Patrick Mahomes Not in Best of Players Madden 99 Club
Madden 26 has released its annual 99 Club, representing the best players in the game, whose stats are unmatched compared to other players. The 99 overall rating is the highest rating a player in a Madden game can achieve, and while there were a few obvious picks, one name was surprisingly omitted – Patrick Mahomes.
Yes, him. Madden really left out Mahomes from the 99 Club, after he’d made it at least 2 other times in past games. So which other QBs got in? The Ravens’ Lamar Jackson, pretty clear option… and the QB who’s gotten more attention for whatever reason these last few months, all because he beat Patty just the one time! It’s Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen, recipient of the 2024 NFL MVP even though it should’ve gone to Lamar.
The Wyoming Wacko has really gotten in Chiefs’ fans’ sides these last few months, hasn’t he? I get it – if you look at the two stat-wise this past season and last season for fun, you’d see that Allen has an advantage in sheer numbers of touchdowns, both in the air and on the ground, while being less prone to interceptions than Patrick. Another point would be how good of a rushing QB Allen is, given he’s able to run more scores in than Mahomes. But Patrick doesn’t even need to do that as often, and it’s often cause Allen is facing worse defenses. Mahomes is good with his legs too- he just prefers a more aerial attack strategy.
Additionally, Mahomes has the advantage in the statistical game, with higher totals in stats like passing yards, completion percentage, and the like. Honestly, that should make or break a case on whether or not someone cracks the Madden 99 club, cause sheer numbers can’t get you all the way. Or maybe they can. Look at some of this year’s other 99 Clubbers, such as Eagles RB Saquon Barkley or the Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase. And yes, Mahomes did have another “down year” by his standards, culminating in a Super Bowl blowout to the Eagles. But he had something similar in 2023, and look what happened there!
It gets even worse when you look at the other 99 Club members for this year. Not only does Mahomes drop 4 points to a 95 for this year’s game, when he’d maintained a 99 in the 24 edition, but Josh Allen jumps SEVEN POINTS from a 92 – in just one year’s difference! On top of that, there’s another new addition to the 99 Club that makes little sense – Lane Johnson, an OFFENSIVE LINEMAN for the Eagles! Did Philadelphia make a deal with EA just to keep Mahomes off the list for this year after the Super Bowl blowout or something? That just screams fishy to me. At least Barkley deserved it- he is the cover athlete, after all!
Speaking of other positional players like Johnson, Kansas City also has two more that were in the 99 Club in years past but not this year, namely TE Travis Kelce and DE Chris Jones. The first one might be understandable; Kelce hasn’t been himself in a couple of seasons. But Chris Jones? He’s still arguably the Chiefs’ best defensive lineman, and he’s maintained that among several other Chiefs DLs that have since moved on to other teams. Heck, you could even take a look at DB Trent McDuffie, whose rating for this year’s game is a 94.
McDuffie has quickly turned into one of the NFL’s premier corners in just 3 seasons as a pro and his rating is already that high. Maybe he should be in the 99 Club in the near future. I know he’s good; I named my fantasy team for him!
But what will become of all this should be expected now if you know anything about Mahomes. He’ll quickly turn that rating around (as of now, it’s a 95, a 4-point drop, and it remained the same in 25) and show everyone why you should never peg someone who’s still one of the NFL’s top QBs that low. Every player has off years, and that’s no reason to cut them down like that. Of course, every year comes a new Madden game with detractors, as the ratings system can definitely be argued as broken. It is quite subjective, after all. Just wait a few months for this so-called 99 Club to be fully flipped on its helmeted head!
