A couple of things to note before we get into the ratings.
- I stopped playing Madden after last year's game. I'm done with it. It was the same game every year with some new flashy, annoying thing that made it more difficult for the game to seem even semi-realistic.
- Madden ratings are not exactly handed to them on a piece of paper from the future or even done by someone who really knows what he's doing. They're roughly based off of the performance of the previous season.
- The Madden 12 ratings are being revealed but the rosters have not been adjusted yet. That means the Chargers Madden 12 roster looks like their 2011 roster with rookies added in. This means I can't tell you what ratings Takeo Spikes and Bob Sanders have because the 49ers and Colts haven't been revealed yet, savvy?
Highlights:
- Antonio Gates has been rated at a 99. That's cool. I remember when LaDainian Tomlinson used to get 99 in the game because they overestimated his speed. Still, this probably means Gates is the best TE in the game.
- Vincent Jackson is rated at 87, down from 90 last season. That probably drops him out of the top 10 among WRs. This paired with his fantasy football ranking yesterday leads me to believe that Jackson's coming into this year a bit underestimated because of his shortened season in 2010.
- Patrick Crayton is a worrisome. That might hurt the offense a little. Come on, A.J., sign Malcom Floyd! He's an 80!
- Buster Davis is rated at 71. That's higher than Vincent Brown, Seyi Ajirotutu, Richard Goodman and Bryan Walters(!).
- The highest rated RB is Darren Sproles. Grumble. Ryan Mathews and Mike Tolbert are tied at 77. Jordan Todman, with his 94 Speed (tied with Sproles), is rated at 62 at RB.
- Philip Rivers is rated at 96. His 98 Toughness is pretty awesome. His 84 Play-Action rating means that somebody was paying attention. El Capitan is pretty terrible at hiding the ball.
- The Pro Bowlers along the offensive line are all above 85. You probably shouldn't try and play Tyronne Green (66), Brandyn Dombrowski (66) or Steve Schilling (67) at RG in place of Louis Vasquez (80). If you don't like Vasquez, maybe give David Binn (69) a shot instead.
- If the Chargers LBs turn out the way Madden 12 is predicting, I should just start crying now. MLB ratings, in order: Stephen Cooper (83), Brandon Siler (77), Kevin Burnett (76), Darry Beckwith (68), Kion Wilson (65, which might be accurate), Jeremy Leman (60) and James Holt (54). Where are Donald Butler and Jonas Mouton, you ask? Well, they're pass-rushing OLBs of course! Butler is ranked at 70 at LOLB (Antwan Barnes is just ahead of him at 71), and Mouton is his backup at 61 at LOLB. The three ROLBs on the roster are Antwan Applewhite (77), Larry English (75) and Jyles Tucker (72). Like I said....tears.
- Nate Kaeding (93) is more awesome than Mike Scifres (83) at their respective positions. Remember that.
- Outside of the personal vendetta whoever made these ratings has against Vaughn Martin (53) and Cam Thomas (60), the defensive line ratings aren't terrible. Antonio Garay should probably be higher than 81 though.
- The secondary ratings are fine, at least until we know what Marcus Gilchrist and Shareece Wright are.