!
Quarterbacks
Well, it's finally been decided: Peyton Manning is better than Tom Brady, 99-98. Actually, I'm fine with this; Brady blew out his knee 15 snaps into the 2008 season*, so that probably gives Manning a slight edge. Of course, Bill Belichick will hold this up as proof that Planet Earth has disrespected the entire New England Patriots organization. Never mind that we may have the first peg-legged quarterback to ever earn a 90-plus rating.
The real injustice is that Kurt Warner, 37 years young, is rated higher (94) than Ben Roethlisberger (93). I suppose, if you're so inclined (I'm not), you could also make the same case for Donovan McNabb (91), but at least with Warner, you know you're not going to throw up on yourself if you get to the Super Bowl.
And then there's this: Philip Rivers only managed an 88. Seems sorta low for one of the league's most prolific passers last season. On the upside: he's rated higher than his archnemesis Jay Cutler (87). So there's that.
Running Backs
How can Purple Jesus not be a 99 (he's a 97)? His name is "Purple Jesus." That's clearly blasphemy and somebody on the dev team will endure a fiery eternity because of it. Just so you're not surprised.
The second-best back behind Adrian Peterson? Michael Turner (95). Yep, he's rated higher than the guy he backed up in San Diego. Which, depending on your perspective, means that LaDainian Tomlinson is either getting better or getting worse. LdT has battled end-of-season injuries the last two years, and fans and media have questioned his heart, toughness, etc., as a consequence. And while a 94 isn't a 99 (his rating a few years ago), it's also not a 0 (the current rating for Shaun Alexander, everybody's first-round fantasy pick a few years ago). So for the glass-half-full types, Tomlinson is back.**
Wide Receivers
Hmm. According to Randy Moss (and me), Randy Moss is the best wideout in the league. I guess that means 96 is the new 99, because according to the nerds down at the EA Sports Nerdery, Moss is fourth behind Larry Fitzgerald (99), Andre Johnson (98), and Steve Smith (97).
Johnson would be a 99 if he played anywhere but Houston. And by force of habit, I'm blaming David Carr for it. Otherwise, the only other beef I have is with Roddy White's rating (94). Either Michael Vick was worse than we thought or Matt Ryan was better than anybody imagined. Because prior to last season, White was just another Falcons first-round receiver who had underachieved. If it's the former, then White's rating sounds about right. (And Vick's quarterback rating -- assuming he returns to the NFL and resumed completing 50 percent of his passes -- should be negative. I think he's earned it.) If it's the latter, Ryan has to be a top-10 quarterback, which means that Carson Palmer, Cutler or Romo drops out. I can live with that.
Tight Ends
I got no complaints here -- Tony Gonzalez, Jason Witten and Antonio Gates are all interchangeable. Heath Miller is better than Kellen Winslow, but you don't get a lot of Madden style points for being a good blocker. Duly noted.
Defense
The fact that Nnamdi Asomugha is the top-rated defender makes up for all the bellyaching I did above. It's hard to give a guy a 99 when he plays on a team that won 20 games the last five seasons. But Asomugha is that good. Sadly, this might be the highlight of the Raiders season.
Albert Haynesworth, Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu also earned 99s (no argument here), and DeMarcus Ware got a 98 (again, no argument). The Defensive Player of the Year? He's not even in the top 10. Good news, though: Ray Lewis is (97)!
No word yet on who has the lowest rating (only the top 10 at each position were released), but Blue Horseshoe loves Jake Delhomme.***
* Reenactment
** Even though I'm pretty sure these are ratings for a video game and in no way related to what will actually happen during the 2009 season, well, I have trouble separating the two. You know, just like everybody else who gets fired up by things that have absolutely no footing in reality.
*** Joke. Kind of.
via Awful Announcing via ESPN.com
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-28-2009 @ 11:34AM
Brody said...
Man, does somebody have a vendetta against Green Bay? How do neither Aaron Rodgers or Greg Jennings crack the top 10 at their respective positions?
You're telling me Rodgers isn't at least an 88? 6th in QB rating, 4th in yards, and 4th in TDs last year?
And Jennings isn't at least a 91? 6th in yards, 4th in average*, 8th in TDs?
Lame.
*Of receivers with at least 50 receptions.
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5-28-2009 @ 11:49AM
WHATZ UP? said...
