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Rating the Madden Ratings: The 20 Worst
If you’ve ever spent an afternoon tweaking the existing ratings on your Madden video game to adjust to your perception of NFL reality, welcome. After going through all 32 Madden rosters, here are our top 20 worst ratings in anticipation of the August 10 release. (They're arranged in no particular order).
1. Asante Samuel, CB, Philadelphia (94). Samuel was good in 2008 and terrible in 2009, while teammate Quintin Mikell was absolutely great in 2008 and still solid in 2009 … but gets an 83. Flip the numbers and we’re looking good.
2. Steve Hutchinson, G, Minnesota (97). Hutchinson is still a positive player, and was excellent in pass protection last year, but struggled mightily to block for Adrian Peterson with a PFF rank 78th among guards. His reward? A perfect 99 score in run blocking. Hutchinson was PFF’s No. 5 run-blocker in 2008, so a change in Favre-losophy obviously played a role in his ineffectiveness, but a 99 is still way out of whack.
3. Eric Steinbach, G, Cleveland (91). Steinbach was our 85th-ranked guard out of 86 last year, which is enough said. Steinbach was particularly poor at run blocking, and he gets a laughable score of 91 from Madden in run block – four points ahead of LT Joe Thomas! Thomas was the best run blocker in the NFL last year, bar none, yet Madden sticks him with an 87 in run blocking. Absurd.
4. Derek Cox, CB, Jacksonville (82). Not sure why Cox – rated dead last out of 162 qualifiers at corner last year in coverage – managed to get an 82 rating.
5. Cedric Benson, RB, Cincinnati (89). Madden bought into the prevailing wisdom on Cedric Benson, giving him an 89 despite his basically average performance a year ago (33rd out of 63 tailbacks to play 25+ percent of snaps). Benson is a weak blocker and a liability in the pass game, and both Bernard Scott and Larry Johnson broke more tackles and had more yards/carry after contact. Don’t expect his possible personal conduct suspension to cripple Cincy’s running game.
6. Ryan Clady, T, Denver (98). This rating makes him the highest ranked tackle in the game; PFF had him 16th in 2009 and 38th in 2008. Clady allowed a league-high 37 pressures in 2008; that he didn’t allow a sack is a bit of a miracle that speaks directly to Jay Cutler's abilities in that area -- Bears tackle Orlando Pace only allowed one sack to Cutler despite playing like a matador in 2009. Clady gave up eight sacks with the less tricky Kyle Orton back there in 2009, and it’s safe to say he’s not elite.
7. Michael Griffin, S, Tennessee (86). Griffin gets an 86 despite a really bad year. How bad? 88th out of 88 safeties bad. It’s possible that the Madden graders would have given him a more reasonable grade around 80 had they not graded him a 95 in 2008 despite a good-not-great season.
8. Roy E. Williams, WR, Dallas (82). Memo to Madden: Roy Williams is not a good receiver. Despite the fact that he didn't get a PFF game grade better than +1.0 in all of 2008 and 2009, he gets a pass from the Madden folks. Perhaps they don’t want to make Jerry Jones look bad. Or Wade Phillips, for that matter – will their animators reflect his 35-pound weight loss in Madden 2011?
9. Brandon Jacobs, RB, New York Giants (84). It's not his overall rating we take issue with, but why he’s not given the worst catching ability possible is a mystery. His rating of 60 is low, but better than a good chunk of NFL RBs (Laurence Maroney, Fred Taylor, Michael Turner, Willie Parker, among others). This despite the fact that he’s been thrown to 40 times over the past two seasons and has nine drops.
10. Vernon Davis, TE, San Francisco (96). This rating gives some pretty good insight into the mind of Madden (the corporate entity, not the actual human). Without question, Davis was a productive tight end last year. He was also an atrocious blocker and led skill players in dropped passes (13) and penalties (12). That doesn’t add up to an elite player.
11. David Garrard, QB, Jacksonville (79). Does Garrard have body odor? Despite a subpar crew of blockers and wide receivers, he finished 17th in passer rating and 9th in our QB ratings … and got a Madden number lower than Matthew Stafford.
12. Josh Sitton, G, Green Bay (78). Madden’s inability to judge line play shows up in rating Sitton. Sitton was as good as any lineman in the game from Week 4-12 last year, and somehow came in behind backup Jason Spitz (80). A complete puzzler.
