Georgia Football: How former Dawgs look in Madden NFL 20
By Eric Taylor
Every year Electronic Arts puts out Madden NFL, and we talk about the ratings. So let’s talk about the top ten former Georgia football players in the game and the 2019 Bulldog rookie class.
Georgia football has some of the most players in the NFL. With the recent release of EA Sport’s Madden 20, we wanted to take a look and see how the former Dawgs fared on the video game ranking system.
Some of the former players fared better than others. Todd Gurley is one of the top-ranked Bulldogs as he should be. A.J. Green is up towards the top as well because he continues to prove that he’s one of the best receivers in the league.
According to ESPN, the Dawgs currently have 45 players on NFL rosters. While it would take a while to sort out all those rankings on Madden 20, we decided to take the top 10 players and then the rookie class and show how they ranked.
Some players got rankings that we believe meet their potential while others rank lower than I thought they would.
Must Read. Georgia Football: Top-Five Rushing Seasons for RBU. light
All player ratings are at the official Madden NFL 20 site.
Top 10 veteran Dawgs on Madden
RB Todd Gurley 97
Gurley gets ratings of 91 awareness, 92 speed, 92 acceleration, 95 agility, 92 elusiveness, and 99 ball carrier vision.
He is the top-rated running back in the game. If there is one rating, I do not agree with though it would be his 85 injury rating.
As we saw last year, Gurley had a hard time staying healthy, and I do not believe that will be any different this year as his knees will only get worse.
DT Geno Atkins 91
Atkins gets ratings of 98 awareness, 78 speed, 84 acceleration, 90 strength, 93 power move, and 89 block shedding.
He is rated as the fourth-best defensive tackle in the game and personally my favorite defensive tackle to use.
Atkins is getting a bit long in the tooth, but as you can see with his ratings, he has plenty left in the tank. He is one of the best pass-rushing defensive tackles in the game.
WR AJ Green 90
Green comes in with ratings of 90 awareness, 90 speed, 89 acceleration, 92 agility, 90 catch, 96 catch in traffic, and 97 spectacular catch.
He rates as the ninth-best wide receiver in the game. Green has never been a burner, but what he does well is catch the ball no matter where the quarterback puts it.
Which is good since he’s worked with Andy Dalton his whole career.
DE Justin Houston 87
Houston’s ratings are 90 awareness, 82 speed, 87 acceleration, 85 strength, 84 blocks shed, and 87 power move.
He is the fifth-best right defensive end in the game. No longer a member of the Kansas City Chiefs, he will be moving from outside linebacker to defensive end Indianapolis Colts.
Houston played both positions at Georgia, so this should not be a big deal for the elite pass rusher.
RB Nick Chubb 85
Chubb comes in with 86 awareness, 90 speed, 91 acceleration, 83 agility, 87 ball carrier vision, and 89 truck.
He is tied for the 10th best running back in the game. I believe that’s where he belongs until he shows that he can play at a high level for consecutive seasons.
Chubb can run you slap over, or he can run right by you as evidenced by his 92-yard touchdown against Atlanta.
C David Andrews 84
Andrews gets ratings of 92 awareness, 68 speed, 84 acceleration, 58 agility, 86 strength, 90 run block, 84 pass block, and 84 impact block.
He comes in as the seventh-best center in the game. He has come a long way from being an undrafted free agent to being the starting center for Belichick’s Patriots. Tom Brady has no worries knowing that Andrews is blocking in front of him.
RB Sony Michel 84
Michel comes in with ratings of 86 awareness, 90 speed, 92 acceleration, 93 agility, 84 ball carrier vision, and 84 elusiveness.
He ties for 11th overall running back in the game. He should be a top ten running back by seasons end. The elusive Michel can do it all. He is what I call an all-around back. More shifty than powerful Michel can juke you out of your shoes or outrun you.
S Reshad Jones 83
Jones has ratings of 81 awareness, 86 speed, 89 acceleration, 84 agility, 82 zone coverage, 85 play recognition, 75 tackle, and 90 hit power.
He comes in tied as the ninth-best safety in the game. Jones is an in the box safety who is not a liability in coverage. Also, with his 90 hit power, he is capable of creating a ton of fumbles for your team.
MLB Roquan Smith 81
Smith gets ratings of 77 awareness, 89 speed, 91 acceleration, 88 agility, 84 tackle, 87 hit power, and 77 play recognition.
