EA Sports must have goofed with their overall ratings for Deshaun Watson if Adam Rank is taking them to task.
The NFL.com commentator put the Houston Texans quarterback at the top of his list of “most egregiously off-base” ratings in Madden NFL 21.
I wrote in my look at the Texans in our State of the Franchise series that I feel for Watson, because he was as much of a mobile-aerial ground-breaker as the other young QBs dominating the game today, but he seems to have been surpassed in reputation by Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson — and now it’s happened in Madden, too. Of course, it’s not much of a leap to give higher ratings to Mahomes (99) and Jackson (94), given both have MVP awards to their names. But I’m still trying to figure out how older quarterbacks like Drew Brees (93), Tom Brady (90) and Matt Ryan (87) carry higher overall ratings in 2020 than the 24-year-old Watson. Is this some sort of lifetime achievement award? Like when Alan Arkin won an Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine?
Watson found the overall rating EA Sports provided to be humorous.
Second-year offensive coordinator Tim Kelly says that Watson always needs to improve, and that consistency is always the focus. However, the two-time Pro Bowler plays at such a high level already.
“He’s set the bar so high, so it’s really a challenge for him to be able to play at that level every time he steps on the field,” Kelly told reporters on May 20.
Another factor that goes into high Madden ratings is being associated with winning. Mahomes has appeared in the past two AFC Championship games at a minimum while Jackson was on the No. 1 seed in the AFC. Brees, Brady, and Ryan are elevated due to their victorious reputations. All it will take for Watson to crack the 90’s is being a part of a deep playoff run or having a dominant regular season.
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