Tim Tebow's 'Madden' Rating Below Mark Sanchez's: Is It Fair?

The quarterback controversy surrounding the New York Jets' Tim Tebow and Mark Sanchez hasn't been lost on the creators of the popular Madden NFL video-game franchise. It was revealed Friday that in the next installment of the game -- Madden NFL 13, entering wide release Tuesday -- Tebow's overall rating is 77 and Sanchez's overall rating is 80.

According to Yahoo! Sports, Tebow is ranked No. 32 among the 112 quarterbacks in the video game. Tebow outranks Sanchez in the speed, agility, trucking, and accuracy while throwing long categories, while Sanchez outranks Tebow in the awareness, throw power, accuracy while throwing medium, and accuracy while throwing short categories.

Sanchez will be New York's starting quarterback, and Tebow will be the Jets backup QB, according to team officials.

The makers of Madden NFL appear to have considered the QB's real-world skills when creating Tebow's rating. He finished last season with the Denver Broncos with a 46.5 completion percentage, and, even before he was drafted, he was written off by many sports writers because of his unorthodox throwing style. Tebow has also been criticized as being a distraction for his teammates away from the field due to the media circus he often attracts.

While Sanchez is still considered a young quarterback with a lot of developing to do, most NFL experts place him far above Tebow. When determining his overall value, the Madden NFL creators certainly needed to keep in mind Tebow's popularity and the fact that many gamers will not only want him on their team, but also to be productive. The question remains, though, whether Tebow's quarterback rating in the game is actually too generous.

"Since Madden attributes cannot account very well for quarterback running ability, or the ability to get lucky in fourth quarters, they had to inflate his passing attributes to make him a viable starter," wrote the Bleacher Report.

Serious Madden NFL gamers might consider picking up Tebow because his passer rating, while not great, is good enough so that he is a viable option in case the true starting quarterback is injured. The Bleacher Report also listed the quarterback's rushing rating, which might make him attractive to someone needing a fullback who moonlights as a quarterback.

Tebow's Madden rating for spin move is a 77, his stiff arm is an 82, and the juke move is 79. All three are far better than Sanchez's stats in the game.

Madden NFL 13 will be widely available for purchase on Tuesday, according to GameStop.