In just his second year in the NFL, he ties as the ninth-best middle linebacker in the game. His instincts are off the charts, but that is not reflected in his 77 play recognition. I’m looking for Smith to finish the year in the high 80s/low 90s overall.
OLB Thomas Davis 79
Davis gets ratings of 88 awareness, 82 speed, 83 acceleration, 85 agility, 88 tackle, 91 hit power, and 85 play recognition.
He ties for the ninth-best right outside linebacker in the game. Davis has left Carolina and joined the Los Angelos Chargers. Trying to prove that he can still get it done Davis will play in his 14th season this year.
Georgia Madden 20 Rookies:
CB DeAndre Baker – 71
Baker gets ratings of 73 awareness, 88 speed, 89 acceleration, 60 strength, 85 agility, 75 man coverage, 69 zone coverage, 81 press, and 66 play recognition.
He comes in tied for the 25th best cornerback in the game. Giving him 75 man coverage is a slap in his face. Also, giving him 60 strength pretty much makes his 81 press useless. EA’s rating team missed on this one.
WR Mecole Hardman – 70
Hardman gets ratings of 68 awareness, 95 speed, 92 acceleration, 91 agility, 81 elusiveness, 80 catch, 76 catch in traffic, and 80 spectacular catch.
He comes in tied for the 29th overall wide receiver. However, if you play Madden regularly, you know that speed kills, and Hardman has plenty of it. He can help you in the slot and the return game.
WR Riley Ridley – 69
Ridley gets ratings of 69 awareness, 86 speed, 90 acceleration, 79 agility, 83 catch, 81 catch in traffic, and 85 spectacular catch.
He ties for the 30th overall wide receiver. Another possession receiver, Ridley runs good routes (77 short route running, 76 medium route running, and 74 deep route running) and can make the big catches.
OLB D’Andre Walker – 68
Walker comes in with 69 awareness, 82 speed, 87 acceleration, 80 agility, 68 block shed, and 69 finesse move.
He comes in tied for 19th best left outside linebacker (or SAM). With 68 block shed and 69 agility, his pass rush moves will be unusable.
It may take a year or two for Walker to progress into a useable player in the game, if at all. Walker deserves better than this.
TE Isaac Nauta – 67
Nauta gets ratings of 61 awareness, 78 speed, 85 acceleration, 74 agility, 78 catch, 74 catch in traffic, 71 spectacular catch, and 61 run block.
He comes in tied for the 27th tight end in the game. His speed is on point, catching is on point, but his awareness and blocking ability need a lot of work. I think he will be at least a 75 by season’s end.
C Lamont Gaillard – 66
Gaillard gets ratings of 67 awareness, 67 speed, 80 acceleration, 62 agility, 88 strength, 69 pass block, 71 run block, 85 and impact block.
He comes in tied for the 23rd best center in the game. Gaillard will need a year or two to develop into a solid starter. However, rated as Arizona’s best center, he will probably be thrown to the wolves from day one.
WR Terry Godwin – 65
Godwin gets ratings of 58 awareness, 89 speed, 91 acceleration, 88 agility, 80 catch, 77 catch in traffic, and 80 spectacular catch.
He ties for the 34th overall wide receiver in the game.
Godwin is another one of the more underrated former Dawgs in the game. He looks like the perfect slot receiver, even with below-average route running attributes (73, 71, 72).
RB Elijah Holyfield – 63
65 awareness, 84 speed, 87 acceleration, 80 agility, 77 ball carrier vision, and 79 truck.
He ties for 32nd overall running back in the game. With his average speed and good truck, I could see using him in short-yardage situations, much like I believe the Panthers will this season.
Holyfield is not going to get very long runs, but he can knock it across the goal line if needed.
LE Jonathan Ledbetter – 63
Ledbetter gets ratings of 58 awareness, 70 speed, 80 acceleration, 82 strength, 68 blocks shed, and 67 power move.
He ties for the 29th overall left defensive end in the game — another completely useless Madden player.
With 68 blocks shed, he’s not going to be getting off many blocks, and with 67 power move, he can’t bull rush either.
Next. Three Games Georgia Football cannot overlook in 2019. dark
Georgia’s produced a ton of NFL talent, and they’re all making noise on Sundays. Now your favorite Dawgs are in Madden, so you can make them live up to their potential or show that Madden got the rankings wrong.