Madden has started releasing ratings for the upcoming installment of the long-running football simulation franchise, Madden ‘24. These ratings are obviously meant for fun and shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Yet, the video game ratings offer one of our first glances at how Bears players are perceived in a national spotlight.
We’re going to take a look at the ratings for the Bears’ top wide receivers and offer some quick thoughts on the assessments.
DJ MOORE - 86 OVERALL
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It’s not surprising that Moore earns the top marks for the Bears. When Ryan Poles traded away the No. 1 pick to the Panthers for a haul that included Moore, he immediately became the team’s unquestioned WR1. Moore isn’t the biggest or strongest wide receiver. Accordingly, his best attributes are speed (93), acceleration (93), agility (92) and jumping (94). The number rating alone seems fair, but where he ranks among other WRs is maybe a tad low. Moore’s rating has him tied with Brandon Aiyuk and Chris Godwin at 21st in the NFL. That’s below players like Devonta Smith who doesn’t have the same track record of consistency like Moore. Justin Fields is arguably the best quarterback Moore has played alongside since his rookie season with Cam Newton, so there’s a chance Moore takes a step forward and sees his Madden rating rise as the season progresses.
DARNELL MOONEY - 81 OVERALL
Madden is apparently high on Mooney not only returning to form following his season-ending broken ankle injury, but also playing better as the No. 2 wide receiver again. Last year the Bears entered the season with Mooney as their top pass catcher and it didn’t work out as expected. Through the first three weeks of the season he only had four catches for 27 yards. He didn’t reach the endzone until Week 9 and he never crossed the 100-yard threshold in a game. His 81 rating places him tied for 41st at WR alongside Kadarius Toney, Jakobi Meyers, Hunter Renfrow, Zay Jones and Sterling Shepard.
CHASE CLAYPOOL - 76 OVERALL
NFL
It remains to be seen how far apart Mooney and Claypool are in the Bears passing attack pecking order, but Madden believes Claypool is significantly behind as the No. 3 option. Interestingly, Claypool has some high scores in big categories like jumping (94), speed (92), acceleration (90), catching (89) and spectacular catching (89). He gets pretty significant dings in other important areas though, like short route running (76), medium route running (75), deep route running (74), change of direction (75) and a very low awareness rating (68). Claypool certainly didn’t produce in the way that the Bears would have liked after trading away their second-round pick to acquire him last year. He’s another player who has a chance to climb with a full offseason to learn the playbook though. Claypool’s 76-overall rating places him tied for 77th in the NFL alongside players like DeAndre Carter, Devin Duvernay, Jamal Agnew, Jordan Addison and Randall Cobb.
TYLER SCOTT - 71 OVERALL
Bears rookie Scott is known best for his speed as a former running back and track star. It makes sense that acceleration (93) and speed (92) are his best attributes. Scott was a running back in high school and didn’t start playing wide receiver until 2020, his first year at Cincinnati, so it also makes sense that his awareness (69), short route running (72), medium route running (73) and release (66) ratings are a little lower. Scott ranks tied for 134th among all NFL WRs on Madden with players like Miles Boykin, Tutu Atwell and Willie Snead.