Questionable Madden 19 Ratings: New England Patriots

With the release of Madden 19 in sight, August 10, 2018, The Game Haus has decided to assess the initial player ratings within the game, and chose which individuals were most egregiously disrespected.

Tom Brady (left) and Rob Gronkowski (right) in conversation during Super Bowl XLIX. (Photo via Zimbio.com)

We will begin with the reigning AFC Champion New England Patriots, who are led by the 2017 MVP, quarterback Tom Brady, and his ultimate weapon, tight end Rob Gronkowski, who will both be given the prestigious 99 overall rating for this upcoming season. Other highly rated players include defensive backs Devin and Jason McCourty, rated 92 overall and 87 overall respectively, Stephon Gilmore, 87 overall and wide receiver Julian Edelman, 88 overall. The EA Sports team did an adequate job with the New England Patriot’s ratings, although one player was completely overlooked during their rating process.

Honorable Mention

One honorable mention is Joe Cardona, whose 38-overall rating is tied for 3rd worst among players featured in this year’s game. There is no need to spend much time talking about the 26-year-old long snapper, as no long snapper in the game was given a rating above 60, although it seems a bit unnecessary to make players overall this low, as they will generally be the first players cut when starting a franchise.

Head Scratcher

One mistake EA Sports made in their ratings is with linebacker Eric Lee, whose 68 overall ties him for the fourth worst defensive player on the team. The New England Patriots signed the undrafted rookie from the Buffalo Bills practice squad in November of 2017. He didn’t make his NFL debut until week 12, but he made an immediate impact once on the field, amassing 10 total tackles, 3.5 sacks, one interception and one safety in the remaining six regular-season games. This level of production would have paced Lee out to have 9 sacks and 50 total tackles over a full season, which would have placed him first and seventh among New England’s defensive players in terms of sacks and total tackles respectively.

Eric Lee intercepts a pass from his former team, the Buffalo Bills. (Photo via The Boston Globe)

The icing on the cake here is that Lee’s rating of 68 is the same as teammates Geneo Grissom and Harvey Langi. To put this in context, Lee has more tackles, sacks, interceptions and safeties in his six-game NFL career than Grissom and Langi have combined in their 35 game NFL career. With the acquisitions of Adrian Clayborn and Dany Shelton, it will be interesting to see where Eric Lee lines up, although when he is on the field, he is sure to make an impact.

Adjusted Rating

If I were on the EA Sports team, I would have made Eric Lee at least a 74 overall, as I anticipate his defensive contributions to match or outweigh his following teammates’; Marquis Flowers, 74 overall, Deatrich Wise, 74 overall, and Derek Rivers, 72 overall.

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