As we pass through free agency, the draft and offseason training activities and approach training camp, another benchmark of the offseason approaches. Oh yes, that's right, Madden hits stores on my birthday, August 12. Happy birthday to me indeed! With that in mind, I came across the 49ers ratings in the newest addition of Madden. One problem with seeing the ratings now is that somewhat significant roster and depth chart moves won't be reflected. The good news is that with the online offerings of Madden you can update rosters accordingly. Definitely one of the better advances in video game technology.
Offense
The highest rated offensive player is Frank Gore, who is a 93, and a 99 when used as a 3rd down back. Alex Smith and Shaun Hill rate out at 79, with JT O'Sullivan in at 77. To give you some comparisons one site has the rating of every starting QB. They list Smith at 80 so it's a little off their. Some comparable guys include Rex Grossman and Trent Edwards. Among all the starters, 24 QBs rate ahead of Smith. So take that for what it's worth. The starting offensive line averages 85 across the board. Not great, but that doesn't seem as awful as it could be. Chilo Rachal is a 78, which makes me think he could turn into a very solid option in the franchise mode.
Defense
Patrick Willis is the highest rated defender and highest rated 49er at 96. As with the wide receivers, some of the defensive positions are not completely filled out. The middle/inside linebackers are missing the likes of Brandon Moore and Larry Grant, primarily due to the size of the depth chart. If I was playing right now, I'd be very tempted to just trade Mark Roman and move Dashon Goldson into the starting lineup. Even if I didn't deal Roman, I'd want to bump up Goldson. When I go with dynasty mode I like getting the youngsters some quality playing time.
So what do you think about the 49ers rankings? Any of them seem particularly out of whack or are they pretty spot on?