Colts Player Ratings: Week 17 — Burn the Offense Down

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 — 73

Nick Foles — 69 (-5)

Sam Ehlinger — 67

Running Backs

Zack Moss — 70

Deon Jackson — 69 (-1)

Jordan Wilkins — 66

Jonathan Taylor — 88 (Injured Reserve)

Wide Receivers

Michael Pittman Jr — 85

Alec Pierce — 78

Parris Campbell — 75 (-1)

Ashton Dulin — 70

Michael Strachan — 67

Tight Ends

Jelani Woods — 74 (+1)

Mo Alie-Cox — 72 (-2)

Kylen Granson — 69 (-1)

Offensive Line

Quenton Nelson — 93 (-1)

Braden Smith — 81

Ryan Kelly — 71

Dennis Kelly — 68

Bernhard Raimann — 67

Danny Pinter — 66

Will Fries — 64

Wesley French — 62

Matt Pryor — 61

Defensive Line

DeForest Buckner — 97

Grover Stewart — 96

Yannick Ngakoue — 87

Kwity Paye — 84 (+1)

Dayo Odeyingbo — 78 (+1)

Ben Banogu — 69

Eric Johnson — 68

Byron Cowart — 66

Khalid Kareem — 64

Chris Williams — 64

Tyquan Lewis — 76 (Injured Reserve)

Linebackers

Bobby Okereke — 81

Zaire Franklin — 80 (+3)

E.J. Speed — 79

Jojo Domann — 64

Grant Stuard — 62

Cameron McGrone — 61

Darius Shaquille Leonard — 94 (Injured Reserve)

Secondary

Stephon Gilmore — 95

Kenny Moore III — 84

Isaiah Rodgers — 79

Rodney McCleod — 78

Rodney Thomas II — 76 (+2)

Julian Blackmon — 75

Nick Cross — 71

Brandon Facyson — 68 (-1)

Dallis Flowers — 65

Tony Brown — 63

Armani Watts — 68 (Injured Reserve)

Special Teams

Luke Rhodes — 87

Chase McLaughlin — 86

Matt Haack — 80

Rigoberto Sanchez — 85 (Injured Reserve)

Biggest Riser

Zaire Franklin

Franklin is becoming a very good starting linebacker in the NFL. His nice tip is what led to a Thomas interception. He makes plays all over the field and has also taken a big step forward as the leader of the defense with Leonard out. Franklin signed a nice deal this past offseason and looks to be a valuable player for a very good Colts defense.

Biggest Dropper

Nick Foles

Foles doesn’t have it anymore. His decision making was poor, his movement ability is very poor and while his arm is stronger than that of Matt Ryan’s, it doesn’t do much damage. Foles still has an NFL arm, but his head isn’t there. He holds on to the ball way too long, which is surprising since he should know the system well enough at the point. With him at the helm, I’ll be surprised if the Colts offense can put up more than 20 points total in these last 2 games.