The football season is drawing ever closer, with Falcons training camp opening up to the public on Friday (four days!!). That also means we have this year's incarnation of Madden looming on the horizon.
Instead of just waiting until you buy the game to figure out how highly your favorite player is rated, EA Sports has taken to releasing ratings before the game comes out -- in maddeningly small bunches -- to build hype, or something. Monday's bit featured a handful of this year's top rookies, which of course included Matt Ryan's new best friend, offensive tackle Jake Matthews. His numbers:
Overall: 81
Pass Block: 90
Run Block: 84
Impact Block: 85
Acceleration: 82
Matthews' overall rating was tied with Oakland's Khalil Mack for third-best, behind only Greg Robinson and Jadeveon Clowney (both 83). Robinson's run-blocking grade was higher, but praise Vishnu for someone that can pass-block!
We don't know how the rest of the Falcons will rank in the world of virtual football, but I do know that Matthews' pass-blocking would've been a Falcons best as of the final roster update for last year's game. So hey, maybe the Falcons will be a fun team to play with this year, if that's your thing.
Madden 15 will be released on Aug. 26, and I'll probably buy it since the last football video game I bought had Peyton Hillis on the cover (ha). Check out the full video below, which features all the top rookies, and then complain away when you realize that Johnny Football didn't crack the top 10 or that Clowney is somehow not 99 overall.