Madden NFL 15 Ratings: Several Packers Are Rated Highly and Several Got Snubbed

As an avid gamer and football junkie, I was heartbroken to hear that the NCAA Football franchise would be no more. I haven't been particularly thrilled with the last three installments of the Madden franchise, but with no other outlet for my football/video game addiction, I am open to giving it another chance.

GoMadden.com recently released the ratings for the Green Bay Packers, and it's difficult to not get excited about the potential to start a franchise with them when the game comes out.

Obviously, Aaron Rodgers is the top-rated player at 98 overall, but Josh Sitton pulls in at 97 overall ahead of Jordy Nelson (93 overall) and Clay Matthews (90 overall). The biggest snubs are probably Micah Hyde at 75 overall (65 awareness, 68 tackling) and Mike Daniels (also 75 overall). Hyde is in the same neighborhood as Jarrett Bush (74), Davon House (74), and Chris Banjo (70) which is mildly upsetting, and Daniels is rated seven points lower than Mike Neal after a season in which Daniels was by far the most effective pass-rusher on the team.

Also, where the hell are Mason "Steel-toe" Crosby and the Ginger Wolverine in these ratings?!

Anyways, here's a look at the full list of ratings

Quarterbacks

Aaron Rodgers: 98 overall -- 80 speed -- 93 awareness -- 94 throwing power -- 92 short accuracy -- 88 medium accuracy -- 90 deep accuracy -- 87 play-action accuracy -- 88 accuracy on the run

Matt Flynn: 78 overall -- 74 speed -- 75 awareness -- 78 throwing power -- 82 short accuracy -- 73 medium accuracy -- 79 deep accuracy -- 90 play-action accuracy -- 79 accuracy on the run

Scott Tolzien: 71 overall -- 66 speed -- 58 awareness -- 83 throwing power -- 84 short accuracy -- 76 medium accuracy -- 80 deep accuracy -- 67 play-action accuracy -- 76 accuracy on the run

I included some key skills at this position to nitpick at some of the differences between Flynn and Tolzien, while also drooling over QB12 and his awesomeness. I'm not really sure how Flynn has a play-action rating 23 points higher than Scottie T, but I guess you have to create some separation on the depth chart somehow.

Running Backs

Eddie Lacy (87 overall)

James Starks (78 overall)

DuJuan Harris: (74 overall)

John Kuhn (93 overall)

Eddie Lacy is going to be hard to tackle in this year's game (96 trucking, 90 stiff-arm, 97 spin move). Starks (92 acceleration) and DuJuan Harris (94 acceleration) will be solid options on toss sweeps and delay draws.

Wide Receivers and Tight Ends

Jordy Nelson (93 overall)

Randall Cobb (89 overall)

Jarrett Boykin (78 overall)

Davonte Adams (72 overall)

Jared Abbrederis (69 overall)

Chris Harper (65 overall)

Myles White (65 overall)

Kevin Dorsey (63 overall)

Jeff Janis (63 overall)

Andrew Quarless (74 overall)

Brandon Bostick (72 overall)

Ryan Taylor (72 overall)

Colt Lyerla (68 overall)

Richard Rodgers: (67 overall)

Jake Stoneburner (66 overall)

I'm not surprised by the wide receiver ratings, but I am pretty shocked to see undrafted free agent Colt Lyerla ahead of third-round pick Richard Rodgers in the ratings. Lyerla gets a pretty healthy rating in the speed (87) and acceleration (91) department, while Rodgers is rated much more pedestrianly at 76 speed and 84 acceleration.

Offensive Line

Josh Sitton (97 overall)

T.J. Lang (87 overall)

Bryan Buluga (86 overall)

David Bakhtiari (76 overall)

Derek Sherrod (76 overall)

Don Barclay (75 overall)

J.C. Tretter (74 overall)

Corey Linsley (70 overall)

Garth Gerhart (66 overall)

Brett Goode (63 overall)

Lane Taylor (63 overall)

Andrew Tiller (63 overall)

Aaron Adams (62 overall)

The biggest surprise here is that David Bakhtiari is put in the same category as Derek Sherrod and Don Barclay. That's pretty harsh for someone who started all 16 games last season, and played admirably in the absence of Bryan Bulaga.

Defensive Line

DT B.J. Raji (83 overall)

LE Mike Neal (82 overall)

RE Mike Daniels (75 overall)

DT Letroy Guion (74 overall)

LE Datone Jones (74 overall)

DT Josh Boyd (71 overall)

RE Jerel Worthy (70 overall)

RE Khyri Thornton (66 overall)

Other than the fact that EA Sports has the positions flipped at defensive end, the ratings themselves are fairly accurate - save for the underrating of Mike Daniels. When Pro Football Focus' 6th-best 3-4 defensive end only gets a 75, something weird is going on. Also, I would probably have Mike Neal rated lower due to last year's production and Neal's constant movement from defensive end to outside linebacker.

Linebackers

ROLB Clay Matthews (90 overall)

LOLB Julius Peppers (82 overall)

MLB A.J. Hawk (81 overall)

MLB Brad Jones (77 overall)

LOLB Nick Perry (73 overall)

MLB Jamari Lattimore (67 overall)

ROLB Andy Mulumba (67 overall)

MLB Sam Barrington (65 overall)

ROLB Nate Palmer (65 overall)

MLB Carl Bardford (65 overall)

LOLB Adrian Hubbard (63 overall)

I was a little surprised to see Nick Perry rated so low, but when measured against last year's production and last year's Madden rating (76 overall), it is pretty accurate. Another thing I didn't catch originally, but was pointed out to me by Tex, is that Carl Bradford is labeled as an inside linebacker. I'm assuming this is simply EA Sports trying to fill out the depth chart with some sense of balance, but it is an interesting idea to think about despite the fact that the team has been using him exclusively on the outside.

Secondary

Tramon Williams (87 overall)

Sam Shields (86 overall)

Casey Hayward (85 overall)

Morgan Burnett (83 overall)

Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix (79 overall)

Micah Hyde (75 overall)

Jarrett Bush (74 overall)

Davon House (74 overall)

Chris Banjo (70 overall)

Sean Richarson (69 overall)

Demetri Goodson (66 overall)

As previously mentioned at the beginning of the article, I think Micah Hyde gets snubbed by EA Sports. I could live with the 75 overall rating, but to have him rated below 70 in tackling and awareness is doing a player like Hyde a disservice. Hyde is constantly complimented by the coaching staff as being a smart football player who tackles well in space. His biggest weaknesses are his man-to-man coverage (78) and pursuit (76) which the game has rated higher than he probably deserves.

Conclusion

There isn't much to complain about as far as the Packers ratings in Madden 15, but it is interesting to see how the people over at EA Sports view certain players on the team. I'm assuming if Josh Sitton isn't named to the Pro Bowl last year, he isn't above 92 overall in this year's game. I'm also assuming Mason Crosby and the Ginger Wolverine are going to be the first special teams players to earn 100 overall ratings in the game, since they are not listed on the website.