13. Jamaal Jackson, C, Philadelphia (79). Jackson was our No. 6 center and played penalty free ball all year, but gets backup-quality respect from Madden.
14. Justin Forsett, RB, Seattle (76). He was the best of a so-so lot in Seattle last year, but gets a lowly 76 behind Julius Jones’ 77. Although much of his success came in garbage time, Forsett was still positive in all phases of the game and averaged 5.5 yards a crack.
15. Albert Haynesworth, DT, Washington (86). Giving Haynesworth an 86 just makes no sense. The guy was a top-five defender in the league in 2008, and certainly still an elite DT in 2009. Perhaps the Madden raters are giving him a 10-point penalty for GSA (Generally Surly Actions).
16. Matt Prater, K, Broncos (76). One of the most unjust ratings in the game comes here. He was the best kickoff man in the league and went 30-35 on field goals, and should have a rating in the high 80s minimum.
17. Sebastian Vollmer, T, New England (79). OK, now we’re convinced they weren’t watching the games. Rookie Vollmer was dominant when seeing time at both tackle spots, and manages to score a 79. Meanwhile Matt Light, who was average, scores an 88 thanks to his higher profile.
18. Malcom Floyd, WR, San Diego (76). First Floyd impressed in limited duty in 2008. He was rewarded with a rating of 73. Then, in 2009, a breakout year. Madden’s reward? How’s a 76 sound? Perhaps it’s because Floyd is a late bloomer (29 by Week 1), but stuff like that shouldn’t matter.
19. Charles Johnson, DE, Carolina (70). Johnson inexplicably gets a 70 even though he had a better rate of pressure on the QB than Julius Peppers a year ago (1 pressure per 12 rushes to Peppers’ 1 in 13.5). If you’re wondering who will be getting the sacks for Carolina in 2010, we’d suggest Johnson.
20. Pat McAfee, P/KO, Indianapolis (77). He was tied for 8th in our punting rankings and fourth in kickoffs, but gets rated 5 points behind Chicago's Brad Maynard (PFF punting rank of 39).
If you’ve ever spent an afternoon tweaking the existing ratings on your Madden video game to adjust to your perception of NFL reality, welcome. After going through all 32 Madden rosters, here are our top 20 worst ratings in anticipation of the August 10 release. (They're arranged in no particular order).
- TOO HIGH
1. Asante Samuel, CB, Philadelphia (94). Samuel was good in 2008 and terrible in 2009, while teammate Quintin Mikell was absolutely great in 2008 and still solid in 2009 … but gets an 83. Flip the numbers and we’re looking good.
2. Steve Hutchinson, G, Minnesota (97). Hutchinson is still a positive player, and was excellent in pass protection last year, but struggled mightily to block for Adrian Peterson with a PFF rank 78th among guards. His reward? A perfect 99 score in run blocking. Hutchinson was PFF’s No. 5 run-blocker in 2008, so a change in Favre-losophy obviously played a role in his ineffectiveness, but a 99 is still way out of whack.
3. Eric Steinbach, G, Cleveland (91). Steinbach was our 85th-ranked guard out of 86 last year, which is enough said. Steinbach was particularly poor at run blocking, and he gets a laughable score of 91 from Madden in run block – four points ahead of LT Joe Thomas! Thomas was the best run blocker in the NFL last year, bar none, yet Madden sticks him with an 87 in run blocking. Absurd.
4. Derek Cox, CB, Jacksonville (82). Not sure why Cox – rated dead last out of 162 qualifiers at corner last year in coverage – managed to get an 82 rating.
5. Cedric Benson, RB, Cincinnati (89). Madden bought into the prevailing wisdom on Cedric Benson, giving him an 89 despite his basically average performance a year ago (33rd out of 63 tailbacks to play 25+ percent of snaps). Benson is a weak blocker and a liability in the pass game, and both Bernard Scott and Larry Johnson broke more tackles and had more yards/carry after contact. Don’t expect his possible personal conduct suspension to cripple Cincy’s running game.
