End of Year Results for Vikings Rookies - According to Madden

from: blog.pier59.com

I love the Vikings. I love Madden. I was extremely bummed when no Vikings players were considered for the Madden 15 Cover Vote. But that's not what this post is about. This post is about how the Vikings rookies ended up after their first year in Madden 25. The rosters were downloaded from the Madden Community, and they include the 2014 draft picks for each team from rounds one through three. I did a little tweaking just because the cornerbacks taken in the first round had abysmal ratings. The tight ends suffered as well (Eric Ebron was behind Joseph Fauria and Brandon Pettigrew? Please). I only altered Teddy Bridgewater slightly, giving his awareness rating a slight bump up to 75.

In the first run-through I simmed the whole season. Teddy Bridgewater got the start at quarterback, Jerrick McKinnon was the backup to AP, Anthony Barr started at the left outside linebacker spot, and Scott Crichton backed up Everson Griffin as the right end. I used the stock Minnesota offensive and defensive playbook, though I did add a few more plays where Barr would be rushing the quarterback.

from: fansided.com

Teddy Bridgewater: 77 overall rating. 2875 yards passing with 15 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. He had a 51% completion percentage. He also had 225 rushing yards with 1 touchdown. Let's compare that to the other first round quarterbacks. Johnny Manziel threw for 3568 yards with 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. More yards, but the Browns don't have Adrian Peterson. Blake Bortles backed up Chad Henne the whole year, but he did come in for a couple games and threw for 422 yards, 1 touchdown, and 3 interceptions. Bridgewater definitely needs to get better, but he managed the game like we needed. 

Jerrick McKinnon: 71 overall rating. 749 rushing yards with 7 touchdowns. Peterson went down for a few games, so McKinnon saw a lot of action. He also had 105 receiving yards.

Anthony Barr: 82 overall rating. 58 total tackles, 9 tackles for a loss with 6 sacks. That's compared to Jadeveon Clowney who had 7 sacks and JJ Watt who led the league with 19 sacks. 

In this example, the Vikings went 10-6. We even beat the Packers in the Wildcard round, but then lost to the Seahawks in the Divisional round. I'd say that's a solid year all-around.

In my second example, I tweaked things a bit. I added a few more deep passing routes to the playbook, along with more wide receiver screens. For the defense, I used the Broncos playbook and added a few multiple fronts. I wanted to get Barr more involved rushing the passer, especially since Mike Zimmer has said he wants to use Barr in a similar role to how the Broncos use Von Miller. I simmed this season as well.

Teddy Bridgewater threw for 3,210 yards, with 20 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. 

Jerrick McKinnon got injured for a couple games and only ended with 132 yards and 1 touchdown. 

Anthony Barr had 48 tackles, with 15 for a loss and 14 sacks. He even had a forced fumble. Kind of think this was a bit ridiculous, but Barr gained a ton of experience!

Scott Crichton failed to get even a single tackle. Granted, Everson Griffin played very well, recording 12 sacks. Wasn't on the level of Barr, but if this happens in the upcoming season, it will legitimize the chance the Vikings have given Griffin.

The Vikings went 11-5 this time. We lost in the first round to the Packers.

In my third example, I did my normal tweaking. I used the Colts pass heavy offense with a lot of WR screens thrown in, and even signed T.Y. Hilton when the computer decided to release him from the Colts (yes, the computer does some very stupid things). I completely overhauled the defense. I switched from a 4-3 to a hybrid multiple front, started Linval Joseph at the nose tackle, Everson Griffin as a pass rushing right end, and moved Shariff Floyd over to a run stuffing left end. Barr played a 3-4 outside linebacker, which he is extremely well suited for, Crichton still backed up Griffin, and I shifted Chad Greenway to a middle linebacker. Yea, buddy. Rhodes is going to have to step up big in coverage 'cuz I'm sending the house on lots of plays. 

Teddy threw for 3,914 yards, with 28 touchdowns to only 9 interceptions. He also had a 60% completion percentage. That's the kind of game management we need from him (though if you've read my previous post, I'd prefer we wait a year to get it).

from: maddentips.com

Jerrick McKinnon only had a couple hundred yards with one score, but that's because AP ended with 2,283 yards with 20 touchdowns.

Anthony Barr ended with 71 total tackles, 13 sacks, and 1 interception. Again, a very good showing for him. Clowney beat him out for defensive rookie of the year, however, with 15 sacks. Combined with J.J. Watt's 24 sacks, the Texan's defense was crazy (their offense still struggled mightily, though). 

Scott Crichton only ended up with 5 tackles, but he did back up Everson Griffin who ended with 17 sacks on the year.

The Vikings went 14-2, but lost in the divisional round of the playoffs (I simmed it), so all in all, it was a very successful year. 

In conclusion, my Madden seasons have never been an accurate prediction of real life. When I'm controlling the offense, the Vikings are guaranteed at least 13 wins (and I'm not even that good. The all-madden difficulty just needs a lot of work, which supposedly is coming in Madden 15). Even simming the seasons didn't turn out very realistic. I honestly believe we can expect an 8-8 season, 9-7 at the best. But I don't play Madden to predict the upcoming or current season; I play Madden to control my favorite team and see how far and how well I can utilize those pixilated characters run by a somewhat vast ratings system that can be tweaked to my hearts content. 

Vikings Starting Quarterback

Teddy Bridgewater is the future. We all know that. Unless he gets into a freak accident that ends his football career, or four years down the road he is just utterly terrible, we have our starting quarterback. But who should start this year?

from: q.usatoday.com

Lots of people have said they want Bridgewater to start right away. He's the new, exciting addition, and all the analysts have said he's the most NFL ready quarterback that came out of the draft. From Facebook to Twitter, I've read lots of posts bashing Cassel and saying it's a no-brainer to start Bridgewater. Christian Ponder, sadly for him, is practically nonexistent in these discussions.

I completely disagree with that. Cassel wasn't anywhere close to terrible last year. No, he didn't get us to the playoffs. He went 4-3 as the starter (though he didn't really start in one of those, but played most of the game). That's much better when compared to Ponder's 1-6-1 record. Oh, and don't forget about Josh Freeman's abysmal outing against the Giants. I take that back; please forget about Freeman's abysmal outing against the Giants.

Cassel threw for a bit more than 1,800 yards with 11 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. Given a full season, I could see 4,000, 20 and 14. Those aren't great numbers and won't guarantee the playoffs, but that will give Bridgewater a whole year plus another offseason to learn the playbook and watch games and film. Bridgewater is not Andrew Luck, nor is he Robert Griffin. He won't step in right away and do amazing things for us. But give him a year, and I think we will all be pleasantly surprised.

from: cbssports.com

The best example I can think of is probably not the greatest example, but I'm going to put it out there anyway. I don't think Aaron Rodgers would have been very good if he'd been thrown in right away. Because he got four years to sit behind Favre (granted, Favre was a better quarterback than Cassel), he was ready to go and could start producing at high level. Bridgewater will only get a year at the most to sit, but ideally he will also have Adrian Peterson for the first couple years. Having the best running back in the game goes a long way in improving the passing game.

from: startribune.com

I want Cassel to start and play the whole year. Mike Zimmer has expectedly not named a starter yet, though, and I agree with that. He's said that the best player will start, and that could easily be Bridgewater. I do hope it's really close, but Zimmer and Speilman end up going with Cassel. 2014-15 may not be a great year, but I honestly believe Bridgewater will provide a solid level of quarterback play for many years to come that will get us back into contention for the NFC North title and multiple trips to the playoffs. Bold prediction here, but I predict we win our first Superbowl with Bridgewater at quarterback.