EA’s yearly installment of Madden strikes again with some pretty questionable ratings. While not every rating can be perfect, because hey, the Madden scientists are people too, most of the overall ratings are at least within a point or two of what they should be. Of course, with nearly 1700 players, it’s inevitable that there will be some terrible ratings.

Madden can sometimes be awfully generous with their ratings, giving players who were historically good, but were lacking in the previous season, some too-high ratings. They can also be a bit cruel, dishing out low ratings for some of the top players in the league. Here are ten examples of the most egregiously bad overall ratings from Madden 21.

10 Too High: Rob Gronkowski - 92

With Rob Gronkowski coming out of retirement for a victory lap with Tom Brady, the Madden scientists didn’t have a previous year to evaluate off of, and they may have been a bit too generous. While Gronk’s initial rating may have been even more egregious at a 95, even the nerfed 92 seems a bit much.

A 92 makes him the third highest-rated tight end in the league, after George Kittle and Travis Kelce. While he very well could be the greatest tight end to ever play the game, he’s far past his prime and coming back after a year off. To put him above players like Darren Waller or Zach Ertz just doesn’t sit right.

9 Too Low: Deshaun Watson - 86

Deshaun Watson is easily one of the most electric quarterbacks in the league, so for him to drop from the 90 club feels like a robbery. His rating puts him below the likes of Matt Ryan and Tom Brady, who are both obviously very talented, but if you had to choose a quarterback for your team right now, would you really choose either of them over Watson?

The Texans quarterback ranked fourth overall in rushing, sixth overall in completion percentage, and tenth in quarterback rating, yet they did him dirty and dished out an 86. One of the top scramblers in the league is easily deserving of at least a 90.

8 Too High: Amari Cooper - 93

What were they thinking with this one? Amari Cooper’s rating of 93 puts him above Devante Parker, Chris Godwin, Keenan Allen, and Stephon Diggs, none of whom deserve to be outranked by Cooper. This rating puts him sixth overall amongst wide receivers.

Yes, the guy is talented, but he’s far from being the sixth best in the league at his position. A high-80s Madden rating would better fit this wide receiver. His play in 2019 proved him to be too easily shut down against talented defense, with three games less than 20 yards.

7 Too Low: TJ Watt - 86

The first of the two Watt brothers to earn a terrible rating, TJ Watt tied with Chandler Jones for the most forced fumbles last year and fifth in total sacks, topping even the great 99-club member, Aaron Donald. Instead of being amongst these great players in the ratings though, he ranks alongside Ndamokung Suh’s 2.5 sacks and zero forced fumbles.

Watt was one of the favorites to win the Defensive Player of the Year award, which while it was ultimately won by Stephon Gilmore, even being a part of the discussion should be enough to get you in the 90-club. The NFL ranked Watt as the 25th best player in the league last year, yet he is tied for 127th in Madden ratings. He also earned the same rating as last year, despite blowing his stats out of the water. Where is the sense in any of this?

6 Too High: Von Miller - 97

In the 2018 season, Von Miller forced five fumbles, recovered three and had 14.5 total sacks, earning him a well-earned 97 rating in Madden 20. In the 2019 season, he forced zero fumbles, recovered zero, and had eight sacks, yet he earned a 97 again? This drastic of a drop in statistics deserves a ratings drop much more than none at all.

Miller, the Super Bowl L MVP, is far past his prime nowadays. A better ranking would be in the high-80s, amongst linebackers such as Kyle Van Noy, Fred Warner, and Darius Leonard. Instead, EA has wrongfully put him over Chandler Jones, the linebacker who put up a league-leading 19 sacks and tied TJ Watt with eight forced fumbles, also ahead of the rest of the league.

5 Too Low: Nick Bosa  - 89

You’d have thought that the Defensive Rookie Player of the Year would place higher than 30th overall amongst defensive players, but no, Nick Bosa did not. Bosa had a phenomenal rookie season with 9 sacks and 25 quarterbacks, the most in the league, and it’s safe to assume that his second year will be even better.

Bosa is the second highest-rated defensive player on the league’s most dominant defense, and ranks among the best edge rushers in the game, being tied for the second highest acceleration across all edge rushers. On top of this, he ranked 17th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2020, but couldn’t even crack the top seven defensive ends on Madden 21.

4 Too High: Tom Brady - 90

Nobody would argue with you if you claimed that Tom Brady was the greatest quarterback of all time, but many would argue with you if you said he was the fifth best in the league right now. EA ranked him above Deshaun Watson, Carson Wentz, and Aaron Rodgers, none of whom played worse.

Brady ranked 27th in completion percentage amongst starting quarterbacks and 19th in terms of quarterback rating. The ratings-makers may be anticipating a better season, now that he has a better receiving core, but 90 overall seems a tad bit generous, even for the GOAT.

3 Too Low: Derrick Henry - 93

Derrick Henry isn’t the only running back to be snubbed hard in Madden 21. Saquon Barkley earned a 91, Nick Chubb a 92, and Ezekiel Elliott a 92 as well. What’s odd is that Derrick Henry ranked second overall for running backs, which is a perfectly respectable ranking with all things considered, but why is there such a large gap between the #1 and #2 running backs?

Christian McCaffrey absolutely deserves his 99 overall rating and to be ranked the highest amongst running backs, but to have the second highest running back be only a 93 is quite the robbery. Henry lead the league in rushing yards and touchdowns in 2019, easily  deserving of a 96 overall minimum.

2 Too High: JJ Watt - 98

The undisputed greatest Houston Texan of all time, EA was a tad bit generous with JJ Watt’s rating after last season, giving him possibly the most overrated overall in Madden 21. Watt is the two-time Defensive Player of the Year, which likely contributed to his rating, but his performance last year showed his age.

Watt played in only eight games, recording four sacks and one forced fumble. While he had the highest average number of quarterback hits per game, with 21 hits in eight games, that alone should not be enough for a near perfect rating. Only two defensive players have higher overall ratings than him, but his performance last year was nowhere near a top three performance.

1 Too Low: Lamar Jackson - 94

Lamar Jackson was given the honor of being chosen to be Madden 21’s cover player, but got snubbed pretty hard in the ratings. The league MVP and #1 rated player in the league by NFL players received only a 94 overall, making him the third highest-rated quarterback in this year’s Madden.

Jackson broke the all-time record for rushing yards by a quarterback, boasted the third highest quarterback rating after Russel Wilson and Jimmy Garoppolo, lead the league in touchdown throws, and had five 100+ yard rushing games. All other quarterbacks combined had zero. Lamarvelous is more than deserving of a 99 rating after his incredible season, so let’s hope the Madden curse doesn’t strike so he can earn that 99 next year.