Tag: Zack Martin

NFL: Madden ’24 exclusive ’99 Club’

Who from Notre Dame would be your all-time 99?

It’s that time of year again as we count down to football starting up.  Training camp for college and NFL teams are set to open in a matter of days and to help with the countdown, player ratings for the ever-popular Madden video game have been being released.

Always popular this time of year is the discussion of which players get rated the coveted “99 rating”, being the very best in the game.  EA Sports, who produces the game, has been rolling out the ratings all week and will continue to do so.

On Wednesday they revealed that former Notre Dame great and current Dallas Cowboys offensive guard Zack Martin received a 99 rating.  He’s the first guard to earn the honor since Larry Allen in 2003.

Here is the the running list of players to earn that 99-rating for this year’s game:

Zack Martin considering holding out? Here are all the details

Word has surfaced Martin wants an extension. Here’s a look at the landscape of interior OL pay, and the Cowboys’ upcoming contract needs. | From @KDDrummondNFL

Cowboys’ right guard Zack Martin has been racking up the accolades recently, as one of the best and brightest in the game. The six-time All-Pro has been named to the Pro Bowl in eight of his nine professional seasons and is regularly listed in every collection of best players the NFL has to offer. Most recently he’s been named one of the 25 most dominant players in the league by Touchdown Wire, a top-50 player by PFF, and he was assigned a 99 rating by Madden 24 on Wednesday morning.

To say he’s one of the best is an understatement. He’s a sure-fire Hall of Fame player and potentially first ballot, whenever he retires. Only because he’s been in the league so long, he’s no longer atop the pecking order of top-paid interior linemen. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Martin wants a new deal and isn’t happy with the fact he doesn’t have one yet.

ESPN panel names Cowboys’ Zack Martin top interior lineman in NFL

The Cowboys offensive line might have 99 problems, but Zack Martin is still No. 1. | From @KDDrummondNFL

File this away under the category of “been knew that”, but the Cowboys have the best interior offensive lineman in the NFL. ESPN is running a series where a panel of NFL executives, scouts and coaches are polled to see who the best players at each position are. Dallas corner Trevon Diggs recently was named a top-10 player at his spot, checking in at No. 8. Now it’s Zack Martin’s turn.

Martin, who earned his sixth All-Pro nomination in 2022, received a bump from the No. 2 spot into the pole position after another stellar campaign. The writeup is behind the ESPN+ paywall, but here’s what they said about the once and future king.

He gave up three sacks on a 96% pass block win rate, the eighth-best clip in the league. His 73.8% run block win rate was also impressive.

Martin did not run away with the voting, but he’s still considered the best.

“He’s maybe declined physically a little bit due to age, but he’s so smart and so instinctive that he makes up for any physical shortcoming,” a high-ranking NFL executive said.

Martin reclaimed the throne as Indinapolis Colts’ guard Quentin Nelson moved down to No. 3 after a two-year reign. Kansas City’s Joe Thuney moved into Martin’s old spot at No. 2 with Elgton Jenkins (GB) and Joel Bitonio (CLE) rounding out the top 5.

 

Recent NFL top 100 list snubs 4 Cowboys, names 4 others

A look at the recent top 100 list from CBS Sports sees some Cowboys ranked in mysterious places. | From @KDDrummondNFL

Not every great player is going to receive the accolades they deserve, and by far, the Dallas Cowboys receive their fair share of media coverage. However, facts are facts and in a recently-released top 100 list of NFL players, several Cowboys players were left off the list.

There are almost 1,700 roster spots in the NFL each week, and that doesn’t include players on IR or practice squads. A player must be the best of the best to rank in a top 100 list; being left out of such a collection doesn’t mean a player isn’t at the top of his profession. But when looking at other players at their position who made the list, there’s a reason to think some of Dallas’ representatives were snubbed.

Here’s a look at which Dallas players made Pete Prisco’s Top 100 over at CBS Sports, and who he left out.

The Cowboys are looking to find the right combination to unlock the best offensive line possible

The Cowboys have options along the offensive line, here’s a look at the three most likely combinations. | From @cdpiglet

The Dallas Cowboys have done a terrific job of filling the few holes that were in their roster. Exchanging Day 3 picks for Stephon Gilmore and Brandin Cooks, they upgraded their corner and wideout rooms. They made sure to bring back Leighton Vander Esch, Jonathan Hankins, and Donovan Wilson so the team doesn’t open up any new holes on the defense.

With Tony Pollard’s return, the only true question mark is how the offensive line will set up in 2023. Dak Prescott has proven himself as a deadly passer when the OL is good, and Pollard has been great, even behind an average line. What combination of offensive linemen makes the most sense for the team this season though? Here is a look at some of the options.

College football: Pro Football Focus names top returning offensive tackles for 2023

Mt. Alt appears at the summit

It’s hard to find a place that compares to Notre Dame when it comes to putting elite offensive line talent into the NFL. [autotag]Zack Martin[/autotag], [autotag]Quenton Nelson[/autotag], [autotag]Ronnie Stanley[/autotag] and [autotag]Mike McGlinchey[/autotag] are some of the NFL stars (and well-paid ones at that) who once called Notre Dame home.

