In the NFL, it is hard to truly predict what each and every season will be like. Year in and year out, the league often fluctuates with who is good and who is bad.
For the last 30 years, there has been one consistent fixture in each NFL season: Madden NFL.
The Madden video game series was first developed in 1988. Since then a new edition has been released yearly by Electronic Arts. One of the most exciting parts of being a rookie is discovering your rating in Madden.
Oakland Raiders rookie running back Josh Jacobs was more than pleased with his first ever Madden rating of a 74:
74 rating as a rookie @EAMaddenNFL I’ll take it
— Josh Jacobs (@iAM_JoshJacobs) May 18, 2019
Jacobs noted in a separate tweet that only one rookie he knows of has received a higher rating. Indianapolis Colts guard Quenton Nelson was the highest rated rookie at the launch of Madden NFL 19 with an 83 overall.
Jacobs has definitely earned his rating. In his final season at the Alabama he finished with 120 carries for 640 yards. He also notched 11 touchdowns during the 15 games he played.
Last year’s Madden featured new Raider and former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown. Brown earned the right for cover athlete after putting up a league-best 109.5 receiving yards in the 2017 season.
The cover athlete for this year’s Madden will be the 2018 NFL MVP, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes entered the 2018 season with only a 79 overall. By the end of the season, he had worked himself up to a 94 overall. He was the highest ranked quarterback behind only New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
The Raiders have yet to have a player featured on a Madden cover. Things are likely to change after the slew of high caliber players brought in by the team in free agency and during the 2019 NFL Draft.
The Raiders highest rated player in Madden NFL 19 ended up being center, Rodney Hudson. Hudson has one year left on his contract his five-year, $44.5 million contract. Brown is likely to replace Hudson as Raiders top rated Madden player.
Madden NFL 20 is set to release on August 2 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.