Heading into the NFL season in a couple of months, it’s easy to focus on more serious things. The New York Giants start training camp within a couple of weeks and have multiple offseaosn legal cases. There’s questions about whether or not the preseason will be played and whether the regular season will have fans in the stands.
Sometimes, though, you just want to relax and have some fun. And that’s what video games are for. Madden NFL 21 is an anticipated release for many, but a lot of Giants fans were left scratching their heads when Saquon Barkley was rated as only the fifth best running back.
That’s the same Saquon Barkley that was competing for the rushing title during his rookie season. And the same one that looked great after his injury recovery late last year. The narrative is that Electronic Arts isn’t giving Barkley enough credit, but is that true?
The reason behind Barkley’s low rating
EA finally came out and clarified the reason why Barkley is behind players such as Nick Chubb and Derrick Henry. According to what they told ESPN, their ratings model favors recency. In other words, players that have done a lot for their team lately come out ahead.
“Our rating are basically coming off what you’ve done last year heading into this year. So if you played through injury and didn’t play well, we have to reflect that because you were out there playing. Now, doesn’t mean it won’t change as the season goes on. Obviously that is why we do all the roster updates. But if you played through injury and it’s not up to par…” the head ratings adjuster for the game, Dustin Smith, said to ESPN.
Barkley struggled last season thanks to injury. He looked like himself early on but after picking up an injury early into the season, it took him many weeks to get playing again and get back into form. When asked by many in the fanbase to just shut Barkley down for the year, the team didn’t listen, and Barkley had several performances where he looked like he was still hurt.
That most likely drove down his rating, even if he did rush for four touchdowns in the last three games of the season.
It looks like the Madden developers have a ‘what have you done for me lately’ type of mindset when it comes to ratings and if Barkley wants to become the top back in the game, he’ll have to earn a mid-season boost.
But with increased help and a healthy body coming into this year, that might not be a far off possibility.