It would appear we’re not far off from another Notre Dame offensive lineman joining that club. Earlier this month our very own Mike Chen looked at the 2024 NFL mock drafts. Almost unanimously, left tackle Joe Alt was a projected top 10 pick.

Pro Football Focus shared its 10 highest-rated returning offensive linemen for 2023 over the weekend and wouldn’t you know it, Alt was atop the list.

Below are the 10 highest-rated returning offensive tackles according to Pro Football Focus. You’ll likely be interested to know that Notre Dame right tackle [autotag]Blake Fisher[/autotag] did not make the list. He checked in with a 72.9 grade over 13 games.

3 Cowboys stars, 1 famous missed connection make list of best draft picks over last 10 years

Zack Martin and Micah Parsons are no-brainers. But a third should have been a Cowboy, and there’s an honorable mention sure to spark debate. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The cards will be turned in, the names will be called, the bro-hugs will play out on TV. Immediately afterward, the report cards will be handed out and the projections will start to roll in.

But once we get even a few years into the future beyond the 2023 NFL draft, how many of the names we’re obsessing over right now will still be considered stars? Of the 259 college prospects about to have their lives changed, how many will go on to achieve real superstar status?

Not many.

Sports Illustrated narrowed down the 20 best draft picks of the past 10 years. Any team, any position, any round.

Only two of the players listed as the best of the best were top-three selections, suggesting that maybe the difference between the choices now facing Carolina and Indianapolis aren’t as life-or-death as they feel to their front offices and fans. What’s more, six of the 20 weren’t even first-rounders, meaning that greatness can be found all draft weekend long.

The Cowboys, traditionally an excellent drafting team, has two recent picks on the list, one infamous missed opportunity, and another ex-playmaker landing a perhaps controversial honorable mention.

Here’s how Cowboys used Prescott, Martin deals to create $30M cap space

The Cowboys have created cap space once again, here’s a primer on what they did, why, and what may come next. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys have pulled the trigger. No, there’s no violence happening, they’ve just executed clauses in two of their bigger contracts to create some much needed salary cap room. With the new league year starting next Wednesday, Dallas had to create some space so that they would be cap compliant. Even with the league setting the cap at $224.8 million and Dallas rolling over an additional $5.5 million of unused 2022 space into this next season, the club was still over the threshold.

Adding the pending franchise tag for Tony Pollard increased them to being over $16 million above the cap. But thanks to those triggers, Dallas now has a little more than $14 million of cap space to make moves with once the league year opens. Dallas converted the base salaries of QB Dak Prescott and RG Zack Martin to create an additional $30 million of space.

 

All of Harry Hiestand’s NFL draft picks at Notre Dame

A legend at his craft.

I’d be curious to know when talking to maybe a slightly above average fan from each Power Five college football program, how many could name their school’s offensive line coach.  I know there are passionate fans everywhere that can name the last preferred walk-on from a class that passed through a decade ago, but I’m talking the more average fans.

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I’m not saying it’s better or worse but Notre Dame is clearly different.  But I suppose that’s what happens when you produce offensive linemen like the Irish have.  And you produce that number of star NFL linemen because of coaching – and having Joe Moore and Harry Hiestand for as long as the program did formed quite the haul of offensive line talent.

Hiestand announced his retirement Sunday in a press release that came out literal moments before the ball was kicked off for Super Bowl LVII.  That means he retires with nine former players at Notre Dame being drafted, a number that will certainly rise with Jarrett Patterson, Joe Alt and Blake Fisher, if not more in the next couple of years.

Here are all nine offensive lineman to play for Hiestand at Notre Dame who had their names called at the NFL draft.  He averaged more than one a season for the time he spent under the Golden Dome.

Notre Dame football: Down to 3 Former Domers in NFL Playoffs

Who wins this weekend?

Four teams remain in the NFL playoffs after this weekend’s divisional match-ups.  In the AFC it was the Chiefs getting by despite an injury to star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, as they knocked out the Jaguars.  In doing so, former Notre Dame wide receiver [autotag]Kevin Austin[/autotag], a practice squad member in Jacksonville, was knocked out as well.  The Chiefs will take on the Bengals for the AFC title for a second year in a row.

In the NFC it’ll be the 49ers traveling east to Philadelphia as three Notre Dame players will be dressed in that game.  Check out which former Domers advanced below.

The Eagles beating the Giants eliminated [autotag]Jaylon Smith[/autotag], [autotag]Julian Love[/autotag], and [autotag]Nick McCloud[/autotag] while [autotag]Zack Martin[/autotag] was knocked out with the Cowboys loss.

Irish fans can root for whichever NFC team wins Sunday to win it all as that would mark the 46th and perhaps 47th former Notre Dame players to win on Super Bowl Sunday.