Eagles Madden Ratings: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Generally, when video game announcements hit the newsstands, it registers as hardly more than a blip in the sporting world. Madden rankings have become the exception. Ten years ago it was unheard of for professional sports players to comment on their virtual avatars and their skill sets, but now, the production spans from the rookies to the veterans. Everyone wants to know their rank amongst peers as projected by EA Sports' team of scouts. Plus, it makes fantastic fodder for the otherwise monotonous NFL offseason. Who got too much credit? Who received too little, and why will more and more gamers be playing as the Eagles in 2020? The Good It doesn't take much digging to find encouraging numbers for Eagles fans. The Philadelphia Eagles are Madden 20's top-ranked team. No joke. They're better than the defending champion Patriots, the runners-up LA Rams, the star-studded Saints, and the high-flying Chiefs. Interestingly enough it is the Eagles and their NFC rival Dallas Cowboys that are atop EA's chart. The Birds have an overall rating of 89 to go along with an 87 offensive rating (tied for 7th overall) and an 84 defensive rating (tied for 6th). There are teams with higher collective offensive and defensive ratings, but Philadelphia's overall of 89 is unmatched. This is led by a strong showing on both sides of the trenches. The Eagles have five players on either side of the line with 89 overall or above: Fletcher Cox (96), Jason Kelce (94), Brandon Brooks (90), Brandon Graham (89), and Lane Johnson (89). Jason Peters isn't far behind with an 87 overall. Clearly, EA's thinking is in line with Howie Roseman's own -- the path to success is one paved by solid linemen. Malik Jackson (80) and Timmy Jernigan (78) both got lower marks than we'd have hoped, but those are fair rankings after down years. I expect both numbers will be on the rise. Rookie Andre Dillard was given a 70 overall, which was the second-best among rookie left tackles behind Bengals' Jonah Williams. Isaac Seumalo also earned a 70 overall, which certainly could be higher, but is on par with other backup swing guards around the league. There are some names missing from this list, but we'll get to those later. The Eagles also have one of the more dangerous receiving corps in the game. Zach Ertz (93) headlines what is one of the team's deepest groups. Alshon Jeffery (87) and Desean Jackson (85) should wreak havoc on opposing secondaries with help from Nelson Agholor (83) in the slot. Even second-year tight end Dallas Goedert broke the 80 overall threshold (he squeezed in with an 80). Eagles fans know he deserved it, but it's surprising that EA was willing to bet on his upside. Beyond that, rookie J.J. Arcega-Whiteside earned a generous 73 overall and Mack Hollins was given a 71 despite limited game-time experience. Shelton Gibson and Braxton Miller both received a 70 overall and AAF transfer Charles Johnson is just behind them at 69. Virtual Carson Wentz will have a ton of weapons to attack defenses through the air even if you have injuries switched on. Continued on the page below. The Bad Unsurprisingly, the Eagles' secondary is one of their lowest-rated groups. Aside from Malcolm Jenkins (92) only Ronald Darby (82) cracked the 80 mark. It's good to see Avonte Maddox (78) get some recognition after a stellar rookie campaign, but the general consensus on the Philadelphia secondary is not good. Rodney McLeod slots in at 79 overall, and while he likely deserves to join the 80-club, a season partially lost to injury did him no favors. Newcomer Andrew Sendejo earned a 79 after his shortened year in Minnesota, which is a fantastic rating for a third safety. In my opinion, that's much too high -- but we'll take it! Young hopefuls Sidney Jones (76), Cre'Von LeBlanc (73) and Rasul Douglas (72) were relatively fairly rated based on available game tape. Douglas has shown more than both Jones and LeBlanc have so far in their careers, but that's a small gripe. Then comes starting corner Jalen Mills, who was lambasted with a 74 overall. I don't agree with Sidney Jones being a better overall corner than Mills at this point, but perhaps EA was willing to bet on potential. Late addition Blake Countess (67) has no business challenging for playing time according to Madden, but he's much closer in talent to Sendejo than the game would have you believe. Another name in the defensive secondary that deserved a ton more credit is Tre Sullivan. PFF's top-ranked playoff safety was cheated. Despite the mistakes and sharp learning curve he has dealt with in his young career, a 63 is a slap in the face. He's not a starting safety and doesn't deserve to be graded as one, but to put him in with the likes of practice squad players and unproven mid-round rookies doesn't sit right. Stuck behind a glut of depth at the safety position, he may not get the opportunity to prove himself -- and therein lies the real shame. The somewhat surprising position ratings in Philadelphia is their linebacking group. MLB Zach Brown tops the list at 81 overall, which in and of itself seems a tad low. He was one of PFF's top-ranked 'backers last season, which didn't seem to resonate with EA, who thought of him as the 12th best at his position. It seems as if Nigel Bradham (78) was slighted. However, it shouldn't come as a surprise as Bradham is constantly undervalued. More on exactly how terrible this rating is below. Kamu Grugier-Hill earned a 73 overall, but I believe that's simply because nobody outside of Philadelphia knows any better. He's only had the opportunity to show small glimpses, but 2019-2020 will be his year to prove the doubters wrong. Paul Worrilow (70) will have to re-prove himself after a lost season. It's only fair. Relative unknown L.J. Fort earned a 66, but the Eagles coaching staff seem to like the kid and with more opportunity may come a higher number. Overall, an average starting rating of 77.6 is much lower than expected for the Eagles' underrated linebacking group. The Eagles worst offensive group is their running backs. Jordan Howard's 80 overall is the best of the bunch, and it falls off rapidly after that. Corey Clement's rookie heroics from 2017 garnered him a 75. Wendell Smallwood, Josh Adams and Miles Sanders all