Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain ll given interesting Madden 24 rating

As the new video game Madden NFL 24 continues to release its ratings over the course of the week, Denver Broncos fans anxiously waited for the reveal of CB Patrick Surtain ll's overall rating to be released. On Thursday, July 20th, EA Sports officially released the top 10 list of cornerback ratings in the NFL and fans certainly were not happy with the order that was announced.

At first glance, Surtain ll was officially ranked as the third best cornerback in the game at a 94 overall, despite having a much more productive and efficient season as opposed to the leaders atop the list, being Jalen Ramsey and Jaire Alexander. Surtain ll's rating itself is defintely not the worst, considering he had a few shaky performances in which a few WRs got the best of him such as former Panthers WR DJ Moore and Raiders WR Davante Adams. However, this is not out of the ordinary as we see elite cornerbacks struggle from time to time in NFL as it is easily the second-hardest position to play in the sport. Not to mention, the WR position is evolving by the year and is constantly adding more and more talent as the seasons progress.

At cornerback, there is a small rarity of generational talents at the position and it seems Broncos GM George Paton knew exactly of this all along as he made a bold choice selecting Patrick Surtain ll over other available quarterbacks at the time including Justin Fields, Mac Jones, etc. However, in this list of top 10 rated cornerbacks in Madden 24, it seems the ratings adjustors disagree because there is no possible way that they actually came to the assumption that both Jalen Ramsey and Jaire Alexander contain higher skillsets than the likes of Pat Surtain ll.

Earning a first-team All Pro selection and being ranked the best NFL corner by league executives, coaches, and players was apparently not enough for Madden's standards. But not making the All-Pro team at all and allowing nearly 700 yards in pass coverage earns you the number one spot. Make it make sense.

In 2022, former Rams CB Jalen Ramsey allowed the most yards in his last six seasons, most touchdown passes in his last seven seasons, worst passer rating in his last three seasons, and worst completion percentage in his last three seasons. Every single statistical category in advanced pass coverage was worse than Patrick Surtain ll. Of course, Ramsey led Surtain ll in both interceptions and passes defended on the season, both of which are commonly misinterpreted and used as leeway to instantly deem a corner "elite", when in reality, there is many more amplified metrics in the game when playing the position.

As for Packers CB Jaire Alexander, who was rated one overall higher than Surtain ll, he recorded more interceptions and passes defended than Surtain ll however, had worse stats in just about every other category, like Ramsey. Even though I felt Surtain ll's rating should have perhaps been a 95 or even 96 overall, his rating itself was not what irked fans, but more-so his ranking below two players that were simply rated higher due to their popularity and inclusion in high market teams.

While these ratings essentially have no real impact on the lives of the players and truly do not matter at the end of the day, it is a bit disrespectful to players that have played the video game growing up and work hard to perfect their craft be considered the best at their respective positions. I'm sure this rating and ranking means absolutely nothing to PS2, but one thing I do know is that he will continue to perform at a very high level and prove any doubters left that he is far and away the best corner in football.