Dallas Cowboys: Where Madden 20 went wrong with their ratings

Connor Williams: Miss

Overall: 71

Rank: LG23

I understand EA is trying to lower the ratings of an average starter but giving Williams a 71 is a disservice to how he played last year. The common narrative after last season was he wasn’t good and now the Cowboys will use third round pick Connor McGovern to replace Williams at left guard.

Here’s some quick facts:

In 688 snaps, Williams allowed 5 penalties and 5 sacks. 

Williams’ 688 snaps was 50th in the league. (He dealt with injury down the stretch)

Williams’ 5 penalties were 21st most in the league

Williams’ 5 sacks were 9th most in the league. However, in the 3 games he did not play left guard, the left guard position allowed 10 sacks. The Cowboys were better with Williams at left guard than any other option they had.

Williams rookie season had a lot of growing pains but in the end it is successful. The lofty expectations that were set for him were a result of the excellence exhibited by the three All-Pros on the line. These lofty expectations were set even with concerns of strength well documented throughout the scouting process.

With one season under his belt and an offseason dedicated to strength training, Williams will be better this year. However, EA isn’t ready to simply hand a higher overall rating, which is fair. Nonetheless, EA did mess some stuff up.

Pass Blocking: 72

When you finish 9th in the league in sacks allowed, that doesn’t sound great. However, the offensive line was struggling with new offensive line coach Paul Alexander and it took them 8 weeks to get the ship sailing.

Williams developed into a good pass blocker as the season progressed. Not great, but good. The most encouraging performance of the season was when the Cowboys offensive line allowed 1 sack against the Rams in the divisional round of the playoffs.

That one sack was called when Dak was inexplicably hugged by La’el Collins. The sack was credited to Dante Fowler Jr. Connor Williams was guarding the interior linemen that game. Ndamokung Suh and Aaron Donald both play interior defensive line positions. You can probably see where I’m going with this.

A pass blocking attribute is predicated entirely on production. The total production of Williams’ rookie year shows he wasn’t good. However, if you lessen the sample size to the last half of the season, you will see a different version of Connor Williams. Something more deserving than a 72 rating.

A 72 pass blocking rating would suggest Williams is an average pass blocker. That just isn’t the case. The rating is 26th amongst left guards and is shared with Joseph Noteboom, Andrus Peat, and Lane Taylor. Outside of Peat, Williams played more WAY snaps than Noteboom and allowed 3 fewer sacks than Taylor.

To make things weirder, EA gave Williams a 86 impact block. Not much explanation for that move.

Strength: 85

This is the weird instance where I think EA overestimated a player. Williams struggled with strength last year and it was evident upon film review. This was also a big concern coming out of draft last year.

So after a year of draft analysts, fans, and film grinders complaining about his relative lack of power, how did EA think it was a good idea to give him an 85 strength rating? Perhaps they can shave off some points here and place it in the pass blocking category?

Pass Block Finesse: 74

I had to look up this attribute. Pass Block Finesse is a player’s ability to block against a defender who uses a finesse move.

Remember all those times I griped about Williams’ documented strength struggles. His lateral quickness wasn’t an issue coming out of college. (While he looked less quick after his knee injury, he still move extremely well)

Plain and simple, this rating needs to go up. For his shortcomings in the power department, Williams’s ability to move from side to side while defending rushers will give him the edge in the “Connor vs Connor” battle that the fans have inexplicably created.

Remember, he only allowed 5 sacks. It could’ve been much worse had his early season form continued.

In all, the changes I’d make are as follow. Increase pass blocking to 77, decrease strength to 79, and increase pass block finesse to 80. I believe this would get Williams up to a 73 overall which I think is fair for the second year guard. Reminder, La’el Collins is a 76 overall and I think that rating is appropriate.