clock out at a respectable 72. Depending on how Sanders bounces back from his offseason injuries, his rating could climb in a hurry. More on Jordan Howard's rating below. Some individual ratings that don't sit well: My heart, as well as many others around Philadelphia, broke for Derek Barnett when he suffered what would be a season-ending injury in Carolina. He was putting on a fantastic show early on in his second professional year and looked as if he was ready to build on it as the season went on. Therefore, the production might not be his biggest friend, but his skill set certainly deserves more than a 76 overall. That makes him one of the worst starting left ends in football (23rd). The position, in general, seems to have been enormously underrated outside of J.J. Watt's ridiculous 97 overall rating, so perhaps Barnett was just lost in the shuffle. Even still, expect that 76 be on the rise early and often in the upcoming season. Two Eagles offensive linemen got dragged through the mud in this iteration of Madden. Stefen Wisniewski and Halapoulivaati Vaiti (both 66) were undoubtedly hoping for better numbers from EA. Wis is getting older, but has been nothing but dependable in his time in Philly. He may not have the tangibles of a younger guard, but he is every bit as technically sound and tenacious. A high 60 to low 70 seems more reasonable. Big V has had a roller-coaster of a career so far, showcasing both the highs and lows of his talent. At his best he is a starting calibre left tackle, just pop in the 2018 tape. A 66 seems much more geared towards the low end of his production. It is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league, and Vaiti looks to have been on the harsh receiving end. Continued on the page below. The Ugly For having the league's best team, Madden did the Eagles no favors rating some of the team's key contributors. Before we get to the big ginger elephant in the room, let's look at some other criminally low ratings on the starting lineup. Case number one on the docket: Nigel Bradham. A 78!? Whoever made this rating must not have watched many Eagles games. The fact that Bradham scores lower than the jettisoned Mychal Kendricks (81) is a joke, and not the funny kind. He also ranks below Pernell McPhee (79), who has started 5 games in the last three years. Just to prove how awful this grade is, a 78 rating puts him on even terms with Clay Matthews and Jason Pierre-Paul who are a few years away from being remembered in ballads and tales of lore and second-year player Harold Landry III (who watched most of the season from the bench). Now, can someone explain to me how Austin Ekeler (82), Lesean McCoy (82) and Frank Gore (81) are better running backs than Jordan Howard (80)? If it was 2014, Gore and McCoy would both have a legitimate claim, but after just breaking 1,200 rushing yards combined last season it's clear both payers are on the back nine of their respective careers. Before last season Gore hadn't broken 4.0 yards per carry since 2014. Howard's production dropped off last year, only after Matt Nagy and co. did everything they could to scheme away from him. The biggest knock against Howard is his pass-catching ability, which he wasn't able to showcase with Tarik Cohen stealing the show. A 7.9 yards per reception average and stellar pass blocking should discredit the idea that the former Bear is useless on passing downs. Howard's numbers are very similar to Houston's Lamar Miller, who was given an 85 overall. To drive the point home, Austin Ekeler's two-year career stats: 814 rushing yards, 683 receiving yards, and 11 total touchdowns. Not to discredit what he's accomplished hidden behind Melvin Gordon, but there's a reason he's not the every-down back in LA. Compare that to Jordan Howard's 2,435 rushing yards, 423 receiving yards and 16 total touchdowns in his first two seasons. Not to mention he followed that up with a near-1,000 yard rushing season and 9 rushing touchdowns last season. Howard is tied with the likes of C.J. Anderson, Duke Johnson Jr. and Damien Williams -- who have one total thousand yard rushing season between them. None of those three were even projected starters for their teams in 2019. Ouch. Finally, to address the number one concern of Eagles fans who opened their phones to check the ratings yesterday: Carson Wentz's 82 overall. After finishing both of the last two seasons on IR, one assumes that this rating comes with injuries in mind. Still, being one year removed from an MVP caliber season, Wentz should be higher than the 13th (tied) ranked quarterback. Period. That puts him below: Matt Ryan (89), Ben Roethlisberger (85), Cam Newton (84), Jared Goff (83), Baker Mayfield (83) and Deshaun Watson (82). EA Sports does its reasoning in numbers, so here are some numbers of my own. The following stats are taken from the last two years, to be fair to Jared Goff and Deshaun Watson.

	%	Yds/G	TD/INT	TD:INT	QBR	Rate	Rush/G	TD
Wentz	64.7	265.4	54/14	3.18	71.1	102.1	16.3	0
Ryan	67.2	281.8	55/19	2.89	69.5	99.8	2.0	3
Roethlis..	65.7	302.6	62/30	2.07	68.2	95.0	4.7	3
Newton	63.4	223.2	46/29	1.69	55.4	87.5	41.4	10
Goff	63.6	273.9	60/19	3.16	58.8	100.8	2.3	3
Mayfield	63.8	286.5	27/14	1.93	55.7	93.7	10.1	0
Watson	66.4	266.6	45/17	2.65	73.3	103.1	37.3	7

If nothing else, the numbers above reflect that fact that both Carson Wentz and Deshaun Watson are criminally underrated in Madden 20. Carson's touchdown to interception ratio is leagues better than anyone above him aside from Jared Goff. His QB rating and passer rating are also significantly higher than any QB apart from Watson. In seven fewer games Wentz threw just six fewer touchdowns than Goff and eight fewer than Big Ben. The Eagles signal-caller also contributes more with his legs than any other QB above him besides Watson and Cam Newton. Looking at the culmination of all these categories, assigning points for rank, Wentz is at least the 3rd best quarterback of the bunch (behind Ryan and Watson). If nothing else, both Wentz and Watson should be closer to Ryan's 89 overall. It's impossible to tell how the injury rating factored into Carson's overall, but 82 is far and away from a fair rating based on his on-field performance. With all the weapons he will have on offense (see above), Wentz will be in the 90 ballpark in no time.