Davante Adams slides in 2024 Madden ratings

We’ve reached the point in the summer where EA Sports starts releasing its player ratings for Madden 24. While that means the season is just around the corner, it also means it’s time to overreact and get disturbingly upset at some pretend football ratings as Las Vegas Raiders fans have a legitimate gripe this year with Davante Adams somehow sliding.

Madden dropped their Top 10 wide receivers on Monday, slating Adams in third place with a 97 overall rating. While those are still good numbers overall, at this time last year, he was gifted a pair of gold cleats by none other than legendary wideout Jerry Rice for earning a 99 overall rating and the top spot at the position.

So, after logging 100 catches, 1,516 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2022, Adams dropped two points and slid behind Justin Jefferson and Tyreek Hill. Sure, Jefferson and Hill had more catches and yards than Adams, but the latter led the league in receiving touchdowns and had a career year.

While the slide in the rankings is understandable, the dip in the rating is not...and yes, I will argue about two points! Don’t underestimate my pettiness.

It’s acceptable to say that the three-time All-Pro and six-time Pro Bowl might see a dip in his production this year while playing with a new quarterback who he has no familiarity with in Jimmy Garoppolo. However, that shouldn’t change Adams’ rating at all. He’s still arguably the best and most complete wide receiver in the game and deserves the same number next to his name as Jefferson and Hill.

For those curious about the other Raiders receivers' ratings, Hunter Renfrow and Jakobi Meyers both came in at 89, DeAndre Carter is next at 76, Keelan Cole Sr. is 73, and Cam Sims and Tre Tucker round out the team’s top six at 70.

Around the rest of the AFC West, the top five wide receivers (after Adams) were as follows:

• Keenan Allen, Los Angeles Chargers (89)
• Mike Williams, Chargers (88)
• Jerry Jeudy, Denver Broncos (83)
• Courtland Sutton, Broncos (82)
• Kadarius Toney, Kansas City Chiefs (81)

Madden also dropped their safety rankings, which were much less controversial for the Silver and Black. Derwin James of the Chargers is the game’s top player at the position with a 95 rating, while the Broncos’ Justin Simmons comes in at No. 3 and 92 overall.

No one from Las Vegas cracked the top 10, or even got close, as Marcus Epps leads the position group in the desert with a 77 rating and Tre’von Moehrig isn’t far behind at 76 overall. It is interesting that Madden has Epps listed at free safety and Moehrig at strong, despite the latter having a faster speed rating (90 to 87) and weaker strength rating (61 to 63).

Christopher Smith II, Jaquan Johnson and Roderic Teamer Jr. all came in at 67 while Isaiah Pola-Mao rounds out the group with a 60 rating.

Below is how the top five safeties in the division are rated and ranked:

1. Derwin James Jr., Chargers (95)
2. Justin Simmons, Broncos (92)
3. Justin Reid, Chiefs (81)
4. Kareem Jackson, Broncos (78)
5. Marcus Epps, Raiders (77)