The Game Haus will be analyzing the player ratings from Madden 20 of every NFL team. Madden has a daunting task of rating all NFL players and their attributes. While they have the ability to correct some of these rankings with in-season roster updates, there are some issues with some of the initial rankings of players. Here are the Madden 20 questionable ratings: New England Patriots.
Stephon Gilmore– 99
Gilmore is one of the best cornerbacks in the league and deserves recognition for that. He had six interceptions and 20 passes defended last season as he led the very good Patriots’ defense. Unfortunately, the defense was unable to lead the Pats to another Super Bowl.
The 99 rating should be reserved for the best of the best. Gilmore is possibly the best corner in the league, but there are only four other players with that rating. The next best corner in the game is Jalen Ramsey, who is rated 94 overall. Gilmore may be the best player at his position, although Pro Football Focus rated him as the fifth-best corner for 2019, but there certainly shouldn’t be a five-point gap between the first and second-best corner in the game.
Adjusted Rating- 97
Joe Thuney– 85
Thuney has been one of the best interior linemen in the league over the past few seasons. He has played five seasons for the Patriots and has helped them win two Super Bowls. While he hasn’t received much personal recognition for his play, it is apparent he does his job well with one watch of a Patriots’ game.
While Thuney isn’t in the top tier of guards, which includes Zack Martin, Quenton Nelson, Brandon Brooks and David DeCastro, he shouldn’t be rated too far behind them. His own teammate, Shaq Mason, is rated at an 86. Thuney deserves to be rated higher than Mason, especially because Thuney was given a higher Pro Football Focus grade. A boosting of Thuney’s rating a few points solves the issue.
Adjusted Rating- 88
James White– 82
James White is a longtime Patriot, who has been platooned in the backfield. He is valuable because he can run and is a valuable target out of the backfield. He rushed for 263 yards, had 645 receiving yards and six total touchdowns.
His own teammate, Sony Michel, had over 1,000 total yards and seven touchdowns, but is rated lower than White. While White got fewer opportunities to touch the ball, that does still speak to the fact that the Patriots simply see him as a change of pace back. It is always hard to rate running backs who split time in the backfield. White deserves credit for being able to run and catch, but he shouldn’t be rated higher than his teammate who produced more yards. Moving White’s rating down a little bit corrects this issue.
Adjusted Rating- 80
Cam Newton– 78
Cam Newton has been injured the last few seasons, but when he is healthy he has proven to be a good quarterback. In his last season that he was healthy enough to play 16 games, in 2017, he led the Panthers to an 11-5 record and had 3,302 passing yards to go with 22 passing touchdowns. He also rushed for 754 yards and six touchdowns that season.
There should be a decrease in ratings for players who are often injured, but that isn’t universal in Madden. Former Patriot Rob Gronkowski is rated a 95 in the game after being often injured and coming out of retirement. Ryan Tannehill was rated an 80 after one good playoff run, but Cam Newton was not given the same benefit of the doubt as Tannehill, even though he has produced more over his career. He also wasn’t given the same benefit as Gronkowski, who is also often injured. Adding a few points to Newton’s rating is only fair.
Adjusted Rating- 81
Make sure to check out our Madden page for more questionable Madden ratings articles.
You can like The Game Haus on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from great TGH writers!