Madden Ratings Explanation

[Ike Slider2]

I don't know if this is important to everybody, but for me I like to run franchises on Madden and then play about 1/2 of the games. Therefore when choosing players (I usually do a fantasy draft) it would be helpful to know the importance of all the ratings. So I made a guide showing what each rating affects.

Spoiler

Speed- Fairly simple the velocity at which a player can travel after initial acceleration. About the time it takes a running back to get to the line of scrimmage.
Strength- Somewhat important but not very the is the blocking strength and power moves this just helps get extra yards.
Agility-The shiftyness (if that is a word) of a player. The little cuts and turns are affected by this.
Awareness-This is most important for QBs, I think that this helps determine the # of interceptions that they give up. Also this helps RBs find holes to run through. It also helps wide recievers turn at the right time to catch the ball.
[i]Swagger-This is just how often they will showboat on big plays.
Trucking-How well a player can plow through a another player.
Elusiveness - Related to agility basically how shifty the back is.
Ballcarrier vision- Related to awareness; pretty much the amount of time the back or WR will make the right choice for where to go.
Stiffarm- How well a player can stiffarm another.
Spin move- How effective a spin move is.
Juke Move- How effective a juke move is.
Carrying- How well the player holds on to the ball to prevent fumbles.
Catching- How well the player can catch the ball. (if you want the ball to be knocked out of you receivers hands less look for 90+ catching and 80+ carrying.
Routerunning-How crisp the routes will be and how well the player stays to the routes.
Catch in traffic- How well they win the jump ball- really good tight ends have an 80 +.
Spectacular Catch- How often the player makes an amazing catch like one handed diving catch.
Beat Press-How well a receiver can break away from coverage.
Jumping- How high a player can jump.
Throw Power- How hard and far a player can throw.
Short throw accuracy-how accurate a player is at 1-7 yards
Medium throw accuracy- how accurate a player is at 8-17 yards
Deep throw accuracy- how accurate at 20+ yards.
Throw on the run how well a player can throw after running, after 1.5 sec it goes back to regular accuracy.
Play action- the effectiveness a QB has when faking a handoff.
Tackle- How well will the player be able to tackle.
Hit Power- How hard the player can tackle, helps force fumbles
Power Moves- How well the player can bull rush.
Finnesse moves- How well a player can spin and juke a lineman
Block shedding- How quickly a player can get out of being blocked.
Pursuit-How well a player can chase another down.
Play Recognition- How well a defensive player can read a play and jump a route or know what to do.
Man Coverage- How well a player can cover another in man coverage.
Zone Coverage- How well a player can play zone coverage effectively.
Press- How well the player performs on defense in press coverage.
Run Blocking Strength- How well a player can knock over another and then move on. On run plays.
Run Blocking footwork- How well a player can keep in front of a defender on run plays.
Pass Blocking strength- How well a player can knock another player over on a pass play.
Pass blocking footwork- How well a player stay in front of a another on pass plays.
Impact Blocking- How well a player can hit another player blocking with a big hit.
Kick Power- How far a player can kick a football.
Kick Accuracy-How accurate a kicker is.
Stamina- How long a player can play and maintain the same play quality and keep a lower chance of injury.
Injury-The amount a player gets injured.
Toughness-How long the injury lasts for.

Hope this helps you. If you have any corrections feel free to post.

[Senator Palmer]

Good breakdown.

Ballcarrier Vision - I always thought that was tied to the runner, mainly running backs and their ability to finds the holes. I noticed guys with high BCV run smarter, cut back at the right time, set up blocks better, press the edges smarter on sweeps, etc.

[Palo20]

I've copied this into various threads, but this is Ian's explanation a couple years ago:

Other ratings, basically rendering RBK, PBK and BTK useless:

Ratings Breakdown?

- Elusiveness: Replacement for "break tackle" rating when choosing what type of broken tackle animations to play. Also modifies the window and success of breaking "elusive style" tackles (jukes & spins) with our new "break out of tackles" feature for 09.*

- Trucking: Replacement for "break tackle" rating when choosing what type of broken tackle animations to play. Also modifies the window and success of breaking "power style" tackles (stiff arm & truck) with our new "break out of tackles" feature for 09.

- Toughness: When injuries are calculated, determines severity of injury (if at all). So higher toughness means less likelihood of severe injuries. Also speeds up recovery of injury in Franchise mode.

- Pass Block Strength: Replacement for general "Pass Block" rating when choosing to win or lose while pass blocking. PB Strength determines how well the player performs when the defender is performing power moves against him.*

- Pass Block Footwork: Replacement for general "Pass Block" rating when choosing to win or lose while pass blocking. PB Footwork determines how well the player performs when the defender is performing finesse moves against him. Scales the speed of initial moves at the snap, as well as the distance of kickout pass block initial moves.*

- Run Block Strength: Replacement for general "Run Block" rating when choosing to win or lose while run blocking. RB Strength determines how well they can succeed in locking up a defender while run blocking.*

- Run Block Footwork: Replacement for general "Run Block" rating when choosing to win or lose while run blocking. RB Footwork determines how well they can succeed in pushing a defender while run blocking. Also scales the speed of initial moves.*

- Block Shedding: Defensive rating on how well defenders can "shed" blocks when in the open field (i.e. in pursuit of the ballcarrier)

- Impact Blocking: Offensive rating on how well blockers can pancake (or block normally) when in the open field - mainly special teams, turnover returns, etc

[Ike Slider2]

Thanks that is helpful although I find that a higher block shedding rating really helps lineman get to the QB faster.

