by It’s that time of the year again, when the new NFL video comes out and people go crazy over the player ratings. Madden 23 releases in just under a month, and over the past couple days they have been releasing ratings for the players in the game. As always, they’ve received major backlash. The backlash is well deserved though, some of these just make no sense.
The first ratings Madden released was for the QBs. The top 10 went Patrick Mahomes at a 99, Aaron Rodgers at 98, Tom Brady at 98, Josh Allen at 95, Lamar Jackson at 92, Justin Herbert at 90, Russell Wilson at 90, Dak Prescott at 89, Joe Burrow at 89, and Matt Stafford at 87. The first half of this list is acceptable, but as you get to the back half it just makes no sense.
Dak Prescott being rated higher than both Super Bowl QBs makes no sense. Burrow had an unbelievable second year in the league and deserves the 90 rating as well as Matthew Stafford. Stafford proved to everyone he was elite and he only had trouble before because he was playing in Detroit.
Both Stafford and Burrow should be rated higher than Dam Prescott, no questions asked. The next position to go over is Running back. The top half is good again with Derrick Henry leading the pack at a 97, followed by Nick Chubb at a 96, Christian McCaffery at a 96, Johnathon Taylor at a 95, And Dalvin Cook with a 94.
It gets questionable at the 6th spot when they have Joe Mixon rated higher than Alvin Kamara. Kamara is one of the most elite backs in the league, at times he looks like he is the best RB in the league. To have Joe Mixon ranked ahead of him makes no sense, maybe Madden took into account Kamara’s offseason troubles. But, if we are strictly talking about football, Kamara is clearly the better player. The bottom half of the list is decent, but Ezekiel Elliott is rated an 88 overall and that may be a little high.
Elliot has been regressing every season and you can make an argument that some of the players below him in this list are better than him. Two of those players include Josh Jacobs and Kareem Hunt. Madden also went on to release the ratings for Wide Receivers. To start it off, Jamarr Chase is rated an 87 overall and is not ranked in the top 15.
This is so disrespectful as he put up an unbelievable rookie year. He’s behind Tyler Lockett, Chris Godwin, Brandon Cooks, Adam Thielen, Michael Thomas, and Amari Cooper. All very good receivers, just nowhere near Chase’s level. Another person not in the top 10 is Deebo Samuel, I find it impossible to not include Deebo in the top 10 receiver list as he carried the 49ers all year last year. Deebo is rated an 89 overall and is behind Mike Evans, Tyler Lockett, Chris Godwin, and Michael Thomas. Someone who hasn’t even played in over a year is ranked over one of the best receivers from last season! Madden really messed up this list but they got the top 6 correct.
Davante Adams is rated a 99, Cooper Kupp is a 98, Tyreek Hill is a 97, Deandre Hopkins is a 96, Stefan Diggs is a 95, and Justin Jefferson ranked at 6th with a 93 rating. Now, to wrap everything up Madden most recently release the ratings for the Edge rushers. As a Browns fan, I am happy Myles Garrett is rated the best at a 99 overall.
But, it pains me to say it doesn’t really make any sense how he is a 99 and T.J. Watt is not. Watt tied the single season sack record last season and won defensive player of the year but comes in at a 96 overall. That may be one of the worst mistakes Madden has made with their ratings and that is saying something.
I believe both Garrett and Watt should be 99 overalls, as they are without question the best Edge rushers in the NFL. But, there is no way T.J. Watt shouldn’t be a 99 after the season he put up last year. With all that being said, I think it is clear that Madden needs to hire a new players ratings adjuster because this is unacceptable. All people can do now is sit and wait to see how bad Madden messes up the Defensive Backs and Tight Ends.
