As we poured over the Madden NFL 20 player ratings for the Pittsburgh Steelers, several things stood out. As you all know, August 2 is the launch date for the latest version of the only NFL game on the market and every year when the player ratings come out, people have concerns. This year was less about outright complaints and more about surprise with overall how low many of Pittsburgh’s top players were rated but specifically here are the three that took of off guard the most.
Ryan Shazier’s 84 rating
While we appreciate the inclusion of Shazier in the game after spending last season in IR but it feels a little awkward to see him with an 84 rating as he spends a second straight year on the injured list while he continues to recover from his major back injury just 19 months ago. It will be cool to play with him but nevertheless having him one of the highest-rated players on the team seems out of place.
Only one Steeler with a 90+ rating
The Steelers have 14 guys on the roster with at least an 80 rating but only a single one made it to 90 or above. While we agree guard David DeCastro deserves the 93 rating — and probably should be higher —- it is sobering to see him on top all by himself. It really drives the point home guys like Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown are gone, Ben Roethlisberger is getting older and some of the younger guys aren’t quite there yet.
T.J. Watt’s 82 rating
If there is any guy on the roster who was woefully underrated this time around it’s Watt. How can a player who finished with 13 sacks, 68 tackles and six forced fumbles rate lower Shazier? This is no disrespect to Shazier but Watt deserves better than this. He is going to prove his doubters wrong this season for sure.
