Well, you know it’s July when some of the biggest football news of the day is that EA Sports posted this year’s ratings for Madden NFL 20. You can search through the database yourself but here’s a quick glimpse at the top 20 Philadelphia Eagles players.

1 - Fletcher Cox: 96
2 - Jason Kelce: 94
3 - Zach Ertz: 93
4 - Malcolm Jenkins: 92
5 - Brandon Brooks: 90
6 - Brandon Graham: 89
6 - Lane Johnson: 89
8 - Alshon Jeffery: 87
8 - Jason Peters: 87
10 - DeSean Jackson: 85
11 - Nelson Agholor: 83
12 - Ronald Darby: 82
12 - Carson Wentz: 82
14 - Zach Brown: 81
15 - Dallas Goedert: 80
15 - Jordan Howard: 80
15 - Malik Jackson: 80
18 - Rodney McLeod: 79
18 - Andrew Sendejo: 79
20 - Nigel Bradham: 78
20 - Timmy Jernigan: 78
20 - Avonte Maddox: 78

Some thoughts:

• I will not get annoyed by meaningless Madden ratings. I will not get annoyed by meaningless Madden ratings. I will not get annoyed by meaningless Madden ratings. I will not— okay, but seriously, how the hell is Wentz only tied for 12th on the team? Nelson Agholor is over him? Really? Like, what’s the basis for that? And Darby is a comparable talent? Lol.
• Some around the league context on Wentz: he’s tied as the 13th highest rated quarterback. Pat Mahomes, Tom Brady, Philip Rivers, Drew Brees, Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan, Ben Roethlisberger, Cam Newton, Jared Goff, and Baker Mayfield are all ahead of him.
• Wentz is notably ahead of Dak Prescott (81 rating) and Nick Foles (77 rating). Eli Manning and Dwayne Haskins are tied for last in the NFC East (72 rating).
• The Eagles are the highest overall rated team in Madden 20.
• No surprise to see the Eagles have a lot of top talent in the trenches.
• Backup safety Andrew Sendejo somehow has the same rating as starting safety Rodney McLeod. Sendejo is also above Bradham and Maddox for some reason.

Now let’s look at the ratings in terms of starting lineups.

EAGLES OFFENSE

QB - Carson Wentz: 82
RB - Jordan Howard: 80
WR - Alshon Jeffery: 87
WR - DeSean Jackson: 85
WR - Nelson Agholor: 83
TE - Zach Ertz: 93
TE - Dallas Goedert: 80
LT - Jason Peters: 87
LG - Isaac Seumalo: 70
C - Jason Kelce: 94
RG - Brandon Brooks: 90
RT - Lane Johnson: 89

Notable backups — Corey Clement: 75, JJ Arcega-Whiteside: 73, Miles Sanders: 72, Mack Hollins: 71, Andre Dillard: 70, Boston Scott: 68, Stefen Wisniewski: 66, Nate Sudfeld: 57, Clayton Thorson: 56.

Some thoughts:

• The offense is pretty stacked. Left guard is the only obvious weak point. The Eagles should be a fun team to use in the game.
• On that note, fifth string tight end Will Tye (74 rating) is somehow better than Seumalo ... among others like JJAW, Sanders, etc. Okay.
• Ertz is one the “Superstar X-Factors” in this year’s game.
• I listed both Goedert and Agholor with the starters since we could see a rise in 12 personnel.
• Wow, Madden hates Sudfeld! No love for him at all.

EAGLES DEFENSE

DE - Derek Barnett: 76
DT - Malik Jackson: 80
DT - Fletcher Cox: 96
DE - Brandon Graham: 89
LB - Zach Brown: 81
LB - Nigel Bradham: 78
LB - Kamu Grugier-Hill: 73
CB - Ronald Darby: 82
CB - Avonte Maddox: 78
CB - Sidney Jones: 76
S - Malcolm Jenkins: 92
S - Rodney McLeod: 79

Notable backups — Timmy Jernigan: 78, Vinny Curry: 75, Jalen Mills: 74, Cre’Von LeBlanc: 73, Rasul Douglas: 72, Josh Sweat: 70, Paul Worrilow: 70, Nathan Gerry: 67, L.J. Fort: 66.

Some thoughts:

• Madden clearly isn’t as high on Barnett as the Eagles are heading into his third NFL season.
• I listed both base (three linebacker) and nickel defense packages (three cornerbacks) here. I picked the corners based on their highest overall ratings. That’s obviously a position that’s not settled heading into 2019.
• The anti-Mills crew will enjoy seeing multiple players ahead of him. They won’t enjoy seeing Douglas even lower than him.

SPECIAL TEAMS

K - Jake Elliott: 74
P - Cameron Johnston: 69
LS - Rick Lovato: 41

Some thoughts:

• Elliott was much higher at this time last year (81 rating). He took a big hit.
• Johnston wasn’t even on the Madden roster when the ratings first came out last year. Nice upgrade for him this time around.

Anything else in the Madden ratings jump out to you?