SI

Watch: Jameis Winston, Todd Gurley, Amari Cooper react to Madden rating

Several of the NFL's top rookies were filmed reacting to their rankings in the upcoming edition of Madden NFL 16. 
Watch: Jameis Winston, Todd Gurley, Amari Cooper react to Madden rating
Watch: Jameis Winston, Todd Gurley, Amari Cooper react to Madden rating

The NFL's top rookies, including Tennessee's Marcus Mariota and Tampa Bay's Jameis Winston, were filmed by EA Sports guessing, and then reacting to, their player ratings in the upcoming version of Madden NFL.

Their reactions ranged from rational positivity (see: St. Louis RB Todd Gurley), to elation (see: Carolina WR Devin Funchess), to crumple-up-this-sheet-of-paper disappointment (see: Cleveland RB Duke Johnson). 

EA has only revealed the in-game ratings of the 10 rookies with the highest ratings so far. But that won't stop us from breaking down the athletes' perception of themselves versus the Madden-determined reality of their digital abilities. To the chart!

Name, Position, Team

 Prediction 

    Actual    

Difference

Jameis Winston, QB, Tampa Bay

“84 or 82”

81

“3 or 1”

Marcus Mariota, QB, Tennessee

80

78

2

Amari Cooper, WR, Oakland

86

82

4

Melvin Gordon, RB, San Diego

82

78

4

Kevin White, WR, Chicago

85

78

7

Todd Gurley, RB, St. Louis

85

80

5

Of the top 10 picks of the 2015 NFL draft, only the New York Giants' No. 9 draft selection, OT Ereck Flowers, does not have a Top 10 rating. 

Cooper, the 2015 NFL draft's No. 4 pick, has the highest rating of any NFL rookie, at 82. ​

And let's give a shout out to Tevin Coleman, the Atlanta RB drafted in the third round of this year's draft, for boldly predicting his personal rating to be a 92. It is at least 16 points lower than that, although it's probably lower, and with the drawn-out reveal we might not know for a while. 

The 17th iteration of the popular video game franchise is set to be released on Aug. 26.

- Will Green


Published
Extra Mustard
EXTRA MUSTARD

Where Culture Meets Sports: Your dose of Hot Clicks, viral videos, bizarre and hilarious stories and more from the intersection of pop culture and sports.