Ravens Madden 17 Player Ratings Revealed
EA Sports released all NFL player ratings for the top-selling video game Madden 17 yesterday.
No matter what the ratings, players will find a way to gripe about something and my guess is*that will happen again this year. My colleague, Ryan Mink, *will get reaction for you later this week.
Until then, here is the full list of ratings, and I've highlighted some of the most noteworthy below:
Highest-Rated Ravens
1) Marshall Yanda: 97
2) Eric Weddle: 92
3) Terrell Suggs: 90
4) Steve Smith Sr.: 89
5) Elvis Dumervil: 87
6) Sam Koch: 84
7) Brandon Williams: 84
8) Kyle Juszczyk: 83
9) C.J. Mosley: 83
10) Justin Tucker: 83
Lowest-Rated Ravens
1) Morgan Cox: 40
2) Kaelin Clay: 58
3) Stephane Nembot: 59
4) Kapron Lewis-Moore: 60
5) Daniel Brown: 61
6) Victor Ochi 61
7) Keenan Reynolds: 62
8) Brent Urban: 64
9) Maurice Canady: 65
10) Josh Johnson: 65
Fastest/Slowest Ravens: Breshad Perriman (95)/James Hurst (51)
Strongest/Weakest Ravens: Brandon Williams (96 -12th in NFL)/ Justin Tucker (40)
Most/Least Likely Ravens To Get Injured:Dennis Pitta (68)/Joe Flacco (95)
Best/Worst Ravens Tacklers: C.J. Mosley (92)/Justin Tucker (13)
Other notes:
- Tucker has the most powerful leg in the league (98), but he's only the seventh-best overall kicker (83). His kicking accuracy is 91.
- Weddle has the most stamina of anyone in the NFL with a perfect 99 rating.
- Koch is the third-best overall punter (84).
- Smith Sr.'s stiff arm is still one of the nastiest in the league. His 93 rating is good for the sixth-best.
- Virtual Flacco is not elite, as Madden gives him the 21st-highest rating among quarterbacks. The game does give him respect for his throwing power with a 97 rating that's the fourth-best in the league.
- Pass-rushing duo Dumervil and Suggs is still considered one of the best. They rank as the ninth- and third-best left outside linebacker and right outside linebacker, respectively.
- Madden likes cornerback Jimmy Smith's press coverage ability, giving him the seventh-best NFL rating of 95.
- Even virtual Brandon Williams is underrated just like real life Brandon Williams. He's the 13th-best rated defensive tackle.
- If Madden were the final decision-maker over who will be the Ravens' returner this year, it would be Michael Campanaro with a 90 kick returner rating over Kaelin Clay (83), Smith Sr. (80) and Mike Wallace (79). Rookie Keenan Reynolds is eighth with a 70 rating.
More Costumes Coming In For Rookie Performances
The rookie singing performances in front of the team didn't end with first-round pick Ronnie Stanley singing an R. Kelly song in a chicken suit.
Oh, no. That was just the fun getting started.
"There seems to be a number of costumes that have recently shown up at the Under Armour Performance Center, courtesy of FedEx," Head Coach John Harbaugh said last week with a big grin.
Let's all thank Campanaro for these beauty images of rookies Chris Moore and Keenan Reynolds. Keep them coming, Camp!
Biggest Surprise Of Training Camp So Far: Albert McClellan
There have been a couple of surprises during the first week of training camp, including rookie Kamalei Correa running with the first team at inside linebacker. There's also the Ravens experimenting with safeties Anthony Levine and Matt Elam at linebacker.
But those don't compare with Albert McClellan, says The Baltimore Sun's Jeff Zrebiec.
"McClellan appears to be penciled in as the starting strong-side linebacker," wrote Zrebiec.
"Of course, Dumervil will play on passing downs at that spot, but the Ravens are seemingly content with asking McClellan, a long-time special teams ace and reserve linebacker, to set the edge in the running game and beat up on opposing backs and tight ends. That's no disrespect to McClellan whose special teams play and versatility has been extremely valuable to the Ravens since he joined the organization in 2010. It was just expected that second-year linebacker Za'Darius Smith would occupy the role that Courtney Upshaw used to hold."
Rather than putting Smith in Upshaw's former role, the Ravens have been using him more in the mold of Pernell McPhee before he left for the Chicago Bears. Smith is getting snaps at rush linebacker and could spell Suggs on occasion, per Zrebiec.
Wednesday Practice Observations
- "Rookie cornerback Tavon Young continues to make plays. The fourth-round pick from Temple is playing with poise and confidence. If that continues during the preseason, Young could be a factor as a nickel back." -- Clifton Brown, CSNMidAtlantic.com
- "This could be a breakout season for linebacker Za'Darius Smith. Smith ended his rookie season with 3 ½ sacks over the final three games. It appears in practice that Smith is picking up where he left off, and the Ravens may move him around in passing situations to give him favorable matchups as a pass rusher." -- Brown
- "The] [secondary will be better than last year. How much better will the secondary be than the previous season? That remains to be seen. The secondary is always the toughest unit to gauge in camp simply because of the way practice is run. But the pieces are in place to get the job done." – CBS Baltimore
- "In what is starting to become the Ravens' most effective passing combination, quarterback Joe Flacco again dropped a perfect throw into the arms of Mike Wallace on a back-shoulder fade route against Jimmy Smith. Wallace got off to a slow start, missing a practice last week after failing his conditioning test, but he still has the speed that led the Ravens to sign him." – Jake Laurim, The Baltimore Sun
- "Jeremy Butler continued his successful trend of strong performances in training camp. He hauled in several touchdown passes from Joe Flacco. Butler, who appeared in eight games last season found holes in the Ravens secondary by capitalizing on his improved route-running skills. The three-year pass catcher showed his strong hands and his ability to outjump defenders." – Brian Bower, Russell Street Report
Quick Hits
Harbaugh speaks on the release of Trent Richardson. https://t.co/pqW7vdY7tL — Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) August 3, 2016
