EA Sports recently unveiled its rookie ratings for Madden 26, and like clockwork, the numbers are already fueling debates across the football world. At the center of it all is Cam Ward, the dynamic rookie quarterback out of Miami, who was selected by the Tennessee Titans as the No.1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
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Despite a monster college career, Ward’s Madden rating dropped jaws at just 71 overall. While this is the highest rating received for a rookie quarterback this year, the valuation is miles below Travis Hunter’s 84 overall.
Unsurprisingly, fans are confused, and rightly so.
Ward’s college stats are among the best we’ve seen in recent years. In 2024 alone, he threw for 4,313 yards, 39 touchdowns, just 7 interceptions, and posted a passer rating of 172.2.
Over three seasons (two at Washington State, one at Miami), he totalled 11,281 yards and 87 touchdown passes. For comparison, Andrew Luck, widely regarded as a generational talent, had fewer passing yards (9,430) and touchdowns (82) across his three years in college, yet was rated 84 overall when he debuted in Madden 13.
So, when Ward came in at 71, eyebrows were raised. Some saw it as disrespectful. Others as a misunderstanding of Ward’s upside. But one man who didn’t buy into the outrage was former Bengals star and Madden ratings adjuster Chad Johnson. On the latest episode of Nightcap, he addressed the controversy with clarity.
“This is what we saw fit to put him as before the season starts,” Ocho bluntly said. “Some of these players haven’t played a down in the NFL yet, and everybody wants their ratings super high when they’ve done nothing.”
While Johnson acknowledged Ward’s potential and college tape, he equally emphasized that Madden ratings aren’t meant to be final declarations; they’re starting points.
“A 71 is justifiable. Which most rookies come in at the quarterback position at,” he explained. “This is nothing but room to improve.”
In simple words, the Titans QB1’s current rating is the floor, not the ceiling: “We got a 17-game season. Week to week, that rating [can] continue to rise… and it can drop too.”
The more Ward performs under center in Tennessee, the more his virtual version will reflect it. That said, Ocho also didn’t hesitate to voice his belief in the young quarterback.
“Cam Ward, I love you. You know how I feel about you, boy… You got Calvin Ridley over there, huh? I know what you’re gonna do. You got Tyler Lockett. I know what you’re gonna do. Week to week, it’s gonna continue to rise.”
So while the opening number may not wow, the message from the Madden team, especially from someone as plugged in as Chad Johnson, is clear: This isn’t the end of Cam Ward’s Madden journey. It’s just the beginning.
And if Ward puts up the same numbers in the pros that he did in college, that 71 won’t stick around for long.
