EA Sports will release “Madden NFL 21” in late August, just in time for the start of the regular season. As is the case every year, the ratings reveal for players across the league was much-discussed and heavily debated on social media among fans.
Specifically regarding the Rams, there were a few players whose Madden ratings was surprisingly higher or lower than expected. EA does its best to get these ratings right, but not even the gurus hit with 100% accuracy.
Here are four Rams players whose ratings seem off in “Madden NFL 21.”
Jared Goff: 76 overall
According to Madden’s ratings this year, Goff is the 15th-best player on the Rams. In no world is that true, besides in the video game. His 76 overall rating is four lower than Samson Ebukam, three lower than Gerald Everett and Rob Havenstein, and one lower than Leonard Floyd, who hasn’t had more than 4.5 sacks in a season since his rookie year.
Compared to other players at his position, he’s the 23rd-best quarterback in the game, tied with backup Jameis Winston and rookie Joe Burrow. Baker Mayfield has a 78 overall rating, while Jimmy Garoppolo is an 83 overall – significantly higher than Goff. The Rams QB certainly had a poor season in 2019, but he still made some impressive throws and had brief stretches of solid play.
Considering he was an 83 overall when “Madden NFL 20” was released, it’s hard to see how he deserved a ratings drop of seven points for one subpar season.
Austin Blythe: 78 overall
Blythe regressed significantly in 2019 – more so than Goff did. Yet, he still has a 78 overall rating, good for 13th-best on the team. His overall rating only dropped three points from last year’s release and is the 12th-best right guard in the NFL. Even he would probably say his play in 2019 was not representative of that standing.
Blythe should be slightly lower than Goff and even Troy Hill, who was the Rams’ best cornerback in the second half of last season.
Samson Ebukam: 80 overall
Madden’s ratings gurus are higher on Ebukam than probably even the Rams’ own coaches. He once again has an 80 overall rating, which is the same rating as he had when “Madden NFL 20” was released. He was decent in 2019, but should he really be rated that much higher than Taylor Rapp (75 overall), Hill (74 overall) or Ogbonnia Okoronkwo (69 overall)? Probably not.
Ebukam has a chance to be a starter again in 2020, but he’ll need to beat out Okoronkwo and rookie Terrell Lewis (67 overall). Few backups – which Ebukam was in 2019 before Clay Matthews got hurt – are rated as highly as he is.
To put his rating into perspective, he’s tied with Bud Dupree at 80 overall. Last season, Dupree had 11.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, 16 TFL and 17 QB hits.
Sebastian Joseph-Day: 66 overall
Joseph-Day started 15 games for the Rams last season, recording two sacks, five tackles for loss and 44 total tackles in his first year as a starter. Yet his rating only increased by three points from last year’s initial release. Joseph-Day may not be a household name and he’ll be a backup in 2020 due to the arrival of A’Shawn Robinson, but he’s still a productive player and a decent pass rusher from his nose tackle position.
He should not have a lower rating than Morgan Fox, Greg Gaines or Jachai Polite, all of whom he played more snaps than last season and was significantly more productive than. Polite hasn’t even played a defensive snap in his career but still has a higher rating than Joseph-Day.
