CLEVELAND -- With the start of the season nearly two months away, it's still too early to tell how the Cleveland Browns fared in the 2019 NFL Draft.
But that hasn't stopped EA Sports from projecting the play of the Browns' seven-man draft class, as the video game manufacturer released its first round of rookie ratings for the upcoming "Madden 20" game.
Taking to social media on Monday, EA Sports revealed the ratings for some of this year's most high profile rookies, including No. 1 overall pick Kyler Murray and San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa. A deeper dive into the website's database reveals the rating for every rookie included in the initial roster of the game, including nine of Cleveland's first-year players -- seven drafted players and two undrafted rookies.
The Browns' overall rookie ratings are as follows:
- CB Greedy Williams - 73
- LOLB Sione Takitaki - 70
- FS Sheldrick Redwine - 66
- LG Drew Forbes - 64
- MLB Mack Wilson - 64
- LE Wyatt Ray - 62
- CB Donnie Lewis Jr. - 61
- QB David Blough - 48
With the highest Madden rating available being a 99, the game only seems to have moderately strong expectations for Williams, who the Browns drafted out of LSU in the second round. By the end of the team's mandatory minicamp in Berea last month, the former All-American appeared to have established himself as a starting cornerback opposite Denzel Ward in the Cleveland defense, drawing high praise from coaches and teammates alike.
"Greedy did a good job of pushing through that in the spring or the whole time here," said head coach Freddie Kitchens. "He has done a good job pushing through that. That is what the NFL is about. You have to push through. You have to play the next play. You have to have confidence. You have to have more confidence in yourself that anybody around you has. Greedy is going to be fine.”
Despite their current lackluster Madden ratings, there's still time for the other members of the Browns rookie class to improve their standing in the game. With EA Sports updating its online ratings on a weekly basis during the season, Cleveland's rookies could see their numbers climb -- just as Ward did when he went from an 80 to an 88 over the course of his Pro Bowl rookie year.
Also of note: Last month we learned the Browns will enter the game with an overall rating of 87.
"Madden 20" is scheduled to release on August 2, 2019.