GREEN BAY SUCKS, GET OVER IT DUDE.
6-02-2009 @ 7:20PM
michael said...
sorry, can you remind me what their record was again?
5-28-2009 @ 12:56PM
soulcitysigma1914 said...
i am curious as to where Delhomme fits in in all of this, i wish they would have released the top 30 for each position (assuming Delhomme would have made top 30)...
Reply
5-28-2009 @ 3:09PM
Stephen said...
I think portis should be well ranked. I mean really well ranked. Cooley definitely should have been mentioned.
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5-29-2009 @ 10:00AM
Ricky said...
the real injustice is that warner is rated higher than roethlisberger? let's break this down, kurt warner threw 30 TDs last year, while only tossing up 14 INTs. big ben only threw for 17 TDs and 15 INTs. total yards for kurt? 4583. ben had 3301. compare ratings and you'll see kurt was at 96.9 and ben scored 80.1. how about completion percentage, 67.1 for kurt while ben had 59.9. i think the real injustice is that roethlisberger is rated only 1 behind warner. don't get me wrong, i get that big ben wins games (or rather, more accurately, manages games while his defense wins them), which is really all that matters. however, you praise asomugha's rating so, for the sake of madden ratings, winning IS NOT everything. I mean, come on, compare numbers of my boy jason campbell to ben roethlisberger, and tell me where he should be rated (for those too lazy to look them up, campbell threw 13 TDs, 6 INTs, threw for 3245 yards, rating of 84.3 and comp of 62.3). the only difference between those 2 is ben has won 2 superbowls...
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6-05-2009 @ 9:18PM
Matthan said...
Lets face it Ryan, the ratings are severely subjective. Which is why I wish they'd have some kind of voting system to allow people to vote (be it NFL players or the general public) on the ratings. I'm glad you Andre's rating in regards to his team because even though I'm not a Houston fan, I realized long ago that the dude is a beast and deserves a 99 rating for what he's able to accomplish. As for the ratings, I guess they give us a general idea that EA is following after their rivals at 2K sports by making all players rated 91+ a superstar compared to other players. players rated 80-90 seem to be generally great players and so on. I wish they would have showed us more defensive players since its not really the top 10 at each position that they're showing us. It's clear to me though that the top teams to be played on line will be the colts, pats and the cardinals.
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6-05-2009 @ 9:55PM
Joe said...
WELL HERE ARE THE JOE CAPRIO RATINGS(THATS ME). MY RATINGS GO LIKE THIS THE QB ON THE WINNER OF THE SUPER BOWL TEAM IS THE #1 QB UNTILL THE NEXT SUPER BOWL AND WE CROWN A NEW WINNER. NO STATS NO OPINIONS. NOTHING SUCCEEDS LIKE SUCCESS. ASK QB;S LIKE FRAN TARKENTON AND OTHERS LIKE HIM WHO NEVER WON A SUPER BOWL.ITS LIKE TAKING ABOUT IF THE BETTER CANDIDATE WON. THE WINNER IS #1.JOE CAPRIO/CITYLIFEPRODUCTIONS PS; THIS MANNING, BRADY TALENT CONTEST CONTROVERSY WILL DEFINITLY INFLUENCE RATINGS MORE THEN THEY ALREADY HAVE.THATS A GOOD THING
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6-10-2009 @ 7:49PM
zacharybnoe said...
peyton manning career postseason record 7-8
tom brady career postseason 13-3
i wonder who is better when it counts, oh nevermind, beating the texans on artificial turf in a dome twice a year counts for way more. Also peyton manning is an awesome cold weather QB also he does it with no talent i mean look at the scarce number of first round draft picks he has had to work with, only harrison, wayne, clark, gonzalez, addai, edgerrin james, a bunch of nobodies if you ask me, no wonder he has a losing record postseason, get this get some talent like undrafted wes welker
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6-19-2009 @ 2:11PM
william01609 said...
Payton should be awesome in cold weather!!!!!he play's in a dome that's heated.......Brady plays outside!!
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6-20-2009 @ 7:59PM
th3prodigy2 said...
y does every1 hate on peyton manning. so wat if he is rated higher brady and peyton are easily the top 2 quaterbacks in the league and that pains me to say it because i am a colts fan and a patriot hater. funny thing is i live in boston. leave peyton alone he earned everything he got
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