[TNT713]

Earlier in another thread I said I wasn't going to do a video, but I changed my mind. I hope the mods don't zing me, but I couldn't find a related thread after several searches using "human, AWR, and QB."

Initially I thought the speed of a QB's release was related to his AWR from observations between Matt Moore, John Skelton, and Tony Romo. Someone posted that there is a "Release" rating and a "Throwing Style" that I'd never seen before because I don't create players.

I was WRONG. There's no correlation between the speed in which a QB throws and his AWR. Something else interesting: Release ratings are NOT displayed on the ratings screen in the depth chart. Nor is a players throwing style. That's why I had no clue either item existed...

That said, I did find something interesting. AWR does not effect the speed of the throw, but it has a dramatic effect on the QUALITY of the throw. Not only do QB's with low AWR ratings throw wobbly ducks, but receivers have trouble catching them.

There's a UNEDITED HD Video in my Arena...

http://www.operationsports.com/TNT71.../2220-testing/

Here's what I did that ISN'T in the video...

I created 3 QB's with EQUAL ratings, throwing styles, and Release... The only difference is their last names - A, B, and C and their AWR ratings - 12, 52, and 92 respectively. I signed all three QB's to the Panthers and went into practice mode.

The first minute shows the ratings. Skip to the 0:58 mark to see the practice. I ran the same play with as close to the same 5-steps BALL OUT execution as possible while throwing to the same receiver running a hook. Each player ran the play several times...

Watch full screen and keep your eye on the ball... Watch the flight and wobble. The lower the AWR, the uglier the pass.

I thought it was interesting enough to share.

Later

[Sanchez_Mareno]

I thought release was how well WRs beat the press

[guaps]

Quote: Originally Posted by Sanchez_Mareno

I thought release was how well WRs beat the press

It is how well WRs beat the press...

One of the major problems with Madden is the lack of transparency in terms of explaining how the ratings work. And while Ike Slider2's attempt to explain ratings is appreciated, we still don't not how ratings work and influence the game.

Take for instance Route Running:

The logical explanation is that of Ike Slider2, namely, that it describes how well the routes are run. Admittedly, it sounds plausible. However, after I did some testing in Madden 11 on how Route Running actually affected the gameplay, I found that players with a high Route Running rating received a speed burst in the cuts, thus allowing them to get separation against cornerbacks with a high Man Coverage rating. So essentially the Route Running rating is actually just a counter to the Man Coverage rating in determining who wins the battle. Much like Pass Block Strength is supposed to counter Power Moves and Pass Block Footwork counter Fitness Moves - that is, if OL/DL interactions actually mattered.

The Route Running has nothing to do with the receivers ability to run routes per se, which is logical as Madden doesn't have Route Based Passing. A Madden QB will hit his receiver with pinpoint accuracy even if he's running 10 yards off his route.

I'd love to see Tiburon release an explanation of their ratings or maybe a podcast going through every single rating in the game and explaining how they work, either as a standalone rating or in a combination with other ratings.

[mjhyankees]

Quote: Originally Posted by Palo20

I've copied this into various threads, but this is Ian's explanation a couple years ago: Other ratings, basically rendering RBK, PBK and BTK useless: Ratings Breakdown? - Elusiveness: Replacement for "break tackle" rating when choosing what type of broken tackle animations to play. Also modifies the window and success of breaking "elusive style" tackles (jukes & spins) with our new "break out of tackles" feature for 09.* - Trucking: Replacement for "break tackle" rating when choosing what type of broken tackle animations to play. Also modifies the window and success of breaking "power style" tackles (stiff arm & truck) with our new "break out of tackles" feature for 09. - Toughness: When injuries are calculated, determines severity of injury (if at all). So higher toughness means less likelihood of severe injuries. Also speeds up recovery of injury in Franchise mode. - Pass Block Strength: Replacement for general "Pass Block" rating when choosing to win or lose while pass blocking. PB Strength determines how well the player performs when the defender is performing power moves against him.* - Pass Block Footwork: Replacement for general "Pass Block" rating when choosing to win or lose while pass blocking. PB Footwork determines how well the player performs when the defender is performing finesse moves against him. Scales the speed of initial moves at the snap, as well as the distance of kickout pass block initial moves.* - Run Block Strength: Replacement for general "Run Block" rating when choosing to win or lose while run blocking. RB Strength determines how well they can succeed in locking up a defender while run blocking.* - Run Block Footwork: Replacement for general "Run Block" rating when choosing to win or lose while run blocking. RB Footwork determines how well they can succeed in pushing a defender while run blocking. Also scales the speed of initial moves.* - Block Shedding: Defensive rating on how well defenders can "shed" blocks when in the open field (i.e. in pursuit of the ballcarrier) - Impact Blocking: Offensive rating on how well blockers can pancake (or block normally) when in the open field - mainly special teams, turnover returns, etc

Is it me or does the run block footwork and strength seem like they should be switched. I'd think the rbstrength would be the ability to push and the footwork, to maintain the block.