EA Sports released the official Madden 20 rookie ratings on Tuesday morning, giving NFL fans a taste of how their favorite teams’ draft classes are represented.
EA Sports released official Madden 20 rookie ratings on Tuesday morning, which gives fans the chance to see how represented their teams’ rookies are.
The Kansas City Chiefs had six selections in the 2019 NFL Draft, and it mixed it up on both sides of the ball by taking players at running back, cornerback, safety, center, and wide receiver. The Chiefs did not have a first-round pick in the draft, after trading it to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for defensive end Frank Clark.
The highest-rated rookie in Madden 20 is New York Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, coming in at 80 overall. With that said, it appears rookie launch ratings have taken a blow in terms of overall compared to last years’ edition of EA Sports’ flagship video game. The highest-rated rookie in Madden 19 was Indianapolis Colts guard Quenton Nelson, coming in at a whopping 83 overall. In fact, the top five rookies in the game were at least 80 overall. In Madden 20, there is only one rookie at 80 overall: the aforementioned Williams.
The highest rated rookie for the Chiefs is 70 overall, which does not sound like a fair rating. Taking a deeper look at it, though, it may not be as bad as it sounds.
WR Mecole Hardman (Round 2, pick 56)
Base Rating: 70 overall
Strengths: Speed (95), Acceleration (92), Agility (91)
Weaknesses: Strength (60), Awareness (68)
Summary: When it comes down to it, Hardman actually received decent ratings in key areas such as catching (80), elusiveness (81), and ballcarrier vision (84). With his speed of 95 (just 4 points shy of the max), deep route running rating of 74, and catch-in-traffic (76), it looks like the connection between him and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes will be lethal when throwing it deep. It seems like the Madden rating adjusters felt like Hardman will be mainly a deep threat—and with his speed and skill set, that seems about right.
With iffy short catch ratings such as short route running (72), fans will most likely see short and mid-range passes in Madden games being thrown to wide receiver Sammy Watkins or Tyreek Hill with Hardman as a viable deep option in certain sets. All in all, Hardman received rather generous ratings. His base rating appears rather alarming, but when taking a deeper look at key ratings for his position, it looks like he will be fun to use in Madden 20.
Hardman also has the second-fastest speed out of all of the rookies in Madden 20, second only to Baltimore Ravens rookie wide receiver Marquise Brown (97). For context, the five fastest rookies in Madden 20 are Brown (97), Hardman (95), New England Patriots’ Andy Isabella (95), Seattle Seahawks’ DK Metcalf (95), and Indianapolis Colts’ Parris Campbell (94); all of whom are wide receivers.
https://twitter.com/Chiefs/status/1145754866767355905
DT Khalen Saunders (Round 3, pick 84)
Base Rating: 70 overall
Strengths: Acceleration (83), Strength (84), Pursuit (80)
Weaknesses: Speed (73), Power Moves (67), Block Shedding (73)
Summary: The Chiefs’ lone third-round pick received okay ratings, however with the depth that the team has at his position, it is unlikely he will be often-used until his ratings increase after every football week. Ratings in areas such as strength (84), tackle (77), and finesse moves (73) makes him a very nice option in cases where fans want to substitute him in or in case of franchise mode injuries to starters at the defensive tackle position.
It is worth noting that players progress based on the user’s performance in Franchise mode, so it may be beneficial to utilize him more in place of someone like Xavier Williams in order to boost his overall score.
FS Juan Thornhill (Round 2, pick 63)
Base Rating: 69 overall
Strengths: Jump (95), Acceleration (88), Agility (85), Zone Coverage (72)
Weaknesses: Man Coverage (68), Tackle (70), Strength (66)
Summary: Here is where the ratings start to take a steady decline for the Chiefs. Thornhill received less-than-admirable launch ratings, which is quite confusing as he was often called one of the top safeties in the draft. However, these are again base ratings, so it will likely climb with the weekly ratings update that Madden 20 will have. With a catch rating of 73 and a press rating of 72, Thornhill would be a nice ‘in-your-face’ style of player, if fans choose to use him at free safety.
