Madden ratings insult, motivate Dolphins

Want to see an NFL player start fuming?

Start talking about their EA Sports’ Madden NFL player rating, step back and let them vent about how a video game they are depicted in annually disrespects them.

Considering this generation of football players likely learned the intricacies of the sport that employs them by playing Madden, the video game named after former head coach and game analyst John Madden, whether they want to admit it or not most are obsessed with their player rating in Madden.

Most grew up dreaming about being part of this 32-year-old game, which gets released annually, and has its ratings updated regularly based on on-field performance.

That’s why discussing Madden rating usually starts a riot in NFL locker rooms.

Back in the 2010 season, Dolphins safety Yeremiah Bell nearly blew a gasket over his player rating. Bell was one season removed from being selected as a Pro Bowler, it was his third consecutive season of producing 100-plus tackles, yet his Madden rating was lower than New York Jets strong safety Jim Leonhard, who was graded with an overall 85 score after having one good season.

“It’s disrespectful,” Bell said after a training camp practice that year.

Whether Bell used that slight as motivation is unclear, but coincidentally or not, he had one of his better NFL seasons that year. The next year, after being waived by Miami in a cost-cutting measure, Bell took Leonhard’s starting job with the Jets.

Coincidence? Maybe, but it’s these little Madden slights that serve as an undercurrent in NFL locker rooms. Hopefully the Dolphins will use their ratings as motivation.

“If it’s in the game, it’s in the game,” is EA Sports company slogan, and the truth is players care deeply about their Madden rating since many still play the game.

Actually, they don’t just care; most are motivated by it.

No matter how good a player might actually be, their Madden rating typically lags behind. But sometimes there are flat out “what the hell” ratings from the game’s ratings panel.

This week when the Madden ratings for each team’s top-10 players were released, it revealed that Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard is a Madden scrub.

There is no doubt that a healthy Howard, who was given a 82 rating, is the best player on Miami’s roster even though three Dolphins — Byron Jones (88), Kyle Van Noy (86), DeVante Parker (84) — sit ahead of him.

But Howard’s coming off yet another season-ending knee injury, has rarely been healthy while playing on a traditionally mediocre team, and has only had one dominate season.

Still, the same can said about Parker, whom I’ve watched Howard abuse in practice during that dominant 2018 season. But this isn’t about Parker, who will likely be the focal point of the Dolphins’ passing game this coming season.

Jones and Van Noy, two offseason freeagent additions, come from winning teams so they get the “relevance bump” having played for the Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots.

The problem is, it makes absolutely no sense that Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman, a nickel cornerback who is entering the journeyman realm of his career, has a higher rating (83) than Howard. That’s asinine.

Also crazy is the fact Madden didn’t put quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick in Miami’s top 10. Actually, it’s insulting, especially since Fitzpatrick, who received an initial player rating of 73 in Madden NFL 10 and then rose up to a 79, put the 2019 Dolphins on his back for all five of last season’s victories.

Seeing how Fitzpatrick reportedly told the game’s lead ratings adjuster that his rating was “too high” in 2018, during his final season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it’s unlikely we’ll hear complaints from Miami’s starting quarterback.

But Jerome Baker, the team’s top tackler last season, certainly has a gripe. Baker’s not rated among Miami’s top-10 players. Fellow linebacker Raekwon McMillan made it in with a 76 rating, which puts him slightly ahead of defensive tackle Davon Godchaux (76) and receiver Albert Wilson (76), who wrap up the top 10.

Keep in mind that a 76 means you’re average, so even that rating isn’t much of a complement.

The ratings for Miami players are a clear indicator that the Madden adjusters barely watch the Dolphins because last year’s play would dictate Baker be rated ahead of McMillan, at least to start the season.

We get it. It’s a running joke that Madden thinks the Dolphins have been trash for more than a decade, and the franchise’s cumulative 70-90 record the past 10 years hasn’t helped.

But the least Madden’s developers could do is show the team’s top returning players — Fitzpatrick, Howard, and Baker — some video game respect.

Omar Kelly