Madden Player Ratings: How Accurate Are They?

Each year, Madden fanatics wait in line to throw down $60 (plus tax) on the newly anticipated version of Madden. We race home, viciously tear open the annoying plastic layer, and pop that fresh game in our consoles with much anticipation. But anticipation for what?

Most people don’t just jump in a game right away. They want to see the ratings of players (most importantly, players on their favorite team)! There are some surprises, but more often than not, we are let down by the ratings of our favorite players due to our subjectivity. The question remains: Is there a real reason to feel these ratings are unjustified on some players?

Each week, online players download updated rosters with different attributes for certain players depending on their performance for the season. Some may increase by an overall of ten by the end of the season, while others may stay the same, or worse: decrease.

Take Tim Tebow for example. At the beginning of Madden 12, he was the lowest of the lows in the 70 overall tier. However, just a few short weeks after running Kyle Orton out of town, Tebowmania began and his stats drastically increased. By the end of the season, Tebow had much greater accuracy and an overall in the upper 80′s. Was he really that good though? Madden 13 and the New York Jets beg to differ.

But there are many instances of increased ratings like Tebow’s. What has really got me scratching my head is the drastic difference of Colin Kaepernick in Madden 13. No, I’m not talking about his reasonable throwing accuracy increases. I’m talking about his drastic change in speed. When the original rosters came out, Kaepernick had an overall speed of 85 and an acceleration of 81. After starting not even half a season, and over a QB that Madden still has better by one overall point,he has miraculously increased to an 88 speed with 92 acceleration! This just makes me wonder how much effort actually goes into creating the attributes for each individual player. Sure, other attributes like accuracy, awareness, and player traits that he may have learned in game will have reasonably increased, but they’re telling us that he has gotten that much faster!? It takes years for sprinters to drop even a tenth of a second off their times (if that). Kaepernick has always been that same speed this entire season, starter or not.

The fluctuation in speed and stats goes across the board. In one year of Madden, Brandon Marshall went from a 94 speed to an 88, and the first ever player to have 100 speed (Devin Hester) has been a 98 speed the past two years, just because he doesn’t return as many kicks for touchdowns? The picture is larger than just these few examples. Some may agree, and others may disagree, but I know it makes me question the real credibility of the Madden ratings and how accurately they reflect players today.

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