Getty D'Andre Swift quiets the crowd in Minnesota during a 2021 game.
D’Andre Swift has had an up and down start to his career for the Detroit Lions, and as a result, he often doesn’t get the respect he deserves in terms of rising NFL runners in the league.
Swift, however, looks as if he is primed to make a serious run at a turnaround in the 2022 season. He is looking beefed up on the field, and is set to run behind an offensive line most consider one of the best in the NFL.
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Entering into 2022, Swift has been dissed again, this time by Madden 23 and EA Sports. The game only ranked Swift as an 80 overall. While that was highest on the Lions at his position, there were still multiple runners ahead of Swift in the league. As Chris Burke pointed out, 28 running backs were ranked ahead of Swift in Madden for this coming season.
There are 28 running backs ranked ahead of D’Andre Swift in the @EAMaddenNFL player ratings.
Perhaps most galling for Swift? The fact that he was revealed to only have a 68 overall rating for strength. Clearly, Madden is going by the old Swift, who may have been a bit more frail. Ahead of 2022, however, Swift is looking beefed up and stronger, so he might end up being severely underrated in terms of this metric for 2022.
This isn’t the first time Swift has been underrated this offseason. Pro Football Network overlooked him badly in their running back rankings and received an ear-full from fans on Twitter.
It’s hard to imagine 28 other runners being better than Swift in the NFL, but at this point, Madden believes that to be the case.
Madden Admits Their Mistake With Swift
To their credit, Madden already poked fun at their Swift rating, and posted a video about perhaps having to change his rating. Within the video, Swift is shown dodging lasers and moving around for a Madden consultant. Swift admits he wants to see himself as a 90, but the analyst pokes back that Swift is only seeing 89 on the lasers and wouldn’t want to see 90. Here’s a look at the video:
😳 We may need to revisit @DAndreSwift‘s ratings….
Obviously, it’s fun to see that the game as well as EA Sports has a sense of humor about their often-criticized rankings. Swift agreeing to participate shows he has a great sense of humor about the ratings and is not taking them too seriously.
Why Swift Deserves More League Respect
While it’s easy to understand the trepidation that some have with giving Swift respect against other top runners in the league, there is no reason for him to be rated this low, even in Madden. At this point of his career, Swift’s problems are more with regards to his health rather than anything else. This offseason, Swift has bulked up trying to solve that, and looks like a good bet to have a more durable, better season as a result.
Swift will also benefit from a Lions offense which could be expected to continue to pound the rock this year with him as the feature piece. In addition to running the ball, Swift can catch the ball as well, which sets him up to impact the whole game as a potentially elite dual-threat player on the offensive side of things. Swift can do a little bit of everything on the field and is severely underrated as a result.
Add it up and it sure seems as if Swift is being underrated again. No matter if that is true or not, Swift has a chance to prove everyone wrong during the 2022 season on the field.
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D’Andre Swift Receives Terrible Madden 23 Rating Ahead of Season