[content_block id=134357]
The reveal of the Madden video game player ratings are almost receiving as much yearly hype as the kickoff to the regular season. EA Sports is rolling out its rankings slowly and now they’ve descended from their number-crunching and eye-testing precipice on high to definitively deliver the five quarterbacks you will most likely face online in the near future.
The best quarterbacks according to Madden? Unsurprisingly, the list is topped by Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers, both of whom scored a 98.
Drew Brees came in third place with a strong 96.
The real shocker came with the fourth and fifth quarterbacks. Tied at 93 a piece are Tom Brady and Russell Wilson. And while that may seem to be absolutely insane and the type of thing that only a person with yearly amnesia would argue, there is actually some basis for Russell Wilson being comparative to Tom Brady in 2014. After all, Madden rankings are about how good a quarterback is right now, not how good they’ve been throughout their career.
So, here’s a side-by-side comparison of how Brady and Wilson did in 2013. Guess who is who:
Player A: 63.1 completion percentage, 3,357 passing yards, 26 touchdowns, 9 interceptions, 101.2 passer rating
Player B: 60.5 completion percentage, 4,343 passing yards, 25 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, 87.3 passer rating
Player A is Russell Wilson. Player B is Tom Brady. Now, Brady obviously had to throw the ball more but Wilson was more efficient with his passes and that side-by-side comparison doesn’t factor in Wilson’s scrambling ability which is head and shoulders above the famously immobile Brady.
Wilson: 96 rushing attempts, 539 yards, 1 touchdown
Brady: 32 rushing attempts, 18 yards, 0 touchdowns
So, the idea of Wilson and Brady being comparable isn’t completely crazy, although at first blush it may seem so. Of course, Wilson had an historically great defense backing him up while Tom Brady had a bunch of rookie receivers, half a season of Rob Gronkowski and a defense that was missing some of its best players like Vince Wilfork and Jerod Mayo. Ultimately, comparing the styles of Brady and Wilson is an exercise in futility as the two are asked to do very different things for their teams but if their talents must be reduced to a single number, EA Sports may not be that far off.
