If it’s in the game, it’s in the game. Nine simple words every gamer knows, especially those of us who have played EA Sports’ Madden NFL games over the years.
And with Madden NFL ’19 to be released in August, we’ll soon see official ratings start to roll out for public consumption. So while the full list hasn’t been released or finalized just yet, a recent video post gives us a sneak peek at what’s on the horizon.
The early takeaway? Uhhhh … things could be better.
The Bears’ overall rating is 75, and that’s not great. But at least there is some love for the defense, which was given an 81 rating. I’m sure it helps having the two highest-rated players on the team playing on that side of the ball.
Safety Adrian Amos is the highest-rated Bears player at this point. Amos’ 88 overall rating would put him in the upper echelon of the league’s safeties. Maybe the folks at Madden have noticed Amos earning high praise from all corners of the world of football analysis. After all, Amos was a Pro Football Focus All-Pro safety, Bleacher Report’s highest-ranked free safety, a top-100 player in the eyes of CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco, and someone viewed as being on the cusp of elite status. As far as we’re concerned at TYL, Amos is quite deserving of this ranking and can only imagine how much better it could be if he had high-end interception skills.
Defensive end Akiem Hicks’ 85 overall ranking has him tied for the second best on the team, just behind Amos. And like Amos, Hicks was often the recipient of a ton of love from PFF. Hicks made the cut on PFF’s top-101 list at the end of the 2017 season, was ranked as the game’s best 3-4 defensive end, and helped form one of the league’s best run-stopping defensive lines. Hicks is the Bears’ best defensive lineman, and as someone who prefers strong defensive ends who can move tackles out of the way in Madden, I bet rushing the passer with him is going to be a treat with him this year.
Unfortunately, this early release of ratings suggests that the offense will lag a bit behind the defense. And while that’s not much of a surprise, it’s going to make playing with the Bears something of a challenge when the game comes out later this summer.
Allen Robinson is the Bears’ highest-rated offensive player, earning an 85 overall grade despite playing a grand total of three offensive snaps in 2017. Robinson has a reputation as a big-play receiver, and a player with his size and skills is always fun to throw to in Madden. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Robinson was the highest-rated Bears offensive player when the season wraps up. Then again, if Jordan Howard puts up a third straight 1,000-yard rushing year, it would be tough to justify him not cracking the 90s as far as game ratings are concerned.
So where is Mitch Trubisky in all this? While his rating for this year’s edition remains to be seen, the Bears’ quarterback finished last season with a 75 overall rating. Among the teammates who finished ahead of him were punter Pat O’Donnell (76), tight end Dion Sims (77), and kicker Cairo Santos (78). Yikes! If that happens to be the case at the end of this season, something will have gone terribly, terribly wrong.
You can watch the video below to compare where the Bears stack up at this point in Madden ratings. Maybe it’s the optimism talking, but I’m actually looking forward to playing Madden again.