P Jack Fox (UDFA)
Base Rating: 65 overall
Strengths: Kick Power (92), Speed (81), Acceleration (86)
Weaknesses: Kick Accuracy (70), Agility (67)
Summary: Trick plays on special teams are becoming more popular in both the NFL and its official Madden video game. With a decent speed of 81 and an acceleration rating of 86, if fans choose to fake punt-snap it to Fox, they might see some success running it with the undrafted free agent. Of course, they would have to substitute him in as veteran Dustin Colquitt is still the team’s starting punter as of now.
While his accuracy is a little shaky, Fox’s kick power is pretty generous for being a 65 overall. Dependent on Colquitt’s kick power, Fox could even be utilized in situations where players are pinned within their own 20-yard line. It would be best to leave the coffin corners to Colquitt, though.
RB Darwin Thompson (Round 6, pick 214)
Base Rating: 65 overall
Strengths: Acceleration (91), Ballcarrier Vision (75), Carry (86)
Weaknesses: Strength (71), Speed (88), Catch (67)
Summary: Thompson received a generous carry rating of 86, however Madden’s rating adjusters could have been slightly more generous with his speed and strength. It also seems like his truck rating of 60 could have been higher as well. Thompson is not a small back; he is a thumper that will undoubtedly be able to churn out yards after contact. With the depth at running back, he will be more of a Franchise option, however fans can substitute him in for certain situations if they would like to see how he performs.
WR Jamal Custis (UDFA)
Base Rating: 63 overall
Strengths: Agility (80), Catch (80), Catch-in-Traffic (72)
Weaknesses: Speed (89), Short Route Running (66), Mid Route Running (64)
Summary: For being a UDFA, Custis received a nice flat 80 catch rating, which is decent, but nothing great. Custis will more than likely be just a depth option in Franchise mode in the event that one of the starters get injured, but will likely see little-to-no action in regular Head-to-Head games. His speed is listed as a weakness due to the speed that cornerbacks have nowadays, so if he saw any action it would have to be on either short corner routes or slants—situations where players can utilize other areas aside from his speed to get past the defense.
CB Rashad Fenton (Round 6, pick 201)
Base Rating: 62 overall
Strengths: Acceleration (89), Jump (82), Zone (65)
Weaknesses: Catch (63), Speed (88), Play Recognition (59)
Summary: Fenton’s speed already makes him nothing but a deep depth option at cornerback, and the rating likely will not be changed anytime soon. His zone coverage rating is fair, but lacks pursuit (69). If fans wanted to, for whatever reason, he could be utilized in Franchise mode in order to boost his overall by garnering XP points.
CB Mark Fields (UDFA)
Base Rating: 59 overall
Strengths: Speed (93), Acceleration (91), Press (70)
Weaknesses: Catch (57), Tackle (53), Zone (57)
Summary: Fields will likely see action in real life in the 2019 season, however he will see little-to-no action in Madden unless fans want to use him purely just because. He is not a viable option at cornerback, even with potential injuries in Franchise mode. His speed is nice and much higher than Fenton’s, so if there were any reason to use him that would be why.
C Nick Allegretti (Round 7, pick 216)
Base Rating: 58 overall
Strengths: Impact Block (65), Strength (83), Acceleration (78)
Weaknesses: Speed (62), Agility (66), Run Block (65)
Summary: Chiefs starting center Austin Reiter will be utilized unless he suffers an injury in Franchise mode, leaving Allegretti to purely a depth role. That is fair, though, as that is most likely what he will have in real life as well for the 2019 season. With ratings such as his lead block rating of 74, Allegretti could be used if fans wanted to build him up in Franchise mode.
Overall, the Chiefs’ rookies received rather fair ratings when compared to the quality (or lack thereof) of rookie ratings for Madden 20. It will be interesting to see how well they perform in the new video game.
Every week, EA Sports releases a ratings update for the newest Madden all the way up until the playoffs that adjusts ratings for players based on their performance for the corresponding week. As players like Thornhill and Hardman are utilized more often, their ratings may increase (or decrease in some areas), depending on how they perform.