Cowboys safety unit gets low ratings from Madden
Defense is the name of the game when it comes to the Dallas Cowboys since Dan Quinn took over before the 2021 season. It's resulted in the Cowboys leading the NFL in turnovers each of the last two seasons. After years of showing it very little attention, the Cowboys have invested in the safety position […]
Defense is the name of the game when it comes to the Dallas Cowboys since Dan Quinn took over before the 2021 season. It's resulted in the Cowboys leading the NFL in turnovers each of the last two seasons.
After years of showing it very little attention, the Cowboys have invested in the safety position since Quinn's arrival. In 2021, Dallas signed veterans Jayron Kearse and Malik Hooker to play with Donovan Wilson. The three safety or "Big Nickel" look has worked wonders for the Cowboys.
Kearse is the team's tight end eraser and an excellent run defender. Wilson is a ball of chaos that can play down in the box, rush the passer, or defend the pass. Hooker is true free safety that plays centerfield with great range.
Wilson and Hooker both had career-highs in tackles in 2022 and Kearse, despite dealing with injuries, had another extremely solid campaign. However, when Madden released its ratings for each position, Hooker received a rating of 82, the 26th-highest for all safeties. Wilson and Kearse both got ratings of 81.
Now, it's not like any of these three will be called the best player at the entire safety position or anything. But this trio is recognized as one of the best of its kind in the league so to see all three get rated this low by Madden is a bit of a headscratcher.
These ratings pretty much said that there are nearly 30 safeties better than Wilson, Kearse, and Hooker in the NFL and that's just silly.
Cowboys starter has the ultimate motivation coming off his best season
More fuel to the fire.
Feature image via Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
