With the Houston Texans rising faster up the NFL ranks than most people thought possible, there are still a lot of people out there - fans and analysts alike who don't understand just how far they have come in the last year and a half. There were a lot of reasons why this team broke out in 2023, but at the top of the list there's franchise QB C.J. Stroud, who just had the most-impressive rookie season by any quarterback in modern league history.
As remarkable as Stroud is to watch, he has only started 17 games in his pro career, so it's only natural that some folks aren't sure that what he did as a rookie was proof he can ball or if he'll regress in Year 2. It seems like the makers of Madden 25 may have gone through that thought process based on the quarterback ratings for the latest version of the game. Here's how they rank the top 32, per Ari Meirov at the 33rd team.
1) Patrick Mahomes: 99
2) Lamar Jackson: 98
3) Joe Burrow: 93
4) Josh Allen: 92
5) Dak Prescott: 90
6) Tua Tagovailoa: 88
7) Justin Herbert: 87
8) Jalen Hurts: 86
9) Brock Purdy: 85
10) Kirk Cousins: 84
11) Aaron Rodgers: 83
12) Matthew Stafford: 83
13) Jared Goff: 82
14) CJ Stroud: 81
15) Jordan Love: 81
16) Baker Mayfield: 79
17) Geno Smith: 78
18) Kyler Murray: 77
19) Trevor Lawrence: 77
20) Caleb Williams: 76
21) Russell Wilson: 76
22) Derek Carr: 75
23) Deshaun Watson: 75
24) Justin Fields: 75
25) Anthony Richardson: 75
26) Drake Maye: 74
27) Jayden Daniels: 74
28) Bryce Young: 73
29) Gardner Minshew: 73
30) Andy Dalton: 72
31) Joe Flacco: 72
32) Will Levis: 72
Stroud's 81 overall rating came with a little surprised face emoji, as it should.
You can make a strong case that Stroud is better than Goff, Purdy and Cousins at the very least, therefore he should rank no lower than 11th, in the same range as Stafford and Rodgers. That's pretty good company for any quarterback, but in any case Stroud's rating should be in the 84-85 range and no lower, no matter who's around him in the rankings.
All Stroud can do is prove them wrong on the field.
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