Colts Top Expected Madden Ratings Revealed

For many in the gaming world and for those who only play the latest Madden NFL edition, the revealing of each player’s ratings are a hot topic heading into the game’s release. Well, it’s about that time folks, and we’ve gotten a bit of a preview as to how the Indianapolis Colts will be ranked teamwise, as well as a few of the team’s top players.

There’s no mistake that the Colts have been given very little credit for the talent that they do have on the roster, and you could say that this year’s version of the game follows suit. I think the tentative rankings — at least for the team’s top rated players — are somewhat understandable, and though the team’s current overall ranking is quite low there is at least one minor surprise.

Here, via Miguel Lozada, we get a sneak peek into who the top three rated Colts are.

Now, Lozada does mention that these ratings could change due to trades and other changes in player’s status, but here’s what we know at the moment.

Colts’ Top Three Rated Players

T.Y. Hilton: Overall Rating = 89

While Hilton leading the team’s individual ratings doesn’t surprise anyone, it does appear he’s getting scolded for having had to deal with a severe lack of complementary weapons on the offense in 2017. Jacoby Brissett, who ultimately equated to a rookie quarterback last season, started just 2 games previous to taking the reigns last season with Andrew Luck on the mend.

Brissett only threw 13 touchdowns all season and 4 of those went to Hilton. Hilton still managed to lead the team in receiving yards, nearly eclipsing 1,000 yards (966) despite hauling in only 57 passes. Hilton is on the cusp of a 90 rating, but I suppose it just surprises me to see that he isn’t maybe even a touch over 90 when considering his supporting cast last season and still averaging 16.9 yards per reception (his best since his rookie season) or his averaging 1,250 yards per season the previous 4 years.

Jabaal Sheard: Overall Rating = 88

I can’t say that I have any qualms about Sheard’s rating. He was the Colts best pass-rush threat in 2017, but he still only accumulated 5.5 sacks in the process. Sacks aren’t the end all when considering pass rush efficiency, but they are indeed the most popular way for players to be quantified when comparing them to the rest of the league.

Sheard did complement his pass rush ability with a 52-tackle performance, and added some batted passes to a couple forced fumbles as well. I like where Sheard is at, but it leads to the acceptance of where the team’s overall rating may end up with their second-ranked player south of the 90 rating mark.

Andrew Luck: Overall Rating = 86

After all of the talk for the past year-and-a-half, after all of the people saying Luck was finished, and now we see at least a glimmer of hope for some intelligent thinking. Look, 86 is nowhere near where we feel Luck belongs, and if his 2016 season is any sort of an indication, he deserves to be even higher.

However, we do understand that despite Luck being a top-5 quarterback in the league in 2016, he has been out for a long time. A full season away from the league is an eternity, especially for a quarterback, we understand that, and if Luck had put that 2016 campaign together last season, he would certainly be rated much higher.

On the other hand, given everything that has occurred since that final game in 2016, Luck sitting at 86 is a pretty solid boost of confidence from those designing the game.

Colts Overall Team Rating: 74

There will almost never be an argument for a team to sit inside the 80s for a Madden release, when they have gone 4-12 the year previous. The Colts would have had to acquire a ton of young talent in free agency as well as had the best overall draft in the league in order to get close to that mark.

Despite Luck coming back, despite the Colts exciting, young offense, the fact remains that the defense is simply too far away from a respectable unit to move the team’s overall ranking to that type of score. As mentioned, these are tentative rankings, but Chris Ballard doesn’t appear to be poised to make any serious moves at this point — via trades or more free agent acquisitions or otherwise.