Colts' Pat McAfee the top-rated punter in Madden NFL 16; Adam Vinatieri not among top five kickers

The countdown of the top five players at each position in the upcoming Madden NFL 16 video game continued yesterday with the unveiling of the five best punters.  And to no surprise, the best punter in the video game is the Colts' Pat McAfee.

McAfee has a 97 rating in kick power, which is tied for the best among punters.  He has a 92 kick accuracy and an 88 awareness to bring his overall rating to 95, good for number one at the position.  Here's the rest of the top five punters(with their overall scores in parenthesis:

1.  Pat McAfee, Indianapolis Colts (95)

2.  Johnny Hekker, St. Louis Rams (93)

3.  Matt Bosher, Atlanta Falcons (92)

4.  Thomas Morstead, New Orleans Saints (91)

4.  Sam Martin, Detroit Lions (91)

This is very well-deserved for McAfee, who had a career year last year and was clearly the best punter in football, earning both first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl recognitions.  He was, arguably, the best special teams player in the game, considering his versatility to help the Colts in punting, kicking off, holding, and even tackling and throwing if need be.

Together with Adam Vinatieri, they make up what is the best kicking duo in the NFL.  But surprisingly, Vinatieri was nowhere to be found on the list of the top five kickers in Madden 16.  Here's the top five:

1.  Justin Tucker, Baltimore Ravens (95)

1.  Steven Gostkowski, New England Patriots (95)

3.  Dan Bailey, Dallas Cowboys (94)

4.  Matt Bryant, Atlanta Falcons (91)

4.  Phil Dawson, San Francisco 49ers (91)

So, basically, what Madden is saying is that despite the fact that Adam Vinatieri was a first-team All-Pro kicker last year, made the Pro Bowl, and had the most accurate season of any kicker since 2003, he's not among the five best players at his position.  That's laughable, and while his skills might not translate as well to a video game as they do to real like, one would think that he'd still be among the top five.  But oh well.  Training camp is underway and I'm not going to spend my time getting upset about a video game rating that doesn't mean much.  Besides, you can correct the error yourself by giving Vinatieri's rating a little boost when you get the game.

Some players whose ratings you won't have to boost, however?  Pat McAfee, who is the top rated punter in the game, and quarterback Andrew Luck and cornerback Vontae Davis, who are both among the top five at their respective positions as well.