How Did Madden Rate the 2019 LSU Tigers?

We are about a month away from the release of EA’s Madden NFL 21, just in time for the NFL season...... we think?

Madden has always been the most hyper-realistic football simulator, from the beads of sweat on player’s foreheads, right down to not knowing what the Washington team’s name is supposed to be.

But the fanfare for now is about the thing the players themselves care most about: the player ratings. Rookies are generally rated pretty low for good reason. How do we know if they’re good at NFL football if they’ve never played an NFL football game before? So you rarely see rookie rankings climb above the early 70s.

But these are the 2019 LSU Tigers, man. The best college football team ever with the best quarterback in college football history. Joe Burrow was making NFL throws against college defenses all year. How do the rookies stack up according to Madden?

QB Joe Burrow - 76

With the caveat that Joe Burrow is a rookie, I suppose I can live with a 76. He’s got all the room in the world to improve and the number will surely increase each week throughout the season.

WAIT A MINUTE, Burrow is a 76 but Josh Allen is a 77?? BOOOOOOOOOOO

As if the ranking wasn’t disrespectful enough, Madden also decided to alter his image by... inflating his neck?

The era of photo-realism has definitely taken some magic away. Maybe Madden should go back to looking like this.

Burrow’s attributes include an 83 speed*, 86 accuracy, 68 strength, 82 agility and 86 throw power. All pretty good for a QB!

Editor’s Note: *ahem*...DECEPTIVE SPEED

LE K’Lavon Chaisson - 74

Chaisson’s overall rating is definitely on a rookie curve because as we all know, his athletic ability is freakish. With 85 speed, 90 acceleration, 78 strength, and 86 agility he has all the potential to be the type of player that makes your little brother throw the controller against the wall in frustration. Yet he still has an overall rating three ticks lower than Al Woods. Did y’all know Al Woods was still in the league? How about that! Throw in the two of them with Leonard Fournette and DJ Chark and the Jags are an easy No. 2 pick behind the Browns for LSU fans’ bandwagon NFL team.

I guess we’re so spoiled with college football we get stuck with the Browns and Jags in the NFL. I guess it’s fair. DUUUUUUUUUVAAAAAAAAAAAL.

RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire - 74

Clyde has a very solid 86 speed and 89 agility, but only has a 71 strength which surely must be a typo so excuse me while I drive down to EA headquarters with my DVD of the Bama game. I’ll get back to y’all once I sort this all out.

Editor’s Note: Edwards-Helaire’s catching rating is 69..........nice

WR Justin Jefferson - 73

Jefferson comes in with 91 speed, 90 acceleration, 89 agility, and... 56 strength.

I guess he could be a 56 strength. Derion Kendrick probably agrees.

Pat Fields probably concurs as well.

3rd and 17 displayed more speed and agility than strength but I don’t care, we’re watching it again anyway.

LB Patrick Queen - 72

89 speed, nice! 90 acceleration, sure! 70 strength, uhhhh is there another Patrick Queen I’m missing? I know he’s a 70 relative to the rest of the league’s linebackers and it’s probably the strongest position on the field, but look at this guy!

Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images

He looks like he’ll rip right through the jersey if he flexes too hard.

S Grant Delpit - 72

I’m not trying to start a debate about 2018 Grant Delpit vs 2019 Delpit because I’m sick and tired of that shit, so all I’ll say about this one is a 76 awareness seems rather low, but that’s probably a rookie curve.

CB Kristian Fulton - 69

90s in both speed and acceleration, then an 87 in agility. Pretty solid! Also nice.

C Lloyd Cushenberry - 68

The offensive line is always overlooked to the point of cliche, but LSU’s line was such a cohesive unit that it was hard to single out one guy as the guy.

In the glory days of Sean Payton’s offense everyone knew the Saints’ line was elite, but Jahri Evans was the first name out your mouth. With 2019 LSU, there were three guys you could argue were the most important. I don’t think a lot of us have realized how special Cushenberry was, so here he is stonewalling the No. 14 overall pick in the Draft.

You bet your ass that’s 88 strength right there.

LB Jacob Phillips - 67

Phillips has 84 speed, 87 acceleration, 73 strength, 72 agility, 66 awareness and is a.... 67 overall. Hooray for math!

G Damien Lewis - 66

Lewis has a 64 in speed which is probably pretty good for an offensive lineman? I really don’t care to do that much research. 77 acceleration and 89 strength seems really good.

I don’t want to go too in-depth on everyone after the third round because I seriously doubt the developers did, so let’s just see what they gave us.

DE Rashard Lawrence - 64

T Saahdiq Charles - 62

TE Thaddeus Moss - 62

WR Stephen Sullivan - 60

LS Blake Ferguson - 27

Okay we need to say something about this. Ferguson is listed as a tight end. Apparently Madden doesn’t designate long snappers and just list them as tight ends. Wow, y’all are really workin’ hard over there at EA, aren’t ya?