Madden 21 Rating Mistakes: Offense
EA Sports’ ‘Madden’ video game is one of the most important early indicators of a player’s success. Both fans and players tend to take their ratings very seriously, and it often causes an uproar when Madden gets them terribly wrong. Here are the biggest rating mistakes per position, starting with the offense.
Quarterback:
Carson Wentz - 84 OVR
To put it into perspective, 49ers glorified game manager Jimmy Garoppolo finished the 2019 season as an 84 overall on Madden 20. Carson Wentz is a superior player to Garoppolo in every single way. After watching his offense become decimated by injuries, Wentz put the team on his back and dragged the Eagles to the playoffs when they really had no business playing in January. In the process, he became the first quarterback in NFL history to pass for 4,000 yards without a single receiver even breaking the 500-yard mark.
2019 Stats: 4039 yards, 27 TDs, 7 INTs
My Rating: 88 OVR
Running Back:
Derrick Henry - 93 OVR
Madden didn’t do a horrible job with the RBs, but Henry at a 93 is just too low for my liking. After pacing the league in rushing yards, Henry doubled down in the playoffs, rushing for 446 yards in just three games. That put him sixth all-time on the postseason leaderboard, and all five players before him played in the Super Bowl that season. 93 isn’t a bad rating by any means, and actually made him the #2 running back, but I can’t be convinced that someone who carried his team to the AFC Championship is six overalls worse than the top-rated back in the video game.
2019 Stats: 303 rush, 1540 yards, 16 TD
My Rating: 96 OVR
Wide Receiver:
Michael Thomas - 99 OVR
Make no mistake, Michael Thomas had a season for the ages, but not a 99 overall season for the ages. With his NFL record 149 receptions, he only averaged 11.6 yards per catch, good for 61st in the league (min. 500 rec. yards). If we’re being honest, Julio Jones doesn’t fall short of 2,000 yards with 149 receptions. To be a 99 overall, you must be the clear-cut best player at your position, and that’s not something that can be said about MT.
2019 Stats: 149 rec, 1725 yards, 9 TD
My Rating: 97 OVR
Tight End:
Rob Gronkowski - 95 OVR
When we last saw Gronk, he wasn’t any better than the fourth-best tight end in the league. Then he took a year off, shed all of his playing weight, and proceeded to touch a football a grand total of two times over the course of a calendar year. So what does Madden do? They give him a ridiculous 95 overall rating, higher than reigning league MVP Lamar Jackson. He’s also five overalls higher than Zach Ertz, who was better than Gronk the last time he was still active. None of it makes any sense.
2019 Stats: N/A
My Rating: 87 OVR
All statistics are from pro-football-reference.com
Writer