Colin Kaepernick has not played an NFL game since the 2016 season, but “Madden” is clearly still high on his ability.
In the recently-released “Madden 22,” which hit stores Thursday, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback is ranked as an 81 overall. It’s a better mark than over half of the starting quarterbacks currently in the NFL.
Justin Herbert, who won the Rookie of the Year award in 2020 after a sensational 4,336-yard, 31-touchdown season, is ranked below him as an 80. Kirk Cousins is a 79. Trevor Lawrence, considered to be the best quarterback prospect in years, is a 78. Kyler Murray, an MVP candidate, is only one point ahead of him at 82.
There are only 14 quarterbacks rated higher than Kaepernick in the game. He is not on a team and can only be accessed by changing rosters.
Last year, Kaepernick returned to “Madden” after a four-year absence. He was ranked an 81 in that game, as well.
Kaepernick became a free agent after controversially electing to kneel for the national anthem in the 2016 season. He hasn’t taken a snap since, and has accused the NFL of blackballing him over his political views.
Throughout that last season, he did not exactly play like an 81-ranked QB. He lost 10 of his eleven starts with the 49ers and completed under 60 percent of his passes, though his passer rating of 90.7 was the third-highest mark of his career.