I Crunched Madden 24 Ratings Data And Have Some Obscure Awards To Hand Out
Last I checked - it's still July. And to be honest, I'm already over reading how many sleeps until football online. So I killed some time by getting my hands on the recently dropped Madden 24 player rating data along with past year's player's ratings going all the way back to 2013. Get ready because we're about to get weird.
We might think Madden ratings are stupid but NFL players LOVE this shit. It's basically their Oscars. Think about it. The week-long release where they drop in to announce the best players in various categories is pretty much like the Oscars, except not as long. But what I love most about it is the level of detail Madden goes into. By no means would they dare release the results until every left tackle or long snapper is properly rated for metrics such as short throwing accuracy, ability to catch in traffic, and much much more. It's amazing.
So while EA Sports has completed their ratings reveal, I have a few deep cut awards I feel deserve to be honored as well.
Johnny Hekker Is Still The GOAT Passing Punter
The king reins. I love watching Jonny Hekker standing ever so still to receive the long snap like a poker player trying to not give any tells. You just never know with this guy. About 400 kicker seasons have been charted since 2013 with an average "medium depth pass accuracy" rating of 28.2. That's less than half of Johnny on a down year. If you took every pass Johnny Hekker threw in his career it would look like a single game stat line for a decent performing quarterback. 15/24, 198 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. That includes a perfect 1/1 in the playoffs.
Fake kick porn:
In Memoriam (but also still alive) - 'Trucking Rating For a Place Kicker' Award: Ryan Santoso
I was devastated to learn that Ryan Santoso - a kicker I've never heard of who's kicked five career field goals ever - was not rated this season. Sure, he's currently unemployed but my hope is someone in the analytics department of a team reads this and realizes the weapon they could have on kickoffs. Just look at how dominant he was vs the other top-rated "trucking place kickers" from last year:
As you can see, Hispanic Big Cat's Trucking rating of 41 is almost double the #2 guy. That's Joey Chestnut level. For some perspective, Sebastian Janikowski's best rating was 35, and this year's top-rated kicker is Greg Joseph (25). You might think Fat Randy deserves a higher rating here, but remember he's built like a Frenchie and has zero lower body strength.
Sadly, I think Sontoso was a victim of the new kickoff rule which will likely lessen the importance of having a trucking place kicker on kickoffs. The trucking kickers really need to come together like the running backs have been doing lately to spread word of this injustice.
Speaking of running backs…
"It's Tough To Win Without A Top-RB" Award
OK let's settle this running back value thing once and for all. How? With Madden ratings! Obviously.
Since Madden ratings are the language of NFL players, let's see how the best of "one of the most important positions in the game" has done from a Maddenlytics standpoint. I think we can all agree there should be at least ONE running back that won a Super Bowl with a 90+ rating since 2013. Remember, Madden seasons are one ahead of NFL seasons because reasons. Get those thumbs ready - let's have a look at every running back rated 90 or higher:
Oh! Look at that. There was one. Case closed - running backs are important after all!
Jakobi 'I'm Dating The Passing Rating Judge' Meyers Award
Over 200 wide receivers have scores for "Passing on Run" and "Passing Under Pressure" and Jakobi Meyers is 7th and 4th best respectively. I'm not sure fantasy managers in a tight playoff game last year would entirely agree with this assessment. But maybe EA Sports figured it was an intentional interception??? I mean, he did put it on the numbers. This makes me think of all the receivers getting caught betting on the NFL, Jokobi going down next would be the least surprising. And definitely the most hilarious.
"Saddest Player Ever" Award - Jimmy Saddler-McQueen - a Defensive Tackle with a 9 in Ball Carrier Vision
The fact that Madden assigns "ball carrier vision" to a defensive tackle is why I love Madden data. And it allowed me to come across easily the saddest player ever - Jimmy SADdler-McQueen. Let's all study his career games log below together and count how many total plays in the NFL he played from 2010 to 2012:
One. One snap. And yet somehow Madden has enough info to go off to assign him a 9 in "Ball Carrier Vision" in Madden 2013 and 2014. This is dead last out of any player from any position since 2013. For some perspective, Mark Sanchez had a "ball carrier vision" of 70 in 2013 - the year of the butt fumble.
This leads to an obvious question - what on earth happened on sad Saddler's only NFL snap? It remains a mystery for the storybooks.
Closing Monologue
Well, that's all I got. Shit - it's sill July? Guess I have time to look for some more. What do y'all wanna know? What every team's best option at quarterback is if all their quarterbacks go down? I'm looking at you San Francisco. Which nose tackle is the best field goal kicker? What offensive lineman is the best in pass catching categories to check in as an eligible receiver? There might still be meat on this bone to cover before preseason starts.
- Jeffro