Early Madden 19 ratings are out and A.J. Green is the top Bengals player

The NFL season is still nearly three months away, but it’s never too early to look at how the Madden 19 video game rates various NFL players.

EA Sports has begun releasing the ratings for various players, including several Bengals. Their top three players are A.J. Green (93), Geno Atkins (90) and Tyler Eifert (89).

The top two guys are no surprise, and Eifert is definitely one of the team’s 3-5 best players when healthy. The problem is Eifert can’t stay healthy, so it’s a little odd to see him ranked higher than the likes of Carlos Dunlap, Vontaze Burfict, William Jackson, Clint Boling and Cordy Glenn.

But there’s no denying that Green and Atkins deserve the top two spots. You can argue who should be higher, but Green probably deserves it since he’s in the prime of his career as a position where players thrive longer than at defensive tackle, where Atkins is now 30 years old.

As for the team ratings, the Bengals are the 10th-worst team for 2018 with a 76 rating. It’s unfortunate to see the Bengals so low, but after back-to-back losing seasons, you can’t complain about it.

The good news is the Bengals have five games against teams ranked below them, then two games against the Chargers and Broncos, who are just one point better right now.

The bad news is the Bengals have four games against top-five teams in the Falcons, Saints and Steelers.

All told, what are your thoughts on the Bengals’ early Madden 19 ratings?

UPDATE: There are reports that these rankings are not accurate and could be different when the game debuts in August. That also could just be EA Sports not wanting rankings leaked, but Bleeding Green Nation spoke to Andre Weingarten, a designer and ratings assistant for Madden, who said the ratings being released to the public are intentionally false.