It’s that time of year again when EA begins to release player ratings for their upcoming Madden games. This is always a subject of great debate, as anytime you try to put a numerical value to a player’s talent, there will be conflict on whether or not that rating is correct. In this article, I will outline 3 players whose ratings come nowhere close to their actual value. There are plenty more than 3 players who deserve different ratings, however, I believe that these 3, without a doubt, are being heavily snubbed. So, without any further interruptions, let’s get to number 1:
Robert Quinn – 83 OVR
How is it possible that the player who last season finished 3rd in the league in total sacks, was a pro-bowler, and broke the record for sacks in a season for the Bears, finished with the 13th best RE rating? He quite literally had the best DE season in the history of a franchise that has had the most Hall of Famers ever. Yet, with this rating, he is viewed as no more than a slightly above-average defensive end, which he proved last year is not the case. Robert Quinn showed last year that he is still a premier pass rusher in this league, and thus the rating I gave him is more suited for a player of his caliber.
Deserved Rating: 88
Darnell Mooney – 79 OVR
This one is a bit baffling to me, in all honesty. A player who broke 1,000 yards receiving on the team with possibly the worst passing game last year, gets a lower rating than Sterling Shephard, the WR who hasn’t broken 500 yards in a season since 2020. When you match Mooney’s stats next to some of the NFL’s best WRs, you start to see that he’s a lot closer to them, than he is to… Sterling Shephard. For example, last season Darnell Mooney had more yards than Mike Evans, Terry McLaurin, DK Metcalfe, Marquise Brown, and Amari Cooper, yet every one of these players is at least 5 overall points ahead of Mooney. I am by no means saying that Mooney is a superstar, and should be a 90+ player, but he is nowhere near deserving of the terrible rating he was given.
Deserved Rating: 84
Cairo Santos – 77 OVR
To finish things off, we’ll end with the Bears Kicker, Cairo Santos. The issue with this rating is less an issue about him alone being underrated, and more an issue with every starting kicker being heavily underrated. Cairo is the 14th best kicker in the league, according to EA, which a lot of his stats suggest otherwise, but somewhere in that 10-15 range is where he should be. However, when you look at Cairo’s actual EA ratings, you start to wonder how him and most other kickers are as low as they are. The two stats that EA uses primarily for Kickers are kick power and kick accuracy, which Cairo does pretty well at, with a 94 and 81, respectively. So, this would suggest his overall rating should be somewhere between these two numbers, seeing how they are the 2 most important ratings for a somewhat binary position. Yet, EA factors in quite literally, every other facet of football into their ratings, so yes, Cairo’s terrible catch under pressure rating is affecting his overall. Should this be the case? No, absolutely no. Why should Justin Tucker not be a 99 overall just because he can’t run block effectively… as a kicker. I think this is a problem for the kicker position as a whole, and thus, the grade I’d give Cairo will be based on his Kick Power and Accuracy stats, in-game.
Deserved Rating: 84
Pic Credit: Dakota Zientek
