Every year players load up the new Madden NFL title and many of them are let down and feel disrespected at the overall they receive. With the 2019 NFL season coming to a close, soon it’s time to look at the guys who earned a ratings boost from what they were assigned in Madden NFL 20.

Plenty of players have not only outplayed their ratings, but many of them have also earned themselves lucrative incentives and the possibility of cashing in with a new contract. Let’s now look at 10 NFL defensive players who earned a ratings boost in Madden NFL 21.

10 Za’Darius Smith

It’d be hard to convince anyone inside the greater Wisconsin area that Za’Darius Smith wasn’t the most underrated and disrespected defender in the entire NFL during the 2019 season. His Pro Bowl selection snub was thankfully corrected due to him being the #1 replacement for Super Bowl and injury dropouts. On top of grabbing 13.5 sacks, Smith also managed to bring a sense of leadership and cohesion to a messy under-performing unit. He’ll likely remain in the high 80’s, but look for Packer nation to lobby for at least a 90 overall.

9 Joe Haden

As a member of the Cleveland Browns, Joe Haden carved out a name for himself and continued to do so despite the lack of team success. Since coming over to the Pittsburgh Steelers he hadn’t been close to his superstar self until recently when the trade acquisition of Minkah Fitzpatrick tightened up the secondary unit for the Steelers. An 83 overall is pretty fitting for the slightly better than average play Haden has been displaying, but managing to grab 5 interceptions in 2019 is worthy of at least an additional point or two.

8 Blake Martinez

Outside of winning a Super Bowl, Blake Martinez did the best he could to set himself up for a great payday in free agency. The Green Bay Packer starter finished the year 2nd in total tackles in the entire NFL with 155. On top of that, he managed to bring down the quarterback 3 times and caught an interception. The entire Packers defense played pretty poorly in the NFC Championship game, but it wasn’t all on Martinez. At the end of the day, it’s hard to justify a 72 overall as being accurate for a guy who had the year he had. At the lowest, he’ll likely be sporting a mid-to-high 70 overall when the next game releases.

7 Anthony Harris

Anthony Harris may not be a name you’re familiar with, as the Minnesota Vikings safety is coming off of a true breakout campaign in 2019. On top of tying for the league-leading interception title with 6 total picks, he also attended his first NFL Pro Bowl. Harris has the benefit and unfortunate circumstance of playing for an impressive defensive unit. He gets more opportunities because of the other stars he’s surrounded by, but in turn, gets less credit for his own play. He likely won’t shoot up in overall, but an 82 seems super low for a guy who just had a solid year at the safety position.

6 Tre’Davious White

Playing cornerback in the NFL is a position in which the player needs to have supreme confidence in himself. Thankfully for Buffalo Bills fans Tre’Davious White goes out on the field every week believing he’s better than the wide receiver across from him, and a majority of the time he proves it.

Thanks to both the success of his team and him personally he’s already received a boost to his overall and currently sits at an 88. Don’t be surprised if it moves up with the release of the next game as the designers get a closer look at his game tape.

5 Shaquil Barrett

You would assume that a man who led the NFL in sacks in a single season would be garnering a lot more attention, but unfortunately, Shaq Barrett plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Despite being nominated for the Defensive Player of the Year award, there’s very little belief that he’ll walk away with it despite claiming the sack title with 19.5 during the 2019 season. His Madden rating currently sits at an 85, so considering the lack of love he’s getting, don’t expect a jump to a 90 overall, but the guys at EA will likely reward him with an additional couple of overall points.

4 T.J. Watt

For the last couple of years, Pittsburgh Steeler and NFL fans, in general, were wondering what type of player T.J. Watt could become. Some thought he had a chance to be a solid starter, while others dreamed of him rivaling his brother’s dominance. With T.J. currently being in the running for Defensive Player of the Year, it seems the latter was the right direction. In many ways, 2019 was a breakout year for T.J. as he came away with 14.5 sacks and outplayed his 86 overall rating in Madden. Look for J.J. Watt’s younger brother to be sporting a 90 overall or higher right alongside him.

3 Nick Bosa

Nick Bosa at this point is likely walking away with the Defensive Rookie of the Year award, and a Super Bowl win might also be in the cards for the stellar young stud. He currently sits at an 87 overall, which is a midseason upgrade he acquired to his rating, so it seems he got his ratings boost early.

It’s unlikely that he edges into the 90’s after only one year, but it all depends on what happens in the big game. Bosa’s shown the ability to single-handedly wreck games, and if he does that in the biggest game of his life it could result in him getting another significant rating adjustment.

2 Nick Kwiatkoski

Nick Kwiatkowski, otherwise known as Quick, may not be the household name, but the reserve linebacker managed to come on strong in relief of the injuries the Chicago Bears suffered at their inside linebacker position. Despite only starting in less than half of the 16 games for the season he managed to finish the year with over 70 tackles. He showed the skillset and intelligence to step in and help the stellar Bears defense not miss a bit. In that short amount of time, he also managed to sack the quarterback 3 times and even got himself an interception. It seems a 77 overall isn’t quite right for what he proved to be heading into free agency in 2020.

1 Darius Leonard

Going into Madden 21 there is no argument that makes sense for Darius Leonard to be anything less than a 90 overall. For two straight years now he’s proven to be one of the best and most complete linebackers in the entire NFL. With the recent and sudden retirement of Luke Kuechly, there’s now a whole that needs to be filled. During the 2019 season, Leonard managed to snag 5 interceptions and 5 quarterback sacks that went along with his 2 forced fumbles as he racked up over 120 tackles along the way. Having an 85 overall in next year’s game would be pretty disrespectful.

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