Unlike ESPN and major media outlets I refuse to make statements, predictions and guesses without circling back for accuracy. Back in May I did a story on where I thought Joe Burrow’s Madden ratings were going to be. Well folks they are out and our boy is a digital baller. Let’s take a look at how wrong or right I might have been and what the perception of Burrow actually is.
| Acceleration | Strength | Agility | |
| Andrew Luck | 88 | 59 | 84 |
| Kyler Murray | 92 | 51 | 90 |
| Joe Burrow | 88 | 55 | 86 |
| Actual | 86 | 68 | 82 |
| Difference | -2 | +13 | -4 |
The people at EA Sports must be secretly watching Joe Burrow squat videos. He is stronger than both Andrew Luck and Kyler Murray which is nice to see but I think he got a little slighted on Agility based on his ability to move around in the pocket. Strength means durability and it looks like our boy can take the hits (good thing) and can get a few yards when defenders are hanging on him.
| Throw Power | Throw Accuracy | Accuracy Short | Accuracy Mid | Accuracy Deep | |
| Andrew Luck | 92 | 88 | 93 | 90 | 81 |
| Kyler Murray | 89 | 81 | 82 | 78 | 82 |
| Joe Burrow | 88 | 90 | 94 | 93 | 84 |
| Actual | 86 | 86 | 88 | 84 | 85 |
| Difference | -2 | -4 | -6 | -7 | +1 |
This was interesting to see because Burrow is more of an accurate thrower than a velocity guy so getting the same score was questionable to me. The overall accuracy score of 86 felt low to me especially since his completion percentage and analytics were off the charts. If he is compared to the next Andrew Luck then certainly EA did not see it that way. Luck outpaced him in everything but long throw accuracy which I would say is not even his best trait. I think this is where Burrow really got boned by the video game nerds.
| Play Action | Throw on Run | Injury | Stamina | Toughness | |
| Andrew Luck | 74 | 88 | 98 | 97 | 69 |
| Kyler Murray | 71 | 87 | 88 | 91 | 84 |
| Joe Burrow | 74 | 90 | 97 | 97 | 84 |
| Actual | 83 | 86 | 95 | 88 | 96 |
| Difference | +9 | -4 | -2 | -9 | +12 |
So he gets boned on accuracy but then gets the hookup for play action????? He operated primarily out of the shotgun at LSU so I am not sure where this stat makes sense. I love the high score but I find it baseless. EA must thing Burrow could get hit by the Watt brothers in a sandwich situation and make them explode to get a 96 in Toughness. If moxy was a rating he would get a 110 but a 96 almost feels dirty. Sure the kid is tough but this one jumped out at me. Joe must not be great in the sheets either per Olivia because his Stamina is also a little suspect. I never saw him sub out after a long run did you? Can Luck really last longer?
| Overall | |
| Andrew Luck | 84 |
| Kyler Murray | 73 |
| Joe Burrow | 85 |
| Actual | 76 |
| Difference | -9 |
Ok so Joe is rated higher than Kyler Murray, no duh. His historical season certainly warranted a higher score than 76 overall. If Andrew Luck gets an 84 in his rookie season then Burrow at the very least deserves to be an 80. 76 is Andy Dalton right now rather than a young exciting Patrick Mahomes or Deshaun Watson. Certainly his rating will go up but he deserves a better baseline.
If you made it this far then you are a real Madden fan…..I would crush you any day if you wanted to have a go.