Jacksonville Jaguars earn a few surprising Madden 22 player ratings

EA released some of the ratings for Madden 22 throughout the last week of July and they made the whole list of teams and players available on the 31st. Based on their 1-15 record in 2020, it was going to be interesting to see what kind of ratings the Jacksonville Jaguars would get. While there were not many surprises, a few things stood out.

The Jags and the Cincinnati Bengals got an identical team overall grade of 75, which isn’t the worst rating in the video game. Even though they had the worst record in the NFL last year, they had a better mark than the Detroit Lions (74), the Carolina Panthers (73), and the New York Jets (72). Meanwhile, running back James Robinson and Myles Jack were the highest-rated Jaguars players at 86.

Robinson was highly productive in 2020, totaling 1,414 yards from scrimmage, the most by an undrafted rookie in NFL history. Nevertheless, few might have guessed that he would be the Jaguars’  highest-rated player in Madden 22. On the other hand, Jack was a stud last season, so his overall rating doesn’t really come as a surprise.

Other Jaguars players that got an overall rating above 80 were cornerback Shaquill Griffin (85), center Brandon Linder (84), Josh Lambo (83), Marvin Jones Jr. (83), left guard Andrew Norwell (82), EDGE rusher Josh Allen (82), wide receiver DJ Chark (81). Not surprisingly, quarterback Gardner Minshew earned a 69 overall grade, and tight end Tim Tebow got a 66 overall.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have a lot of upside heading into the 2021 season.

Not many would have batted an eye if the Jaguars had earned the worst team overall rating in Madden 22. However, it looks like the EA programming team thinks highly of some of their players. Chark got an 81 overall rating despite the fact that his numbers went down in 2020. It wasn’t his fault that the Jaguars experienced instability at quarterback though, and his rating seems to acknowledge that.

The same is true for Allen, who just like Chark, was named to the Pro Bowl in 2019. The Kentucky product appeared in all 16 games and logged 10.5 sacks as a rookie. Nevertheless, he dealt with a knee injury that slowed him down last year. He ended the 2020 season with just 2.5 sacks and 13 total tackles. Still, he had two more points than in the Madden 21 edition.

On the other hand, linebacker Joe Schobert earned a 78 rating, which is rather low when you take into consideration that he was one of the Jags’ few playmakers on defense last season. Other than that, most ratings are fair, including the one Trevor Lawrence got.

The Jags spent the offseason reinforcing the roster. Based on a few training camp practices, it looks like most of their additions will pay off. Also, some of the players that had a down year in 2020 are poised to have a rebound season.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are a young team but the EA programming team seems to believe that they have plenty of upside ahead of the 2021 season. That is reflected in their Madden 22 ratings, which are pretty favorable when you consider that they lost 15 consecutive games in 2020. Based on the talent level they have, they will most likely win more games in 2021 and probably finish with better overall ratings in next year’s edition of Madden.