5 Buffalo Bills that will improve their ratings in Madden 21
Josh Allen (77 Overall)
Last but certainly not least on this list is Buffalo Bills Quarterback Josh Allen. Beginning from his draft process, the story on Josh Allen has been his cannon for an arm, but also his inaccuracies as a passer. The narrative on this idea continues once again given his launch ratings in Madden 21.
Opinions on Allen throughout the league and national media are all over the place. Some people say he is the worst Quarterback from the 2018 draft class, others will say he is the best, but most people will say he is somewhere in the middle.
Entering his third year in the league, Allen is ready to prove critics wrong about his capabilities as a passer. Allen can now add Madden to that list of critics as they seemingly graded him as a scrambling style quarterback. It’s understandable for anyone who hasn’t followed the Bills to think this way but watching him develop from his rookie year until now, it is evident that he is a true pocket passer with the athletic ability to scramble and/or improvise when needed.
In his rookie year, Allen was forced to scramble and show off that athletic ability more than ever because of a below-average offensive line. However, in Year 2 Allen illustrated the ability to make reads in the pocket and take hits after the throw because of a bolstered offensive line. Entering year three, Allen now has a perennial Wide Receiver one in Stefon Diggs followed by the dependable John Brown and Cole Beasley. This pass-catching unit should give Allen all the firepower needed to prove that he is more than capable of being a pocket passer.
When evaluating Josh Allen’s Madden 21 skill ratings it is obvious that he was graded as a scrambling style Quarterback because of his top skill ratings and the categories in which they fell. Allen got an 85 speed rating, 87 acceleration rating, 85 agility rating, 91 ball carrier vision rating, and of course a 90 jumping rating because of his tendency to try to hurdle defenders. Most of these ratings are fairly accurate, but it is unfortunate that most of these ratings are more useful to a Running Back. With that being said, Madden hit the nail on the head by giving Allen a 99 throw power rating as well as a sweet 87 throw on the run rating.
The categories that fans should expect Allen’s ratings to improve are primarily in the accuracy department. Madden decided to keep all three levels of Allen’s accuracy ratings below 80 with a 78 short throw accuracy, 79 medium throw accuracy, and a 76 deep throw accuracy. In 2019, Allen’s deep throws left a lot to be desired by fans and the coaching staff, which makes that 76 rating for deep throw accuracy a fair assessment.
However, these accuracy ratings are the categories that Madden Rating Adjustors should be focused on in regards to Allen. With inaccuracy being the narrative that continues to follow Allen, he managed to increase his completion percentage by 6 percent in 2019 increasing his rate of completion to 58.8.
With more firepower on offense, expect this to be the area Allen improves yet again in 2020 to quiet the critics and force Madden to increase his accuracy ratings.