EA Sports formally announced the ratings for Madden 19 last Tuesday and naturally we’re all diving into seeing what San Francisco 49ers overall scores are for. For those of you wondering how the hell all of this works, a few years back our sister site Polygon went into detail on it. We’ve already gone over the overall scores, so I figured I’d just save everyone five minutes and talk about some of the winners and losers in the attributes. What do the ratings mean? I explain them below, but go here for a more detailed explanation.
Strength
Best: Joe Staley (92)
Worst: Robbie Gould (25)
The 49ers offensive tackle trumps all in the strength category. Solomon Thomas comes in at second with a 91. The strength rating is something to look for with offensive linemen. So I guess turning Solomon Thomas into an offensive lineman might not be a bad idea in game. That also means keeping Gould far away from playing offensive tackle
Agility
Best: TIE Richard Sherman and Jerrick McKinnon (96)
Worst: Robbie Gould (52)
Well this is interesting. Two different positions are tied for this one. This is how good the player cuts when running. I guess that applies to the cornerback position as well, meaning it makes sense they have this high stat. If Sherman doesn’t play back to form, expect a patch to turn this stat down. As far as Gould goes, along with the offensive line, don’t move him to cornerback or running back any time soon either.
Acceleration
Best: Marquise Goodwin (96)
Worst: TIE Robbie Gould and Bradley Pinion (64)
The Goodwin rating makes sense. Acceleration is how quickly the player can get to their top speed. Given that Goodwin has a 95 speed rating, it might be safe just to move him into the slot and put him on repeated go routes and fling the ball to him time and time again. I know I will.
Meanwhile, the kickers have terrible acceleration. If Gould gets a field goal blocked and turned the other way, it probably won’t be him chasing after the defender who gets their hands on the ball.
Speed
Best: Marquise Goodwin (95)
Worst: Robbie Gould (59)
Again, Goodwin is the fastest guy on the 49ers bar none. Just add a playbook where he can run straight for 30 yards and curl and cut lose. The computer will eventually screw up. Unless the 49ers are supposed to lose a game, then it will somehow be a bunch of interceptions. Tarvarius Moore comes in behind him at 94. What’s concerning is cornerback D.J. Reed and wide receiver Richie James both come in at a 68. Given the speed I saw I thought they’d at least hit the 70s. Rookies.
As for Gould, what the hell is going on here? Is he a bad football player?
Awareness
Best: Joe Staley (94)
Worst: Pace Murphy (44)
This stat goes to how the players react on the field and to other players. I don’t think it’s nearly as useful to offensive lineman, but I could be wrong. Behind Staley, Pierre Garcon and Richard Sherman share a 93 rating and it carries much more with with their positions (wide receiver and cornerback)
Gould is nowhere near the bottom here. He has a 75 awareness. Along with the awareness stat, all those other paltry stats somehow translate to him having an 85 overall rating. So for those of you thinking he was a terrible football player need to put those fears away. Madden took pity and gave him a decent overall rating. Because Madden likes kickers.
The game hates long snappers though, Kyle Nelson has a 43 overall rating.
So that’s why he doesn’t play much.