They are officially out, thanks to the good folks at IGN.
Since the table is entirely too massive to put in this space, here's a list of just the overall rankings for the entire roster.
QB
Tarvaris Jackson - 79
Gus Frerotte - 77
John David Booty - 77
HB
Adrian Peterson - 95
Chester Taylor - 88
Maurice Hicks - 76
FB
Thomas Tapeh - 85
WR
Bernard Berrian - 85
Sidney Rice - 83
Bobby Wade - 81
Robert Ferguson - 77
Aundrae Allison - 76
Jaymar Johnson - 72
TE
Visanthe Shiancoe - 79
Jim Kleinsasser - 78
Garrett Mills - 71
LT
Bryant McKinnie - 96
Chase Johnson - 65
LG
Steve Hutchinson - 98
Brian Daniels - 70
C
Matt Birk - 95
John Sullivan - 73
RG
Anthony Herrera - 88
Artis Hicks - 80
RT
Ryan Cook - 87
Marcus Johnson - 73
LDE
Ray Edwards - 83
Jayme Mitchell - 70
DT
Pat Williams - 98
Kevin Williams - 97
Ellis Wyms - 76
Letroy Guion - 71
Fred Evans - 68
RDE
Jared Allen - 97
Brian Robison - 82
LOLB
Ben Leber - 81
Vinny Ciurciu - 69
MLB
E.J. Henderson - 92
Derrick Pope - 69
ROLB
Chad Greenway - 87
Rufus Alexander - 71
Heath Farwell - 68
CB
Antoine Winfield - 91
Cedric Griffin - 83
Marcus McCauley - 79
Charles Gordon - 77
Benny Sapp - 77
SS
Darren Sharper - 92
Michael Boulware - 79
Eric Frampton - 71
FS
Madieu Williams - 88
Tyrell Johnson - 80
K
Ryan Longwell - 90
P
Chris Kluwe - 82
A few bits of dubiousness (dubiosity?) to be found here. . .
First, Rufus Alexander being ranked ahead of Heath Farwell is kind of strange, since Alexander spent all of '07 on the shelf. I know Farwell hasn't been much more than a special teams player thus far in his Viking career (albeit a damn fine one), but I'd think he'd be better than a guy that didn't make it through the first pre-season game of his NFL career.
Letroy Guion ahead of Fred Evans is a bit of a curiosity, too. I know I've been hard on Evans because of his off-field antics, but he was actually fairly solid when he got on the field last year. No reason for him to be ranked behind someone that's never been on an NFL field before.
Apparently the folks at EA have solved our TE/FB problem by not having Jeff Dugan OR Naufahu Tahi on the roster, which is something I really can't see happening. I think Brad Childress is going to want at least 5 players between those 2 slots, if not 6.
Our lowest ranked offensive line starter is ranked at an 87. To contrast, the Lions and Bears combined have a total of 1 offensive lineman ranked that high on their entire rosters (that being Chicago's Olin Kreutz, who comes in at a 93). Between that and the rankings of Peterson and Taylor, is it any wonder that this team, much like their real-life counterparts, runs the ball where they want and when they want?
Chris Kluwe isn't ranked high enough. . .but, then, I've been a huge Kluwe fan since he joined the team, so I'm probably not the guy to ask there.
Our lowest rated defensive starter is Ben Leber. . .and, you know something, Ben Leber is a pretty damn good football player. If he's the weak link, then I can't wait to see what this defense is going to do.
And, contrary to what I said when the announcement was made about putting a piece of trash on the cover of the game, I'll probably end up picking this one up anyhow. . .there are lots of places to get custom Madden covers on the internet, and I'm sure that there will be some sort of collector's edition, too, what with this being the 20th anniversary of Madden and all.
Hopefully I'll be back later on this afternoon, folks. Until then, keep enjoying your Friday!