What do ratings mean?

[mpbaseball22]

Is there a ratings guide anyway? I know what most mean but i cant really tell the difference between ratings sometimes. For example, strength, blocking attributes, awareness, etc

[JDoze]

I would like to know this as well. Mainly the blocking attributes and how exactly does coverage and play recognition tie in together to allow psychic DB's.

[TNT713]

Everyone wants to know this... Most of the ratings are self explanatory as to what they mean in football terms. The mystery is how these ratings work to produce the football. Don't hold your breath. but be aware that ratings mean more than just what they seem to mean.

For instance, a quarterback with low AWR will throw less spirals than a QB with high AWR.

Why does AWR effect spirals? Who knows. Best I can imagine, there's not a SPI (spiral) rating, so a QB's ability to throw a spiral must be somewhere in the ratings. Why not AWR?

Over the years, specific ratings have been split off of the original ratings to create a more complete vision of each player. Where SPD, AGI, and ACC (Speed, Agility, and Acceleration) used to determine a WR/DB matchup - the addition of spectacular catch, zone and man coverage, and route ratings further differentiate players.

Even with around 50 separate ratings categories, there's still a ton of stuff, like spirals, that haven't yet been split off of the original ratings.

So... the best answer I can give you as to what ratings mean:

They mean what they say, and probably something else you wouldn't think might be tied to that rating.

Later

[Broncos86]

To build off of TNT's post, certain positions seem to draw more from ratings than others. While a receiver certainly is affected by his ratings, offensive linemen seem like a mystery. Then you add the new traits into the mix.

[Bull_Dozer]

I find it extremely annoying that there isn't a complete ratings guide in the game's instruction manual. Madden's rating system has become bloated, and to make it worse they don't even tell you specifically how it works.