NEWSLETTER
If you were a Chicago Bears fan who was obsessively playing Madden NFL video games during the 2000s, then your first move was probably to trade for a quarterback upgrade. Because, let’s face it, football video games aren’t fun when your quarterback can’t sling it. Did I annoy folks on my college dorm floor with a ground-and-pound game? Yes. Did it result in dorm room damage because it was an effective winning strategy? Also, yes. But here we are in 2023 and I think the Bears have a quarterback worth playing in Madden ’24.
No, Justin Fields didn’t make the cut as a top-10 quarterback in Madden’s ratings this year. But the arrow is pointing up with Fields’ 76 rating in this year’s installment of the game coming in just behind Russell Wilson (77), Jimmy Garoppolo (77), and Deshaun Watson (78). And, hey, they’re better than last year’s ratings.
As for the ratings breakdown, splitting it into two parts helps drive home how awesome virtual Fields will be in this game.
Fields, as a runner:
Seeing all those 80s and 90s here is going to make Fields a Mike Vick type of threat as a running quarterback in these games. If you got a chance to play with peak video game-era Vick, then you already know how you’re going to handle playing with Fields. That type of elusiveness and game-breaking ability is probably going to result in some broken controllers. There might even have to be some rules put in place in order to keep the peace around the video game unit.
And to think, Fields’ ratings, as a thrower, make him that much more dangerous:
The difference between Video Game Vick and Kordell Stewart (a player with similar mobility as a video game QB) was the ability to throw. And throw DEEP. Vick’s Madden ratings during the peak of his powers were better than Fields’ ratings right now. But I’m digging the detail and lengths modern Madden is going to in order to give out the most accurate ratings. Back in the day, you just had THP (throw power) and THA (throw accuracy) as Madden ratings for quarterbacks. Now, we’re looking at eight different dates points that go into creating a rating. Frankly, I think these are all pretty accurate when it comes to where Fields ranks.
Are you disappointed with Justin Fields’ Madden ’24 ratings? It is OK for you to feel that way. I get it. If it is any consolation, just know that Madden regularly updates the ratings during the season so they can match how players are actively playing. In other words, if Fields can improve on his accuracy during the season, then his Madden ratings updates will reflect those upgrades. Maybe this is a bold stance to take, but I don’t think Fields is going to finish the Madden season with a 76 rating. In fact, I’ll take it a step further and suggest Fields’ overall rating will be in the 80s by the time we put a bow on the 2023 regular season. It feels like everything is in place for a breakout. And if all else fails, we can always take out our frustrations by running up the score on the opponent while in rookie mode. There still isn’t a stress-reliever better than putting up 100 points in easy mode because you had a bad day at the office.
