Philadelphia Eagles Preview: The Birds, According To Madden NFL '11
QUARTERBACK – Kevin Kolb (75)
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Yikes. I know (hope) Kolb will be better than that, but video game AI doesn’t account for things like “intangibles” or “studiousness,” or even “luck.”
RUNNING BACK – LeSean McCoy (79) and Mike Bell (76)
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FULLBACK – Leonard Weaver (90)
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I gave Lenny "Pro Bowl" his own slide so I can ask one big question: REALLY?
I mean, I love Weaver as much as the next guy, and he was huge for the Birds last year.
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TIGHT END – Brent Celek (89)
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WIDE RECEIVER – DeSean Jackson (91) and Jeremy Maclin (81)
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DeSean has 99 speed, 98 acceleration, 99 agility, and 92 catching. Not a surprise there, although at a 72 toughness he’s clearly the biggest wuss of the bunch.
Maclin, meanwhile, is pretty close in the big three categories (95-97-87) and has better jumping ability, but a 73 route running ranking is a little low; something in that range seems to indicate that he’s likely to get lost coming out of the huddle at times.
OFFENSIVE LINE
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DEFENSIVE TACKLE – Brodrick Bunkley (88) and Mike Patterson (83)
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I might switch those around, honestly.
Bunkley is stronger (96 to 89), but Patterson has better numbers pretty much across the board (and it’s an 84-50 landslide in that all important swagger column).
Trevor Laws and Antonio Dixon are both 66s, although Laws’peripherals kind of suck and both have awareness ratings slightly above comatose.
Jeff Owens also made the game, and at 55 overall, he’s officially the worst player on the team. Way to go, Jeff!
DEFENSIVE END – Trent Cole (95) and Juqua Parker (80)
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Cole is the best player on the team, and that’s probably about right.
I put Parker up above because he’s the next best DE at 80, slightly above Brandon Graham’s 78. On the whole, Graham is much better in every category but awareness and finesse moves, which is fine because he’s a rookie but baffling because Parker’s style of play resembles that of a runaway 18-wheeler.
Behind them are Darryl Tapp (77 overall but so much more useful than Chris Clemons), Victor Abiamiri (73 overall and about 90 points too high on injury ranking), and Ricky Sapp—whose 68 overall includes the best speed and acceleration of any DE but a 28 awareness that makes me wonder if he’s not actually an animatronic robot.
Also, I must wonder why Jeff Owens made the team but Daniel Te’o-Nesheim is left out. Besides the cool name, I’m not sure Owens’ 55 overall would’ve made his collegiate team’s depth chart in NCAA 11.
LINEBACKERS – Ernie Sims (83), Stewart Bradley (79) and Moise Fokou (70)
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I bunched them together because of the group of eight, I’d wager on at least five of them (and maybe six) playing multiple positions—the exceptions being Bradley and Fokou.
Even Madden knows Moise Fokou sucks, and his most positive attribute is his speed. StewBrad, meanwhile, is in the 75-90 range across the board—except in swagger, of course, so this team may need to call in Lil’ Wayne for a seminar.
CORNERBACKS – Asante Samuel (94) and Ellis Hobbs (80)
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Samuel is the second-best player on the squad, and that’s about right (minus his Deion-esque 29 in tackling). Hobbs, meanwhile, is only an 80 but has 90 speed and is literally twice the tackler Samuel is, even if his 35 hit power is akin to being hit by a dishrag.
Sheldon Brown is an 87, by the way. Just saying.
SAFETIES – Quintin Mikell (83) and Nate Allen (75)
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Mikell is usually quite underrated, but Madden has him pretty fair in most categories; his awareness might a little low, but he does tend to blow one coverage scheme per game in an abysmally comical way, so I guess that was factored in.
Allen has pretty good numbers for a rookie (including an 84 swagger!), and his 75 in catching means two things: he should be good out in “centerfield,” and he’s probably more useful than Hank Baskett or Riley Cooper in a five-receiver set.
SPECIAL TEAMS – David Akers (89) and Sav Rocca (71)
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That’s about right, although giving Akers a 90 kick power is kind of a joke. Honestly, we all love David, but if a guy who shanks 40-plus yarders like they’re mafia snitches and has less touchbacks than a babysitter can get a 90 kick power, Sebastian Janikowski must have about a 160 or so.
Also, I’d rather have Jon Dorenbos on the team for 15 plays a game than Owens, Demps, or Chaney. Plus, he can do magic on the sideline!
THE FINAL WORD
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On paper (or artificial intelligence, I guess), I can’t see this being a .500 team based on these ratings.
On the virtual field, however,anyone who knows the Eagles’ playbook should be able to do fairly well.
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