preciate it.
yeah a friend of mine and i have been doing our own ratings since you guys went down, did i agree with all of your ratings? NOPE. most of them? YESSIR. rating based on the last 3 years (with the most emphasis on the most current year) is usually the most accurate. you guys saw how ratings spiralled out of control in 2005.
there were simply too many "popularity guys" who had ratings that were much too high. it showed me that the ratings people weren't being thorough. Roy Williams (safety) was never higher than a 81-83...he was a one-dimensional player--and not a dominant one. hell, atleast Simeon Rice gave you 12 sacks a year. we got to the point where we rated players without looking at the names to "test ourselves" to see if we'd give the player the same rating if we just saw his numbers. we'd started using intangibles to rate as well...because the ratings of halfback A (900 yards, 6TDs, 4.2 yd average) and B (1000 yards, 8 tds, 3.8 yard average) aren't always what you think. especially if halfback A's team when to the NFC championship and B's went 3-13. players put up empty stats on bad teams ALL the time. they're not the equal of someone contributing during "winning time." while Haloti Ngata might never put up great "measurables" like 12 sacks a year...look at how the raven's rank .vs. the run every year to help determine his rating. how many points did they give up? how was their red zone defense? how many 100 yard rushers? this stuff lets you track a players effectiveness.
inflated ratings hurt the game badly...they make players too dominant. 200yd games by reggie bush (i'll never forget his rookie 88 in 2006) 5 sack games by peppers, Moss with 300 yards receiving--stuff like that. we even decided to go with a consistent -3 rating for a year lost to injury as well...so a guy like bob sanders who can't stay on the field the last 2 years? 84.
do we change the ratings on our players? naaah....the game plays much better now that the ratings have been lowered. it was always more of a "if we did the rosters they'd look like this" kinda thing. and we were big on CONSISTENCY. I wish we could help, we recently devised a way to use macros to take the opinion part out of rating players even more (by letting numbers determine 90% of a rating) that way we could just plug a guys numbers in, let it generate an 85...and then let logic tell us if that's accurate or if we should be SUBTRACTING 8 points or ADDING them. and while we think stats are the most accurate based on a yearly basis, we submit that updates during the year are important. most important thing to understand? most players don't change much. rookies usually change the MOST, and its usually most accurate to rate quarterly (i.e every 4 games) these changes during the year often aren't much...but taking someone's rating up 5 ppoints for a good game usually gets you right back in the inflated ratings mess. worse ratings i've seen?...had to be vick in the 90s from madden 2004 to 2007 (has never been an elite player--at his best he was the best we'll give a one dimensional player:87) bush's rookie 88 or the 90 they gave cleveland LB andra davis. anytime you're giving 90 ratings to "solid" players who's teams never sniff the playoffs (and were literally sieves on defense) you KNOW we're in trouble.
lastly, we understood how ludicrous it is for "one guy" to do the ratings. its much too big a job--too much gets lost. you need a TEAM of guys and quite honestly? one person per team. and they have to be people who are knowledgeable and objective. there are waaay too many "OMG! Miles Austin should be a 92!!" homers out there because they want their team to benefit from high ratings. a 92 for one good year? (81 catches, 1300 yds, 11tds) so what do we rate Moss? 115? because those are essentially his "averages". and that's the difference--elite guys put up numbers over a PERIOD of years. anyone can start out the season well, or have a good four game stretch. elite and good guys (rated 85+) put up numbers even after teams start scheming for them. let austin put up numbers like that for three years in a row (like Romo did)--then we'll talk 90's.
WOW...rating a guy like Austin in the 90s would mean that a player like Jerry Rice would have been rated somewhere in the 150's...
food for thought.
and since the ratings just came out? i think its time for another ratings article

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