Eli Manning, Giants – 80
Eli Manning has had a tumultuous career in the regular season. He’s got that Brett Favre gene where he’s not afraid to sling it in places where he has no business putting the ball and seeing if he somehow pulls it off. Because of this, despite usually having decent TD and yardage numbers, his interception numbers are often among the highest in the league. Despite that though, since Ben McAdoo joined the Giants as a coordinator and eventually the head coach, Eli has improved his accuracy quite a bit. Let’s also not forget he’s one of the most clutch QBs of all time when it matters most.
More offensive than Manning’s 80 rating, though, are the QBs that are higher rated than a two-time Superbowl champ that has literally never missed a game since taking over the starting position: Dak Prescott, Sam Bradford, Ryan Tanehill, and Andy Dalton, also known as Mr. “Couldn’t Win A Big Game If’ His Life Depended On It” in Madden 18. Manning is not a top five QB by any stretch of the imagination but he’s certainly better a second year QB that succeeded mostly thanks to having an elite RB and offensive line, two guys who wouldn’t stay upright even if you taped them to the goal post, and Andy freaking Dalton.
Jameis Winston, Buccaneers – 81
It’s clear based on the player ratings that EA Sports likes to give a bump to up and coming, and popular players. It’s the only reason I can think of that Dak Prescott jumped all the way to an 86 in just one season for Madden 18. Then can someone explain to me why Jameis Winston is still sitting at just an 81? While Prescott’s accuracy and lack of turning the ball over is something worth praising, Winston out-performed Prescott in plenty of other categories, has a larger body of work, and did it with a team that is far less talented offensively than the Cowboys, especially at the offensive line position. Winston was sacked 35 times last season and still managed to put up a very respectable stat line of 4k+ passing yards, 28 TDs, and 7.2 yards per completion.
We’re not saying that Winston should be way higher than 81 but if EA Sports grades high on potential, than Winston deserves a little more credit than what he’s getting as compared to his peers.
Joe Flacco, Ravens – 81
Joe Flacco at an 81 is another head scratcher. Yes, Flacco’s 20/15 (TDs to INTs) is a little ugly, but who was Joe Flacco throwing the ball to last season? Journeyman Mike Wallace was his best option and he’s ideally a number 2 or 3 WR on a good team. Benjamin Watson was supposed to come and help alleviate the load from the aging Dennis Pitta, but was injured prior to the start of the season. Despite all of this, Flacco still managed to put up over 4.3k passing yards, good for 7th in the league and way higher than the likes of many players that were rated higher than him.
With the return of Watson and the addition of Jeremy Maclin from Kansas City, we fully expect Flacco to dramatically improve his statistics from last season and make his 81 overall Madden 18 rating look silly.
Phillip Rivers, Chargers – 84
With a overall rating of 84, Phillip Rivers is rated just barely higher than QBs such as Sam Bradford, Ryan Tanehill (83) and tied with Andy Dalton in Madden 18. Let that sink in for a second. Phillip Rivers, who threw for almost 4.4k passing yards (5th overall), 33 TDs (4th overall) and is one of the most consistently solid QBs of the last decade, is just about equal to the likes of the other QBs we just mentioned…
This one just doesn’t make sense. There are maybe four or five other QBs that I would want starting my team ahead of Phillip Rivers. His 84 rating makes absolutely zero sense. Especially when you factor in that his primary WR target, Keenan Allen, was out all last season and Antonio Gates continued to see his statistics decline as he moves closer to the end of his hall of fame career.
Matthew Stafford, Lions – 87
What more does Matthew Stafford have to do to prove that he’s an elite QB in the NFL? I guess maybe win a playoff game, but blame the Lions’ front office, not Stafford on that one. Stafford was easily a top three MVP candidate last season with over 4.3k passing yards, 24/10 (TDs to INTs), while also casually setting the NFL record for most fourth quarter comebacks in a single season. He did all that with absolutely ZERO running game worth mentioning. The Lions’ leading rusher was Theo Riddick 357 yards on the ground and just one measly TD. Golden Tate, his best target is a fine WR, but it’s a huge downgrade from Calvin Johnson who shockingly retired before the start of the season.
An 87 player rating isn’t terrible of course, but there’s still nine other QBs ahead of him in Madden 18, most of which seemingly attained their rating on their name and past performance. Some players get that kind of respect and leeway with their ratings, and others, like some of the QBs on this list and especially Stafford, don’t get the same treatment and are going to have to go out there and earn their ratings by proving people wrong.
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