Leaked Madden NFL 19 ratings have Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as the fourth-best player in the game

While the game itself will not be released until mid-August, initial player ratings for EA Sports’ Madden NFL 19 have apparently already emerged on the internet. YouTuber Miguel “Gator” Lozada recently released a video in which he presents each team’s top rated players as well as a list of the highest rated players throughout the game. Some of the New England Patriots’ leaked numbers are also shown.

Let’s take a look at the 10 Patriots players Lozada presents in the clip:

QB Tom Brady: 96 overall

TE Rob Gronkowski: 92 overall

FS Devin McCourty: 91 overall

CB Jason McCourty: 86 overall

CB Stephon Gilmore: 85 overall

DE Trey Flowers: 85 overall

WR Julian Edelman: 84 overall

DE Adrian Clayborn: 83 overall

OC David Andrews: 83 overall

SS Patrick Chung: 81 overall

Some quick-hit thoughts on the ratings:

Tom Brady is the fourth best player: Seeing Brady as the Patriots’ number one rated player was to be expected. The same cannot be said, however, of him being only the fourth-best player in the game behind Aaron Rodgers (99), Aaron Donald (99) and Antonio Brown (99). Considering that Brady is the reigning league MVP and best quarterback in football, this comes as a bit of a surprise.

Rob Gronkowski is rated worse than A.J. Green and DeAndre Hopkins: When fully healthy, Gronkowski is one of the most dominant offensive players in all of football – a player capable of single-handedly changing a game. Ranking the NFL’s best tight end (both in real life and Madden 19) at 21st overall and behind players such as A.J. Green and DeAndre Hopkins is therefore a curious decision.

Trey Flowers gets recognized as one of the NFL’s best edge rushers: Flowers is not in the same elite category as other defensive edges. Still, his 85 rating is very good and representative of how the former fourth-round draft pick has grown into a reliable and productive player on the Patriots’ defense.

Jason McCourty is better than Stephon Gilmore? McCourty played on a putrid Cleveland Browns team in 2017 but still had a good season. However, Gilmore was one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL last year – especially over the second half of the season. Seeing McCourty rated higher and as the second best player on New England’s defense behind his brother was not expected.

EA Sports sees the Patriots’ secondary as a strength: In general, New England’s secondary receives high ratings and is one of the team’s strengths in the game: Four of the Patriots’ top 10 in overall rating are defensive backs with the aforementioned McCourty twins and Stephon Gilmore being joined by safety Patrick Chung.

As Lozada notes in his video, the ratings are very much a work in progress and could still change until the game hits stores on August 10. But until final rankings get revealed, the ones above will have to do. What do you think of them?

[UPDATE] According to EA Sports’ Associate Creative Designer Andre Weingarten, the ratings are neither final nor accurate. (h/t Matt Monitto)