EA Sports
It's time now to take a look at the latest Madden NFL 25 ratings update and we will take a peek into the future, too, with some predictions. But first, this was all about Next Gen star Patrick Peterson. When we saw him throw that pass against the Lions in Week 2, my first thought was, 'Why didn't this guy just play quarterback for the Cardinals last season?'
And then I wanted to know, would this impact his Madden rating?
Well, I can't tell you why Ken Whisenhunt didn't make the move. But I can tell you Peterson is still an 89 but he's seen a ton of increases on the passing side. Peterson received a 38 point increase in throwing power (70), 27-point increase in throwing accuracy (52) and other increases you would imagine related to throwing.
I'm not certain, but I have to believe Peterson's throwing power trumps that of Max Hall, but I'll have to pull out my old game to see.
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Moving on up
Giovani Bernard has been the toast of the NFL since his breakout game against the Steelers on Monday night. Bernard is up two points to a 77, which is still way too low in my estimation. But we'll get him there at some point. His awareness went up four points. He also gained a point in speed, but maybe that's just because the Steelers looked really, really slow.
Eddie Royal also gained five points to go to a 79 rating. The five points seems appropriate because Royal has scored five touchdowns in the first two games of the season.
DeSean Jackson also moved up two points to 88. His biggest boost came in awareness (which was up two points). I was going to say something nice about Chip Kelly's offense here, but uh, Thursday night happened.
Moving on down
Frank Gore has started to move down the boards as he lost a point this week as he now holds a rating of 92. What the what? Gore is still in the 90s? I need to go make sure this is a current copy of the game and not one from four years ago.
Julius Peppers goes down to a 90 from 91. His acceleration and pursuit took a hit because of father time. But his awareness is down to an 87? He suddenly forgot stuff about football? This is one I'm going to have to corner Donnie Moore about because I just don't understand it. James Harrison is also down to an 85, and he too took a hit in awareness. Is this one of those things where you say, he's forgotten more about football than you'll ever know? Like literally.
Peppers' teammate Alshon Jeffery is moving down the board, too. Which comes as a surprise to none of us Bears fans out there.
What the what?
Andrew Luck moved down after his team lost to Ryan Tannehill and the Dolphins in Week 2. Luck dropped a point to move down to 88. He lost in throwing accuracy. Yeah, I'm not too sure about that one.
Next Gen
Here's a look at some of the prominent Next Gen team members and how they looked for the week:
Ryan Tannehill outdueled his 2012 NFL Draft classmate Luck on Sunday and then gained a point to go to 82. I implored Ratings Czar Donnie Moore to increase his awareness and we got two points for it! So we're making changes, folks!
Tavon Austin increases to a 78 after his two-touchdown performance against the Falcons. This is fair. He caught two redzone targets. It wasn't like he got a 60-yard catch and run. But those are coming.
Doug Martin finally reached 90, as he gained a point after his stellar work against the Saints in Week 2. He saw rises in awareness, catching and carrying.
Alfred Morris remained the same at 89, but his catching was down two points to a 63. I blame this on RG3's knee brace.
Tyler Eifert gained a point and looked pretty good against the Steelers. Did you not see his nifty catch on Monday night? He's up to an 81. Expect this rise to continue.
Six predictions for Sunday
Ryan Tannehill will continue his push to join his fellow classmates near the 90 mark. Don't sleep on Tannehill, people.
Trent Richardson will make some moves in the ratings this week after a strong performance against the 49ers. Some contend Richardson is going to take a step back because the offensive line in Indianapolis is worse than Cleveland. But you realize he's going from Brandon Weeden to Andrew Luck. There hasn't been a talent upgrade this severe since Saved by the Bell traded up from Heather Hopper to Tiffani Amber-Thiessen.
Russell Wilson will have a monster game against the Jaguars and will receive a two-point increase. You think this is an easy matchup? I've seen Pete Carroll follow-up too many big wins at USC with loses to Oregon State, so this one will be closer than anticipated.
Calvin Johnson will put up Madden-like numbers against the Redskins "defense." Flipper Anderson should be very worried.
Freddy Morris will avenge his deficit in receiving with a 46-yard touchdown reception against the Lions.
Patrick Peterson, fresh off an upgrade to his passing stats, successfully runs a couple of read-option plays for the Cardinals this week.
