With the current release of some of the Madden 13 ratings, we've decided to do another rating and go a bit more in-depth with how we determine ours. Today's victim: Sidney Rice.
As always first we look at the production. Like any player, we look at the last three years production. A quick look at Rice shows that his last two seasons haven't been very productive or healthy, and when we look at his total career numbers, they actually show us a player who had one good season three years ago when Brett Favre played, but very little else. The argument could be made that he had one good season because he played with an outstanding QB. But lets see what the numbers say:
Rice's Production
Years ago we devised positional stat ratings in addition to things like stat minimums. a Positional Stat Rating is a value we devised for each stat based on position. For example, 10 TDs for a WR may have a value of 90, while 2 TDs might be valued at 70. Looking further, 1000yds might have a value of 75 while 30 catches might only be valued at 70. A stat minimum quite simply is a rule. One we follow is the 1,000 yard rule. No player with less than that production will ever exceed a 76 rating. Seem harsh? Its not, 1,000 yards is pretty basic and little challenge for productive, consistent players. Essentially we look at all of a player's production, plug them into our macro formulas and then let their numbers determine an average. Let's look at Rice (who we had rated a 79 after 2010).
Games: 9 (60)
Receptions: 32 (60)
Average: 15.1 (75)
Fumbles: 1 (80)
TDs: 2 (70)
Wins: 7 (60)
Rush Offense Rank: 21st (65)
Pass Offense Rank: 22nd (65)
Many times we get questions regarding the categories. Who cares about how potent the run game is, he's a WR! Does it matter how many wins his team has? Its important because the more data we use makes it easier to see a player's true value. The more information we draw from allow for more accuracy. Wins? That might be the most important stat of all. Like Herm Edwards said many moons ago "Its why you play the game!" Numbers don't mean as much when they don't contribute to producing wins. And while its only one category it can certainly give us a hint of players that are generating empty numbers. We take Rice's total (535) and divide that by the number of categories (8). 67 is his baseline rating. Our scout tell us thats a little low. Now up to 10% of his total can now be added/subtracted or ignored after the baseline is generated, so we'll add the full 6 points giving him a 73. We can live with that as Rice has one good year surrounded by some pretty low production. A 73 rating still rates him in the average starter (70-74) category which recognizes his ability to perform but it doesn't overrate him.
Now is this system perfect? certainly not. But its the most efficient way to combine speed, accuracy and impartiality--you have to keep in mind we're rating 53 players per team and we even have to have ratings for players on the practice squad. Even though we rate players every 4 weeks, there simply isn't time to spend a week on every player. We feel like Rice's 73 correctly values him in terms of his current level of play and production. Which is exactly what ratings are supposed to do.
Got other questions about how we rate players or our stat values? Would you like us to rate someone? Let us know. There is no substitute for a Quick, Consistent, Complete and Impartial Ratings system and we enjoy what we do.
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