Colts Madden-style player ratings — Week 5

The Madden rating series is back for a 3rd season!!! In this series on Stampede Blue, I’m going to break down each player on a 50-100 Madden-style scale each week to help identify and illustrate which players are the best and most valuable to the team. Please note that these are current values and don’t consider the value or future improvement/potential (or regression) of a player. Here is a breakdown of the tiers:

Tiers

95 to 100 — One of the 3 or 4 best players at his position in the NFL

90 to 94 — An elite, top 10 NFL player at his position in the NFL

85 to 89 — A borderline elite player who will make plenty of plays in each game

80 to 84 — An above-average starter

75 to 79 — An average starter

70 to 74 — An average starter who should only be used in small spurts

65 to 69 — A below-average starter and above-average backup

60 to 64 — An average backup

60 or below — A borderline roster player

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Quarterbacks

Matt Ryan — 83 (-1)

Nick Foles — 74

Sam Ehlinger — 67

Running Backs

Jonathan Taylor — 97 (-1)

Nyheim Hines — 80 (-1)

Deon Jackson — 63

Wide Receivers

Michael Pittman Jr — 88

Alec Pierce — 72 (+1)

Ashton Dulin — 70

Parris Campbell — 69

Michael Strachan — 68 (-1)

Tight Ends

Mo Alie-Cox — 84 (+3)

Jelani Woods — 72(+1)

Kylen Granson — 69

Offensive Line

Quenton Nelson — 96 (-1)

Braden Smith — 82

Ryan Kelly — 77 (-2)

Matt Pryor — 68

Bernhard Raimann — 68

Danny Pinter — 66

Dennis Kelly — 66

Will Fries — 64 (+1)

Wesley French — 62

Luke Tenuta - 62

Defensive Line

DeForest Buckner — 95 (-1)

Grover Stewart — 92

Yannick Ngakoue — 83 (+1)

Kwity Paye — 80 (-1)

Tyquan Lewis — 74

Dayo Odeyingbo — 73 (+1)

Ben Banogu — 69

Eric Johnson — 68

Byron Cowart — 67

Ifeadi Odenigbo — 67

Linebackers

Darius Shaquille Leonard — 97

Bobby Okereke — 82

Zaire Franklin — 75 (+2)

E.J. Speed — 74 (+2)

Jojo Domann — 64

Grant Stuard — 62

Secondary

Stephon Gilmore — 91

Kenny Moore III — 85

Julian Blackmon — 77

Isaiah Rodgers — 77 (+1)

Nick Cross — 73

Rodney McCleod — 73

Brandon Facyson — 70 (-1)

Rodney Thomas II — 70 (+2)

Dallis Flowers — 63

Tony Brown — 63

Armani Watts — 68 (Injured Reserve)

Special Teams

Luke Rhodes — 86 (-1)

Matt Haack — 82 (+1)

Chase McLaughlin — 76 (+1)

Rigoberto Sanchez — 85 (Injured Reserve)

Biggest Mover

Mo Alie-Cox

When you feed the MAC truck, good things happen. Alie-Cox has always been a good blocking tight end, but has taken a step forward this year as a receiver and his impact was felt against the Titans. This past week, he had 6 catches for 85 yards and 2 touchdowns. Of those 85 yards, 54 came after the catch; he is a hard man to take down. When throwing to MAC this past week, Matt Ryan had a perfect passer rating of 158.3. Like I said earlier, feed the MAC truck and good things happen.

Biggest Dropper

Ryan Kelly

Kelly has been weak this year, especially as a run blocker. The Colts have struggled to gain traction in the running game, especially inside and when you run inside the center is crucial. He affects runs on both sides of the line and sometimes serves as a key player in a double team on a duo block, or helps take the linebacker at the second level. In both of those situations, Kelly has been weak and it has hurt Jonathan Taylor. In the pass game this year, he’s allowed 8 pressures, but centers against 4-3 defenses (which is what the Colts have played against all year) don’t usually have a defensive player one-on-one unless there’s a blitzer so 8 pressures is actually a lot solely tied to him. It’s been a rough start for Kelly.