Steelers don't have a single top 32 receiver on Madden 24

It's that time of year again. Whether you care about it or not, Madden is slow-releasing all of their player ratings for the latest installment of their franchise NFL video game, Madden 24. On July 17th, they kicked things off by releasing their ratings for every wide receiver and safety on NFL rosters.

Minkah Fitzpatrick was disrespected once again in the ratings -- falling short of Derwin James among the safety group. Additionally, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receivers are flying under the radar. Upon the release of Madden 24 ratings, the Steelers don't have a single receiver ranked inside the top 35 at the position in the NFL.

Their top receiver in Madden ratings is Diontae Johnson, who slots in as the 38th-best receiver on the game with an overall rating of 82. This ties several players including former Steelers WR JuJu Smith-Schuster and Bengals WR3, Tyler Boyd.

But this isn't the bad part. George Pickens comes in as just the 49th overall receiver on Madden 24 with an overall rating of 80. This puts him down the list with players like Devante Parker, Michael Gallup, Rondale Moore, and Tim Patrick.

Steelers wide receiver ratings are all messed up on Madden 24

Madden ratings don't mean much in the grand scheme of things, and I'm certainly not going to lose sleep over this tonight. However, it is a bit irritating that EA Sports can't seem to get the ratings right.

I understand why they knocked Diontae Johnson in the ratings on their upcoming game. He took a major step back last season, and his efficiency was among the worst in the NFL compared to starting receivers last year. Still, I don't know if slotting him behind a nearly 33-year-old Adam Thielen is the way to go.

Additionally, there's a case to be made that Diontae isn't the best receiver on the Steelers. That title should probably belong to George Pickens after he had a much better 2022 season at the age of just 21. Pickens was 13th in the NFL in yards per target (9.5) while having one of the highest explosive play rates in the league. The collection of Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett had a 109.3 passer rating when throwing in his direction last season.

These aren't the only issues with the ratings on Madden 24. It's very odd that Allen Robinson II is ranked just one point lower than Pickens (79 overall) despite coming off the worst season of his NFL career at the age of 29. Miles Boykin and Calvin Austin III are the only other receivers on the team with a rating of at least 70 on Madden 24 (71 and 70 overall, respectively).

Simply put, these Madden ratings are hard to make sense of at times. Not only did they choose to not include a single Steelers player among their top 35 receivers on the game, but Pittsburgh's best receiver isn't the one with the highest rating on Madden 24. Let's hope they give gamers a quality roster update early in the season.