The Madden 19 video game has come under some scrutiny of late, particular Chicago Bears fans who feel their choices of best players on the roster is a joke. While Jordan Howard, a former Pro Bowler with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons gets an 85, Adrian Amos (who was benched to start last season) gets an 88? Really? One can imagine people were skeptical was the numbers for the rookie 2018 draft class came out.
In a surprising twist, the script was flipped a bit. Madden raters seem quite taken with a couple of the Bears' picks, but none more so than linebacker Roquan Smith. They seem to think that he's as close to a can't-miss prospect as a team can get. Only two players in the entire draft had higher overall ratings than him in Quenton Nelson and Saquon Barkley.
Though he's officially fourth overall on the list, he's actually tied for third with top quarterback selection Baker Mayfield.
4. Roquan Smith, Middle Linebacker, Chicago Bears
"81 OVR Smith has the makings of a Pro Bowl level talent. The Bears added him to help build a linebacker core that already included Danny Trevathan. Smith can be disruptive all over the field with several ratings in the high 80s. His 88 Tackle and 87 Hit Power are enough to stop most ball carriers cold, but his numbers make him a natural fit in coverage, too. Smith sports an 89 Speed, 91 Acceleration, 88 Agility, with an 89 Pursuit and 80 in Zone Coverage."[video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://www.sportsmockery.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/1280x720-Roquan-Smith-highlights-vs.-Notre-Dame-NFL-Videos.mp4"][/video] This is noteworthy. Smith's rating is actually just a couple points lower than current starter Danny Trevathan (83) and three points higher than Nick Kwiatkoski (78) despite him having two years of experience. This should offer a keen insight into how good Smith was in college and why people have so much confidence in what he could become for the Bears. The comparisons to Patrick Willis may be a bit premature. Yet if the Bears even get a player who's 75% that good, then their defense both in reality and on the video game field just got a lot better.
