There might be no greater indicator than the upcoming season than the release of the yearly Madden player ratings. Every year, Electronic Arts‘ football video game, Madden, ranks every player by position and overall rating. These series of games take into account things like Speed, Agility, and Awareness to determine their statistics. The highest rating a player can receive is 99 with 23 being the lowest score for any player in 2020. For fans of New Orleans Saints, Madden 21 rankings bring several reasons to celebrate and anticipate the upcoming NFL Season.
New Orleans Saints Madden 21 Overview
Overall Rating Review
2,293 players were ranked in the 2020 iteration of Madden. Of these, only six players achieved a perfect overall rating and the Saints have one of them. There were only 69 players with a rating of 90 or above and the Saints had five of these. Another 290 players had ratings of 80 or higher. The Saints had another 11 players to be in this grouping. With 32 NFL Teams, the average players per rating group should be two or three in the 90s and nine in the 80s. New Orleans is well above average in both of these rating groups.
In comparison with the Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs, the Saints roster holds up incredibly well. Kansas City does have six players with a 90 or above rating; however, they only have four in the 80s. In the entire NFC South, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Carolina Panthers, and Atlanta Falcons only have seven players total with a 90 or above rating. In the 80s range, these three teams only have another 23 players. If these ratings predict the NFL Season, New Orleans is in store for a strong year.
Significant Player Ratings
On the offensive side of the ball, New Orleans has six players in the top 12 of their respective positions. ‘Mr. 99‘ is no other than record-setting Michael Thomas. It should not come as a surprise to anyone that Thomas is the top-rated wide receiver in Madden 21 after his 2019 season. Alvin Kamara comes in tied for ninth overall for all running backs with an 88 overall rating. Drew Brees comes in fourth for quarterbacks while Jared Cook is seventh among tight ends. There are three teams with two offensive linemen in the Top 12 and the Saints are one of them. The other two are the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys. Ryan Ramczyk comes in at a 91 overall rating while Terron Armstead has a whopping 95, good for fourth overall.
On defense, the Saints add two more talents to the Top 10, respectively. Cameron Jordan at defensive end with a 96 overall which places him as the third-best in the game. Demario Davis barely misses the 90 club but still comes in at an incredibly respectable 89 rating which still has him fourth of all outside linebackers. Even though these following players did not come place in the Top 10 of their positions, their scores are still very good. The ratings also show that New Orleans has a very capable defensive back end as Marshon Lattimore, Malcolm Jenkins, Marcus Williams, and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson all finished with a rating of 80 or above.
Here is the full list of notable Saints ratings in 2020:
Cameron Jordan DE, 96 overall
Michael Thomas WR, 99 Overall
Alvin Kamara RB, 88 Overall
Drew Brees QB, 93 Overall
Jared Cook TE, 87 Overall
Demario Davis LB, 89 Overall
Emmanuel Sanders WR, 87 Overall
Ryan Ramczyk RT, 91 overall
Terron Armstead LT, 95 Overall
Marshon Lattimore CB, 86 Overall
Malcolm Jenkins SS, 85 Overall
Marcus Williams FS, 85 Overall
Thomas Morstead P, 83 Overall
Sheldon Rankins DT, 82 Overall
Chauncey Gardner-Johnson SS, 80 Overall
Latavius Murray HB 80 Overall
New Orleans Saints Madden 21
For non-video game fans, it should still be exciting that the Saints have so many highly-rated players. For the Madden fans, New Orleans will definitely be a very popular team to select in this year’s iteration. Seeing so many high ratings will bridge both types of people and be a great cause for celebration. Madden 21 starts everyone’s expectations for the upcoming NFL season and if the Saints’ ratings are anything to judge in the upcoming season, there should be high expectations in the 2020 season.
