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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
Quarterbacks
Matt Ryan — 79
Nick Foles — 74
Sam Ehlinger — 67 (-2)
Running Backs
Jonathan Taylor — 94
Zack Moss — 72
Deon Jackson — 68 (+1)
Wide Receivers
Michael Pittman Jr — 88
Alec Pierce — 77
Parris Campbell — 73
Michael Strachan — 67
Keke Coutee — 65
Ashton Dulin — 69 (Injured Reserve)
Tight Ends
Mo Alie-Cox — 80 (-1)
Jelani Woods — 71 (-1)
Kylen Granson — 68 (-2)
Offensive Line
Quenton Nelson — 95
Braden Smith — 78 (-1)
Ryan Kelly — 74 (-2)
Dennis Kelly — 67
Bernhard Raimann — 66 (-2)
Danny Pinter — 66
Will Fries — 64
Wesley French — 62
Matt Pryor — 61 (-3)
Defensive Line
DeForest Buckner — 96
Grover Stewart — 92
Yannick Ngakoue — 84
Kwity Paye — 82 (+2)
Dayo Odeyingbo — 72
Ifeadi Odenigbo — 70
Ben Banogu — 69
Eric Johnson — 68
Byron Cowart — 67
Chris Williams — 64
Tyquan Lewis — 76 (Injured Reserve)
Linebackers
Darius Shaquille Leonard — 94 (-1)
Bobby Okereke — 83 (+2)
E.J. Speed — 78
Zaire Franklin — 73 (-1)
Jojo Domann — 64
Grant Stuard — 62
Secondary
Stephon Gilmore — 94 (+1)
Kenny Moore III — 84
Isaiah Rodgers — 79 (+1)
Rodney Thomas II — 75
Rodney McCleod — 75
Julian Blackmon — 74
Nick Cross — 72 (-1)
Brandon Facyson — 68
Dallis Flowers — 63
Tony Brown — 63
Trevor Denbow — 62
Armani Watts — 68 (Injured Reserve)
Special Teams
Luke Rhodes — 86
Chase McLaughlin — 83
Matt Haack — 82
Rigoberto Sanchez — 85 (Injured Reserve)
Biggest Mover
Bobby Okereke
Okereke is developing into a very good starting linebacker in the NFL, to the point that you can argue that he has been better than Darius Leonard this year. Okereke has been a very good run stopper and forced a fumble this past game. In coverage, he was thrown at 5 times but only allowed 2 catches for 6 yards. He is playing the role of Darius Leonard very well and even though a healthy, normal Leonard is a better player, Okereke has played the role well. The Colts run defense has been very good recently and that’s thanks in part to Okereke.
Biggest Dropper
Matt Pryor
Pryor is simply terrible. What’s perplexing is that he had a strong finish to the season last year and I amongst many others thought he could be a good short term (1 to 2 year) solution at left tackle. It must’ve been one hell of an acting performance because he simply can’t play anywhere on the offensive line. At right guard this last game, he was consistently fooled on stunts from the Patriots and had no idea how to recognize it or pick it up. This lead to a lot of pressure on Ehlinger. Pryor wasn’t the only bad player on the offensive line and most of the starters had their ratings decreased, but Pryor was especially bad.
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