Aaron Rodgers trails Tom Brady by 1 point in Madden 18 Overall ratings

We already discussed the question of whether Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady are better real-life quarterbacks; that happened over the weekend. However, today’s debate is over which is a better video game quarterback.

On Wednesday, EA Sports revealed the rankings for the five best quarterbacks in Madden NFL 18, this year’s iteration of the long-running sports video game franchise. It probably comes as no surprise that Brady took the top spot; after all, he is the cover athlete this year, and he landed the coveted 99 overall rating.

Rodgers ranked second on the list, with a 98. That was two points ahead of third-place Matt Ryan, last year’s NFL MVP, who got a 96.

Questions arise about what specific items cause Brady to be ranked ahead of Rodgers, however. Quite accurately, the game gives Rodgers a significant advantage in athleticism, besting Brady on acceleration (82 to 66), agility (82 to 67), and speed (79 to 62).

(As an aside, Brady having a speed rating of even 62 seems far too high.)

Of the few skill ratings that we know, Brady bests Rodgers by two points in awareness (99 to 97) and by a few ticks in strength (64 to 58). Are these enough to give him an edge despite being much more deficient in athleticism? Probably not; the answer likely lies elsewhere, though not in the “throw on the run” attribute as Rodgers has a whopping 97 value.

It’s a video game, so it admittedly matters very little. But given what we know here, it’s easy for me to say which of these two QBs I’d rather have on my team when grabbing the controller. (Hint: it’s not Brady.)