6. Ryan Clady, T, Denver (98). This rating makes him the highest ranked tackle in the game; PFF had him 16th in 2009 and 38th in 2008. Clady allowed a league-high 37 pressures in 2008; that he didn’t allow a sack is a bit of a miracle that speaks directly to Jay Cutler's abilities in that area -- Bears tackle Orlando Pace only allowed one sack to Cutler despite playing like a matador in 2009. Clady gave up eight sacks with the less tricky Kyle Orton back there in 2009, and it’s safe to say he’s not elite.
7. Michael Griffin, S, Tennessee (86). Griffin gets an 86 despite a really bad year. How bad? 88th out of 88 safeties bad. It’s possible that the Madden graders would have given him a more reasonable grade around 80 had they not graded him a 95 in 2008 despite a good-not-great season.
8. Roy E. Williams, WR, Dallas (82). Memo to Madden: Roy Williams is not a good receiver. Despite the fact that he didn't get a PFF game grade better than +1.0 in all of 2008 and 2009, he gets a pass from the Madden folks. Perhaps they don’t want to make Jerry Jones look bad. Or Wade Phillips, for that matter – will their animators reflect his 35-pound weight loss in Madden 2011?
9. Brandon Jacobs, RB, New York Giants (84). It's not his overall rating we take issue with, but why he’s not given the worst catching ability possible is a mystery. His rating of 60 is low, but better than a good chunk of NFL RBs (Laurence Maroney, Fred Taylor, Michael Turner, Willie Parker, among others). This despite the fact that he’s been thrown to 40 times over the past two seasons and has nine drops.
10. Vernon Davis, TE, San Francisco (96). This rating gives some pretty good insight into the mind of Madden (the corporate entity, not the actual human). Without question, Davis was a productive tight end last year. He was also an atrocious blocker and led skill players in dropped passes (13) and penalties (12). That doesn’t add up to an elite player.
- TOO LOW
11. David Garrard, QB, Jacksonville (79). Does Garrard have body odor? Despite a subpar crew of blockers and wide receivers, he finished 17th in passer rating and 9th in our QB ratings … and got a Madden number lower than Matthew Stafford.
12. Josh Sitton, G, Green Bay (78). Madden’s inability to judge line play shows up in rating Sitton. Sitton was as good as any lineman in the game from Week 4-12 last year, and somehow came in behind backup Jason Spitz (80). A complete puzzler.
13. Jamaal Jackson, C, Philadelphia (79). Jackson was our No. 6 center and played penalty free ball all year, but gets backup-quality respect from Madden.
14. Justin Forsett, RB, Seattle (76). He was the best of a so-so lot in Seattle last year, but gets a lowly 76 behind Julius Jones’ 77. Although much of his success came in garbage time, Forsett was still positive in all phases of the game and averaged 5.5 yards a crack.
15. Albert Haynesworth, DT, Washington (86). Giving Haynesworth an 86 just makes no sense. The guy was a top-five defender in the league in 2008, and certainly still an elite DT in 2009. Perhaps the Madden raters are giving him a 10-point penalty for GSA (Generally Surly Actions).
16. Matt Prater, K, Broncos (76). One of the most unjust ratings in the game comes here. He was the best kickoff man in the league and went 30-35 on field goals, and should have a rating in the high 80s minimum.
17. Sebastian Vollmer, T, New England (79). OK, now we’re convinced they weren’t watching the games. Rookie Vollmer was dominant when seeing time at both tackle spots, and manages to score a 79. Meanwhile Matt Light, who was average, scores an 88 thanks to his higher profile.
18. Malcom Floyd, WR, San Diego (76). First Floyd impressed in limited duty in 2008. He was rewarded with a rating of 73. Then, in 2009, a breakout year. Madden’s reward? How’s a 76 sound? Perhaps it’s because Floyd is a late bloomer (29 by Week 1), but stuff like that shouldn’t matter.
19. Charles Johnson, DE, Carolina (70). Johnson inexplicably gets a 70 even though he had a better rate of pressure on the QB than Julius Peppers a year ago (1 pressure per 12 rushes to Peppers’ 1 in 13.5). If you’re wondering who will be getting the sacks for Carolina in 2010, we’d suggest Johnson.
20. Pat McAfee, P/KO, Indianapolis (77). He was tied for 8th in our punting rankings and fourth in kickoffs, but gets rated 5 points behind Chicago's Brad Maynard (PFF punting rank of 39).
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