Perhaps I should have been more excited about the positive outcomes of the Madden 21 ratings, such as the 93 speed and 94 agility of rookie wide receiver Jalen Reagor or the presence of four players with a 90 overall rating or higher on the roster.
Maybe I should be slightly more annoyed that Dallas Goedert was only ranked an 81 at tight end, or that Miles Sanders (80) is somehow ranked below Duke Johnson Jr. and Derrius Guice at the running back position, or that Carson Wentz was only given an 84.
But the thing that caught my eye most from the Madden 21 ratings was not a grade given to a current Eagle, but one given to a former Eagle. A former Eagle who was ranked as the worst wide receiver in the NFL out of 124 possible candidates through 11 weeks of 2019 on Pro Football Focus. An Eagle who single-handedly lost the team games with his dropping issues and who became infamous because of the most epic, post-fire rescue diss the world has ever seen.
"We was catching 'em ... unlike [Nelson> Agholor."After catching children thrown from a window during a fire, a Philly man was feeling extra petty --(via @SteveLindsayCBS)pic.twitter.com/b5qlaVlQz6
— ESPN (@espn) September 23, 2019The Madden 21 development team gave Nelson Agholor an 84 catching rating, the same figure that was given to Carson Wentz's overall skill set. That, in itself, seems like enough of a statement. But when you compare some of the other receivers with similar (or lower) catching rankings to Agholor's 84, it becomes a little more surprising.
This is the work of a receiver with an 84 catching skill.
Drop 4. Potential game winner. Easy walk in 60 yard TD. Agholor pic.twitter.com/1YdAzRQwo7
— Thomas R. Petersen -- (@thomasrp93) June 16, 2020This is also the work of a receiver with an 84 catching skill.
CeeDee Lamb is unreal. #UCLAvsOU pic.twitter.com/FVqxTVccrK
— Rob Lowder (@Rob_Lowder) September 8, 2018Yes, CeeDee Lamb (I know, I know, we don't like CeeDee here) was given an 84 catching rating. Rookie ratings tend to be low to begin with, but come on.
Greg Ward, who I think Carson Wentz would trust a lot more than Agholor after last season, has a catching rating of 83. Julian Edelman, the longtime safety blanket of arguably the greatest quarterback of the 2000s, has a catching rating of 85.
It just doesn't make sense.
