Well, look-y here! The ratings for Madden NFL ’23 are rolling out.
One particular set of ratings caught my eye. With that being said, ere is what the top-10 of the receiver ratings look like:
You can check out in full here if you so choose. This look-ahead could prove to be handy if you’re one of those Madden team-builder types.
To be honest, there isn’t much to beef with here. Although, I suppose I could rally the troops to fight against Amari Cooper checking in among the top-10. How does Ja’Marr Chase end up in the lower teens while Cooper comes in at that last top-10 spot? I suppose that’s a question for the multiverse’s BN Bengals outfit to answer. But where my real issue lies are in the rankings after you get past Cooper. Most notably, where you’ll find Darnell Mooney — as the 53rd rated receiver with a 79 rating in Madden’s 2023 game.
Wait … what? Huh?
It’s not as if I was expecting Mooney to land in that upper echelon of pass-catchers going into this season. But this is an egregious rating of the Bears’ top receiver.
There is no way Mooney’s rating should begin with a “7” as we open up the 2022 season. I can vibe with Mooney falling in line on a secondary tier of receivers. But some of these names ranking ahead of Mooney are head-scratchers. Tim Patrick and Christian Kirk have never had 1,000-yard receiving seasons. Neither has Brandon Aiyuk, who was in the same draft class as Mooney, has fewer receiving yards and just two more touchdowns, but is ranked slightly higher. There isn’t much difference between an 81 and 79 rating. But the optics just don’t make sense to me. Perhaps Aiyuk having the edge in categories such as throw power (33-23), kick power (19-17), pass blocking (36-26), tackling (49-30), man coverage (48-20), and zone coverage (53-28) is what puts him over the top. Otherwise, I feel as if both of these receivers should have similar video game ratings.
Despite the ranking, I still have hope the latest installment of Madden’s video game series does right by its late, great namesake. In the meantime, the Bears can add this to the ever-growing pile of bulletin board material.