Cowboys Zack Martin: 99 Rating from Madden; NFL's Best Lineman?
Dallas Cowboys guard Zack Martin will surely be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day as one of the best to ever play. For now, however, he is still trying to remain one of the NFL's best offensive linemen still playing. ... and Madden has seen the light.
Before the eight-time Pro Bowler gets enshrined in Canton, Martin needs to finish a career for the ages at his position. With six All-Pro nods, a member of the NFL's All-Decade Team for the 2010s and just nine career missed games over nine seasons, there isn't much else Martin can add to his résumé.
And now there is one more accolade: Martin has been assigned a 99 rating by Madden 24 ... as good as it gets. That's Aaron Donald-level stuff. Oh, and the last NFL guard to earn entry into the vaunted "99 Club''? That'd be Larry Allen, the Cowboys Hall of Famer.
And, even at 32, there isn't much sign of Martin slowing down as ESPN has named him the league's best interior offensive lineman heading into 2023.
"Last season marked a sixth first-team All-Pro nod for Martin, who at age 32 is among the most highly productive players at any position," ESPN writes. "He gave up three sacks on a 96-percent pass block win rate, the eighth-best clip in the league. His 73.8-percent run block win rate was also impressive. Martin did not run away with the voting, but he's still considered the best."
The No. 16 pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, Martin has undeniably been one of the NFL's most dominant guards since starting all 16 games as a rookie. He finished second in Rookie of the Year voting to Odell Beckham Jr., and has only increased his level of play through the years.
But even in his ninth career season, Martin still finished in a league of his own - being the only guard in the NFL to not allow any sacks while playing 700 or more pass-blocking snaps, per Pro Football Focus.
"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 told ESPN about Martin.
And while Martin will certainly go down as one of the greatest Cowboys of all-time - that's Larry Allen range, too - this season could catapult the guard up the NFL offensive line "GOAT" conversation. ... though right now the "conversation'' Martin hopes for regards a new contract and his threatened training camp protest.
You can find Riley Sheppard on Twitter @RileyDSheppard
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