How Do The Minnesota Vikings’ Madden Ratings Look?

We’re a little less than three weeks away from the release of the latest installment of EA Sports’ iconic Madden NFL series, and EA has finally released the ratings of all the players in this year’s game. Let’s take a look at what the ratings show for the Minnesota Vikings, shall we?

The first thing that a lot of folks will notice is that for the first time in. . .well, in forever, quite frankly. . .running back Adrian Peterson is not the Vikings’ highest rated overall player. Instead, that distinction goes to safety Harrison Smith, who comes in with a 94 overall rating in this year’s game. That makes him the second-highest rated free safety in this year’s version.

Peterson is the team’s second-highest rated player with an OVR rating of 91, and he’s the only offensive player in the top five. Rounding out that top five are, in order, defensive tackle Linval Joseph (89 OVR), linebacker Anthony Barr (88 OVR) and defensive end Everson Griffen (88 OVR).

Teddy Bridgewater gets a little bit of love from the folks at EA, as he has a rating of 81 overall. Much like real life, it’s probably best to hope that nothing serious happens to him, as backup Shaun Hill has a rating of only 68. Surprisingly, undrafted free agent Joel Stave currently has a higher rating (63 OVR) than the incumbent third-stringer and resident glass kicker Taylor Heinicke, who has a 60 OVR rating. Not sure if Heinicke’s injury plays into that or not.

Looking at Bridgewater’s receivers, nobody really stands out. Stefon Diggs has been given the highest grade with a 79 OVR rating. Rookie receiver Laquon Treadwell was given a 75, the same rating as Jarius Wright and just one point higher than Charles Johnson. Cordarrelle Patterson lags behind the pack a bit with a 70 OVR (as a receiver. . .not sure how much that changes as a returner), while Adam Thielen is one point behind Patterson.

The lowest rated player on the team? You probably have an idea. . .it’s long snapper Kevin McDermott, who is listed as a tight end. He has an OVR rating of just 50, which is six points less than the next-lowest player on the squad.

The link to the Madden ratings for all of the Vikings is above. For you Madden experts, is there anything that stands out to you about the ratings for the purple, whether it’s in a positive or a negative way?