A video game doesn’t tell the entire story of a player’s career or accomplishments. The Madden rating system, while flexible, is flawed and can miss the quality of some players who may not get as much national attention.
Brandon Aiyuk’s rating is a good illustration of this.
Aiyuk’s overall rating for Madden 24 came in at a respectable 86 overall. That kept him just out of the top 20, with Eagles WR DeVonta Smith and Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown both rounding out the top 20 with 87 overall ratings.
The bigger issue with Aiyuk’s rating comes with a zoom in on some individual skills. Madden rates deep route running, medium route running and short route running. Aiyuk didn’t land in the top 10 in any of those categories.
Not including Aiyuk as a top 10 deep route runner is fine. That’s not something the 49ers use very often and their passing game focuses more on the short and intermediate areas.
On the other hand, there aren’t many receivers who spend more time and create more space than Aiyuk on short or medium routes. He’s effective on both in all areas of the field, and in particular in the red zone where he creates a ton of separation despite the confined spaces near the end zone.
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Aiyuk is trending up after notching his first 1,000-yard season last year, and hauling in a career-high eight receiving touchdowns. The fourth-year WR told media he believes he’s going to take off in 2023. If he does, he should certainly wind up as one of the best route runners in Madden next year, and he should be elevated into the top 15 or 20 overall where he belongs.
