Madden 16 ratings: NaVorro Bowman rated second among inside linebackers

EA Sports is releasing Madden NFL 16 later next month, and in the meantime they have begun releasing information on top five rated players by position. Over the weekend, they released the inside linebackers, and I was pleasantly surprised to see they rated NaVorro Bowman second. He was given a 93 overall rating, second only to Luke Keuchly, who is a 96. The rest of the top five includes Bobby Wagner (92), Clay Matthews (90) and Daryl Smith (90).

I say pleasantly surprised because I figured he would get a significant reduction in his return from a torn ACL and MCL. He was rated 91 heading into the 2012 season, I believe 97 heading into 2013, and it appears 96 heading into last season. It is not surprising he would see a dip (although I would think it would have been more significant last year), but he is still getting respect from EA Sport.

The EA Sports article also mentioned some of Bowman's more specific ratings.

After missing all of 2014, Bowman returns to a much different 49ers defense than the one he left. He brings 97 Tackle, 96 Pursuit, and 92 Block Shedding to the table as well as solid coverage with 88 Play Recognition and 82 ZCV/73 MCV.

FiveThirtyEight.com broke down how the ratings are determined in a very extensive feature. You can follow EA's ratings releases here. They posted outside linebackers yesterday, and Aldon Smith was not included. We'll see if Eric Reid or Antoine Bethea get some love in the safety ratings later this week.