Madden NFL 07 Feature Preview: The Numbers Game

Ready or not, it's about time for some football. The Hall of Fame game is behind us, John Madden is finally in the Hall at Canton, OH (what took so long?), and in just a few short weeks, the latest version of EA Sports' seminal football series--Madden NFL 07--will be unleashed on the sports-gaming public. This year's game, which is being released on practically every gaming platform under the sun, has a number of new features that you can read about in our previous looks at the game, but there's some important information that we haven't been able to discuss until now. We're talking about player ratings, of course--the stats that reflect how far a player has progressed since last season or, in some cases, how much their skill has degraded. Here, we break down each team in the NFL by division and list the overall rating for four of each team's star players. In parentheses we've listed the change in each player's overall rating from Madden NFL 06 to give you an idea of whose stock is rising and who might be looking for a new job (or at least a new team) at the end of the season.

AFC WEST

Kansas City Chiefs
Trent Green 91 (N/A)
Larry Johnson 96 (+10)
Eddie Kennison 87 (+2)
Patrick Surtain 92 (-2)

Aaron Brooks is the new face behind center for the Oakland Raiders.

Denver Broncos
Jake Plummer 90 (+3)
Tatum Bell 84 (N/A)
Rod Smith 90 (+1)
Champ Bailey 99 (+1)

Oakland Raiders
Aaron Brooks 84 (-3)
Lamont Jordan 90 (+3)
Randy Moss 97 (-2)
Kirk Morrison 87 (+14)

San Diego Chargers
Philip Rivers 83 (+3)
LaDanian Tomlinson 97 (-1)
Keenan McCardell 88 (+1)
Jamal Williams 96 (+6)

AFC SOUTH

Indianapolis Colts
Peyton Manning 99 (N/A)
Dominic Rhodes 83 (+1)
Marvin Harrison 97 (-1)
Corey Simon 92 (-1)

Peyton Manning is sure to put up huge numbers in Indy this year, but will it lead to a championship?

Jacksonville Jaguars
Byron Leftwich 89 (+3)
Fred Taylor 89 (-1)
Matt Jones 84 (+5)
Marcus Stroud 97 (+1)

Houston Texans
David Carr 84 (-1)
Domanick Davis 90 (+1)
Andre Johnson 89 (-1)
Dunta Robinson 90 (+3)

Tennessee Titans
Billy Volek 84 (+1)
Chris Brown 86 (-2)
David Givens 87 (+2)
Albert Haynesworth 89 (N/A)

AFC NORTH

Cincinnati Bengals
Carson Palmer 95 (+8)
Rudi Johnson 92 (+2)
Chad Johnson 97 (+3)
Deltha O'Neal 90 (+9)

At this rate, Rudi Johnson might be the only player left in Cincinnati who isn't in jail on opening day.

Pittsburgh Steelers
Ben Roethlisberger 92 (+3)
Willie Parker 86 (+6)
Hines Ward 94 (+1)
Troy Polamalu 98 (+5)

Baltimore Ravens
Steve McNair 88 (-1)
Jamal Lewis 88 (-6)
Derrick Mason 90 (-1)
Ed Reed 99 (+1)

Cleveland Browns
Charlie Frye 81 (+6)
Reuben Droughns 89 (+4)
Joe Jurevicius 86 (+5)
Willie McGinest 93 (+1)

AFC EAST

New England Patriots
Tom Brady 98 (+1)
Corey Dillon 89 (-4)
Deion Branch 88 (+1)
Rodney Harrison 94 (-3)

Kelly Holcomb is the lowest-rated quarterback on this list. But we figured we'd toss a bone to you Bills fans.

Miami Dolphins
Daunte Culpepper 92 (-6)
Ronnie Brown 89 (+6)
Chris Chambers 91 (+3)
Zach Thomas 96 (+2)

New York Jets
Chad Pennington 85 (-3)
Curtis Martin 89 (-6)
Laveranues Coles 88 (-1)
Shaun Ellis 93 (N/A)

Buffalo Bills
Kelly Holcomb 79 (+2)
Willis McGahee 90 (-1)
Lee Evans 87 (N/A)
London Fletcher 92 (-1)

NFC WEST

Seattle Seahawks
Matt Hasslebeck 93 (+5)
Shaun Alexander 98 (+2)
Darrell Jackson 90 (+1)
Marcus Trufant 90 (+3)

Marcus Trufant was a lynchpin in Seattle's defense last year, and this season should be no different.

Arizona Cardinals
Kurt Warner 87 (+4)
Edgerrin James 96 (N/A)
Larry Fitzgerald 93 (+6)
Karlos Dansby 90 (+3)

St. Louis Rams
Mark Bulger 90 (+2)
Steven Jackson 89 (+3)
Torry Holt 97 (+1)
Leonard Little 94 (+1)

San Francisco 49ers
Alex Smith 82 (N/A)
Frank Gore 80 (+4)
Antonio Bryant 86 (+1)
Tony Parrish 91 (-1)

NFC SOUTH

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Chris Simms 84 (+8)
Carnell Williams 90 (+6)
Joey Galloway 89 (+4)
Ronde Barber 94 (+2)

Joe Horn will have a new quarterback in Drew Brees this season, along with renewed vigor to bring wins back to New Orleans.

Atlanta Falcons
Michael Vick 91 (-1)
Warrick Dunn 90 (+2)
Michael Jenkins 82 (+3)
Rod Coleman 94 (+1)

New Orleans Saints
Drew Brees 92 (+4)
Deuce McAllister 88 (-4)
Joe Horn 90 (-3)
Will Smith 90 (+5)

Carolina Panthers
Jake Delhomme 92 (+4)
DeShaun Foster 87 (+3)
Steve Smith 97 (+8)
Julius Peppers 97 (N/A)

NFC NORTH

Chicago Bears
Rex Grossman 85 (+5)
Thomas Jones 88 (+2)
Mushin Muhammad 89 (-2)
Brian Urlacher 98 (+3)

The stuff of a quarterback's nightmares. Brian Urlacher is one of the most feared linebackers in the game.

Green Bay Packers
Brett Favre 88 (-5)
Ahman Green 88 (-3)
Donald Driver 90 (+3)
Nick Barnett 89 (N/A)

Detroit Lions
Jon Kitna 83 (+3)
Kevin Jones 87 (N/A)
Roy Williams 88 (N/A)
Shaun Rogers 95 (+1)

Minnesota Vikings
Brad Johnson 86 (+5)
Chester Taylor 85 (+2)
Koren Robinson 85 (+3)
Darren Sharper 96 (+2)

NFC EAST

New York Giants
Eli Manning 88 (+6)
Tiki Barber 94 (+3)
Plaxico Burress 90 (+3)
Michael Strahan 97 (+1)

Everyone is waiting for Terrell Owens to 'go T.O.' on the Cowboys. Bill Parcells is hoping folks wait a long, long time.

Washington Redskins
Mark Brunell 87 (+7)
Clinton Portis 94 (+2)
Santana Moss 92 (+5)
Sean Taylor 95 (+4)

Philadelphia Eagles
Donovan McNabb 94 (-3)
Brian Westbrook 89 (+1)
Reggie Brown 83 (+6)
Brian Dawkins 98 (N/A)

Dallas Cowboys
Drew Bledsoe 87 (+3)
Julius Jones 87 (N/A)
Terrell Owens 97 (-1)
Roy Williams 94 (-3)

For more discussion on player ratings in Madden NFL 07, be sure and check out GameSpot's official football gaming union The Huddle.

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

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Madden NFL 07